Union Universe: The Ohio State University Bookstore

Union Bookstore

 

The Student Life’s Ohio Union has a lot to offer – from a grand ballroom to office spaces and from dance rooms to an instructional kitchen – there’s something for everyone in the building many people refer to as the “living room” of The Ohio State University. The Ohio Union also has quite a few hidden treasures. One of these happens to be the The Ohio State University Bookstore at the Ohio Union, which is owned by Barnes and Noble College as a part of the continuing partnership between Ohio State and Barnes and Noble.

The bookstore, which is located in the northeast corner of the building, offers a large selection of apparel and merchandise as well as a wide variety of snacks and drinks. With hours every day of the week, it’s a great place to find that perfect game day outfit or to pick up a notebook on your way to class. Specific store hours can be found at this link.

The bookstore also has a UniPrint desk which offers printing, copying and other services. UPS services are available in the bookstore as well. You can find out more about UniPrint at this link.

Share your favorite Ohio Union hidden treasure with us in the comments section below!

#BuckeyeLove

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, fellow Buckeyes, and you don’t need a Valentine to share your #BuckeyeLove.

#BuckeyLove is all about showing and spreading your love for being a Buckeye. This year at the Ohio Union we’ve had some great events that celebrate our love for the university and our passion for paying it forward. Let’s take a look back at some of these events that show just how much #BuckeyeLove we have.

Buckeye Love Blood Drive

  1. Blood Drives: Red Cross hosts multiple blood drives every school year at the Ohio Union. One of the biggest donation periods is during the Michigan-Ohio State Blood Battle that occurs every year before the big game. Last year alone, 2,529 pints of blood were donated by the Buckeye community. To put it in perspective 1 pint of blood can save up to 3 lives.
  2. Career Fairs: Finding a job or internship can be difficult these days but our Buckeye community is dedicated to helping students succeed. Many colleges and university departments help host career fairs all throughout the year. This semester we still have the Spring Career Fair on February 24 to look forward to here at the Ohio Union.
    Buckeye Love Brutus Bday
  3. Brutus’ 50th Birthday Celebration: This year was Brutus the Buckeye’s 50th birthday and the Ohio Union hosted a spectacular celebration for the occasion. I mean, what better way to celebrate than to bring together alumni, students, faculty and special university guests who all joined together to show their love not only for Brutus but also for Ohio State.

    Buckeye Love Buckeyethon

  4. BuckeyeThon: BuckeyeThon is an extraordinary student organization whose goal is to raise awareness and money for the Hematology, Oncology and BMT Department of Columbus’ Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Every year BuckeyeThon hosts the annual twenty-four hour dance marathon to raise money and awareness For The Kids. Buckeye’s love to give back and this year BuckeyeThon raised over 1.33 million dollars. What an amazing achievement!

To read more about #BuckeyeLove and the impacts the Ohio State community has made on our campus and around the world, visit: https://www.osu.edu/features/2016/sharing-buckeyelove-around-the-world.html

 

Buckeyethon Dance Marathon

Eight hours until show time. It’s the first Friday afternoon of February and the Ohio Union is humming in anticipation of one of our biggest events of the year. Months of meticulous planning on the part of Buckeyethon members and Ohio Union staff has all been building up to the next 36 hours. All of the hard work that they have put in will finally pay off when tonight’s opening ceremony begins and approximately 4,800 registered dancers begin participating in the 2016 Buckeyethon Dance Marathon- and the best part? It’s all For The Kids.

Buckeyethon Logo

“Every kid deserves to run and jump and laugh and dance. Every kid deserves to live carefree.”

Above are the logo and words presented on Buckeyethon’s website, and this sentence represents the root of Buckeyethon’s mission: For The Kids. These three words are used to link fundraising dance marathons across the nation in the fight for children who need it most. Courtney Thomson, who is Buckeyethon’s Director of Marketing and Communication, told me that “everyone has his or her own reasons for being FTK, and it means something different to everyone,” and that is what makes this event so special.

