D ES MOINES AREA COMMUNITY COLLEGE – DES MOINES/URBAN CAMPUS August 2005 Volume 15, Issue 12 Student Support Services From the Director’s Desk Dates Wow, it is hard to believe that August is almost to here. That means that the summer session is quickly coming to an end and we will be gearing Remember up for the fall semester shortly. For those of you that are taking classes this summer, best of luck • August 1: Study with finals. For all others, we are looking for- ward to seeing many of you return at the end of Strategies for Finals the month since we are making plans for work- shops, cultural events and conferences to assist • August 11: End of you. Finally, for those that are not returning, we will miss you but it is great Semester to see that you are taking the next step in your life. Best wishes to you and remember to keep in touch to let us know what is happening in your life. • August 11-21: Iowa As you may see elsewhere in the newsletter, Student Support Services will be State Fair going to the Civic Center during the August break to see Leaving Iowa: A Comedy About Traveling. We do have a limited number of tickets reserved • August 21: Leaving for this event and you will need to stop by with a $5 refundable deposit for Iowa Susan. The sooner you sign up, the more likely you can attend this event. Speaking of traveling in Iowa, I have had a very eventful month doing some • August 29: Begin of that. I am writing this after touring on my bike for a week and feeling like Fall Term I had a great adventure. We rode out to the start of RAGBRAI in Le Mars, which entailed carrying all of our stuff for a week, including a tent we did not have to use, on our touring bikes. After a couple of days of RAGBRAI, we were met by our neighbor and shuttled home. Seven days, 400 miles, beauti- Enjoy !!! ful scenery, seeing old friends, making new friends and great hospitality, you August can’t ask for much more in a vacation. Okay, better weather without the100 temperatures and bad storms, but I was also quoted in the Des Moines Sunday Register. Like I said earlier, it was an adventure that I trained for, was well equipped for and will do similar tours again. By the Way, I will have officially not put gas in my vehicle in either June or July. I am thinking that we might have to put some in this month but we will see. Have a great August and especially, enjoy the break. Mary k. Moore Page 2 Student Support Services Transfer Notes from Beth Amongst the chaos of raising two very active boys, it took some serious thought and soul searching for my husband and me to come to the conclusion that we were REALLY ready for the commitment, patience, and sleepless nights that accompany adding a new member to our family. We weighed the pros and cons Do something and decided that we were ready to adopt. As joyous as this decision was, it didn’t come without some heartache. The little girl we originally had our hearts set on every day that you was adopted before we were able to get the papers filled out. Then it happened, don’t want to do; we found the perfect little girl. She wasn’t exactly what we were looking for, but this is the golden somehow we knew that she was the one for us. We are now the proud parents of Sally – a beautiful Toy Fox Terrier. She’ll never be big enough to be a good guard rule for acquiring dog (she won’t even grow to weigh as much as our cat) but she’s got a lot of the habit of doing spunk. I hope you will have spunk, like my new little dog, and get the very most your duty without you can out of our SSS Program! This summer, I have been putting together a pain. schedule of campus tours. We will start off the academic year visiting Iowa State th st Mark Twain University on the 16 and University of Iowa on the 21 . In addition to touring ISU, we also have scheduled a tour of the Virtual Reality C4. If you are interested in learning more about the C4, you can visit this webpage: http://www.vrac.iastate.edu/c4.php. While in Iowa City, we’ll visit the University of Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame. In October, we will tour the University of Iowa’s campus (no date has been set). On November 17th, we will visit Grand View College and while we are there, we will enjoy dinner and the theatre. The play we will see is called Criminal Genius. Also in November, we will Summer’s winding down... be visiting Drake University (currently, there is no set date). We’ll wrap up the Fall semester with a tour of Simpson but there’s still plenty of time to enjoy th College on December 2 followed by the festivities of the 12 family and friends! Annual Dickens of a Christmas in downtown Indianola. So State Fair is almost here… Adventureland is be sure to mark the dates of these tours on your calendars and a short drive away… and the parks are open keep a look out for fliers with more specific information. I for picnics and family gatherings. look forward to a wonderful Fall Semester. Maybe, with the extreme heat… the most fun (and cooling) thing to do is take the kids and head for one of the local water parks! Take plenty of sun block and an extra big towel… and after you swim… enjoy a big bowl of your favorite ice cream to finish off the afternoon and cool you down after the hot ride home! Just remember— enjoy every minute… before it’s gone!!! Visit the “Catfish Institute” online for catfish recipes and facts! Susan http://www.catfishinstitute.com/Kitchen/Family.asp Volume 15, Issue 12 Page 3 Preparing for Fall Semester The important thing Hello, all. Hope you had a satisfying summer and got to do all of the things that is not to stop people do in the “Good Ole Summer Time.” As you prepare for the fall semester here are some reminders that may make the process easier. questioning. 1. As you schedule classes remember to consult with Beth or me before you make Albert Einstein final decisions. We are the advisors for this program and SSS members should, at least, consult us before seeking out any of the other advisors or counselors. 2. If you have not submitted your FAFSA for this school term, 2005-2006, all is not lost for the fall. Get with Homer and get the FAFSA submitted on-line as soon as possible. You can still take classes and purchase books while you are waiting for your SAR and final disbursement of aid for fall classes. But you have to use the advisors to assist in this process. The Strength 3. Finally, if you are uncertain about graduation credits, the program changes you that comes from confidence think you want to make, courses, or anything that pertains to classes, instructors, can quickly be lost tutors, financial aid, student organizations, or whatever, use your advisors as the in conceit! starting point. They can save you lots of time, money, and heartburn. Unknown Welcome back and we look forward to greeting each of you as you begin another semester at the Urban campus. Homer AUGUST BRAIN TEASER: Unscramble the 13 letters below to form the two-word term for an item considered an absolute neces- sity in most American households. C E E L M N O O O R R T T The first person to Homer with the correct answer after the Iowa State Fair begins will win a prize. We had no winner for our July Brain Teaser. 1100 7th Street Des Moines, IA 50314 Adult Student Leadership Conference November 4-6, 2005 The Des Moines Area Community College Student Support Services Program will be attending the MAEOPP Adult Student Leadership Conference November 4-6 in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. A limited number of SSS members will be taken to this conference and if you are Interested in attending, talk with Mary k. Moore as soon as possible. Travel, food, registration and lodging expenses will be covered by the SSS Program. The only expenses for the students are incidental expenses and your time. .