Attending UCA has been one of the best choices that I have ever made. I have been given opportunities to participate in a huge variety of organizations and activities on and off campus. UCA’s Residential Colleges have been instrumental in helping me to be integrated into such programs as undergraduate research, working with local businesses, and even being a mentor in STEM.

Arkansas Hall (STEM) has special rooms set aside for studying called nerd nodes. My friends and I used to meet up for study sessions and meetings in the nerd nodes where we could collaborate on projects and help each other through our classes. In EPIC, students teamed up together often meet up in the HUGE classroom in Bear Hall and take advantage of the Smart Board for working on group projects. There are also study rooms throughout the building that give students a quiet place to get away and work in peace. This is especially nice during finals week when the library is packed!

One opportunity in particular that I am grateful for that I was presented with through STEM was the opportunity to do undergraduate research. Being in STEM allowed me to have a better understanding of all the different projects that I could sign on to. I chose to work in a lab that studied a specific type of breast cancer, and have been doing this for two years now!

EPIC has given me some great opportunities to work in teams and make good connections with UCA’s administration as well as a few businesses around town.

Having been in both of these programs, I can say that I truly feel as though UCA’s Residential Colleges has worked to put me front and center. From having teachers who work tirelessly to provide an amazing education to their students, to having programs and opportunities offered exclusively to students in Residential Colleges, and down to the design and technology in the buildings, it is clear that UCA cares about its students. I love this school and am thrilled to be a student where I am valued as an individual!

Thank you for reading these blogs! I hope that you consider UCA for you college education, and when you do, remember to join a Residential College!

College is a place for a person to explore their possibilities, to realize their talent, skills and put them into action. It is also a place where one can increase their knowledge and understanding and other principles that will help them to succeed not only in their career field, but in life. I said all this to say that college is not only for education, but scholarly development as well. I define this as skills that one can use to succeed out in the world. EPIC is perfect for this.

In EPIC you learn hard work, teamwork and you also learn numerous business concepts. If you are interested in entrepreneurship regardless of you major as I said earlier, EPIC is perfect for that.

I am wanting to perhaps start a gym. With my nutrition degree I am striving to be an expert is that field but that isn’t going to give me the know how to start a gym because it requires more than that. This semester coming up the teams are working on business plans and through that I will learn all the ins and out of owning my own business and making my dream become a reality.  The skills you learn in EPIC are skills to last a lifetime and, when used properly, will get you far.

So regardless of what kind of business you want to start, there is no better place to learn about it. EPIC puts you one step closer to business ownership. If it isn’t your dream to own your own business that’s fine, it isn’t for everybody.  You could share your knowledge with others or even become a business partner. The possibilities are endless.

So ask yourself – What are your dreams, goals and how can we help you get better?  I asked myself the same questions when I first came into a residential college. I was a bit skeptical that they could do anything for me because I wasn’t a business major. I was so wrong.

EPIC is doing more for me than I could have imagined, by putting my needs front and center and making me worth their time to make me a better student, and willing to step out and take chances. So I urge you, prospective student and current student alike, take a chance. Get involved and lets go places in EPIC Residential College.

I had no idea what my life was going to be like my first year of college. I was scared I wouldn’t make friends, the work would be too hard, and had all these other concerns I worried about all summer until move in day.

When I moved in to EDGE Residential College everything felt so real. Thankfully EDGE Residential College has given me a new perspective on cultures, differences and beliefs. Without the help of the tutoring hours in the classroom I probably wouldn’t have the GPA that I have earned.

My Residential College experience has helped me make tons of friends, try new things, and even become an Advocate for EDGE. I’m so thankful many of my classes were in my building and my professors were willing to help me in their own time when available.

I felt comfortable in the classroom in my building because my classmates were people I live with and see every day. My professors made efforts to help me understand the material being taught and taught using many different learning styles. EDGE Residential College made me adjust so effortlessly to college living and I’m so grateful to have lived there my first year.

“Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes.” -Abraham Lincoln (Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure)

College is a lot different than high school and when you first arrive here it can be rather overwhelming, but UCA has made sure that your transition can be as smooth as possible. With the Residential College system they have set up here, you’re put in an environment you’re comfortable in and that allows you to make friends with similar interests as you more quickly than a standard dorm would. A Residential College also helps facilitate you academically as well with the use of an in-dorm classroom and advocates that live with you in the dorm for the sole purpose to help with your homework and any problems you are having in your classes.