Tonight and tomorrow, throughout the Ohio Union, students will come together not only with each other, but also with the families of 17 special children who currently have or have fought pediatric illness at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Some of these families have been with Buckeyethon for multiple years and some are participating for the first time. They will be able to witness the support and the For The Kids mantra in action. Each child has their own page on the Buckeyethon Kids section of the website (which dons the heading “Every Kid Deserves to be a Buckeye!”) where you can read about their personality, their favorite things and their personal journey in their fight against pediatric illness. This weekend those children will get to see and feel the overwhelming support of students like us who care. Most of us will never understand the hardships these kids are facing, but we can help, we can donate and we can dance.

Brutus Boy

Dancers will interact with each other and the Buckeyethon Kids, as well as participate in various activities and- of course- dance! This event is enough to get even the shyest of movers onto the dance floor, if even just to learn the Morale Dance. For anyone who doesn’t know what the Morale Dance is, I am here to tell you: It is a type of line dance that is choreographed and taught to dancers by students from Buckeyethon. The dance is set to a mash-up of today’s top hits (I would like to think Adele would participate if she was an Ohio State student) and a few throwbacks; and, as Courtney explained to me, serves as “the perfect pick-me-up throughout the event,” as well as a way for dancers to work together and learn the routine.

Buckeyethon Great Hall

Eight hours (give or take the five minutes it took you to read this blog post) until show time- and I couldn’t be more excited to witness it. Tonight, thousands of Ohio State students will descend upon the Ohio Union in what I believe is one of the most perfect examples of why I am so proud to be a part of the Ohio State community.

For more information, visit the Buckeyethon website.

Spring Career and Internship Fairs

As college students, taking classes, hanging out with friends, and getting involved in different organizations are not usually our only focuses. Understanding the importance of internships and volunteer works, we also actively consider summer job opportunities and our post-grad career choices. If you are not familiar with all of the career services resources that Ohio State has to offer, read our tips below and check out the internship and career fairs taking place at the Ohio Union.

Partnering with the Ohio Union, Student Life Career Counseling and Support Services connects students across all majors, graduate programs and degree levels with employers who are seeking to recruit for employment and internships. The internship and career fairs at the Ohio State University often attract more than 200 corporations, nonprofit organizations and government employers. All current Ohio State University students and recent graduates are able to submit their resumes and network with the employers to learn more about their job openings. Attending employers recruit for a wide variety of areas such as communications, business analysis and management, computer information science, graphic design, human resources, logistics, marketing and other related areas. Therefore, no matter what major you are studying, we highly encourage you to take advantage of these fantastic career fairs by attending and exploring your future career opportunities.

The series of spring internship and career fairs is underway and lasts through early April. For a detailed career fair schedule, please check this schedule. Below are 8 tips to help you prepare for career fairs. I have personally found these tips incredibly helpful so I hope they will help you get prepared and ready to attend the next career fair.

  1. Be prepared. Download a list of all companies in attendance and decide which companies you are interested in talking to. Research the business information, core values and current job openings of these companies to tailor your opening introduction.
  2. Have a polished resume. I recommend having at least 2 career coaches from your college’s career services office review your resume prior to attending career fairs. Follow the resume format recommended by your college to make your resume looks professional. Also, print more than enough copies to distribute.
  3. Dress nice and look good. Although business casual is becoming more common in the workplace, first impressions are still crucial when impressing your favorite company. A professional suit will help give you a boost of confidence.
  4. Strategize. If I’m being honest, the noise and crowds of people can be a little overwhelming at first. This is true for most people so try and save your favorite companies until after you have made 2 or 3 introductions and have eased your nerves.
  5. Be patient. You might feel exhausted or anxious waiting to speak with employers (and for girls, wearing heels is an added stressor.) However, waiting time can offer you keen insights. Take your time in the line to read through the employer’s profile and listen to what is happening in front of you.
  6. Perform professional and firm handshakes with the company representatives. Try to practice your handshake with a couple of friends—even though it might seem silly—so you can greet the representatives with a nice, firm handshake. Once you finish the handshake, remember to keep smiling and maintain eye contact throughout your conversation.
  7. Introduce yourself clearly. Career fairs are often very loud, so speak up and introduce yourself briefly. Practice an elevator speech, which is a 30-second introduction to highlight your academic background and experiences. This is a great time to showcase some of your research on the company’s values, mission and performance to impress the recruiters.
  8. Ask for a business card. Send a short thank-you email within the first forty eight hours to representatives from your favorite companies. This might help you to develop some prospective contacts and helpful resources!

