When I was in high school, I couldn’t wait to get out of the small town I lived in.

When I was going to school at another university, I couldn’t wait to move to Rochester. And up until a few months ago, I could not wait to move out of the metro Detroit area.

Don’t get me wrong.

I have had a great experience at Oakland University over the past few years and I love Rochester.

But Detroit has so many negative connotations that I was eager to move on to whatever I considered a “real city” to be, looking exclusively for jobs in places like Nashville or San Diego.

One afternoon, however, I stumbled across a site called I Am Young Detroit.

On this page, there were links to blogs about Detroit’s rebirth and information about the work that dozens of young professionals are doing in the city.

Even though I have spent my whole four years in college thinking about how to make a difference after I graduated, I never considered staying in Detroit until reading the stories of these people who were fighting to give Detroit a second chance.

Unfortunately, I think the attitude I used to have is something that is all too common in college students across Michigan.

Because everything we’ve heard about the job outlook in Michigan and especially in Detroit is so bleak and discouraging, a lot of people don’t even think twice before deciding to move out of state.

As I’ve considered it more and more, staying in Detroit is a great opportunity — both for young professionals and the city.

Detroit has a lot to offer young people. Even though several neighborhoods may be run down, there’s a vibrant visual arts culture in the city that we’re lucky to be able to experience.

Detroit has an amazing music scene. There are nonprofits that work around the clock to make life better for the city’s residents.

Perhaps most importantly, however, we have the people of Detroit themselves. While volunteering in Detroit, I have had the opportunity to absorb a wealth of information from older Detroit residents who have been in the city for years.

There’s so much we can learn from people who are aware that their city is flawed, and still are so proud of the area and are so determined to restore it.

I’m not saying that Detroit is problem free because it’s clear there is a long way to go before Detroit is back in its prime.

But these problems are precisely why we should stay in the area.

Just because a city has problems does not mean it should be abandoned. It won’t be easy, but Detroit can get back on its feet and I really believe that it will.

How soon it gets there is up to young professionals, though. The city needs people with fresh ideas.

Every city can make use of talented young people who are full of innovative ideas and we should definitely experience other cities at some point in our lives, but Detroit needs educated young adults more than ever and they need them right now.

Volunteering or working in the city will make a huge difference for individuals and the city as a whole. Even though it may be a challenge, the work we do can lead to Detroit once again being a great place to live and visit.

Finding a job in Detroit will likely be more difficult than finding a job in other metropolitan areas, but it’s worth it.

It’s worth it to seek out a job that will improve the lives of others and it’s worth it to be a part of reviving a city like Detroit, the city that is on the brink of something wonderful.

On April 17, Hostel Detroit will open its doors in North Corktown. Travelers to Detroit — both from Michigan and from other states — can stay in the hostel for between $20 and $25 a night.

The movement toward having a hostel out of a passion for “CouchSurfing” shared by Emily Doerr and her friends. CouchSurfing is a social exchange website where travelers can connect to find people to stay with when they visit other cities. The group noticed that an increasingly large number of people were traveling to Detroit and that there was not a cheap option for lodging.

“There’s not a current avenue other than couch surfing for younger travelers to have a low cost option to come and explore the city,” Kevin Ward, a volunteer at the hostel, said.

After getting encouragement from family and friends, Doerr decided to form a board and a committee to explore the possibility of starting a hostel in Detroit.

“There were so many visitors to Detroit, I knew that I wanted to make sure that they had a good experience accessing all the different amazing events and points of interest in the city, and I believe that a hostel will do that,” Doerr said.

Eventually, the hostel organizers decided on a building at the corner of Vermont and Spruce streets. in the North Corktown neighborhood.

“Some neighborhoods in Detroit like Midtown and Woodbridge have made comebacks already,” Ward said. “For North Corktown, it’s definitely happening but it’s still on the way. We wanted to be a part of making that happen.”

Ward credits businesses like Slows BBQ and Sugarhouse Bar with also helping in the area’s revitalization, which he considers a collective effort.

“Hostel isn’t going to play the biggest role in the area’s comeback, but it’s something where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” Ward said. “Our intended impact is that people will come see more of the city than just downtown or midtown.”

Doerr ultimately sees the hostel as a medium for travelers to experience the rest of the city.

