When I got to college, I had no idea what I wanted to study. I liked to write, but I did not want to study English or become a journalist. I liked art and being creative, but an art major wasn't right for me. After taking a class called Major and Career Exploration through the College of Liberal Arts my freshman year, I discovered that I wanted to work in public relations when I graduate. The University of Minnesota offers many courses like Major and Career Exploration to help students decide which major is right for them and their career goals. When Brittany Lynch came to the University of Minnesota she had her mind set on becoming a neurosurgeon. Read about how she reconsidered what she wanted to study after taking the College of Education and Human Development's First Year Inquiry course: http://www.cehd.umn.edu/people/profiles/lynch/
Land of 10,000 Lakes
Friends at Lake Calhoun
It’s hard to believe that in less than a month I’ll be back in school! I’m excited for my senior year to start, but I’m not ready for summer to end. I plan to spend the last weekends of summer at the beach swimming and enjoying the sun…because before we know it, the leaves will be changing and then snow will be on the ground.
There are plenty of beaches from which to choose in the Twin Cities. My personal favorites are the beaches on the Chain of Lakes, which consists of
The Chain of Lakes is surrounded by beautiful homes and natural scenery. In the distance you can see the skyscrapers of downtown
There is so much more to do at the lakes than bask in the sun. You can play beach volleyball, rollerblade, bike, or jog on the Grand Round paths. There are several spots that rent kayaks, catamarans, and sail boats. People even enjoy the lakes during the winter! When the city puts hockey rinks and warming shacks on
The U of M is in Twins Territory
I am a huge fan of the Minnesota Twins (our major league baseball team) so naturally one of my favorite things to do in the Twin Cities during summer and fall is go to Twins games. A couple weeks ago I went and saw the Twins beat Cleveland six to nothing! It was awesome seeing the team playing under the stars at the brand-new stadium. Target Field just opened in May and has been buzzing with excited fans ever since. It is located in downtown Minneapolis and is only a 10-minute bus ride or a 20-minute walk from campus.
On Wednesday nights, it is common to see University of Minnesota students catching a bus from campus in their Twins gear for Student Night at Target Field. With a college ID, students can enjoy a ballpark hotdog and watch Joe Mauer hit a home run for just $10! Other specials that I enjoy are Dollar-A-Dog day and Dairy Queen's Sensational Saturday (a free blizzard with ticket purchase).
Go Twins!
A trip to the U of M Farmers Market
Hello readers!
Yesterday I was walking around campus on my lunch break and stumbled upon the U of M Farmers Market. Every Wednesday, rain or shine, vendors line
One of the vendors is Cornercopia, the U of M’s student-run organic farm. I talked to a student who was working at the Cornercopia stand, and she said they grow 100+ fruits and vegetables throughout the year. The farm is located on the University’s
In addition to the wonderful food and flowers, the Farmers Market is a great place to get health and wellness advice. Representatives from Boynton Health Service (the campus health clinic) were available to give nutrition advice and free stone massages. University Dining Service and Campus Club prepared lunch with foods found at the market. I had a ton of fun and can’t wait to go back next week!
Calling All Cyclists
With all the nice weather we've been having lately, I have been able to bike back and forth from work. There is a bike trail that stretches all the way from my house in St.Paul to the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis. Six miles is a long ride to campus, but I enjoy the beautiful trail on East River Parkway, spending less money on gas, and getting my exercise for the day! During the school year I bike a lot too. It's nice to hop on my bike when I'm running late for class and get there right in the nick of time.
I am not the only person that is taking advantage of the trails in the Twin Cities. Bicycling Magazine recently named Minneapolis the "Best Bike City in America"! While reading the article, I was surprised to find out that 8,200 people bike to work in Minneapolis during the summer. Here are some more fun facts about biking in the Twin Cities from Bicycling Magazine and Nice Ride Minnesota:
- Minneapolis and St.Paul have 84 miles of bike trails and 44 miles of bike lanes. Forty additional miles will be built this summer.
- There are 50 bike shops in the Twin Cities (one of those is Erik's Bike Shop, located on the U of M campus).
- Minneapolis is ranked second in the nation for the number of people who commute to work by bicycle. Census data shows that approximately 4,500 Minneapolis regularly commute to work by bicycle.
The Twin Cities just got even more bike accessible with its launch of the Nice Ride bike sharing program. Bike kiosks are scattered around the city, where you can pay to rent a bike for a couple of hours or up to a year. Eleven of the sixty kiosks are located on the University of Minnesota campus.
Williamson Hall Kiosk
Kolthoff Hall Kiosk
Being able to bike just about anywhere in the Twin Cities is one of my favorite benefits of going to the University of Minnesota!
One Busy Gopher
I thought I was busy until I read about Casey on UMNews. He runs his own business and is a double major!
Business in his blood
U student rides entrepreneurial spirit to commercial success
By Rick Moore
Every day is like the middle of finals week for Casey Profita.
When school’s in session, he devotes the time necessary to stay afloat as a double major in Asian languages and literature and economics. Most of the rest of the day he’s dedicated to making his burgeoning business Gophermods a success. So he goes to bed at about midnight and gets up at 5 a.m. to start all over again.
