Major Highlight: Management Information Systems (MIS)

Hi everyone! My name is Nina McKee, and I am friends with the girls at Friends at the Woods. I am excited to be writing this guest post for December! I am a junior and a Management InformationSystems (MIS) Major at William Woods University. MIS is a lot like Information Technology (IT) with a business component.

SWAT

              

  Last semester, I joined the WWU Student Website Advancement Team (SWAT). This is a student-run business on campus that helps businesses create, update, or improve their websites. It is an awesome club which has been helping me improve my technology skills and make new connections both on and off campus!

International Travel

International Travel is different, at least it is to me. So far in my life that is all I have done, I’ve never flown just within the states. Last year as some of you might know I went to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands during our Spring Break and this month I am prepping to leave for Belize at the end of December, so forth I decided to write this on international travel, so here we begin.

I'm not a horse person but I sure have learned a lot!

Going to school here at William Woods it is impossible to not know someone who is in the equestrian program. It effects everyone here and even if you aren’t in the program you end up learning quite a bit about horses, the barn and the whole nine yards. Jennah and Morgan are both EQS majors and Aly is an EQS minor. Megan is neither a major or minor but she has been around horses before and rides sometimes when she is at home. So that leaves me, Lacey, the only person in the group who does not have a horse background. And so, I am writing a post about a non-equestrian person’s perspective into the program.

Celebrate the Holidays with us...Thanksgiving 2017

Hi friends, this past weekend was thanksgiving and in my family this means a lot of

parties and turkey, lots and lots of turkey. I have two days of parties that I went to for thanksgiving because my family is so big.

Planning a Quidditch Tournament at William Woods University

Hope all is well and that your Thanksgiving was great! Today you’ll get the great opportunity to see why I have pulled my hair out. I’m fully kidding. As you all might know, I am the team manager of our Quidditch team here at William Woods University. For about the past couple of months I have been organizing an Quidditch Tournament on March 24^th, free to the public. So here we go on the broom ride.

A Major Highlight into the Biology Pre-Vet Program

Hey everyone! This week we had a friend of ours write a post on Her major. Her name is Kira, you might remember her from our hiking post from last year or her post on Having and Quitting a Job. She went to Freshman Advantage (the summer program here at WWU) with Megan, Aly, and I. She is a sophomore in the Honor's Program who is majoring in Biology/Pre-Vet.

     ~Lacey

  BIOLOGY PRE-VET  

             I am majoring in biology with a concentration in pre-veterinary medicine. I have wanted to be a veterinarian since I was little because I love animals and there have been many instances where the animals in my life have needed medical help.

How I Train My Horse

Hello, friends!

Now I know that I talk a lot about my horses but…I’m about to do it again haha. I know that most of you know from many of the other posts from my fellow blogger friends that doing other things while college is going on is hard. However, trying to train your one year old horse, who you all know is my beautiful boy Star, is difficult.

Why I Go Home on the Weekends

Hello, friends I don’t know if you guys know, but this semester I am taking class Monday though Thursday and I don’t have any class on Friday. Every weekend I go home and my roommates hate this because they like to hang out all together in our room or go out and do something together but I am never there. There are a few reasons that that I do this.

My Trip to Kentucky...Day 4

Sunday October 15th 2017

 

                Sunday morning we woke up and once again had to be ready to leave at 9:00 AM, this time with all of our stuff packed up so we could check out of the hotel. We loaded everything into the vans and headed to church. The interpreter found a church which had Deaf Sunday school about 30 min from the hotel and not too incredibly far from the Ark Encounter. When we arrived she looked at me and told me I would be interpreting Sunday School, and she meant it, kind of.

Adventures as a Teaching Tech

For EQS (Equestrian Science) majors at WWU, there are a series of classes called Teaching Tech. The first class is a theory class, where students learn basic teaching concepts and how to formulate lesson plans. Once the student is first aid certified, they can take Teaching Tech 2, 3, 4 and Seminar. During these classes, the student chooses their main riding discipline and becomes an assistant for the instructor during riding classes. Here are my experiences as a tech so far!

