The Politics of Suffolk

I'm Pat, class of 2014, studying Government in Boston

gravitysheeran asked: Hi! Im currently a junior in high school, Suffolk is going to be my first choice school, I live in Colorado and Im kinda scared about going to a school in the east coast such as Boston, (Ive been to the east coast before and I love it) but do you think moving and going to a school to Boston would be to overwhelming for someone like me? Thanks - Hannah

Hey Hannah,

Not too sure. I haven’t even been to Colorado! But when I was looking at schools I wanted to move far away and you probably cant get further away than my friend who moved here from the Philippines. Boston is an amazing place to go to school though. So chill, so many places to go eat, hang out, places to visit and things to do. Our sports are the best, obviously. And my school is right in the middle of it all. You can live in the dorms for a year and get adjusted with the city, trust me that is all it takes with the amount of time you go out and walk around the city. Then move into an apartment with friends and the city gets even better. Hope this helps!

Best,

Pat

dannyjamess asked: How do you become so involved at Suffolk, and do you dorm or commute?

Hello,

At Orientation they will have a fair during lunch where you can meet clubs and go talk to people. Then in the fall we have Temple Street Fair, a big event dedicated to meeting clubs and organizations on campus. Other than that, we have this online portal called SUConnect that lists all clubs on campus you can join, how to contact them, and where they meet.

I live off campus in an apartment not too far away in Cambridge. I work a lot both on an off campus and I still feel like I am connected to the University. I love the offices I work for especially.

Best,

Pat

Showcase!

Tomorrow is showcase day! I look forward to seeing everyone, speaking to all of the prospective students and family members, and getting an amazing and delicious lunch! If you are not planning on joining us tomorrow for Showcase, rethink that decision and go to suffolk.edu/admitevents to register. All of our buildings will be open, including all four residence halls! Sorry juniors, this is for Admitted Students only. You can come next year. If you cannot make tomorrow’s event, join us Sunday April 21st for our second Showcase event! Once again congratulations and I cannot wait to see everyone tomorrow!

Best,

Pat

dreaming-with-purpose asked: (continuing) if you experienced dorming what was it like and what was move in day like? What was your first day of classes like? how's the social life there? The party scene definitely isn't for me and I don't drink or do other drugs. I'm super curious because I'm a Junior and I'm thinking of applying to colleges early. Thank you :)

Hello,

I would first start by saying don’t read reviews online. Come talk to our admissions staff members and students and you will get a clean insight on what life is like. And you can always shadow a student in a class if you want to see what campus life is like.

I am loving Suffolk. Like any work, school, or place in your life there are ups and downs but it is all what you make of it. I love my major department. I have met great friends. And Suffolk has given me opportunities that I would be hard pressed to find anywhere else.

I have had 3 internships so far, none of which I found through Suffolk. I got them all on my own. Suffolk does help however by giving you a website that filters all co-ops and internship postings to Suffolk students directly.

I did live in the residence halls. I lived in 10 West and 150 Tremont. I liked both dorms and I had two completely separate experiences. I hated my first roommate so I switched and I loved my second two roommates. So again you are never stuck in a situation that is uncomfortable or one that you don’t like. Living in the residence halls is step 1 of learning how you live and work as a person and you are figuring that out at the same time your roommate is. Also, sidenote - move in day is so fast and easy. It is nothing to worry about.

My first day of classes was so easy. Freshman year felt like an easy transition from high school to college for me. Classes were more difficult but I had way more time to complete work. That is what college is all about - time management. It is super easy to slack off all the time because you have so much free time but when you really need to, there is also a lot of time to work.

And again, social life is everything you want it to be. The RA’s will only both you if you are putting yourself in harms way or disturbing the peace. Follow those two rules and you’ll be fine. And outside the residence halls you have so many options to choose from, sporting events, dining, theatres, concerts, plays, and everything else Boston has to offer is at your fingertips. We have a fantastic location and we want you to take advantage of it. So definitely go out and explore Boston. 

Once again, if you are curious about schools, call them up or just go visit them. Reviews online will serve you no purpose. And if you have any more specific questions or if this didn’t help it all, feel free to email me at pcmunnelly@suffolk.edu

Best,

Pat

deadly-innocence asked: Hey. I'm thinking about applying to suffolk university. However, I have a few concerns. 1) I hear it's a commuter campus, is that true. I really want a college community feel to it. 2) Is there really no school spirit? I enjoy attending events & possibly playing a sport. 3) How many intramural sports do you have? I plan on participating in a few. 4) How are the dorms? Clean? Spacious? Sorry for all the questions!

Hello, 

To answer your questions:

1) It is mainly a commuter campus. Freshman and sophomores can live on campus and most of our juniors and seniors have apartments in the surrounding neighborhoods. So they live just as close as our resident students.

2) There is rising school spirit. Sports is not our biggest part of school spirit but the student involvement side has a very active and spirited student body.

3) Here is the website for the most up to date intramural listing: http://www.gosuffolkrams.com/intramurals/index

4) The dorms are amazing. Not to brag but they are quite spacious, very new, and amazing. Each residence hall is a bit different but each has a set of accommodation that make each very nice.

