Therapy Dogs - December 1st

LAMP's Therapy Dog Stress Relief Night!!

Final assignments killing your buzz? Need a break from exam prep? Missing your dog? Come out to LAMP’s THERAPY DOG STRESS RELIEF NIGHT! You deserve a break from all of your hard work, so drop in for a couple hours of puppy play. The St. John Ambulance Therapy Dogs and their owners will be coming to Western to help relieve student stress by giving you the opportunity to play around with the loveable pups for a few hours.

When: December 1^st from 7-9 pm (You’ll be home in time for Grey’s)

Where: UCC 147 A/B (You could totally come on your way home from class)

Who: YOU, Friends, Therapy Dogs, Volunteers, LAMP Leaders

Bring your friends and see you there!

Attention: Engineers!!

Hey Eng!

Here are some articles that you might find interesting and may peruse at your own leisure!

Environment, just one beneficiary of nanotechnology revolution
http://communications.uwo.ca/western_news/opinions/2011/October/ocarroll_environment_just_one_beneficiary_of_nanotechnology_revolution.html

Revolutionary toilet could change the world
http://communications.uwo.ca/western_news/stories/2011/October/revolutionary_toilet_could_change_the_world.html

Xu named new forest biorefinery Chair
http://communications.uwo.ca/western_news/stories/2011/October/xu_named_new_forest_biorefinery_chair.html

Stretching the boundaries of tissue engineering
http://communications.uwo.ca/western_news/stories/2011/September/stretching_the_boundaries_of_tissue_engineering.html

Program provides entrepreneurial power to students
http://communications.uwo.ca/western_news/stories/2011/September/program_provides_entrepreneurial_power_to_students_.html

Law student shuns tradition to stand out
http://communications.uwo.ca/western_news/stories/2011/November/law_student_shuns_tradition_to_stand_out.html



Just another reason why Eng is awesome :)

LAMP Review Session - Business 1220E

Are you a Business 1220E Student?

Prepare for the Finance Exam with LAMP!

When? Wednesday, November 2nd at 4:30 PM

Where? Social Sciences 2036

Belonging Challenge

The FIRST-YEAR RESOURCE CENTRE is here JUST FOR YOU!

This year, our theme is BELONGING and we have a number of initiatives in place to explore what BELONGING means to YOU!

Have you heard about our "Envisioning Belonging" Contest? You may enter as an individual or as part of a group!

Use your imagination and any form of creative expression when you think about BELONGING!
Create some form of Art to express what BELONGING means to YOU!

Why not...
Create a short video (3 minutes or less)
Take an unusual photographic
Write a short poem or a short story

Entries can be submitted in a number of ways:
For a video submission, upload the video to the internet and then send us the URL.
Video URL Addresses and Photographic entries should be submitted electronically to fyresource@uwo.ca by Friday, November 18 at midnight.
Hard copy or physical entries should be submitted to the First-Year Resource Centre (UCC251) in person by 4pm on Friday, November 18

Come to our meeting on Wednesday, November 23 (5-6:30pm) UCC210 to see and/or hear the winners of the Envisioning Belonging Contest!
First Prize: $200 Second Prize: $125 Third Prize: $75

We look forward to meeting you at the FIRST-YEAR RESOURCE CENTRE - A Place Where You BELONG!

Conversation café

Direct link: http://www.facebook.com/groups/westerncafe/

Welcome to Western - Class of 2015!!

We are thrilled to welcome you to Western and look forward to meeting you very soon.


LAMP offers many supports and ways to get involved in your first year. Don't forget if you want to participate in the First Year Committee, Apply online: https://careercentral.uwo.ca/secure/jobs/?command=view&jobPostingID=15749, you must first be logged into CareerCentral to follow the above URL.

We will select a first year student to represent each faculty. The First Year Committee Members will help with:

• Promoting events to other first year students
• Planning events and fundraisers for the Western and London Community
• Help create/write a Youth In Action Grant and run an event if grant is approved
• Promoting volunteer opportunities for first year students around the London and campus community
• Assist with the Borrowed Shoes Diversity Challenge in the Winter Term (2012)

LAMP Wide Event for all First Year Students
LAMP Kick-off 
Sept 17th 1-3pm
Health Sciences Building Room 40
Guest Speaker: Bethany Butzer PhD, Wellness Advisor

“Welcome to Western! Five Tips to Make the Most of Your First Year Experience”

The transition to university can be challenging. Moving to a different city, making new friends, and starting an academic degree can intimidate even the most dedicated and confident student. Luckily, there are several things you can do to successfully navigate through your first year. In this talk, Dr. Bethany Butzer will share tips and techniques to help you reduce overwhelm and enjoy your academic journey.