Magic the barn cat sitting in a feed box

My Trip to Kentucky...Day 3

Saturday October 14th 2017

 

                We woke up the next morning, got ready for the day, and ate a hot breakfast at the hotel, before meeting in the lobby at nine. For some of us (me) this was normal, other people thought this was the crack of dawn. Before we set out we passed out our matching T-Shirts so we could easily find each other at the museum that day. Then we all piled into the vans and rode over to the museum where we had a group picture taken first thing so we wouldn’t forget.

Celebrate the Holidays with Us...Halloween

On one spooky day, Aly and Megan dressed up. Hey guys! It’s Aly and Megan reporting on what we did for Halloween. Halloween was a Tuesday this year and we decided to dress up even though we still had classes, but no costume contest this year at the Woods. Aly dressed up as a Witch this year and she dressed up for the whole day. Megan on the other dressed up as the Grinch for the event the CA’s were putting on that night.

My Trip to Kentucky.... Day 1&2

Sometime over the summer the Deaf Sunday School at my church found out about Deaf Day at the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter in Kentucky. It was a day for Deaf from all over to come to the Museum when they knew it would be completely filled with other Deaf and there would be Interpreters around every corner to help. We were all very excited about the trip and plans were made. There were 23 of us altogether including:

• 4 Deaf,
• 1Hard of Hearing,
• 1 Interpreter,
• 1 future Interpreter (me!) 
•  3 CODA’s (Child Of a Deaf Adult) (one of which was the interpreter)
• 2 other people who know ASL
• 4 people who are learning or simi-fluent in ASL
• 8 people who know 30 signs or fewer

 I wish I had kept a log every night of what had happened that day; I did not, however I took a lot of pictures to show you all and I am writing from memory, Yay Me!

Having a Job...And Quitting

Hey everyone! This week we had a friend of ours write a post on having and quitting job. Her name is Kira, you might remember her from our hiking post from last year. She went to Freshman Advantage (the summer program here at WWU) with Megan, Aly, and I. She is a sophomore in the Honor's Program who is majoring in Biology/Pre-Vet.

     ~Lacey

A Major Highlight into the Criminal Justice Program

Criminal Justice, a career that can take you places in the world. I wish one day for my work to take me all over the world, but what I can I say I really don’t know what the future holds for me. So, I’m here now to tell you about my major...

   CRIMINAL JUSTICE    

College in Disney Songs

At the end of all of my posts I sign out with

 Love God, Love People, Love Disney,

~Lacey

And today I am going to touch on my love for Disney.

Here at William Woods it is midterms week, by the time this has been posted we will have finished all our midterms and I’m sure everyone will need something fun to lift their mood. So today I am going to describe college with Disney songs. However, this is going to be quiz style, I’m going to use lyrics and other references in the post and at the end will be the list of songs in order. Don’t worry, if you try you will get 100% on your test! Why? Because I am giving you the answers lol!

WWU Hunter/Jumper Derby

     Last weekend, William Woods hosted the Fall Hunter/Jumper Derby. The hunter/jumper show team runs the competition, which consists of classes anywhere from ground poles to 2’ hunters to 3’ jumpers. This was my first time showing as a Jumper, and it was a very awesome experience!

Glow Party

Hello friends,

The first week of school I went to a glow party, which to most people doesn’t sound like a big thing but to me this was a big thing. This was my first party EVER. In high school I never went to a party because I didn’t have a lot of friend and the ones that I did have didn’t go to the parties.

My First Thoughts on Being a CA

Hey Guys!! I’m here to tell you about my journey being a Community Advisor at school. Last semester I applied to become a community advisor, I wasn’t sure that I would get it but I was very hopeful that I would get notification to be a community advisor for the next semester and so on here at the woods.

WWU Summer Riding Camp - A Stablehand's Perspective

Over the summer, just like most college students, I got a job.  I had the opportunity to work with the horses at William Woods.  It ended up being a pretty rough summer, but that’s a different story.  The barn on-campus functions a lot differently over the summer than during the semester because all the students are gone.  For the summer, a lot of the horses leave campus.  They either go out to pasture or get leased out to a summer home.

