With admitted freshmen days underway, the semester is ending far faster than I could ever imagine. Incoming freshmen receive a multitude of opportunities prior to move-in day to experience Christopher Newport University as their own school. I even had the opportunity to show a friend who was visiting for Admitted Freshmen Day around and got to brag about Christopher Newport (which truly ended with me talking for two hours about being a student here, which is very easy to do). That being said, I wanted to share a list for incoming freshmen of some of the little things that make Christopher Newport special.

When the weather is favorable:

• The lawn outside of the York has the best trees for enoing and slack lining.
• The tables in the plaza are the ideal nice weather seating and are the perfect place to see tons of people on campus in one afternoon.
• Like many days in college, seeing a puppy can be the best part. Fear not, the Great Lawn on a sunny day often provides an ample number of friendly, loving dogs. The best part is most owners will let you pet/hold their dog—a very good day!

Where to go if the Trible Library is too crowded:

• Right next to the library is the Pope Chapel, this is a great place for good work to get done because there is a somber tone of quiet consistently.
• In each of the freshman residence halls, there are study spaces on each hallway that are typically reserved for students looking for a quiet space to work.
• The David Student Union is a great place to get work done if you are able to work in an environment with background noise—the second level has comfortable couches and tables for student and staff use.
• Check the blue couch room in Einstein’s, it’s comfortable and a big enough space for friends to join!

When you are over the dining hall:

• Christopher Newport offers a Discovery Chick-fil-A Express on campus—need I say more?
• During the lunch hours, Christopher Newport also offers Discovery Bistro, which has gourmet-esque sandwiches; Discovery Grille, which offers burgers, grilled cheese, hot dogs etc.; and a Discovery Pizzeria with different kinds of pizza and delicious desserts.
• Einsteins not only offers Starbucks coffee but also offers bagel sandwiches, sushi, flatbreads and as always, milkshakes!

These are but a few of the little things that I learned in my first semester as a freshman and hope you find them as helpful as I did!

I remember the first time I set foot onto Christopher Newport University—it was stunning. The architecture alone revealed none of the once commuter school from the 60s—but now a stunning redesigned campus. While the campus itself is impressive, as a student, I can’t help but praise the landscaping team!

Year round, Christopher Newport has a consistent manicuring of campus. My friends and I joke sometimes that Christopher Newport is like Disney World because it always looks so pristine.

The MVP of our beautiful campus is owed all to the landscaping team. Every morning on my walk to class, I am greeted with many different teams of landscapers making sure Christopher Newport is always best represented not only for visitors but for students, faculty and staff each day.

This post is dedicated to the landscaping teams who work hard all throughout the entire year, in all elements and environments. The work is not glamorous by any means but as a student I am so proud of how Christopher Newport represents itself daily.

It’s been said, stop and smell the roses — well, at Christopher Newport, we can, daily.

My roommates, my best friends, we share a lot of thing in life, our rooms, our food, our chargers. Yet one thing I don’t want to share is sicknesses. Flu season is officially upon us and in the past two weeks 3/3 of my roommates have shared in the sickness of the season. Here are a few tips and tricks to curb any illness while away at school:

When it comes to curbing illness while living in close community, here are a few tips to get though winter:

• When symptoms begin—Go to the health services!
  • Christopher Newport has a well established on campus clinic. The health-care is exceptional and they really care for us.
• When your roommate comes back from the clinic…
  • Bring them nice things–they are sick and want to be home, not at school!
  • Sanitize! You can never have too much sanitizer. Never.
• Cover your cough
  • Once flu season hits, it becomes more and more important to be aware of where your germs are flying.
• If you have to miss class…
  • Thankfully our professors are extremely accommodating in this season. Many of my own professors have policies that excuse you as long as a doctor’s note can be provided. You can even get doctor’s notes from our on campus clinic.

Being sick at school can be hard, but with the right knowledge of the clinic, friends and professors, it helps make recovery that much more attainable.

I will look for any and every excuse to dress up with friends. Christopher Newport University’s Student Council hosts Captain’s Ball annually. The evening’s theme was Paris Under the Stars and it was extravagant and tastefully executed. From the moment I walked up the stairs and into the entrance of the ballroom, every decoration was transformative. It was a night full of dancing, laughing and eating with friends. One of the things I loved most about the evening was that it was just for Christopher Newport students and was a way to celebrate life as a Captain. This is one annual event on campus you never want to miss.

Christopher Newport University offers an abundance of interesting and challenging courses. As a junior, I have accomplished a lot in my classes in the past five semesters. I am a communication major and digital humanities minor. Communication has provided a wide variety of classes that involve philosophy, interpersonal, rhetoric, media, culture and overall criticism of these interests. Digital humanities is actually a very recent addition in the catalog of minors that incorporate communication classes, fine arts classes, computer science classes and overall digital humanities classes.

