My experiences as a commuter student at NIU
Hello again,
As you may know, I am a current senior at NIU. I will be graduating in May and am set to matriculate to Loyola’s Stritch School of Medicine in the Fall. As such, I have been reminiscing about my time as a commuter student.
I live with my family about twenty minutes away from NIU so I was able to save quite a bit of money by commuting to school. However, commuting presents it’s own set of challenges. Where students living in dorms have to deal with roommates, I have needed to negotiate the sometimes sticky situation about parking. Parking Services does a great job of maintaining the parking deck, visitor lot, and other parking areas; however, it is necessary to arrive EARLY on campus in order to snag a parking spot. Oftentimes, it is difficult to get a parking spot if you are not familiar with high traffic days/times.
For example, Monday-Thursday after 9 AM is a terrible time to look for parking. Usually, most of the spots have been filled by that time. However, Fridays are much more free due to many students not having classes on Fridays. Overall, the parking/commuting situation at NIU can be tricky at times, but the NIU staff are continually working to improve.
Random Acts of Kindness at NIU
One thing that has really amazed me about NIU is the atmosphere of caring that students, faculty, and staff seem to have. I cannot even begin to count the many times that students hold the door for one another. While this act seems to be trivial in magnitude, I believe that the act itself illustrates a culture of helping that is very characteristic of NIU.
NIU is not a large school, but it is not a small school. I have oftentimes described NIU as, “being big enough to offer many unique opportunites, but the ‘small town’ feel.” This quality is particularly attractive to me because I feel that it reflects the investment and genuine interest that the NIU community has in the success of NIU students. Furthermore, I believe that the helping atmosphere at NIU has prompted myself and other students to help others in any way that we can. I have run across many people who were lost on campus or looking for far-flung buildings and helped them because I know that it is what NIU is; NIU is a place where people help each other.
When prospective students come to NIU’s campus, they are shown the best of what NIU has to offer; most prominently, it is the collective spirit of helping others that sets NIU apart from other institutions.
I <3 NIU!
I have significantly benefitted from the amazing support and guidance of the many wonderful faculty and staff members at NIU! Through my involvement in research activities and other engagement program, I have been lucky enought to interact with brilliant professors who have shown a genuine interest in my successful educational progress. As a part of the NIU “I Heart NIU” Campaign, I would like to highlight a few faculty members with whom I have had amazing interactions. I met Dr. Kristen Borre, of the NIU Anthropology Department, in a general education course on human diversity. Dr. Borre, a nutritional anthropologist, incorporated engagement activities in her course and pushed me to explore anthropological insights in medicine; a subject which I am particularly interested in now. Dr. Borrehas proven to be a tremendously insightful, caring, and helpful mentor. She has given me the confidence to undertake social science concepts when constructing my understanding of biological systems. This has allowed me to creatively and adaptively advance my education and ideas. The next faculty member who has had a large impact on my education is Dr. Sherine Elsawa. Dr. Elsawa taught my Immunology course last semester and she did a fantastic job in communicating course content, but also her enthusiasm for the field. With her guidance, I was able to present a primary literature article to her graduate course in an effective manner; I learned SO much in Dr. Elsawa’s class and I feel that her instruction has helped me to better appreciate human health and disease. Lastly, I want to emphasize the profound impact that Dr. Barrie Bode has had on me. As my mentor for the past few years, Dr. Bode has helped me in honing my critical thinking and analysis skills, in building my confidence in presenting research, and in applying to MD/PhD programs. Dr. Bode has gone above and beyond the call of duty in his mentorship and has served as a truly inspiring role model. I hope to be as kind, brilliant, and personable as he is!
Without NIU’s investment in mentored relationships, I would not be where I am today; for this reason, “I Heart NIU!”
Engaged Learning at NIU
Hello again,
I wanted to outline one of my involvement activities at NIU because I feel that these opportunities have been crucial in my success at NIU. As many of you know, I got involved in undergraduate research through the Research Rookies Program. This NIU initiative aims to pair freshmen/sophomore students with a faculty mentor within the student’s discipline. For example, I was paired with Dr. Barrie Bode of the Biology Department. Research Rookies participate in a year-long research project, guided by the faculty mentor, and eventually present their research at the annual NIU Undergraduate Research and Artistry Day.
