Month: February 2015

Seeing “Tannhauser” at the Lyric Opera

Seeing “Tannhauser” at the Lyric Opera

Hi everyone! Hope you are all staying warm in this freezing weather. Every time I go outside I feel my whole face freezing and when I am breathing on my scarf wrapped around my neck, I can see actual icicles forming. It is insane! But of course, I am braving the weather and so should you! Don’t let a little cold make you not explore Chicago. This past Sunday, I decided to head out of my warm apartment and go to the Lyric Opera to see Tannhauser, a German opera.

I love going to the opera! While it is not for everyone, the beautiful singing just mesmerizes me and the story plots, costumes, set designs, and actors/actresses are just wonderful. However, if you are a first timer to the opera, I would not recommend seeing Tannhauser. It is a four and a half hour long opera which is quite a long time for people to sit through. It is also a tragic and depressive opera which is not everyone’s cup of tea. If you are a first timer, see something shorter and lighter, like the Magic Flute or a Shakespearean opera.

At the opera, I am pretty sure that my friend and I were the youngest ones there. The opera can be quite pricey, so not a lot of young people go. Since it was an older crowd, and it was a long opera, many people fell asleep! Which is kind of typical in long operas, but not me. It was way to enthralling for me to fall asleep. The general plot line is that a man is in Hell living with Venus who has enticed him away from his true love on earth. He begins to feel restless and wants to leave Venus to get back to earth. She lets him go, but unwillingly. Once returned, the man sees his love and wants her back, but she is unsure because he already left her once and she does not trust him. Many other men are vying for her attention, so a sing-off is held to see who she will choose. The man is still under Venus’s spell, so he sings of lustful love and everyone is disgusted. He is commanded to go to Rome to have his sins wiped clean. He goes, but is not forgiven and his love dies because she is distraught over the outcome. The man says that the pope will not forgive him unless his staff bears leaves. It miraculously does so at the end of the opera, but it is too late for the man because his love has died. The whole opera was in German so you have to read a prompter that is in English to tell you what is being sung.

It is a tragic opera, but a beautiful one. The Lyric offers student discounts for any student in Chicago, including Loyola Ramblers! If you go to their website and register as a student for free, you will receive emails saying when you can go to discounted operas. Usually the tickets are only around 20 dollars or so! It is a nice incentive to go out and get cultured in Chicago!

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Neonatology

Neonatology

The field that I aspire to go into is Neonatology. Here, specialized pediatricians deal with newborn and premature babies. They make the final diagnosis and help monitor the baby’s health. Neonatologists are responsible for everything related to the newborn baby- cardiac care, skin care, deficiencies, mental problems, and more. To me, it is a wonderful job because I love working in the medical environment ( I currently volunteer at a hospital) and I love new born babies. They are so beautiful, fragile, perfect, and innocent; most people (if not all) would agree that infants are precious and adorable!

When I tell people about the requirements of being a neonatologist, people always ask me why I chose that field. They always tell me it is sad to work in that field, seeing small premature infants, frequent deaths, wires connected all over, and more. To me, I see life in its most beautiful form. If I was a neonatologist, it would be my honor to help  the infants become stronger and healthier; everyone gets a fair chance to live and experience the amazing world we live in today. Yes, I understand that challenges and emotional hardship come my way in this field, but in the big scheme of things, I could say I saved a child. I saved children who would one day become CEOs of companies, world leaders, musicians, teachers, and more. That alone is fulfilling and is worth my time and energy to become a neonatologist.

Chapel Hill Memoir

Chapel Hill Memoir

On the night of February 10th, I remember being home relaxing after a long day of class and internship work.  Usually, I get home about 7 in the afternoon and that day was nothing new.  I was debating whether or not to go to the gym or finish my Biochemistry laboratory paper.  Well, I ended up doing both.  I have usually been going to bed around 12 at night, since I spend a good amount of time cooking and prepping my food for the next day.  That Tuesday was not any different and neither was my “check every social media ritual.”  I went on Facebook, but I did not read anything interest.  Instagram? nothing.  Pinterest?  I didn’t even try because I get too hungry.  Snapchat?  I didn’t feel like looking at so many pictures and videos.

When I went on Twitter, I read the first retweet about the #ChapelHillShooting.  At first, I figured it was an old incident, but when I clicked on the attached link, I noticed that it had happened that same night.  Honestly, I was expecting there to be a bigger hype about it.  There are so many discussions that can arise from this tragic.  However, this is not the purpose of this blog because all I want is there to be a mutual understanding that: this was and is important.  Additionally, I am writing this blog because I want to share with you how the Loyola community dealt with it.

