life at eiu

Hello there,
For those new to the blog, my name is Dan Rolando and I am now a senior physics and economics major at EIU. I’m also in the University Honors Program. A few of the things I do around Eastern’s campus are Sigma Alpha Epsilon, a social Greek fraternity, Phi Sigma Pi, a co-ed honors fraternity, Knights of Columbus, a Catholic male social and fraternal group, and I’m a Resident Assistant in Douglas Hall.
So, another school year and another set of challenges rises up before me. I am facing my toughest academic semester yet as I move into all of my senior level physics and economics classes. I am also looking to do departmental honors for physics and economics so that means I have even more extra research on top of those other classes. I can handle it though, and it only goes to show you that EIU has something to challenge even the most academically oriented students!
Aside from my schoolwork, I am trying to enjoy my senior year a little bit. My fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, just received its charter this past summer after two years of proving ourselves as a colony here on Eastern’s campus. Along with this charter came a renewed sense of pride and motivation for my fraternity brothers and me. We had a great pledge class this fall and nearly doubled our numbers! Things are looking as we get ready for Greek Week in the spring. SAE is looking to turn some heads this year for sure.
I am working on balancing being president of three organizations: SAE, Phi Sigma Pi and Society of Physics Students, along with all of my schoolwork. This has been quite rough. I’m seeing a lot less free time and a lot more pages in my books, but the key component has been enjoying all of my involvements. Even though I have a meeting literally every single night of the week, every organization is important to me and I have fun with the people involved, so it barely seems like a responsibility at all. The one piece of advice I would offer anyone-freshmen, transfer students, or even seniors who’ve been at EIU their whole college careers-is to think about your future commitment to an organization before joining. I have been lucky to become involved with many things that I find I have a passion for and a commitment to. But I have seen many people join clubs thinking that it’s right for them only to become burnt out with the responsibilities later. Some chose to quit the organization, or even worse, stayed in and just had a miserable time.
That being said, DO go out and get involved because the more you involve yourself outside of the classroom, the better college experience you will have. When President William Perry says that he wants Eastern Illinois University to be the best college in the nation at integrating the academic and social development of its students, I can say with confidence that we are well on our way. At Eastern, there is a true dedication to the student above all else, and this is why I love EIU and hope everyone else can share my same experience with this university!
Dan Rolando