Five Hidden Gems! (Plus two!)

Well, I’ve made it about halfway through the semester, and I’m still alive! Life, school, work… it’s all been quite a lot to juggle, but I’ve managed to make it this far… huzzah! I’ve had a chance to get (mostly) adjusted to my new “normal”, and I’ve come to learn a bit more about the place the I call my academic “home”. Here’s what I think are five of the BEST hidden gems at Montgomery College:

1. The Writing, Reading & Language Center: this is an AH-MAZ-ING resource for students. Here you will find tutors, workshops and other support services for many courses, particularly for language courses. There are tutors present (at pre-scheduled times) for most languages, including American Sign Language. In addition to the center, there are also virtual tutors available! Check out this link for more information.
2. The Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center: this venue offers world-class entertainment ranging from children’s programs, to orchestral performances, to theatre. It’s even available for rental for a staging of that play that you’ve been writing since middle school. For more information on the performing arts center, click here.
3. Starbucks: located in the Student Services building… its importance is obvious!
4. The Planetarium and the Observatory: these two can only mean one thing…. STARGAZING!! Each hosts various events throughout the year for stargazing, planet watching, moon mapping, and general awesomely cool galaxy geekery. They are located at the Takoma/Silver Spring campus and the Germantown campus, respectively. Click here to learn more about the planetarium, and click here to learn more about the observatory.
5. The Cafritz Foundation Art Center: this center hosts not only incredibly talented student artists, but also world-renowned artists using various mediums. Check it out here.
6. The Cultural Arts Center: here the focus is on bringing attention to cross-cultural understanding, building bridges, and highlighting diversity and multiculturalism. To that end, one of the things currently showing there now through November 3rd is the “Kids Euro Festival” which is featuring short children’s films/animation from around the world. Click here to learn more!
7. The Science Learning Center: located on the Germantown campus, this center has EVERYTHING you might need for studying for a science course, including calculators, microscopes/slides, textbooks, and more! You can read about it here.

Ok, ok… I know I said five hidden gems, but there’s so many neat things about MC that I just couldn’t narrow it down! I will definitely be checking out the Language Center for the ASL tutors, and I’m already planning to get tickets for the Nutcracker that will be showing at the performing arts center in just a few weeks. And I’m totally going to look more closely at the planetarium schedule to see if I can catch an event there. How about you? What will you check out?