Alex Lefebvre, sophomore chemistry major, said, “The worst thing to wake up to is an Easter basket.  I don’t think candy is a good gift.  I’d rather just get money or a good DVD.”

Nicole Oulouhojian, freshman marketing major, said, “Bad tasting chocolate is the worst.  One Easter I got this chocolate bunny that tasted so bad.”

Allison Crowley, sophomore history major, said, “The worst Easter gift I ever got was a Sailer Moon doll.  What was my grandmom thinking?”

Some people search their whole lives for their idea of the American dream, but when do you get to a point in your life when you say enough is enough?  The truth is, the United States is in a full blown recession that is affecting everyone and everything.  So the question is, when is it time to set realistic goals and get rid of the old ones?

The word “dream” is in the phrase because it is not realistic and it does not get accomplished in the blink of an eye.  However, that does not mean that you should just give up completely, but you should make goals to make sure that “dream” is even possible.

“Ideally a person should have a job that he or she would do even if there were no salary.  Most of us spend most of our lives at work.  We need to do something that we enjoy and believe is important,” Thomas Stretton Jr., assistant professor of education, said.

Understanding your position in corporate America is really important.  There are a great amount of college graduates who just assume that since they got their degree, it won’t be hard finding a job.  Well there are another 1.5 million college graduates who are waiting to take the job you want, so ditching your sense of entitlement will really help.  This should help take the idea out of your mind that the ride is over, because after college, you still need to interview and network until you actually find an entry-level position.  This will also help you find creative ways to make yourself stand out amongst the rest of your competition.

“You can’t be happy at a job if you don’t like what you are doing.  Even if I were still getting paid a lot, I would rather have a job I enjoyed doing,” Kerri MacNeal, senior psychology major, said.

Education matters more than it ever has in the United States.  With the recession, there are more people in college than any other time, and more and more competition that you will come up against while in pursuit of your career.  Your dream of a well-paying job won’t come as easy as expected.  Therefore, giving up your idea of wealth will ultimately help you succeed in the long run.  After all, money doesn’t buy happiness.

“Having a job right out a college is great, but not if it isn’t what you want to do.  But while working at a realistic job, I will continue to look until I find my ‘dream job.’  I don’t want to regret not doing something I enjoy,” said MacNeal.

Unless you’re becoming a teacher, get rid of that idea of having summers off, because once you are out of college, you have the same schedule for the whole entire year.  No Thanksgiving break, no spring break and no long break for the winter holidays.  Understanding the adaption from the collegiate schedule to the corporate schedule is key.

Just like the transition between high school and college, you are on top and important one minute, and then you have to start all over again at the bottom of the totem pole the next.  It isn’t forever; as your work grows, so will your titles and responsibility.

“I would say that students should give up the idea that their career paths will follow a straight and predictable path.  Many people start out doing one thing, and end up doing another and another and another.  It’s important to have a variety of skills, because you never know how you will end up using them in the future,” Carrie Nielsen, biology professor, said.

The time for making sacrifices  is upon us again, and Lent is in full throttle right now.  The Lenten season, when Christians around the world celebrate the resurrection of Christ, lasts 40 weekdays, beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending on Easter Sunday.

“Lent is a time to help all of us to grow spiritually.  To realize that this spirituality should be not just something we acquire for Lent but that should become part of our everyday lives.  Then by Easter we will become a different, much better person than when Lent began,” Sister Marita Barrington, who has been serving in the Order of Saint Francis for 60 years, said,

Over the course of the years, the act of sacrifice for Lent has been taken seriously by a number of Christians. However, some may wonder why the older generation takes it more seriously than the younger generations.  How does one choose what to give up?

“I’m not so sure if it is all about giving up as much as it is about giving to [others].  In the early Church if someone gave up a meal and fasted they didn’t fast just for the sake of fasting.  They shared this meal with someone less fortunate.  They gave to the community,” Renee Lavender, director of Religious Education for Holy Name of Jesus Parish in Mullica Hill, N.J., said.

It is hard to make the choice on what to give up. Most people nowadays will say they are giving up candy, yet still have one or two pieces when no one is looking.  It has been reported that the standards have changed for Lent.  Most adults will take Lent more seriously than the younger generations of Christians.  Could it be because of the lack of maturity in teens?

“I think that maturity always deepens our appreciation for the things that are most important.  So, what we may miss as teenagers may be found as we grow and mature.  That seems to be the way of faith, love and even wisdom.  It takes time to appreciate and embrace,” Father Anthony DiBardino, Pastor of Holy Name of Jesus Parish, said.

“Just because some teenagers out there do not take Lent seriously does not mean that it is that way all across the board,”  Maureen Hammond, sophomore pre-med major, said. “I plan to stick to the thing I gave up, not just for the sake of Lent, but to better myself, too.”

As humans and as Christians, we should not look at Lent as giving up something just because you have to, but rather to better yourself and to help others.

“‘Giving Up’ is a catch phrase that grew into a Lenten slogan.  What Lent really should be is giving ourselves to share faith with those who have no one to share with them,” Barrington said.

So instead of giving up the cliché candy and junk food for Lent, try to think of a deeper meaning behind what it really means to make sacrifices for you and for the benefit of others.

“It is an adventure and a journey that has high points and lower points, but all to the purpose of growth,” DiBardino said.

