Health & Wellness

How To Avoid Catching Colds On a College Campus

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It is getting to the point in the semester when almost everyone is sick or you know someone who is sick. Getting sick is one of the most inconvenient things to happen to a college student because all you want to do is rest and lie down, but you have classes and assignments due all week long. No one wants to deal with a stuffy nose, loud coughing, stomach-aches, fevers or headaches. If you want to try to avoid all of these symptoms make sure to follow these tips.  

 

  1. Get a Good Amount of Sleep Each Night

Getting the right amount of sleep can benefit you in many ways. The recommended amount of sleep for a college students is 7-8 hours a night , but that is easier said than done. Not getting enough sleep on one hand,  can weaken your immune system.

2. Wash Your Hands Regularly

Washing you hands regularly and especially before eating, can kill germs and prevent you from getting sick. It will be especially worth it in the long run  when you do not get sick while everyone else on campus is.

3. Eat Healthy

In college, it is especially hard to eat healthy all the time. Students are often tempted by fried , delicious food the dining hall serves and often times they are not eating all of the nutrients they need. If you incorporate fruits and vegetables into your diet, it is easier to stay healthy and receive the daily nutrients your body  needs.

4. Wipe Down Surfaces in Your Room Everyday

Most college students do not wipe down their surfaces everyday which leads to germs building up. If you take the time to wipe them down, it can prevent you from catching a cold within your own room.

5. Exercise

Participating in daily exercise is not only good for your body, but it is also strengthens your immune system. It can also help you to breathe better, sleep better and create better circulation for your body.

6. Stay Hydrated

Staying hydrated can benefit you in many ways. It can make you less tired and create a stronger immune system.

7. Get Vitamin C

If you get your daily intake of Vitamin C , you are way less likely to get sick. Vitamin C is linked to the protection against the immune system. Oranges are a great source of Vitamin C.

8. Get the Flu Shot

This is the easiest way to prevent the flu, but many students do not get it because they think they do not have enough time to, they are afraid of needles or they just do not feel like it. Health Services here at MU offer free flu shots for all students.

Make the time and effort to prioritize yourself and your health during the cold season!

Photos courtesy of Canva.

Events / Programs, Lifestyle / Hall Life

Halloween Door Decorating Contest

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With Halloween season coming to a close, West Village A picked a winner for their hall Halloween Door Decoration Contest. This year, the residence hall held a contest to see who can make the best door decoration and theme that was in the Halloween spirit. RA Cross and Rhys were the judges of this contest and they set out to find the best door. Many of the residents took the contest in many different directions. There were spooky, funny and very creative submissions. This contest was a great way for students to get into the Halloween spirit while creating some fun floor rivalry. Also, this was a great activity for roommates and suitemates to bond in order to make the coolest door. This activity was liked by many of the residents and allowed them to be creative and get their minds off of their load of schoolwork.

Although there were many awesome submissions, the judges picked the top door. The winners were Rebecca and Erin. Their door was very cool and the creators put a lot of attention on detail.

Here are some other great submissions for this contest.

This door was decorated by Christina, Elizabeth , Mya and Leticia.

This door was decorated by Hannah, Maggie, and  Bethany.

This door was decorated by Mark, Eric, Andrew and Leif.

If you decorated your door and want to show it off, share it with us on Instagram or Twitter. Our username is @villehousing . Be sure to see if your RA is having a winter themed door decorating contest!

Health & Wellness, Lifestyle / Hall Life

How To Decorate Your Room To Improve Your Mood

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The environment you live in can affect your mood and emotions in many ways. While you are in college and stressed by many classes and assignments, the last thing you want to worry about is a cluttered or stressful room. At the end of the day, you want to make sure that your room is relaxing to you and creates an environment where you feel safe. Throughout the years I have lived in the residence halls, I have discovered what types of things or decorations make me feel relaxed in my own room. Here are a list of helpful tips I learned about decorating a dorm room.

 

  1. Think about how colors change your mood.

Colors can be associated with different emotions and feelings. If you decorate your room to how you want to feel, it can create the type of environment you desire. For example, blues, greys and greens are naturally soothing colors and can create a relaxing environment. While on the other hand, rooms decorated in bright colors like pink, yellow and orange can lift your energy and your spirits. Try not to choose overly dark colors because they can translate into feeling gloomy and it also makes it hard to feel cheerful. I add bright colors to keep me energized and happy.

2. Clean up clutter.

If you have a cluttered desk or dresser, this can make you feel overwhelmed and stressed within your own room. By taking the time everyday to put items away, you can reduce the number of things that pile up over the course of the day. If you leave your items to pile up, this can also affect your sleep schedule and can lead to not getting a peaceful night of sleep.