There are three points of interest in the digital humanities minor. At Christopher Newport, digital humanities is an interdisciplinary minor that teaches the skills and knowledge for careers that digital media and technology meet with humanities. Some examples of these careers can be education, library science, museum curation, nonprofits, political campaigns, graduate research, design, fine arts and music/film/theater/dance production along with fields like mass communication, journalism and marketing.The second pillar of the minor is to understand the concepts and vocabulary that are needed for ongoing digital conversations. Lastly, the third pillar is to provide the tools and experience to use various digital media applications, technological tools and coding basics that allow the student to analyze texts/works in the humanities.

All of this being said, the best class I have taken so far in my minor is Introduction to Digital Media. This class primarily has helped cultivate a very creative side of my academic career. The class focuses mainly on Adobe products, specifically Photoshop and the use and experimentation of the software. What I love most about the class is that not only do I enjoy learning the software but its something that I could legitimately use in a future job or even on its own as a source of income. The class overall is fast paced and certainly requires a high level of focus, but once I’ve been able to learn the basics of Photoshop, it has become a really fun process to create and re-create in new ways.

I really love the digital humanities minor because it is a minor that is looking toward the future. Our society, culture, businesses are all run by the use of digital media and humans. Learning so many different tools to keep up with what a fast paced technological future is one that I am very thankful Christopher Newport provided for me.

Christopher Newport University has a beautiful, well manicured campus.The weather, however is a little less well manicured. We’ve recently had some chilly rainy days (very normal for any winter day) but as a college student there isn’t really an opportunity to stay in bed on those cold days. Here are some motivations that make getting up and going on a cloudy chilly day worth while!

• Classes with Friends
  • The great thing about smaller classes means that you get to know those in your classes. The best part is I have found that these peers, as the semester progresses, become friends.
• 12:00 Lunch
  • My friends and I have a daily tradition of all meeting in the dining hall at noon everyday to have a meal together. This is a great way to have fun during a normal day!
• Einstein Pick Me Up
  • There is nothing better than a caffeine pick me up. From the seasonal to the traditional drinks, there’s no way to go wrong.
• Group Exercise Classes
  • The Freeman Center offers a variety of daily group exercise classes. This makes going to the gym even more fun and allows for friends to tag along with you.
• Check the daily email for different events
  • As a Christopher Newport student, we are sent a daily email of the goings on of the campus. So no matter what, there will always be something on campus to attend!

Although tempting to stay in bed when the wind howls and your bed is just all too comfortable, getting up and going to class, lunch, the gym, Einstein’s, or an on-campus event are the perfect solution to a very motive-limited day!

I have just begun the second semester of my junior year! Quite honestly I have never felt more at home at Christopher Newport University than I do now. Looking back, I’ve realized that I began referring to going back to school as “going back home” as early as my freshman year. Don’t get me wrong, I love being home–home its where I can rest, relax and re-energize with friends and family in between semesters.

I have pretty much lived in the same house my entire life and I knew almost everyone I went to high school with because for the most part, they lived in the same house for their entire lives too. Familiarity is what I loved so much about being home and was also what I was most nervous about coming to Christopher Newport. Now, three years into it, I consider myself to have dual homes. My first home is where my family is, where I go to on breaks, where friends from Christopher Newport intercept me on our own travel plans on breaks. My second home is where Christopher Newport is because it is where my life-long friends are, where I’ve met challenges and have come out stronger and more able than ever.

I spent almost 18 years calling Northern Virginia home and now, in three short years Christopher Newport has become home too. As I’m attempting to pen all the many reasons why Christopher Newport is home to me, I’m realizing that it has been in the details. Those little details are things like becoming best friends with my freshman year roommate, becoming involved in campus activities, having professors get to know me as me, attempting to make it to as many on campus speakers, seeing broadway shows at the Ferguson Center of the Arts (at a discounted student price!), always having the opportunity to say hello to someone as I walk to class, speaking with President Trible when he’s on campus, knowing my peers and professors in class, and last but certainly not least (or even last for that matter, just have to end my list somewhere) the incredible opportunities I’ve been given as a Christopher Newport student that I would not have elsewhere.

Christopher Newport is a special place. It is home to me and my friends, I know that even after graduating it will always have a nostalgic sense of home. As I have come to realize in these last three years, I have understood how hard it is to move and make where you live feel like home. Making school feel like home wasn’t really by my force it was the atmosphere of this school, the equal opportunities it has for its students and the faculty and staff that make Christopher Newport feel like home-home.

Unreachable, unapproachable and all too busy are just some of the rhetoric you may hear when beginning the college process in regards to professors. Warning signs of distant professors is always important to consider when deciding on which university you wish to attend for the next four years.

In my time at Christopher Newport University, I can say with full confidence that I have yet to experience a lack of care from a professor. In fact, I have yet to experience a time that I wasn’t extended a helping hand, or an opportunity to utilize office hours multiple times a week.

