Alpha Theta Phi Chapter - Phi Theta Kappa - LaGuardia Community College

by Ackeem Nugent On 10-16-15 I had the opportunity to go to Syracuse, to be apart of the Phi Theta Kappa Honors in Action project Conference. The weekend was such an inspiration to me; all the guest speakers were phenomenal. I left the weekend feeling empowered and motivated to execute my aspirations of becoming a board certified physician One guest speaker that really spoke to me and inspired me to do my best was Dr. David Van Arsdale. Dr. Arsdale is a sociology professor at Onondaga community college. He opened his presentation speaking about the paradox of how employment agencies, like Office Team and Robert H alf are making greater profits than Apple. What is so fascinating about this statistic is that an employment agency is designed to help unemployed individuals find a job. Yet a company like Apple is designing products that are sold for human consumption. How is it possible that a company created to find individuals a job making such out standing profits? What is t...

by Alvaro Romero Dr. Christine Braunberger , who is herself heavily tattooed on the ribs and leg, has been studying the gender dynamics of getting tattooed, being tattooed and being part of the tattoo subculture for several years. “When women [...] collect tattoos, especially when they become heavily tattooed and go outside the boundaries of 'feminine' tattooing, they begin to face social sanctions that remind them that they are not acting appropriately as a woman,” Dr. Christine Braunberger told us. The association of visible ink with sexual promiscuity and deviant behavior somehow still lingers. Heavy tattoos aren't perceived as enhancing women's attractiveness; young, conventionally attractive tattoo aficionados especially report hearing annoying comments like "You're so pretty, why would you do that to yourself?" in reference to their body art. Yet the fact that they've chosen to ink themselves seems to signal sexual availability to far too...

by Paula Castaneda Three officers, one active member and two advisors went to a conference in Syracuse on October 16-18. I feel so happy that I am one of the people that went to the conference because I learned a lot of things there. It was a Leadership conference and every night we had fellowship events. On Saturday night, we went to an indoor amusement park called WonderWorks. That night, I learned what fellowship, leadership and group work means. There is one attraction with ropes, called a High Ropes Course. It is 70 feet tall and it has different obstacles that require a lot of balance. It was a very fun experience but I was completely scared. I started to walk through some of the obstacles and at some point I couldn’t walk anymore. I felt so scared that I didn’t want to do it. So I was stuck in one place until my advisor came and she helped me to advance. My advisor started to encourage me, to tell me that I can do it and that she was not going anywhere without me. Her words...

by Oluranti Olaose I'm honored to join the PTK society, not only because it is a recognition of my academic endeavors, but because it is an excellent avenue for networking. In today’s job market, simply having the know-how is not enough and one needs good connections and networking skills to land a dream position. Joining this society provides me not only the opportunity to learn from peers who are successful in their academics, but also the ability to build a network that can help me reach my career goals in the near future. Being a part of this society will also provide me motivation to perform well throughout my school journey so I can maintain my position in the society. In addition, joining the society provides me access to scholarships to help with the rising cost of tuition, and will help my transfer to a four year school go as smoothly as possible. I am excited to be have these benefits and confident they will go a long way towards enabling me achieve my academic and ...

The Real Guidelines for HIA by Erica Nieves    From October 16-18 2015, the Alpha Theta Phi chapter of Phi Theta Kappa attended the New York Regional Conference in Syracuse, New York. There were very interesting keynote speeches and presentations during the Conference. There’s one presentation that caught my utmost attention. It was called, “What the Judges are Thinking?” This presentation pertains to how to have a successful Honors in Action (HIA) project.         The HIA project is a research project that PTK members work on through the summer and fall semesters. We begin with a selected topic, called the Honors Study Topic, every year. From that topic, there comes numbered themes in which students can choose and start their research. For example, this year’s Honors Study Topic was “Frontiers and the Spirit of Exploration”. Out of eight themes, we choose Theme 3: Quests of Human Expression. Our topic is the creative process of La...

"Making the Most Out of Your Time at Community College" by Kenley Liu I want to be part of an organization that helps an individual grow not only academically but personally. With so many ways to get involved at Laguardia, I discover that Phi Theta Kappa is the most compatitble organization for me to colloborate with. . Phi Theta Kappa is the most recognized program for community college students. Their mission statement is to aid students with high aspirations to develop the professionalism a nd leadership. That ideology is something that I look for and it fits closely to my personal intentions. My personal intentions are to become a writer in the future. Having more access to like-minded individuals within Phi Theta Kappa helps me grow my connections with like-minded individuals. Besides gaining more connections, I want to become a leader. The opportunities given are excellent. There are volunteering and conventions available that I am interested in. Attending ...

by Sisi Chen The Senior College Transfer Fair at the 2015 Phi theta Kappa International Convention was held on Thursday, April 16. As a part of the Marketplace events, many colleges and universities from across the country jointed this transfer fair session. Although most of the schools were from Texas, there were about 34 states represented in total. In the New York section, the Columbia University-School of General Studies stood out not only because it is ranked one of the highest universities in the United States, but also it offers special scholarship for students who are a members of Phi Theta Kappa. This is exciting news for students who want to transfer to a private Ivy League research university. With the help of this type of scholarship, the American dream can be reached a little easier. Also, the School of General Studies is the finest liberal arts college in the United States created for returning and nontraditional students seeking an undergraduate degree. The S...