Bye Bye Badgers!

The temperature is dropping and finals are approaching, which can only mean one thing– it’s the end of the semester! As J176 comes to a close, it’s time for us here at Baby Badgers to say goodbye to our blog. We hope that this blog has given you some great resources as you navigate your freshman here at UW- Madison, and we thank you for all of your comments and feedback on our posts. Good luck with finals, have a wonderful Winter break, and thanks for being a Baby Badger with us! 

 

-Sarah, Alyssa, Jacy, Bridget, and Ruilin

Shazam: “I know every song.”

You heard an amazing song. You want to hear it again. However, you can’t find the name of the song. You feel dispirited. You feel that you loss something important.

If you have this feeling before. Well here is a good news for you: Shazam knows nearly every song! Ask Shazam, you will get the answer.

“Shazam recognizes music and media playing around you.”

Isn’t it great!?

Nevertheless, Shazam can’t recognize the song if you sing it by yourself. It’s tough job for Shazam. Shazam is not clever enough yet.

Shazam’s official website: http://www.shazam.com

In this website, you can learn more about Shazam and download Shazam in any electrical devices you have.

Enjoy it! ^_^

 

Ruilin Huang

Freaking about finals?

I don’t know about you, but it seems as though Thanksgiving made finals seem a lot more closer than I thought it would. It’s crazy to think that I’m already finishing my first semester at college. People said it would go by fast, but now I really believe it!

Finals in college are a huge deal; more than they were in high school for sure. I know I should have started studying over Thanksgiving break, but I couldn’t do much in my haze of turkey and sleeping. During my freakout this Sunday upon my realization that I have my first final next Wednesday, I decided to scour the internet and found a pretty helpful article from the Huffington post. Check it out!

Also, for a break from the madness, here’s a story to get you in the holiday spirit while reminding you of all the awful work you have to do, courtesy of College Humor:

Twas the night before finals, when all through the dorm
Not a person was sleeping, though that was the norm
Empty Red Bull, iced coffee, and trash strewn about
In hope that some seeds of knowledge would sprout
The students were sitting uncomfortably at their chairs
Hoping thoughts of good grades won’t be met with despair.
And my roommate in his pajamas, and I in my jeans
Studied like monsters and wrote like machines.
When from outside the building came such a racket
I leaped up from my desk and put on my jacket.
Out of the building I went in a hurry,
My nose meeting smells of ramen, beer, and curry.
The glow of the moon lit up the scene
Fog on two sides, with a man in between
Emerging from the smoke with two hands outstretched
Holding red plastic cups? It seemed quite far-fetched.
Then, after a step or two to keep up his balance
(He seemed to be under some sort of influence)
I realized who the man in front of me must be!
St. Procrastinate himself, it could only be he!
Ambling towards me without a care at all,
He saw my studious nature and seemed quite appalled
“What are you doing, huh? Preparing for exams?
Writing papers, doing projects, and trying to cram?”
“Go out and enjoy your life, just learn to let loose
Time spent in a library is time spent in misuse.
Why bother studying with so much fun at your disposal?
“He took a quick sip of something, and began his proposal:
“On Sparknotes, on Cliffnotes, on copy and paste!
On large-lettered fonts, 14-point periods, and papers triple-spaced!
To the results of Google searches! To the pages of Wikipedia!
In fact, why write anything when you can buy essays from academia?”
I stood pondering it over, unsure what to believe
When he turned around suddenly and started to leave
“Wait!” I cried out, “I’m not sure what I should do!”
“Sleeping or studying, help me think this thing through!”
He spun around and said, stumbling as he went
“Sounds like a lot of work, little bro, and my energy is spent
But here, these words at least I can express:
Happy Finals, or not…whatever…I guess.”

 

*I don’t condone plagiarism, I promise!!

 

 

Aca-Awesome!

With finals fast approaching, it is very easy to feel overwhelmed and stressed. Take a breath. It is important to stay relaxed and remain as calm as possible. One thing I find extremely helpful is listening to music. Since we live in a city with so many opportunities, it is easy to find a music style of your liking. My personal favorite is a capella. I am currently a member of Jewop here at UW-Madison! I love it, but I love watching other a capella groups as well! I’ve seen Fundamentally Sound and the UW Madhatters perform. Both were both amazing! With the end of the semester nearing, a capella groups are wrapping up their season with winter concerts! I urge you to go see any a capella group perform because it is fun and entertaining! But, of course, my personal bias is that you should really just come see Jewop perform this Sunday, December 8^th at Humanities at 7:30 pm!  Hope to see you there, and don’t forget to LIKE us on Facebook! 

https://www.facebook.com/JewopUW

Until next week, 

Alyssa

Need a ride?

