Fall 2014 Cheer-Ups

Cheer-ups at Jacobs are everything you need during mid-term season and final season; a huge pick-me up during a true time of crisis and panic. Giving up is so easy during finals week: to lay on the floor and think about shorthair cats is so much more pleasing than stressing about the four finals in the coming week, but somehow, cheer-ups manage to keep us fed and sane enough to make it through all our examinations.

So today – I went through the albums of the colleges here at Jacobs to find the cheer-up highlights of Fall 2014.

Pumpkin Carving Cheer-Up

   Such a nice cheer-up for the fall season before Halloween! Hosted by the Mercator College Office, the pumpkin cheer-up was an opportunity for students to get really creative and carefully carve out little designs. Accompanied with pumpkin seeds and ginger tea, it was a much needed fall cheerup.

Disney Cheer-Up 

Who loves Disney more than kids? College students, that’s who. Krupp College did a tremendous job with the cheer-up featuring hot chocolate (+ marshmallows) as well as little coloring images with our favorite Disney characters (ex. Simba, who’s basically everyone’s favorite).

Coffee Lounge Cheer-Up (Feat. F.R.I.E.N.D.S.)

Krupp College became a temporary Central Perk when they hosted a Friends showing with a generous amount of coffee. Everything about this cheer-up was on point, and just really showed us that Krupp College will be there for you.

Halloween Cheer-Up

 Krupp College, again, with their creativity in every aspect of entertaining college students.

Chips and Games Cheer-Up

 We here at Jacobs love boardgames. Board games are life, sustenance. Krupp College does another great job at figuring out the secret obsessions of college students.

Blast from the Past Cheer-Up

90’s kids enjoy a 90’s themed cheer-up, featuring Spice Girls, Britney Spears, NSYNC and Back Street Boys. Mercator College knows how to bring it back.

Recap in Photos: MercatorStrasse goes Woodstock

Quick Recap: Generous Sun. Genuine Tie-dye Skills. Insane bus. Kiddie pool. Piñata. Headband Lessons. Chilled drinks. BBQ. Talented live bands. And just about the best turn-out of the year.

MercatorStrasse, hosted by Mercator College, decides to take upon the theme of Woodstock this year – and almost all participants dressed for the part. So as a half-Asian, I’ll rely on the math to prove my case: good music + good food + good drinks + good activities =  A lot of happy, happy college students.

Because, no, seriously – have you ever not wanted a huge, colorful, candy-filled guitar Piñata hanging from the sky?

Photos by Courtney Adams and Mercator College

The Colleges: Mercator

At Jacobs University, we have a sort of Hogwarts-like housing system: four individual ‘colleges’ that each encompasses its own personality. Currently, the four colleges are Krupp, Mercator, C3 and Nordmetall, and admitted students are given the opportunity to fill out a housing survey to indicate which college they’d like to stay in at Jacobs. And even though Jacobs is a very integrated community, as in there are no serious divisions between colleges, there is still quite a sort of ‘college pride’ that resides with you and your fellow college mates. It’s not only a very distinct concept, but it also bonds people in particularly unique ways.

I currently live in Mercator College, and I had actually (very prematurely) chosen Mercator before I had even been admitted to Jacobs University. I was a huge nerd, naturally, about research and looked up the variating colleges and their specialities and images beforehand, and what I had gathered from the individual websites was that Mercator was artsy, Krupp was more studious, C3 was athletic and Nordmetall had wireless Internet. (Though all colleges have wireless internet now.) Additionally, Mercator had been described as ‘the most comfortable college,’ which as someone moving 5,771 miles away from home, sounded just, plain beautiful. Through my research and many, many questions to older students, I could genuinely feel that I would do well in Mercator, and the fact that its mascot is the house cat was just a tiny bonus.

I have been living in Mercator for almost a year now, and I can confirm that I had been wise in my choice. Mercator is a very tremendous college – casually ignoring my blatant bias, it holds some of the coolest and most puzzling people at Jacobs. A lot of my fondest memories here at Jacobs have occurred in Mercator, at Mercator activities or with people that also reside in Mercator. Colored hammocks, lazy floor decorations, a faulty foosball table and a relaxed basement pre-party; from being knighted into Mercator to winning the Arts Olympix, Mercator has been the right choice for me, and as well, for many others. Mercator College has become an instrumental part of my life here at Jacobs, and this is just me, taking a brief note to express my general appreciation for this wondrously strange and diverse group of people united under blueness and radness.

So in conclusion to all admitted or prospective students: make sure you investigate the colleges and talk to current students or graduated students or student assistants or the campus ducks or the admissions office (or basically anybody that you can find) about the individual colleges to find the one best suited for you. It will make your time at Jacobs significantly more pleasant.

Best of luck!

10 Years Mercator College – 10 Years of Awesomeness!

By Jana Eckei (Germany); Class of 2014 – International Politics and History (IPH)

Ladies and Gentlemen, please rise for the Mercator National Anthem!

“I have a blue house and a blue window. Blue is the color of all that I wear. Blue are the flowers and all the food is too. I have a girlfriend and she is also blue.
Blue are the people here that walk around. Blue like my Corvette is in and outside. Blue are the words I say and what I think. Blue are the feelings that live inside me.
I’m blue da bu dee da bu die …”

I find myself in a crowd of people all dressed up in blue, enthusiastically singing the Mercator anthem. I feel proud!

Mercator is the residential college I’ve lived in since I first joined Jacobs University in September 2011. Right from the start I got absorbed into the blue ocean of awesomeness Mercator College had to offer to all its inhabitants and visitors. On April 4^th Mercatorians kicked off a series of events in honour of the 10^th anniversary of Mercator College that was first opened in April 2003.

To inform visitors and current residents about Mercator’s history, identity and future plans a team of Mercatorians dedicated to the promotion of their college set out to organise a Mercator Country Information Day. The entire Jacobs community was soon in the Mercator-Blue spirit, latest after tasting the delicious blue Mercator delicacies including the cookie monster cupcakes. The following day we continued the festivities with a grand Blue party that did not lack behind any countries independence celebrations. Balloons, champagne, a huge cake and artsy decorations managed to convince friends and foes of Mercator College to pay tribute to 10 years of awesome stuff!

Mercator College is generally known to be home to very talented artists who once more displayed their talent at the Mercator Vernissage. The celebrations picked in the Mercator Day that honoured not only the Mercator Foundations that sponsored the college 10 years ago but also two Mercatorians who deserve special honours for their exceptional involvement in the colleges’ affairs. A grand dinner ended the Mercator Award Ceremony and the 10 years Mercator anniversary celebrations.

The message that cannot go without mentioning is that Mercator alumni and current residents proudly recognise Mercator College as their home!

Alumni that could not take part in the celebration expressed their gratitude in a song composed to wipe away the slightest doubts that Mercator College is a place to call home. Listen to the song here.