November2004
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Fall Bash... Rec Center Open House ... New
In School and Houston, Too? ... Dreading a
Holiday at Home?
Fall Bash 2004
Written by: Anne Marie Vollero, SPH & John McAuliffe, GSBS
On November 4th, about 150 students and friends from the six University of Texas Health Science Center schools gathered at Under The Volcano*** for the most successful Student InterCouncil (SIC) Fall Bash to date!! Students and their significant others mingled, "let loose," and shared perspectives from the various health care disciplines. With the aid of the nectars from the bar and the free victuals from Mr. Gatti's pizza, participants enjoyed the night away under the lights of The Volcano. The back patio was packed, the weather pleasant, the ambience cozy, the conversations lively, and the Volcano trademark frozen screwdrivers very tasty. Come join us next time. Don’t miss another relaxing and unforgettable event.
Mark your calendars for future SIC gatherings throughout the academic year! We look forward to making each party a great success and opportunity for you, the reader, to experience something special. We would love to hear your comments and ideas about anything and everything! Email your school representatives or any of the officers on our website www.uth.tmc.edu/sic Look forward to your input!
REC CENTER OPEN HOUSE!
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
6:00am – 6:00pm Recreation Center 7779 Knight Road
Food and beverages will be provided throughout the day, mainly during 6am-9am, 11am-2pm and 4-6pm
If you haven't visited the new Rec, there's no better time to come! There will be giveaways LOTS OF DOOR PRIZES!
The facility is open Mon-Fri 6am-10pm; Sat 8am-8pm; Sun. 10am-8pm For more information please call 713-500-8420 or visit http://ae.uth.tmc.edu
Health Sciences Students Benefit From Holiday Book Sales tributed by Christy Marshall, MSIII
For the second year, Barnes & Noble Booksellers is offering students at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston a holiday treat this December. An in-store “book fair” Dec. 1-4 in the Barnes & Noble Vanderbilt location, 3003 West Holcombe Blvd. at Buffalo Speedway will pass on a percentage of net purchases made on behalf of UT students as donations to student scholarships.
For example, if UT Health Science Center faculty, staff, students, alumni and other friends generate as much as $10,000 in sales over the four-day period, then 25 percent—or $2,500—will be contributed to scholarship funds.
Each customer will have an opportunity to direct the proceeds of his or her purchase to the UT Health Science Center school of choice to benefit students in medicine, nursing, dentistry, public health, biomedical sciences or health informatics. Vouchers will be available at the cash registers so customers can participate.
The cost of students’ debt to earn professional degrees in the health sciences ranges from about $30,000 to $80,000 at graduation. To enable and attract the best students, scholarships are crucial.
“Participation in this four-day Barnes & Noble BookFair is a wonderful way to help increase scholarships dollars for our future healthcare professionals,” said Nancy Hudgins, UT Health Science Center marketing director.
The book fair donation to the university from Barnes & Noble is based on the selling price of the merchandise—books, music, DVD movies, puzzles, magazines, café gift items—before sales tax. Gift cards redeemed in the store Dec. 1-4 will count toward the scholarship funds. Purchases of gift cards, Readers’ Advantage memberships and café consumables are not included in the book fair fund-raising activity.
Vouchers will be available at the cashiers at the Holcombe B&N, but if you'd like to get a jump on things, visit this link for a printable copy! http://www.uthouston.edu/community/barnesnoble/ Please support each other in our educational endeavours!
New In School and Houston, Too? by Joyce L. Hawley, PhD
Moving to a new location and starting a new enterprise, even if you’ve dreamed of it for years, is a time filled with powerful feelings. You may be excited, scared, frustrated, or lonely –one at a time or all at once! Try not to be critical of yourself ifyou’re uncomfortable at first. It’s only natural to be unsure when you move away from familiar surroundings and friends. Here are some hints for easing that adjustment. Use the ones that fit you!
The place you live is going to be your home, so make it feel your own: secure, a refuge when you need it, and cheerful. Decorate your apartment, or your part of the apartment, with favorite art, posters, etc. This doesn’t have to cost much. I once put two sheets of pretty gift wrapping paper on my wall, when my budget was particularly lean. You can put your photos of people or places you care about (but take them down temporarily if they make you miss home.) You could also use familiar things, such as a favorite lamp, or throw, or pillows, or whatever feels good to you.
Set your computer to remind you of when things are due – and also of when you should start each stage of a report or the like. Also use a pocket calendar or PDA to keep track of your work. A large wall calendar or bulletin board where you will see it every morning – maybe over the coffee pot?--can be useful, too. I also recommend putting up a copy of any significant praise you receive, as seeing it frequently is encouraging.
To avoid feeling lost, buy a good map of Houston (available at gas stations, fast food marts.) Highlight your most frequently used route. Practice driving around. Some streets change names – same street, different name. Holcombe becomes Bellaire. Stella Link becomes Weslayan. Bissonnet becomes Binz. Braeswood has a north and a south, with a bayou in between. North Braeswood becomes Beachnut while South Braeswood disappears. What fun!
