On Feb. 8, NEIU’s Office of International Programs (OIP) hosted a summit at Campus Recreation for all participating international and domestic students of the Buddy Program (BP) to greet, meet, and befriend each other. The pairing process of buddies included a survey about their hobbies, preferred gender of their buddies, major, and level of school, according to Michael Nance, J-1 Coordinator and Coordinator of Partnerships and Student Exchanges. All buddies reported to the P.E. Complex for team-building activities and group games to become further acquainted with one another. They did some ic ..read more

In honor of National Recreation Day, NEIU’s P.E. Complex hosted a lively celebration on Feb. 22, 2024, with 86 enthusiastic attendees attending the event. Campus Rec. Day had the intention to introduce NEIU students to a variety of extracurricular activities offered on campus and to promote a sense of community among them. The main aim of the event was to introduce NEIU students to the range of recreational and leisure activities available on campus, which are completely free for all students. To suit every taste, a wide variety of events were scheduled. Open gym sessions involving pickleball ..read more

On Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024, NEIU’s Office of International Programs (OIP) hosted an orientation session for domestic students to learn all the necessary details of the Buddy Program (BP). The BP is an additional support system developed by Dr. Cris Toffolo, Interim Director of International Programs, Michael Nance, J-1 Coordinator and Coordinator of Partnerships and Student Exchanges, and Mary Green, F-1 Program Coordinator, that gives international students the opportunities to learn about local Chicago culture by domestic students who have resided here for at least one semester. The orientati ..read more

NEIU’s diverse range of student clubs held a bi-annual fundraiser titled Diversity Food Fest by selling their equally diverse range of delicacies on March 7, 2024. The participating organizations range from the university’s sororities to cultural clubs like PIN@Y club. The event is hosted at Alumni Hall. It was managed by Student Leadership Development (SLD). Several SLD staff helped the student clubs set up their tables and managed the ticketing and fund collection held outside the venue. The layout was an empty center with few tables for patrons to eat their purchased food. The end of the ro ..read more

Two-term U.S. poet laureate and best-selling memoirist Natasha Trethewey, named guest of honor at NEIU’s Annual Brommel-Hahs Lecture, shares what it’s like to live in the wake of her mother’s absence and how she has been coping. “I understand that many of you have been assigned either Memorial Drive or Native Guard,” Trethewey began, referring to her two critically prized and praised works she would go on to read from. Both works elaborate on the events leading up to her stepfather’s murder of her mother, how she didn’t–couldn’t–see the signs, and carrying on in the aftermath. The content is l ..read more

..read more

To catch someone’s attention, one of the tactics that can be employed is having an ostentatious name to attract the attention of a would-be customer. Sissy’s Sandwich has done just that.  It is located just opposite North Park University’s main entrance, and thus attracts a lot of student and staff patrons from the campus. However, it is unfortunately located beside a more drawing restaurant called “Asian Brothers,” and located within the vicinity of a Starbucks and McDonalds. Nonetheless, it has weathered the intense competition within the area. Fries and sandwich on white plate sitting ..read more

In the International Club meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024, Japanese exchange student, Kento Ogawa, kicked off the meeting with a presentation about the Japanese art form, origami. Origami is the art made out of one or more square pieces of paper with accuracy and patience. By folding a paper, combining or separating them on occasion, we can be creative and can change the shape of the paper in whatever ways needed for the chosen outcome. Some common forms made through origami are related to animals; for example, bunny and crane, and also the traditional Japanese war helmet called “kabuto ..read more

YouTube reviews on Apple Vision Pro elicited my curiosity to make an appointment with a local Chicago area Apple Store to experience the Apple Vision Pro firsthand because the reviews were very mixed. I discovered the inside scoop of what it is like to use, what it is for, and its reliability for users. As mentioned earlier, I made an appointment, but it was not simple. I had to log in to the Apple website with my Apple ID and password, receive a code on one of my Apple devices or via phone call, and then I had to punch in the code to gain access. After this, I chose an Apple store location, d ..read more

  I bought tickets on a bit of a whim for a special Friday showing at Martyrs’ on North Lincoln Avenue at the edge of the Northcenter neighborhood. I was pleased to receive much more entertainment than the $15 ticket suggested.  A band of six people called “Safety Squad” perform on a stage. They lit in blue and pink lights. From left to right; guitarist Chris Siebold is wearing a black shirt playing an orange guitar, vocalist Isabella Snow is dressed in a draped floral top and baggy pants and a ponytail, she is holding a microphone in her hand in front of her, behind her is drummer T ..read more