 

3. Make your bed everyday.

I know that a lot of people say they do not have the time to do this, or think this is stupid, but doing this everyday can make you feel better. Along with making your room look nice and well kept, this can also prevent you from crawling back into bed after coming back from class. By doing this simple task every morning, you will feel more organized and keep you going all day long.

4. Decorate with items or pictures you love.

Create an environment with familiar faces and items . You will feel happy and more refreshed if you wake up to the sight of things you really love, like pictures of your loved ones or a poster of your favorite band or movie. I like to personalize my space by adding family photos and posters of my favorite bands.  

5. Decorate your mirror with inspirational quotes on post-it notes.

By displaying a few of your favorite inspirational quotes on your mirror, you will feel more confident and actually look forward to looking into the mirror. This is a simple trick to train your mind to experience more happiness and success.

These few little changes can affect your mood in the long run and help you stay more focused. If you follow any of these tips, let us know by tagging us on Instagram or Twitter. Our username on both of these sites is @villehousing .

Events / Programs, Lifestyle / Hall Life

‘Donut’ Stress Event

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On October 24th, West Village A hosted an event called Donut Stress. During this event, students were able to express their sources of stress and learn more ways to deal and cope with it. Along with learning about stress, students were offered free donuts and coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts.

Throughout the semester, it is very common for students to feel stressed and overwhelmed. This event showed students that many other students are feeling the same way and that they are not alone. At this event, students were asked to write down what was stressing them on a sticky note and then post it on a paper that had a tip for reducing stress for the students to try.

Many of the causes of stress for Millersville students include classes, exams, sleep schedules , registration for next semester, relationships, tuition, and class readings. Many of these subjects are very stressful for every student who goes here , but there are ways to cope with these concerns. For example, the RA who designed this event displayed coping mechanisms on the sheet where students wrote what was stressing them. These techniques included communicating, going for a walk, utilizing counseling services, taking a long shower, spending time with friends or family and taking deep breaths. Other examples can also be watching  a movie, listening to music, doing something that makes you happy, exercising and talking to professors.

This was a great event to help students destress and enjoy a treat they deserve. RA events can be a great way for students to meet new friends and have a great and fun time. Make sure you look for similar or other events that are going on in your residence hall!

Announcements, Lifestyle / Hall Life

Fall Hall Events

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Millersville Housing & Residential Programs love to show their fall spirit. With Halloween right around the corner, we are right in the center of the fall season. With fall comes along pumpkins and Halloween festivities. Within our residence halls, students have been celebrating the season by attending events held by our Resident Assistants , better known as RAs.

RAs try to create programs to help students celebrate the season and also have fun while doing so. One of the events that was held to aid in doing so was the Pumpkin Painting Party that took place in West Village A , but was also open to the whole West Village. During this event , residents were able to come out with their friends to paint a pumpkin which they could display outside of their door for decoration. This residence hall is having a door decoration contest, so many students were eager to create a great pumpkin to add to their door display. A pumpkin painting party was a perfect event for students to talk and meet other students as well as to get into the holiday spirit.

One resident , Allie, said,  “It’s relaxing.”

Pashence said , ” This activity brought out my Halloween spirit! It’s the season to paint pumpkins.”

Other great events have been held in other halls as well. If you live in the residence halls and want to gear up for the spookiest day of the year, see if your RA has any event flyers posted on your floor or you can ask them if any events are going on.

Many of the residence halls are having a door decoration contest, so make sure to decorate your door for a chance to win a prize. Also if you live in East Village B, there will be a Halloween Party on October 28th at 7pm , be sure to check it out because there will be food, music and plenty of fun. In South Village, there will be Halloween crafts on October 30th and a scary movie night and costume party on November 3rd, so make sure to check out these activities as well.

Events / Programs, Lifestyle / Hall Life, Social Advocacy / Justice

Social Advocacy Living-Learning Community

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Located in West Village Suites on Millersville’s campus is the Social Advocacy Living- Learning Community, which engages 20 undergraduate students. A living-learning community, also known as an LLC, is a group of students who live together in the same residence hall and share similar academic or other interests. These communities are designed to encourage student engagement through designed co-curricular learning activities.

Each community is themed and groups students with similar majors or interests together to create an environment that helps students gain skill sets such as effective communication skills, and networking skills among many others. These communities offer these students a unique residential experience that can provide them with skills inside and outside of the classroom. Within these living-learning communities, students may take advantage of tutoring, guest speakers, cultural programs, career workshops, community service, and research projects.

