Jan. 21, Martin Luther King Day, NECC closed
All posts by Observer Staff
Jan. 7, last day to withdraw from online winter intersession classes
Jan. 4, last day to drop on-campus winter intersession classes
Jan. 2, winter Intersession classes begin
Late Knights
NECC students hunker down for final exams
Let’s face it, finals season kind of sucks. There’s nothing more uncomfortable than staying up all night with books piled on your lap, paper scatter across the floor, and your laptop hanging onto the last of its battery life. Trying to cram all of the information that’s been preached at you and creating acronyms that you think you’ll remember for your exam, but another acronym is created just to remember the original acronym. If only there was some kind of place where students could go where they could be allowed access to a quiet study place with computers and other students looking to do the same. Well, if this sounds like you, if a study session with your peers in a safe, quiet place is the first thing on your list this holiday season, the Late Knight Study Sesh might just be a season miracle.
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Study hard, ask questions, get organized, carry a rabbit’s foot…
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On Monday December 10 and Tuesday December 11, locations on both Haverhill and Lawrence Campus were open late, from 5pm – 10pm for any studying needs. To fuel students from late night hand cramps and strained eyes, these events were set to have free pizza, drinks, and coffee (only on December 10), as well as make your own trail mix, cereal, drinks, and coffee (on December 11).
According to the Fast Web, a program that helps college students with scholarships, the most successful study tips include; listening to music, creating your own study guide, attending every review session you can, taking breaks when needed, color coding your study guide or notes, and staying well rested. The most important thing to do while studying for finals is to make sure that you are in a good headspace. This includes getting a full night’s rest, eating healthy, and taking times to recognize yourself and how you’re feeling.
The Late Knight Study Sessions were held at The Student Center and the Bentley Library in Haverhill and the El Hefni Main Lobby as well as the El Hefni computer lab, in Lawrence. It is also important to know that the bookstore carries a plethora of supplies, whether it’s notebooks, pens, or a student planner. The Haverhill bookstore will be open until Dec 21. It will then reopen Jan, 2. The Lawrence will be open Dec. 10-14 for buyback and rental check-in. Study hard, ask questions, get organized, carry a rabbit’s foot and remember to go easy on the coffee.
Learning to love the grind
The end of the semester is here. After many sleepless nights, last-minute scrambles and outstanding pieces of writing and presentation, we can all take a deep breath. As the semester ends, and the next one comes into focus, it’s time to rest, take stock, and prepare to overcome whatever challenges lay ahead i the next semester. In order to become as effective a possible, to be as much an asset to our own interests as possible, there is a single change that will make all the rest so much easier.
Planning is only the first step, and overplanning can sometimes be more of a hindrance than help. As it has been said, no plan survives contact with opposition. Staying on task and committing to meet deadlines is essential, but even with this done the work can wear even the hardest worker down. The repetition of work, the process by which we find achievement has been dubbed “the grind,” with the understanding that it is a difficult and tiring endeavor. The single best way to overcome the grind is to love it.
This is not just a platitude for motivational posters, to be posted in bold print over a picture of a mountain. Instead, understand that no matter the situation that arises in front of you, it is an opportunity to overcome it and achieve a goal. A last minute assignment is a terrible thing to recieve, until it is accepted as a dare of sorts, as a way to prove one’s studiousness and versatility. Overcoming the problem, finishing the assignment, and receiving high marks stimulates the brain’s reward impulse, encouraging the development of studiousness and versatility. Even in the event the assignment is not finished in time, the downward push can either be seen as a crushing defeat, or an opportunity to improve and come back stronger for it. We already seek challenge and success in our entertainment in the form of video games and other interactive media, and it is not a massive shift to apply the same mindset.
I enjoy video games as much as the next twenty year old, and I know an avid player of a game like the Dark Souls franchise (infamous for it’s overpowered enemies and difficult gameplay,) will say the difficulty is the whole idea of the game. To figure out the challenging opponents and perfecting a playstyle gives a sense of achievement and mastery. When inexperienced players complain how difficult it is, the tongue-in-cheek response from more seasoned players is short, not-so-sweet and to the point, “git gud.”
Why do we not apply the same line of thinking to academics, or anything else? Taking up an instrument, beginning a sport or a new job, all of these can become all the more fulfilling and enjoyable from a change in perspective.
To accept that some tasks and undertakings are going to challenge us, and to begin to look for this challenge and enjoy figuring out how to overcome it can completely flip our mental narrative. Viewing tough situations and failures as a challenge takes these difficulties from being an end to being a beginning. It is all too easy to become disheartened in the face of a failed paper or a bad day at work. It is healthy and okay to feel upset about something like this, and to deal with it in our own ways. There is no one quick fix to make sure we never feel bad again. But to understand that situation as a chance to start again and do it right allows those feelings to fade and be replaced by a sense of purpose.
This sense of purpose does not have to be where you wish to be in five years, that’s a quick way to overwhelm yourself and is far too much to be tackled all at once, especially in the middle of a time of duress. Let the purpose be as simple as possible, to accomplish the present task, to the best of your ability. Once that task is done, to accomplish the next task to the best of your ability, and so on.
