Natural Resources, Sciences, and Fisheries Career Day

Yesterday was an important day for those UAF students trying to devise a plan for next summer. UAF hosts a career day for students interested in natural resources and natural sciences. Federal, state, and private employers are invited to campus to talk to students about seasonal, full-time, and internship opportunities.

Employers from all over Alaska (and some from the Lower 48) speak with students about potential jobs, benefits, resume advice, and schooling. It's a great opportunity for students to meet people who were once in the same boat and know how exhaustive the job search can be! The representatives are more than happy to answer any questions, and they like seeing students' initiative to join them in conversation.

UAF always strives to give students chances to connect with employers. UAF's Career Services also sets up job shadow opportunities so students can see what a "day on the job" would be like. Check out the Career Services website at http://www.uaf.edu/career! It's packed with helpful information for students.

Though I haven't gotten a job specifically through this event, I've made connections to federal agencies like the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and United States Geological Survey that have set up my field jobs. Getting your name out there is the most important part, and it's pretty easy to do here in Fairbanks!

Some October Events!

Hi! We're a month into the school year and we've had some amazing events.  We also have some awesome events coming up.  There is bound to be something that you're interested in, and while I'm talking just about this year, events like these happen every year!

If you are 21+, our pub on campus has a smoke-free environment with entertainment almost nightly.  So far this month, we've had a poetry slam, a 90's hip-hop dance, Panopticon (a band), pub trivia, and an open mic night!  Coming up at the pub this month still includes karaoke night, a Halloween Bash and more fun nights!  It's a fun place to meet up with friends and have some tasty nachos.

The Student Activities Office has events almost weekly!  This month they've had a comedian, movies that haven't come out on DVD yet, and a huge dance!  Events to come include a Halloween Carnival, a concert (Tobacco) and a Thrill The World event!  Most of these events are really cheap, because they know we're college students.

If you are into the sports scene, there have been hockey and volleyball games as well as swim meets! It's fun to watch the Nooks play and cheer on people you might have a class or two with.  There are more sporting events to check out as well.  One of my friends has started a club to help influence students to get to sporting events! It's called the Nanook Pride Club.  For every hockey game you attend, you get one point.  Every basketball and volleyball game: two points! For every meet (swimming, rifle, running and skiing): three points!  The points accumulate to win prizes!  There is rumor that there will be a drawing at the end of the season with the people tied for the highest points to win an Alaska Air ticket!

There have been guest lecturers, such as Patch Adams, plays and many, many other awesome events that have occurred this month.  If you're ever bored, it's probably your own fault :)

Opportunities at UAF

Imagine you've just graduated from college. You're at an interview for what could be your dream job, and the interviewer says, "show me some of the work you've done in the past".

So what if during your college experience you never did get the time to do an internship; what do you show the interviewer?

This is where the many opportunities at UAF come into play. I can't begin to emphasize how wonderfully the classes at UAF tie into one another. Especially if your a business student like I am. The business program may be the smallest at UAF, but it certainly packs some punch when it comes to preparing its students for the "real world". Once a student reaches their upper level classes, they tend to all tie into one another so well, that projects from one class can be applied in another. This is exactly what I am able to do.

Currently I am a business student in my senior year. I am fortunate enough that in three of my classes I am able to tie together my projects, and create one larger project, adding to my portfolio that I will be able to show potential employers one day.

For example, in my Small Business Management course I am putting together a business plan on a wedding planning business. Of course everyone got to choose what they were interested in working on; my interests just happen to lie in opening a wedding planning business one day. So I am working on putting together a business plan for what I hope one day will become reality.

Then, in another one of my classes, Advertising, Sales, and Promotion, I was able to put together an advertising campaign for the hypothetical business. And, last but not least, for my Management of Information Systems class I was able to put together a website for the hypothetical business. All these projects from different classes may have individually have been a bunch of random little projects. But since these upper level classes tie together so well, I was able to tie my individual projects into one larger project, that I will one day be able to present as part of my portfolio.

Check out some of the work that has been done so far....

http://www.akweddingplanning.webs.com/

Winter is Here!!!

The snow is finally here and it is here to stay. Old man winter has come and the winter activities will be commencing with much anticipated vigor this year. There are all kinds of outdoor activities to experience that everyone is sure to enjoy; whether your passion is skiing, skating, ice-climbing, mountaineering, sledding, snow machining, curling, hockey, watching the northern lights, or simply playing in the snow with friends. Fairbanks is everyone's oyster that is ready to be discovered and opened.
Winter is the best part of the alaskan experience and everyone should take advantage of it to its fullest potential, but don't forget to do your homework first ; ).

Journalism field experience

It wasn't an ordinary Thursday, as I woke up at 4:45 am to bike to campus. Who in their right mind would wake up at that hour? Believe me, it was pretty painful. But if I hadn't done it, I would have missed out on a day of army training exercises at Fort Greely, which is about a 2 hour drive from Fairbanks.

My News Reporting & Writing professor had told my class, and many other journalism classes, about an opportunity to "embed" with a unit of the 1-25th Stryker Brigade of Fort Wainwright. While 2 fellow journalism students and I had been told that meant we'd follow the 5-1 Cavalry on a scenario set up like a real war situation, we ended up getting a tour of training exercises. It included riding up part of Donnelly Dome in a Stryker (see above image with UAF student Faith Minnema on the right), learning about the gunnery range and riding in a Humvee behind a firing Stryker, meeting some Afghan men who help out with scenarios, and watching the medical unit take care of a staged emergency medical situation. What a day!

UAF's departments try to get students out "in the field" as much as possible, as I've witnessed through both the biology and journalism departments. The experiences I've had have given me many photography and story opportunities for which I'm grateful. The skills I've learned and used are invaluable for the future. I'm already looking forward to my next unique field opportunity!

Check out the UAF Journalism site! www.uaf.edu/journal