Programming Resource Center

This blog is about trying out new things, in particular exploring new music. Taking a History of Jazz course has given me the chance to discover new artists, and appreciate their stories found between the notes. Jazz receives much of its influence from the Blues.

Blues was born in the South. This distinct genre expressed the African American sentiment of pain, love, and injustice. Slaves developed this music form through work songs, field hollers, and hymns. African Americans endured much hardship throughout their lives, yet through this adversity they developed soulful musicality. Blues is the foundation of Jazz as well as the prime source of rhythm and blues, rock ‘n’ roll, and country music.

Jazz shot out from New Orleans, the source of transculturation. New Orleans, the melting pot of sound, had a great tradition of celebration. This city was the epitome of entertainment it included: opera, military marching bands, folk music, blues, church music, ragtime, echoes of traditional African drumming, and dance styles. When all of these kinds of music blended into one, jazz was born.

Louis Armstrong, an inspiring Jazz original, shaped much of what we know Jazz to be today. “Through his clear, warm sound, unbelievable sense of swing, perfect grasp of harmony, and supremely intelligent and melodic improvisations, he taught us all to play jazz.”- Wynton Marsalis. Jazz has the ability to express freedom through improvisation. This defining feature shows how raw and authentic Jazz can be.

So whether you’re jamming to Fred McDowell’s Delta Blues, Luis Armstrong’s Early Jazz, or Ma Rainey’s Classic Blues note how this music form possess the ability to relate to anyone and anything. As you experience fall this year, experience new music. Who knows, you many find a new interest in Jazz and the rich history it has to offer!

This post is about the benefits of raising your hand when in a social situation (and by social, I simply mean a situation when there are people).  First off, I recommend you watch this video because it is silly:

Sesame Street: Raise Your Hand

Now, back to the content. Raising your hand is a polite way to let others know that you have something to say without interrupting anyone.  This practice can be useful during a class or a meeting or even amongst a group of friends.  Additionally, it can prove that you are listening to what is under discussion and are engaged enough to want to participate.  If you are an impatient person, raising your hand can be a good way to practice patience since the entire purpose of raising your hand is to be called on to speak.  Raising your hand in a group setting can help keep the noise level down and foster an environment where everyone can be heard.

Hand raising has other benefits as well:

• Depending on the lighting in the room, you can make shadow puppets on the wall
• Allows you to stretch and still appear to be engaged
• Supposedly helps you stop coughing (it is recommended that you raise both hands, however, so you may just look super excited to contribute)

It’s hard to believe that midterms are upon us already! Do you feel like you just got started but are already loosing a grip on things? Well don’t fret because you’re not alone. Reading this blog is the first step to becoming more proactive. First, I would highly recommend going to some of the events that HOPE, Student Assembly, Active Minds and other organizations have put together for next week. For instance, on Monday they’ll be discussing getting the rest (and energy) you need, while Friday is all about releasing stress through drumming, letting the rhythms carry your stress away. These events are all about giving yourself that allotted time to relax and completely distress. They also serve as an energy boost for you as students to plan, organize, and if I may say get back on track!

Use the link below to check out the flyer! Give yourself a goal to try and make it to one of these events. You could even team up with a friend who shares the same stress as your own.

https://docs.google.com/a/email.wm.edu/viewer?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=13a08bd6b546f8fa&mt=application/pdf&url=https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui%3D2%26ik%3Da634fa5ea7%26view%3Datt%26th%3D13a08bd6b546f8fa%26attid%3D0.1%26disp%3Dsafe%26zw&sig=AHIEtbT8YvkHW52vG2A5ztjjyYoNUq7hcQ

It’s always a good idea to have something to work towards. For many of us, Fall Break is that glowing light at the end of the tunnel. It’s that precious time to consume as much of mom’s home-cooked cuisines as one can digest. We need to remember that Fall Break is as it reads, a break. However, use that time wisely and to your advantage. Of course homework is inevitable, but try and plan out what you have coming up in the next few weeks. If you create a game plan you won’t feel as overwhelmed or bombarded with schoolwork when you return. Set aside thirty minutes and plan out what you want to accomplish this break. It might be a good idea to then write a separate list of what will be due when you return, and how to prepare for it now.
Lastly, use Fall Break as that time to reflect on yourself. What goals do you have in mind for this year, and how are you going to achieve them. There’s always room for improvement, but don’t forget to commend yourself for all that you have done so far. After all, you are a William and Mary student! On that note, find ways to live a healthy lifestyle, whether it is attending an event next week, catching up with family and friends over break, or preparing yourself for what this year has to offer.

