Jill

Tomorrow is my very last day of college as an undergraduate!! I am so excited to graduate and to have the U of MN be a huge part of the rest of my life! Thursday, May 14th (in 2 days!) is the College of Education and Human Development's graduation ceremony! I am getting together with family at 5:00pm for dinner in Dinkytown at Downtime, then commencement is at 7:00! Good luck to everyone graduating!! :)

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So we have decided to move to Philadelphia, PA!!! My boyfriend will be starting his Ph.D in Biomedical Enginieering there this Fall, and I will, hopefully, be working full time somewhere! This is so exciting! Right now I have started to browse the job market there and look for places to live. I am happy and excited to start a new chapter of my life after the U of MN!

Posted by moran165 at 10:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There is only about 6 more weeks for me in my undergraduate career!! Then I graduate on May 14th!! This is HUGE deal for my family and I because I am actually the first person in my family to go to college. I have other cousins that have, but not my parents, or grandparents! My plans for after graduation are pretty well laid out right now! I got a summer job with AmeriCorp (domestic branch of the PeachCorp) working with K-3 in Minneapolis School District and helping children in Summer school with their reading skills! I am very excited for this opportunity with AmeriCorp! And after the position, they give me a $1,000 grant for my student loans so that is a great reward!! :) Then, my boyfriend of 4 years and I are actually moving out East! It will be either Rochester, NY or Philadelphia, PA! He is attending graduate school at one of those places to get hi Ph.D in Biomedical Engineering! So I have been looking at schools and jobs out there. I would love to getmy MSA (Master's in Social Work) but literally almost all of the programs require 1-2 years of work in the field before applying to graduate school! So, that is my plan! :)

Posted by moran165 at 8:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is one of the busiest times of the year for me with a ton of birthdays in my family and among friends, and the semester is really starting to crack down! Sometime I wonder why it is that all my professors have tests and assignments starting all around the same time, and then all due around the same time! :( I will admit it, I am a bit stressed...But that's what college is about! Making your way through it all! I am still waiting for that grand day though...May 14, 2009! :)

Posted by moran165 at 9:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I just found out some very exciting news, for myself anyways!! Ramsey County is hosting a Career/Resource Fair for all of the Twin Cities counties on Saturday, February 28th, 11am-4pm! It is located where I did my internship!! Which is Boys Totem Town, a residential correctial facility for juvenile boys. I plan on attending and I am SO excited to visit the people I worked with and walk in that building again, I miss it SO much. So, if you are interested in working with corrections such as a case manager, parole officer, therapist....you should attend! :)

Click here for details!

Posted by moran165 at 7:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I would like to talk a little about some of the FSoS classes that I have enjoyed the most at the U of MN! Throughout my career as an undergraduate here in FSoS I have taken almost all of the FSoS courses that are available to take! My favorite of them all would have to be Family Policy and Families and Aging! I liked Family Policy (FSoS 2103) because I gained so much knowledge from my professor about laws, policies, and many acts that are made for and against families in our country. I feel that this is very important to know about because when we are working with people that need some sort of assistance in the future, we will want to know what the law and government can also do to help out! Families and Aging (FSoS 4154W) has also been one of my favorites! I liked this class so much because it stuck out to me from the other classes because it was about one specific population- elders! Most of the other FSoS classes, in my experience, do not focus as much on a specific topic and/or population so it was nice to go into some depth with the topic of Families and Aging. The main thing I got out of this class was that the elders population is increasing daily because people are having less kids now days, people are living much longer than expected and than what they used to, therefore- we as helpers should be aware and knowledgeable about older people because it's very possible that we will be working with them! To see the list and description of all Family Social Science courses click here.

Posted by moran165 at 3:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am currently watching the 2009 Inauguration of President Barack Obama and it's amazing! I am so thrilled to see all of the people there that have bought tickets to witness in person this very historic day! They are brave people too because it looks cold there! I personally have never actually watched as much politic coverage as I have in the past year of my life and I have learned SO much! The same goes with just watching this inauguration today, because they are talking a lot about the history of this unique transition of power. It's all just amazing to me! Hopefully other people will be able to enjoy this as much and I and welcome in the new President!

Posted by moran165 at 9:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This seems to be one of the busiest times of the year, every year, for me! With all of the holidays, finals, the upcoming semester, and winter! It seems like we all of a sudden got all of this snow and just a few weeks ago we had none! I am not ready for all of this...but oh well! I am extremely happy to be on break now from school. It's a perfect time for me to relax and not think about class work for a while! Although I am pretty anxious for my last semester here!! :) I am also pretty excited and anxious to start looking for a job when i graduate. I am actually a PCA (Personal Care Attendant) for a 12 year old girl with autism right now and I am hoping that I get to do that full time right away after I graduate! But who knows, there are so many fields and areas of interest that I have that I am honestly open to almost anything for my first job! Well, back to being busy...