“There are a lot of different people and businesses that are playing a role in bringing more density and vibrancy to Detroit and Hostel Detroit merely wants to be a conduit for those things,” Doerr said. “We will be an access point for people coming to the city, giving them maps and guides and lists and suggestions about what to do and where to go.”

At the hostel, travelers get either a bunk or a private room, as well as access to a kitchen and bathroom. Additionally, the hostel will provide guides to the city and information about a guest’s particular interests.

“We make connections for the travelers if they’re not from the area,” Ward said. “If they have a specific interest we find the people and make the connections for them. That’s what makes us different from other places in the city, as well as from hostels in other cities.”

One way the hostel provides information to travelers with specific interests is through the use of volunteer ambassadors.

“Volunteer ambassadors are people who love going into the city and talking about the city,” Ward said. “If you have a love for Detroit, we’d love for you to be a volunteer ambassador.”

Ward said some popular interests for Detroit visitors are urban exploration, the arts, urban gardening, cycling and volunteering. Recently, the hostel hosted a group of students from North Carolina on their college spring break as they volunteered both at the hostel and around Detroit.

Ambassadors provide information to hostel guests on these areas of interest, as well as taking them around the city to particular locations in some situations. Ultimately, the hostel aims to take its guests off the beaten path.

“For example, if someone is interested in the arts, there are obvious places to take them like the Detroit Institute of Arts,” Ward said. “But there are also other cool places not on the radar to take them: Russel Gallery, Pop Up Detroit, other art galleries and then there are also murals around the city. It’s about educating them and showing them more of the city than they would otherwise see.”

“I would like to challenge every student at Oakland University to come stay at Hostel Detroit for at least one weekend this year,” Doerr said. “It will be inexpensive, you can rent a bike, there will be a ton of stuff to do and it will be safe and secure … come explore this city.”

To make a reservation or get information about Hostel Detroit, visit www.hosteldetroit.com

The Oakland University World Music Concert is at 8 p.m. on March 25. The concert features music from Ghana, Zimbabwe, Trinidad and the United States.

The concert emphasizes not only the types of music played in these countries, but also the instrumentation used for each Akwaaba, an African drum and xylophone ensemble, is one of the groups performing at the concert. Others include Ngoma, Pan-Jazz and Pan-Jumbies, a steel drum ensemble.

Mark Stone, the coordinator of World Music at OU, has helped to build the program since he came to the university in 1998.

The African drum ensemble was created in the 1970s; the other ensembles are newer.

“I’ve continued that tradition and started to expand it among these other cultures,” Stone said. “It’s not just students learning about African music and culture, but now also the music and culture of the Caribbean.”

Stone has studied African music for a number of years, including his time at Makerere University in Uganda. He has also performed as a part of the Bernard Woma Ensemble at the Filmua Kukur Bagr Festival in Ghana and with the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall.

In addition to currently leading the Biakuye Percussion Group and the Southpaw Isle Steelband, Stone teaches at OU.

In 2007, Amanda Krajenke took a Music 132 course entitled Music of World Cultures with Stone. Prior to taking the class, Krajenke intended to become a vocal music major, but has since switched to a bachelor of arts in music, which is a more general study.

She is also pursuing a World Music minor.

“In Mark Stone’s classes, everyone is encouraged to get hands-on with all of the instruments,” Krajenke said. “We all get to try a little bit of everything, but generally in the end we find we have a preference and play one particular instrument for most songs on the concert. I play the bass pans.”

The bass pans are made up of six 55-gallon oil drums arranged in a U-shape. The musician stands in the middle and plays the oil drums, each of which is tuned to three pitches.

Krajenke has been a member of each of the world music ensembles offered at OU and has focused significant attention on the steel band, performing as a “Pan-Jumbie” since her freshman year.

Although the concert is a showcase of world music, some American songs have found their way into the program as well. Stone said compositions by Stevie Wonder and some other popular American songs have been arranged for the Caribbean and African instruments.

“A lot of the music we have here in America borrows from these cultures,” Stone said.

Krajenke said she thinks this familiarity that people may have with some of the musical traditions -— whether they realize it or not — will add to the concert experience for the audience on Friday.

“You will probably hear something you know,” Krajenke said. “There are a few pieces that the ensembles will be playing that will make you smile.”

In addition to the student ensembles, guest artist Sulley Imoro will perform during the concert. Stone cites Imoro as the most well-known dancer in Ghana.

Imoro performs in the Dagomba tradition, which comes from the people of Northern Ghana.

