Campus Blog

On September 15^th, a group of Macomb students volunteered their time with Keep Growing Detroit, an organization working to improve food options in the city. The trip, organized by Macomb’s Student Life and Leadership department, gave these students the chance to help tend to an urban farm. Here, one Macomb student, Lawrence Dudley, reflects on what the experience meant to him.

I became aware of the volunteer opportunities at Macomb from Jamie at Student Life and Leadership, after I happened to walk in one day after leaving the bookstore. I wanted to be involved.

I rode to Detroit with Jasmine and Rachel. It was a very pleasant trip there and back – we talked about family, school and volunteering opportunities. For me, volunteering at Keep Growing Detroit brought back memories of my childhood and farming on my grandfather’s farm.

It was a sight to behold: acres of farmland in the middle of a city skyline.

You sometimes forget where food comes from. I was thinking this as I was digging up potatoes after having had French fries with my lunch just an hour before.

I felt good in downtown Detroit getting my hands dirty farming.  I was tired and sore when I left, but I would do it again. It was a small way to give back.

Want to get involved with a project like this? Contact Student Life and Leadership!

By Brooke Allen, Professor of Political Science

Late on a Wednesday evening in May, a group of 32 Macomb students and faculty boarded a tour bus and, with the generous support of the Welsh Foundation, embarked upon what would be a three-day tour of Washington, D.C.

The first day was D.C. HOT and full of sightseeing. We toured Arlington National Cemetery, where we saw Kennedy’s gravesite and witnessed the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. In the afternoon, we were lucky enough to get tickets to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. The museum opened just last year and has already seen close to two million visitors. We finished the day by walking to the MLK, FDR, and Jefferson memorials.

Day two started bright and early with tours of several D.C. mainstays, including the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial. We walked through the Vietnam and Korean War memorials before stopping by 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for a photo in front of the White House. Our last two stops of the day were the Holocaust Museum and the Pentagon Memorial, both moving exhibits that impacted everyone in our group.

Our third day began with a tour of the Library of Congress, a magnificent architectural gem and the largest library in the world. After that, we visited the Capitol, followed by the National Archives to see original copies of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. We then explored the Peterson House, where President Lincoln died in 1865. Our last stop of the trip was the World War II Memorial, where we were honored to see several veterans and their families.

Tired yet inspired, our weary band of travelers boarded the bus for the 11-hour return trip home. Each of us took different memories and impressions from the trip, but all of us will certainly remember this experience for years to come.

Many years ago, with more eager reporters than newspapers to employ them, I had to find my own internship before I could receive that much-wanted journalism degree. It was a lovely bit of stress I didn’t need at the time. Fortunately, for you, Macomb’s Career Services is here to help.

It holds internship workshops throughout the year to help students understand the benefits of on-the-job experience (preferred by most employers) and find the internship that’s right for them.

Take advantage of this valuable service! See for yourself and attend the next internship workshop on Thursday, May 4, 2 to 3:30 p.m., in G309, South Campus. Contact Career Services, 586.445.7321 or careerservices@macomb.edu for more information.

And, trust me, it will be time well spent.  I would have traded in my typewriter if someone had helped me nail down my internship.  It ended up being a great one, though, in a university news bureau, where I learned that journalism wasn’t just about newspapers.

While taking a class might not quite be up there with a concert at DTE or a boat ride on Lake St. Clair, spring/summer semester deserves a second thought.

There’s no snow to slush through on your way to campus or class, the grass is green and perfect for studying on, classes are short and you will have one less to take when roads and moods are uglier. Do what I did:  grab your textbook, go to the beach and mellow into that macroeconomics, after slathering on the sunblock of course.

Open registration begins April 24 for classes starting May 22 and June 12. Find a class you need now at https://catalog.macomb.edu/Pages/SectionsHome.aspx.

You can thank me when the snow flies.

In my first college-level literature class, I was dumbfounded when the professor assigned a five-page paper on the symbolism in Dickens’ Great Expectations. Never before had I entertained the possibility that there was more than one way to “read” a work of fiction, so how was I supposed to write about my “interpretation” of it? I would have gladly traded my own wedding dress (it’s a Great Expectations thing) for a Reading and Writing Studio back then.

Fortunately for you, Macomb has two Reading and Writing Studios: J-305 on Center Campus and C-105 on South Campus. And their consultants can help you increase reading comprehension and confidence, organize and develop ideas, refine sentence and paragraph structure and, interpret assignment expectations.  Is there a hidden meaning there?

Both individual and group sessions are available and some services are also offered online. Go to Reading and Writing Studios to learn more.

I expect you will have a great experience, unlike Dickens’ Miss Havisham on her wedding day.