As you all know a Program Advocate oversees the exceptional PRC, however we are also given specific areas and responsibilities to specialize in. I am also what is called a Resource Specialist. By definition, my job is to compile and update the database with presenter information, recruit event and activity presenters and speakers, and promote events and activities to the Residence Life staff.
So how does this specifically pertain to you PRC users?
Our hope is for you to conduct programs for your hall. Stuck on what kind of program to do? Well, one of greatest resources that should be utilized here at the College of William and Mary is H.O.P.E (Health Outreach Peer Educators). If you don’t already know, this is a student organization whose goal is to provide the William and Mary community with up-to-date and reliable health information.
Won’t my residence see this as just an extended, extended orientation? Not if you don’t make it one!
As the school year progresses stress, schoolwork, and everything in-between begins to pile up. We forget or simply neglect to make the time to take care of ourselves. By having a presenter come to your hall and give a quick yet beneficial presentation on a topic of YOUR RESIDENCE’S choice you’re 1. Program advocating, 2. Instilling helpful advice upon your hall, and 3. Striving to facilitate an on-going dialogue about health issues. During orientation freshman are thrown so much information and advice that they forget much of the resources available to them on campus. Upperclassman as well should be provided a friendly reminder of the health issues they face. By holding a H.O.P.E presentation after students have submersed themselves into the college lifestyle your residence are better equipped to reflect and find room for improvement.
Presentations are only 15 minutes long, so your residents can definitely make the time for this program! You could even hold an informal discussion after the presentation to get feedback on their reaction to the presenter, the topic itself, and the overall success of the program.
By following the link below, you’ll be taken to a list of programs offered by H.O.P.E

https://forms.wm.edu/form/view/2987/b6005c80ecffc5ad24d9115c8dd3b7e2

What are you waiting for? Try it out!

Today we’re talking about chocolate. Why? Because chocolate is delicious. Because we already have a BBB about chocolate that you can check out. And because making chocolate is actually a pretty easy (and, as I said before, delicious) program.

HISTORY

Chocolate comes from the plant theobroma cacoa  (meaning food for the gods) and was used in Mayan and Aztec religious events, where cacoa seeds were presented as gifts to the gods and hot chocolate was drunk by the people. Europeans added sugar and milk to the cacoa, making it more like the chocolate we know and love today. They also added emulsifyers to make chocolate stay hard longer and retain its shape. The industrial revolution allowed the joy of chocolate to spread world wide.

Today, Western Africa produces almost two-thirds of the worlds cocoa.

OTHER FACTS

-16 of the top 20 20 chocolate-consuming countries are European

-Americans eat about 3 billion pounds of chocolate each year, totaling over $13.1 billion dollars in sales

-Chocolate has over 500 flavor components. That’s more than twice the number of flavor components in strawberry or vanilla

-chocolate contains the stimulant phenylethytamine, which creates a slight sensation of euphoria

-eating chocolate more than 3 times a week has been associated with living longer

-chocolate is rich in copper magnesium, iron, and antioxidants

THE PROGRAM

Makes 16

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

-Microwave and freezer

-Baking sheet

-Parchment paper

-Cookie cutters in desired shapes (available for check out in the PRC, although if you have metal cookie cutters available those work better)

-1 lb milk chocolate (chocolate chips recommended)

-Microwavable bowl

-Spoon

-Other candies (like crushed nuts, M&Ms, etc) if so desired

HOW TO DO IT

1. Place parchment paper on baking sheet. Arrange cookie cutters on the parchment paper.
2. pour chocolate in a bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir well. Repeat until all chocolate is melted.
3. Spoon the chocolate into the cookie cutters, and try to spread the chocolate evenly. If you have enough hands, once the cookie cutters are all filled you can hold them all down and gently tap the sheet on the surface of the table. This will help smooth out the chocolate and get rid of any air bubbles.
4. If desired, add other candies or nuts.
5. Put the cookie sheet in the freezer for 10+ minutes.
6. Gently/ slowly flip the parchment paper over on the cookie sheet and tap lightly on each chocolate to detach it from paper. If the chocolate is still in the cookie cutter after this, tap the chocolate at the edges to remove it.
7. Eat and enjoy!

