“Swing for the Wishes” Celebrity Softball Tournament
The student group “UM WishMakers” held their first event, a celebrity softball tournament, Saturday January 30th. It was a great, family-friendly event that raised awareness and funds.
Celebrity guests included Adam Ritter (olympic swimmer), Maritza Correia (olympic swimmer), Francia Raisa (Adrian of ‘The Secret Life of the American Teenager”), and Tim Hardaway (former Miami Heat player).
According to their facebook page, “The purpose of Wishmakers is to increase awareness of the Make-A-Wish Foundation’s mission and to raise the money necessary to make a child suffering from a life-threatening illness’ wish come true. Wishmakers works the same as our national partner; we select a child who lives within South Florida that has a life-threatening illness, and has submitted their wish to the local Make-A-Wish foundation. Wishmakers then sponsors the child’s wish and puts on events and fundraisers throughout the year so that we can raise the money necessary to make their wishes come true.“
Celebrities and students formed teams that played against one another throughout the day. Experience levels varied, but that only added to the sense of fun for the day. It was great to see how many people (especially students) were willing to wake up early and travel (in the case of the celebrities) to help a stranger.
With the help of registration fees, donations, and money from several silent auctions, the group was able to raise over $8,000.
CaneZone
Employment during college can be a tricky business- off-campus jobs are difficult due to transportation and class scheduling, on-campus jobs often pay less, and both can be scarce in times of economic difficulty. It goes without saying that college kids these days need all of the help they can get in this area. CaneZone is a great resource to UM students in finding jobs and internships (on and off campus) during the school year as well as over breaks.
YOUR INFORMATION
What’s so different about CaneZone as opposed to the classifieds or a similar search engine (at least any that I’ve visited) is that it works the other way around- not only can you look for potential employers, but they can look for potential employees (hopefully you!). By filling out your information, you’re privy to e-mail updates about companies looking for interns, new listings that you may be interested in, and direct communication to your future boss.
THE JOB SEARCH
Although I already have two jobs on campus, I’m still on the lookout for an internship in Miami for the summer. By filling out the quick form, I was able to find tons of opportunities that fit the requirements I was looking for. The favorites section is especially helpful; instead of bookmarking each listing separately, I can use this feature to check back to the listings that I think I’ll most likely end up applying to.
EVENTS
Not only does CaneZone a great resource for finding jobs via the internet, but it also notifies you about workshops and events being held (mainly through coordination with the Toppel Career Zone). Events are often chances to network and discover new companies, while workshops teach you how to interview effectively and prepare your resume.
Ask Ashley
These questions were asked via askUM.
I am a very big sports fan, and i was wondering what life is like
down there of days of football or basketball games?
To answer your question, school spirit is even higher than usual around game days. There are pep rallies, tailgates, watch parties, etc. For football home games, students tend to get decked out in orange and green (some even wear crazy outfits- there’s even a pair of girls who completely cover themselves in glitter) and load the free buses to the stadium. Students are given free tickets and are privilege to some of the best seats.
The same stands for basketball home games- after tailgating, students walk over to the Bank United Center on campus, and those who belong to “Haith’s Faithful’ (named after the coach, Frank Haith) get great seats to watch the game. As always, it’s free! It’s always to fun to be able to cheer on our fellow students and see who can come up with the craziest outfit to show school spirit.
I was also wondering if your school has a volleyball team.
We have a women’s volleyball team as well as club teams (which are organized by students). Not too long ago, we beat the former attendance record for a volleyball game when the girls played against Clemson. If you’re not into playing for the school team or even a club team, there are several volleyball courts on campus (in the gym and by the Mahoney / Pearson residential colleges), so you’ll definitely have plenty of chances to play.
Is it hard to go from high school to college.
What do you find the most difficult?
It can be a bit intimidating to move from high school to college, but it’s good to remember that everyone goes through the same thing as you. It’s a new environment, new schedule, and new peers. I’d say the most difficult is getting used to the new schedule- you’re not in classes for 7 hours straight, and sometimes it can be tricky to manage your time efficiently. Getting to know new people can seem to be a bit difficult, but with floor programming that RA’s hold and campus events, there’s always chances to meet potential friends throughout the year.
