Lewis University Navigator Blogs

On Tuesday, we celebrated Lewis’ 79th Birthday. Lewis brought in all sorts of outside entertainment and set it up outside in the village green. They had a large grill out for dinner and rented out moon bounces. They had an obstacle one that was so fun even though it gave me many rug burns! They also had someone making caricatures, set up a photo booth to take funny pictures, and were giving people tatoos that would last like a month. They also gave out prizes or “birthday presents” like t-shirts and water bottles. It was definitely a fun way to celebrate Lewis’ birthday! Next week we have Easter Break from Thursday the 24th and are off until classes again on Tuesday the 25th. Then after break we only have that week of classes and then finals week the following week. It is very exciting knowing that we just have about 3 weeks left until summer!

This upcoming weekend at Lewis will be pretty busy! Our baseball, softball, and men’s volleyball team all have home games at some point this weekend if you want come support our teams! Also on Sunday we are hosting Flyer Playground. Flyer Playground is where we invite parents to drop of the children for 3 hours during the day from 12-3. The cost is $5.00 per child and we play games, swim, watch movies, and etc with the children. It is an opportunity for the parents to have some time away and for the kids to have fun and play. The great thing is that the proceeds go to Make-A-Wish foundation, which is a great charity organization.

Also, I would like to note that are that overnight visit opportunity is March 24th-25th. If you are interested I would definitely encourage you sign up. When I was a senior in high school I participated in the overnight visit. It is a really good opportunity to sit in a class and gain an experience on what residence life is all about. You also get to meet a lot of students who might or plan on attending Lewis in the fall.

Hope you all had a good St. Patricks Day!

Hi Everyone!

I hope you are all having a good week as spring is approaching! We are on spring break so everything on campus slowed down a bit. However, just before break, many exciting news headlines were opened. One thing that you may have heard, the board approved the creation of a new stadium consisting of a 9-lane track and turf field. This plans to be open in the fall! Another exciting thing that we learned is that in April Jason Derulo will be coming to Lewis for a concert. His concert will take place the day before the Spring Formal so it will be a fun weekend at Lewis!

While students are on break from class this week, many of our athletes are still competing. Just this past weekend, both the boys and girls basketball teams had upset wins in the conference tournament to advance. They both play in the next this weekend. Our women’s Track and Field team also captured the conference Indoor Championship this past weekend, for the second year in a row. Men’s and Women’s Tennis and Golf, Softball, and Baseball teams are all in Florida for tournament this week. I wish all of our athletes the best of luck and safety in their tournaments! Go Flyers!!

Have a good week!

It has been an interesting week at Lewis, so say the very least. Classes were cancelled Wednesday and Thursday due to the blizzard. It was exciting to have off because I feel snow days rarely ever happen in college so two in a row was definitely a treat. Many students, including myself, ventured to play outside, and you can see many forts and snowmen scattered around the campus.

Tonight will also be an exciting time at Lewis. Our men’s volleyball team hosts Stanford tonight. Stanford is ranked #2 in the nation this year and are the defending national champs, so it will be an exciting game. We are having a white out theme tonight too support them.  They pre-sold tickets for the game and are expecting a full crowd, so it will be pretty loud in the Neil Carey. If you are interested in watching the game it will be televised on Lakeshore TV! Hope you had a good week and snow days if you had off!

Go Flyers!!!!

Hi Everyone, 

As you probably know we are in the second week of spring semester. Being a sophomore I already finished all my general education required classes (except for one) in the spring so now I am mostly submerged into my major classes this spring for the first time! Like I said at the start of my blogging, I am a combined elementary and special education major. One great reason about Lewis if you are interested into going into education is the dual certifications you can receive in still only 4 years!! When I graduate in a few years, I will be certified to teach elementary K-9 as well as special education up to grade 12. I have many friends at other schools who are going into education and they only receive the one of those two when they graduate. As for many majors there are so many extra hours of elective credits you have to take, which is why a lot of people can complete a major and a minor because they can use those electives for a minor. The education program here, if you are a combined major, helps you plan that elective space to take the additional classes to get both certificates. Also, many of the required classes for education are ones that you need for both elementary and special education degrees so it is not like you are taking 2 whole different sets of classes. 

Another reason why I really like the education program here is because of the actual in class experience we are receiving. As a sophomore I was already observing in a clinical last semester. Last semester I had an introduction into elementary education with a 25 hour field experience. This semester I have an introduction into special education with a 25 hour field experience in a special education classroom. While I have not yet gone into my classroom yet for the spring, I absolutely loved my experience in the fall. I think it is great that Lewis gets you out onto the field early on in your college career. At some big schools you might not be placed in a classroom until your senior year when you are about to student teach. The clinical really helped assure me that I wanted to go into education. Having your first class one that provides hand on experience helps you become comfortable with the classroom setting and make sure you are majoring in what is best for you. I think if you are interested in education Lewis is a great place to be! I will keep you updated on my education classes and the education program! 

Have a good week!

Hi!

