Coming to an End…

This is the very last week of school! Right now, I have three art projects due, three papers to write, one test, and a few other random things to complete before I can officially say I’m done! My exam schedule worked out nicely this year because everything is spaced out, so I have time to work and study in between it all. If all goes well, a couple friends and I are planning a trip to the beach on one of the days that none of us have an exam! We like to try and doing something fun together before we move back home or to our summer jobs and we don’t get to see each other as much any more.

Oh, summer! Somehow this week is probably going to be the hardest in terms of focusing, even though there have been lots of other weeks throughout the semester where I’ve had more work than this. This semester’s workload has been consistently heavy all the time, and it has really worn me out! After this, working 40 hours per week at my summer job will be relaxing! (I’m serious!) I really am looking forward to my job. I’ll be working as a Senior Graphic Editing Assistant at a company that makes college directories, planners, and other media. I’ve had internships here the past two summers, and they’ve always been a lot of fun. It’s always busy and sometimes it can get pretty intense, but it is a different sort of busyness than school.

I also have a birthday coming up right after school ends, so that is exciting! Aside from that, I’m really looking forward to my sister’s high school graduation because all of our family will be visiting then. My sister, fiance and I are also planning a summer road trip to see our out of state family. Since my family moved this winter, I have been missing them a lot, and I am so ready to go and see them again!

This year has been wonderful, challenging, fun, exciting, full of change, and surprising in many ways. I hope next year will hold just as much excitement, and hopefully I’ll be able to blog about when I come back in the fall! Until then, I hope you enjoy your summer, and I look forward to seeing all the new faces on campus next semester!

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Don Juans of Our Lives: Dimensions of Love

Our Group, in Costume

So this semester I have been taking one class for an honors requirement that is solely about Don Juan. Yes, womanizing, seducing, sword fighting, Don Juan. We have read about ten different full length Don Juan plays and also studied dozens of other Don Juan works. I could probably write my thesis on Don Juan now, because I am pretty sure I know more about Don Juan than some of the critics we’ve read. Who knew there were so many different versions of the story? The interesting thing is we didn’t look at any two stories that were even remotely similar; they all took a completely different turn.

Our final project for the class was to perform part of one of the plays that we studied. My group was assigned Don Juan on Trial, a play written in 1991 that gives Don Juan a very modern twist. I won’t give away the ending, but suffice it to say that our play has enough conflict and drama in it to be a soap opera, which is why we titled our performance Don Juans of Our Lives: Dimensions of Love. We have been researching, memorizing lines, and practicing since midterm, and we have worked very hard on it. We performed it in an outdoor location and I think it went well, although it was extremely windy when we presented it. It was really fun getting to know the other girls in my group, but I must say that I am glad it is over! For the past couple of weeks especially, we have been having practices at all hours of the night, and it was pretty time consuming. But I think our hard work payed off, because the performance went very well and we had very few mistakes!

It’s Here!

Art Show Announcements

This week was the gallery opening of the Annual Juried Student Art Show! As the postcard says, it will be up in the Johnson Hall Rotunda through the summer, until August 26. But what is the Annual Juried Student Art Show, you may ask? Every year, students submit many, many entries, and an outside juror judges them all. He or she selects some of them to go into the Show. In addition to getting into the show, a handful of pieces are selected to receive additional awards. At the gallery opening, these awards are announced. There are also refreshments, and it is open to family, friends, and other guests. This year, President Allen came to the opening, and she even announced some of the awards! It was really nice to have her there supporting the art students. If you will be on campus anytime soon, make sure you stop by the rotunda and take a look around if you haven’t already. I will leave you with this sneak peek to entice your interest:

Gallery

 

That Magical Time of Year…

No, I’m not talking about Christmas–it’s registration time! Unwrapping new classes and decorating color-coded charts are just a few of the festivities. Usually it takes me a very long time to decide which classes I want to take, how they fit together, etc., but this semester was different. Next year is my last, and there are only so many classes I have left to take. Many are offered only in the fall or only in the spring, so there really was not much choice. My schedule practically created itself! Here is what it looks like so far:

Special Topics in Graphic Design

Advanced Typography

Interactive Design

New Writing Media

Badminton

Strength Training

History of Graphic Design at State

I say this at this time every semester, but there are so many things to look forward to! I mean, I have FOUR classes that are just about graphic design!!! How much better can this course schedule get?

Another Angel!

Yesterday I bought my sister her first (of many) Meredith t-shirts! It looks like she will be joining me at MC in the fall, and I, of course, am thrilled! Choosing your college can be difficult and confusing, but somehow I knew she would come here all along. I asked her what she likes best about Meredith, and she said she likes the programs for the majors she’s interested in, she gets to continue living with me, and Meredith just feels like home! Needless to say, I am very happy that she will be an angel! Mainly this is because I have grown to love Meredith so much and I want her to be able to experience it, too.

I’m sure some of you might be trying to make decisions about where you will go to college, or maybe you already have decided. Just remember to think about where you seem to fit in the best and where you can imagine being for the next four years. I decided to come to Meredith because I felt welcome here. On the visitation days I attended, the students, faculty, and staff were kind and helpful, and some even remembered my name. I knew that if I became a student here, I would be able to be a part of a community, not just another student or a number. The small size of the college has allowed me to build personal relationships with the faculty and to have opportunities I wouldn’t get otherwise. Good luck with your decision making! I’m looking forward to seeing my sister along with many other new faces on campus in Fall 2012!

A New President

You may have heard that Meredith has a new President this year, Dr. Jo Allen. On Thursday, Dr. Allen was inaugurated to her new role and became the first Meredith alumna to be president of the college! Everyone boarded buses on Thursday morning and headed to Raleigh Memorial Auditorium for the ceremony, which was attended by students, faculty, and alumnae. It was a special and exciting day for everyone, but most of all for President Allen, I think.

She seems to embody many of the things Meredith represents. I’ve had the opportunity to meet her once or twice, and it is evident she has a love for Meredith and appreciates the college’s roots and strengths. However, she also seems to have a clear direction she would like to see Meredith to progress in and ideas to improve in weak areas. This is a good mixture, because of course we ought to always progress and improve, but at the same time, it would be foolish to forget what makes Meredith “Meredith.” The catch phrase for the inauguration was “Remembering Our Roots, Extending Our Reach,” which seems to capture both of these sentiments well. Watch what President Allen had to say at the Inauguration!

 

Making $$$

At the beginning of every Spring semester I always have the same question, “Where in the world will I work this summer???” Thankfully, Meredith has tons of resources to help find jobs and internships! Academic & Career Planning’s website has tips for writing your resume and going on interviews,  job listings that you can search, and even more resources, too. During the school year, they also have resume workshops, give interview practice sessions, and are available to help you look for jobs. They also offer help for finding grad schools and practicing for graduate school tests.

I have gone to the resume workshops to get advice for mine and I’ve searched for jobs on their website many times. The summer after my freshman year I found a great internship at a company that makes college directories, planners, and other media. I applied through the Career Planning website and I got the internship! I liked it so much I worked there again last summer, and I’m going to work there again this summer, too! The great thing about Meredith’s Academic & Career Planning resources is that they are available to students and alums indefinitely, no matter when you graduate.