Immediate relevance is sometimes the strongest source of motivation for people. Lack of immediate relevance often results in apathy or leaving that twenty-five page paper assigned at the beginning of the semester to the night before it is due. Let’s be real. It happens to the best of us. When professors assign sections of the paper to dates throughout the semester, students are less likely to procrastinate.

Resident Assistants can take the same approach when planning boards and programs. When brainstorming topics, it is often advantageous to consider what’s happening and relevant. So what is happening? Here’s a list of immediately relevant topics for students at William and Mary:

1. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama will address the William and Mary community on the virtues of human compassions. What an amazing opportunity for our community! Let’s have another real moment, though. Many people do not know much more about the Dalai Lama than the fact that he is one of the world’s most renowned and influential spiritual leaders. RA’s can create bulletin boards and plan programs that will educate their residents prior to hearing him speak on Wednesday, October 10^th. The board could be interactive, making it both a board and a program. On the board, leave a large blank space and attach a writing utensil by string. Invite your residents to write down things they know about the Dalai Lama. As they walk by and read the board they can learn from each other. Of course, you will want your board to have more than just blank space. Use your creativity and the wonderful resources in the PRC to make your board stand out.
2. It is an election year! Duh! Even though Election Day is not until November 6^th, the recent Republican and Democratic conventions and the debates coming up in early October make the election immediately relevant. Not to mention the fact that the last day to register to vote is October 15^th. Your board could highlight the dates associated with the election leading up to the election. Additionally, it could share key points of each party’s platform. As for a program, there is this really cool website that asks you questions about key issues that come up in the campaigns and uses your answers to tell you with which of the six presidential candidates (yes, there are other candidates besides Romney and Obama) your political views align best with. Invite all of your residents to visiting the site (http://www.isidewith.com/). If they feel comfortable, ask them to report the issue that matter most to them. You can display these results on a board on the hall. For a more involved and active program, you can host a debate viewing party and bake cookies in the shapes of elephants and donkeys! Prior to hosting such an event, you will need to make a judgment about whether your residents of different political views can be respectful of one another.
3. It is so easy to get caught with classes and meeting that students neglect healthy habits like exercising, sleeping, and eating. These issues will be relevant all year long. Sometimes the best way to stay on top of those things is to have friends or people in your living community to hold you accountable. Going to the gym together and regular meal dates might help with holding each other accountable. Make it a competition! Create a board on which residents can report how many minutes they exercised that week, how many servings of fruits and vegetables they ate, and how many hours of sleep they got. Point values can be assigned and a prize can be given to the winner at the end of the month. This would be an easy, ongoing program and board. Two cool websites you can share with your residents are http://sleepyti.me/ and f.lux (Google f.lux). The first site tells you what time you should fall asleep based on the time you want to get up so that you have a good night’s rest. The site considers 90 minute sleep cycles. Waking up in the middle of a cycle causes you to wake up sleepy and groggy. Waking up in between cycles allows you to wake up feeling refreshed and alert. The f.lux application is downloadable. It automatically decreases the brightness of your computer screen over the course of the day. Staring a bright screen late at night often causes us to stay up later than we should.

You’ll find that is not terribly difficult to figure out what is immediately relevant. Talking to your residents is a great way to learn about what is going on with them or what matters to them. Also, as a student of the College, I bet it would be pretty easy for you to figure it out on your own. Of course, the PA’s are always down for a good brainstorming session. We have made it our mission to help RA’s with their programming more than we have in the past. Remember that we are here for you so use us! I am sure we can learn lots from each other J

Congratulations on making it through the first three days of classes!  I’m sure a lot of you reading this have been in Williamsburg for at least a year and feel as though you know the city pretty well.  You can find Target, the Outlets, various grocery stores, and Chipotle and you can navigate the bus system relatively well.  But do you know where to get cider in CW after 5 o’clock? And have you ever been to the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Collection?  Or heard of Great Hopes Plantation?

