» 2009 » January

Show Me the Money!!

The title made you check out my blog, huh?  Let me introduce myself as the latest guest on the Admissions Blogroll.  My name is Jen Foster, and I am a proud Wolfpacker, through and through.  I graduated in Communication in 2000 and I’m currently working on my Master’s degree.  I had an amazing college experience – camped out for basketball tickets, stayed up all night talking with suitemates in my residence hall, attended theater events, went sledding in the Court of North Carolina.  My hubby even popped the question at the Belltower – yes, NC State is THAT much a part of my life!  So it’s only natural that I want to stay here, helping other students to experience what it means to be part of the Pack.  I am lucky enough to do that through my work as Assistant Director in the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid.  (Wait!  Don’t stop reading!  I promise, Financial Aid is not nearly as boring as it might seem at first glance!) 

Really, Financial Aid gets such a bad rap.  When I tell people where I work, I always get this same look.  You know, it’s that look that means, “You poor soul!  It must be awful to spend all day telling people that they can’t get any help to pay for college.”  But that’s not what I do at all. 

So, what do I do in Financial Aid?  I spend a lot of my time answering questions.  How do I fill out the FAFSA?  Did you get my FAFSA?  Did I do it right?  How do I apply for a loan?  Why do I get an unsubsidized loan instead of a subsidized one?  How can I get money to buy my books?  Where should I look to find scholarships?  My mom lost her job – is there any way I could get more financial aid?  Which meal plan is the best?  (Okay, so my questions are not all Financial Aid related…)

A huge part of my day is helping students and families understand their options.  And there ARE options!  There are many types of aid and many sources of funding so it’s tough to guess what kind of financial aid you might receive until we get your FAFSA.  So, my advice to you?  Fill out that FAFSA!  And fill it out before March 1 (our priority deadline).  Yes, it’s a little intimidating.  With all the acronyms that we use, we sometimes get bogged down in alphabet soup.  We use FAFSA, SAR, ACG and EFC like they are actual words.  We discuss Perkins, Pell, and Stafford like they are our friends.  But they are!  And they can be your friends too.  Applying for aid isn’t really that hard, and we’re always here to help.  Our website has some helpful information.  And if you start to drown in that alphabet soup of acronyms, give us a call. 

Me

Me and two of my sorority sisters at the bowl game!

Hi everyone!   I’m Andrea Ertz and this is my first blog.   I am from Burlington, Iowa and I’m a sophomore majoring in Biological Sciences and working toward a minor in Spanish.  I am involved in many things here at NC State including basketball pep band, marching band, Pre-Health club, and I am one of the founding sisters of the Tri-Delta chapter at NCSU.  One of my favorite activities is marching band.  Not only do we get to go to every game without worrying about if we’ll get tickets or not, but we also get to travel to some of the away games!

One of the highlights of my marching band career so far has been going to the Papajohns.com Bowl this past winter break!  Even though I had a pretty rough time getting back to Raleigh in order to go to the game, I ended up making it to the airport at 2:00am after my flight was delayed 5 hours in Chicago.  I was worried that I would miss the bus!  My wonderful friends were there to pick me up at the airport, even though we had to be at Price Music Center less than six hours later.  We left Raleigh at 9:00am Saturday, December 27^th and took charter buses all the way to Birmingham, Alabama. 

This is me and a bunch of my band friends at dinner one night

After our lunch and dinner breaks, it ended up taking 10 or 11 hours to get there!  We stayed in a nice hotel for two nights and it was a lot of fun.  There was a pep rally on Sunday night where our band played and Coach O’Brien and a few of the football players talked.  The bowl game was Monday, December 29^th at 2:00pm.  The game was a lot of fun although Russel Wilson ended up getting hurt in the 3^rd quarter and was out for the rest of the game.  We ended up losing 29-23 but it was still such a fun game!  Our band performed on the field during halftime and that was awesome! 

Reuben Studdard singing the National Anthem

We left immediately after the game and ended up getting back into Raleigh at about 6:00 the next morning.  It was a pretty exhausting trip but I was glad to escape the freezing Iowa winter where there had been snow and freezing rain since I got home on December 16^th.  I definitely appreciated the 60 and 70 degree weather in Alabama!   Although marching band season is over, now I have pep band to look forward to.  Hope to see everyone at some of the games…Go Wolfpack!

Ms. Wuf singing

Go Pack!!

Yes! I am back and ready to take on a another fun filled semester. My stress level is low.  I am calm and assertive and ready to dive into 2009! I had an excellent break with tons of sleep, plenty of home-cooked food, and laughter.  It is safe to say that I am recharged and refocused for the goals ahead of me. With the upcoming career fairs, resume workshops, meetings and events, stayed tuned for the exciting year ahead!

I believe that right before exams, almost every college student begins to stress a little bit.  Just hearing the word “exam” makes me cringe a little. The good thing is that NC State offers different types of stress relievers, such as free coffee and donuts in the library during exam week, and yoga classes to relax. This semester I decided to do my own stress relievers. These consisted of my study group and me renting out a class room and playing Rock Band on a HUGE projection screen for 4 hrs (taking place after our 3hr study sessions), going to sing karaoke with my sister and her friends, and going salsa dancing. By using all of these ingenuous techniques, I was able to relieve all of my stress, relax, and be totally confident in taking my exams. I would study early and make sure that I knew the material, and I would unwind by doing one of these three stress relievers. They must have worked because I did well on all of my exams! This is one thing that I learned in college. Stress only hinders your work, and your body. If you ever feel stressed, make sure to have a stress reliever prepared…or just go play rock band: Either one works!

Tis the  Season to give back!  During such economic struggles, students have been able to come together and help some those less fortunate during the holidays. Donating clothing, school supplies,toys, and necessities, and even Thanksgiving dinners to families in need.  I had a great time working with my peers to help make others smile during the holidays. 

This past Thanksgiving my lovely sisters of the Kappa Omicron Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, reached out to families during the holiday season. Through the  Women’s Center, located in the heart of downtown Raleigh, Alpha Kappa Alpha gave a helping hand to 100 Families by supplying them with Thanksgiving dinner.  Oh yes! Cranberry sauce, macaroni and cheese,stuffing, and of course, my favorite, turkey, was just some of food loaded up and delivered for a thanksgiving feast. While also providing food, Kappa Omicron, decorated the Women’s Center to help spread the Christmas cheer by hanging Christmas stockings, lights, ornaments and, of course, snow! And K.O. wasn’t the only organization this season that helped pitch in during the holidays.

Another program on campus that helped spread the spirit of giving was a program entitled “Shoeboxes of Love” hosted by the African American Culture Center. The purpose  of this program was to donate gifts filled with fun and functional play items and necessities to children in the surrounding communities.  Some of the organizations involved included the African Student Union, Heritage Society, the Kappa Omicron Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, and the African American Student Advisory Council.  Donating over 100 boxes to the local orphanage, “Shoe boxes of Love”  gave children  a chance to open a gift for the holidays. I must say that giving back was in full effect this Christmas and I enjoyed every minute of it.  It was a blast giving  back and although I had never done so much for people that I didn’t know, I know that they appreciated it and I walked away a better me.