BY JENNA MCASSEY ’19

As everyone arrives back from spring break, the second half of the semester is beginning. The year has flown by and aside from all of the studying, there are also a lot of events and activities happening around campus throughout the month of April!

One event that is well known around campus is the elevator speech competition. This is a competition where students stand up in front of a panel of judges and recite their prepared elevator speech. An elevator speech itself is a short and clear pitch about you and is typically around thirty seconds to one minute. The first, second and third place winners receive cash prizes. Last year’s winner was Zack Pena, class of 2019—he won $400. The date of this year’s competition is April 10! Come out to support your fellow Bison, or maybe even enter the competition yourself!

On April 11, a campus wide event will be taking place—Bison Give Back Day. This is a day in which the Nichols community gives back to the surrounding community. Students, faculty and staff all take part in this activity as they go to different locations around Dudley and surrounding areas and serve the community. We recommend that students take this opportunity as a chance to participate in community service. For more information about volunteering at this event, contact the Student Government Association (located on the third floor of Fels)!

Lastly, a time of year that Every student looks forward to is spring week(end), now known as BisonFest! This is a weekend that is very popular among the student body. It is a time in which the students come together and celebrate being a Bison! Classes compete in class games to earn points. There are so many types of games and events to earn points as different events occur throughout the entire week. Last year the seniors won the games, so stay tuned to see who the winners are for this year, and get involved in some of the games to help your class win!

The three events I mentioned are among the many events that happen here on campus every single day! For more information on when and what events are taking place, keep a look out for the weekly Bison Beat or check out the Nichols student portal!

BY JENNA MCASSEY ’19

On Tuesday, March 21, the Criminal Justice Program held a career fair with many different individuals from many different professions within the Criminal Justice field. The fair included professionals from the Massachusetts State Police, New Hampshire State Police, Worcester Police, Dudley Police, and Department of Border Control to name a few. Everyone introduced themselves and took the time to explain their roles in their specific job field. Each individual was prepared to fully describe their duties and then answer questions that students had.

Although this was more of an informational fair, some recruits informed the students that they were hiring or had internships available. The two jobs mentioned were with the Department of Border Control and the Massachusetts State Police. The Department of Border Control is an agency that protects our nations border. This includes all ports of entry such as air space, roadways and all ports at sea. The recruiter explained that with this agency, jobs are always available and that the application process typically takes 8-12 months. The second place that mentioned they were hiring was the Massachusetts State Police. They hire anyone from the age of 21-35. An individual has to take an exam and then be chosen for the State Police Academy. Once chosen they must make it through the State Police Academy, which was explained by the trooper to be harder than military basic training.

This career fair was extremely well attended, and I personally thought it was very informative. Many students seemed to be interested in at least one of the many career fields that were represented. Keep a look out for emails from the career and Professional Development Center, as to when the next fair will take place!