Stone said the concert is a learning opportunity for students beyond just the entertainment value.

“It’s very important to expose students to music they might not otherwise hear,” Stone said. “The concert is a lot of fun and the music really elicits participation so people are learning while they’re having fun.”

Tickets for the concert are $11 for the general public and $7 for students.

Through the music, Krajenke hopes the OU community will see that though the African and Caribbean cultures are different from American culture, they share fundamental characteristics.

“Yes, we’re all different and we may have different methods and traditions and values, but we’re all as humans out there trying to answer the same questions: Who are we and how do we express ourselves?” Krajenke said. “We are people and we dance, sing, play music, laugh, cry and love. When I see these similarities, I find the differences to be insignificant. I hope that the audience at this concert finds that there is such amazing joy in this music and that they leave carrying that joy home.”

Miss Pontiac 1926 poses with the first Pontiac vehicle at the first dealership in the city.

This year, the city of Pontiac is celebrating 150 years of history. The Pontiac Sesquicentennial Planning Committee has met weekly since April of last year to arrange celebratory events for the sesquicentennial anniversary of the incorporation of the city of Pontiac.

Pontiac was first settled in 1818 and became the county seat (administrative center for the county) in 1820. It was not incorporated as a city, however, until March 15, 1861.

In commemoration of this incorporation, the planning committee is holding a yearlong celebration, beginning with the City of Pontiac’s 150th Birthday Kick-Off event at the Historic Crofoot in downtown Pontiac on March 15.

Tickets for the kick-off event are available for $10 to the general public, or for $150 for the VIP reception. To purchase tickets, visit www.thecrofoot.com

City councilman George Williams said this is an opportunity to celebrate everything that Pontiac has accomplished in the past 150 years.

“Pontiac was the center hub for auto manufacturing,” Williams said. “General Motors at one time had three working plants here. There were approximately 27,000 jobs at those three.”

Beyond the automobile industry, Williams said the city has always had a large service industry and is home to several prominent people, including professional basketball players and Olympic athletes.

“We have a number of things to celebrate and that’s why I feel it necessary for us to participate in the 150 year celebration,” Williams said.

Other events throughout the year in conjunction with the anniversary include a ribbon cutting ceremony on April 15 to welcome several new businesses to the downtown area, a carnival during Mother’s Day weekend, a vintage outdoor festival on June 18 and Hawk Fest in October.

The Michigan Agricultural State Fair, which was formerly the Michigan State Fair, is being held at the Pontiac Silverdome this year and Williams hopes that may also branch into downtown Pontiac as part of the anniversary celebration.

Williams and Dawnaree Demrose, president of the Pontiac Regional Chamber of Commerce, both hope that the sesquicentennial events bring to light the positive aspects of the city.

“Pontiac has been through a lot, and there are a lot of positive things happening in the city,” Demrose said. “You only hear the bad news, so this will be a chance for the good news to be highlighted. This community is full of passion, hard work and dedication.”

Williams agrees that this is an ideal way to call attention to the positives in Pontiac.

The stores in Asheville are not  that different from what we have in Rochester. A majority of the businesses in downtown Rochester are locally owned and completely unique to the area, and yet we have no real push for members of the community — students in particular — to shop locally.

While I enjoy the deals at chain restaurants and big box stores as much as the next broke college kid, the businesses in Rochester go out of their way to make shopping locally not only a convenient choice, but an economically smart one as well.

These businesses are eager to draw in the college population, whether it’s through student discounts, happy-hour specials or the increasingly popular social media outreach.

Downtown Rochester has its own Facebook page where it features downtown business Facebook pages of the day. While not all of these businesses cater to the traditional college student demographic, many of them do and they’re energetically searching for new ways to reach us.  Restaurants like Miguel’s Cantina, Rockin’ Cupcakes and Rochester Mills all actively use sites like Facebook and Twitter to offer special discounts as well as receive customer feedback.

One of the biggest complaints recurrently brought up by students at Oakland University is that they don’t feel like they get the experience of being in an actual college town.

To their credit, local business owners, the Downtown Development Association and the university have done their part to begin to foster a partnership between the Rochester area and students.

The university and its Alumni Association have worked together to create the Go Card, which offers students discounts at local businesses. The Bear Bus is also helping advance of the partnership as it provides students transportation to the downtown area on the weekends.

