African Night 2018

Another great week in River Falls is over and it just does not get boring. One event follows the other and so there is always something to do.

The first event of the week was the African Night 2018. The event was part of the Black History Month 2018 – a month dedicated to celebrating the black history on campus. The event was hosted by the Black Student Union and it was just great! They had a lot of acts on stage and it was mostly inspired by the African roots of many students. Great performances, great moderation by a friend of mine, and the event was closed by some fantastic authentic African soul food. Delicious! The Black Student Union even organized an authentic African dance and bongo group!

I really appreciate the diversity on campus and the way the whole campus appreciates it as well. Diversity and getting along well is a big thing on campus and the whole community is doing its best to maintain that status quo. Events like the African Night are quite uncommon back home in Germany and so I was really excited about it. I always love those events!

Another great event this week was the fieldtrip to Land O`Lakes organized by the Career Treks program on campus. This way current students can explore a lot of local companies and get the chance to engage with industry professionals and expand their networks. And obviously it is always good to make some connections and see different job opportunities as companies such as Land O`Lakes are always looking for talented college students and graduates. Trips like this one are free for current students by the way and this time even lunch was included. Land O`Lakes is a more or less local cooperation which is located close to the Twin Cities. The co-op has more than 10,000 employees and is known for its quality dairy products such as cheese, butter, and milk. Land O´Lakes is kind of unique because it is a member-owned cooperative and their product range goes all the way from the food for the animals to the finished products in the grocery store. The co-op has some industry-leading operations.

Overall it was another event that just helps to become a better business person in my mind. It helps getting engaged, seeing what is important for employers, and getting an insight into a whole lot of different companies. That is just fantastic! I truly appreciate the chances I get on campus and the way events like these are promoted.

Apart from those great events there is quite a bit of work due for classes right now as we are getting closer to Spring Break and mid-terms. This means almost half of the semester is over and we are getting closer to the final part. But it also means that a ten-day holiday is getting closer. Ten days? Yes, because there is one week off in general for Spring Break and as I only have classes Monday through Wednesday for the first half of the semester I will start my holiday on Thursday by going on an exciting road trip again… I am really looking forward to it as it will probably be one of the last big trips of the semester and so we want to make the best out of it and cover as many miles and attractions as possible. Let`s see how far we get. I will definitely report about it in the blog.

To be continued!