One of the great things about being a W&M student is we can go to the CW museums/exhibits for free. CW has a lot of hidden treasures and, if you and your residents are interested, CW trips could make great programs.  You could go to a new building or site every week or every month and combine it with a cider-run or a farmer’s market trip.  Or you could have a hall picnic in front of the Governor’s Palace or see a movie at Kimball Theatre (you have to purchase movie tickets, though).

Here are a couple links that might be useful in planning a CW trip.  The first link has a list of the different places you can visit and the second link is an interactive map.

http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/do/revolutionary-city/tour-the-city/city-sites/?pnum=0

http://map.colonialwilliamsburg.com/

(Use the -/+ buttons at the top left to zoom in and out of the map!)

Happy exploring!

P.S. You can get cider from Chowning’s Tavern after 5 o’clock! (It’s the first building past the Court House and the cider stand)

The end of the year is undeniably busy–filled with exams, final projects, tons of events, course registration and- for most residents- housing selection. We all know the stress of exams and course registration, but few RAs have ever been through housing selection. So how are we supposed to help when residents come to us with questions about time blocks and the waitlist? Sure you can attend the info sessions, but do you really know how it works? Today’s blog explores what you as an RA need to know about room selection.

1.Time Blocks:  Over Spring Break, your residents were sent e-mails with info about their time blocks (assuming they paid the room reservation deposit). A time block is the date and time when a resident can first login to select his/her room. Residents who are working for res life next year, living with someone who’s working for res life, or living in a community they had to apply for, such as the language houses, won’t get this email because they were not entered into the housing lottery.

2. The Waitlist: Students who were in the last time blocks were  put on the waitlist and given reinstatement numbers by their Area Directors (upcoming sophomores get the lower numbers and rising juniors get the higher numbers). As more people opt out of on-campus housing by choosing to live off-campus, more people get reinstated, starting with the lowest number first. (People can check up on the progress of the reinstatement list here) The waitlist presents certain complications, both in the plans of the person who was assigned to the waitlist and the person with whom he/she was planning on living because a person cannot select to  live in a room on campus unless he or she has been reinstated (with the exception of overcrowding, which will be discussed later). If someone has a very low reinstatement number (1~30), they will almost certainly be reinstated before room selection begins and so it shouldn’t alter their plans for housing. If a person has a mid-range reinstatement number, it’s hit-or-miss when they’ll be reinstated, depending on how many people opt out of housing and how quickly. Therefore, it’s possible that their original housing plan may still work, but it’s also advisable that they and their roommate make alternate housing plans as well, such as an overcrowd or living off-campus. If a person has a very high number (>~150) they will be reinstated if they wait long enough, as the college promises, but this could very well occur in August, in the units, and with someone who’s convinced they’re Voldemort and Bellatrix’s love child. Therefore, bad roommates will ditch them and find someone else to live with. Good roommates might consider off-campus housing or an overcrowd, which are pretty much these unfortunate people’s only options. In overcrowd housing,  roommate groups of 3 or 4 with 1 person on the waitlist (a roommate group with 2 or more people on the waitlist is not eligible for overcrowd selection) are given priority in choosing a room that’s a little bit too small. More information about overcrowd room selection can be found here.

3. Creating a roommate group: People who are eligible to participate in room selection can manage their hosing process on myHousing. This is where residents can login to see what rooms are still available for them to live in and, when the time comes, select their rooms for next year. On myHousing, a person first selects their roommate group, meaning everyone with whom they want to live next year. A roommate group should select a Group Leader, the person who’s going to be in charge of selecting the room they’re going to live in next year during room selection. This person should be whomever has the earliest time block. In order to make this person the group leader, members will have to click the green up arrow next to that person’s name until his or her name is at the top of the list of roommates. The person’s name should then have a star next to it. Everyone in the group should send the Group Leader their roommate passcode, which is located in the upper right hand corner of the myHousing window. This will allow the group leader to add them to the room during room selection.

4. Choosing a room: Before your time block, you can login to see what rooms are still available. However,  the only rooms that will be listed as available are ones that meet the capacity needs for however many people are in one’s roommate group. So, someone who doesn’t select a roommate group will only see singles, where as someone who selects a roommate group of three people will only see triples, and so on. From this, a roommate group should form a rough idea of where they’d like to live (choosing a specific room is a bad idea). Keeping it realistic may be the most difficult part of this for freshmen who know that Jamestown is popular but think it’s totally realistic for them to get a suite in Bryan (possible, yes. likely, no). Once the Group Leader’s time block begins, he or she can log in and select a room. Though they don’t have to do this right away, they must  do so within 48 hours of when their time block begins. Everyone else will have to login at some point after this  in order to accept the terms and conditions of on-campus housing.

