Category Archives: On The Hill

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The Amazing Race (to Early Detection)

Cancer impacts the lives of many in one way or another – myself included. 15-40 Connection, local non-profit based in Westborough, Massachusetts, focuses on improving cancer survival rates by providing the community with resources to detect cancer in its earliest stages. Why might you ask? Simply because cancer survival rates amongst people between the ages of 15 and 40 have not improved since 1975 – a fact the organization is dedicated to addressing.

15-40 Connection, as stated in 15-40 Connection and Nichols Undergrads Refuse to Let Cancer Win, teamed up with Bryant Richards’ undergraduate event planning class in an effort to raise awareness of the organization, and their mission, through six events that called the campus and surrounding community to action. On Wednesday April 10th, the Nichols campus put on their running shoes and raced for the early detection of cancer in The Amazing Race (to Early Detection). The event, organized by myself and other Nichols’ seniors Kelly Vaillancourt and Alison Peplinski, along with Nichols’ junior Abby Gould, kicked off in the Fels Student Center lounge. Here teams gathered, were checked in and introduced to the organization’s mission. In addition, to make the event more personal and relatable, I provided a video highlighting my personal story of a genetic mutation, which causes high risk for breast and ovarian cancer, prior to the start of the race.

The race consisted of eight secret information locations that combined both physical and intellectual skill, to both find and complete a task at each information location The race incorporated social media by creating a Twitter hash tag (#FindMe1540) where participants were required to send pictures of themselves at each stop in the race. This hash tag allowed viewers, inside the Fels lounge or from anywhere really, to witness teams’ progress as they were out racing – one of the most entertaining portions of the race. The race featured prizes for the first three teams to finish, which kept the event highly competitive. In less than 45 minutes the three winning teams had already completed the race. The remaining volunteers, event coordinators and I cheered for participants as they started returning. Mary Fehr, Taylor Brown and Stacey McGrath finished the race first securing a $90 cash prize while Megan Woodruff, Alex Cifone and Anna Dyakiv completed the race seconds later. The second place team won three $15 gift cards to Jimmy’s Pizza. The third place team, Kat Floridia, Andrew Pfeffer and Nick Saint Jean, came in directly behind the second place team and won three $10 gift cards to Yummy’s Chinese. All winners were ecstatic over their success. Like the real race to detection the key is participation by all.

Overall, The Amazing Race (to Early Detection) was enjoyed by all. Participants continued to tweet to the FindMe1540 hash tag following the race regarding their enjoyment, the wonderful cause they had supported and their desire for more events like this to happen on the Nichols campus.

Featured, On The Hill, success

Fae Risio’s Career Fair Experience

“So many people don’t even have a career goal that they went to school for.” The amount of times I’ve heard this phrase is endless, but I never thought I would be one to fall under that category.
I declared my major as English my sophomore year and right out of the gate I was confident that I wanted to be a journalist. I couldn’t take enough English classes, writing papers and reading books was just my thing.

As this last semester of my senior year rolled around, I began to second guess my goal of being a journalist. It just didn’t seem to fit me anymore. For now, it is still an option, but I would like to explore other options that interest me. Then, while visiting a family member in the hospital for depression, something clicked in my mind that I wanted to help people in these situations.

When the career fair rolled around I decided to take a chance and see what kind of opportunities I could find that related to social work. Following the advice of Professor Halprin and Professor Pelto, I went and talked to Caine Dutton, the staffing manager from The Bridge of Central Massachusetts, a former Bison.

Caine was approachable and very welcoming. After talking to him about how I became interested in social work and how I had minimal experience, he encouraged me to apply anyway. Before I left his table, Caine asked for my resume and I happily gave him one. Five days later, I had applied for a relief position at The Bridge and got a call from Caine the next day. We set up an interview and I filled out a separate, more detailed application online.

When I arrived at the home office in Worcester I sat down and waited nervously. Another girl came in shortly after me who was also there for an interview. We talked a little and she informed me that she had done this kind of work before, which made me more nervous considering I had no experience.

Soon Caine came to take us into a separate room where we had to take a preliminary test on the computer that involved a number of tasks including a written section, math, and watching a video.
After the test, instead of asking us questions, Caine asked us if we had any. I was kind of surprised by this because it wasn’t a typical interview. After both of us asked several questions, Caine told us we would have a second interview at a different office and they would be contacting us. I had a very good feeling as I left Worcester that day.

Exactly a week later I got a call from a woman named Erica who worked for The Bridge in Southbridge. She was also very nice and inviting and we had a interview set up for three days later.
When I arrived at the office in Southbridge I wasn’t sure I was in the right spot, because it looked just like a house. I was greeted by Erica and was joined by the Division Director, Jennifer Megas.
At first both of them looked over my resume, and it is true what they tell you in PDS, that an employer will only look at your resume for 7 seconds. I was very nervous because I saw they both had two pages of questions but they were extremely nice and not intimidating.

Some of the things they asked were the typical interview questions Nichols prepare you for, like what are your strengths and weaknesses? Why is teamwork so important? What conflicts, if any, have you had at previous jobs? Other questions were more difficult pertaining to job, like what is your definition of mental illness and recovery? How would you deal with a patient who doesn’t want to finish their treatment? What do you consider boundaries and how would you make them with patients?

Some of the questions caught me off guard and it was nerve wracking that they wrote down everything I said. Over all though, the interview went great and I was told that I would be contacted.

On Wednesday April 3rd, I received a call from the Bridge informing me they were offering me a job. I accepted and will be heading to main office next week to get everything set up. I am very thankful for the career fair in helping me find a job for after graduation.

Featured, On The Hill

Spotlight: Women’s Ice Hockey

Mary learned how to skate when she was three years old, and started playing hockey when she was five years old. Throughout her life, she has played numerous other sports but never had the passion for them like she has for hockey. Mary grew up in a hockey family, where her dad and brother both shared the same passion. This was a key reason as to why Mary loved the game. For a long time, Mary had to work hard and try to improve her skills to be able to make travel teams. Mary struggled to make teams, simply due to not having the skills, and would be cut or sent down. One coach changed her life, and gave her the opportunity to have a chance on a team. She was told that she made the team, not on talent, but because she was a hard worker the coach wanted to keep her. That one chance was all she needed.

From that moment on, Mary was able to use that quality to her advantage. She was able to make many more teams after that, and along the way the chances she had helped her improve her skills. At the end of her senior year in high school, Mary was about to say goodbye to her years of competitive ice hockey, and attend a University in Canada. Out of nowhere, Mary got an invite to play for The Boston Shamrocks, out of Wilmington, MA. It did not take her very long to realize that she was not ready to give up her passion, the game of ice hockey.

Within a few days, Mary’s plans had changed drastically .Instead of moving into a University, Mary was moving to a new country. At first, this was tough for Mary. This was the first time that she moved, was away from home, 12 hours away from her family, living in a house with seven girls that she did not know. Mary put all of her focus on hockey and working out, which proved to be successful when she was chosen as the assistant captain of her team. Mary would skate by herself in the mornings, practice with the team in the afternoon, and work out with the team in evening. It was a tough year on her body, playing 75 games on top of all her extra work, but was a year she will never forget.

After her year on the Boston Shamrocks, Mary was off to Nichols College to play for their Ice Hockey team. The program has gone through its ups and downs, with four different coaches in three years, but her love for the game, and her teammates, has never gone away and the team is getting better. Going into her senior year, Mary will Captain the Women’s Ice Hockey team, as the only senior on the team.