The Scoop on WWU Orientation

This year, I was hired as an Orientation Leader for the incoming class. It was a really neat experience! So, if you are thinking about becoming an orientation leader, or want to know the behind-the-scenes of college orientation, keep reading!

A College Sized Faith: Quiet Time

Every year, the week after Mother’s Day, my church back home has Graduate Sunday. This is the week all the High School graduates go up on stage to be acknowledged before going to college. Then, the sermon is focused on them and becoming a Christian adult. And every year a few things are said, ‘So many lose their faith in college, strive to be among the few who don’t’ ‘Make sure you find a good church to get involved with’ ‘Make good Christian friends’ AND, ‘Don’t forget about your quiet time, because if you aren’t talking to God *insert something bad here.*’ The problem with all of this is no one ever tells you HOW, they only say it needs to be done. Then when you move to college and become overwhelmed by all the changes these things become the first to fall to the wayside. Today I am going to give you 5 tips to help you have and keep your quiet time in college.

WWU Clubs

When you go to college everyone wants to give you advice. I remember checking out at Walmart and when my Dad mentioned I was going to college next week I suddenly started getting advice from the cashier, the cashier in the next lane over and the customer behind us! Most of what people say is either common sense, not worth listening to, or is repeated by everyone. One of those repeated pieces of advice is to join clubs on campus. Four of us here at Friends at the Woods agree with this wholeheartedly. We are still trying to convince Aly to join clubs but the rest of us cant imagine college without them. So, today we are each going to describe the clubs we were a part of last year. If you are coming to WWU this is a great way to see SOME of what our campus has to offer. If you aren't coming to WWU then you are going to the wrong school! JK! Maybe you can start a club like one you see here at your own school. So without further ado, WWU clubs...

Tips for Interview Success

Hey guys I hope all is well! As you know school is starting up again and for most that requires finding a job to help pay for things during your college career. Don’t stress about it, I’m here to help! There are many great resources on your campus to receive help from along with the internet where you can find help for just about anything anymore. To help you out, below are some interview tips!

Packing for College... The Complete List

Here is a compiled list of all the items discussed in our “Packing for College” series. Remember to personalize this list so that it suits your needs! You might not bring everything on this list or you might bring items that we missed. Let us know what items are not on our list! Hope this list helps you prepare for the beginning of your college journey!

Packing for College...Everything Else

Hey Guys!

Today in the last post of our Packing for College I am going to give you a list of just random items that you need around your dorm room that don’t really fit in any other category. Some of these things you will use every day and others will be every-so-often, however they were all items we used even if only one person had it and we all borrowed from that person. You might not need all of these items however, reading through this list might make you think of other things you want to bring. So here is the list of ‘Every thing else’ you should pack for college.

Packing for College...Cleaning Supplies

College dorms become dirty really quickly.  As an incoming freshman, you’ll learn it is absolutely necessary to clean your room and bathroom.  It is not necessary to go wild to buy every cleaning product you can find.  To make it easier, I have compiled a list of essential cleaning products to pack.

Packing for College... The Bulky Stuff

In this post, we will discuss the items that seem like the most troublesome things to bring: The Big Stuff. If you have a roommate, it might be helpful to coordinate with them and see if y’all want to share or just bring your own. Also consider your available space in your method of transportation to make sure you are physically able to bring these items along.

Here are some Bulky Items to consider:

Smart Eating to avoid the “Freshman 15”

The expression “Freshman 15 “ is a common term used of weight gained during a student’s freshman year of college.  As a WW freshman last year, I attempted to make smart eating choices to avoid the weight gain. 

 

 

Packing for College...the Desk

Hey guys welcome back to our blog. Today I will be helping you pack stuff for your desk. Now, not everybody uses their desks, but this will help you figure out what you should bring to college. Here at William Woods we have a 3-drew desk with a sliding drew at the top. If you are planning on going to William Woods in the Fall or in the Spring I included a photo of my freshman dorm to kind of give you an idea of what they look like.



