RIT is an academically rigorous school and as one knows it stresses the importance of time management. For several students in the School of Print Media, they found time between all the schoolwork and classes to participate on a Varsity team.

Eileen Hennigan, a 2nd year Graphic Media student and a member of the Women’s Varsity Lacrosse team stated, “I decided to play lacrosse in college because I love the game and I love being apart of a team. I knew it would be a great way to get to know a lot of people and some of the girls on my team have become great friends.”

Being a team member allowed Eileen and others to gain friends and memories during the long haul. For others, RIT allowed athletes to purse the major of interest while also continuing their love for the sport. 3rd year New Media Design student and Varsity Baseball member Matt Austin commented, “When I looked at schools, I wanted to go somewhere that had the major I was passionate about, as well as the opportunity to play baseball. RIT fit both of those criteria to a ‘T.’”

Time management became a must for these students. They had to make it through their season all the while balancing the work of their classes: “Between practice and tournaments I am occupied over 40 hours a week during season and 10- 20 hours in the off season. Design assignments take time to develop and refine, needing at least 25 hours for each project,” Heidi Little said, a Varsity Volleyball member.

The athletes quickly learned the system and grew accustomed to their hectic schedule. “I’ve learned how to do all of my work to the best of my ability with the time I’m given. My professors preach doing work the best you can within the scope of time you have, and I’ve learned to do that with all of my work. Baseball only solidifies this stance,” Matt said.

“As for benefits, the lessons I’ve learned about life and time management are priceless,” said Matt about his career as an athlete. Being a team member allows you to learn life lessons, make great friends, and purse a passion. Eileen concluded, “I love playing lacrosse in college. It has given me a chance to make friends with all sorts of people, especially those on my team. The benefits are definitely the fun you get out of it, the people you befriend, and the extra connection you feel to RIT.”

The Open Publishing Lab (or OPL for short) is a new research group based out of the School of Print, where students and faculty from all over campus work together to create new publishing applications and tools.

And it finally has a physical home!

Over break OPL students and faculty worked to renovate the Kodak Approval space* located next to the SPM student lounge. In less than two days, they applied multiple coats of paint to the walls, and assembled and moved in all the furniture (with the help of a pickup truck and a Subaru Outback). The space was ready on the first day of classes, just in time to start working on projects for the RIT Innovation Festival coming up on May 3rd. More on that as we get closer to it — we promise that SPM will have a strong presence there!

* - the Approval’s still at the school, just in a new location

Usually you would find SPM staff member John Eldridge in the digital publishing center delegating various tasks, all the while helping students. But this weekend, he will be at the Blue Cross Arena cheering on the Men’s RIT hockey team in the AHA semifinals against Air Force.

A graduate of RIT, John’s been working at SPM for sixteen years and finds the hockey games a fun place to share his passion for the school—“if you really want to see school spirit, you need to go to the hockey game.”

John is a long-time hockey fan of over forty years, playing several years himself. His love of hockey allowed him to develop better relationships with his students and co-workers. He recalls, “some students joined me one game and it grew into a usual thing. Other faculty and staff members started to join and soon even outside acquaintances followed. It became a network of print people, but we were all there to have fun and forgot about the classroom and work.”

RIT Tigers’ hockey games are events that everyone looks forward to, whether being a student, faculty or an outside participant. The energizing atmosphere allows everyone to forget about the stresses of life and share jokes and memories between friends.

As for John’s predictions for the game, he says: “I think it will be a close game. All five teams are capable of winning the conference. For the Tigers to win to win they will need to focus and not turn the puck over.”