Meet your peer mentor, connect with other students in your faculty/program and enjoy some fun activities!

Stay tuned for your Faculty Meet and Greet Events and more LAMP events!

How student involvement is perceived in the workplace

Tuesday, March 29th - LAMP's IMPROV(e) Your Summer Event

If you're wondering what to do over the summer, you'll want to come to this event.

Also, we have the AWESOME and incredibly funny Improv team from Western visiting us again! (You remember them, right? They opened our kick-off event way back in September)

Looking for a place to study for exams?

Hey LAMP,

What's with all the snow, eh? As deceiving as it is, spring exams are just around the corner! If looking for a place to study during the winter exams was off-putting, don't worry, we've got your back--T.I and Keri Hilson style

....ANYWAYS

To help you with your studies, we've booked a study room on various dates for you to use, that way you don't have to worry about jockey-ing for a seat in Weldon.

If you do use these rooms, please be mindful of other people who are studying there as well! And be sure to clean up after yourself.

April 9 - UC 212, 10am-7pm

April 13- UC 287, 10am-7pm

April 14- UC 220, 10am-7pm

April 20- UC 287, 10am-7pm

April 21- UC 287, 10am-7pm

Healthy Living Tips

Anyone make a resolution to eat/be healthier in 2011 and on?

Here's a quick tip sheet made by the Engineering team that will help keep you in line with living healthy.

CoffeeHouse Thank yous

A belated post entry, but a huuuuge

THANK YOU

to all who came out on Sunday, March 6th for LAMP's CoffeeHouse! And especially our performers!

Thanks to your generous donations and raffle ticket purchases, we raised $200 for Unity Project!

We hope you enjoyed the show :)

edit: Check out the pictures from some of the performances that night!

Out in the Office - March 16th

Out in the Office is an exciting new initiative brought to you by Pride Western and The Student Success Centre. This conference-style event is intended to provide a safe space for students to dialogue about the challenges and opportunities associated with being open about your sexual orientation and gender expression/identity in the workplace.

Details of the event can be found here.

Listening to Gaga as I write this...coincidence?

Living off campus/Cooking

For those who are living off campus next year (or at least have access to a kitchen), you'll most likely face the daunting task of cooking.



Don't worry though, it's not as bad as you think it is! If you were thinking of asking your parental units to stock your freezer with pre-cooked meals...well that's good for the first month or two, but even as much as your parents love you, they'll undoubtedly start to get frustrated. And believe it or not, cooking/baking is a great stress reliever.

The most difficult part about cooking is probably trying to come up with something to make, so here's a list of sites that you'll want to bookmark. Everything from apps to blogs that will help you navigate around the culinary world.



Foodgawker is an excellent resource for cooking ideas. It pretty much acts like a database of recipes. An added bonus is that it gets updated pretty much every day. Most blogs have step by step photo instructions too. A word of caution though, you'll start to feel hungry after the second page.

Allrecipes.com: classic site, plenty of recipes and reviews from people who have tried them. And if you don't know what to make, try Allrecipes.com's app, Dinner Spinner. You can input the ingredients that you have and what not, very helpful.

Other sites to check out:

• Epicurious.com: Similar to Allrecipes.
  
• Food Network: note the 'Quick and Easy' tab at the top. Very important for students.
  

I Wish I'd Known Sooner #5 - Saving your work

I'm skeptical to have this entry as a "I Wish I'd Known Sooner"...it might fit better as "I Wish I'd Listen" instead, regardless, it's good to know.

Let me just put it out there:

BACK UP YOUR WORK BEFORE ANYTHING HAPPENS TO YOUR COMPUTER!

This is not a sight you want to see:

And then trying to turn your laptop back on, only to learn that it won't turn on? Not fun.

Let me tell you a story of how my laptop crashed on me, twice.

The first time happened in first year near the end of the semester. I was between assignments (just finished one, had to start on another) when the blue screen of death appeared before me on my HP. I had yet to hand in my essay on turn it in and spent the rest of the semester writing my other essay on my friends' computer and the computer labs.

Two years after that was the last leg of my HP. It was April and I was working on my final paper for my Advertising course. It had to be 7 pages and I was 5 pages through with it. And guess what happened? The motherboard (whatever that is) was a goner.

Moral of the story: back up your work.