The upgrade in technology has taken its next victim: chat rooms.  With the popularity of social networking expanding, so are the capabilities.  Chatroulette is the next big site to try and become No. 1 in the social networking world.  It’s a chat room with a twist.  When you go to Chatroulette.com and click “play,” a live-streaming stranger will appear on this screen.  If you wish to talk to this stranger, then you can chat in the text window to the right, and if you do not want to chat with that stranger, you can click “next” and move onto the next one.  The Web site is known internationally so it doesn’t come as a surprise to have people from different countries pop up speaking in a different language.

“The concept of video chatting with strangers and not knowing who they are or what they are going to do is really intense.  I had no idea what to expect when my friends showed me Chatroulette,” Gillian Davis, senior communication major, said. ”I thought it would be just some friendly folk just saying hello, but sadly, it wasn’t.  It wasn’t at all.”

The founder, Andrey Ternovskiy, a 17-year-old high school student who lives in Moscow, said in an interview to the New York Times that “I only did it for fun,” and he never expected to have any “business goals” for it.

“Chatroulette is the best to go on when you have a group of people that can make fun of all the idiots on there with you.  It’s hilarious.  I’m addicted,” Christian Nunan, sophomore math major, said.

Who shows up in the screen is completely random, so it could be a really cool person or a 50-year-old pedophile and you will never know.  You could be talking to one person or a group of people.  The screen is always focused on one camera at a time until you “next” the person, or until they “next” you.

“Chatroulette is the one of the most disgusting Web sites I’ve ever been on; the men on that Web site are perverted and gross.  Some people are funny, but others should not even be allowed on the site,” Jacky McDermott, sophomore elementary education major, said.

The content on the Web site has no limitations whatsoever, which can definitely raise a concern for parents and their children.

“I honestly think this will probably be shut down soon or will fade quickly because of the content that is on Chatroulette.  If there were any way to monitor exactly what is shown on camera then maybe it will become a more popular trend to network or meet people, but as of right now it should be an 18-and-plus Web site,” Davis said.

Unlike other social networking sites, this one was spread entirely by word of mouth.  Ternovskiy never invested in advertisements.  All the funds that were “donated” to him by his relatives went to buying seven servers that are spread across Germany.  He said in his interview to the New York Times that he has “never been to the United States” but he “thinks it would be best to have Chatroulette as a United States based company.”

“The strangest thing that has happened to me on Chatroulette was meeting a student at the university I studied abroad at.  It was incredibly surreal because we would both exchange facts about the campus and what we studied.  It turns out we may have seen each other in London, but met while in different countries,” Davis said.

Cabrini’s Center for Teaching and Learning is committed to helping its students.  Peer tutoring is available for all different subject areas.  The office is located in the Iadarola Center in room 110.  Although tutoring is available for any subject matter, the Center for Teaching and Learning is focused more on writing and math.  These two subjects alone have their own separate departments, the writing center and the math resource center.

Sarah Rocco, sophomore chemistry major, said, “I became a peer tutor because I have always enjoyed helping others.  I feel it is important for other students to actually understand what they are learning and sometimes a fellow student can be a better help than a professor.”

Interested in becoming a peer tutor?  You have to be currently enrolled at Cabrini College, sophomore or higher, with a minimum of a 3.0 cumulative GPA.  Duties would include meeting with students on a regular basis, consulting with staff if an issue ever arises, attend monthly staff meetings and being fully committed to helping your peers.   There are also many other responsibilities that peer tutors are required to attend to.  All applications and other related forms can be located in the writing center.

Christine Adolf, junior communication major, said, “I absolutely encourage the use of peer tutoring or finding a classroom coach if you need any help.  I’ve used the writing center before and I love them.  They don’t do the paper for you; they help you and give you suggestions on how to make your paper even better.  And the peer tutors that are there at night are great, friendly and very helpful.”

“I love my hours since I only have work when I classroom coach video production, which is Monday and Wednesdays 9:40 a.m. to 12:20 p.m.” Adolf said.  Peer tutoring is available both ways, through the Center of Teaching and Learning and through classroom coaching.  Both are paid positions.

“I don’t mind the wages.  It’s what I would expect it to be.  For me it’s more about staying in the classroom helping the video students and keeping my skills up to par for when I enter the work force.” Adolf said.

All tutors have different schedules to accommodate to the help of students.  All tutor schedules can be located on Cabrini’s Web site (cabrini.edu.).  Prior to going into the Center for Teaching and Learning, students are encouraged to make appointments before coming in.

The tutors there are committed to providing the skills to increase the student’s proficiency in that particular area of study.  “Tutoring has always been a passion of mine; I love seeing that light go on when someone gets the material,” Rocco said.  They do their best to guide the student to the answer they are looking for without full-out giving them the answer.  The purpose of the center is to help students learn, and not to just give them the answer and send them on their way.

When you have successfully scheduled an appointment with a tutor, there are a few things you will need before arriving.  You do not need money because all campus tutoring is free of charge.  However, you will need to bring your student ID, the assignment you wish to seek help on and all related notes and handouts.  This will help the peer tutor to help you as efficiently as possible.  If you have an assignment that is online, the center has a computer resource lab that all students seeking help are encouraged to utilize.

Elena Brown, junior psychology major, said “I would definitely recommend the Center for Teaching and Learning for other students.  I feel that some people don’t take advantage of all of the subjects that are being offered for tutoring.  The CTL provides tutoring for almost every subject, so I think that if you’re struggling with a class, going to a tutor is a great way to improve your grades.”