With it being Thanksgiving week and Christmas break fast-approaching, finding transportation back to our hometowns is something many people struggle with. If your parents can’t make the trip or you don’t have any friends going home when you’re trying to, finding a ride may seem like a pretty difficult task. However, with the help of a few websites, finding a ride home can be a stress-free task!

If you’re trying to avoid the whole bus idea, the Facebook group “University of WI-Madison Ride Share Group!” is a definite place to check. With over 5,000 members, there’s a high probability someone is going to a place near you. You can either post your destination asking for a ride, or just scroll down the page searching for a post of someone traveling near you! It’s also a great place to post if you own a car and wanna pick up some extra gas money for driving people home (:

If you’re still struggling to find a ride or aren’t too fond of driving with a stranger, the bus route may be the option for you. With the help of Lamers Connect and the Badger Bus, finding a route near your destination should be pretty easy. They both travel to different places and depart at different times from UW-Madison, so a little investigation may be in order!

Lamers Connect travels to different campuses in Wisconsin, so it leaves right from our campus and drops off at various other universities. To see the complete transportation list, check out their website http://www.golamers.com/Lamers-connect.php 

The Badger Bus also leaves from our campus and takes you to other Wisconsin universities. To see the different universities, check it out at https://www.badgerbus.com/default.aspx

Hopefully with the help of these sites, finding a ride home will be easy and comfortable (:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jacy

Winter Wonderland

Well my fellow Baby Badgers, we have officially witnessed our first snow fall in Madison. I woke up Monday morning to find white fluffy snow covering the streets and sidewalks of Madison. Around campus, I heard whispers of possible snowball fights and attempts to sled down Bascom Hill. While this is extremely exciting, there are a few important things to remember.

First, stay warm! It is easy to underdress. Walking around campus, we easily become overheated. However, with the crisp, fresh air and wind chill increasing everyday, it is important to be wearing a warm coat, hat, mittens, scarves and boots. This brings me to my second thought. We should all be wearing comfortable, yet appropriate shoes. It is important to wear boots or shoes that have good traction. I don’t want anyone to face plant in the snow, or wipeout walking down Bascom Hill. That has already happened to me here, and let me tell you, it’s quite embarrassing.

Lastly, have fun with the snow! I know it is freezing and it seems hard to enjoy living in Madison in the winter, but have fun with it! Go sledding! Have a snowball fight! Drink some coffee and watch the snow fall!  

PS. Who doesn’t love seeing UW-Madison students play with snow on Bascom?! 

Until next week, 

Alyssa

Giving Thanks for the Badger Experience

It’s Thanksgiving time! That wonderful week when many of us get to see loved ones, take a break from homework, and stuff our faces with some of the most delicious food to ever grace our planet (I’m mostly talking about stuffing. YUM). Since it’s Badger freshman’s first time going home for Thanksgiving, I’ve compiled a brief list of Dos and Don’ts to help you best enjoy your time at home.

DO:

-Take advantage of all the yummy food. This is one of the few times per year that you can eat all you want with no judgement. Plus, I’m sure you’re starting to get tired of Easy Mac and Gordon’s pizza, so make the most of your Mom’s turkey and mashed potatoes and eat all you want.

-Catch up on your sleep. If you’re like most typical freshman, you probably haven’t gotten enough sleep in the past couple of months. You have plenty of time this long Thanksgiving weekend to enjoy a nice long sleep. I’m also pretty sure your dorm room bed is nowhere near as comfortable as your one at home.

Don’t:

-Get annoyed with your family. I know, sometimes it can be hard when everyone’s home and getting on each others nerves. But instead of getting annoyed at the fact that your sister leaves her hair all over the bathroom, try to appreciate the time you have with her.  Sounds corny, but time with your family is a precious thing while you’re in college, so try to make the best of it while you’re home this week. 