Posted by moran165 at 9:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today was the senior's portfolio day! This means people that were enrolled in FSoS 4296 present their portfolios and papers to professors, faculty, and other students. It was a really great experience for me and a lot different than I has expected! I was expecting the class, and maybe like 5 professors to be there. But there were so many more people there-people I had never seen or had before! There were also multiple graduate students there as well which was nice to see and get advice from! So basically, all of the FSoS 4296 students sat in one spot with their portolios and paper as others walked around and choose people to sit by and look through their items. Many people commented on how nice my portfolio looked and how everything that I have done in my undergraduate career so far is impressive! It was a good self-esteem booster for me as well as gave me more confidence for when I graduate and start looking for a job! :)

Posted by moran165 at 6:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I received an email from the U of MN today about selling back my textbooks and purchasing my new ones for Spring Semester...but Fall semester still has a few more weeks! This is crazy how fast everything is going! I am lucky and actually do not have any finals during finals week...they are ALL on December 9th! But I am looking at it as a good thing because I will just be done and over it all early so my break is longer! :) So soon I will be getting some Christmas spending cash for my textbooks now and will be out shopping during my long break!

Posted by moran165 at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last week I registered for my last semester here at the U and it's weird that it's already here! My time has just flown by since I started college! I am in FSOS 4296 right now with Dr. Goodman. This class is required for all students who have done a field internship in the major. We only meet every other week but what we do it class is pretty cool. We make our own 'Senior Portfolio' with a bunch of things in it from our college career and whatever else we want to put in there. Mine has a few different categories: my resume, leadership, community involvement, education, internship, about Family Social Science and a writing sample. What I am trying to get at is by doing this project in Goodman's class it has made me even more excited and ready to graduate when May comes! With this portfolio, I can hopefully display myself in an unique way to employers to make them more interested in me and hire me! Other students made their portfolio's unique as well to show to graduate schools for admission. The entire project just feels like a big realization of what is ahead of me and all of us graduating soon...graduation and no more college! A lot of things will be changing and I am excited to start some new adventures soon! :)

Posted by moran165 at 9:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today is the U of MN's Homecoming! This one is unique because it is the last homecoming game that will be held at the Metrodome. Next Fall and on out the new stadium will be open on campus! Today many people gathered to watch the parade down University Avenue and tailgate at the Metrodome before the game at 11am. It's great to see everyone get together and celebrate the University with all the alumni, friends and family! All week the University has held activities to get people pumped up. Activities include flag football, blood drive, live concerts, free food, maroon and gold Friday and more! It was all a lot of fun. Also this week, Boynton Health Services hosted free flu shots for students, staff, and faculty to beat the Guinness World Record of the most flu shots in one day! We beat it too! Overall, homecoming has been very exciting and I am happy I been involved!

Posted by moran165 at 2:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hello everybody! My name is Jill Moran and I am the undergraduate blogger for the department of Family Social Science! I am excited to start this blog because I am anxious to share all the good things about FSoS with you and my personal experiences here within the department!

I am originally from Blaine, MN (just north metro for those of you who do not know). I graduated from Blaine High School in June 2005. After high school I was undecided on what I wanted to do for college and a career. I ended up going to Anoka Ramsey Community College in Coon Rapids, MN. I earned my Associates in Arts degree there in 2007. I then immediately transfered to the University of Minnesota! The entire two years that I spent at Anoka Ramsey Community College I was researching schools to attend and majors to pursue for my bachelors degree. I was very interested in the University of Minnesota because it was close to my home in Blaine, but still far enough away to make new lifestyle changes and move into off campus apartments! And I was most definitely very interested in the major Family Social Science because I love helping people! The major seemed to offer such a wide range of interests and potential learning opportunities that it made me decided to apply to the University, the College of Education and Human Development and the Department of FSoS! Luckily, I got in and here I am today! A senior in FSoS, I am expecting to graduate in May 2009! I am currently in the middle of my third semester here at the University and am loving every minute of it. I am involved with the Family Social Science Round Table as the Vice President and would like to share that experience with you under that category of "Round Table" in this blog. I will be updating this blog weekly with new entries to share many experiences, volunteer opportunities and organizations, news within the FSoS department, and much more! Stay Tuned...

Posted by moran165 at 5:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)