There’s only so much that the university and business owners can do to make the area college-friendly. At this point, it’s up to students to patronize local businesses to make it clear that we want unique Rochester businesses to thrive.

We’re lucky enough to have a community that not only houses our school but that also actively seeks out ways to make local entertainment, dining and shopping affordable and accessible for college students. If we want these businesses to stick around and build a college town atmosphere, it’s time we start supporting them.

I understand that for many of us, shopping locally exclusively isn’t possible or practical, but even small changes in the way we shop can make a big difference.

Trade in your morning latte from an overpriced coffee shop for a freshly brewed coffee from a locally owned shop downtown. During the spring and summer, grab some fresh produce from the Farmer’s Market downtown instead of  at a run-of-the-mill grocery store.

If we want a college town experience, we have to show local businesses we’re happy to support them.

Shopping locally not only helps business owners see we want them to stick around, but it gives us, as consumers, a uniquely Rochester experience.

Following the Valentine’s Day theme of the concert, co-founder Elyse Foster said the group will sing popular love songs, with a few “anti-love songs” thrown in as well. In between songs, the members plan to tell stories about their own romantic experiences.

“We’ll be telling stories between the songs about our own experiences: good first dates, bad first dates, good relationships, bad relationships,” Foster said.

Co-founder Elizabeth Lordon adds that the songs and stories are about both the ups and downs of love.

“Our anecdotes will be about the trials and tribulations of love,” Lordon said.

Additionally, a Michigan State University a cappella group called Rcahpella will be opening.

Gold Vibrations, which now has 18 members, was formed when Foster and Elizabeth Lordon teamed up with two of their friends from high school in 2009. The four were reunited at OU after Foster and Lordon transferred from Michigan State University and Kalamazoo College, respectively.

“We all liked to sing together and there was no other a cappella group on campus,” Foster said. “People don’t realize how big the collegiate a cappella world really is at other schools like MSU and U-M. We wanted to start it up here because it’s something we love to do.”

Although the members are passionate about singing, there is no requirement for students to be music majors in order to join. The group holds auditions for any interested students at the beginning of the fall semester and then if needed at the start of the winter semester as well.

Since forming in 2009, the group has performed at OU twice, as well as at a benefit concert for Haiti at MSU, as an opening act at another show at MSU and as carolers at the Lagniappe in downtown Rochester.

The show this weekend, which takes place in the Varner Recital Hall, will be the group’s largest show thus far.

“It’s our biggest venue we’ve performed in, so we’re really hoping to get as many people as we can,” Foster said.

Lordon and Foster were both quick to point out the music they sing is unlike the typical music sung by many college vocal groups.

“We sing popular songs that you’d hear on the radio,” Foster said. “We have some oldies in there too, but for the most part it’s current popular songs.”

The group is not revealing their entire set list prior to Friday’s performance, however, they did say that they have two songs by singer Bruno Mars as well as other contemporary hits.

“It’s definitely not choral music,” Lordon said. “It’s not as nerdy as a lot of people think. We have a lot of fun and if you come to the concert, even as an audience member, you have a lot of fun. If you haven’t experienced a cappella music, you should. We’re a hidden gem.”

Foster agrees that although some members were in choir in high school, this is a completely different experience.

“We’re just a fun group of people who love to sing,” Foster said. “It’s nothing like what you knew of choir in high school. We just like to get together and have fun, sing, dance and be goofy.”

The Gold Vibrations Valentine’s Day concert is this February 18 at 7 p.m. in the Varner Recital Hall. The event is free and open to all students.

“Even if you just have a little interest, come check us out,” Foster said. “It’s not something you’ll experience anywhere else on campus.”

After submitting a proposal for the 127,000 square foot building to the state legislature, the funding was approved as part of the Michigan fiscal year 2010-11 capital outlay budget bill in December.

“We created a proposal to say what this center would do for the School of Engineering and Computer Science and how it would contribute to the economic development in Oakland County and Macomb County, as well as the state of Michigan,” Louay Chamra, dean of the SECS, said.

Although the funding from the state government has been approved, Chamra said there are still steps that need to be taken, including designing the building over the next seven to eight months and getting approval from the OU Board of Trustees. According to Chamra, the building will cost about $75.5 million, meaning that the school must develop a plan to raise the final $45.5 million.

“If the Board of Trustees approves our plan and everything goes smoothly, we anticipate that construction will start by next fall,” Chamra said. “But there are many tasks before that.”