LAMP's ITR Info Day - March 8

Hey LAMP! If you have questions about ITR and what courses to take for next year, you will want to check out this event on Tuesday. It's a drop-in, so come by between classes.

Also, check back the blog regularly...we'll be posting course reviews from your lovely Peer Mentors (MIT has some posted today!). Course descriptions from UWO's academic calendar are nice, but it's kind of bland...

LAMP Charity Coffee House - Sunday, March 6th 2011

Welcome back everyone!

LAMP's First Year Committee has been hard at work organizing the next LAMP Wide event: an upcoming charity coffee house. We've paired up with SOCS to bring you a great night of entertainment, all in support of Unity Project's Art Workshop.

You won't want to miss it...musical acts, a magician and stand-up comedy are just some of the acts you'll see.

Not to mention, an AMAZING raffle (sneak peak: one of the prizes is $50 Downtown Dollars)

Check out the Facebook event here.

2011 USC Elections, who do I vote for?!

What is this election business you speak of?
Well, USC Elections are going on RIGHT NOW and you can check out a list of candidates and their positions here.

And I know there's lots of buzz about this candidate and that candidate that you might base your vote on, but seriously, get informed before you make your decision.

Voteusc.ca has all the info you need on the three candidates running for USC President. So take a time and half a read through their platforms, check out their twitter/videos/etc,.

I've made my decision, when do I get to vote?!
Voting takes place Feb 15-16, with elections results night on the 16th. It's a party, check it out. And it's being hosted by BPC (Big Purple Couch)...doesn't get much better than that!


phew, hopefully that entry was objective enough for you all!

I Wish I'd Known Sooner #4 - Speaker series are actually helpful

I remember I'd always get e-mails in my UWO account from 'Backpack 2 Briefcase' about networking events and speakers coming to Western. Quite honestly, I'd glance over them with my finger hovering above the delete button.

Let me tell you something...it wasn't until my last year (this year) that I decided to attend one of those speaker events and honestly, they're more enlightening than you'd think.

Monday was the first day of Career Week at Western and it was kicked off with the topic of passion-- which was great. We often think that once we enter the 'real world' (aka: work), we lose the opportunity to pursue our passions. Listening to Melissa speak on Monday though, reassured me that you don't have to sacrifice everything just to make a living. And as someone who fears that the job life would become incredibly mundane and define who you are, I ended up getting a lot out of the event.

So before you delete that e-mail, give it a chance. Take advantage of all the resources and support systems that Western offers. It's great, seriously. Sure, you learn a lot in your lectures (let's hope), but UWO offers these other learning (enlightening?) outlets that many students I think, glaze over.

There's still two more days left in Career Week, see what else is happening.

Career week, job fair, career carnival, etc,.etc,.

You mean I can't run my lemonade stand for the rest of my life?

Have your parents started pestering you about 'finding a job' yet? I know mine have. Thankfully, UWO's Career Fair is taking place next week (Jan 31-Feb 4) and if anything, it'll help get your mind rolling on the job front.

Let me break down the highlights for you:

• Participate in events, you can win an iPad! Great for passing time on that train/bus ride back home.
• Keynote speakers on multiple days and speaking about various subjects
• Interested in NGO? There's a networking event just for you.
  
• Did I mention that you can win an iPad?
• Feb 3: this is when companies set up booth at the Rec Centre. It's not all about the free swag (although it is fun)- Suit up, network, get a job.
  

Full details can be found at the Student Success Centre site, because there's no way that I could cover everything in this entry. If I did, it would be more of a 'copy and paste' job.

UWO offers so many resources and this is definitely one that plenty of upper years would recommend taking advantage of.

So You're Moving Off Campus

Looking for housing can be an overwhelming task. The number one rule? Don't rush into it! Everyone seems to be running around once January hits, trying to find a place. But don't worry, London has a high percent of housing availability. Think of it this way: you're going to be living there for at least 8 months (moving is a pain, I suggest you think long term when looking for a place), you -and your parents for that matter- wouldn't want to live in a run down place that has cracks in the ceiling, would you?

So thanks to Krystle, here's a run-down of all the things you'll need to consider....

