In honor of Museum Month in Minnesota, I'd like to share with you some of my favorite museums and attractions around the Twin Cities - many of which offer free or reduced admission for students. In fact there are a couple museums right within the University of Minnesota campus!

Museums and galleries on the U of M campus are:

1) Goldstein Museum of Design 

Located in McNeal Hall on the St. Paul campus, the Goldstein Museum of Design is a collecting institution that advances the understanding and appreciation through showcasing the design of objects such as clothing, pottery, metalwork, and more.

2) Weisman Art Museum 

The Weisman Art Museum is known for its unique architecture designed by Frank Gehry. The museum's mission is to create art experiences that spark discovery, critical thinking, and transformation linking the University and the community. Best of all, admission is always free!

3) Bell Museum of Natural History

As Minnesota's state natural history museum, the Bell Museum of Natural History houses the largest collection documenting Minnesota's biodiversity, but also has significant collections from around the world. Nearly 4 million specimens of mammals, birds, fish, plants, mollusks and insects provide exceptional opportunities for research and learning. 

4) Larson Art Gallery

The Larson Art Gallery is located in the St. Paul Student Center. The gallery houses exhibitions that are curated, designed, are installed by students of the Visual Arts Committee within Student Unions and Activities. 

5) Coffman Art Gallery

Developed in 2003, the Coffman Art Gallery is located on the first floor of Coffman Memorial Union. All exhibits are curated, designed, and installed by the students of the Visual Arts Committee within Student Unions and Activities. 

Outside of campus, other attractions are only a bus-ride away. If you don't have a car, it's still really convenient to get around the Twin Cities using buses and the light rail and you can easily map out your route using the Trip Planner on the Metro Transit website. U of M students can get heavily discounted semester-long bus passes (the U-Pass). I own a U-Pass and it gets me everywhere!

Here are some of my personal favorite museums and attractions around the Twin Cities. I've visited every single one and can vouch that a visit to each of these places is worth it!

1) Science Museum of Minnesota 

2) Como Zoo and Conservatory

3) Minnesota Zoo

4) Minneapolis Institute of Arts

5) Walker Art Center

6) Minnesota History Center

One of the best parts about going to school in the Twin Cities is that you never run out of things to do. The vast amounts of museums within the vicinity of the U of M provide plenty of opportunities for fun, relaxing, and educational learning experiences outside the classroom. If you want to experience it yourselves, try visiting some of the museums on your next campus visit to the University of Minnesota! 

In the spirit of National Volunteer Week, I'd like to highlight the many opportunities available to stay involved and volunteer that the U of M has to offer. If making a difference in your community is something that is very important to you, you'll definitely find what you're looking for at the University of Minnesota. First of all, there are so many student organizations built around volunteer opportunities--I couldn't even count them all! I've picked out a couple service-based student groups to highlight, but there are literally hundreds.

American Red Cross Student Organization 
Their mission is to provide service for the community with regards to public health issues, especially relating to the University of Minnesota campus student population in collaboration with the American Red Cross. Services may include (but are not limited to) hosting speakers to advocate for a cause, running blood drives, and collecting for international relief.

Circle of Giving (COG)
COG's principle activities are health focused group volunteer projects, workshops for leadership development, fundraising for a scholarship fund, serving as mentor for local youth, and helping members develop service projects based on their interests, such as health disparities in minority groups.

Colleges Against Cancer
Colleges Against Cancer is dedicated to eliminating cancer by spreading awareness and education through volunteer work in the community. Through cancer education, survivorship, and advocacy programs, all University of Minnesota college students have the opportunity to make a difference in the fight against cancer.

Biology Without Borders
Biology Without Borders is a student organization that leads students on annual global volunteer trips while connecting students with resources and making them advocates for global and social change. Their goal is to promote ethical volunteerism, and community-based and sustainable projects in underserved areas, both locally and globally.

Orphan Kitten Project
The Orphan Kitten Project helps local shelters by fostering orphan kittens (newborns to 8 weeks old) while providing hands-on animal experience to veterinary students.

Students Against Hunger
Students Against Hunger's mission is to aid Kids Against Hunger in significantly reducing the number of hungry children locally and globally by providing a community service activity that is meaningful, fun and memorable. Through enlisting members and volunteers from the University community, they package nutritious meals researched by food scientists in order to battle death's grip on over 40,000 children who die each day due to malnutrition, starvation and hunger-related diseases.

For a complete list of service-based student groups, check out: http://sua.umn.edu/groups/directory/index.php?group_by=category#Service

In addition to service-based student organizations, the University of Minnesota also fosters community service through offering service-learning courses. Service-learning courses incorporate community involvement into the coursework--students learn by participating in community service projects. Homework for these classes involves working with community-based organizations, which compliments the classes' readings, lectures and discussions. Wouldn't it be great getting to volunteer and earning class credit for it at the same time?

If you're passionate about volunteering, the University of Minnesota's Community Service Learning Center is a great resource to help you find what you're looking for. Check it out! http://www.servicelearning.umn.edu/

It's officially the week of Spring Jam! Spring Jam is an annual three-day music festival on campus, which includes live performances, competitions, free food, and other special events all in the celebration of the coming of spring and the end of the school year. The entirety of Spring Jam is completely planned and put together by a committee U of M students. (A great opportunity four our students to build event-planning experience!) 

