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Scottish Highland Games 2014

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This weekend, Lake Jessup was renamed Loch Jessup as Winter Springs was host to the Scottish Highland Games. This festival, that started on Friday and lasted until Sunday evening, included everything from whiskey tastings, to archery competitions, to live music, crafts, food, clan tents, and even a quidditch match. The park was filled with families, young and old celebrating their Scottish heritage as they paraded down the green in kilts and tartans of every plaid variety. Many danced and to the four musical groups playing up at the front. There was Orlando’s own Wyndbreakers, Cutthroat Shamrock, Uncle Hamish and the Hooligans from North Carolina, Rathkeltair, and all the way from Scotland, Albannach. The sportsmen were in high spirits as they were cheered on by the crowd through the caber toss, and the sheaf toss. Of course, no Scottish festival is complete without fish and chips and haggis. The lines for the food, whiskey and beer wrapped around the whole park. Even a few dressed as knights of yore left their medieval camp to grab some haggis. The weather was cold, but that didn’t seem to keep people away. “My parents met here and I’ve been coming since I was a little kid” said Katie Dudgeon of Titusville. “It’s a great event to come to every year. It’s a lot of fun with great people,” said Walter O’kan of St. Augustine, a member of the Clay County Pipes and Drums. All in all, the 37th annual Scottish Highland games was once again a great success. An event full of merry making, music, games, and maybe a little bit of magic at Orlando’s little piece of Scotland.

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UCF Direct Connect

Connecting to UCF is easy. Many students who come to Valencia or other community colleges in the central Florida area come seeking an Associates Degree in the hopes of moving on either directly into a career field or onto another larger university. Here at Valencia, there is one program that helps students do just that; Direct Connect. It is guaranteed access into UCF.

Since its inception in 2006, the Direct Connect program has helped around 31,000 students from across Central Florida enter UCF from its various partnering schools. These schools include Eastern Florida State College, Lake Sumter State College, Seminole State College, and our very own Valencia College. According to Kim Martinez, director of the Direct Connect program at Valencia, “About 6,500 to 7,000 students use Direct connect from Valencia each year.”

There are many advantages to using a program like Direct Connect as well. “Students have access to counselors and advisors from the Direct Connect program as well as UCF while they are still at Valencia. Because they enter with an Associates Degree, it also saves students a lot of money,” says Martinez.

SeeUCF is another part of the Direct Connect program. This meet and greet, which started out on Valencia’s East Campus and has expanded to the West and Osceola Campuses this year, allows students to visit and explore UCF. During this once a semester field trip, students get the chance to meet with advisers on the UCF campus and discuss and narrow down any majors they are interested in. “These resources are here to help with an early transition to UCf,” says Martinez.

When asked why he chose Direct Connect, sophomore Daniel Salas said “Valencia and UCF have great Biomedical degree programs and it’s a guaranteed entry into UCF. Plus, I can save money and have smaller class sizes.”

John Spear, a sophomore and International Business major said, “I chose to do Direct Connect in order to save money. It is a lot cheaper to start at Valencia. I can’t wait to go on to UCF in the fall.”

You can find information about Direct Connect at directconnect.com or at any of the UCF offices on Valencia’s campuses.

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9th Annual Alumni Association 5k run 2014

Run, walk, roll, this weekend West campus was host to the 9th annual 5k race. This race is held each year by the Alumni Association to raise money for scholarships and other funds to aid students in the paramedic, fire and rescue, and criminal justice programs at Valencia College.

This Saturday, despite the numerous tornado warnings and torrential downpours that started in the early afternoon, the turnout was great with about 168 registered runners and quite a few last minute walk up registered runners. “I think a lot of people sign up just to donate money but may not run because it’s a great cause,” said student volunteer Francesca Flores.

There were runners of all kinds, in all age ranges, from as young as 10 to as old as 65. They ranged from students, to staff members to members of the community. Some said they were required to participate. Others came out because it is a great cause, and some just because it was a great excuse to exercise and get in shape.