I mentioned several times throughout my previous posts about the diversity of residents we have here and their wide verity of interests. True, all of us that live here in the STARS RC have some sort of connection to the arts but we are all much more than that, we have a wide verity of academic interests as well. It’s with these resources at hand, the classroom, and the variety of academic interests of my fellow residents, that has put my scholarly development front and center here at UCA.

In one of my past posts I talked about how I often find myself talking to my friends Tyler and Chris in our resident classroom about a wide variety of topics. By doing this I am helping myself become better versed in a broad array of subjects that I can carry over academically and make my college experience more fulfilling.

College is a place to learn and discover ideas you hadn’t thought of before and to become a sort of “Renaissance Man” – this is a person who has knowledge in a wide verity of subjects and is as worldly oriented in thought as possible, a true scholar.

Our in-dorm classroom is a powerful tool that helps your scholarly development. Not only does this prevent you from having to walk all the way across campus to your class but it also prevents the awkward silences that one often faces in a class where you know nobody in it. In our classroom everybody knows everybody and we all live under the same roof so our opportunity to help each other is much higher. This benefits everyone as a whole and greatly increases your chance of being academically successful in college.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary a scholar is defined as “A person who has done advanced study in a special field or a learned person.” So really just by attending college you can be considered a scholar and because of this UCA has created a system to help further your scholarly pursuits. The Residential College system provides so many resources, both intentional and non-intentional, that help put your scholarly development front and center so when you enter the world you will have the skills necessary to succeed.

College is easier than high school. Said no college student ever.

College proposed new challenges. It is extremely social and academically challenging. When I was in high school I had a lot of friends who were scared about being able to make it in college. They were right to fear a little. New things are scary. But with the right support college can be a breeze.

It seems like my freshman year has flew by. I have been busy. Between school, work, friends and events within the Res’ College, I never knew the days were going by until they were gone. It is hard to balance all of these things for sure. But I don’t regret any of it. I was able to manage all of my busy life because I had people all around helping guide me.

I hate to be that cliché person who is overly school-spirited, but it is hard not to be at UCA. It inspires something within me that I didn’t know was there. I am proud to say I am a UCA Bear but, more than that, I am proud to say that I am a member of EDGE Residential College. It has given me a look into my future and allowed me to find the support it takes to get there.

EDGE has taught me about the world and all of its prospects. I have come to love the diversity that once frightened me. I cannot wait to travel around the world and learn more. EDGE has inspired me to not fear change and foreign things.

I know this isn’t as funny as my other blog posts. This is my last one and I thought I needed to be serious and really tell you what I have wanted to get across. Residential Colleges are the way to start of college right. I hope I have helped you think about your future in college. I hope I have inspired you to come to UCA and EDGE, if that is what fits your needs. If you do come to EDGE you will see me here next year. I loved it so much I decided to stay.

Ironically, Residential Colleges are the reason that I chose UCA over other colleges nearby. And I didn’t even know the full extent of how awesome Residential Colleges can be. But if you have been keeping up with my posts, I hope you have a fairly good idea of all of the awesomeness that awaits you here. And that you, too, will choose UCA over other campuses.

UCA is a beautiful campus, and that could be a fun reason to come here, but when you are looking into where you’d like to be living while you’re here, or at least where you’ll be living your freshman year…well, you should definitely consider Residential Colleges. And in case you aren’t already convinced of this, we’ll review the main reasons why:

1. There is a Residential College here that could be the perfect fit for you. We have something for everyone:
   1. STEM: for science and math people
   2. EDGE: for global learning and liberal arts people
   3. STARS: for creative people who love music and art and theatre and such
   4. Hughes: for our future leaders
2. Residential Colleges have Advocates in the building that are there just to help you. (You won’t get that at other colleges or in other regular dorms.)
3. You get to have classes that are conveniently located and that are with your neighbors (easy study groups, remember?).
4. There are plenty of awesome places to study here. In STEM we have Nerd Nodes (equipped with all the essentials) on every floor as well as a classroom that is available for studying at night.
5. Residential Colleges have a pretty good reputation around campus, and you will find that this can be very beneficial.
6. It is easy to get involved with community outreach via Residential Colleges (and if you aren’t interested in this just because, you should note that it’ll at least look good on your resume).
7. And my favorite: the environment is perfect for creating lasting friendships. I mean, college can be pretty intimidating and stressful. And having a good group of friends to fall back on is essential.

So, I appreciate everyone who has been reading my posts over the last couple weeks and I hope that you will find at least some of what I’ve been saying to be beneficial to you. If what I’ve been saying about Residential Colleges does happen to intrigue you, then you should definitely feel free to ask me questions on here, via email (lmason1@uca.edu), on facebook (Laney Marie), or via twitter (@Laney_Mason). I don’t think I could ever fully explain how much STEM has meant to me over the past three years, but I hope that I have at least given you a glimpse. If you are in high school and you’re thinking about colleges or will be thinking about them soon, I wish you good luck and hope that you find the best fit for you (which, if you ask me, is probably at one of the Residential Colleges at UCA…).