Any other tips you have for college freshman during Thanksgiving? Let me know. Have a great weekend at home, and enjoy that turkey!

-Sarah

 

Do good on exams which will happen before Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is coming! Oh yeah!! Finally! I can take a break~

Oh no……I still have exams to do before being able to enjoy Thanksgiving…So calm down and focus on study!

……But I can’t!  I feel so great and so exciting! I am going to Chicago to meet my high school friends during Thanksgiving. I made a perfect plan. I miss my friends so much. I will go shopping and go to China Town to eat Chinese food! This Thanksgiving is going to be great! I’ve been waiting for this vacation for such a long time. I know I should be focusing on study since I don’t want to smash my exam but it’s really hard to not think about the upcoming exiting Thanksgiving.

So here are some methods that I found can help us calm down.

1.Take a deep breath
2.Listen some soft music
3.Take a walk
4.Eat some dessert
5.Chew celery and enjoy the noise it makes
6.Try progressive muscle relaxation

And most important step…

7.Think about the consequences of screwing up midterm exams.

Or…Maybe you can try play some boring online game like “Toilet Paper”?

Here is the link…

http://www.oyunlar1.com/online.php?flash=2210

Enjoy it.

👆You can use this as your mobile screen savers. It helps.

 

Good luck with your exam. And hope you guys enjoy the Thanksgiving.😊

Ruilin Huang

 

Easy A?

For those still waiting to schedule for spring classes or simply want a heads up on the difficulty level of the courses you chose, this link, http://registrar.wisc.edu/documents/Stats_distribs_2012-2013Spring.pdf, shows you a list of all of the classes offered at UW-Madison along with the average grade distribution among freshman, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. With the many electives we have to take here, most of us want an interesting yet easy class. We want that “easy A”. With all of the courses offered here, it’s easy to find a class that sparks interest, however guessing the level of difficulty is pretty tough by just reading the course description of the class. With this link, you can see the average grade given by those who have taken the class, so you can get a feel for the level of difficulty of the class. It also categorizes the classes by their topics, so if you’re interested in a particular topic you can easily scroll through the list of classes within that topic! So next time you’re worried about finding the right elective or whether you’re taking too much of a workload, check out this page and ease your anxieties!

Happy scheduling!

Jacy

Classwork and a Cup of Coffee

As the weather keeps getting colder and colder, I’m beginning to remember why I spent so much time last winter studying at coffee shops. Yes, the library is often quieter, and if you spend enough time at Starbucks you’ll come back to your dorm smelling strongly of coffee beans, but there’s just something about being able to cozy up with a warm cup of caffeine as you buckle down on some homework. There are several places on campus that you can get your caffeine fix, but I’ll give you my three favorites. Disclaimer: I’m not a coffee expert, and all coffee pretty much tastes the same to me. Thus, you’ll see that I give every one of these places a good review on their coffee. Some coffee connoisseurs may disagree with my opinions.

1) Starbucks. This is obviously a classic. You can get all your favorite drinks (including their Holiday collection drinks, which are now available!) Located near State and Lake, it’s in a convenient location. There’s even a second floor which allows for extra room to sprawl out with all your finals materials. One word of caution: the wifi here SUCKS. It’s slow and unreliable, so I’d recommend Starbucks to the student who needs to do some physical book reading or writing of a non-research paper. 

2) Espresso Royale. A nice alternative when Starbucks is too crowded, or if you simply like to check out more independent places on campus. Espresso Royale is also located on State Street, just a few steps past Starbucks actually. It’s typically not as crowded as Starbucks, and the drinks are yummy. I also have to recommend the scones here. Trust me, they’re delicious. In addition, the wifi is pretty reliable, so feel free to cozy up here when you have some internet-based homework to finish.

3) Pete’s Coffee at Memorial Union. Memorial Union is without a doubt one of my favorite places on campus. Pete’s coffee is decent, and Memorial Union is the perfect place to hunker down for an entire afternoon when you have a ton of work to get done. Plus, you can use campus cash at Pete’s- unlike other coffee places on campus. (Thanks Mom and Dad!) Wifi at the Union is UW Net, so it’s just a good as what you would get at a UW library. 

Did I forget your favorite coffee shop in Madison? Any new ones I should check out? Let me know!

Until next week,

Sarah