The race started precisely at 6 pm and was a semi-circle around the West campus complex. The first two runners circled the first mile marker very quickly and were right at each other’s heels throughout the race. In the home stretch, both runners came sprinting to the finish line but there was a clear winner in the end. With a finishing time of only about 20 minutes, the winner was staff member Marc Moseley. “I thought he was going to catch up to me in that last stretch but turned he had nothing left which was good for me,” he said about the second place winner, student Victor McElvin.

The race this year was a big success. With a great turn out and a lot of money earned, there will be another race held in the September on Osceola campus.

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HSB Blood Bank

Every Monday, a large red bus, labeled ‘The Big Red Bus’ sits outside the SSB parking lot on West Campus at Valencia. There, it sits waiting for students to enter and donate the one life thing that can save so many lives, blood. Throughout the week, another office sits open to allow students to donate blood, plasma, and platelets. This room is in the HSB just behind the student café and coffee shop.

Why should students donate blood? “People should donate blood because they are literally giving another person a second chance to live,” said Oneblood representative Pat Michaels. “ 1 in 3 people will need a blood transfusion at some point in their lives. Blood that is donated today will likely be transfused into a patient within two to three days. The turnaround is that fast, the need is constant. There is no substitute for blood – it can only come from volunteer donors. Only 39% of the population is eligible to donate blood – but only 5 to 10 percent of people actually give.”

What are the benefits of donating blood? According to Oneblood representative Pat Michaels, “The main benefit to donating blood is that you are helping save someone’s life. Every two seconds someone needs a blood transfusion. Cancer patients, premature babies, trauma patients, transplant patients and people suffering from anemia and sickle cell disease just to name a few – all are examples of patients who depend on blood donors to survive.”

Another benefit of donating blood is that you also receive a free health screening when you donate. Your blood pressure, cholesterol levels, pule, and iron count are all checked. All of this is tracked and kept on record each time you donate.

The blood center at Valencia collects whole blood. This means that they collect the entire component. On the Big Red Bus, they collect whole blood as well as plasma. Just at Valencia, last year, the blood center collected 2500 units. The most important of these units collected is O negative, known as the universal donor. This type can be given to anyone and is most important for trauma and cancer patients, as well as premature babies.

The blood center is open in the HSB on West Campus Monday through Thursday 9 am to 5 pm and Friday 9am to 1pm. The Big Red Bus is on West Campus on Mondays from 9 am to 2 pm. You can make appointments in advance via www.oneblood.org,. For information about donating blood, plasma and platelets make sure to check out the Target Your Type program at http://www.oneblood.org/target-your-type/. So, when you pass by the Big Red Bus, stop by, donate, save a life or three.

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Interview with Kenta Kaneda

When people ask students where they want to go after Valencia, most would say something like UCF, or Florida State, maybe even another university in the Southern United States. It is rare however, to hear when someone mentions that they are aiming to go to Yale in Singapore. One such student is Kenta Kaneda, a Japanese international student.

Kenta moved to the United States as an international student to study communications last year at a university in Washington State. He later moved to Florida where he now attends Valencia in the hopes of attending University of Florida in the near future. There, he hopes to study business marketing with a minor in psychology. “I hope to work for Google someday. My job has to be global. I can’t be stuck in one place,” said Kenta when he talks about his ultimate career goals.

Like many international students, Kenta came to the United States to learn English as well as experience American culture. “I was Learning English,” Kenta said, “English education system in Japan wasn’t really good. We pretty much just focused on writing and listening we don’t really do speaking.”

Kenta also experienced many cultural differences when he arrived in the United States. “Americans are more open and expressive. In Japan, we respect the silent a lot. Americans are more expressive and do express their feelings but we don’t in Japan. I can talk about myself a lot more since I came here,” said Kenta.

When asked why Singapore, Kenta said, “People in Japan are getting old, and our birthrate is declining so badly. In 30 years almost %50 of the population will be over 65 years old. So we will need people from different countries. I feel that Singapore is the most vast country in Asia. I thought the connection between Japan and Singapore is going to be key. They speak English and they have a Yale University as well. I plan to wait until after I get my bachelors because I cannot transfer any of my credits and I would have to start over as a freshman.”

Whether it be his dreams of going to Yale in Singapore, or his journey from Japan, through the United States and onto Google, Kenta Kaneda is a great example of the unique international flavor of Valencia students.