There is nothing to be gained from checking out when things get difficult, in fact it almost guarantees the situation will get much worse. Misery loves company, and shunning work or falling behind will only make getting back up to speed that much harder. Addressing the problem as soon as possible, with a clear head and goal in mind, can become an automatic, conditioned response just as well as giving up can. Once this mindset becomes ingrained, it will extend into other areas of life. Aristotle explains as much in his quote, “…Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.”
The work may not get easier, the page counts are the same, the topics as challenging as ever. Readings, essays, speeches and experiments, let them come. Once we are equipped with the right mindset and some forethought, planning, and practice, pages are written and papers completed, experiments are successful and deadlines met with time to spare.
To accept that some tasks and undertakings are going to challenge us, and to begin to look for this challenge and enjoy figuring out how to overcome it can completely flip our mental narrative.
Remembering Liza Ruiz
Friend shares fond memories of student
Editor’s note: Dec. 3 was the one-year anniversary of the death of 18-year-old Liza Ruiz, of Lawrence, who was a student in the Journalism/Communication program at Northern Essex Community College. Her close friend, Jada Ryan, is a current student in the program and she shared this remembrance of Ruiz:
Liza, Marielsy and Jada. The three of us were inseparable, we did everything together. We hung out everyday. Shopping, nails, hair, makeup, movies, anything. We were always together. We ensured we had every single class together throughout high school and college. Liza has taught me so much through our 5 years of friendship, she taught me how to love myself and to never let anyone ever make me feel less than what I was. She always reminded me of what I deserved and what I meant to her and the world.
She taught me a lot about clothes, thank god. I remember she started carrying purses, and I asked her “Liza, why do you have a purse, were teenagers, what could you possibly keep in there?” and she answered with “Bro, are you serious? These things are clutch, I keep perfume, lotion, hand sanitizer, extra makeup, my charger, my wallet, pens, anything I would need throughout the day.” Liza brought out a side of me I will never let go of. She brought out a very bubbly, outgoing and confident side of me that I never knew I had.
She always reminded me of my beauty, my humor and how genuinely nice she thought I was. She said to me ”I don’t know why you’re so shy, just be yourself with people.” Whether she realized it
or not she really helped me become who I am today. Everyone always told us we were the funniest three people to hangout with when we were together. The way we spoke, the conversations we had, our goofy dances and jokes we would make together not caring who was around, people loved what we brought out in each other. It was us just being us. I was always told we were so much alike and we knew it too.
I’ll never forget Liza and I’ll carry on her contagious energy she shared and the lessons I have learned from her. Liza was my person, she knew exactly how I felt before I spoke. We always had something stupid going on, but we’d just sit together and say “wow this sucks” and laugh it off together because we had each other. She was that one person that I never got sick of. I’m going to miss having her in my life, I know it won’t be the same but I know she’s looking over me. She was the person that helped me through every decision to make, even if it was “which shoes should I wear with this outfit?”
I’m just going to think about what Liza would say when I need help making a decision, or when I need her advice. I feel blessed to have known her, even more blessed to have had her by my side for so many years, blessed to have always been introduced as her “bestest friend ever” and blessed to have learned so much from such a bright and amazing soul. She truly was my soul sister. It was as if we were meant to be sisters. She made everyone around her light up. You could never be sad around her, she always knew the right things to say to reassure you that it’ll get better. I wish we had gotten the chance to grow up with her, turn 21 with her, see her have kids and do amazing things with her life because I know she would’ve done outstanding things.
She would have really shown everyone who she was and her ambition to prosper. I wish she got to see me have my first kid, get my first house, etc. She always said “I’m going to become famous and make you famous for being my best friend, so don’t worry about your career.” and we’d laugh. We were suppose to become adults drinking wine in the kitchen gossiping while our kids played together. I’m going to do everything we talked about doing with our futures, without her now, but for her. I know she wouldn’t want anything less. I gained a guardian angel and it’s not the same as having my best friend by my side. She always watched out for me in this life and I know she will be doing from up above. If I was heaven I wouldn’t want to wait for such an amazing soul either. I wish she could see the progress I have made within myself and my life. Now, she belongs to the stars in the clouds.
PACE yourself
Program helps students succeed
As the semester slowly makes its end, the Pace program motivates students to join their program for the upcoming semester. The pace program helps students develop skills for their future career. They also help you with steps that will allow you to transfer to a four year college.They assist students with scholarships and academic assistance. The Pace program is offered to first-generation college students. They offer workshops up on blackboard when you decide to be apart of the program. The workshops include topics such as “tips on transferring” or “Smart borrowing”. Mostly life skills that will help you in the long-run. With these workshops you also receive “Pace credit” which is credit for taking out time and going through the workshop.
Sheila Corsaro who is the Pace Academic Advisor says “We support students here on campus and we hope they realize we want them to succeed. Our goal is also to help them to learn to advocate for themselves later on.”Catherine Ramos a graduated nursing student at Northern Essex says “ I’ve had friends who have mentioned that the resources available are very beneficial to their advancement in their careers. I wish I would’ve done it.
