Summer Fun :)

It's Summer term at Drexel and there's tons to do! When you're so busy with your school work it's easy to miss out on all of the great things Philadelphia has to offer in the summer. One of my favorite places to go when it's so nice outside is Philadelphia's Magic Gardens, also known as Isaiah Zagar's "artistic wonderland". It's right on South Street so you can look at the amazing art while shopping at all of the great shops and even better places to eat :) Some places you may want to check out are Jim's Steaks at 400 South Street for one of the best cheesesteaks you'll ever have, and Lorenzo and Sons (305 South Street) for a slice of pizza that's bigger than your head! 

Reuse, Restore and Recycle during June Move-out (Volunteers needed to assist the donations)

Reuse, Restore and Recycle 

June 10, 2014 through June 15, 2014 (Week 11 or Finals Week)

The Drexel community in partnership with Habitat for Humanity Restore, Philabundance, Goodwill, Powelton Village Association and U-Haul are working together to bring this Reuse, Restore and Recycle opportunity for off-campus students and local community members to reduce waste, appropriately dispose of trash and contribute to the community through donations.

The event is specially designed to reduce waste during June move out. Drexel and local community members will be able to donate hard and soft goods as well as food items at the below locations and specified time.

Hard and soft items

Tuesday, June 10: Residence Halls, Race Street Lawn (12-3:30 p.m.)

Tuesday, June 10: Fraternity and Sorority/34th Street Housing, Parking Lot D on 35th St. (4-7 p.m.)

Wednesday, June 11: 33rd St. and Powelton Ave. (3-7 p.m.)

Friday, June 13: 35th and Spring Garden streets (3-7 p.m.)

Sunday, June 15: 37th St. and Powelton Ave. (3-7 p.m.)

Towel and blanket donations will be given to the PSPCA to help support animals in the shelters. 

Food donations

·         All residence halls

·         Each fraternity and sorority house on 34th St. and Powelton Ave.

·         Academic Properties Inc. leasing office 

·         The Courts leasing office 

In addition to donations, two large dumpsters will be available from June 11 - June 30 at the following locations:

·         32nd St. and Powelton Ave.

·         3412 Powelton Ave.

*Free mattress bags will be provided at the donation times and locations listed above for disposing of mattresses and box springs in accordance with the new Philadelphia law.

Volunteers are needed to help collect donations (sign-up here: Reuse, Restore and Recycle Volunteer) and drive the 17-foot donation trucks (sign-up here: Driver's Registration)

Find out more and see full list of items that can be recycled or donated at drexel.edu/studentaffairs/get_involved/commuter_transfers/Signature%20Programs/Reuse_Restore_Recycle

For any questions regarding the event or signing up for volunteering, please email to dsodc@drexel.edu.

Come out and join us to donate, recycle and reduce waste to make our neighborhood more beautiful! 

Literacy facts in Philadelphia

Do you know that over 50% of adult population in Philadelphia are considered low literate? This means they often struggle to fill out a job application. With 22% of whole adult population lack basis literacy skills comparing to the national average of 14.5%

Do you know that around 30-40,000 youth with no high school diploma or equivalency drop out of Philadelphia public schools and over 200,000 adults in Philadelphia do not have a high school degree?

The poor education result has led the poverty rate in our city to become one of the highest among all major cities and 11% above the U.S. average. In addition, a parent's low literacy level can also have substantial impact on their children. According to a landmark study done by Betty Hart and Todd Risley, the average child in a family on public assistance hears 153,000 less words per week than the average child in a privileged home. 

Hearing the language is the first step to learning. The second is writing. Writing is very important because it allows you to write to practice what you learn.

In our city of Brotherly Love, the inhabitants and community organizations have come together to provide different programs to assist the children in the city to achieve the educational success.

The Mighty Writers is an non-profit organization in Philadelphia that is committed to teach children to think and write clearly. There is a variety of programs offered by Might Writers includes tutoring, mentoring, leading a writing workshop and doing an internship. For information, please visit their website: http://www.mightywriters.org/volunteer/. 

In addition, Drexel's Lindy Center for Civic Engagement also offers a High School Mentoring Program in the West Philadelphia. Check out their website for more details: http://www.drexel.edu/lindycenter/students/leadership/. 

