Undergraduate Admissions

This journal is an archive of the experiences of a UB student in the 2006-2007 school year; it’s no longer being updated.  If you’d like to read about some current UB students, please check out this year’s bloggers.

Hey guys, its Vic again. I am sad to say that this will be my last blog. I just want to take this opportunity to thank all of my fellow bloggers for their input. I would also like to thank the people in the SRU responsible for maintaining the blogs. It was a fun and exciting year for me at UB and I am sad to leave it behind.  I look forward to a new chapter in my life. I know that all of my preparation at UB has given me the tools to succeed in my career path. Yet, I am still a little nervous to leave this environment. I hope that my posts have helped give students, parents and other individuals an idea of what it is like to be a UB student. To my peers of the Class of 2007 Congrats and to those students who plan to start college in the fall Congrats as well and good luck.GO BULLS!!!!!!!

Hey everybody, it’s Vic again. I just wanted to take this blog and comment on the horrific events that occurred a few days ago at Virginia Tech. First and foremost, my heart goes out to the families that lost a daughter, a son, a parent, a loved one. It is sad to see such violence and rage fall upon people who didn’t deserve it. College is a stressful time in everyone’s life as well as high school but what I like to tell students and peers is that H.S. and College is not the end all be all.  There is more to life than these educational institutions. Do not let it cloud your judgment and consider violence as a means to vent your frustrations.  If you are stressed or feeling pressured, please, please reach out to someone. Talk about your problems to a parent or a friend.  You can also join an after-school activity. It can be sports, clubs, or just hanging out with friends. Life is too short and violence like this is not the way to solve anyone’s problems.  There is a saying in Spanish that I heard from my fifth grade teacher that translates roughly into “The weight of the world is a lot lighter when it is on two pairs of shoulders.” Again, to those families or individuals that were directly affected by this tragedy, from the bottom of my heart I am sorry. I hope that you can seek solace from your loved ones that still remain. I am sorry.

Hey everybody, it is Vic again. Before I start this entry I just want to thank Billie for that nice comment. I really appreciate the gesture (my grandmother is doing better by the way). So, I just want to say that Preview Day last Saturday was a blast.  It was the most I have walked around the campus in a long ling time…lol.  I got the chance to meet a lot of future UB alum; some were nervous and others were curious but all of them were enthusiastic to be on campus.  I wish I had pictures to show everybody, but I forgot to bring a camera on Saturday so sorry.  Anyway, I thought back to the time when I was weighing my options in what college I was going to attend. The reason why I chose UB was because UB is, well for lack of a better term, it is well balanced in many aspects. It is not too big or too small. It has a nice college town/city feel. It offered me a great financial aid package and it has the right amount of prestige without being too intimidating. I love this school and it is going to be sad to leave it. Before I go I just want to thank all of the perspective students, STARS, and all other UB members who were able to make Preview Day an awesome experience for me. This will be an experience that I will not soon forget. Anyway, I will see you around guys.

Hey guys, I haven’t had the time to post something since Spring Break. Honestly, it has been a difficult couple of weeks for me academically and personally.  The thing that has been bumming me out recently was that my elderly grandmother injured herself and I dont think that she has much time on this earth. Thinking about it, I feel guilty with the fact that I probably won’t be home before she passes.  Regardless, I still have obligations to fulfill here at school and I really dont have a choice in being back here. Last week I had an exam, two papers and I was given one of my final paper guidelines.  Luckily, this past week is over and a major work hurdle was passed. I hope to write on my next blog a more light hearted story so for this week I aplogize. I just needed to get this off my chest.

Hey everybody, I hope everyone enjoyed February as much as I did lol. Anyway this blog is particularly important because I want to answer some questions that an individual sent me a few weeks ago. (Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner) To answer your questions first it has been a while since my freshman year but let me see, well the first good decision has to be coming to UB. UB had all that I wanted in a school. It wasn’t too big or too small plus they offered me a great financial aid package.  A good decision that I made during my freshman year was to seek out help from the support services here.  As I tried to get used to the classroom format in college, I went to a lot of tutoring and office hours. This really helped me adjust to the class workload and also it helped me boost my grades significantly from my first semester to my second semester. Another good decision that I made my freshman year was to go to a lot of the events that were going on around campus. This was two-fold, one there was a huge variation of activities and people that were on campus so I learned from that and secondly there was a lot of free food so I ate pretty well my freshman year.