When looking for housing, there are two options and many places to look for listings.
1. Off Campus Housing :

• UWO Off Campus Housing site:
  
• Gazette, Kijiji,
  
• Private Property Sites (Exclusive Rentals/London Property Corp)

2. On Campus Apartments:

• UWO owns a bunch of properties close to campus that are available for upper-year students. You will need to go through with an application process though http://www.has.uwo.ca/housing/glenmore/index.htm

Set Priorities:

• Distance to campus
• Price
• Quality/size of house

Consider the Buses (aka: How Lazy Are You?) • For popular routes (2 Dundas, 6 Richmond/13 Wellington), the buses fill up pretty fast in the morning. Fast in the sense that once it reaches a certain stop and fills up, it will most likely drive by many stops up ahead. (example: 2 Dundas tends to fill up between the stops at Oxford, Saunby or Essex; the 6/13 fills up before Huron Street)

Next steps:

• Make a list of houses you like to keep track (hint: Google street view is your friend. You can get a general feel of the area and whether or not the place looks well-kept)
  
• Call to ask about specifics and set up an appointment.
• Patience and determination!

Ask Questions! When you’re looking at places, ask lots of questions! Here are a couple to get you started

• Whose responsibility is it for snow removal/lawn care?
• Is this unit share/connected to another one? If so, are there separate entrances?
• When are the last renovations that you did? (this will let you get an idea of how much the landlord cares about his/her property)
• Don't be afraid of asking the current tenants questions. After all, they're the ones who know the place well. (side story: recently, my landlord was showing my place and the people who came to see it literally spent less than 2 minutes in the house and had no questions. I ask you, how can you get a sense of a place that fast??)
  

House Inspection

• Look at the size (smallest bedroom?)
• Look for mold, disrepair, etc.
• How new are the appliances?
• Who shovels the driveway/cuts the grass?
• Is parking available?
• Who pays for utilities (hint: it's easiest if it's included in your rent)
  
• Is there laundry on-site? Coin operated?
• Dishwasher?
• Is the landlord a creep?
• Do they live in London? Part of a rental agency or independent?

So you really, really, really like it. What next?
Lease. The standard lease is typically 12 months.

• This is not a software license: read it.
• Might want your parents to sign it.
• The Tenant Act protects you in most cases.

Old North (aka: Student Ghetto)
• Pro: walk to campus, student neighbours
• Con: higher rent, houses are often run down and overcrowded, it’s loud during homecoming/St. Patrick’s

Downtown
• Pro: walk to the bar, lots of apartments, lots of restaurants/shops nearby
• Con: Usually have to take bus, higher rent, less nice looking areas

Near West/Near South:
• Pro: can usually walk to campus, cheaper, nicer suburban houses
• Con: further from downtown, retired/family neighbours

Masonville:
• Pro: near the mall, near Loblaws
• Con: likely have to bus, might get retired/family neighbours

Any Further Out
• Pro: Can find nicer houses for less money.
• Con: Be ready leave early for class on the bus every morning, or get a car.

Well folks, that's it. If this blog post gets any longer it will need to be put in a book.
Good luck!
I'll be expecting a housewarming party invite in the mail come September.

What do past and present student leaders have to say about getting involved?

It's that time of year again! Applications for leadership opportunities next year have rolled out and are soon due. Whatever position you decide to apply to, it's a great opportunity. Past and present student leaders have found it to be a rewarding experience, check out their testimonials:

"Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a nudge in the right direction" - Ryan W. LAMP Science Peer Mentor

"I never expected LAMP to become such a big part of my life. Having been involved with the program for 4 years now, LAMP has truly been inspirational to me. From being a beneficiary of the program to becoming a leader, I have seen the program grow for the better, extending help to help fulfill Western's promise of offering one of the best student experience possible. Along the lines of personal growth, I have learned so much about myself from contributing to this program. It only takes one decision to give back to the student community, and in my opinion, LAMP is the best way to go about doing just that." - Ming Lai W. Student Co-ordinator

"There's no better way to get involved or to know Western better than to be a part of LAMP. As a mentor, you not only help those around you by sharing your knowledge of resources around Western, but you also learn a lot about them as well. I don't think my university experience would have been complete without it. The people you work with, I think, are what make LAMP so amazing. You definitely get as much as you put into the program." - Jessica L. Leadership Chair Co-ordinator

"In my second year, I was a LAMP Peer Mentor and I loved my experience so much, I decided to become more involved with the Student Success Centre becoming an SAO Leader, a Career Leader, and a LAMP Team Leader. Being a Student Leader is such a rewarding experience. You acquire a unique and invaluable skill set developing communication, delegation, teamwork, organization, facilitation skills...and much, much more! You meet so many other amazing student leaders and, of course, have a lot of fun" -

Hilary W. SAO Leader, Career Leader and LAMP Health Sci Team Leader