There are times in which we get so carried away with all the daily activities of our lives.  This happens to me constantly, especially when I am walking around campus.  I have to rush to class.  I need to print this.  The line is so long.  I need coffee.  I forgot the moonlighting enzyme in the paper.  I knew the answer to that last question.  Did I eat today?  All of these thoughts go on in our heads and sometimes we do not stop to look around us and appreciate what is around us.  I get it.  It happens and this is fine.  However, there are situation, like this one, that make me realize how amazing the Loyola community is.   Unfortunately, in this case it had to be a tragic event, but nonetheless, it made me proud of all of these people who took the time to gather around and pay their respects to the victims.

There were people of other religions around the small and empowering memoir.  There were so many people who passed it and just stared in silence.  I believe that these are incidents that bring people closer.  Many people did not know what had happened and this memoir led them to research on their own.  I just want to put in my two cents about this incident.  I want those to know that the Loyola community is free of bigotry and we support each other like if we were our own.  If you didn’t know, now you know.  Take the time to free your mind and take a look around campus.  There is always something to be proud of, big or small.

 

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SAC’s Got Your Back

SAC’s Got Your Back

The Student Activities Committee is the JFRC’s version of ((dop)). But I’d like to think that even without a Jason Derulo concert on our agenda we’ll have just as much fun.

Monday nights the SAC meets for about hour. Really our meetings could be done in about 40 minutes, but we get off on planning tangents pretty easily, which aren’t always productive–but they make for a good meeting. I’ve got to say that this hour of slightly hectic planning with 20 or 30 other JFoRCers is my favorite way to start the week.

This semester we have elected to run without a president so that we can all have a hand at leading the group. Each week, different students lead us through the meetings–with the occasional words of wisdom from Student Life Assistant’s Jessica and Steven, who sponsor SAC. Usually they let us have free reign on how our meetings go, but they’re quick to let us know if what we scheme up is a little bit too far out there.

In just 3 weeks of working together we’ve already pulled off 4 events–a Student Forum, a weekly movie night, a Carnavale themed masquerade dance, and going to a Roma calcio game. We’ve got quite a few other events in the works, our next being a campus wide game of Assassins. Most of our events go on throughout the school week since the majority of students are traveling on the weekends.

SAC’s Carnavale dance ended up being quite a hit–the free food probably boosted our attendance. We transformed our dining hall into the best dance floor we could manage, complete with streamers, loud music, and some impromptu flashing dance lights on the TV screens. As is typical of a Carnavale party we encouraged both masks and costumes. We also enjoyed a few different fried pastries that remind me of “fair food” back home, just a little bit more Italian.

SAC “scored” with a successful trip to the Roma calcio game this week with about 30 JFRC students–we had quite the experience, which you can read about in my other post.

After we cross our Assassins Game off the SAC agenda it’s hard to say what we’ll plan next–maybe Jason Derulo! Or maybe not.

I, We, Society

I, We, Society

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Over Valentine’s Day weekend, I spent two days at LUREC on an incredibly thought-provoking and emotionally intense retreat, which I now consider to be one of my most memorable experiences at Loyola—The People’s Institute (TPI).

The People’s Institute Retreat is sponsored by Student Diversity and Multicultural Affairs and Student Leadership Development and is described as “an experience designed to explore and reflect upon the interconnection between leadership and social justice, while empowering students to partake in individual identity work through understanding privilege and the responsibility to create social change.”

As a political science and computer science double major, I aspire to help find new ways to utilize big data as a tool for promoting positive social change at scale, and to use internet technology as a conduit for creating equity through ubiquitous access to information and services. Last semester, I decided to apply to TPI, not only for the opportunity to explore my self-identity and advance my own leadership abilities, but, even more so, for a chance to discover diverse ways to apply these skills in order to increase social awareness and engagement in causes I believe in. Appreciatively, I became one of the lucky forty or so students selected to attend Loyola Chicago’s fourth annual TPI.

We spent both days working with Felicia Lee and Jonathan Poullard, who specialize in leadership development, team building, and diversity initiatives.  Felicia is the Assistant Vice Chancellor and Chief of Staff at UC Berkeley, and Jonathan was the previous Dean of Students at Berkeley. By the end of the first day, we all knew that we would love working with this dynamic pair of facilitators.

The first day’s theme was “I – Consciousness of Self,” while the second day focused on “We – Allies and Identity Group Memberships.” All the activities were designed to ‘push’ us to “be vulnerable” in order to better understand ourselves, and each other, as individuals. Doing this allowed us to become more aware of different social subgroups while at the same time becoming better active allies of oppressed identity groups. One of my favorite activities was watching Novelist Chimamanda Adichie’s TED Talk, The Danger of a Single Story, a lighthearted take on the negative potential of stereotypes.

For me, the TPI retreat will be remembered as an extraordinarily unique and powerful experience. It was a lot to take in, in only one brief weekend, but I definitely encourage all those who have even the slightest interest in leadership and social justice to apply in the fall for next year’s TPI.