I hope these help a bit. For more information and to get a better perspective definitely come on a campus tour!

Best,

Pat

At My Internship

I’m currently at my internship and I was asked to write a blog post for the company website. So I wrote about my trip to D.C. Well I realized I haven’t updated this in a while, so I will blog about my internship.

This is a great internship that I have had the opportunity to work for. It is my third internship while attending Suffolk. My first was at Suffolk Law in the Rappaport Center for Law and Public Service, my second was at the State House over he summer for Rep. Ferguson. And now I work at Schneider Associates. This one is interesting because it mixes PR and Government together. PR is something I know little about, I just know it happens. But a lot of my tasks are similar to the strategies I employed at the Rappaport Center. 

I am interested to get working on the more Governmental side of this company, which is newly starting up. For now we are still doing some Public Affairs and PR campaigns. I want to do some lobbying work before I leave here too. 

And hopefully I get a job this summer with TSA or Dept. of Homeland Security. That would be amazing.

neopetsitter asked: How do you like Suffolk?

I love it! It is an amazing school with such wonderful opportunities. If you know where to look, have a passion and drive for something, then you’ll definitely succeed here. Our location is prime if you want to have fun, explore the city, and get opportunities not experienced outside the city. Also, the nature of our institution engages students from day one creating a warm and welcoming environment while allowing students to experience the real world and grow up, still being sheltered under the safe college umbrella. Suffolk is definitely an exciting University to come study at with programs to study in many different areas of interest located both in the United States and in Madrid, Spain. If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.

Best,

Pat

These are some of the highlights from my trip to D.C.! Feel free to comment or share your favorites too! What an amazing opportunity I was given to experience DC and the Inauguration! Thank you Suffolk!

It is going to be hard to sum up this Academic Seminar (and for those who do not know, an Academic Seminar is a two week seminar on a topic where you hear from speakers and visit different sights around DC related to the Seminar theme) into one blog post. We have heard from some amazing speakers (some not to amazing) and did some pretty eye opening things. We went to the Israeli Embassy, The Woodrow Wilson Center, Voice of America, the Capitol, and Te Heritage Fund and not to mention we attended the Inauguration! (Ill come back to that) As far as speakers go some amazing people we heard from included Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West on a discussion of Poverty, we heard about the grassroots of Obamas campaign from Eugene Kang, special advisor to the President, and we learned a lot about CSpan and had interesting talks with both Brian Lamb and Steve Scully. Overall, the speakers were interesting and being in DC was incredible. I got to meet some other Government majors I had never talked to before and we all got along really well. As far as the inauguration, I suggest everyone watch or read Obamas speech. It was highly inspirational and motivating. It was one of his best. What a feeling to be in a crowd, being addressed by the President, with such a sense of Patriotism and love for America in the air. I will definitely go back to the next Inauguration if I have the chance. Maybe ill even be in DC then working. Best, Pat

It is going to be hard to sum up this Academic Seminar (and for those who do not know, an Academic Seminar is a two week seminar on a topic where you hear from speakers and visit different sights around DC related to the Seminar theme) into one blog post. We have heard from some amazing speakers (some not to amazing) and did some pretty eye opening things. We went to the Israeli Embassy, The Woodrow Wilson Center, Voice of America, the Capitol, and Te Heritage Fund and not to mention we attended the Inauguration! (Ill come back to that) As far as speakers go some amazing people we heard from included Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West on a discussion of Poverty, we heard about the grassroots of Obamas campaign from Eugene Kang, special advisor to the President, and we learned a lot about CSpan and had interesting talks with both Brian Lamb and Steve Scully. Overall, the speakers were interesting and being in DC was incredible. I got to meet some other Government majors I had never talked to before and we all got along really well. As far as the inauguration, I suggest everyone watch or read Obamas speech. It was highly inspirational and motivating. It was one of his best. What a feeling to be in a crowd, being addressed by the President, with such a sense of Patriotism and love for America in the air. I will definitely go back to the next Inauguration if I have the chance. Maybe ill even be in DC then working. Best, Pat

My Winter Break… Thus Far

I figured it is about time to update on my Winter Break, even though it isn’t over yet. To start it off I went to Florida to swim with Manatees in Crystal River and then to Disney World! How cool?

That trip was part of a program we have at Suffolk called The Journey. The level 3 trip takes students down to swim with the Manatees to learn about a unique way to deal with difficult situations and people while learning about the culture of a city divided by politics but whose income rests entirely on one source of revenue. 

Following this we took a trip to the UF Gainsville and took a tour of their University to see what college was like for a D1 institution.

Then started the Disney leg of our “journey.” We did a two day Disney YES (Youth Educational Services) Program where we learned about Disney Leadership and Business model. Did you know EPCOT is an acronym? Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. Of course we went to all four parks and rode every single ride too. Everest twice in a row. No line.

Then we flew home.

Now part two of my Winter Break. I just checked into The Washington Center. (for more information look at twc.edu) Basically, this program has 2 week Seminars or Semester Internships. I am down for the 2012 Inauguration! I get to go see Obama Inaugurated! 

Our program starts tomorrow and I am so excited!!!!!!! I will try to keep posting so everyone can stay updated!!!!!!!!!!

Best,

Pat