Kevin Maravilla
Freshman Seminar
December 4th, 2014

Table of Plenty

On December 4th, 2014 I had the opportunity to participate in a community event in Half Moon Bay where I was able to help serve the less fortunate. This was the first time I ever participated in an event such as this. Great new experience that I would recommend everyone should experience. I was nervous at first that when I was serving food, I was going to drop a plate or spill a drink. Luckily the whole time I was there I didn't do anything wrong and was able to have a great time serving others and communicating with them. It's great how anyone from the community can attend and people who are passing through half moon bay stop to have a meal as well.

It's great how everyone at the Table of Plenty feels welcomed and your able to see that everyone is happy to be there. I and other students from Notre Dame de Namur were given an opportunity to help others and that has made all the difference. It's great to give back to the community because you never really know who is in need of help. 

The food that we served the people who came was salad, bread, a hot turkey soup, and as dessert pumpkin pie. It was nice to see how happy the people were because everyone was talking like any other normal dinner and having a great time. It was nice to be apart of such a caring community that is able to help anyone. There is a lot out there that we can do to help give back to the community, but as students we need to make the effort to help others and in any way you can give back, it helps.

Kevin Maravilla
Freshman Seminar
December 4th, 2014

Open Mic-Night in Saint Joe's First Floor Lounge

I don't exactly remember what day this event took place on, but I had great time listening to other peoples essays and short poems. Everyone had either prepared a short essay or poem to read to everyone sitting in the room listening attentively. Everyone's essay or poem is a different and expresses a different type of emotion. Time doesn't need to be spent on these essays or poems, sometimes there were people who came up with them in 5 to 10 minutes.

It was fun to be listening to people brave enough to stand up in front of a crowd of people who were willing to read aloud their essay or poem. I was happy to be there with friends and I also got to meet new people that live here at NDNU. Everyone had creative ideas, from short essays to two people singing a few songs to the audience.

This is an event that should continue being held multiple times during a semester so that people are willing to speak out loud what they have written. This is a great way to get to know other people here at NDNU and become more social. Also this is a great event to get better at public speaking and to not care about what others think, but just speak freely.

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Kevin Maravilla
Freshman Seminar
December 4th, 2014

Quality Gingerbread House with Friends

This event was held on November 24th in Saint Joe's 1st floor lounge. This was hosted by the RA's during the week before thanksgiving break to help boost the holiday spirit. This a team effort to see what group would build the best gingerbread house. There was a prize for the best gingerbread house of gift cards to Starbucks. 

I was having a great time with my group trying to build a gingerbread house. It was great team bonding and the RA's offered eggnog to drink. The building of the gingerbread house quickly got messy and our hands were filled with frosting. Although we were very messy I was having a great time and getting to know my group members better. There were six groups who all got the same kit for the gingerbread house. It was interesting to see how everyone came up with different ways of how to decorate their gingerbread house. While groups made their gingerbread house, they played holiday music even though it was christmas. The music helped make the atmosphere in the room more relaxing and made it easier for people to want to talk to others.

I had a great time building a gingerbread house for the first time at school. I didn't know how difficult it was to build a gingerbread house because usually my little sisters did everything at home. Now I was able to get involved and have a great time. I got to know new people that also live on campus at NDNU and was happy because I was creating new great memories. 

Kevin Maravilla
Freshman Seminar
December 4, 2014

CoCo Cram in Library

On December 3rd, 2014 I went to the library to have hot coco and cookies to help get my mind off of reviewing for finals for a little while. I was able to spend some time talking to other students at NDNU that were also busy reviewing for finals and finishing up last minutes essays or presentations. At the coco cram in the library they were also trying to get NDNU students to sign up for the relay for life that will be sponsored at NDNU. Last year they said it didn't go as planned because it rained, so they hope for a better turnout of people that will be involved this year.

I thought it was a good way to get to know other upper class men at the coco cram event. Also what there experience with how hard finals are going to be as we closer to graduating from NDNU. The one thing I didn't like is that we have to be quiet in library when this should be an event where people can talk and interact more. Also we are not allowed to have food in the library, so I was respectful not to eat my cookie until I was out of the library. 

They should continue having coco cram every semester, but should find a new location where students can eat and do their homework or studying at the same time. This would help attract more people and make it easier for students to get to know one another. Everyone has something that they need to complete during dead week, but talking with others helps relieve stress and makes it feel somewhat more relaxing. 

Kevin Maravilla

Freshman Seminar

December 4th, 2014

Gatorade Pong vs. Beer Pong

Gatorade Pong tournament took place on December 3rd in the gym at 9pm. The people who participated in the Gatorade Pong tournament were NDNU students who signed up for $5. The contribution towards the event went towards the sports department. The purpose of this event is so that NDNU students to have fun and relax, while taking some time off of studying during dead week. In total there were 32 teams that participated in the Gatorade Pong tournament. I think that this was a worthwhile event because since beer pong is a very popular game, many students showed up wanting to show their skills and be recognized by everyone at the school. Also, it was a great way to fundraise for the athletic department. 

I was really impressed on the amount of people that shoed up due to the $5 price of each person. However, the event brought people together as a community by encouraging each other and having fun with one another. This brings up Hallmark seven, "We create curricular/co-curricular interactions that facilitate student-centered learning/teaching environments." Of  course the staff wouldn't have allowed actual beer pong so they replaced it with gatorade to have a student-centered environment.

This way my favorite event that I went to. I had lots of fun participating as well as interacting with different teams and people. I was surprised on how interactive I was being with the event. The more I played the game with my partner, the ore I wanted to win. My partner and I ended up losing on the second round, but we stayed to watch until the end. It was a great and fun new experience.