I've mentioned before that I'm involved in a lot of things at Fitchburg State. One of the things I am most proud to be a part of is Greek life.

It's funny to think about when I came to Fitchburg State as a freshman, I was sure of one thing; I was not joining a fraternity. In my mind, that kind of organization just wasn't for someone like me. I was independent and didn't need something like "brotherhood" or any of that stuff. It just wasn't for me. Now, having become involved with a fraternity, I cannot imagine my life without it.

This past weekend I was given the distinct pleasure of participating in the the third annual Center For Diversity And Inclusiveness (CDI) Retreat at Camp Woodstock in Woodstock, CT. CDI oversees the Latin American Student Organization (LASO), Black Student Union (BSU), Asian Culture Society (ACS), Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) and World Integrated Nations (WIN).

The center is expanding soon, creating Chaverim, a Jewish student society and Focus On Faith, an interfaith organization that looks to discuss religions in all forms. CDI is run by Jamie Cochran, a wonderful woman who always greets with hugs, not handshakes.

Here at Fitchburg State, I am an English major. For a lot of people, that merits a few different responses. One of them is "good for you doing what you want to do." Another is "So when did you decide you wanted to be unemployed?" The latter annoys me to no end as you can imagine. Most people imagine English majors to skip around, quoting poems and drinking copious amounts of coffee/tea in shops. The reality is that Fitchburg State's English program is wonderfully quirky and educational!

Hello again! I am incredibly happy to be back and I look forward to everything that I will write about this year. I had a wonderful summer working at a camp that taught me so much and I look forward to bringing some of those lessons into play here at Fitchburg State!

Whether you're a Frank Sinatra or Sublime fan, everyone knows the classic tale of school being out for the summer and finally getting a chance to relax. As my final "kid summer" comes to a close, my last summer not having a big-kid job, I realized that summer break is not what it used to be when I was younger.

I now work 40 hours a week on campus, and like myself many others are working just as much as I am on top of taking classes. Summers in college is a time to make as much money as possible so you do not end up broke in the middle of the semester or trying to catch up on your class load.

Sound design is a very important aspect of filmmaking. Without sound design, a film can sound terrible. Unfortunately this is often overlooked, especially with student films. I, like many other film professionals, know how important sound design is. So, I made sure to take a sound-related class while at Fitchburg State.

Sound design was very simple at first and has evolved throughout the years. "Gravity"—my favorite movie of 2013—won an Oscar for sound, and rightfully so! Sound design isn't just making everything sound good, it's also about layering the sounds perfectly and making something sound real or the way the audience should hear it.

Although this week included two days off from classes it has been academically grueling for some. Monday was a day off due to Patriot's Day, a Massachusetts holiday that includes the Boston Marathon, the Red Sox at Fenway, and a whole lot of patriotism.

The second day we had off was Thursday, and that was due to the Undergraduate Research Conference. To learn a little more about it, keep reading. 

Alternative Spring Break was an incredibly humbling experience. I was able to help an 83-year old woman keep warm. Her house had no insulation, air conditioning or heat. Her name is Miss Mary Hudson and she was nothing but stunning.

On top of this, I was able to spend the week with amazing people doing amazing things in an amazing place. I cannot recommend doing this program enough.

Well, it's the final countdown.

High school students from around the U.S. have applied to colleges and they're beginnig to find out whether they've been accepted or not. Now it's up to the student which college is best fit for them. I figured since people are making their decision now, this is the best time to write, "Why I Chose Fitchburg State University."

Art drawing is one of the courses I am enrolled in this semester. Throughout the class we have done many different types of drawing. Coming into this class, I had barely any experience, but I can honestly say I'm getting to be pretty good at this drawing thing. I think I found my inner artist. 

This is one of the first drawings we did. I used pencil to draw the cube objects and then shaded it. Being able to come up with this drawing was difficult because I didn't know where to start. When I finally got started, I kept messing up so I found myself erasing a lot and fixing my mistakes. This type of drawing is called cubes in linear perspective and I'm quite happy with it.