Hi, I’m Rebecca Amrick, Falvey’s newest Cat in the Stax! I’ll be writing articles covering a broad range of topics, from academics to hobbies to random events. All the while highlighting how Falvey Library can enhance your Villanova experience!

Picture by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash.com

Break out your sweatshirts and pumpkin recipes because fall is finally here! The first day of fall is this Saturday, Sept. 23. This colorful season is marked by changing leaves, cooler temperatures, and the sun setting before 6pm. Yet it is the Autumnal Equinox that officially marks the arrival of fall. This year, the equinox will occur on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 2:50am EST in the Northern Hemisphere.

But what is the Autumnal Equinox? An equinox is an astronomical event when the Sun crosses the “celestial equator.” The celestial equator is not Earth’s equator but rather an imaginary extension of Earth’s equator into space. The equinox occurs when the Sun’s center crosses this line.

Fun Fact: Day and night are almost equal in length on the Autumnal Equinox! Equinox comes from the Latin words aequus and nox which mean “equal” and “night” respectively.

Below are poetry collections about Fall to get you ready for the season:

Autumn. A Poem. by James Thompson

Autumn Harvest: Selected Poems by Stanley B. Frost

Autumn: Twenty Poems by Guillaume Apollinaire

Rebecca Amrick is a first year graduate student in the English Department and a Graduate Assistant at Falvey Library.

Hi, I’m Rebecca Amrick, Falvey’s newest Cat in the Stax! I’ll be writing articles covering a broad range of topics, from academics to hobbies to random events. All the while highlighting how Falvey Library can enhance your Villanova experience!

This Friday, Sept. 15, marks the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month, a time to celebrate the cultures and people of Hispanic and Latino descent. More specifically, recognizing and honoring the influence and achievements of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.

In honor of the approaching holiday, I would like to highlight three important figures and their contributions to the Hispanic/Latinx community.

Julia Alvarez (Photo by Brandon Cruz González

Julia Alvarez

Though born in New York City in 1950, Julia lived in the Dominican Republic until she was ten years old, which was when she and her family moved back to the United States. She attended Middlebury College and graduated in 1971 before moving on to Syracuse University to earn her Master’s in Creative Writing. A prolific writer, much of Alvarez’s work explores the immigrant experience and bicultural identity, as seen in her novel How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents.

Dolores Huerta (Photo by Jay Godwin)

Dolores Huerta

Dolores Huerta was born in April of 1930 in New Mexico. After graduating from Delta College, she taught elementary school in Stockton, CA before she was moved to help improve the working conditions of migrant laborers. She joined the Community Service Organization in 1955 where she met Cesar Chavez, and the two later founded the United Farm Workers Union. Huerta fought for to provide workers livable wages, safe working conditions, and protections through non-violent protests, boycotts, and strikes. Her negotiations with companies on workers’ behalves earned her the nickname “The Dragon Lady.”

Jorge Ramos (Photo by Bill Ingalls)

Jorge Ramos

Jorge Ramos is a bilingual journalist who was born in Mexico in 1958 and later moved to America. In 1986, he became the anchorman for the Spanish broadcast Noticiero Univision. As an anchor, in both English and Spanish programs, he interviewed many presidents and international leaders such as Barrack Obama, Fidel Castra, and Nicolas Madura. Ramos is known for asking tough questions and holding leaders accountable as well as for advocating for immigrants.

Rebecca Amrick is a first year graduate student in the English Department and a Graduate Assistant at Falvey Library.

Hi, I’m Rebecca Amrick, Falvey’s newest Cat in the Stax! I’ll be writing articles covering a broad range of topics, from academics to hobbies to random events. All the while highlighting how Falvey Library can enhance your Villanova experience!

As you adjust to a different environment and new schedule, you may be trying to work out a new daily routine. Whether this means setting aside time to exercise, planning get-togethers with friends, or even figuring out when and where to eat in between classes, you’re trying to juggle academics and a social life and still find time for hobbies and relaxation. It’s a lot, and too often it feels like there is just not enough time in the day.

