Sophomore Year Milestones

Milestone #1: Declare a major
One of your requirements as a Sophomore will be to declare a major.  It is important to declare a major during your sophomore year so that you can begin taking all of your required classes.  It is also important to explore your options for possible minors.  Adding a minor to a major is a great way to enhance your resume and make you stand out from your competitors when job searching in the future.

To help you with this, the Sophomore Year Experience is hosting a ‘Major/Minor Fair’ on Wednesday, October 5 during common time. At this event you will be able to learn about different majors and minors and meet with faculty from different divisions.  Even if you already know your major, the fair can help you decide what minors to take. After attending this Major Fair, you will be encouraged to meet with your advisor to discuss your major/ minor decision.  To officially declare your major you will need to log on to IQ and fill out the ‘Declaration of Major’ form.

Milestone #2:  Connect with a Faculty Member
Meeting with a Faculty or Staff member can be as easy as meeting with your professor during office hours, or becoming involved with an organization which allows you to have one on one contact with a member of the staff.  One of the options that the Sophomore Year Experience offers to students is the opportunity to attend “Afternoons with Art”. During “Afternoons with Art” you will be able to meet with Art Sunleaf, the Dean of Students in the student life office one Thursday a month from 2:30-4:00 p.m. Another option that will be available for Sophomore students is to take a faculty or staff member to lunch or supper on campus. The Sophomore Year Experience Program will give students meal tickets for themselves and their desired guest to use at the Pub or the Cafeteria.

Connecting with Faculty and Staff members can really pay off down the road. By developing these personal connections, you can use them in the future for recommendation letters or references.  You will find out just how important these connections are as you start to apply for on or off-campus jobs and positions.              

Milestone #3:  Participate in a CEL Program 
The Loras College Center for Experiential Learning or better known as the CEL integrates learning inside the classroom with experiences from outside the classroom in areas such as the community, workplace and world. The CEL will challenge you to realize what you know, how this new experience is challenging your knowledge, how your new knowledge from this experience will factor into your future thinking and career choices.  Throughout the year the Sophomore Year Experience and the CEL office will offer many programs to sophomores that will educate you on the process of furthering your experiences for your future. At these programs you will be introduced to a variety of topics including resources and websites on finding internships.

One of the programs that CEL and the Sophomore Year Experience will offer to the sophomores this coming fall is an ice cream social.  At this ice-cream social, you will be introduced to helpful websites that will make your search for internships much easier.  You will be taught how to navigate these sites while enjoying a nice bowl of delicious ice cream.

10 Reasons to do an Internship

1. Add to your knowledge and skills related to your discipline and/or anticipated career field.
2. Enhance your academic study by trying out in a "real world" context what you have learned in the classroom.
3. "Try on" a career without making a long term commitment.
4. Establish contacts in a field where you may be hunting after graduation.
5. Practice professional behavior and learn how organizations function.
6. Gain the work related experience that employers value and strengthen your candidacy for after graduation jobs.
7. Achieve personal growth and build confidence as you take on new challenges.
8. Experience integrating faith in the workplace.
9. Practice employment interviewing skills and going through the hiring process.
10. Experience being an independent learner.

Milestone #4:  Create a Working Resume
Creating a working resume may sound like a scary task, but the Center for Experiential Learning (CEL) can help make this process much easier.  For your convenience, we have set up 4 dates where CEL will be running a resume workshop specifically for YOU! All workshops will be from 5-7 p.m. on A-level Binz on the following dates: September 27, November 8, February 21, April 10.

Oftentimes when you are applying to a program or job, the first thing looked at is your resume. If your resume is not up to par, you may be overlooked right from the beginning. In some cases it does not matter what you have on your resume if it does not look professional.  This is one of many aspects to take into account as a student in an extremely competitive market.

Milestone #5:  Make a Social Connection with Peers
The importance of expanding your personal network will be emphasized over and over during your sophomore year. Making social connections with peers is more than just hanging out with your own friends.  It is about getting to know classmates that you don’t usually talk to or maybe haven’t even met. The Sophomore Year Experience wants to push you to expand your social network here at Loras while having a good time. The Sophomore Year Experience is hoping to make this process easier for you, by organizing two big events for each semester.  First semester you can look forward to free tickets to a Dubuque Fighting Saints Hockey game and a night of Bingo in the ballrooms where you will be playing to win great prizes. During the second semester, you will be able to enjoy a night of free cosmic bowling and a pizza party in the basement of Binz.
  
Milestone #6:  Join a Co-Curricular Activity or Organization!
Getting involved during your time at Loras is a great way to enhance your experience. Depending on your interests, there are many different organizations on campus that will suit you. Getting yourself familiar with all of the activities and organizations can be difficult if you don’t know where to look.  Again, the Sophomore Year Experience is here to help you with that. The Sophomore Year Experience and the Office of Student Life are very excited to be introducing a new program to the campus called “OrgSync”.  OrgSync will allow students and organizations to manage their activities and easily contact members of any organization you participate in. OrgSync is an online management system that centralizes all campus involvement. OrgSync allows you to be more knowledgeable about what is happening on campus; through OrgSync you will be able to print a co-curricular transcript, as well as create a portfolio.  

There are many benefits to joining co-curricular activities and organizations. One of the benefits is time management; by getting yourself more involved, you will have to learn how to better manage your time which will be a great skill to have in the future. This could also be a great way for you to connect with a staff member or other peers; again, expanding your network. Lastly, this will add to your resume, which is something all students continually strive to improve.