May at Drexel - Mental Health and Awareness Month

One of the 10 college students has made a plan for suicide, and there are more than 1,000 suicides on US college campuses every year. The main cause is the mental illness which is defined as a medical condition that disrupts a person's thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others and daily functioning. 

According to the latest Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors survey, 95% of counseling center directors surveyed said the number of students with significant psychological problems is a growing concern on their campus. The survey found that anxiety is the top concern among college students (41.6%), followed by depressing (36.4%) and relationship problems (35.8%).

At Drexel, the Counseling Center and many other resources are available to assist students to handle their mental issues whether it is anxiety, family relations, eating disorders, and alcohol and drug issue. The Counseling Center offers free, confidential counseling services provided by mental health professionals.

Drexel currently participates at in the Screening for Mental Health program, which can be accessed by students who may have questions about whether or not their current concerns may warrant additional help. You may take a Free and Anonymous screening at the following link:http://www.mentalhealthscreening.org/screening/DREXEL.

Life can be very stressful at our age, especially with the fast-paced quarter system at Drexel that loads our life with lots of exams, projects, and assignment. Thus, it is really important to balance the work and life at a good level to reduce the stress and enjoy your college years. Healthy life styles like exercise and health food will always help to lower the chance of mental illness.

Event on campus

On May 20^th, in part of Mental Health Awareness Week, CAB is collaborating with Active to present Jordan Burnham who began his experience with depression in high school. Soon alcohol became a dependency for Jordan, and during his senior year, Jordan attempted suicide. He will share his heartbreaking yet inspiring story from 7 pm to 8 pm in Bossone’s Mitchell Auditorium.

Remember, you are never alone at Drexel! For any questions or details related to mental health and wellness, you may visit Drexel Counseling Center at Suite 201 of the Creese Student Center, call 215-895-1415, or email counseling@drexel.edu.

Academic resources to help your preparation and studying towards exams @ Drexel University

Drexel's quarter system results a fast-paced curriculum for the students, and normally we begin to have midterms, projects and group assignments in Week 4. Today, I would like to introduce to you the academic resources on-campus to aid your studying and preparation towards exams and projects.

   

Source: http://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/

Drexel Learning Center Department Based Tutoring

Drexel Academic Departments organize tutoring sessions for a variety of courses. For the LeBow's Business students, there are tutoring sessions for Acct 115&116, Acct 321, Statistics and Economics courses. See more information regarding location and hours at http://www.drexel.edu/provost/aard/resources-programs/dlc/tutoring/ .

For a list of tutoring sessions for non-business courses (Chemistry, Philosophy, CS, Engineering etc.), please visit the same link above. 

Drexel Writing Center

You can make appointments with faculty, peer readers or online appointments to help with writing assignments. Personally, I have used this resource many times in my freshmen and sophomore year, and they have been very helpful and thought-provoking to my essays. I strongly encourage you to visit the writing center by making a one-to-one appointment at DWC online system https://drexel.mywconline.com/ . If you are unavailable to meet them in person, you can schedule an online appointment by sending over your essay electronically and receives the comments in a few days.

Drexel English Learning Center

Drexel ELC offers one-on-one tutoring and language support for Drexel International Students. The topics include listening, speaking, reading comprehension, writing, vocabulary development and etc. This is free tutoring service, and again I strongly encourage you to visit their website for more information http://www.drexel.edu/elc/resources/academic_resources/language_support/ .

Math Resource Center

Math center helps all students who need assistance in Undergraduate Math courses, and provides tutoring sessions for all math courses.

Location: 2nd floor of the Korman Building in room 249.

Open Hours Spring 2013/2014: Monday to Thursday from 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM and 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Friday, starting the first day of classes and ending on Friday of the final week of classes.

For more information, visit http://www.drexel.edu/math/resources/undergraduate/mrc/ .

Drexel Libraries 

The online library http://library.drexel.edu/  is great resource for scholarly works, book reviews and critic opinions for your projects or writing assignment. Please make use of these expensive databases that Drexel has spent tons of money on. If you are unfamiliar with searching process, you can do a quick online chat with the Drexel librarian.

Lastly, please do not forget your instructor, TAs and peer classmates are also excellent resources to assist your academic concerns. 

I wish the best of luck for your exams and project! Eat healthy and be strong.