I can't even explain how thankful I was that Dr. Irwin Appel came to speak. When I was touring UCSB last year, one of my concerns was that the theater department just wouldn't compare to UCLA's, which was the main reason UCLA was my first choice of schools. Dr. Appel assured me, however, that the Bachelor of Fine Arts Program would be as beneficial to me as I wanted to make it. I will absolutely be auditioning, but he DID make me a bit nervous. There are basically only six open spots in the program for the upcoming year--that's the six best actors at UCSB. The only way I can ever find a spot in there is if I practice and train really hard, and have an actor's confidence. I loved MacBeth; it was incredibly well done and thought out, and the actors were absolutely on top of it. Shakespeare is not an easy thing to memorize, so they must have worked incredibly hard on producing it. The actors were all clearly very talented, it would be an honor to be one of them one day.
For our Int 95 Field Trip we went to the EAP Office for studying abroad. I have always wanted to study abroad, ever since I was in 7th grade and my friend's sister came back from her study abroad trip to Australia. She couldn't stop gushing about how beautiful it was, and what an amazing experience she'd had. If I were to study abroad, I would definitely go to Spain. Unfortunately, this may not be in my future. I have a lot of pressure on me to graduate in 3 years--taking one of those 3 to study abroad might cause me not to graduate on time. And if I get in to the BFA program, I definitely can't take a year in a different country. They would need me here. So Spain may not be in my future, sadly, but one never knows. Good things happen all the time, I may get lucky somewhere along the line!
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Extracurricular events
1. The first extracurricular event I attended was the field trip to the Food Co-Op. I wasn't sure what to expect--I had never even heard of a Co-Op before. Turns out, it was basically Trader Joe's on steroids. The whole store is locally funded, and sells ONLY organics foods. They have foods that cater to every allergy, and flavored jams from fruits you've never even heard of. They had locally grown vegetables that literally looked just they had JUST been pulled up from the earth. I ended up buying some organic strawberry lemonade, but it tasted kind of weird.
The woman who was introducing us to the Co-Op had gnarly dreads and tattoos, but you could tell she was incredibly bright. She was super passionate about saving the environment, and told us about how the Co-Op almost got shut down a couple years ago because it was underfunded. She encouraged us to buy food from the Co-Op in order to live a healthier lifestyle.
2. The next event I went to (besides the majors and minors fair) was the Roommate Game. My roommate, Joanna, and I had been studying up for it all week. When we sat at lunch in the DLG we would bounce questions off of each other: What's your favorite color? What's your favorite song? What's your pet peeve? As it turns out, this was helpful for the game. As we got further in, we realized we were getting more questions correct than any of the other roommate couples. In fact...we won! We both got $25 gift certificates to the University Center (which I actually just spent on books yesterday). I couldn't believe that she remembered that my pet peeve was Mufasa dying in the Lion King! They RHA also provided us with snacks, chips, cookies, and milk. We all ended up having a lot of fun that night, and it was a great study break from midterms!
3. My final event was the "Get a Life" game. This was eye-opening. Nobody understood what was going on at first--we were handed different colored cards as we entered the room, and then immediately told to go around to different tables that were stationed in the room and "build our lives." There were different tables being manned by RAs, each with labels such as Education Level, Housing Situation, Spirituality, etc. We had to go to these tables and request what we wanted from them. After a while, we caught on that the RAs were treating us differently depending on the color of our card. I even got sent to "jail"! Apparently, they were each meant to represent a different ethnicity. I had a red card, which meant I was Latina. The RAs were acting, of course, but it was so peculiar to feel discriminated against based on Latina and Chicana stereotypes. As a caucasian female, I've never had to endure that. I will definitely be more sensitive from here on out.
The woman who was introducing us to the Co-Op had gnarly dreads and tattoos, but you could tell she was incredibly bright. She was super passionate about saving the environment, and told us about how the Co-Op almost got shut down a couple years ago because it was underfunded. She encouraged us to buy food from the Co-Op in order to live a healthier lifestyle.
