The 2013 Freshman Celebration
Welcome to the Freshman Celebration 2013!
The Freshman Celebration is an annual event that showcases work created by first-time freshmen enrolled in University 100 at Cal State Northridge.
If you didn't get to see this year's on-site projects in the USU Northridge Center (on December 4-5, 2013), you might want to take a look at the pictures on the Freshman Celebration photo blog.
This year's virtual projects (slideshows, videos, artwork of various kinds, and more) are still available for viewing on Moodle at the Virtual Freshman Celebration 2013 Moodle site. To view the virtual projects, log in to Moodle if you're a U100 student; or log in as a guest if you're not enrolled in a fall 2013 section of U100.
You can read more about the Celebration in this CSUN Today article by Shante Morgan (12/12/13): "Freshman Celebration Recognizes Student Achievement."
Winners for 2013: "Ditch Your Water Bottle" Contest
This year, inspired by Garbology (the 2013-2014 Freshman Common Reading), we decided not to distribute single-use plastic water bottles at the Celebration. Instead, we encouraged everyone to "Ditch the Water Bottle" and bring a reusable drink container to demonstrate our collective desire to reduce plastic waste. To make things a little more exciting, we hosted a contest for students taking U100.
We asked that each U100 class assemble at our "Ditch Your Water Bottle" station, where we took photos. We tallied the number of students in each U100 class who were carrying their reusable containers, posted that number on the chain link fence, and kept a running total on the contest tote board. At the conclusion of day two of the Freshman Celebration, the class with the highest percentage of participation was declared the winner. By the end of the Celebration, our grand total was 475 ditched water bottles.
The winning class was Prof. Katie Christolear's (U100 (#17641), meeting T/TH 12:30-1:45 p.m. They showed up with 27 bottle ditchers: 100% of her 25 students, plus the instructor and the peer mentor. Way to go!
People's Choice Award for 2013: "Trash Fashion 2013" (Prof. Catherine Givertz)
After reading Garbology, the class agreed to collect their own trash for one day. The class decorated the year 2013 with the collected materials to demonstrate everyday wastefulness in America. One student created a dress from collected newspapers. Another student created a scrapbook containing reflections from the class.
Grand Prize On-Site Award 2013: "Junk Mail: Out of Sight, Out of Mind" (Prof. Ellyn Gersh Lerner)
"Junk Mail: Out of Sight, Out of Mind." Prof. Ellyn Gersh Lerner's U100 HON class. "Prompted by the many issues presented in Garbology, our class explored the sometimes controversial and often ignored problem of unsolicited mail and the impact it has on our environment and our lives."
Grand Prize Virtual Freshman Celebration Award 2013: "Garbimagery" (Prof. Erin Delaney)
In "Garbimagery," Professor Erin Delaney's U100 class explores garbage and efforts to reduce waste in a virtual gallery. The gallery features photos, artwork, and infographics created by students in response to the Freshman Common Reading, Garbology by Edward Humes.
Thanks for all the help!
Thanks to all the UNIV 100 student volunteers who sat at the welcome table, distributed and collected the green "2013 Celebration Reflection" sheets, helped with exhibit set-up starting as early as 8 a.m. on Wednesday, brought in cart-loads of refreshments both days, staffed the food and drinks table, ran the Virtual Celebration laptops in the Northridge Center, helped take down exhibits on Thursday afternoon, and then helped us recycle or carry away everything left at the end of the day.
An Instructionally Related Activities (IRA) grant made it possible for us not only to rent space but also to feed the hungry (instead of choosing one or the other).
And finally, thanks to Lisa Riccomini Clancy for planning, hosting, and presiding over the Virtual Celebration on Moodle; to Ellyn Gersh Lerner for figuring out how and where to place every project in the USU Northridge Center; to Kelly Kroeker for handling finances, logistics, and the inevitable prima donna moments; to Wendy Say for pitching in, showing up, and running back and forth and back and forth; to Debbi Mercado, whose energetic genius accounts for the "Ditch Your Water Bottle" contest; and to CIELO student assistants Lindsay and Serena for all kinds of essential work (including reams of paper and a lot of cart-pushing).
About the Freshman Celebration
Each fall, freshmen taking University 100 are invited to participate in a campus celebration of their first-semester academic achievements. This showcase, the Freshman Celebration, is modeled on CSUN's Undergraduate and Graduate Student Research and Creative Works Symposium. It usually includes several projects created in response to the current year's Freshman Common Reading. The book for 2013-2014 is Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash by Edward Humes, who was the keynote speaker at this year's Freshman Convocation (September 12, 2013).
1046 students attended this year's Celebration and cast their votes for the 2013 People's Choice Award in the USU Northridge Center. Additional students (and faculty and staff) viewed projects in the Virtual Celebration online. A panel of seven judges (CSUN faculty and staff) selected two other projects as Grand Prize winners: one on-site project and one virtual project.
Photos from the 2013 Celebration
More photos from this year's Celebration are posted on the 2013 Freshman Celebration photo blog. If you want to share a project photo from the Celebration, please submit it on the blog.