There are always amazing artists - both big names and local bands - that perform during Spring Jam. The big headliners last year were New Boyz, The Cataracs, and Prof. Jessie James (my favorite artist at Spring Jam last year) made an appearance at an afternoon concert too! This year's headliners are Greg Bates, The Kicks, and Mat Kearney. I wouldn't call myself an avid music and concert fan, but nothing beats fist-pumping, dancing, belting out lyrics at the top of your lungs at outdoor concerts with thousands of other fellow Gophers. Did I mention that all Spring Jam events are completely FREE for U of M students?

Spring Jam isn't only about the concerts, though. The days are also filled with many other fun, free events. For example, this year's events include free yoga classes, blood drives, dance competitions, a Battle of the Bands competition between U of M bands, outdoor film screenings of Silver Linings Playbook, and more! Take a look at the Spring Jam schedule to see a complete list of this year's special events.

I love the U of M not only for its great academics, but also for all the awesome opportunities to have FUN, like Spring Jam! So, Future Gophers...imagine yourself as a current U of M student counting down the days until you get to experience three straight days of celebration at Spring Jam festivities. Sounds enticing doesn't it?

Today I'd like to put the spotlight on a great opportunity for students who are interested in a career in advertising: the U of M's National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) team, Chariot. Chariot recently won first place at the NSAC District Competition on April 13th, which means the team will be representing the University of Minnesota at the national competition in Phoenix this year! Read on to learn more about NSAC and how you can get involved.

What is the National Student Advertising Competition?
Each year corporate sponsors give the same case study to NSAC teams around the nation. The case studies relate to the company's product or service and advertising situation. The corporate sponsors are often big name companies--past sponsors have included Coca Cola, JC Penney, State Farm, and Nissan. Within each school's team, students are then responsible for researching, developing, creating, and pitching an advertising campaign to a panel of judges at a district-level competition. 

District competitions are held each spring in 15 districts throughout the U.S. The winners of each district then get to move on to the national-level competition and pitch their advertising campaigns to judges and the executives of the sponsor company. We're wishing the best of luck to Chariot when they compete at Nationals in June. Way to represent the University of Minnesota!

Getting involved at the U of M
Joining a student group can be one of the best ways to make your college experience a great one. If you're interested in advertising, joining Chariot can help you make friends and connections with other advertising and marketing students, network with professionals, gain relevant advertising experience, and make a difference in the advertising strategies of real companies!

Chariot doesn't only limit its members to students majoring in advertising. The club currently has students interested in marketing and graphic design as well. If you think you'd be interested in joining Chariot, you should definitely check out their website at http://umnsac.com or email them at nsac@umn.edu.

Guest blog written by Sara Straskowski, a current student in the Carlson School of Management

Students Today, Leaders Forever (STLF) is a student group that was started by four freshmen students at the University of Minnesota in 2003. With the mission to "reveal leadership through service, relationships, and action," STLF engages students from all over the country through its Pay It Forward Tours. A Pay It Forward Tour is a community service road trip that travels from city to city doing various service projects. For college students, "the Tour" is scheduled each year during spring break; there are also tours available for high school students at various times throughout the year.

This spring break, I participated in my third college Pay It Forward Tour. The experience never ceases to amaze me! My freshman year, I travelled to Memphis; my sophomore year I went to Dallas; this year, the destination city was Atlanta, Georgia. For the last two years, I was a participant on the Tour, but this year I took a leadership position in STLF, and planned the Tour along with four other students who soon became my best friends. 

We left from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities on March 15. Our first stop was Kansas City, Missouri, and our first service project was landscaping for the Gillis Center, a home for boys in the area that helps at-risk children and families. We even got to play a game of dodge ball with the boys who lived there! Next, we stopped in St. Louis, Missouri, where we were able to do some tourism at The Gateway Arch and the City Museum. We helped the St. Louis community by cleaning up the streets around the city and writing letters to soldiers overseas. The third city on our adventure was Bowling Green, Kentucky, where we volunteered at Community Action of Southern Kentucky (a nonprofit agency that provides a wide range of human services to the residents of the area). We made event decorations for them as well as cleaned up the office space they use every day. After Bowling Green, we stopped for tourism in Nashville, Tennessee. It has been my dream to visit the Music City forever, and I can't believe I was finally able to be there! Our next stop was in Merryville, Tennessee, where we painted and did gardening work at the Boys & Girls Club of Blount County, a non-profit organization dedicated to the development of boys and girls in a safe and caring environment. On our way to our last stop, we toured the city of Gatlinberg in the Smoky Mountains. The area was absolutely beautiful! Last but not least, we stopped in Charlotte, North Carolina to serve at Samaritan's Feet; we readied the shoes that will soon be sent across the U.S. and the world to those who can't afford to buy their own. After our service project, we went to the U.S. National Whitewater Center to go zip-lining and rock climbing--one of the most memorable highlights of our trip!

We finally made our way to Atlanta, where we met four other buses of students that had each had an amazing Tour as well. We did one final service project together; the 140 students served at the Mary Scott Nature Park doing a variety of jobs such as creating a children's "forest play" area and removing invasive species throughout the park. After the service project, we were able to do some tourism in Atlanta and see the city. I was sad that the trip was nearly over, but I had a fantastic time exploring Atlanta with my new friends!

The memories I made on this trip are unforgettable, and the 43 friends I made throughout the nine-day experience will be held close to my heart for years to come. Every single one of the participants on my bus amazed me more each day; they are the most compassionate people I know! I encourage you all to check out the great opportunities that are offered to you every day, such as the STLF Pay It Forward Tour. It changed my life forever, and I will always be proud of my decision to get involved at the U of M with Student's Today, Leaders Forever.