Spring has Sprung at WNE

Spring is truly in the air. The spring weather has finally begun to show itself and I am so glad! The life of campus is so much more noticeable when there are people walking around enjoying the sun. I live in Commonwealth Hall and right outside of it is Commonwealth Lawn which is a place that student hang out. Within the last week or so there is barely a time when there is not someone there playing catch, or soccer, or just sunbathing with friends. It makes me fall in love with the campus here over again. With spring comes a lot of exciting things here on campus. Last weekend was Spring Event so Karmin and Chiddy Bang came to perform in our own gym the AHLC (Alumni Healthful Living Center). I heard that it was an amazing experience, but unfortunately I had to miss because I was doing something else that was really fun and exciting, Relay for Life! It was held at the Holyoke Community College this year, but my team was made up of only WNEU students. We raised almost $2000 for cancer research and the walk itself was memorable, too. It was a rainy cold day, but it felt really good to give back to the community.

Two weekends ago I went to a conference at the University of Connecticut with the WNE Chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). It was a really awesome and really helpful experience. We took workshops that helped us with things from what to wear at an interview to networking techniques. There was also a career fair and a community service opportunity. What is most exciting about the weekend, though, is that we were selected to host next year’s SWE regional conference! It is going to be a great way for us female engineers to make our mark on campus and we are really excited about it.

-LyndseySJ

Green Eggs & Hands!

The past few weeks have been great ones. The weather is finally warming up and everyone on campus is really excited for spring. It has been great seeing people out and about during the day again now that the temperature is rising and the sun is out. This weekend, I took advantage of the nice weather and went to the Springfield Museums. I had never been, but I needed to visit a museum for one of my classes, and I heard that there was a Dr. Seuss sculpture garden that I just had to see! I am so glad that I went, too. The museums are all connected by a big courtyard with beautiful sculptures of Dr. Seuss and some of his characters. One of the coolest things about the entire day was a huge, life-sized sculpture made from real tree clippings. It was a Dr. Seuss inspired house called Room By Room. I loved it! I also went into the science museum and two art museums. It was a really fun day and it felt nice to explore what Springfield really has to offer. I will definitely go back and you should check it out, too. http://www.springfieldmuseums.org/index

Another thing that was made possible because of the good weather was painting The Rock! The Rock is an actual rock that is on campus and has been here since 1968. It was originally a senior prank, but has grown into a WNE tradition. Every week, a different club or organization paints the rock to advertise an event on campus. CAB (Campus Activities Board) held an event last week so that anyone on campus could paint the rock with their handprints! I put my hand on the rock and it felt really awesome. Almost 600 hands painted the rock before it was done, and every hand is part of the best community, the WNE community, a community that you could join, too!

-Lyndsey SJ