Luisamaria Cruz a current dental student here at Northern Essex also says “I think its great that Pace program steps up to the plate to help those students who need that support system. I will definitely be considering for next semester.”The Pace program is located in both the Haverhill and Lawrence campus. For more information or to be apart of the program contact Pace director Kristen Arnold at karnold@necc.mass.edu.
YWCA shoe drive at NECC
Unworn and gently used shoes to go to 2 charities
On December 4 NECC sent students and faculty an email making them aware of NECC’s sponsorship of the YWCA Northeastern Massachusetts’ Shoes with Heart campaign. Starting December 5 through January 31 people are encouraged to donate their gently worn or new shoes by placing them in boxes found on both the Haverhill and Lawrence campus. For Haverhill, the locations will be in the lobby of the sports and fitness center and on the second floor of the Spurk building just outside the college bookstore. For Lawrence, the locations will be in the lobby of El Hefni and on the third floor of Riverwalk near the public safety desk.
Shoes with Heart is owned by Funds2Orgs., an organization that collects the shoes from their partners where they are then bulked and shipped to 25 developing countries around the world and resold through micro-enterprises owned by people living in poverty. The details in the email explain that the main focus of the shoe drive is,“…a hands on curriculum project for the YWCA school age program children teaching them about world poverty, charitable giving and micro business.” The children will help collect the shoes.
With events like #GivingTuesday, traditionally the Tuesday after Thanksgiving and in full swing of December “the high point of the year for charitable donations, in part due to the holiday spirit of giving.” Says Jessica Sillers, the blog author of 10 things to know before you donate. Jessica also highlights that people should research the organizations that are looking for donations and understand what they are doing with those donations.
The YWCA shoe drive contributes to two different organizations. The first being Funds2Orgs that receive payment for selling the shoes to “micro-entrepreneurs [that] purchase the shoes for pennies on the dollar, often on credit, and clean the shoes. They then sell the shoes in their communities for a profit,” according to Shoes with Heart. Funds2Orgs operates in Latin America, West Africa, Haiti and other peripheral nations. The second organization is the YWCA and depending on the weight of the shoes will receive a check from Shoes with Heart. The YWCA mission statement is “dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.” The YWCA Northeastern Massachusetts division includes Haverhill, Lawrence, Lynn and a summer camp located in Salem NH.
They provide emergency shelter for low income women, domestic violence and sexual assault help services and have a 24 hour rape crisis hotline. The details in the NECC email also highlight the environmental impact of throwing away the “over 600 million pairs of shoes” a number they say belongs to the U.S. yearly. Another number that belongs ‘solely’ to the U.S. is 21.2 billion, the number of shoes imported to the U.S per year according to sourcingjournal.com. “Not everyone has money to spare, but most have at least one pair of shoes they can part with.” Says Wayne Elsey, CEO of Funds2Orgs.
Stress control as finals week draws nigh
The end of the semester is always a very stressful time for college students. Its the time where students are getting in any work that they may be late on, preparing for final tests, giving final presentations or working on final projects. Although college in general can be very stressful on a person, the last 2 weeks or so are definitely the worst. Depending on how many classes a student is taking, the work load can feel like its taking over your life. A Northern Essex liberal arts student, Sheryl Contarino said, “ I hate this time of the semester. I almost feel like I’m trying to do the whole entire class in one week. Obviously I’m not, but the work load and the stress load just makes it seem that way”.
Some students like to just sit down and study for hours on end, or sit down and just bang everything out instantly and get it over with. Although everyone is different and has their own things that they like to do, there are some common ways to relieve stress. According to huffingtonpost.com, one good way to relieve stress is to exercise. Exercise helps you focus, it gives you additional energy and it releases endorphins to make you feel better. A northern essex nursing student, Glorinette Calderone says, “ I love to go to the gym and exercise. It helps with relieving my stress so much, especially during finals week. I always try to make the time every day to go to the gym, even if it’s for a half an hour. It is a good break for me and I come out of the gym feeling like a new person”.
Another way to relieve stress witch may sound a little cliche is to just breathe. In moments when you feel your stress level is climbing, take a deep breath for four counts, hold it for four counts, and exhale for four counts. That is why whenever you would get upset when you were younger, your parents would always tell you, “ take a deep breath”. It is known to help calm a person down. A northern essex liberal arts major Maura Mccarthy said “ I am always taking deep breaths. Whenever I start to feel myself getting overwhelmed I tell myself to take a deep breath and relax. 9 times out of 10, it works for me. It’s something so simple that can take you a long way”.
Lastly, another very important key to relieving stress and succeeded during finals week is to make sure you’re getting enough sleep. Sleep will improve the quality and retention of studying,even though you may have less study time. If you start to stay up too late studying and not getting enough rest, it could actually come back and hurt you because if you’re not getting enough sleep, you’re not as alert as normal and you’re mood starts to go down when you’re not getting enough sleep. Of course, all these stress relievers may not work for everyone but, they may help you get through final week better and relieve all the stress that college students may have on their shoulders
