Tag Archives: Everyone Matters @ OSU

Anissa Teslow Cheek – Intern

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Hello everyone!  My name is Anissa Teslow Cheek and I’m an intern in the office of Dean of Student Life for the fall term.

This is my last term as an undergraduate here at Oregon State University and I’m excited to be graduating at the end of this term.  I will be receiving my degree in speech communications and hope to attend graduate school to continue my passion of learning how people communicate their cultural identities.  My goal is to receive my MAIS at Oregon State Univeristy and to do that I have started my application process.

As an intern, this term I have been working on a video project that was started this past summer by two interns.  If you read, Maria Garcia’s post you will already be familiar with the video project.  For those that do not know, the video project was created to help students learn more about services on campus in a visually engaging format.  Each video has a student host or hosts that describe the services available and are captioned.  If you are interested in viewing the previously made videos you can at http://oregonstate.edu/deanofstudents/home/ or on the Dean of Student Life’s YouTube page at http://www.youtube.com/user/StudentLifeOSU?feature=watch.  In order for next term’s interns to seamlessly create more videos, I’ve been working on a how-to-guide that details the process from start to finish.

When I’m not working on internship projects or finishing up schoolwork you can find me hanging out with my partner Jason and our three cats.  Fear not, however, I am not a crazy cat lady, just a cat mom.  I would love to get a dog but it just hasn’t worked out yet. Meet my kids, Charlie, Jinx, & Belvedere.

 

 

I also enjoy hanging out with my brother-in-law, Tim and my sister-in-law, Kat who just transferred to OSU this term.  If I’m not spending time with family I love to hang out with my best friend, Kim, when our schedules align.  If we aren’t causing trouble, we enjoy watching Chopped on Food Network, chatting, creating or at least trying to create crafts, and overall just enjoying each others company.

I hope that this fall term has been a good one for you all and that you aren’t overly stressed with final projects and papers.  Good luck with wrapping up the term and then enjoying your winter break!

 

Holidays and Holy Days – Diwali (Hindu)

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This blogpost series is called Holidays and Holy Days to inform our OSU community about significant religious or spiritual observances.  If you know of a significant holiday or holy day coming up, please communicate the information to Hannah Pynn hannah.pynn@oregonstate.edu in the Dean of Student Life office.

This week celebrates the holiday of Diwali.

Happy Diwali!

Context

The Indian festival Diwali (also called Divali and Deepavali) is translated into the Sanskrit definition of “row of lamps” and is often referred to as the Festival of Lights.  Diwali, the five-day festival celebrated on one of the darkest night of the year, celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil, and is one of the most important festivals of the year.  An official holiday in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mauritius, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Suriname, Malaysia, Singapore and Fiji, Diwali is celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains around the world.  Diwali begins on 13 November. 

Diwali marks the beginning of the Hindu New Year, commemorating spiritual peace, familial relationships, and hoping for good things to come in the next year.

Significance

Diwali is celebrated by Hindu’s as the return of the Lord Rama from a 14 year exile.  In celebration of his return, people light small lamps to light his way home after he defeated the evil of Ravana and his armies.

Janism observes Diwali as the attainment of nirvana by Lord Mahavira, a spiritual leader who valued meditation, the respect of all living things, and giving up earthly comforts for the sake of spiritual peace.

Sikhs also celebrate Diwali as the mark of Chhorh Divis, when their sixth guru Guru Hargobind Ji, released 52 Hindi kings from prison.

The spiritual significance of Diwali asserts the Hindu philosophy of good over evil, that humans have “the awareness of the inner light” that brings joy and peace.

Rituals/Traditions

  1. Lighting innumerable small lamps, candles, and lights
  2. Visiting family
  3. Fireworks
  4. Wearing new clothes
  5. Exchanging special sweets with neighbors
  6. Going to the temples as a family
  7. Decorating homes with flowers, colored sand, and lots of lights
Additional Resources

President Obama is the first president to officially observe the holiday of Diwali.  Take a look at his Presidential address wishing people a Happy Diwali.  Presidential Happy Diwali

This is a short animated video that illustrates the story of Lord Rama and his victory of light over darkness.  Lord Rama – Defeat of good over evil

National Geographic shows footage of beautiful sights in India during Diwali celebrations.