While the building is still only in the planning stages, both Chamra and interim associate dean of  SECS and associate professor Lorenzo Smith hope to see the building develop as a center for student engagement with the department and its faculty.

“I see the building as a place to increase faculty and student interaction,” Chamra said. “I want to create more areas for student and faculty to interact. The whole building will be student friendly.”

As an additional way to make the building an asset for students, Chamra has suggested a learning center to serve as a hub for engineering student resources.

“I’d like to establish an engineering student learning center,” Chamra said. “It would be a place where we can provide student services — advising, tutoring, internship opportunities, career placement after they graduate.”

Smith emphasized that the center will not only benefit current students, but hopefully draw potential students in.

“We want the new building to be a venue at which prospective students can clearly see the exciting activities taking place,” Smith said. “To this end, the new building is expected to feature work spaces which are visible through large glass windows as they walk the hallways.”

Chamra is enthusiastic about the development of integrated design labs in the building as well, where students can work in multidisciplinary teams of students from several types of engineering majors and backgrounds.

“At OU, we pride ourselves on putting students early in their career in multidisciplinary teams,” Chamra said. “We try to put them in teams to simulate the workforce.”

The new building is expected to make use of environmentally-friendly energy, including the use of solar panels to provide some electricity for the building. The department is also hoping to offer “green space” on the roof, where there will be both a flower garden and areas for students and faculty alike to relax.

While both Chamra and Smith agree that the students in the SECS are already performing at a high level, they also agree that this center will offer even more opportunities for a higher quality education.

“The OU students in SECS already compete very well among their counterparts worldwide,” Smith said. “In addition to their academic skills, they are known for their hard work, creativity, confidence and ability to roll up their sleeves and dive into the problem. The new building will only add to their foundation from which they build their competitive edge.”

Rob Petrach, president of the OU Society of Engineers, said that as an engineering student, he also expects that the new center will offer improved opportunities for students.

“I think that the new engineering center will provide grounds for research and technological advances,” Petrach said. “Because of this, it should give students more outlets to further their engineering education and improve the quality that the existing engineering program can provide.”

He also thinks the new center may draw in new and talented professors.

“With new professors should come a larger spectrum of courses and areas of advanced research, which will have a very positive effect on OU engineering and computer science students,” Petrach said.

In addition to increasing the overall quality of education that engineering students receive, the department expects the building to be an integral part of developing the local economy.

“The building is extremely important in terms of providing a highly visible focal point of our contribution to the economic development of the region,” Chamra said. “I really believe engineering is coming back to this country. Much of it was outsourced but it’s coming back because we provide an excellent quality of engineering and an excellent quality of product if it’s made in the area or even in this country.”

Although Chamra said that the automotive industry in the area is still a crucial part of the regional economy and is an industry that the engineering department partners with at times, it is important to broaden the spectrum of the industries in the economy.

“This building is at the center of this economic renaissance in terms of this region,” Chamra said. “During this great recession, we have to develop other industry in the region. It’s essential to grow this area and work with local industry.”

The musicians at the DSO have been on strike against the orchestra’s management for 18 weeks now. So far, more than 40 percent of the orchestra’s performances this season have been cancelled due to the strike.

For several years, Oakland University’s Music, Theatre and Dance program has employed DSO musicians as faculty for their music students. Additionally, this past fall, a new partnership was announced between OU and the DSO that aimed to give students a more comprehensive music education through advanced lessons and events.

As the strike continues, music students and faculty alike have expressed concern over the ongoing battle between the DSO musicians and the management.

Freshman music education major Josh Bobek said his first year as a college musician has been affected by the strike in a number of ways, including being unable to attend a number of performances by the DSO due to their cancellation.

While Bobek is unhappy with the strike situation as a whole, he said that he understands the importance of the musicians’ fight.

“I am obviously upset over the strike; however, I side with the musicians in their argument rather than the DSO management,” Bobek said. “The musicians have agreed several times to meet halfway between the DSO’s pay wants and the musicians’ pay wants, however the management is persistent on the amount they want to pay the musicians.”

Bobek said that he has hopes that the strike will come to a resolution soon so that the quality of the DSO may be preserved.

“I’m not necessarily nervous about losing the orchestra as a whole, however I feel as though quite a few of the talented musicians may decide to leave if this strike continues much longer,” Bobek said. “Most musicians want this strike to end as soon as possible. We want to be able to return to Orchestra Hall in Detroit and listen to the world-class music expected from the DSO.”

