New SUNY Oswego student blogs allow readers to follow students adjusting to college, playing sports, directing a play, getting involved in campus events, studying overseas, giving tours or even overcoming vision loss.

Nine students of varying backgrounds, activities and interests are participating in the first-time blog project.

Participants include:

- Sherrifa Bailey '10, a public justice and psychology major interested in social justice and global issues

- Christopher Cook '12, an English major making the college transition and writing for The Oswegonian

- Kendall Hanley '09, a zoology major who is studying in Australia and also plays on the women's ice hockey team

- Kevin Hollenbeck '09, a theatre and cinema and screen studies major who is directing the play "Honor and the River"

- Cameron Jones '09, a broadcasting major involved in the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity and campus events

- Leah Matthews '10, an elementary education major on the women's swimming and diving team

- Julie-Jo Stanton '09, a public relations major interning in the Lifestyles Center and Public Affairs Office

- Erin Scala '09, a public justice major who describes herself as "that cool blind chick you see on campus"

- Kris Vicencio '09, a music and broadcasting major who is an admissions tour guide and active vocalist

The principal audience is prospective students interested in what they can do at Oswego, though a wide audience from the campus community and beyond have visited and commented on the variety of posts since the blogs launched Oct. 1.

Readers can learn more about Cook's introduction to the college environment: "I guess that it's kind of like a bridge that you have to cross where one end of it is the life you're used to and the other end is college life, and let's face it, there are many of those bridges in our lives."

Scala's discussions of attending to college after losing her eyesight provide insight: "At first, I thought that SUNY Oswego was way too big for anyone to navigate, let alone a blind person. After walking around, getting involved with clubs and meeting people, it is very easy and comfortable to go from point A to point B both on and off campus."

Filing dispatches and photos from Australia, Hanley said the workload "is definitely challenging me, which is a good thing! . . . I really like my Coral Reef Ecology class . . . today we discussed the current impact and predicted effects global warming and ocean acidification will likely have on corals reefs in the future."

Students have pledged to update their blogs about once a week during the academic year and readers can provide feedback through a moderated comment system.

-- Tim Nekritz M '05

PHOTO CAPTION:
Among those taking part in Oswego's first-ever student blog project are, from left, Sherrifa Bailey '10, Julie-Jo Stanton '09, Cameron Jones '09, Christopher Cook '12 and Kris Vicencio '09.

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