Library Hosts “Blind Date with a Book”: The Best Date You’ll Ever Have

Books won’t ignore your texts, argue with you, or play hard to get—that’s why book dates are the best dates.

Sigma Tau Delta, the English Honor Society, hosted their second annual “Blind Date with a Book” event on Wednesday, March 4 at the Guggenheim Memorial Library. The event offered students the opportunity to grab books that were hand-wrapped in brown paper and marked with a cryptic synopsis to hint at what was hidden underneath.

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Fighting Food Waste on Campus

Have you ever wondered what happens to all the leftover food at the dining hall and student center? What happens when the lights turn off and everyone begins settling in their dorms, getting ready for nightfall? Well, the answer lies in three words: Food Recovery Network.

Food Recovery Network (FRN) is a nationwide, nonprofit organization that has been fighting food waste and hunger while promoting sustainability on Monmouth’s campus since 2016.

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How to Be Successful in the Workplace

A college education is one of the main factors that can be a determination of an individual’s success not in the workforce, but in the future. One method that helps current collegiate students discover their career path is networking with professionals, especially in their desired field of study.

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Celebrating Black History Month With BSU

Monmouth University’s Black Student Union (BSU) is continuing to give their members a voice on campus during Black History Month.

Established in the late 1970s, the club is rooted in students’ push for intercultural awareness on campus.

Director of the Intercultural Center Zaneta Rago-Craft Ed.D., known by students as Dr. Z., said, “The Black Student Union helps to connect historically underrepresented students to community, culture, and resources all year round and has a tremendous history here on campus as university change-makers.”

Morgan Moxie, a senior music student and president of BSU, said, “It is definitely a month that is meant for celebrating black scholars, inventors, etc., and making sure people know the history and the facts about our culture. A lot of people forget that it’s also a month of celebration for us, and that’s what we’re focusing on.”

The club is sponsored many events for the month of February including guest speaker panels, a flag raising and lowering, and a movie game night on Feb. 27 featuring the 2000 film Love & Basketball.

Out of all the events BSU brings to life on campus, Moxie is most looking forward to Ebony Night. Taking place on Saturday, April 25, it is a night of socialization, stand-up comedy, spoken word poetry, and awards.

Moxie said, “Our goal for that event is to celebrate black excellence and celebrate black students on campus and give them an event that they can just feel like they’re welcomed. This is for them.”

Last year’s Ebony Night marked the first event in which Moxie took on a leading role in the club, paving the way for her preferment as club president this past September. Throughout her four-year involvement with the club, Moxie served as the head of social media, then vice president, and eventually president.

BSU has collaborated with the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) to kick off events this past semester such as a poetry slam and the two-day Baking for Change Activism Project, which raised awareness for the retention and graduation rates of women of color.

Club members also took on a volunteer role during The Big Event, which took place last semester on Oct. 26.

BSU also works with the Intercultural Center to create a greater sense of inclusivity at Monmouth.

Moxie said, “there’s only so much we can do as a student organization, and having a big department like the intercultural center being there to help us has broadened the scope of what we can do. Dr. Z has done a lot for multicultural groups on Black History Month this year.”

Rago-Craft added, “The newly formed Intercultural Center plays an important role in helping to preserve and advance cultural celebration.”

The name of the organization changed in 2018 from the African American Student Union (AASU) to the Black Student Union.

Moxie said, ‘black’ is such a spectrum and ‘African American’ is a very specific group. When we changed to Black Student Union, we feel like that definitely helped because it became an umbrella for anyone who identifies as black in some way. This is your place to come”

Moxie added that she saw an increase in membership after changing the name because it offered more inclusivity.

In fact, the club has grown under her presidency as she utilizes her leadership role to encourage more students to take a prominent role in BSU.

Moxie concluded,“[The club] is important especially since Monmouth is a PWI (Predominately White Institution), so it’s not as heavily focused on. Since there’s such a small community of black students on campus, it’s really important to know they’re welcomed and being prioritized.”

PHOTO COURTESY of @monmouth_bsu Instagram

Saliba Sarsar Ph.D. Publishes Book on Middle Eastern Peacebuilding

Saliba Sarsar Ph.D., Professor of Political Science, had a book published on Jan. 31, 2020 by Peter Lang International Academic Publishers.

Titled Peacebuilding in Israeli-Palestinian Relations, the 164-page book examines the historical relationship between Israelis and Palestinians and focuses on understanding peacebuilding at the individual, pair, and group levels.

The publication recalls many examples of peaceful resolutions and role models such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi.  The objective of the book is for Israelis and Palestinians to learn from and support a grassroots movement for peace.

