Honors in Action Conference: New York Region

New York Honors & Leadership Conference 

  Emily, Juliana, Laurie, and Edwin at Syracuse University

Background Information:                                                  Keynote Speakers: 

Frontiers and the Spirit of Exploration                                    Dr. Van Arsdale (Political Economy)         Onondaga Community College                                               Susan Edwards (Hallmark Award Tips)

Alpha Sigma Zeta Chapter                                                      Dr. Braunberger (Human Expression)

Syracuse, NY                                                                          Michele Ley (Natural Environment) 

October 16-18 2015                                                                Amie Bernstien (Vice President Adress)

                 

Activities:                                                                              College Appearances:

Roll Call+Ice Breakers                                                          Cornell University /  Marist College      

Keynote Address+Seminar Groups                                        University of Rochester / Monroe College

Fellowship Events+College Transfer Fair                              Pace University / Wells College

                

     

Fun Fact: Phi Theta Kappa Pin as a symbol

Black enamel Band: Phi (wisdom) Theta (aspiration) Kappa (purity) 

Behind the band: wreath--> Oak (stability/strength of character) Laurel (achievement/success)

Above band: head of Athena--> Goddess of Learning 

Below band: Greek letters meaning light--> light of learning and knowledge 

Colors: Blue (scholarship) and Gold (purity) 

      

Laurie Ferreras 

Journalist Officer and Supervisor

Alpha Kappa Chapter 

Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society 

"Oh the Places You'll Go" - Dr. Seuss

"A journey of a thousand miles 
must begin with a single step," Lao Tzu.

In case you missed it: On September 30th, the International Fair was taken place in front of the Richard Harris Terrace. 

BMCC is the home of many study abroad opportunities. Many students, including Phi Theta Kappa members, visited many representatives of international service organizations and CUNY-Wide study abroad programs to learn more about: 

• Courses offered: creative writing, language of choice, environmental science, and etc. 
• Locations of program: India, China, Africa, and etc. 
• Volunteer services: teaching English, childcare, handicapped, and etc. 
• Job opportunities: lifeguard, retail, amusement park operator, and etc. 
• Scholarship opportunities: Benjamin A. Gilman Internation Scholarship and etc. 

The purpose of the study abroad program is to expand your knowledge and widen your perspective. By choosing a program according to your major, not only will you be able to learn from your course, you will also learn about culture, problem solving skills, and communication. You will also have many experiences! 

As BMCC says, "Start Here. Go Anywhere." 

For more information contact the following: 

Academic Study Abroad Program Manager 

Deborah Stengle

Academic Affairs 

Room: Main Building, 103-G

212-220-8000 ext. 5013

E-mail: dstengle@bmcc.cuny.edu 

Lateef Bello 

Journalist Officer 

Alpha Kappa Chapter 

Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society 

Luceat Lux Vestra!

We are all Shining Stars!

Leceat Lux Vestra means "let your light shine." 

Phi Theta Kappa has two missions: 

1.  To acknowledge and strengthen academic achievements, and
2.  To encourage individual growth through the four hallmark programs (honors, leadership, service, and fellowship). Let your light shine by becoming a leader).

Reminder: Next week we will celebrate Phi Theta Kappa Awareness Week! WEAR YOUR PINS! And show us your Phi Theta Kappa Pride! 

Sincerely, 

Laurie Ferreras 

Journalist Officer and Supervisor 

Alpha Kappa Chapter 

Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society

Welcome Back Alpha Kappans!

The word of the day is Teamwork because our honors in action project is all about working together to create an award winning project.

We are well on our way into the Spring 2015 semester and already there is lots to do.

Last semester we voted on our Honors in Action question and this semester we get to try to answer it through our Honors in Action project.

For those of you who may not remember or who are new, our honors in action project is something we do each year. Here's a quick synopsis from ptk.org.

Phi Theta Kappa Honors in Action

The Honors Program fulfills multiple dimensions of Phi Theta Kappa's purpose. It is designed to:

• foster a stimulating environment for intellectual growth and challenge.
• create opportunities for leadership and learning as leaders through service and advocacy.