In this article, I will provide some tips on how you can properly organize your time so you can do what you need to do while still having space to do what you want to do. I’ll apply each piece of advice to one of my own habits that I’m trying to develop to make it more concrete and understandable.

Decide Priorities

What do you want to focus on this semester? Besides your schoolwork, of course! Do you want to exercise more? Read some books on your TBR? Or do you simply want some time to rest each day? Deciding what you want to accomplish will help you set a routine you can be excited about.

Personal Example: I want to run more. I’m planning to run a half marathon later this year, so I need to set aside time to train for it.

Photo by Glenn Cartsens-Peters

Set Small Goals

Simply saying “I want to run more” is daunting and vague. For each priority you set, break it down into smaller, measurable pieces. The measurable part is important: having distinct, quantitative goals makes carrying them out easier. It will also allow you to see how you progress in a habit.

Personal Example: To train for the race, I’ll start by running for 20 minutes each day. This number will increase every week: 20 minutes this week, 25 minutes the next, and so on.

Write it Out

It might help you stay on track to write out your schedule for the day. Record your daily goals and schedule when you’ll achieve certain accomplishments. This can be through an academic or daily planner, a calendar, or even a simple to-do list.

Personal Example: I find it helpful to keep a planner/to-do list where I schedule my tasks for each hour (or couple of hours). I sit down every night and plan out what needs to be done the next day and when I’m going to do it.

Be Consistent

Consistence is key! If you don’t stick by your routine, you’ll never achieve your goals. It takes 21 days for something to become a habit. If you’re struggling now, keep at it! It will get easier!

If you still need help managing your time and staying loyal to your routine, check out these resources from the Library:

• 10 Steps to Successful Time Management by Cyndi Maxey and Kevin O’Connor
• Organizing for Success by Kenneth Zeigler
• More Time for You: A Powerful System to Organize Your Work and Get Things Done by Rosmary Tator and Alesia Latson
• Managing Time: Focus on What Matters, Avoid Distractions, Get Things Done by Safari Books Online

Rebecca Amrick is a first year graduate student in the English Department and a Graduate Assistant at Falvey Library.

Hi, I’m Rebecca Amrick, Falvey’s newest Cat in the Stax! I’ll be writing articles covering a broad range of topics, from academics to hobbies to random events. All the while highlighting how Falvey Library can enhance your Villanova experience!

First, I would like to welcome everybody back to campus (or simply welcome you to Villanova if this is your first year)! I hope your first week of classes went well and that you’re excited to begin this new semester.

Seeing as how tomorrow is National Zoo Day, I thought I would talk about America’s oldest zoo: The Philadelphia Zoo.

A little history lesson for you: the Philadelphia Zoo opened to the public on July 1, 1874, 15 years after its charter was signed. The opening of the zoo was greatly delayed due to the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861.

The Philadelphia Zoo is one of many firsts: not only was it the first zoo in the United States, but it was also the first zoo in the world to build an on-site animal care center. It is the site of America’s first successful orangutan and chimpanzee births. It is also opened the country’s first Children’s Zoo.

The zoo’s website shows their commitment to wildlife conservation, as it houses over 1,700 endangered animals. Additionally, the Philadelphia Zoo is AZA Accredited. This means that the zoo has been evaluated by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and was determined to meet the highest standards of animal care and welfare.

If you’re passionate about animal rights and wildlife conservation, you can learn more by checking out Falvey’s Environmental Science Subject Guide. The Library has many resources on all aspects of this subject, from wildlife management to the moral and ethical aspects of zoos.

Here are a few such texts:

• Zoo Ethics: The Challenges of Compassionate Conservation by Jenny Gray
• Wildlife Conservation and Management by Ashok Kumar Bishoyi
• Wildlife: Perceptions, Threats and Conservation by Cheryl Ward
• Wildlife at the Zoo–Documentary Series

Rebecca Amrick is a first year graduate student in the English Department and a Graduate Assistant at Falvey Library.