The Social Advocacy  Living-Learning Community that we have here on campus was created for Anthropology, Psychology, Social Work, and Sociology majors. According to Dr. Karen Rice, Department Chairperson for the School of  Social Work and adviser for the Social Advocacy Living-Learning Community, this LLC is centered around social advocacy and empowers students to be aware of  cultural and social diversity within our society. Students who participate are passionate about advocacy, equity, social justice, and inclusion.

Dr. Karen Rice has provided some information about the program and activities her students have been participating in . She said, “Since our inception this fall, our students have engaged in team building exercises learning ways to communicate and enhance trust. They have explored their own identities and that of others and identified ways to foster change and build capacity. ”

She also touched on the specific activities her students are participating in. “Some of our students participated in the United Way Day of Caring.  Additionally, our students had the opportunity to learn, first-hand, from a Syrian refugee the challenges faced in obtaining employment and ways others are assisting in overcoming those hurdles. Our students participated in a cooking class led by one of the Syrian refugee women. This experience not only fostered compassion but allowed our students to explore their own assumptions by trying something new and hearing personal stories .”

Overall, this program is very important and is a great way for students to be able to build a positive community, and positive social change. To find more information about living-learning communities, check out our website .

Lifestyle / Hall Life, Lists

Barista Picks My Drink for a School Week

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I am a coffee-addict and coffee has become a staple in my everyday routine. But, sometimes I never know what to get, so I resort to buying the same drink every time. So instead of trying new things, I buy a medium , hot or iced depending on my mood, vanilla latte with almond milk. This week I wanted to experiment with one of this season’s trends on Youtube, so I asked the baristas everyday of this week to make me their favorite drink or a random drink and to see what I would be given. These drinks can range from any type meaning they could be a latte, frozen drink, hot chocolate or iced coffee and so on.

This is a fun and different experience that opened me up to trying new drinks and seeing what other people like to drink. So every time I bought coffee during this week, I documented the name of the drink I got and I also took a picture of the drink. I went to the Starbucks on campus and Saxby’s so, I will also say which place the drink is from.

Day 1 – White Chocolate Maple Pecan Latte 

Starting the week off, I went to the Starbucks in McNairy Library. When I ordered the drink, I asked the student worker what her favorite drink was and she said she recently has been getting this drink because the Maple Pecan is a seasonal flavor. My first sip of this drink was interesting. Overall, the drink was delicious and tasted like a french toast hot chocolate. I would definitely recommend trying it.

Day 2 – Raspberry Caramel Macchiato

The next day, I went to Starbucks once again. This time it was a different barista that gave me a drink idea. This time I was recommended to try a caramel macchiato but add in a few pumps of raspberry. This was a unique drink because it tasted like a fruity dessert. I thought it was delicious and it was also a cool experience because the raspberry syrup tints the drink a pink color.

Day 3 – Iced Chai with Almond Milk and a Pump of Caramel

This drink may seem complex ,but it was worth the lengthy order. I went to Saxby’s for this drink. The barista said that she liked this drink a lot and that it was good iced or hot. Once I tried this, I loved it. I usually love chai, so it was a great twist and added an extra nutty taste from the almond milk.

Day 4 – Vanilla Iced Latte with Almond Milk

I thought that it was ironic that the drink that was recommended to me because it just so happens to be my favorite drink to order. I ended up getting this drink from Starbucks. I recommend this drink to anyone because it tastes good hot or iced and has a very unique taste! I was also very excited that our library had the new cup lids that do not need straws.

Day 5 – Marshmallow Mocha

On the last day I went to Saxby’s. I asked the barista to make me her favorite drink. She had to think about that , but then asked another barista what her favorite drink was. The second barista said her favorite drink was a marshmallow mocha. I thought this drink sounded so good and interesting. As soon as I tasted the drink, I loved it! It tastes just like a s’more in my opinion, I would definitely give this one a try .

Overall this has been a very cool experience and I recommend trying it for yourself. My favorite part about doing this experiment was seeing what someone else’s favorite drink was and seeing them get excited about it. If you try any of these drinks, make sure to share it with us on Twitter or Instagram. Our username is @villehousing.

Happy sipping!

Events / Programs

What Makes You Prideful?

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On Friday October 12th, Millersville University hosted its annual LGBTQIA Pride Fest. Pride Fest is an event that promotes awareness for and instills pride in the LGBTQIA community and the campus community we have here at Millersville. During this event, many students show their pride and support by taking part in the festivities and many school organizations will have tables in support of the community.