Greg Cunningham, an associate professor of music at OU and the conductor of the Oakland Symphony Orchestra, said that although the strike has no easy answer, he hopes to see a solution soon.

“It’s a complicated issue,” he said. “I don’t know what the final solution is, but I hope that the loss of the orchestra is something that can be avoided.”

DSO board members recently voted to present the musicians with a new proposal on February 4, however no details have been released as to what the proposal will entail.

A hot topic of discussion during the negotiations has been the monetary differences between the requests of the musicians and the proposals from the management. The most recent proposal in January suggested a $32 million budget over the course of 40 months, as compared to the $36 million budget over 36 months suggested by former governor Jennifer Granholm and Senator Carl Levin.

Corbin Wagner, a DSO musician who plays French horn and also teaches at Oakland University, said the money is not the largest of the issues, however.

“The whole purpose behind the strike is for the musicians to preserve the quality of the orchestra,” Wagner said. “Money is minor in comparison.

Wagner and Cunningham both said that student musicians at OU are impacted by the ongoing strike, however both also acknowledged that the faculty has done as much as possible to ensure the students receive the same quality of music education.

“I believe that the music department has felt very little impact, except that there are no great performances for the students to attend in Detroit,” Wagner said. “Students often don’t fully grasp the depth of contract negotiations, but they do notice the angst, the distraction, the discomforts that their teacher may inadvertently expose.”

Cunningham said the students have expressed concern for the ramifications of the strike in the future, as have many professional musicians.

“Our music students here are like any serious musician concerned about the long term effect on musicians,” Cunningham said. “They have been sharing a similar view most of the people that I know have. It’s not only the individual musicians who are amazing artists, but the cultural identity of instrumental music in this area is so affixed to the DSO.”

“We have to have a rich community in which to live, or else it’s just not that great of a place,” Cunningham said. “We have to have a major metropolitan orchestra. It’s an asset few cities have and it’s worth fighting for, worth guarding.”

Cunningham also said the cost of running an organization like the DSO should not change the way people consider it.

“What the organization costs to run doesn’t make it less valuable,” Cunningham said. “I want professional sports, I want a strong visual arts community, musical art, dramatic art; I want all of it for our community. That’s the community where I want to live. It makes it a better place.”

That uncertainty vanished after Hanif attended the Summer Medical and Dental Education Program (SMDEP) at the University of Virginia.

Hanif originally found out about the program through a website called aspiringdocs.org. The website was recommended to her during the Honors College Career Day.

Upon visiting the site, she saw a link to the application about SMDEP. Although she was unsure whether she wanted to continue as a premed student, she decided to apply to the program anyway and was accepted to the program at the University of Virginia.

SMDEP is a six-week medical or dental program aimed at showing first and second year premed students what life in medical school is actually like. Institutes are held at 12 universities throughout the country, including Duke, Yale, Columbia and Howard University. Students are provided with free tuition, food, housing and a stipend. The program is highly competitive — in the University of Virginia program only 80 of 700 applicants were selected.

“Basically it’s set up like a real medical or dental school class,” Hanif said. “We had a class of 80 students who had class from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. throughout those six weeks. It basically gets you into life as medical student.”

Hanif was the first student from OU to attend the program and the only student from Michigan to attend the University of Virginia program this past year.

“I was proud to represent Michigan and Oakland University,” Hanif said. “It’s just cool because now 79 more people know what OU is and what it’s about. It gets our name out there.”

Students in the program take classes that they would take in medical school, such as biology and chemistry, as well as getting actual clinical experience and attending workshops on the entire process of applying to medical school, surviving medical school and life after graduation.

Workshops included mock medical school interviews and two weeks of work on writing a personal statement, which was crucial to the application.

“You can have the grades and the test scores, but without the personal statement, they won’t hear your voice,” Hanif said. “Many students don’t start writing their personal statement until the year they apply and that’s really a little bit too late to start. The students who are in SMDEP are starting way ahead of everyone, so it’s not an obstacle later on. ”

After learning about the admissions process, students are given the opportunity to hear from a variety of specialists.

“We had a whole variety of speakers from the urologists to pediatricians,” Hanif said. “We got to hear what their experiences are like, and then mingle with them and even some shadowing opportunities.”