 

Packing for College...Clothes

For the next post in the packing for college series I will be discussing clothes. Before I start I have three warnings. First, William Woods is in Missouri which means we get all kinds of weather but nothing too extreme. We get snow but hardly ever get snowed in, we get rain, but not as much as if we lived on the coast, we have heat but it barely gets above 100 and never while school is in session. I say all this to inform you that this list has clothing items for all kinds of weather; however, if you are going to school somewhere else you may not need all these items.

Packing for College...Out of State

There are a lot of variables and techniques for packing for college, but there are a few universal tips to keep in mind when traveling to another state for your education. Out-of-state college students must pack everything that a local student might bring, but also think ahead and plan for anything that they might need for various seasons and emergencies. You can’t just drive home to get something you forgot! The main thing for us out-of-staters is to understand what NOT to bring. It is super important to save space in your vehicle or suitcase for important items! Here are some tips of what not to forget and what to leave home, as well as some random advice, based on my personal experience.

Lessons We Learned Freshman Year

During this first year at college we have learned both in and out of class. We don't want to bore you with things we learned in class, however, we have compiled a list of life lessons we have learned this year to share with you. Some of them are for life in general, some of them are for college students and some of them are specifically for William Woods students. So in no specific order.......

1. It doesn't matter how hard you try, you will step on goose poop at least once while you are here. Accept it and move on.
2. Sororities (and Fraternities) are not for everyone, try recruitment just to see but if you don't feel comfortable DON'T JOIN!! But if you do go for it!!
3. This one has been said.....but your dorm room is small! Don't make it feel smaller by trying to pack everything you own in there.
4. Some of the people you consider friends at the beginning of the year might be people you don't talk to by the end of the year.
   
   

Packing for College...The Bathroom

Hey guys, I’m here to tell you about somethings you will need to pack for the bathroom when you go to college. I guarantee when you get to college there will be something you forget for the bathroom, but I’m here to help you when it comes time to take the great leap and go to college.

To start things off is just a simple list of things you will want in your medicine cabinet.

Packing for College...The Kitchen

When it comes time to go to college, the hardest part for most is leaving home.  However, deciding what to pack is difficult as well.  Of course, you don’t want to pack all of your things but you also want to make sure you pack everything you need.  The focus of this post will be on necessary kitchen items.

A College Sized Faith - Awana

            As a Christian, it is really important to me to continually seek after and strengthen my relationship with Christ. This can be difficult in college, where you are always busy with other things, but college is also the most important time to rely on Jesus since you encounter all kinds of crazy situations. Personally, it is really difficult for me to read my Bible daily and actually finish Bible studies, but I had help by becoming involved at the AWANA program at a nearby church. AWANA (All Workmen Are Not Ashamed, after 2 Timothy 2:15) is a Bible program for preschoolers-highschool seniors and focuses on Scripture Memorization. There are handbooks with Bible verses, Bible studies and Bible book summaries to memorize and complete each year. Awana meets once a week at churches all around the world and teaches kids about God and how to form a relationship with Him.

Packing for college...The Bed

Hello Everyone! And welcome to the first installment of Packing for college! Today I will be helping you make a list of what you are going to need when it comes to your bed. Whether for sleeping or if you use your bed to hang out, study, or anything else you will be spending a LOT of time on your bed and you are going to want to make it as comfy as possible. Ready?

Project 123

Hey Everybody! I hope your summers are going great! As you guys know I went to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands in March and I had some help from Project 123. This summer I am working on Project 123 hours again. This time I’m going to Belize this December. I want to let you all know what Project 123 is.

Aloha!

Fernweh

fern∙weh, noun, orig. German

     An ache for distant places; the craving for travel

Two days after arriving home from college, my family and I left for a weeklong vacation in Maui, Hawaii. Since we have not had a proper vacation in years, due to young children and expenses, we figured this was the year to have an adventure. So, I basically arrived home, dumped all my stuff in my room, packed a bag and we were off!

A Look to the Future

Hi everyone!
At our last blog meeting the five of us had a discussion about our plan for this summer. We won't be seeing each other until everyone is back on campus at the end of August and each of us have a job for the summer. However, none of us wanted to take a break from this, we wanted to continue writing  even over the summer. And so, we made a plan for the future of Friends at the Woods and we wanted to share this with you.

