Student Activities Blogs

Andrea Lama

Intro!

Monday, December 01, 2008

[Insert witty opening sentence here]. So thanks for reading my blog, everyone! I guess I should introduce myself so you know who you’re reading from. I’m Andrea and I’m a junior (omg!) and an International Business Management major. The amazing Student Activities staff asked me to blog about my experiences with Student Activities, so, in a nut shell, that is who I am and why I’m writing!

Hopefully my blogs will make sense, because for six months next semester I’ll be in the UK as an exchange student at the University of Warwick! I’m really excited and also horrifyingly nervous, but I think it’d be interesting to see how they run Student Activities across the pond, and how it differs from here.

The whole application and pre-departure process has been pretty stressful, as is expected I suppose, with credit transfers and finding a place to live and not being able to call them because it is 8 at night over there, etc, etc. But, I am really excited and everyone says it’ll be a great experience, and I’m just really looking forward to living in the UK and dealing with the British pound (*sigh,* the economy makes me sad). One thing I am NOT looking forward to though, is being without HOLDUP!. Let me explain why:

So, HOLDUP! stands for Husky Outreach for Leadership Development, Understanding, and Pride! (exclamation point is necessary). This program was created by several outstanding members of Dr. Briody’s INTD-182 class in the Fall of 2006. Not wanting to end our Leadership training or experience, we decided to create this student-led outreach program that brings what we learned in class to high school students around the state. As a matter of fact, we recruit amazing new members every year! I can’t believe how much the program has grown in its few years of life. Oohhhh HOLDUP!, you brighten my soul. Members travel to the high schools and host really fun workshops (that we create) with the students and teach them about leadership and why it is important and the different aspects of being a leader. It’s amazing, and I’m not ready to go six months without it! A Friday not too long ago, we hosted our second HOLDUP! Outing, where the high school students come to UConn for the day and learn about their options beyond high school and get behind-the-scenes tours of academic departments, as well as the inner workings of the program. This field trip was so amazing that I know lots of members who attended (have I told you lately that you are all amazing?), including myself (even though I denied it), had a little bit of separation anxiety when the students got back on the bus and drove back to school. They waved goodbye and I died a little inside. I’m not ready to go six months without being part of a program that touches its members, as well as its participants, so deeply. Maybe Warwick will have a similar program? One can only hope.

Anyway, you’ll hear (or read?) me speak (or write?) of HOLDUP! many more times in the future, so I won’t spoil all of its intricacies to you now. As I prepare to leave this hemisphere, I can’t wait to start working on “Andrea’s List Of Things To Do In Europe” which includes (but is not limited to): eating crumpets and fish-and-chips until I burst; attending a horse race in a summer dress, wide-brimmed hat, and gloves; yelling on top of a mountain in Switzerland (preferably while skiing); touching the Mediterranean; photo-op with the Guards of Buckingham (cliché, but you know you’ve always wanted to too); seeing what real Italian food is like (and then eating as much of it as I can); and travelling in general.

I’ll let you know which I complete from that list, as well, of course, of how Student Activities is run in the UK. Keep in touch!