It is hard to make new friends! Especially when you have to start everything all over again; just like going to college. Ever since I started college, I’ve make a couple of new friends. When I first attended Xavier, I talk to some of my classmate and they are really friendly. Making new friend is not an easy thing for me to do because I’m very shy and I don’t really like to talk to stranger. I feel weird because I don’t know what to say or how to act in front of them. I still remember that I’m having a difficult time when I first attended Xavier. I feel like I was trap in a world where I don’t know anyone and I was afraid. I have some friend in Xavier that goes to the same high school with me, but I don’t have any class with them because we have a different major. A few weeks afterward, I feel like I fit in better. Although college is way different from high school, I know that I’m in process of learning how to be independent and grow up. Now, I don’t really remember how many people I know at Xavier because I’ve been talking to a lot of my classmate lately. Usually, I study by myself because I don’t study well with other people. I tend to get distracted when there are people around me. I’m glad that I talk to my classmate because when I got stuck with something, I tend to ask them first before I ask my instructor. I don’t know why, but I feel more comfortable asking my classmate.
Guest speaker and the Election Thursday, Nov 6 2008
Your first Xavier experience 6:21 pm
The fourth out-of-class event is this week. Tom Piazza, the author of “Why New Orleans Matters”, is our guess speaker. I did not attend the event because I attended the first three symposia in the ballroom already, so I don’t want to go to the fourth one. Even though I did not go, I think that he will probably talk about his book “Why New Orleans Matters”. I have finally finished the book and I think that I don’t really like it. It is kind of boring and nothing in the book interests me; I just read it to get over it.
I was not shock at all when Obama was announced president. I knew that he was going to win anyway. What shock me the most about the election is that the electoral points for McCain were way off compare to Obama. I believe that the 2008 election is remarkable because we have never had an African American president before. This election might be a big civil change in the history. I believe that not only African American senses the real equality that has finally been achieved in the U.S., but the minority groups also have the same feeling. I think that president Obama has influence many people (in a positive way) because he had proved to everybody that anything is possible. As I mention in the previous blog, I could not vote because I’m not a citizen of the United States yet. I’m very happy with the outcome and hopefully Obama will build up our country in the future.
Presidential Election Monday, Nov 3 2008
Your first Xavier experience 9:17 pm
To me, I think that citizenship mean a lot to me. It mean that people are working together to built up a country and everyone are united as a whole. I will vote if I can. As I mention in one of the previous blog that I am not a citizen yet. I’m in the process of applying for the citizen test. What I heard from the radio and watching T.V. is that a lot of people are undecided; they don’t know who to vote for. The main problem that people are concerning with McCain is that he is too old. This is kind of unpleasant, but some people even said that he might die in his office. The problem that people have with Obama is that he promise a lot of thing but who know whether or not that he is going to keep his promise when he become president. One morning when I was driving to school, I hear someone on the radio said “words don’t cost a penny”.
I didn’t get much from Mr. De Berry because I can barely hear him. But the general ideal that Mr. De Berry talking about is about New Orleans. I notice that Mr. De Berry is not from New Orleans; if I’m not wrong, I think he is from Mississippi. As an opening, Mr. De Berry asks us whether or not that we are certain with our major. He told us that he was certain with his major until something happen; this event leads him to journalism. Mr. De Berry also read us a piece of his writing. I assume that it is good because I can’t hear anything. Overall, I did like and enjoy the night.
Academic Community Monday, Oct 27 2008
Your first Xavier experience 8:23 pm
This week, instead of meeting as a class, we all meet with Dean Boutte in the auditorium. I don’t know what my class favorite part is, but my favorite part of the speech is when he mention about the W$ sign. I did not know that if your financial problem is still in hand, you can not take your exam. These mean that you can not have a retake for the exam and you still own Xavier money. Even though my financial problem is already set, I still believe that this piece of information can be helpful for other people. What is going well for me is that so far I have all A’s and one B for my midterm grade. I know that it is not the final grade but I’m very satisfied with the grade that I got as a midterm grade. So far, I think that I’m best in Chemistry lab. It is the class that I think I have the highest A in. I didn’t expect my midterm exam for lab to be 100, but that what I get. Lab is very fun and interesting. I like to mix up solution and do new experiment every week. The subject that I find most challenging is Chemistry. For Chemistry, there is a class call drill where you come to class once a week to take quizzes. We have to go to drill every week to get tested on the materials that are being covered in the previous lecture class (anyone who have Chemistry will know what I’m talking about). One of the classes that I thought was easy, but end up hard is English. I thought that my English class is easy but that is the class that I end up having a B. I think that I should not under estimate anything because that is what going to get me toward the end-just likes English!