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How to Manage Student Loans

According to the Institute for College Access and Success, 44.7 million American students and graduates shared a collective $1.59 trillion in educational debt in 2019.

Managing these loans may seem daunting, and understandably so. Here are some tips that might help.

First, take stock of how much in loans you’ll actually need. You don’t want to take out more debt if it might not be necessary. There are other forms of aid that don’t require you to pay back, like grants and scholarships. If you figure you can manage the tuition bill with less loans, do it.

“Look for easy scholarships from organizations in town, online, or someone you know,” said Marissa LaSala, a senior political science student. “Getting $250 to write an essay can cover a semester of books or your dorm bedding, or a month’s car payment if you decide to commute.”

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Answering the Demands of the PA Profession

Known for its mobility across different fields, autonomous role, competitive salary, and ability to provide a work-life balance, the Physician Assistant (PA) profession has become increasingly desirable throughout the years.

PAs are dependent health care providers licensed to practice medicine under physician supervision. Though they are considered dependent providers, they independently obtain medical histories, order diagnostic testing, conduct medical examinations, develop diagnoses, and formulate treatment plans.

As the interest in the profession rises, so does the level of competition surrounding matriculation into PA educational programs. Expectations are set at a high standard in regards to requirements such as GPA, GRE, and prior pertinent experience.

Bernadette Dunphy Ph.D., Specialist Professor and Director of Monmouth’s pre-health advising agrees, “A successful applicant has many, many clinical hands-on experience hours. Sometimes these hours are in the thousands. The best type of experience is EMT, nurse’s side, scribe positions, and other jobs that the student works directly with patients.”

The application process consists of meeting the required prerequisites, developing the application, sharing an interview with the admissions committee and hopefully, being matriculated into the program.

A large majority of PA programs accept applications online via a system termed the Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA). This system was developed in order for applicants to easily apply online to multiple programs at once.

An important component of the CASPA application is an obligatory essay. To write this essay, be yourself—let your voice be heard through your narrative. Be sure to proofread, provide evidence to support your claims, organize your essay into a unique structure or theme, and get a second opinion before submitting.

It is highly recommended that applications be submitted well before their deadline, since many programs carry out rolling admissions. Rolling admissions cease the admissions process as soon as the program has reached their desired number of applicant interviews.

Dunphy said, “Be prepared to apply when the application service CASPA opens...look at the prerequisites of the schools early to make sure you have all the classes necessary because they vary from school to school.”

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How to Stay Emotionally Healthy

Emotional stability is something that is hard to control—and if you lose it, it is hard to get back.

In the following weeks, students and professors alike will be struggling to keep themselves composed. It isn’t about how hard you fight to stay on top, or what other people want and need from you—it’s about taking the time to gather and pursue yourself.

Becoming emotionally healthy may be easy, but maintaining yourself is the hard part—especially during the semester.

First off, imagine sitting in a dimly lit room. Alone. No computer, no phone, and most importantly, no distractions.

Now, allow yourself to close your eyes and take some deep breaths. You feel the knots in your body and mind begin to unravel. You might be getting tired, and that’s okay. You might need some sleep. By allowing yourself to enter this place of tranquility, you are allowing your body to tell you what it needs and thus be able to act upon it.

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Pete ‘The Jet’ Guerriero to Enter 2020 NFL Draft

Monmouth University is a unique home for student athletes to prosper both in the classroom and on the field.

Pete ‘The Jet’ Guerriero, a senior running back and communication student, has made the decision to begin training for the 2020 NFL Draft at Parisi Speed School in North Jersey.

Guerriero, from Lyndhurst, New Jersey, has played football for 16 consecutive years, transitioning his position as quarterback in high school to running back in college. Guerriero has experience in basketball, baseball, and track and field. His athletic career at Monmouth began in 2016 on the Men’s Track and Field team.

“For the longest time people did not believe in me when it came to football,” Guerriero said. “I had to work extremely hard to put myself in this position, so to be able to pursue this and create an opportunity for myself has always been the goal.” Guerriero says that part of his decision to pursue a career in football is motivated by the doubt he has felt from others.

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Glaze of Glory: How Donut-Making Fills My Creativity

Donuts, seemingly overnight, have become a bigger part of my life than most would imagine. Since I’ve started working at Broad Street Dough Co., donuts have become a creative outlet, and much more than a snack.

There is so much more that goes into donut-making than most would assume. From mixing the dough to box, the multistep process ensues.

Donut dough comes in many shapes and forms, but I have become most familiar with a cake donut. This means there is no yeast, and so there is no extreme rising. The dough itself has a completely different process.

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