I hope everyone had a great break! The students at Lewis start classes again on Monday, so on Sunday all the resident students will check back into their rooms.  There are many events on campus that will be taking place as the spring semester begins. First not only will men’s and women’s basketball teams still be in season, but men’s volleyball begins their season next week. They are ranked 14th in the nation in the preseason poll. I highly recomend that you all try to come out and see one of their games! They are so fun to watch! One thing that is great about Lewis is that we really use our email to stay informed about events on campus. Everyday, we get emails sent to to us about everything that is happening around campus. We are not back to school yet but we are already getting emails from clubs and organizations about meeting times and events. If you want to get involved you never have a problem finding a way to acheive this!

Have a great week!

Hi Everyone!

First off Happy Friday! I know all the students at Lewis are happy today because after today winter break officially starts. This week was pretty busy and stressful with finals but we all got through it! Many students on Saturday took the night off of studying to attend the Men’s and Women’s basketball games. The games had an ugly sweater theme and a lot of people came to show off their sweater. It was a lot of fun! Another study break I took advantage off was the Late Night Pancake breakfast. The Sunday night before finals week each semester, Residence Life and Campus Ministry put on a breakfast. Brother James and other faculty come to serve breakfast to students from 9:30-11:30. The breakfast is free which is helpful to many students who have run down the money on their ID cards. It is a nice event they put on to show appreciation to the students at Lewis.

I was lucky this semester because I only had one final. The rest were take home essays or presentations. Finals are distributed or assessed are based on the opinion of the professor. I have friends at other schools where they have to be given a final. I really like how Lewis leaves the decision up to the teacher because the material you covered might not make sense assessing it in a test form. For example, for philosophy my final was to write a few essays responding to topics we discussed over the semester. I really value the personalized learning attention there is at Lewis because of our size because it allows each class to experiment and change to fill the students’ and professors’ wants and needs.

I hope that you all have a great holiday and relaxing break!

First off, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving with your families! Since break it has been really busy here with classes winding down and finals coming up, however it has not been all study! In my philosophy class we participated in the food drive that was hosted by Campus Ministry. Our professor gave us the challenge of if as a class we totaled 96 items (3 per person) she would give us enough extra credit to raise our grade 4%. The last day of the drive was Tuesday, and our end total was 100 items! One thing I like about Lewis is the small class sizes because there are so many opportunities available for things like this. The numbers make it so easy to interact with on a one-on-one basis with every student and the professor. Not only were we working to help a good cause, but it was fun challenge to come into every class in November to see how many more items we had. 

Next wee,k if you love Christmas music the theatre department is hosting their 6th Annual Holiday Spectacular. This show will consist of songs, dances, skits, and all sorts of other holiday entertainment. The show will be running from December 9, 10, &11 in the Phillip Lynch Theatre. I went to the event last year, and it was the funniest event I have ever been to on campus. It is the weekend right before finals for us, so it forces you to take a break from studying and have a laugh while putting you in the Christmas spirit! The show is open to the public and you can call the box office at (815) 836-5500 for tickets. I have many friends performing in it this year so I can’t wait to see them and all the other acts! Hope to see you there!

Hi guys! We are nearing the end of a week and anxiously awaiting Thanksgiving next week. This has been a busy week at Lewis. On Sunday, our Lewis University Women’s Volleyball team captures the GLVC conference Tournament beating Indianapolis in 4 games. It was a great win after they lost to Indianapolis in the championship game last year. We all are really proud of them! As for school, this week was registration week for classes in the spring. Here our registration order is done according to how many credits you have and is done online or you can go register in person in the Registrar’s office. 

As for looking ahead, we go on Thanksgiving break on Wednesday, as Wednesday is the last day of classes for the week. To help those less fortunate have a good Thanksgiving on Tuesday, some friends and I are going to a local shelter to help distribute food to families. This volunteer program along with many others is lead by our campus ministry. Our ministry offers great opportunities to become involved in our community. Lewis is also providing transportation which is great because it allows everyone the opportunity to participate if they live on campus and do not have a car. I am really excited to help out. I wish all of the Happy Thanksgiving as we reflect on what we are thankful for! Have a good week!

Ask any Lewis student, and they would respond to what a great Halloween week we had! On Friday night (October 29th) our women’s volleyball hosted Maryville for their Halloween themed senior night. Fans came dressed in costumes to cheer on the Flyers to their sweep over Maryville. Prizes were awarded to top three best costumes and we all had fun dressing up and cheering for the girls. The win left the Flyers undefeated at home and are currently ranked 14th in the nation. Halloween on Sunday night, the Rec Center hosted a one night Halloween dodge ball tournament, in which costumes were mandatory. It was pretty funny seeing ninjas and ghosts playing some pretty competitive dodge ball.

This past weekend I also attended an Autism workshop. A workshop is 11 hour one credit course in which you attend usually a few hours on Friday and then during the day on Saturday. It was a great workshop as I learned a lot and got to meet a lot of other people who are in the same major as I am.

Now that it is November and the holidays are coming, the Rec Center just started a bunch of new workout classes (To avoid the holiday weight gain?). Today a bunch of us went to a 30 minute AB Lab. The classes are free and are a great workout! I know my abs are going to be sore tomorrow. The AB Lab is offered everyday as well as many other classes that I will be trying it which I will give you the update on! Have a great week!