My First Xavier Experience Monday, Oct 27 2008
Your first Xavier experience 3:09 am
I chose to come to Xavier because it was the only Historically Black College or University that had a Pharmacy school. If I went to another school, I would have to transfer to Xavier to finish my degree. Another reason why I chose to come to Xavier is because everybody else at my high school either goes to Florida Agriculture and Mechanical University(FAMU) or Bethune-Cookman University(BCU). I wanted to go somewhere different and also financially speaking Xavier gave me the most money. I am not really a family-centered kind of person, so moving about four states over , wasnt a big deal. I wanted to come to Xavier just to let underclassmen at my high school now that there are other prestigious schools besides FAMU and BCU. I was excited to attend Xavier University, our class had a group on Facebook and we were introducing ourself all the time but weirdly we arrived here for Orientation, everybody was so distance. I am a semi-shy person, so for the first couple of days I was walking around campus by myself but slowly I guess we became more social. College feels like a dream to me, like I am in a comatose stage of mind and have yet awaken.
Local Culture Saturday, Oct 18 2008
Your first Xavier experience 7:13 pm
This week, I have visits a variety of neighborhoods and I see a lot of different thing. I try to visit English Turn, a rich neighborhood, but I couldn’t go in because I don’t live there. The security systems seem highly secure. It surrounding is very calm and relaxing. Before you get to English Turn, there are a nice long road with pretty flowers and green trees located on both side of the street. What I heard from other people, there are a lot of rich people that live in the neighborhood; mostly white. My brother live near English Turn, and he once told me that he saw Sean Payton (the Saints head coach) driving in English Turn. Therefore, we assume that he live in there. There is no business or factory located near English Turn; I guess rich people like to live peacefully? As I visit another neighborhood in the East bank, what I see is the complete opposite compare to English Turn. I don’t really remember the name of the neighborhood, but it is the neighborhood where most Asian people live. The streets are terrible; there are a lot of pothole and crack in the street. There are a lot of businesses such as restaurants and small groceries store surrounded the neighborhood. I also see a big coffee factory located across the street from the neighborhood. Compare to English Turn, most of the house in that neighborhood are old and small. What I learned about the city from visiting the neighborhoods is that there are a lot of unfairness justices going on around the neighborhood. The richer neighborhoods get a better environment and street than the poor neighborhoods!
Reasons I choose Xavier. Friday, Oct 10 2008
Your first Xavier experience 2:41 am
Everybody in this world might have at least one dream in their life and so do I. Since I was I child, I have had a wish to be a successful person and the only things that can help me to hit that goal are knowledge and experience. Of course, I can only get those two things from a high quality school and that why I choose Xavier University as the road leads me to success.
As I know, Xavier University is a best school in Louisiana which has many wonderful programs for any major, especially Pharmacy. Luckily, Pharmacy is also my favorite major so that I can not find any school that fit with me than Xavier University. When I study in Xavier University, I can see a wonderful environment for me to study which I have never seen before. To illustrate, there is a huge library where I can spend a whole day in it to study. It is very quite in that library and that is an excellent place to do my researches. In addition, every class is good because they have a lot of tools which help students can follow the teacher’s lectures more easily such as maps, diagrams and clay model. There are also a lot of lab rooms and they have many high technology machines for students to practice what their teachers teach in class.
Moreover, professors in Xavier University are very professional. All of them are really know how to teach well and how to guide their students through all difficult problems in their study. For me, this is the most important thing that a good school has to have because I can not study well if I don’t have the proficient professors who can help me any time I need. I can see the experiences and enthusiasm in teaching from the professors. They always keep trying their best to help their student to study and I can learn a lot of things from them. For me, Xavier is the best school I have seen. It has everything to help me to study well and be a successful person. I think I have made a correct choice and I will be never regret for it.