2. The next event I went to (besides the majors and minors fair) was the Roommate Game. My roommate, Joanna, and I had been studying up for it all week. When we sat at lunch in the DLG we would bounce questions off of each other: What's your favorite color? What's your favorite song? What's your pet peeve? As it turns out, this was helpful for the game. As we got further in, we realized we were getting more questions correct than any of the other roommate couples. In fact...we won! We both got $25 gift certificates to the University Center (which I actually just spent on books yesterday). I couldn't believe that she remembered that my pet peeve was Mufasa dying in the Lion King! They RHA also provided us with snacks, chips, cookies, and milk. We all ended up having a lot of fun that night, and it was a great study break from midterms!
3. My final event was the "Get a Life" game. This was eye-opening. Nobody understood what was going on at first--we were handed different colored cards as we entered the room, and then immediately told to go around to different tables that were stationed in the room and "build our lives." There were different tables being manned by RAs, each with labels such as Education Level, Housing Situation, Spirituality, etc. We had to go to these tables and request what we wanted from them. After a while, we caught on that the RAs were treating us differently depending on the color of our card. I even got sent to "jail"! Apparently, they were each meant to represent a different ethnicity. I had a red card, which meant I was Latina. The RAs were acting, of course, but it was so peculiar to feel discriminated against based on Latina and Chicana stereotypes. As a caucasian female, I've never had to endure that. I will definitely be more sensitive from here on out.
MacBeth
I went to see MacBeth on Saturday night at 7 pm. Having studied the play and seen it performed at a local high school all within the past year, I was glad that I could remember the whole story. I can understand how some people who weren't familiar with the story of MacBeth may have been lost, just because every actor in the play wore the same outfit and the only props used were wooden sticks. I was thrilled to be able to place which characters were which, and to know the context of their words. I loved the play--Lady MacBeth was phenomenal. While it was weird to see a college-aged girl passionately kissing a middle-aged man, she had me convinced. She was pretty terrifying when she was threatening MacBeth, and then amazingly fearful when regret took over her for the murders she helped commit. The story is one of my favorites by Shakespeare; it evokes the most emotion, ranging from rage to excitement to fear. It was a privilege to have been able to see the Naked Shakes perform, and for free! I was amazed by how they made props with their bodies, such as creating a human throne and using red gloves to portray blood streaming down Banquo's body. Wonderful!
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Library+Dr. Lubach
Unfortunately, I was sick this entire weekend and didn't get to visit the library with the rest of my section. I would have been very interested in seeing where things are, and learning how to locate certain books or information with the rest of my section. I did, however, go and visit myself. The library is probably the absolute best resource for students here on campus. It is impressive and useful in every way.
Dr. Lubach's lecture was also impressive. I loved hearing about DJ
Milkman and how he would test his music on the party-goers in Isla Vista. It's always nice to hear about the different directions you can go in with a degree from UCSB. You don't have to just be a marine biologist or a chemist, you can take yourself anywhere. I also loved the story about hacking Storke Tower and playing the ending theme to Portal. I hope to do something awesome like that at some point. He really encouraged us to explore, discover our depths, and learn for the sake of learning. It's not all about the degree; it's about every bit of information you have obtained, whether its math equations or life skills.
Attached I posted a picture of Jack Johnson, a person who made something interesting of himself after graduating UCSB.
Dr. Lubach's lecture was also impressive. I loved hearing about DJ
Milkman and how he would test his music on the party-goers in Isla Vista. It's always nice to hear about the different directions you can go in with a degree from UCSB. You don't have to just be a marine biologist or a chemist, you can take yourself anywhere. I also loved the story about hacking Storke Tower and playing the ending theme to Portal. I hope to do something awesome like that at some point. He really encouraged us to explore, discover our depths, and learn for the sake of learning. It's not all about the degree; it's about every bit of information you have obtained, whether its math equations or life skills.Attached I posted a picture of Jack Johnson, a person who made something interesting of himself after graduating UCSB.
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