Hi! My name is Laura Nichols. I’m a nursing student at Longwood University. In high school, I graduated as a certified nurse aide and this has led me to my goal of becoming a nurse. I’m very sociable and I love to interact with people. Besides nursing, I love to do art and I like to collect crystals.
Looking for some family fun! Yorktown beach is the perfect place to take your friends and family for a little day trip. One day a few of my friends and I decided to take a group trip but we didn’t want to drive all the way to Virginia beach. My friend Anna goes to William and Mary and she suggested we go to Jamestown beach. She knew of the location because she had gone there with friends before. It is a 23-minute drive from William and Mary so it is often time frequented by college students on warmer days.
So the trip started when the three of us jumped in the car and made the hour and 20-minute drive from chesterfield Va to Yorktown beach. The time flew as we blasted music with the windows down and filled the car with our constant chatter.
Before going to the beach we decided to get a bite to eat. So we went to this really cute restaurant called Culture Cafe. The whole restaurant was covered in random stuff and they had a wall covered in random doors. Along with the wall of doors, they also had different types of chairs. Besides the chairs as the bar, all the other ones looked thrifted. It was very cute as the mascot of the restaurant was a rabbit. The food was delicious. They had many options and catered to those with special diets. My friend Arya is a vegan and she was able to enjoy a vegan burger. After eating we asked the owner if we could take a look upstairs. They had a cute little lounge as well. I wish there was a place like this in Farmville because I know I would be going here to study all the time. The employees were all very welcoming and it was an overall good experience in the little cafe.
When we finally reached our destination we couldn’t wait to get out in the water. It was incredibly hot that day so Rachel and I sprinted towards the shore while Arya set up her camera. Arya is a blogger and will often time record our little trips as a group. She made this really cute video that completely encapsulated our trip! There were many families visiting at the same time as us. There were picnic tables and some people were also grilling right out on the sand. James town beach is not actually a beach it is a large embankment from the James River. It looks a lot like the beach and they also have tiny waves. Unlike the beach and the really aggressive undertow and large waves, I would say this is the perfect place to take young children if they are not strong swimmers. You do not have to worry about your kids getting washed out or hurt by the waves.
unfortunately, it started to rain so your little day trip got cut short but it was ok because around that time we were already tired. So we got changed and drove back home. We did work up an appetite in the water so we decided to take a quick stop at tropical smoothy. It was my first time going and they had so many options. So before leaving we all talked about our little trip while scarfing down our smoothies
Here is the link to Arya’s vlog where she captures our little trip! All the credit goes to Arya and her love of vlogging.
I’ve been to a good amount of places outside of Virginia. However, one experience that I had has always stood out to me by being the most fascinating and adventurous. In 2011 I took a trip to Adelaide, Australia to see my aunt, uncle, and cousins that I rarely get to see. This also turned out to be the most painful trip with being an 11 year old on a plane from LA, California to Sydney, Australia for 17 hours straight. However, the long painful trip was worth it. We got to visit many beaches and also a petting zoo where we were able to feed emus and kangaroos. Although, my favorite part was the chance to hold a koala since it is no longer allowed. The beaches were located in South Australia and were far more beautiful than any beach I have ever visited.
At the beaches I was also able to take surfing lessons with my family. My mom, sister, and myself have always loved surfing in the Outer Banks which gave us a great idea to take the lessons and have the ability to say we surfed in Australia. My aunt also decided to tag along which was an entertaining sight.
Another remarkable opportunity I had was being able to swim with the dolphins. Even though I was completely terrified of the shark infested waters, this is when I learned that if dolphins are around, then there are no sharks. This tour we went on was completely amazing with being able to see the cliffs on the side of the land and the beautiful clear water. The tour also seemed pretty scary looking back at it since the tour guide threw us in the water and around 15 people had to hold onto a rope behind a boat.
While looking back at the trip as a 21 year old, I appreciate the views and opportunities I gained from visiting. It is a very peaceful place wherever you go which definitely seems like it would be a fun country to get a job in. My aunt’s family that lives there also owns their own vineyard. Luckily I have been told that I am always welcome and could easily work on the vineyard. It would be such a great experience that some people wouldn’t be able to have and is very hard to turn down.