When it all comes down to it, everyone who wants to will find some place to live, and hopefully one they’re happy with. Try to be up-to-date on where your residents stand in the housing process and make yourself available to provide support and answer questions. Hopefully the information above will help!

On a college campus, the end of the year can mean a lot of different things depending upon what the coming months may hold.  Freshman are ready to become sophomores and lose their ‘new kid on the block’ designation.  Sophomores and juniors are likely getting ready for internships and study abroad opportunities.  And finally, seniors are gearing up for the rest of their lives and savoring their last couple months at our beloved college.  Thus, there are a variety of avenues through which you should consider programming for the end of the year.

From the standpoint of a freshman RA, consider reminiscing back to your first year of college.  What characteristics of that living situation are unique to the experience of your residents?  For many William & Mary students, freshman hall friends tend to stick together but find that something is lost when you’re no longer live in that environment.  Thus, do some activities that take advantage of their cohesiveness.  Consider doing programs like a midnight game of ultimate frisbee in the Sunken Gardens or do a mixer with another hall in your building!

For sophomores and juniors, gauge what they’ll be doing in the near future.  Maybe you’ll find that you have a lot of residents going abroad so consider doing travel safety programming.  If many of your residents have internships or are looking for internships, give a workshop on how to make the most of your internship or how to go about writing cover letters and interviewing.  The Career Center can help you out with this.

Finally, for seniors getting ready to graduate you may want to take a different tack.  Consider checking in with them and do an activity that allows them to reflect on all the wonderful things they’ve experienced over the past 4 years.  Ask your residents to create a William & Mary bucket list and challenge them to do as much of it as they can.  Maybe you could turn it into a competition?

I hope this advice was helpful and you and your residents continue to live every day to the fullest!

Spring surprised us in February this year. We anticipated the return of winter, but the sunshine, and unseasonal warmth persisted. Whether you want to blame it on global warming or the groundhog seeing his shadow, or call it a gift from above, we can all agree that one of the perks of the beautiful weather is there are more opportunities for outdoor programming! Here are five ideas to thing about:

1. A water balloon fight would be a great collaborative program. Invite another RA to get his or her hall involved. It can be boys versus girls, girls versus girls, or boys versus boys. Either way, it’s a good time and a cheap time. Water balloons are inexpensive when bought in bulk, water is free, and there are plenty of spaces on campus to have the fight. Cleanup, however, might be a bit tedious. When the fight is over you and your residents will need to pick up the balloon pieces. How can we turn a negative into a positive? I know! Turn cleanup into a competition. The person who picks up the most pieces will win a small prize. Wawa gift cards are always popular. Most people would be motivated to win a $10 gift card for Wawa.
2. Have a BBQ picnic! There are outdoor grills at different places on campus: Jamestown field, between Chandler and Landrum, in Botetourt outside of Spotswood and many more. Having a BBQ could be another collaborative program. You could make it potluck style and BYOB. Your RA funds could supply hotdogs and chips. Ask your residents to bring blankets to make it a true picnic.
3. I would say we are a pretty physically active campus. The gym is always packed and people are running this way and that way across campus, in CW, and pretty much all over Williamsburg. Rancing (dancing while running) is a program that can help your residents spice up their workout routines. Poll your residents for songs to include on the rancing playlist and burn CDs for your residents. Pick a nice day to frolic.
4. Ultimate Frisbee is another physical activity that is inexpensive. Rent a Frisbee from the rec center and play! The Sunken Gardens is a great place to play.
5. Now that you have burned all those calories rancing and playing Ultimate Frisbee, Berry Body is the move! Take a walk with your residents to Berry Body in CW. Depending on your RA funds, you could subsidize the cost of your residents’ frozen yogurt. Find a nice place outside to eat your froyo.

Whether you have money to blow or your money is a little funny, there are so many easy options for outdoor programs that can appeal to freshmen and upperclassmen. To get the best turn out, collaborate with fellow RA’s. Consult your residents about best times for events and ways to make the events more appealing to them. Good luck and enjoy the rest of the semester!