Me-Time in College

Hey everyone! Today I am writing this in my room at home, William Woods had finals this week and I was finished in Tuesday afternoon and by the time this is posted, most everyone else will be done with finals there too. Most other schools have one more week before they are finished so good luck to all of you!

In college there are so many things to balance and Jennah gave us some tips on that here. One of the things we must juggle is our health; physical, mental, and emotional. I gave some tips on keeping physically healthy here, but today I am going to talk about the mental and emotional side of staying healthy. I know I am not an expert on this topic but after a year in college I have a few tips about staying sane in the insane atmosphere of college.

Quidditch at William Woods

At the beginning of the year I went to the club fair and guess what? I signed up for Quidditch, I like Harry Potter and my house is Hufflepuff. When we come together though, it doesn’t matter what house you are or what school you go to. It’s a game muggles play and love it or just love the game, either way it’s still fun.  

Celebrate the Holidays with us......Easter Break

Our last celebrate the holidays with us this year! this time we are letting you in to see what we did to celebrate Easter! when your finished, let us know what you did for Easter in the comments!

College Jobs, the Truth Revealed

You’ve made it to college!  Since starting college you’ve discovered that there are a lot of different activities to juggle around in your schedule including classes, homework, clubs, LEAD events, and other extracurricular activities, and of course your own free time.  But you might have to add one more activity to that list: a job!

It’s no secret that college is expensive these days.  Because it is so expensive, few people can get away without working a job throughout college and/or going into debt.  Naturally, this makes your schedule a little tougher to handle.  Many people, if they qualify, do work study.  Others, like me, find a job.

College 4 Realz - College Classes

Education: The reason why you are at college. Classes are a major part of college and can make or break your college experience. I briefly described the difference between highschool and college classes in a previous post (here), but this post will go into more detail of what to expect and how to succeed in college level courses! Keep in mind that this is based off my personal experiences. Currently, I’ve only had 2 semesters of classes, and before that I was homeschooled (which was on my meet me page) so my personal experiences are somewhat limited 😊

My Bullet Journal

In November of 2015 I ran across something on Pinterest, it was called a Bullet Journal and I decided to try it out. I found an old notebook that only had about 20 pages left and tried it out. After filling that journal I moved on to a new notebook and filled that one too. I am now on my 4^th bullet journal in 2 ½ years and it has changed my life.

For those of you who don’t know what a bullet journal is, it is not a typical journal, it does not involve writing about your day or anything of the sort. It is more of a book of lists; to-do lists, packing lists, any list you want. You can search the internet and you will find ideas all over Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, and blogs. People all over America, and I’m sure in other countries as well, are jumping on the bandwagon. Ryder Carroll first came up with the idea and shared his system with the world here which is the simplest system. Then there are many people who have along and added their own thing (like Boho Berry, and Pretty Prints & Paper), which is exactly what Carroll wanted, it is designed so you can change it to fit YOUR needs and YOUR notebook and YOUR schedule, there is no one size fits all system here.

20 Ways to Relieve Stress in College

Finals Week is coming up soon guys! Here at William Woods we have about 3 weeks before finals week and the pressure is already here for some of us and is coming for the rest of us. So we decided to give you guys some ideas of how we relieve stress in college (and most of them are for low budget college students too!)

My Spring Break Trip

Hey guys! Spring break is over and I made it back to the states in one piece. I loved it over in Ecuador and in the Islands and if you want to know more the program click here. I have had many people ask what my favorite part of the trip was, and I must say it was snorkeling and ice cream. But really, I loved it all and I wanted to tell you about it, I kept a journal over the time span of March 2nd through March 11th and below I have provided it below. there are some random facts and sometimes is seems disorganized but I was just writing what was on my mind and what I wanted to remember.  So please, enjoy!!

Celebrate the Holidays with us......Spring Break Style

Even though spring break isn't really a holiday we thought you guys would enjoy hearing how we spent our week off of school. The only people who will not be posting with us today are Megan, who went on a very exciting trip and will be posting on Friday to tell everyone about it! (click here to see what she did!), and Victoria who worked in the bards here on campus all of break.