At Christopher Newport there is a high standard for success and the role of the professor for each student. The hope of the university is that smaller classes provide students with the means necessary to not only be successful in academics, but also to build academic relationships with their professors.

Like many things, small class sizes have their pros/cons, but it is important to recognize when something within the pro column is working. Christopher Newport professors do not fit into the classic horror-story rhetoric. Our professors are encouraged to not only play a role in the classroom but to keep an open door for students always. I have heard from my own professors as well as from my peers that the amount of care each professor has for their students is not common on a college campus.

I have found that Christopher Newport has a strong understanding of the importance of its students and their well-being. One of the most endearing moments of my time here was this semester. As we were addressing announcements in my class, my professor added, “…and if no one is going home for thanksgiving, my family would love to have you. Email me to let me know you’re coming so we can have a seat for you.” That stopped me in my tracks – well it stopped everyone in the class. Our professor (and many others) genuinely cared enough to ensure that those who were seatless on thanksgiving had the opportunity to have a seat at a table on a historically familiar holiday.

Christopher Newport cares for its students. The important idea is that students feel comfortable enough to go into a professor’s office and be themselves. In my own experience, professors understand that life happens and that some things are out of our control. An understanding professor, one who is more concerned about you personally than how you did on the last test, are the professors the Christopher Newport is investing in.

I am thankful for the investment of genuine professors who disprove stereotypes time and again. Quality over Quantity.

As a political enthusiast, the past few months leading up to the presidential nomination have been entrancing to say the least. I have remarked every so often that I am most passionate about Americans’ individual right to vote. Being in college during such a historic election, especially at Christopher Newport University, I have only been encouraged to partake in this political process. While our nation as a whole is divided on this new presidency, here are some tips I found that help bring hope and humanity back to friends, colleagues and peers.

• VOTE. Become a registered voter either in Newport News, or your home town via absentee. Christopher Newport encourages its students to lead lives of great community involvement, one way in doing so is to vote in presidential, congressional, gubernatorial and mayoral elections. The voice of one community is best heard when individuals come together in unity for change.
• Discuss/Ask Questions. Whether this be to your best friend, roommates, professor or teammate, there is value in discussing opposing views. In my philosophy and communication class this semester we have highlighted the idea of engaging in another person’s views so that we may have a better overall understanding. Because politics can be a tense subject, asking questions of clarifications can be a way to better understand the political process and to become a better informed citizen.
• Friends First. LISTEN. This seems all to obvious to say, but all the more important, we must maintain an engaging attitude toward friends, loved ones, peers and professors. I have been able to treasure the intellectual perspectives of my peers and professors as a result of wanting to be better informed. It is also important to note that at the beginning of every semester at Christopher Newport, my professors have made it clear that if someone disagrees with what is being said we will all be respectful in response. If the respect in a classroom is compromised my professors, especially in the Communication Department, have made it clear that type of behavior will not be tolerated.
• Have a Viewing Party. If the expectation of mutual respect is implemented prior to the results, this can be an educational experience as well as a laid back, fun environment for all. My roommates and I hosted a small viewing party with (our idea of) fancy cheese as well as cherry and blueberry pie to help settle qualms and just enjoy the company of friends on a Tuesday night.

Christopher Newport University’s a cappella groups hold one of the highly anticipated events of the year: Glow in the Darcappella. Glow is one of the many unifying events held on campus each year. Held in the beautiful Ferguson Center for the Arts main concert hall, a cappella groups: Take Note, Expansion, Trebled Youth, Extreme Measures, University Sounds and Newport Pearls hit the stage for a black-light performance.

Once in the concert hall, lights go down and black lights turn on. For the past few years, Hypnotic Control, Christopher Newport’s hip hop dance club, takes center stage. Dressed in all black and accents of neon, their performance makes for a  perfect opener to an evening of showcasing Christopher Newport’s most talented students.

As a professional singer (in the shower), every year I am blown away with the talent of my peers. A few of my best friends are in a cappella groups and commit hours every week to arranging, practicing and performing their rendition of songs.

It is incredible the amount of work that goes into arranging one song! One of the best moments as a friend is getting to see how hard they work and then to see them thrive on stage. I get to support my friends in doing something that they love and we, as the audience, get to experience an incredible full-blown concert. I love being able to support all their hard work during the semester and being able to show case that to our peers and the public.

This event is so creative in its performances and in how it encourages all of the Christopher Newport community to attend. It shows just how supportive the faculty and staff are when I was able to see professor after professor coming just to support students. There is something intrinsically special that a professor would give up their night to support a student they may only know for minimum 16 weeks.

Yet again, I find myself so thankful to go to a university that encourages community outside of the classroom as well as faculty and staff who genuinely care not only about us academically, but care enough to see us thrive elsewhere.