For the first purpose of our mission — fostering a stimulating intellectual environment — the Honors Program foundation and focus is the Honors Study Topic. The biennial topic is an interdisciplinary, contemporary topic of interest related to global challenges. Members explore the topic with the multitude of perspectives that their personal experiences and academic studies provide.

For the second purpose of our mission — creating opportunities for leadership and action — the Honors Program provides guidance through a process called Honors in Action for taking action based upon new knowledge related to the themes of the Honors Study Topic.

Honors in Action
Honors in Action is the process that provides opportunities to apply learning and practice to real-world problem-solving by developing an in-depth, action-oriented project related to Honors Study Topic research. Academic research into the themes related to the Honors Study Topic is what makes the difference between Honors in Action and simply action. Honors in Action is informed action designed to make a lasting impact and contribute to the betterment of society. Through engaging in Honors in Action, students develop and demonstrate:

• awareness of the importance of seeking out multiple perspectives augment understanding and improve decision-making.
• abilities to draw research conclusions and develop ideas to make a difference.
• effective planning and capabilities to initiate action.
• intentional and purposeful efforts to grow leadership skills.
• understanding of the need to involve others and work together
• capacities to lead and manage self and others to motivate, overcome obstacles, perform in complicated environments and accomplish goals.
• aptitudes for assessing progress, adjusting to circumstances and measuring results quantitatively and qualitatively.

Two meetings ago we gave some presentations on Honors in Action, how to do research, and some hot topics like vaccines and psychiatric medications that relate to our question:

Do we really need medicine or prescription drugs to live a healthier life?

Here is Debbies powerpoint on how to do research.

As of right now our project is moving towards being a debate on vaccines and their relationship to long term health, the risks related to vaccines, as well as the non-vaccination movement and it's effect on the health of our society in general. But we may have to broaden our scope to include prescription pain medications, or psychiatric medications to allow for more rich debate.

Last week the president of the debate team came by, split us into pro and con groups, and had us discuss vaccines.

Tomorrow we will be asking you, especially those of you who got to discuss the topic in groups, what you think of our honors in action question and if we can form a good debate on the subject? If not what should we expand the debate on?

Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow :-)

Pushing Forward: Our HIA Question for Spring 2015 HAS BEEN CHOSEN and Survey Time!!!

Hello my fellow Alpha Kappans,

This past Wednesday December 10th, 2014 we asked YOU to help us develop a project/thesis question that relates both to our chosen theme Health and Medicine as Frontiers and to the overall Honors in Action Theme Frontiers and the Spirit of Exploration. 

You did not disappoint.

There is a lot that we can explore within the theme of Health and Medicine as Frontiers and our members came up with some exceptional ideas. From increased life expectancy and it's influence on our future, to how advancements in Genetics and Biotechnology can affect the choices we make with our bodies, to our changing views on mental illness. But the question that seemed to get the most attention, votes, and even began a debate amongst our members, was in regards to pharmaceutical companies and their influence on our daily lives.

The exact question that won was:
Do we really need medicine or prescription drugs to live a healthier life?

Now this is our first draft question but it begins to spark ideas we can branch out on. For instance how pharmaceutical companies now advertise directly to the consumer and the influence that has on our drug dependence, how doctors approach treatment, and our overall health as a society. The modern epidemic of people becoming addicted to prescription narcotics. Or how our increase use of prescribed antibiotics are helping to form antibiotic resistant superbugs while at the same time the number of new antibiotics being discovered has dropped dramatically.

These are just some of the directions we can go in and next semester we will get the chance to fine tune our question as well as discuss what kind of project we can do to help us answer it.

Also we would greatly appreciate it if you filled out our quick survey.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XD3NH7W

We are always looking for ways to improve our chapter and better serve our members, so please if you can, take a moment and fill it out.
I swear it's brief. :-)

Wishing everyone luck on their finals and I look forward to seeing you all next semester.

Sincerely,

Marcelina Washington
Executive Board Member and Social Networking Manager
Alpha Kappa Chapter
Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society