The students also participated in seminars about health policy and had a day to interact with admissions officers for some of the largest medical schools in the country, including Johns Hopkins, Duke University and Brown University.

“The whole point of SMDEP is to give students a holistic approach to medicine, to show them all the facets and to show you what you can do with your career,” Hanif said.

Perhaps the most important aspect of the program, Hanif said, is that it helps students figure out if the medical field and being a physician is what they really want to do.

“I can definitely say that the program changed my life,” Hanif said.

She currently is a sophomore premed student at OU who plans to focus her future career on promoting quality health care in impoverished countries through an organization like Doctors without Borders or the World Health Organization.

Although the program solidified her decision to become a physician, Hanif said the program is beneficial even if students later decide to pursue a different career.

“If you’re really thinking about a career in medicine, you have to take a lifelong risk to get into that career,” Hanif said. “If you’re just in it for the rewards, such as monetary rewards or fame, it’s not worth it. But if you’re truly passionate about it,  then it could be worthwhile to see if the field is for you. It’ll benefit you in the long run.”

Though the chances of landing experiences like this may be slim, Hanif said that students shouldn’t be discouraged.

“It was a big risk for me to apply because I didn’t really know what it was about, I was going to some state I’d never been to — Virginia — by myself,” Hanif said. “Take the risk and apply and even if you change your mind, you’ll know now instead of finding out in your third year of medical school.”

For information on SMDEP, visit www.smdep.org. The deadline is March 1.

The annual Fire and Ice Fest runs Friday, Jan. 28 through Sunday, Jan. 30. In its fourth year, the festival offers outdoor winter activities, as well as promotions from local stores and restaurants.

One of the largest draws for the festival patrons are the ice sculptures, which are displayed in front of each store. Each year, the festival’s sculptures are sponsored by local businesses and follow a particular theme. In honor of this year’s theme, “Toys R Ice,” sculptures will be carved to resemble well-known types of toys.

Other winter activities offered during the festival include ice sculpting demonstrations, dogsled rides, an ice skating rink, snow shoeing, broomball and a tube sledding hill on Third Street. To participate in ice skating or broomball, residents should bring their own skates.

Stacey Keast, Rochester Downtown Development Authority events coordinator, said that the tubing hill has been especially successful in recent years.

“Tubing is a huge hit and it’s especially nice for residents on campus to be able to come and do,” Keast said. “It’s a free event and it just requires people to get in line. They don’t need equipment.”

Derenda Howard, Oakland County recreation supervisor for outdoor recreation and parks, said the outdoor events are popular, especially with college students.

“The dogsledder rides and demos, the snow shoeing and cross country skiing, the tubing hill — everything is free except for some costs associated with the Tastefest,” Howard said. “All of the activities are free, though, so it’s an affordable event.”

Comprising the other half of the festival is the fireworks show, which takes place at 8 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday. The “Big Bright Lights Show,” or the holiday lights that cover each building on Main Street during the month of December, will be back from 6 p.m. to midnight each night of the festival as well.

At the fest, patrons can pick up a “Sweet Discounts” card at any participating business, as designated by a sign in the storefront window. The cards are good for 15 percent discounts at the businesses’ discretion throughout the month of February.

During Friday and Saturday, a Tastefest and beer tent will be located near Rochester Mills. The tent will have a variety of signature dishes from area restaurants for patrons to purchase. On Sunday, the Tastefest tent will become the home of the Soup Off, a new event which will involve local restaurants competing against each other for the title of Best Soup. Festival patrons can purchase samples of the soup during the voting process and larger quantities after voting has concluded. The Soup Off will help fund next year’s fest.

Other new events at this year’s fest include cross country skiing and a figure skating exhibition on Sunday.

Howard expects a large turnout this weekend, largely due to the uniqueness of the events offered during the Festival.

“Rochester in particular is such an active community and people there tend to come out for events like this,” Howard said. “You get to see people you don’t see all the time and do activities you don’t do all the time, especially in a downtown area. It’s not every day you go tubing down a street downtown.”

Organizers for the festival are still looking for volunteers to work in three hour shifts each day of the festival. To volunteer, contact Rachel Boyd at 248-975-9717.

Fire and Ice Festival hours are 6–9 p.m. on Friday, 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, visit downtownrochestermi.com

“It just comes down to people getting a little stir crazy by the end of January,” Keast said. “This lets people get out and get active during the winter.”