If your school doesn’t give you a Med Center map, you can find one in the lobbies of the University Center Tower, the Houston Main Building (HMB), GSBS, School of Public Health, and the Medical School. Highlighting your routes from one building to another on this map, too, is very helpful at first. Pay attention to the light rail system; it can help you get around, but you don’t want to turn left in front of a train! Also note that construction in the medical center can slow you down. Ask questions and allow extra time at first. Find out where a grocery store is, and a drug store. Now you know you won’t starve!
Learn to navigate the UTHSC-Houston web pages, if you haven’t already done so. The main page is at www.uth.tmc.edu. To access the Student Counseling Services page from the main page, click on Students, then on Student Services, where you will find a link to our page. Or you can type the whole thing out, though it’s long: http://publicaffairs.uth.tmc.edu/worklife/. The financial aid site is http.sfa.uth.tmc.edu. The web site for the UT student health services can also be accessed from the main page, Students, Student Services. It is called the UT Medical Student Health Clinic. Although the opening statement may sound as though they only served medical students, they are available to the entire student body. They are located at 6410 Fannin, Suite 1010, phone 713-500-5171.
Find – early – one or two places you can go and feel good. When the pressure mounts, I can go to a bookstore and feel better even if I don’t know a soul. Whatever it is for you – movie theater, coffee bar, tea shop, or whatever – look it up in the phone book and practice finding it before that day when you really need it!
If you like to work out or swim or play intramural sports, locate our Recreation Center. (Yes, Fannin does split into a Y going south past Old Spanish Trail; the left fork is Knight Road. And be careful of that left turn; drivers go fast there.)
Friends are an important part of your life, though it is certainly possible to have fun by yourself. Because of the highly specific nature of the training in the Health Sciences Center, it will be helpful to have a support system here that includes people who understand your present life and schooling. I suggest pursuing several avenues for making new friends. There are clubs or associations for most of the professional areas. Check these out, and remember that you may not feel at home for a while. Your goal at first is just to go. After a while, people will start to remember your face and name, and you will become a part of the group.
If your family or friends have given you the name of someone who lives in Houston, give him or her a call. At least chat – maybe meet for coffee. Who knows, you might like each other!
Leave a note introducing yourself on your neighbors’ doors. If they don’t reciprocate, don’t worry. If you are religious, your chosen religious center can be a good place to meet people. Take advantage of student gatherings arranged by your school early in the school year. Remember, many of these people are feeling shy, too.
If you are in a new place with no friends to start out with, it will probably take at least one semester before you begin to feel comfortable, two semesters to enjoy it. You will make new friends, but remember that they can’t be as close as old ones for some time. E-mailing is helpful, but sometimes you may need to hear your old friends’ voices, so call them up and talk – your mental health is worth some spending on long distance!
Dreading a Holiday at Home? by Joyce L. Hawley, Ph.D
Going home for the holidays can be a lovely occasion. But it isn’t always, and it isn’t for all families. Here are some ideas to improve the risk/benefit ratio.
We tend to think of holidays as special family times. The media, the advertising, and our cultural programming tell us this is a time when everyone feels warm and caring. But the reality may be quite different from the image. Sometimes we go home hoping to find the family we wish we had, only to encounter our own family, with all its problems. Perhaps one or more family members are very critical of you. Or parents may want to smother you to make up for not having seen you, especially if they do not deal well with your independence. A relative may continue his tradition of quietly getting drunk – or perhaps not quietly. Your appearance, relationships or lack of them, and career goals may be faulted. And there’s that perennial question, “Why aren’t you done with school?” There are many reasons why a student might wish he or she did not feel obligated to go home for the holidays.
Be realistic and don’t expect your family to change. Change is possible, but takes hard work and isn’t fast. If you are the one who is uncomfortable with a family member’s behavior, you are the one with the motivation, not the other person. If you don’t want to talk about something, say so, then divert the conversation onto their lives. Being fervently interested in your aunt’s new car, or whatever, can get the focus off you. Have other things to talk about. Or if they demand why your dissertation is taking so long, “baffle them with science.” Talk about something school related, in excruciating detail. They’ll get bored.
Many people find it useful to limit the amount of time they spend at home. I suggest having your own transportation available during a family visit, even if this means renting a car for a few days. That way you can get away for a few hours. You can have last minute shopping, or gifts that just must be exchanged. Or you can go for a walk or do your exercises, etc. You can tell family that you have to be back at work earlier than you really do or set up unbreakable commitments with friends you haven’t seen for a while.
It can be useful to talk to a counselor about avoiding some of the old, painful patterns. We at the Student Counseling Service would be happy to help you. Just call 713-500-3113 for an appointment.