This experience of walking throughout their vineyard and hills on their land is something like I have never experienced before. There is much more open land than many places I have seen before. It is much different being in another country because nearly everything is different than we are used to. Multiple brand names are changed such as Burger King being a Hungry Jack’s and the food is much different as well.
This experience of travelling this far away is something I will never forget. There were so many activities and trips that my family and I did while visiting this unknown country. It was definitely one of the best times of my life and I would go back in a heartbeat if I could.
Map of Adelaide
My name is Teresa and I am an environmental science student here at Longwood. I am very passionate about science in general. I used to be a science and math tutor and I am currently a ranger at High Bridge State Park. Environmental science combines my passions of the great outdoors and science. I enjoy studying geology, chemistry, and renewable energies. I have the aspiration to go to graduate school for a masters in environmental science or geology after graduation. I would love to be an environmental resource manager or a chief geologist in the future. I hope to gain new knowledge here at Longwood and I am very excited for me career endeavours.
Congratulations to Ireland Seagle, an English major with a concentration in Professional Writing, for getting hired as a consultant at Longwood’s Writing Center! Ireland will begin her training next semester.
In the fall of 2021, Ireland completed an internship with Dr. Heather Lettner-Rust to create a Canvas site for Civitae, Longwood’s general education program. Ireland collected information, created and/or edited content, and edited graphics for the site.
Ireland’s fall activities also included working as a Website and Social Media Manager for our Professional Writing Program as part of her Multimedia Project for Dr. Elif Guler’s “Introduction to Digital Writing” course. Ireland collaborated with Claire Lesman, also a Professional Writing concentrator, to design a new website for the Professional Writing Program. Ireland also regularly created effective digital content (with sound and graphics) for the Professional Writing Program’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.
In addition to her writing endeavors, Ireland is a member of the Stampede Athletic Pep Band that plays at Longwood’s men’s home basketball games.
The Professional Writing Program is proud of Ireland’s drive for success and continued accomplishments!
Senator Mark Warner has recently recognized Amber Thomas, an English major with a concentration in Professional Writing and a member of Cormier Honors College, for her academic achievements and professional work at Longwood University.
Senator Mark Warner congratulates Amber Thomas
In the fall of 2021, Amber worked for Longwood Writing Center (both as a consultant and an assistant director), where she participated in the job search committee for new consultants (hired 11 new consultants who will go through training in the spring semester). Amber also revised and finalized the Center’s new mission statement and co-managed the Center’s Instagram page, where she introduced a new trend of “Meme-Monday” posts that have become quite popular with our students.
In addition, Amber has been serving as the Director of Longwood’s 2022 Big Event (a Community Service Organization), which will be held on Saturday, March 26th. The event is open to students who wish to thank the local Farmville community by completing various community service projects in town. Amber enhanced the Big Event’s public relations efforts by participating in the Involvement Fair handing out candy and flyers on Halloween.
During the semester, Amber also held a roundtable event with representatives from various student organizations that support marginalized populations on campus and volunteered for the annual Campus Safety Walk.
In addition to her campus service and professional work, Amber has recently completed an independent study on Professional Writing Pedagogy; for this study, she collected and created a handbook of open educational resources that she could also use in her future professional writing and teaching endeavors.
Amber’s goals for the next semesters include mentoring incoming Honors students and participating in Longwood Work Shadow Program with two alumni in the fields of marketing and real estate training.
The Professional Writing Program is continuously impressed with Amber’s accomplishments! More information on Amber’s experiences and activities can be found in her portfolio: Amber Thomas ePortfolio
Congratulations to Emily Robertson, one of our new Professional Writing minors, on a successful semester serving as a Feature Writer and on being elected to serve as a leader at two major student organizations at Longwood!
During the fall of 2021, Emily has served as a Feature Writer for The Rotunda, Longwood’s Student Newspaper, where she wrote weekly articles about student’s accomplishments and special events on campus.
Emily has also recently been elected as Vice President of Longwood’s Honors Student Association and President of Longwood College Democrats, a student organization for which Emily worked as a Social Media Manager and coordinated canvassing events for political campaigns across Virginia.
Emily’s fall semester successes also include a national journal submission, a rhetorical analysis completed in Dr. Elif Guler’s English 165, to UReCA: The NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity. Emily had presented this analysis at Longwood’s 2020 Student Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry.