QuynhNhu
Treme Thursday, Oct 9 2008
Your first Xavier experience 9:22 pm
There are a variety of things that I learned from the film “Treme”. What I have learned from the film is that Treme is one of the main neighborhood where free African American live. It is one of the oldest neighborhoods that still exist in New Orleans. At first, I was kind of bored by the movies because it keeps continuing showing black and white pictures of New Orleans history. I was not exciting at all, until I see the second line celebration. I have been living in New Orleans for about ten years and I don’t even know what second line is until I watch the film “Treme”. What I learned from the film is that New Orleans people celebrate Funeral differ from other people. Usually, other people celebrating a funeral in a sad mournful way, but New Orleans people celebrate it with a fun and exciting technique. We celebrate a funeral with music like jazz, which is also known as a jazz funeral. There are two steps in the funeral: first line and second line. First line of a funeral is for relatives or family members of the dead person. Second line is usually for people who love music. Regularly, the second line people will follows the first line people. What I saw from the film is that random people joint the second line just to have fun. They dance, sing, and do whatever they want. It seems very interesting to me because I have been living in New Orleans for a long time, and I don’t even know that this type of celebration exist in New Orleans. If I have a chance, I would like to joint second line one day, just to see how it feel!
Local Community Tuesday, Oct 7 2008
Your first Xavier experience 3:11 pm
What people seem to care about is voting! Most of the local news and local editorials seem to talk about the election. It talks about the presidential election between Obama and McCain. Obama and McCain face off in the presidential debate. The patterns that emerge in the local news and local editorial is that people is debating on who to vote for as their president. Even though I can not vote for the presidential election because I’m not a citizen of the United States yet, I am still strongly concern about the election. I want to have a good leader that knows how to run the whole country to represent us. I want a strong leader that can built up our country instead of destroying it. I want a president that have a concrete goal and know what he is doing. I want a president that could lead our country in a peaceful technique instead of creating war. I’m tire of the Iraq war and I don’t want another war to occur again. To me, I think that both candidates who run for the presidential election are equally smart and intelligent, but I am leaning more on Obama. The reason I want Obama to win because he seem to be a very intelligent and educated man. Another reason that I want Obama to win the election is because I would like to see an African American president. It would be nice to see a major change occur in the United States.
Xavier Community Wednesday, Oct 1 2008
Your first Xavier experience 10:51 pm
First of all, my major is Pharmacy. Dr. Wayne Harris is the dean for college of pharmacy at Xavier University of New Orleans. Dr. Kathleen Kennedy is the associate dean. The chairman, division of clinical and administration science is Dr. William Kirchain. The chairman, division of basic pharmaceutical science is Dr. Robert Blake. The asst. dean for student affairs is Randall Schexnayder. Lastly, the asst. dean of assessment is Dr. Rondall Allen. College of pharmacy faculty and teaching staff consist of 30 people. There are 5 associate professors and 10 assistant professors. The course that all pre-pharmacy are require to take during their freshman year are: General Chemistry I 1010, General Chemistry I Lab 1011L, Comp & Rhet (English) 1010, Pre-Calculus 1030, Psychology or Sociology 1010, General Chemistry 1020, General Chemistry Lab 1021L, Comp & Rhet (English) 1020, General Biology I 1230, General Biology Lab I 1230L, Fund of Speech 1010, and Academic Elective. During the sophomore year, all pre-pharmacy are require to take: General Biology II 1240, General Biology Lab II 1240L, Organic Chemistry I 2210, Organic Chemistry Lab I 2230L, Economics 1030, Physics 2010, Physics Lab 2010, Philosophy 1000, Organic Chemistry II 2220, Organic Chemistry Lab 2240L, Health Ethics 2400, Calculus 1070, Microbiology 2010, Theology 1000, and Medical ethics or Bioethics. All pre-pharmacy major should have 66 semester hour credit and only grades of “C” or better in order to get accept into pharmacy school. Students can apply to pharmacy school of Xavier University by online application; It is quick, convenience, and easy.