This year, Housing and Residential Programs had a table to show our support of the LGBTQIA community. We take pride in our actions to support the community and the students who go to this university. In attempts to support the community, we do offer students gender inclusive housing. If you are unfamiliar with gender inclusive housing , it means that we allow suitemates/roommates of any gender combination to live within the same residential suite. Meaning, housing allows students to share a suite or room, with whomever they want regardless of a student’s sex or gender. We offer this to create an environment that is supportive and encourages diversity, along with making sure students feel comfortable in their own room. In addition to offering gender inclusive housing, we have also been using preferred names since 2014.

This year at Pride Fest , for our table activity  we asked students , “What makes you prideful?” This question did trip some students up  ,but overall many students knew exactly what they were prideful for. If you ask housing, we are very prideful of our gender inclusive housing options as well as the whole Millersville Community. Some of the things that make Millersville students prideful include their family, education, friends, partners, the Millersville community along with many others. Below we have inserted a chart to show you a calculation of what students said they were most prideful of. 54 students said their friends makes them prideful, while 42 said their family made them most prideful. These were the top two responses we received.

Millersville is a great community to be a part of and we were very happy to partake in such a wonderful event.

Lifestyle / Hall Life, Lists

How to Have a ‘Suite’ Halloween

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Since it is officially October, spooky season has begun. Halloween is a great holiday that many college students like to celebrate, but do not know how to while living in the residence halls. Although it seems like there are no ways to celebrate this fun holiday, I created a list of some ideas you and your friends can try out.

 

  1. Host a movie marathon.

One way to get in the Halloween spirit is to host a scary movie or Halloween themed movie marathon. You and all your closest ‘ghouls’ can watch Halloweentown, Hocus Pocus or Halloween in your residence hall common area where there is a lot of room to sit and enjoy these classic films. My favorite Halloween movie is Hocus Pocus, I can recite the whole movie from beginning to end.

 

  1. Have a door decoration contest with people who live in your hall.

Another option can be to ask your RA if you can have a door decoration contest for Halloween. Decorating your door can be fun and a great way to bond with your roommate while trying to beat the competition. If you need some ideas for door decorations, you can always check our Pinterest out , our username is @villehousing !

 

  1. Plan a small Halloween party.

Ask your RA if your floor can have a Halloween party or ‘trick or treating’. Having a floor Halloween party can be a fun reason to get dressed up , but it can also help you to meet more people who live on your floor. This is also a great excuse to eat a bunch of Halloween Oreos and piles of candy.

Photo courtesy of Canva.

 

  1. Bake themed treats with your friends.

For example, you and your friends can make Halloween cut-out cookies or the always delicious Pillsbury sugar cookies in the residence hall kitchens. These kitchens are a great resource that students can take advantage of especially when it comes to baking yummy treats.

 

  1. Carve or decorate pumpkins.

When I hear the word Halloween, the first thing I think about is pumpkins. Decorating pumpkins is a great way to be creative while being festive. This can also be a fun activity to do with your friends or roommates to take your minds off of schoolwork and tests!

 

Have a spooky and fun-filled Halloween! Also, if you live in West Village make sure to check out the pumpkin painiting, costume contest, food and crafts as well as a Halloween movie night that is happening on October 25th starting at 6:30 pm.

Lifestyle / Hall Life, Lists

Most Instagram-Worthy Places on Millersville’s Campus

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As Millennials and Gen Zs, we love to use social media and post pictures of everything.  I’m sure many of you want to post pictures of our beautiful school to show to your friends who attend other universities. I have the solution for you , I compiled a list of my favorite spots on campus to share on Instagram.

  1. Biemesderfer Center

Once upon a time, this was the old library. But now, it’s an administrative building. This stunning building and can be identified by its beautiful color and stained glass windows.

  1. University Pond.

Home to Miller and S’ville, the pond is one of the most recognizable parts of campus. This is great place to watch the ducks swim around.

  1. The Quad.

The Quad, located in the center of the residence halls,  is a great place to hangout with friends. You can often see a football or frisbee being thrown around.

  1. The Millersville University sign.                                                                          

This sign is located at the edge of campus and lets visitors or locals know that they are entering Marauder country.

5. Saxby’s

Located within Gordinier Hall, Saxby’s is a trendy and delicious cafe that is student-run. This is a great place to relax with friends or grab a bite to eat before class. It is also a great place to study.

  1. Chryst Field (Biemesderfer Stadium)

Home to our football, women’s field hockey, women’s outdoor track and field and women’s lacrosse teams , this is the place to cheer loud and proud for our Marauders.

These locations are great for showing your school spirit during your time here at Millersville.  If you take pictures at these locations, be sure to share them with us on Twitter or Instagram. Our username is @villehousing .

717-871-4200 | housing@millersville.edu