It's Commuter Appreciation Week at Fitchburg State University, and let me tell you, I am certainly feeling appreciated!

Becky Lindley and her amazing Commuter Affairs staff have a week of events that are sure to make any commuter student feel welcome and appreciated. So find out what it's like to be a commuter here, and see how much the university truly values us! 

What's the point of being an adult if you can't be a little childish sometimes? Tom Baker said that. Whose Tom Baker you ask? This guy.

Tom Baker aside, I've found this quote to be very relevant right now. I have not been very childish lately. I've been Mr. Serious Pants. It was recently that I realized I haven't had a whole lot of time for myself. Time for me to enjoy myself and have fun. There is so much fun to be had on this campus and I haven't had the chance to take full advantage.

Hello, current and potential students. I'm going to drop some important news on you.

You might want to sit down for this. Are you sitting? Could you please just do it for dramatic effect? Listen, I don’t care if you’re reading this at your grandmother’s funeral, the fact that you chose to read this at her funeral shows you don’t have much tact so sitting down shouldn't be that much of an issue for you.

You're sitting, right?

Thank you.

I am currently enrolled in Approaches to English Literature. The class is devoted to learning about various ways we can study literature, and we're reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

Going into the class I knew four things about Frankenstein:

1. I was supposed to read Frankenstein going into my senior year of high school.
2. I did not read Frankenstein then.
3. There is a burning cabin involved.
4. I vaguely recalled the scene from Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein when Frankenstein throws a little girl in a lake, I might be remembering that wrong too.

Last week my Art Criticism professor pointed out in front of the class that I was definitely the left-brainer of our group compared to a group of communications, film, and photography majors. I have always had an interest in art but it was very diffcult for me to shape how I felt about it into words.

I am a very straight-forward, black and white, yes or no kind of person. I knew taking this Art Criticism class would take the knowledge of art I did have to the next level by now having to apply what I knew. Professor Wadsworth [the one who was my professor in Italy as I previously mentioned] picks on me in a fun way since I am way too analytical, but I see it as a challenge to help activate my right brain.

This past Sunday, a small group of my fraternity brothers traveled to Natick, MA to attend the book launch for a charity organization we will be having a fundraiser for called This Star Won't Go Out. They aim to financially assist families who have children and teenagers with cancer. Treatment costs are ridiculously high and bills and needs don't stop because of it. In reality, costs just keep piling up.

That being said, I, as philanthropy chair of my chapter, decided I wanted to help them out with the wonderful work they do by holding a fundraiser.

I overheard a student on campus say that he has changed his major three times and his minor twice, and it is only his second semester as a freshman! That is a lot of majors to go through within your first year of college, but as you can see, it does happen.

Truth is, not very many people know exactly what they want to do when they arrive on campus as freshmen. It's safe to say that most students come to universities and colleges without a major in mind and remain indecisive until they get something that they want to do. At the same time, some also come in knowing what they want to do and where they want to go with their studies, but later on change their major into something they feel would be better for them.

Last week, the Volunteer Center held a fundraiser to raise money for a special little girl named Maddie.

Maddie is a ten year old young lady who lives in our community. She was recently diagnosed with a very rare form of bone cancer called Ewing Sarcoma. Like many ten year olds, Maddie has a number of hobbies, her favorite of all being cheerleading. 

This is the story of how Fitchburg State's students came together for a volunteer fundraiser to help someone in need.

Currently we are experiencing a “polar vortex.”

Calm down, I know it sounds like a more menacing version of “The Polar Express” but it’s not. It’s not even a new flavor at Cold Stones Ice Cream Store (Fun Fact: Every time I ask my friends if they want to go to Cold Stones, I accidently call it Cold Water Creek, which, I believe is a middle aged women’s clothing store). 

But the polar vortex isn't all that. It’s just a fancy way to say that everything is going to be cold for what feels like forever. 

I am of the firm belief that everyone has something to say. Absolutely everyone!

And everyone has a legitimate perspective and view point. This is no truer than on a college campus. Only here do you have the mix of young people coming into their own, guided by professionals at the top of their fields. These opposites interact and co-mingle and learn from each other on a daily basis. Each party recognizes the legitimacy of each other's ideas.