I firmly believe that participating in undergraduate research opportunities at NIU have allowed me to develop into a more sophisticated student and a more curious person. I enjoy delving into life’s mysteries and producing new knowledge. The undergraduate research initiatives at NIU provide students with unique opportunities to engage their educational pursuit with practical experience in technical skills and practices. Furthermore, mentored research projects allow students to build their confidence and ease of communication with other researchers. Research programs at NIU have made me a better person and have allowed me to become successful.
Blog update
This semester I am serving as a Peer Leader for the Pre-Medicine Themed Learning Community. Themed Learning Communities are small groups of freshmen students who have cross-curricular engagement activities incorporated into two to three courses centered around a common theme. In our TLC, my students are taking introductory biology and chemistry classes and are working on a semester-long research project that is focused on the biochemical aspects of a topic of choice pertaining to human nutrition and health.
I am very proud of the work that my students are putting forth and have been watching them grow academically and professionally. I look forward to attending a hospital tour with them and helping them prepare for the presentation of their research findings!
Blog update
Hello all,
I am currently enrolled in Genetics, Immunology, Cultural Anthropology, and Speech Communication. The semester is progressing well and I have an interesting component to several of my classes. For Genetics, I am responsible for the selective breeding of fruit flies in order to learn how these models work and to understand genetic principles. For Immunology, I recently presented a primary literature source discussing B cell differentiation (an important factor in developing an immune response) to my instructor’s graduate class. The presentation went well and I learned so much about immunology and presenting in a seminar format. Lastly, I am currently working on an ethnography, an extended interview experience, with undergraduate research at NIU for my Cultural Anthropology course.
Overall, this semester has proven to be busy, but incredibly productive.
Northern Lights Ambassador 2013-2014
Hello again,
My name is Evan Wittke and I am a senior Biology/Anthropology double major in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at NIU. I am continuing my role as a Northern Lights Ambassador. In this position, I serve as the co-chair of the Alumni/Foundation Committee where I will work with community members, students, and administrators to improve the exposure of NIU students to alumni.
I chose to be an NIU Huskie because I am from the DeKalb area and I knew that NIU was an ideal school financially and academically. I have had many research opportunities that have allowed me to take charge of my undergraduate education; all the while, I have been developing industry-related skills for my future goal of becoming a research-physician.
I chose to be a Northern Lights Ambassador because I enjoy sharing my positive experiences at NIU with community members and prospective students, in order to spread the word/enrollment in NIU’s many wonderful engagement initiatives. As a returning Northern Lights Ambassadors, I look forward to collaborating with the NIU Foundation and Alumni Association on activities that increase the awareness of NIU alumni and the engagement of alumni in the NIU community.
Overall, the student engagement opportunities at NIU have been the driving force for my undergraduate career in terms of extra-curricular involvement and professional development. I cannot praise these programs enough because they have had such a positive impact on my time here at NIU!
I look forward to seeing you all this year and am excited to get started in the new fall term!
Go Huskies!
Final SROP Update
Hi all,
Today marked the Summer Research Symposium at NIU where I, and others, presented research from this summer. Frankly, I was very nervous before my research talk and was feeling a little gross. However, the moment of my talk came and I HAD to speak so I guess I managed to throw words at my captive audience that miraculously made sense to them and presented my work well enough…that or people were lying to me after the talk 🙂 Overall, I was very satisfied by my SROP experience. I made a lot of new friends, developed my research skills more, and honed my presentation abilities. I will never forget the fun times that I had this summer and am truly grateful for this opportunity. Have a great rest of the summer everyone!
Research update
Hello again,
My research project has been progressing well (still) but I am starting to run into some small issues. First, I have decided to give a lecture-style presentation of my summer project, which I think will be a better way of communicating my results and dealing with questions; however, the problem is deciding how much and what type of data to include in the PowerPoint. On one hand, I want to provide a detailed account of my work, but I want to keep the delivery of that information in a concise, easily “digestible” format. I think the ultimate decision will be based on small practice presentations that I will give to some of my lab colleagues. Furthermore, I am feeling a bit of a time crunch due to the impending end of the SROP program, which is frankly a little disheartening. I thought that the summer would last longer than it did, but I am happy with how much work I have accomplished.
Last week, I, along with other SROP students, was able to visit the Field Museum in Chicago! It was very cool to see the exhibits and I felt that the day trip to Chicago provided a bit of R&R that was a nice break from research.
I am looking forward to the research symposium on August 8; please contact me if you are interested in attending.
Evan Wittke's NIU Research Rookies Experience 