National Geographic Diwali

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diwali

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rama

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/12/diwali-2012-festival-of-lights-photos_n_2115208.html

http://www.diwali2012.in/

 

 

Maria Garcia, Intern

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Hi! My name is Maria Garcia and I am fifth year student here at Oregon State University.  I am from Hermiston, a small town in Eastern Oregon.  I am very excited to be interning at the Office of the Dean of Student Life this term and even more excited to be receiving my bachelors in June!  It has been a long journey but definitely worth the struggle because of the opportunities I have received.

Walking to work

Because of the very busy term, I like to take some time to relax in the Memorial Union and enjoy my surroundings.  Besides interning in the office, I am also taking a few classes, including a cardio kickboxing class to ease away the stress!  One of my biggest goals is to go to graduate school to obtain my masters and I would love it if it were in the College Student Services Administration (CSSA) here at Oregon State.  Meanwhile, the drafts after drafts of resumes and personal essay questions will continue.

Peace and diversity in the Memorial Union

Working in the office has been quite enjoyable (as I have wonderful colleagues and supervisors)!  I am currently working on a few projects, the first one being researching and compiling data on other dean of student life/student affairs websites and comparing it to our university and other peer institutions.  This has proven to be quite a challenge when I dislike their website and can find nothing positive to say and bring back as an improvement to our own site.  Nevertheless, the final product of this research will definitely contain a lot of information to consider when making improvements to our website and office.

Furthermore, what began as a summer internship with a couple of students creating videos to establish a more inclusive environment for students and easy access to a visual tool, has now expanded into this term as well.  I am co-creating captioned videos with other interns in the office to offer students the opportunity to learn a little more about services identified as imperative on campus.  Through this project, we hope students and families will be able to easily navigate our website and find the information they need.  Our intention is to ensure that students are aware of everything our Office of the Dean of Student Life offers and create an enjoyable college experience.

Finally, I am also working with my internship supervisor, Kim McAloney, to try to establish a few Students of Color meetings where students interest’s can be met.  Because my personal interests lie in student affairs and because I am in the NASPA Undergraduate Fellow’s  Program (NUFP), I have targeted my meetings to students with these same interests.  Currently, this is still a two-times-a-term project, but hopefully next term it will grow.

With all these projects, and the other projects currently underway in the office, it has been quite busy around here!  I enjoy listening to the updates other interns have in our weekly meeting and establishing a cohort between our DOSL team as we engage in icebreakers.

I can’t wait to see the advances we make this term!  Fall is here and besides the rain, it is time to appreciate the hot chocolates, yummy pastries and the changing color of leaves.

-Maria Garcia

Edge of Oregon State University campus

 

Hannah Pynn – Graduate Assistant

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Hello!  My name is Hannah Pynn, I’m the Graduate Assistant for the Dean of Student Life (DOSL) at Oregon State University.

Now that the rain is here, it finally feels like fall in Oregon.  Since this is my first term as a grad student, the rain gives me a good excuse to settle in every evening with a cup of tea and a stack of books to study for my College Student Services Administration (CSSA) masters program.  The CSSA program is a masters program that studies student affairs and higher education, which means that maybe some day I’ll be a Dean of Student Life myself!  For now, I’m focusing on writing lots of papers and absorbing lots of information about how to serve college students.

As the Graduate Assistant in the office, I am working on several campus-wide initiatives that focus on the community and holistic development of every student on our beautiful campus.

Everyone Matters @ OSU is a global social media campaign that promotes inclusivity and non-judgement.  Check out how you can voice your thoughts on why YOU think Everyone Matters @ OSU.

 

I am also a coordinator for the Interfaith Community Service Initiative which is a campaign that aspires to initiate meaningful dialogue between religious and nonreligious individuals, bringing together students from all walks of life under the common umbrella of community service.

When I go home, I go home to a mansion that is the home of about 130 women.  My husband and I are the House Directors at Kappa Delta Sorority and this is our fifth year living in the residence.  We love our KD ladies.  This is us at Mock Rock last year, the huge KD philanthropy event that raised over $35,000 for child abuse prevention locally and nationally.

I’m looking forward to continuing my work in DOSL for the next two years.  I love when people visit me at work, so feel free to stop by to chat in Kerr A200.

Hannah