Emily’s goals for the next semesters include completing an internship with Longwood’s Communication Studies Department.
Keep up the good work, Emily! It’s great to have you on board in our Professional Writing Program!
I was working at the Center for Cultural Engagement which is the connection of the study abroad center. Responsibilities were included, but are not limited to, various video editing and posting as required. Individual and combined clips of international students, Conducting additional student interviews via video, for later use. Sending surveys and collecting data as requested. SAnd assisting the CGE to implement consultant initiatives for digital marketing, completing tasks as requested from the other sections of the department.
In the beginning I worked for the Study Abroad Program center putting up posters and helping to set up the study abroad fair with the intern from that department. Before moving on to doing research for the global engagement center, I was looking into how other universities that are part of a conference and what they do to try and engage international students by looking into their social media. I had to compare and contrast all of them as well as come up with future ideas based on the information I found to make the social media project better (to give ideas to a consultant).
Afterwards I was given the opportunity to video interview many international students for different projects. Some were for the international student program and how they are handling their school life and academics. The second project was on the bridge program students and how the programed has helped them with being in America. And finally a new master’s program was introduced because of the Center for Global Engagement and I interviewed the one student that had been a part of it.
I finished the projects for Winnie from Taiwan, Nina from Columbia, Gui from Spain, Crystal from Nigeria, and Silvia from Italy. They all had different experiences while being at Longwood and I tried to show their individuality.
https://longwood.app.box.com/folder/151991653383
Towards the end, I would say this experience had helped me get to know the office better as well as the students. Since I spent the beginning of my internship in the office. I have also been offered a job to work their for another year after the internship ends.
I faced the lack of knowledge that I didn’t feel prepared for, when making the videos I couldn’t feel content with any of them. And because of situations they were not able to turn out the way that I had wanted them.
My main problems came when I needed to edit on the greenscreen and it either came out different than I had hoped or untangled. So I did have to receive help, not that I am ashamed of that but I was hoping I would be able to just do it.
It has given me another option, I did enjoy working with international students and seeing how a global engagement office works. I would definitely apply to a university to work in this kind of office, it overall gave me perspective I hadn’t thought of before.
I was able to work well with everyone, and schedule on time as I was able to keep things consistent. I overall enjoyed my time researching other schools and I feel that I was able to use my researching skills well.
I am disappointed in my edits, however, it gave me practice and I will be able to do better in the future with this knowledege.
When sitting down with my director, she told me that I had surpassed her expectations. Even though we had not gotten through the entire list of things she wanted done, she would like to continue to work together to complete the list.
It was more hands off and I appreciated that, she asked for timelines and I gave them to her and more or less met the deadlines. She met with me once a week to check in and to give me new work to do and I believe that was the most helpful to me. Because to be breathed down my neck would have not been a helpful way of getting me to do my best, I would only be working fast. So her approach had me getting things done properly.
Yes, this was a great place to work. Always make sure you are following the schedule and checking in because the office is always busy but they do need the social media help as well as videos to be made for promotion and to gain the interest of prospective international students. So come ready to bring ideas.
Research question
How Can Take-Home Activities Encourage Children’s Involvement In Participating In Family Activities.
Dependent variable
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Independent variable
Explain why these are good/well written questions.
To understand the importance or the extent to which parents are involved in their child’s life it’s significant to grasp on what might cause parental relationship with their children to decline. Parents’ educational level can influence the degree to which a child may be nurtured due to socioeconomic factors such as income, marital status and occupation. As a result, parental involvement might vary based on resources available to one’s environment. However, the questions will also aid in comprehending and comparing the similarities and differences between parental involvement among single and double parent households.
Discuss best practices for survey research
When conducting a survey research it is important to make the topic clear to the participants and prevent using double-barreled questions because it might cause the participant to misinterpret questions. However, questions must be structured in a sense which respondents should be willing and competent to answer.
The world has never been more connected today than it has ever been in the past. No other generation has been able to say that they can go online and search for news of things happening halfway across the world, and we can also search out and speak with people from differing cultural backgrounds on forums or chat rooms any time of the day. So, being this connected means that we are in a unique place of cultural awareness and appreciation, right?
That’s not necessarily the case.