College 4 Realz: Money Management

                Whenever the topic of colleges comes up, usually the word money is mentioned. Tuition and room and board are the major expenses that you probably won't be able to pay for by whipping cash out of your pocket. Other expenses college students commonly meet and sometimes forget about are textbook costs, dues for various clubs, travel money, food and necessities, special clothing (usually business attire) and extra class fees. Here are some ways to maintain enough wealth to help you cover these expenses:

WWU Dance Team

Going into college one piece of advice you will hear over and over is, ‘get involved on campus,’ ‘find a club to join’ or something of the like. We all heard it a million times and it seemed to lose its meaning. Then you get to college and you see posters and flyers and emails from all these groups wanting members. And even though it was getting redundant every one of us (with the exception of Aly) joined at least two clubs on campus. And we saw what everyone was raving about! Because of these clubs you can sometimes feel overwhelmed by the amount of tasks and events you have to do for the day. However, you meet so many people, and there are so many new experiences come from your clubs; because of this even we have even given you this advice here!

The LEAD Program

Hello friends its Aly and for today's post I am going to be talking about a special program that only happens at William Woods University, it is called the LEAD Program.

A Random Adventure

On Sunday (the 19^th) Megan, Victoria, and I went on an adventure with some of our other friends, Kira and Gabie.

College 4 Realz.......Highschool Vs. College

As most of you might figure, college is vastly different than highschool. In addition to possible lifestyle changes such as moving away from home, maybe even to another state or country, and living on your own or with a stranger, there are some other major differences.

My Upcoming Trip with The Woods!!

Hello everyone!

In March I get the great opportunity to travel to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands with Woods Around the World here at William Woods University. I want to tell you guys a little bit more about my trip and what Woods Around the World is and also what Project 123 is as well. Hope you enjoy!

A Tour of My Freshman Dorm

Realizing at our last meeting that none of you know what our rooms look like, I decided to show you mine and Aly’s freshman dorm. She might choose to go more in depth on her side but I will give you an overview and a more in-depth on my side.

 

Meet the Horses in the Western Barn

Hi friends! Aly here, today I wanted to give you a little sneak peck into the Western Barn at school. I was able to take pictures of 11 horses cause, the horses live a very busy life. On to the show we go!

The Best You, You Could Be is Yourself

I was told once that I could be anything I wanted to be so I was many things. I believed I could be a princess, a fashion designer, a cow girl, even a pop star. But when I got to high school I saw who I really wanted to be and that was myself. We all go through periods of who are we? What do we stand for? And things like that. But as I say, “The best you, you can be is yourself.”

Class Scheduling

Your first semester of college is coming up and pretty soon you get to meet with your advisor for the first time to make up your first schedule.  Scheduling your first semester can be exciting but you don’t want to overload yourself! You want to avoid having a stressful schedule.  So what are some things you should take into consideration when making your schedule?

College 4 Realz......A New Semester

You arrive on campus on a chilly day, your car full of bags and suitcases packed with a winter wardrobe, new textbooks and notepads, and random Christmas presents and snacks.  You tumble into your dorm room, arms burning from the weight of too many bags so you only have to make one trip. Friends reunite in the hallways, avoiding empty rooms of the students who have left the university, never to return. You then consider several options: A) rest up for the long day of classes tomorrow B) party it up with friends to celebrate the new semester C) meticulously organize your planner and make sure you can find your new classrooms D) curl up alone or with a buddy and Netflix until you fall asleep.

Meet Megan

Hey Guys! My name is Megan and I’m a 20 year old Sophomore here at William Woods University. I am majoring in Criminal Justice and minoring in American Sign Language and Business Administrations. I’m from Putnam County Missouri and we have a pretty funny mascot there, we are known as the Midgets. I also have a twin sister, which we do a lot of things together.

How I Use Planners In College

After a semester of college and a high school senior year crazy full I had tried so many planners and different organizational methods my mom thought I was crazy. But I finally found a way to organize all of my events, classes, homework assignments, and everything else going on in my crazy life and I wanted to share. Now, I will point out that while this works for me, it might not work for you at all, or maybe you just use this to tweak your system you already use.