Most NOVA graduates eventually work in such areas as in offices, in selling, as nurses or perhaps in an auto shop. Not Kris “Savage” McCray, 28, who smashes bodies and bangs heads in a cage ring in mixed martial arts.

Mixed martial arts includes striking and grappling techniques and appears to be a combination of boxing, wrestling, kick boxing, and jiu-jitsu. MMA fighting has become popular on network and cable television, such as on Spike TV, and on pay telecasts.

“Everything seemed to be going my way,” Regina Spiegel recently told the large audience at the theater at the NOVA Woodbridge campus. The Polish winter was her biggest complaint in life. The topic turned serious as the guest speaker talked of her experience as a survivor of the death camps of Treblinka and Auschwitz on April 8.

She remembered the exact date that the German army attacked her village in Radom, Poland: Sept. 1, 1939. The building shook with the force of the army. Spiegel ran from her home, where her mother, Brandla, was preparing a traditional Shabbat dinner, to see what was happening.

Everyone has dreams of fame and fortune. At one point or another, many believe that they have what it takes to perform for thousands of screaming fans. Hundreds of NOVA students have received this opportunity. NOVA Idol has been letting NOVA students have their 15 minutes of fame for several years. This year’s NOVA Idol was described by many as the best so far.

President Barack Obama came to NOVA’s Alexandria campus on March 30 to sign the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.
A long line had formed outside the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center long before doors opened at 9:30 a.m. Inside, the 1,000-seat Mary Collier Baker Theater filled up quickly with students, staff and members of congress.

President Barack Obama will sign health care and student loan reform into law on Tuesday at NOVA’s Alexandria campus.

The modified healthcare reform bill contains several new provisions from the one Obama signed into law earlier this week. One of the largest changes is the inclusion of student loan reform, which makes the government more involved in handing out loans. It also caps the maximum loan repayment to 10 percent of a person’s annual income.

Students are frequently in a situation between classes where they are hungry but do not have enough time to go to a restaurant off campus. Although the chips and chocolate in the vending machines look tempting, there has to be a better solution.

On the Annandale campus, food options are limited. The main location to buy food is in the school cafeteria. But is choosing to eat there really the best choice?

An African American History II class on the Alexandria campus recently had a special guest speaker, the co-founder and CEO Dr. Ayize Sabater of Mentors of Minorities in Education’s Total Learning Cis-Tem. Dr. Joseph Windham introduced Sabater, a former student of his at Morehouse College. Sabater spoke about how his non-profit organization is using progressive history to nurture at risk children of color and help them achieve positive educational outcomes in the District of Columbia.

What’s better than playing video games at home, with all the lights off, just you and 5 million other people all connected by headsets? Playing with friends at school, that’s what. Video games have become more of a social past time than ever.
With such a drastic leap toward social gaming, why are some gamers still insisting on sitting alone in front of their consoles day after day, playing against opponents they don’t even know?

Getting a credit card is about to become a lot harder for those younger than age 21. New regulations intended to clean up the credit card industry include additional measures to protect young people. The so called Credit CARD Act will go into effect on Feb. 22.  The new law was championed by President Obama to protect consumers from unfair practices of the credit card industry.
The CARD act requires those younger than 21 to prove they earn enough money to pay off a credit card. Otherwise, a person age 21 …

Dr. Terry Alford has received Virginia’s prestigious Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. Just 12 faculty members out of 177 were chosen from Virginia’s public and private colleges for the state’s higher education award.

Alford routinely receives glowing teacher evaluations for his “enthusiasm, passion, energy and dynamic teaching style,” as Dr. William Kinsella, Assistant Dean of History noted. One student declared him the “best history teacher I have ever had,” while another applauded him for bringing “enthusiasm, wealth of knowledge and a fabulous sense of humor to his chosen subject.”