We hope that these helpful tips will help you have a fun and successful career fair experience this spring semester. For more career fair information, please check out the Ohio State career fairs website.

So You’ve Just Gone Greek?

Greek Life 1

Condoleezza Rice, Babe Ruth, Ronald Reagan, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Neil Armstrong, Coretta Scott King, Jesse Owens, Thurgood Marshall, Frank Sinatra, W.E.B. DuBois and Warren Buffet.

What do all these incredible and inspirational people have in common? They were all sorority or fraternity members.

These last few weeks at the Ohio Union have been very exciting. Fourteen-hundred potential new members have spent the last two weekends experiencing the recruitment process held by the Panhellenic Council and Greek organizations. As a member of the Greek community, I can say that my college experience has been far more enriching than I thought possible by immersing myself in this wonderful community. For the women who just joined a sorority, members of Greek organizations and for those who want to learn more, here are just a few ways the Greek community could transform your college experience.

  1. Leadership Development– Sorority and Fraternity life present many opportunities to step up and hone leadership skills. Many sororities and fraternities offer the chance to attend leadership workshops and conferences. In fact, over 1600 students attended a sorority and fraternity leadership development program last year. You could start small by joining a committee and then maybe leading it, or you could be elected by your peers as a leader on an executive board. The Greek community as a whole also offers the opportunity to be a leader for any of the governing councils that oversee the 68 organizations currently on campus.
  2. Community Involvement– An important aspect of being a part of Sorority and Fraternity life is giving back to the community. Sororities and fraternities advocate for service projects and trips, philanthropic causes and community outreach. The Greek community last semester performed 55,308 hours of community service and helped raise over $ 500,000 for various philanthropies. Greek Life 2
  3. Academics– Going Greek means that you always have a study buddy and people that will motivate you to stay focused academically. Here at Ohio State, Sorority and Fraternity Life require that an individual’s GPA be a 2.5 or above to join any Greek organization. The Greek chapters on campus place a high value on scholarship which can be seen in the fact that the GPA for the Greek community as a whole is consistently higher than the all-student GPA. This previous semester the Greek fall semester GPA average was 3.31, while the undergraduate average was 3.10. Some of these organizations also offer help finding and paying for tutors if their members are struggling in a particular area of study. Being surrounded by diverse and driven individuals is a great way to motivate yourself to be the best you can academically. Greek Life 3
  4. Personal Growth– Joining a sorority has allowed me to meet so many interesting and unique women that have changed the way I view the world. I get to see everything from 140 different perspectives instead of just my own. I have surrounded myself with women who push me to be better in every way. By joining a Greek organization you open yourself to new ideas, people and perspectives.
  5. Friendships– Let’s be honest, college can be hard; we’re all trying to figure out how to balance our academics, transition into becoming more independent, finding friends or making a large university feel like home. Joining a Greek organization gives you a support system and people to lean on when the going gets tough. As cliché as it sounds, it truly gives you lifelong friends that you’ll share lifelong memories with and will treasure for many years to come. Above all, the friendships you will gain from this experience will truly give you a place to call home.

For more information about joining the Greek communities here at Ohio State visit The Office of Sorority and Fraternity life at: http://ohiounion.osu.edu/get_involved/sorority_fraternity