“Lots of coffee, lots of 5-hour Energy,” Profita says, smiling. “My brain’s always on, it feels like, so there’s no down time where I’m procrastinating. I know I have to be doing something. Otherwise, I’ll be behind.
As real as it gets
“I’ve never had a real job; I’ve always run my own businesses,” says Profita. “Not being the boss was never in my plan. I don’t want to work for anyone.”
The 21-year-old Profita employs five people at Gophermods, a business that fixes video game consoles and iPhones out of a 500-square-foot space in the UTEC building just off campus. Profita has always tinkered with things, and he picked up the technical know-how from an acquaintance back home in Salem, Wisconsin. He launched a website for Gophermods in March 2009 and worked at home in the early days, converting his bedroom into a workshop.
Profita distinguishes Gophermods by offering a 24-hour turnaround for repairs, competitive pricing, and impeccable customer service. To date, there’s been only one negative review, and most of his business comes via mail order from states like California, Texas, Florida, and New York.
He projects $500,000 in revenues for 2010.
Connecting course work with commerce
Profita began buying products from China and reselling them on eBay at an early age, and that spawned the desire to major in Asian languages and literature.
“I realize if I pay attention in class it’s going to translate well in business, because I’m working with my suppliers (for Gophermods) and getting great deals that my competitors can’t get because they probably don’t know how to communicate with [Chinese business contacts],” Profita says. “They really need to get to know you before they want to work with you. It’s called guanxi. And you need to have good guanxi with them. Otherwise, they’re going to give you some lousy service and not the greatest prices.”
Although Profita admits that it’s tough for him to give up the reins on anything, he did take a week of vacation in May. But that’s just a dusty tail on his entrepreneurial comet.
He’s pondering a new home for Gophermods in the UTEC building that would be triple the size of his current space. He wants to work more with smart phones and computers, and he’s also eager to get cracking on a new, separate business venture. Plus, summer classes start in a couple of weeks (he claimed a 3.5 GPA this spring), and he’d still like to pack in a trip to China for networking sometime this summer. So the next figurative midnight is just around the corner.
“I know I don’t want to just be focusing on Gophermods,” Profita says. “I just don’t want to sink down into one area. I want to get multiple things going.”
He may need to find a better fix than 5-hour Energy.
Golf with Goldy
Golfing is one of my favorite pastimes and with the weather being as nice as it has been lately, I couldn’t wait to go play a round of golf. Fortunately, the University of Minnesota has its very own course! The Les Bolstad Golf Course is an 18-hole course less then five minutes away from the University’s St. Paul campus. This is where the U of M men’s and women’s Big Ten teams practice and host their home tournaments.
I went and played yesterday for the first time this year. Even though my game was a little rusty, I had fun making my way through the beautiful course. Golf is usually an expensive game but with the discounted rates for U of M students, I don’t have to worry about it hurting my pocketbook. I went during twilight hours and it only cost me $13, which is an absolute steal!
If you love to golf like I do, the Les Bolstad Golf Course is the perfect place to spend a Saturday afternoon. For more information about the course go to http://www.uofmgolf.com/index.htm.
Graduation!
After four years at the University of Minnesota, I can say I’ve reached my goal—I am an official graduate!
Here's a picture of me and my family!
Here's a picture of me and my roommate Christi. She's been my roommate for the past year.
On May 22, 2008, I posted my first entry. Over the past two years, I’ve had the opportunity to give you the inside scoop on my life here as a student at the U of M. And while not every post may have tickled your fancy, I do hope that some did—and I hope that you have a better understanding of the great opportunities that the U of M can offer to students like you.
- You traveled with me on my study abroad trip to Cape Town, South Africa where I learned about leadership with fellow U of M students.
- You experienced countless Gopher football games—including the return of football on campus at the TCF Bank stadium.
- You got a taste of Big Ten tradition through blog posts about Homecoming and on-campus sports like volleyball.
- You got a first-hand look at the Twin Cities as I blogged about the Minneapolis Chain of Lakes, Uptown, the world-renown Guthrie Theater, the Minnesota State Fair, and Minnesota History Center.
- I’ve shared what a typical day is like for me. And of course, I wrote about all about my classes. You know about my experience living on campus in Centennial Hall and in my sorority house in the Dinkytown area.
- You know a little bit about what the is like on campus as I’ve shared about my life in sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta. From formals, football, and philanthropies, my involvement in Kappa Alpha Theta and other student organizations on campus has created the small, close-knit community that has made the U of M my second home.
- And this spring, you’ve followed me on the home stretch to graduation as I attended the job and internship fair, wrapped up my final classes, participated in Relay for Life, and announced my exciting after-graduation plans at Fairview Health Services.
As in many aspects of life, all good things must come to an end. Tomorrow, I start my full-time internship with Fairview Health Services and the next chapter in my life as a University alumna. I’m leaving the U of M having achieved my goals with a quality education and the out-of-classroom experiences to enhance it. Who wouldn’t be proud of that? When it comes to college, I couldn’t imagine having been anywhere but the U of M.
It’s been an honor.
For the last time,
~ Trisha
