When is Spring Break again?

Well, the Spring Semester has definitely been underway for some time now and I still can’t accept the fact that I have tons of homework to do :/ Maybe because I’m not entirely thrilled with my choice of classes. I’ve been thinking for some time about switching my major from International Studies to Religious Studies. I think that it’s really so important to be knowledgeable about different cultures and traditions. I could still possibly keep International Studies as a minor too. Luckily, the advisement center at Marymount is really helpful. I found out that they have a type of meeting that you can schedule to map out a 4 year plan of everything that you’ve done/should do for the rest of undergrad. It seems like a great way to map everything out and feel comfortable about the future.  So hopefully everything goes well with that meeting this week!

In other news, my boyfriend has been coming in from Rutgers University in New Jersey to come visit for the past couple of weekends and we came up with a new plan for having fun in the city!  We decided we wanted dumplings one afternoon and just took a train down to Chinatown to wander around for a couple of hours.  We got all different kinds of dumplings, had some green tea, and bought a weird scary fruit for the fun of it! 

We also went to the Upper West Side for coffee and people-watching and the Financial District to go to the Ace Hotel to escape the cold and my apartment (it’s a really chill hangout where people study, eat, and get the best coffee in the city). Venturing off into unknown parts of the city is pretty unpredictable and fun. I found this perfect map to really get an idea of where I’m going and what’s nearby:

Does anyone else have some city adventure experiences that were really amazing? Share it with me!

Busy bee

Lately, I feel like I’ve been working 4 jobs. They are:

1)      Student: obviously the most important.

2)      Student Communications Worker: This is the only one I actually get paid for, unfortunately.

3)      Operations Manager: I’m still a DJ at WMMC Griffin Radio but now I’m also the operations manager. That means I keep track of scheduling, train DJs, handle technical issues as they arise, keep the station orderly, and much, much more.

4)      Carpenter: This semester I’m taking Stagecraft, which is a requirement for all Theatre majors (yes, I got in! Stage management, baby). I know why some people aren’t fond of it, but I love it. As part of the class requirements, I work in the scene shop and help make the scenery for MMC’s productions (the next, Time and the Conways, starts March 9^th- come check it out!).

Somehow they combined my love of tools with my love of organization. 

 

   Working in the scene shop has definitely re-ignited my love for learning. Every second I’m there, I learn how to do something new: use a miter saw, fake a cornice, take out a splinter, etc. I show up at my job covered in sawdust, but it definitely makes me happy.

   My new job at the radio station has also left me in awe of how funny, cool, and creative the students at this school are. Just listening to the station for a couple of hours makes me glad that I took a chance last semester and joined a club I knew next to nothing about. I’m in the process of making the station cozier for my DJs. Any suggestions on how I should decorate the place?

Unfortunately, no one but me likes this idea. Even though screwguns are gorgeous.

 

     Sure, I usually leave the house at 8:30 and don’t get back until about 6-7:30, but I’m almost always enjoying myself, and avoiding boredom. I’m convinced that when I’m bored, my brain must be dying.

Now, it’s about time for me to leave school and embark on my relaxing, but very boring weekend. I hope you have a great one and I’ll update you later.

-K.M.

Spring Semester!

Lady Gaga lives her art through her life

Hello everyone! The classes this semester are going fantastic so far.

My Sociology, Writing, and Costume Design class are probably my three favorite, because they are all so different and interesting.

In Sociology, I am studying how women are viewed and placed in society and I get to read a lot of feminism works, which is surprisingly really fascinating.

"Superbowling"

My Writing class's theme this semester is Novel and Film, where I can finally put my film nerdiness to good use!

Costume Design is really hard and a lot of work, but I’ve learned so much so far, and it's only been my second class.

Aside from enjoying all of my classes, I’ve been enjoying the down time when I do have some.

I tuned in and watched the Superbowl, despite the fact I had no idea what was going on, and the Grammys, to see Lady Gaga in an egg, which she supposedly had stayed in for 3 days… 

In other news, I did get to see the lovely Johnny Depp again, this time near somewhat on Marymount headquarters, meaning on 55^th street at P.J. Clarks.

Again, he was amazingly kind and generous to the MMC community, who had waited in the cold to catch a glimpse of him.

So amazing. No words <3

Valentine's Day was extra special this year, and I really wanted to find a way to express how much my friendships mean to me here at MMC.

Unfortunately, all my friends were able to figure out that I was their secret Valentine, but nonetheless it was really rewarding to see their expressions when they received their envelopes in the morning.

Well that’s all folks! Counting down the days to the Oscars, the best part of the month of February for me. 

I think that its between Black Swan and Kings Speech for best picture. King Speech for the win :)

Back to Marymount Shirts and Classes.

Welcome back everyone (meaning the 1,900 Marymount students). Spring 2011 classes are now in session, and after a long break it has been difficult to get back into the swing of things. I am so happy to be reconnected with all my friends and welcome new students into the residence hall (its like starting all over again). Break was good and successful but I’m thrilled that everyone is back!

Recap of the past three weeks of school (start of Spring semester). Classes started and I love all of mine. I am obsessed with my Acting for Non-Majors class. Another fun fact: Marymount installed about twenty 60-inch TVs in classrooms over break!

Highlights since school has started include waking up to lots of snow covering the streets and getting a snow day (photo of the terrace featuring about a foot of snow). I also rented a mini cooper two weekends ago and went with friends to drive and explore the city (it was fantastic and I highly recommend it, if you can drive.) I was afraid of driving in New York at first, but then I started to be aggressive and just drove!

Since we have been back, firefighters have visited the 55^th Street Residence Hall twice. Both of the times were false alarms, , but it’s nice to know that the fire alarms work. I am still working in the Admissions office and have been giving tours (come visit me!!!) and I hope to see prospective students at the open house coming up later this month.

