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Posts tagged as “student life”

Welcome Back BBQ 2024

Photo by Jamila Machado
Photo by Jamila Machado
Photo by Jamila Machado
Photo by Jamila Machado
Photo by Christina Grigorian
Photo by Shelby Bourisk
Photo by Wendy Joubert

Hispanic Heritage: A Celebration

Quotes collected by Elysian Alder and Jordan Chila | Editors-in-Chief

Photos by Natalia Oliver

On Thursday, September 19 2024, the ESL Club hosted a Hispanic Heritage Celebration at the
Leominster Campus, welcoming the entire MWCC community to honor Hispanic culture. Attendees
enjoyed authentic cuisine, danced to lively Latino music, and gained invaluable insights from keynote speaker Dr. Irene Hernandez.

“I’m from Uruguay; It’s hard to choose a few [of my favorite things from my country], but the people, the educational system and the food are my top three. It was a meaningful experience for me personally, as a proud Spanish immigrant, to be part of this celebration. This event was a reminder of the rich tapestry of cultures and traditions that make up our community.” read more

Stealing the Show in Steel Magnolias: Melissa Gates

By Jordan Chila | Editor in Chief

Melissa Gates
Photo Provided by Gail Steele

Melissa Gates is a theater enthusiast whose love for the theater has recently pushed her to obtain one of the leading roles in the upcoming production of Steel Magnolias, set to hit the stage on October 4th, 5th, 11th, 12th, and 13th, 2024. She hails from Fitchburg Massachusetts and graduated high school in 2000. Gates also enjoys her work as a paraprofessional in elementary education and spends her leisure time performing in her band, hiking, and attending local shows. Although she arrived at the Mount in the spring of 2024 to begin her academic journey, Gates has been a part of the Theatre at the Mount community since she was a girl. read more

To Meat or Not to Meat

Veganism at the Mount

By Desiree Leader | Staff Writer

Seitan piccata, spinach salad, rice pilaf, and a side of hot and sour soup. $8.50
Photo by Desiree Leader

According to a study by the research group College Pulse, 14% of the college population follows a vegetarian (no meat products) or vegan (no animal products, including milk or eggs) diet, compared to 4% of the general population. The most cited reason for this is environmental concerns (31%), followed closely by animal rights and health. While no specific data was available for the Mount, Mina Girouard, Student Leader in Civic Engagement, and member of the Food for Thought food pantry at the college has noticed an uptick in the need for vegan products to serve the students. They purchase items like tofu, which are not available through the Worcester County Food Bank that helps stock the pantry. They also offer fresh produce and staples like pasta, beans, and plant-based grains. read more

The Creative Art of Gary Brayboy

By Princess Yeboah | Assistant Editor

Gary T. Brayboy, a student at MWCC, possesses a creative and intriguing talent for photography. After a breakup and losing his job left him at a crossroads, Brayboy decided to come to the Mount to “reboot his life.” Determined to turn life’s lemons into lemonade, he is now studying video production. With his degree, he hopes to become either a colorist for film or a camera operator. Having a background as a DJ for many years, Brayboy also plans to expand into videography services and eventually start his own production company. As an African-American artist, Brayboy aims to express himself through photographic means. read more

The Ultimate Calculator

By Kent Yang | Staff Writer

A TI-84 Plus scientific calculator.
Image from Amazon

Disclaimer: The Mount Observer does not encourage cheating or academic dishonesty in any way, this article is intended for educational purposes only.

If you’ve ever taken Algebra, Calculus, Chemistry, Statistics, or Physics in high school or college, chances are you’ve used a Texas Instruments TI-84 Plus at some point. Released in June 2004, the TI-84 Plus quickly became America’s favorite calculator. Compared to its predecessor, the TI-83 Plus, the TI-84 Plus boasted three times the memory and a processor that was over twice as fast. It featured 480 kilobytes of flash memory, 24 kilobytes of RAM, a link port for data transfers, 13 preloaded software applications, seven different graphing styles, and advanced statistics functions, all of which were crucial to student success. Today, the TI-84 Plus remains widely used and is considered the “best budget calculator” at $97 by many reviewers. read more

(Archive May 2017) Sculpture Students Participate in Annual Art Department Bronze Pour

By Nick Cherico | Assistant Editor

On Thursday, April 13th, MWCC students participated in the art department’s annual bronze pouring. This year’s pouring was led by Thomas Matsuda, who is an Art Professor and Chair of the Department. Matsuda helped students prepare their own ceramic molds which they could then pour bronze into.

The molten bronze is removed from the furnace.
The bronze is then poured into the ceramic molds, held in place in barrels of sand.
The left over bronze is then poured out into molds to form ingots, which will be saved and melted down in next year’s pour.
The melting pot is then placed back in the furnace to melt more bronze and repeat the process.

(Archive May 2017) MWCC’s Anime Club Attends Anime Boston

By Micah Clark | Observer Contributor

A group of costumed people gathered for a photo.

Taking place at the Hynes Convention Center adjacent to the Prudential Center near Back Bay station in Boston, Anime Boston is an annual spring event that members of MWCC’s Anime Club attend. According to its website, Anime Boston is the largest anime convention in Northeast America and in 2016 this convention attracted 26,975 people. 

An advertisement sign for Anime Boston above the entrance to the Hynes Convention center.

Multiple stories tall, this convention site each year houses many discussion panels where relevant topics are discussed, as well as several vendors halls where people purchase goods ranging from Japanese animation shows and movies known as ‘Anime’, Japanese comic books called ‘Manga,’ costume supplies, and various other assorted merchandise, like art and clothing. read more

(Archive May 2017) Thoughts on Graduation

By Courtney Wentz | Editor-in-Chief

Graduating from high school was not as exciting or scary as graduating from MWCC is turning out to be. 

Some people will be looking for a new job in their chosen field, some will be transferring, and some might decide to get another degree. Whatever it is, we will all begin a new chapter in our lives. Change can be terrifying because it is new, unfamiliar, and unknown. 

It would be great, if I could continue hiding in the newsroom, covering the chalkboard with story ideas and editing tips, filling the white board with inspirational quotes, and the computer with sticky notes of things to do. I am going to miss our weekly meetings and rushing to get articles done for the deadline.  read more

(Archive May 2017) The International Student Experience

By Klai Iheb | Observer Contributor

Diversity in the student body.

Being an international student is a big adventure. It is a new life that we should be completely prepared for before going for it. That is why many people decide to leave in the middle of their experience, while others stay for years. I personally learned how to overcome obstacles more quickly than other people. This situation makes me a person who is able to travel and live everywhere in the world and communicate with everybody whatever the language is, and now I am able to say: “It was not easy but I made it.” read more