As a freshman, a few important lessons that I learned was that, this sound really stupid, but I learned that this isn’t high school and the stuff that I got away with in high school wasn’t going to work in college. I say this because people would constantly tell me that college is a lot different from high school but it took me actually being in this setting to realize it. An example of this was my that I had to write a paper for my Eng. comp. class and I just typed it up the night before without revising it and my professor saw the paper and just laughed. He told me that this was by far the worst piece of writing that he ever saw and if I expected to pass the class I better take his assignments seriously. I was pretty embarrassed to say the least, but at least the professor to enough interest to let me know about my mistakes and give me time to improve. Another lesson that I learned was that people are a lot different, attitude wise, then people from New York City. If anyone is from NYC, you learn from a very early age that eye contact or any other kind of contact is a no-no. But up here at UB, random people would say hi to me and it would freak me out. I say this because people should be open to learn from other individuals and their lifestyles. Not everyone is from the same place where you grew up and I think everyone should realize that sooner better than later.

Well, as for mistakes it is really hard to think of three but again not taking college seriously at first was a huge mistake and I learned pretty quickly from that. Also, I didn’t do this but friends of mine did, CREDIT CARDS ARE NOT FREE MONEY. If you want to sign up for any kind of financial thing, especially as a freshman, consult your parents first and ask them for advice.  Also, look over every single detail before making a decision. (Look at the interest rates that these cards are giving you, very important.)

Freshman year is a very difficult time for people to adjust, but just remember always seek support from professors, peers, parents, friends, etc. Also, keep your mind open to new experiences and lastly have fun in a responsible way. I hope that I answered all of your questions, but if anyone has any other questions or comments you can post them on my blog. Alright guys I will see you around!

With graduation a few months away and family members calling me for tickets, it has finally hit me. I am on the verge of finishing the majority of my formal education.  I know it sounds stupid but it just dawned on me…I have to become an adult. I have to leave the comfort and safety of college and go out into the real world. I am sure that I have learned a great deal here at UB and I am well prepared for the task that lies ahead but I can’t still shake the feeling of nervousness, excitement and a little bit of fear. Oh well, I still have a few months. I should focus on my upcoming English midterm. Milton is not going to read itself…

Hey guys, whats up? The last couple of days have been pretty hectic to say the least. I had a few papers and exams to study for but hopefully my work will pay off. Anyway, last night at the basketball game it was pretty crazy! Buffalo did not have the lead for the entire game. The entire game and they still won! What happened was that Buffalo was down by two points and had the last shot. Buffalo missed the shot, but the visiting team left the floor before time expired. Because they did that, the officials put .6 seconds on the clock. Also, the visiting team also failed to report back to the court on time, so they were hit with a technical foul giving Buffalo 2 free shots and potential to take the game into overtime. Buffalo did indeed hit both shots and took it into overtime. In overtime Buffalo went on a tear and eventually beat the visiting team by 8.

I think it was one of those sports moments that only a college sport can produce. After that game, I can say that I saw everything as Bulls fan. It was great.

Hi guys, I’m Victor, the rookie…lol. I just want to start by saying that it is pretty cool to be a blogger and I hope I can positively contribute to the rest of the blogger team. Right now I am in my room just looking over some of the many things that I have to do for the next couple of days. Coming up I have some papers and some reading assingments for my Milton, Contemporary Soc, and American poetry classes. But right now, I have to go work secuity for the men’s basketball game in less than an hour. I like the job and it is a lot of fun. I just make sure nothing out of the ordinary is happening and I get to watch the game in the process. Recently both the men’s and women’s teams have been struggling, but they should be able to turn it around and get some momentum going against their conference rivals Central Michigan. Anyway, I have to start getting ready to go to work. I should post something up really soon. In the meantime, take care guys!