Time to go study. Stay in school.

-austin

Week OHMYGOSH

Holy mother of tornado weeks. These first few weeks of my semester have been simply CRAZYPANTS. School started not even three weeks ago, but I can barely remember it...it seems so far away!

Well, I guess I did in fact start school and with the start of school, I somehow had a few projects due in the first week or two. The first Wednesday back found me feverishly working to finish my works of art for my junior exhibition. I was running to the lumber yard, back to school, stretching canvases, gesso-ing canvases, and in between classes and on breaks I'd go back to gesso some more. (Gesso-ing is like prepping your canvas so the paint doesnt seep through...you need 5 coats at LEAST and each coat has to dry before you apply the next layer) Needless to say, I didn't sleep much that night or very much until I actually hung it. But now its up and in the main art gallery! My friends even came to the reception. (:


Mine is the dancer to the left! (:

 The second huge project that I've been working on is my Honors Day submission! My professor of Surveys of Western Art I last semester encouraged me to submit this paper, but before I could, it had to be revised and edited many, many times. Probably four drafts. I'm a very big procrastinator and a very messy (but organized) kinda student and I work by crossing things off when I'm done. Heres the last draft...

In between all of that, I did have a social life. My best friend being back in the city has been wonderful! I have my own personal hairstylist. (:

Also, work has been great! The other day, I got to be...bum bum bum! A TOY SOLDIER! Thats one of those things that just doesnt happen unless youre over 6 foot. Which I'm definitely not. But they didn't have anyone for a party and I am always up for trying new things, so...I got to do it! As you can see, the uniform didn't quite fit but I made do.

Even after all of this craziness, there are certain bright spots. You know those days where everything seems to turn around because of one thing? Yeah, that happened a few times. Most memorably, my friend and I were wandering around Times Square deciding what we wanted to do when a random guy, around our age, came up to us and asked if we wanted to see Spider-Man the Musical. To which we replied...duh. $20 each! And it wasnt a scam! The show was AMAZING!!!!! Eveyrone needs to go see it. Its a mix of special effects, ridiculous scenery, cartoon, mechanics, flying, and really great music; I felt like I was in a video game.

After a month like mine, I am about wiped out. One night, while walking to meet up with friends, I stopped and I decided that I should belly flop into an otherwise undisturbed lot in Brooklyn. So I did. You know, some days you gotta do what you gotta do.

Moving back in- Excitement! Drama! Nah, not really, just a lot of T.P.

I’m not going to lie: moving back into the dorm is a huge pain in the butt. Fortunately, the first day is the worst, and it only gets better from there. I decided to do a little photo diary of my first day back. (Sorry if the quality of the pictures is kind of low. I had to use my cell phone as my camera was—where else?—packed.)

 

This is the gigantic bag that I brought back with me. If you’ll notice, it’s as high as the seat of the chair. It took me about eight hours to unpack. Not because I had so much to take out (well, that might be part of it) but because I kept getting distracted. There was so much New York food to eat, so many stories to tell to my suitemates.

Also, I was a little freaked out about this sight. I had been staying at my Dad’s house in Westchester County throughout January, but I was not relishing walking to school in the snow. Pro Tip: Buy some boots with traction. My Timberlands have saved my life many a morning.

 

Not my room, but my suitemate’s (I forgot to take a picture of mine while it was wrecked). If you’re a clean person, you’re pretty much going to have to get over that your first day back. Your room is going to be demolished for at least a weekend while you adjust your space.

 

Break is a good time to stock up on essentials. Above is our gigantic stock of paper towels before and below is after. I decided to be a class act and not take a picture of the toilet paper supply, but rest assured, if I were a suburban teenager on Halloween, I would be ready to wreak havoc.

 

Finally, after a long day of unpacking, we braved the cold and headed for MMC fave, the Plaza Diner. If you have a craving for chicken tenders at two in the morning (or any other time) it’s the place to go.

 

I’m a whole week into the semester and I have a lot to talk about (Radio! Stagecraft! Scheduling drama! Reading!) but I’ll leave that until next week.

Until then, enjoy your already unpacked room and eat some chicken at a reasonable hour.

-K.M.

Fall Semester

Snow on 55th!

Welcome back everyone! It has been quite a long winter break with lots and lots of crazy snow, but who is ready for the spring?

I spent the first part of my vacation catching up with family and friends… but also feasting on SO MUCH food. Seriously. I ate more then I EVER have out of all of my years of celebrating Christmas.  It was lovely to be home and to cuddle with my kitties and to sleep in my own bed, but I was excited for J-term. 

Christmas party!

It was definitely weird returning to 55^th with no one in sight, but overall, I am glad that I decided to stay at school over break. It was something for me to do and keep me busy, but also to get some credits out of the way. I only had class 3 days a week (Tuesday-Thursday), which was really nice. I also was able to hang out with some people that were in my classes in the fall semester (hi Ky, Derek, and Marshall!), but that I just never was able to really get to know outside of class. We had such a good time and spent our company together in the most 

interesting way, preparing for Honors Day and working on our creative artsy fartsy projects, but also exploring the down town area, and noming on delicious Mexican nachos :)

Last night of the fall semester! So many memories :)

Not to head down the deep and intellectual path, but I learned a lot about myself over J-term, as short as it was. Perhaps it was because I set a lot of personal time aside for myself to reflect and perform a self-evaluation, and now that I think about it, I guess you can call it a New Years Resolution. I mean, I never end up following through with those resolution things anyways, but I do believe in setting goals for yourself. There is still a lot that I have left to learn, and of course, there is still room to grow. This year all I ask is peace, love, happiness, and the continuation of self-discovery. I hope the spring semester brings something new and unexpected. I can’t wait!