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Laney

In previous posts, I’ve talked about how living in a residential college has certain academic and social benefits that you wouldn’t otherwise get while living in a regular campus dorm or apartment, but for my final post I’m going to talk about some of the activities currently offered within STEM and some future projects that I hope to get rolling next year.

Things that we already do in STEM:

1. Kid’s Club – Every Fall, the UCA Bears play football. Lots of people in Conway like to watch the game, but unfortunately, some of them have children who do not. That’s where Kid’s Club, and STEM, comes in. You see, kids may not like sitting on cold bleachers, but they usually love science experiments, puzzles, games, and expending ridiculous amounts of energy. Since its creation, the STEM Residential College has helped host these Kid’s Clubs by providing the experiments, puzzles, and games; it’s just up to the parents to provide the kids.  Every game, STEM students help the kids with various science-themed activities so the parents can enjoy the sport while their kids can enjoy themselves.
2. Science Nights – STEM also currently participates in a service learning project called Science Nights. Science Nights are usually held at a local elementary or middle school on a Tuesday or Thursday night. During the Science Nights, STEM students run demonstrations for various concepts within the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics for the students of these schools and their parents.
3. Classroom Visits – These projects have a less creative name, but they are exactly what they say they are. STEM students visit local schools and give demos similar to those done at the Science Nights, but they are usually structured to fit with the class’ lesson plans. This allows the students to be more involved in the demonstrations and consequently learn more from them.
4. RA Programming  – RA’s are Resident Assistants who also serve within the residential colleges to help make life a little better. The RA’s usually hold some sort of program for the STEM residents every week whether it’s a game or movie night or some sort of academic programming.

Things that I want for next year:

1. Book Club – I’m sure we will come up with a better name, but “book club” is the basic idea. In the past, STEM residents were required to read a book about an important class of cells for cancer research called “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.” This book was incorporated into the curriculum of the STEM classes held within the residential college, and it really brought a lot of students together in talking about a relevant topic within current scientific research. I have already proposed for next year that we continue this sort of program, but alter it so that there are different books relevant to each major field within STEM (a different book for science, technology, engineering and math majors). Furthermore, it will be up to the Advocates of the field to help lead discussions about the book once a week for each group of students. Not only will this help residents discover something new about their field of study, but it will also help them become closer to their fellow residents and Advocates as well.
2. Programming Programs – Computers are becoming more and more important in the sciences. The only problem is a lot, and I mean an overwhelming majority, of people don’t know how to program a computer. But I hope that will change in STEM. RaspberryPi is a “bare-bones” computer which can be bought for $35. My plan involves getting some programming projects set up so either STEM students or younger students just to get people familiar with the basics behind programming and getting them interested in how computers work.
3. Robots and other Science Projects – Similar to the programming project idea, I would also like to build a robot, do an egg drop, or shoot off some model rockets. Things like that. Students could be shown the science, math, and physics behind these projects, and if they are like me, they will probably enjoy this type of stuff.

So that’s it.  I’ve talked about the academic vitality, integrity, and diversity of the residential colleges. The residential colleges are nice places to live, with cool people and cool stuff. We like to see students be successful here both academically and socially, and if you are thinking about coming to UCA, I can tell you that I have had a great experience in my years in the residential colleges, and I’m sure you will too.

Daniel. Freshman. Marketing Major. STARS Residential College.

Relative to other colleges in our region UCA is a large university. One of its greatest strengths is the balance between the size of the student body and the expression of each individual on campus. Part of the UCA experience is the understanding that there are endless social, academic, and athletic groups and communities for one to become involved with. There are always new friends to be made or new experiences to be shared. The residential college program plugs each member directly into one such community, offering an essential base from which to branch out.

When I take a course I usually make friends with the people around me. By the end of the semester I’m sometimes close to these classmates and there is a mutual understanding that sometimes finals are the end of this fresh friendship.  It’s an unfortunate reality of our busy college schedules. Thankfully the community of the residential colleges is far more resilient.

The friends I have made through my experiences living in the STARS have endured mutual hardships and helped me recover from my darkest moments. We support each other when a relationship fails or a loved one is lost. These are the people I cherish in my life and would be lost without. Our living community has tied us together and I hate to think of the day we have to move out of home in Short/Denney.