Pressing On with the Business at Hand

Greetings Langonies! It seems like the Fall semester just started yesterday and here we are beginning the Spring 08 semester. I just want to take a moment to reflect on all of the great activities that have gone on in the past year, and what you can expect for 2008. Before moving forward, I just want to let you all know that this was supposed to be my December Oppy article, but unfortunately life gets in the way sometimes and I was unable to submit this in time, so my apologies if this seems more like an end of semester article rather than a beginning of semester one. If anything, it'll give the new Spring 08 Langone students a look at what they can expect outside of the class room now that they're a part of our great program!

1st Annual PTLF BBQ: Over 100 Langone students, including spouses and children, came out for a gorgeous day of fun in the sun, good company, and delicious grilled food at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, NJ.

Bohemian Beer Garden: We had two successful trips over the summer to the Bohemian Beer Garden in Astoria, Queens, with over 40 people on the first trip, and close to 25 on the second trip.

Langone Pre-terms: We've welcomed about 1000 new students to the Langone Program in the Spring and Fall 07 pre-terms, and Spring 08! Fall 07 was the first semester that we implemented 2 Core Group Captains per Core Group and its been working out fantastically. Keep up the great work guys!

Langone Retreat: This year's Langone Retreat was the most successful to date! With students past and present, we got close to 140 students to enjoy a weekend in nature, with close to 30 of them being Fall 07 students!

PTLF Core Group Games: Volleyball, Basketball, and Bowling - Many of you have come out to represent your core group pride and play for the prize of a free 1 hour happy hour at the end of the Spring!

Brooklyn Brewery: A good time was had by those in attendance at our Brooklyn Brewery Trek.

Charity Ball: This year's Charity Ball raised the most money for Minds Matter than in the past and was not only heavily attended by Langone students, but we contributed many items for the auction as well.

CCWP/Langone Program Office Happy Hour: We packed the house at the Torch Club this year with almost 180 students in attendance, 80% more than at last year's event.

PTLF Ski Trip in February '08: This event just passed this past weekend and it was fantastic event! Hopefully this will become a Langone tradition along with the Fall retreat. Pics in the next edition of the Oppy!

Advice From Career-Switching Part-Time Students: Organized by Beena Kavalam, this informal session was a huge success with over 75 students in attendance (people were standing in room 3-110, it was so packed) to hear the words of wisdom from fellow Langone students who have made successful career switches during their time in the program. A more formal panel will be put together in the Spring.

Now, PTLF is not just all about the social events. Many of you may not realize it, but PTLF meets regularly to discuss issues that are of concern to the Langone community. So while you may not necessarily see what we're doing, we are hard at work for you guys. Here are some of the things that are on the PTLF radar for the upcoming year.

Paul Vernisi is currently working with the Alumni office to address various alumni issues, including how to build our network while we're here and once we graduate, and how to best stay in touch and leverage that network.

Beth Makarevich is going to spear head a task force to do a bit of research on the various Stern clubs and find out which ones cater to the Langone community, so that part-time students can make better informed decisions as to which clubs to join.

Dawn Kirles held a Career Services meeting to address many of the growing concerns that Langone students have in regards to career services. She's put together various subcommittees that are going to investigate different aspects of career services. Notes from that meeting can be found on the PTLF site at: http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~ptlf/careermanagement.html

So that's what's good. Please continue to give us your feedback and suggestions so that we can come up with great stuff for you guys! See you in the halls of KMC or at Beer Blast!