This Holiday Season – Recycle, Reuse and Re-invent Your Holiday Spending!

The school year is half way complete, and by now you've become enlightened on what it means to be a college student in New York City. For example, you know that taking taxis everyday and shopping for groceries only at Whole Foods are two sure fire ways to drain your bank account quickly. But just because you've adjusted your daily habits to cut costs doesn't mean you won't be tempted to spend spend spend this holiday season! So before you head home for the break, use these tips to help you curb your shopping appetite. After all, Mom and Dad can't be too proud of all those A+s if there are minus signs in front of your bank account balance!

Get in the Holiday Spirit, for Free!

New York City is notorious for holiday sightseeing and events. Free options include enjoying the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, admiring the window decorations on 5th Avenue, watching the nightly lighting of the giant menorah on 5th and 59th during Hanukkah, and of course, visiting Santa at Macy’s Herald Square. Not big into tradition? Well that's okay, too! Check out some unique and diverse activities, like the parading boom box carolers of Unsilent Night, the 500 tuba players at Rockefeller Center for Tuba Christmas, or celebrate the seven principles of Kwanza at the Museum of Natural History .

Get into Giving Gear and Donate!

Perhaps your dorm room is looking a little cluttered. When's the last time you wore those floral platform wedges, anyway? Help out your community (and spare your roommate some extra space!) by donating this season - and you can do it all right from your residence hall! Check out the bins in your lobby and drop off some coats, clothes, and canned goods.

Swapping Equals Saving

Not sure who to buy for this year? Spare yourself the torture of deciding which friends make the gift list by doing a group exchange. Have a Secret Snowflake Swap and set a price limit. Or be sustainable and do a White Elephant gift exchange...for once, re-gifting is encouraged! For more ideas, check out http://www.santalady.com/xmasgame/whiteelephant.html.

DIY and Use Your Talents!

Ever notice how Mom and Dad seem to love everything you've ever made, even those pictures where you colored outside of the lines or saturated the paper in glue? Well now that you're in college, odds are your talents have expanded, so using them for gift-making is an idea they'll truly appreciate. Got some time to kill on the long bus or plane ride home? Try knitting or crocheting. Decided to major in art? How about making a series of small paintings? If you're a writer, try filling a scrapbook up with some of your favorite memories, accompanied by photographs. It won't cost much to make, but you'll be sure to see many happy faces as your gift recipients open these hand-made gems.

October’s Program of the Month Proves: There’s No Place Like Home…on Halloween!

A round of applause goes out to October’s Program of the Month at Stuyvesant Park Residence, where each floor participated in a Halloween Decorating Contest. The result? An eclectic hodgepodge of spooky, silly, and spectacular hallway artwork!

And while each floor had an original budget for their decorating supplies, some thought outside the box and used recycled materials, making for a sensational yet sustainable outcome!

Pat Pellicano, the RA on the 6^th floor, knew just what to do with all of those leftover Trader Joe’s paper bags, which helped his floor tie for first place. Reversed, cut and pasted, the bags became the ground to the floor’s videogame fantasy ‘Mushroom Kingdom’ theme, which included eye-popping walls of tinfoil, yellow stars, and a sneaky Princess Peach inside the trash chute! Hey, the rules never indicated that the decorations had to be scary!

Also sharing the win was the first floor, who took their festivities to a theatrical level. RA Ariel Redmond watched her residents collaborate in a rousing rendition of the murder mystery, ‘Clue.’ The judges were escorted by a butler and maid into a dining room full of hors d'oeuvres, until a sudden scream stopped everyone in their tracks. A once lovely Miss Scarlet hung from the rafters, while a mysterious body was found sprawled out on the carpet. Passing down the hall, one saw how residents had utilized their bed frames and doorways as jail cells to contain any suspects in the crime. Red hands and questionable faces were everywhere among this floor’s creepy creativity!

But what made this program a success was not the array of cobwebs, fake blood, and plastic road-kill (gross!) alone. The true key to success? Teamwork. This was the first program of the year where an entire residence hall got involved, and it showed. RAs did their part in tying the event to the larger community of New York City, offering holiday safety tips for residents during their individual floor meetings. Hall Council stepped up to the creative challenge as well with floor liaisons helping delegate tasks, and healthily competitive attitudes from residents made it all happen!

Congrats to all for helping make Stuyvesant Park a funky, fun-filled community. You rock!

For a photo-recap of this program, check out the New School’s Stuyvesant Park fan page on Facebook (http://tiny.cc/1031SPR).

Special congratulations to RAs Nina Barry and Elaha Astanaha over at Loeb Hall, whose Art Therapy program placed them in second place for October’s Program of the Month!

New Here? This is for you!

Starting a new chapter in life can be tough.... so we're here to help! You're probably looking for a good outlet in which to express some stress, fear, nervousness, ambivalence and excitement that comes with change. Look no further we've got what you need!

Check out an Art Therapy class at The New School! Beginning October 1st, Creative Arts Therapist Kelley Linhardt will host a class every Thursday evening from 7-8:30 PM at the counseling center located in Loeb Hall at 135 East 12th Street (at 3rd Ave). This class is sure to provide you with a supportive environment that provides all kinds of opportunity for you to meet other students and build support at The New School.

No artistic talent is necessary! Students are encouraged to set up a brief (15 minute) screening appointment with Kelley prior to attending so that you can feel more comfortable, prepared and supported before entering into the group process.

Contact SHS (229-1671) to set up a screening.... We'll see you there!

Check out the other classes offered by Student Health Services by visiting their webpage.