In our heavily connected world, we still have issues of communication on a global level. This could not be any more obvious than with the recent discussions of climate change that happened at COP26 only a few months ago. On an issue that affects everyone across the world, one might expect each and every nation to be willing to step up and take responsibility for their country’s actions. What really happens is larger nations fumbling to agree with new ideas and smaller nations pushing blame away from them. No one is willing to take the fall or step up when they need to, and I believe this is in part due to people’s rigid idea of who they are at the base of things.
A person’s identity is the very core of who they are. As Martin and Nakayama put it, “identity is our self-concept, who we think we are as a person” (2008). These views of ourselves change over time as we grow and experience the world; it does not happen all at once where we wake up one day and suddenly discover something new about ourselves. We can have multiple different personalities, making them very dynamic, and we are influenced by the society around us that we must adapt to.
In a world becoming increasingly more globalized, I think a major issue is people refusing to leave their comfort zones and go explore the world outside of the social circles that are familiar to them. It’s scary to explore the unknown and to be sometimes thousands of miles away from home, but refusing to see what the world has to offer stunts your personal growth and might even affect your career. Because of international interconnectedness, it has been studied that up to 92% of employers prefer to hire someone who has experience abroad over other candidates. Staying home is only going to hurt you in the long run.
A good way to overcome the issue of identity is to study abroad. When someone is out in the world and thrown into a culture that is nothing like where they come from, their personal identity is challenged. It may not always feel great to begin with, as one study found that students abroad sometimes felt angry, annoyed, and vulnerable when they first integrated into a new culture (Young, Natrajan-Tyag & Platt, 2015). The same study found that those experiencing these negative feelings quickly began to overcome those feelings until they felt like they were a part of the new culture they were experiencing.
Time and time again, stories are shared of people living in new cultures and changing because of their experience. Blankvoort et al. found that students had experiences abroad “which contributed to personal and professional development, greater confidence in the students’ own professional identities, as well as an increasing sense of cultural awareness” (2019). These experiences are important not only because a personal identity can change, but the global identity of someone can shift as well. In a study of American students who had been sent abroad to South Africa, it is noted from interviews of the students that they weren’t only introduced to the South African culture, but also to the cultures of other international students studying abroad at the same time. These other students came from all walks of life including places like China and Singapore, one American student commenting that, “‘It is nice that… people from different backgrounds can still be friends’” (Willet, 2013). These students had the ability to interact with clothes outside of even the culture they were being immersed in, allowing them the unique perspective of what it means to be an American abroad. It is an experience that can both strengthen your identity while also altering it to be more open to the world.
If we ever wish to be in a world that is peacefully connected and understanding of one another, we have to be open to other cultures and the differences those cultures bring with them. Studying abroad is a great tool to aid in the journey of cultural awareness, and it is something that is happening more and more as time goes on. While most of these accounts come from students of higher education and their experiences in other countries, nothing is stopping someone who has already graduated or even high school students from experiencing the world through complete immersion. To help change the world, we must first change ourselves.
Sources:
Blankvoort, N., Kaelin, V. C., Poerbodipoero, S., & Guidetti, S. (2019). Higher education students’ experiences of a short-term international programme: Exploring cultural competency and professional development. Educational Research, 61(3), 356–370.
Deutsche Welle. (2021). COP26: ‘not yet where we need to be’ on climate, Merkel says – as it happened: DW: 01.11.2021. DW.COM. Retrieved December 7, 2021, from https://www.dw.com/en/cop26-not-yet-where-we-need-to-be-on-climate-merkel-says-as-it-happened/a-59683494.
Martin & Nakayama (2008). Experiencing Intercultural Communication
Matthews, K. (2017, December 7). Want a job? new research shows studying abroad may get you hired. HuffPost. Retrieved December 7, 2021, from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/want-a-job-new-research-p_b_8474418.
Willet, M. (2013). Tools & Resources. University of South Carolina. Retrieved December 7, 2021, from https://sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/research/news_and_pubs/caravel/archive/2018/study_abroad.php.
Young, J. T., Natrajan-Tyagi, R., & Platt, J. J. (2015). Identity in Flux: Negotiating Identity While Studying Abroad. Journal of Experiential Education, 38(2), 175–188.
