The most important aspect of communication is listening. This was the message a broadcast executive had for several NOVA communications classes. On a Jan. 26 visit to the Alexandria campus, Brian Lamb, founder and CEO of C-SPAN, shared his insights with students.

Lamb started the day visiting Professor Lucy Holsonbake’s communication class. He was greeted with the sounds of country music playing – a surprising contrast considering the rainbow of students present. The class had been thoroughly prepared for Lamb’s visit, remembering that he liked country music from a biography they had read on him.

“There’s no line of demarcation between us and the world,” Professor Joseph E. Windham said in his introduction to a video presentation from the founder of Kiva, an international aid organization. Members of Northern Virginia Community College and Phi Theta Kappa gathered on a Saturday afternoon to learn about the impact of microfinancing on developing countries, particularly through the organization Kiva.

“My dreams are a very active part of my life,” Annandale English instructor Raymond Orkwis said, right after stressing the importance of strict realism in life-planning essays. Orkwis’ outlet for those dreams is poetry, occasionally published, sometimes heard in coffee-houses, and usually, as he says, “surreal.”

NOVA sponsored its first annual Martin Luther King Day of Service on Monday, Jan. 18. The event coincides with the National Day of Service which always takes place on the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday. This NOVA Day of Service included two on-campus and two off-campus events. Both on-campus events, a free vehicle maintenance program and a school supply drive, took place on the Alexandria campus.

On Oct. 15, the Alexandria campus of Northern Virginia Community College hosted a College Transfer Day. With about two months of planning the transfer day was created to give students who were planning to transfer to a university some idea of where they would like to go by  providing an opportunity to explore options and meet staff from colleges of their choice.
Michael Donnelly, one of the leading forces behind event, worked to make the day a success with the help of counselors, Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center …

It’s been fought long and hard by students at many institutions of learning. The issue of religion and education has been very controversial – striking up heated discussions between students and faculty to allow students the right to practice their religious duties in school.

The new meditation/meeting room “is for everyone” said Haroon Ismail, former Muslim Student Association president and president of the student body at the Alexandria campus. “[Since] it’s a state institution, we can’t have a room designated only for faith-based activities. So, we got this room on the condition that it would be a meeting room/meditation room. Whenever there isn’t a meeting here, students can come and pray and prayers are meetings. It can also be an open space for students to come and have a bit of quiet time.”

Snake charming was one of the favorite attractions at the October 10 Community Fair at the Alexandria campus. The male student volunteer holds a 12 foot python while the young lady holds a boa constrictor. Both snakes are from the Critters & Creatures animal shelter in Leesburg.

Five! Six! Five, six, seven, eight! When I walked into the dance studio, at the Alexandria campus, I felt a surge of intensity come over me. There stood Kathy Harty Gray, wearing all black, hair pulled back in a low ponytail, clapping with vigorous rhythm. Every move, bend, kick and flex came so naturally to her — she had been dancing since childhood. The girls seemed to mirror her unconsciously.

Gray’s love for dance shows in the lightness in her footwork. Her graceful movements are illustrated the moment she steps foot in a dance studio.

“One time I prayed in a stairway, and it was so ugly,” says Aymen El Tahir, who acts as the Annandale MSA’s treasurer. “People were looking at me like I was doing something suspicious. It’s not civilized to treat people like that.”

“I always ask students to find out what their passion is and then develop a program that can serve the purpose of that passion. My passion, for example, is to help women. It gets me going to see a woman transform from insecure or confused into independent and self-sufficient,” said Pat Gordon about working at The Women’s Center on the Alexandria campus.