 

Image from: http://www.kean.edu/sites/default/files/images/CLS-socialchange.png

Sakai

Sakai

Hi there! Since this week has been filled with papers and studying, I did not have much time to do anything exciting to tell you guys about, so I thought I would talk about Sakai! Woohoo, three cheers for academic related blog posts!

Sakai is Loyola’s online learning management system. It stores all your classes and is a great way to build a connection between a student and their instructor. On this site, your instructor posts their syllabus and can add any sort of files you may need. If your course has extra online reading materials, your professor can have them posted under “Resources” and here you can always have access to the readings that you need. Under each course there is also an “Announcement” tab where your professor can send you news updates on the course. These announcements are tied to your email, so whenever an announcement is posted on Sakai, you will also get an email about it.

Another tab is the “Assignments” tab. Here, your professor may write what assignments you have to complete over the semester. Your assignments could have direct submissions on Sakai where you upload a document or type out your response in a dialogue box. The “Gradebook” tab is used to display your grades for each assignment over the semester. It is always helpful to see where you stand in a class! There is also a “Wiki”, “Blogs”, and “Forums” tabs which are used for creating discussions and collaboration with other students. You can create your own Wiki page, blog about the readings you are doing, or post comments in the forum and see what other students have to say.

There is also a great tab where you can email your class/professor/certain student in class. This can always be helpful in case you missed an assignment and need notes, ect. Sakai is a great way for students to connect with their professors to enhance their learning in a class through technology. I was one of the classes that was the test class for Sakai and I loved it! Sakai has always been a helpful tool for me as a student!

Writing for Midterms

Writing for Midterms

Midterms are upon us. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Most classes do have a midterm, yet there is a chance that instead of a midterm test, you will have a paper. This post is dedicated to that, because I really don’t know how much I can provide tips for you to ace your 40 question test with multiple choice, short answers, and essays.

What I’ve learned from my (one) midterm experience thus far is that planning out your essays and tests really really helps. Email your professors about deadlines if you’re not sure about them, it’s better to ask a silly question than to show up to class the day your paper is due without your paper.

So, plan your papers out. And then, start them early if you can. If you’re like me and have spent all day doing nothing but watching The Office on Netflix because you don’t have a paper due until the next Wednesday, just do yourself a favor and plan it out or start it early. It will make your life 100 times easier.

If you feel like you’re not writing well enough to get you that A that you’re looking for, do yourself a favor and sign up for the writing center! Spots around midterms go fast, but they’re really helpful and a great resource to use when looking to up your grade. Sign up online, or go into the IC and make an appointment.
To make their job easier, please review your essay for things like spelling errors and repeated words before you go in and bring them your paper.

Good luck to everyone, and happy midterms!

Be The Change Week

Be The Change Week

Hi there!

This week at Loyola, the Department of Student Leadership Development hosted a week of activities called Be the Change Week. This week was full of different leadership development workshops and activities that empowered students to make a change in the world. Each day this week, from Monday-Thursday, there were different events each night, such as Activism Art and Day of Silent Solitary. This week was definitely really cool, in my eyes! As college students, making a change for the causes and problems that we are passionate about is a daunting task- it’s hard to envision ourselves actually making an impact, but this week really put things into perspective. As college students, we all do have the ability to make a change, but it starts with baby steps- and this can be as simple as joining organizations that do something for the causes that you believe in. I really appreciated the events planned this week, and I wanted to leave you with this video by Kid President on making change. The message behind this video is great, and I definitely suggest you take a look!

 

Health And Safety Inspections In Residence Halls

Health And Safety Inspections In Residence Halls

If you live in a residence hall on campus, you know that health and safety inspections happen twice a year (once each semester) to ensure that everything is kept safe and healthy! Our health and safety inspections in my residence hall, Mertz, were this past week, so in honor of passing, I thought I’d talk about what is allowed and what is not allowed in a residence hall room!

Health and safety inspections are done by the Resident Assistants (RA’s) of the residence halls, often your own floor’s RA with another from a different floor. On the selected day, the RA’s will come into the individual rooms of each resident to take a look around and make sure that everything is up to the health and safety regulations of the building. If everything looks good, they will simply pass you and you’re good to go!

Here are some things that are not allowed in a residence hall room:
• Too many plugs plugged into one power strip
• Space heaters
• Hot plates/griddles/any cooking appliances except a microwave basically
• Lava lamps
• More than 20% of the walls covered
• Nothing is to be hanging from the water pipes
• Alcohol or drug paraphernalia
• Candles
• Pets except non-dangerous fish

If you have none of these things, you should be able to pass these inspections with extreme ease. However, in addition to items not allowed in residence halls, the inspectors also look for things that could affect the health and safety of others regarding cleanliness. For example, overflowing trash bins, rugs and carpets that are not vacuumed, hard floors that are not mopped, piles of dust, old food in the fridge that has expired, and more things like that. If everything is clean and legal, then these inspections should be easy for you!

Ultimately, the health and safety inspections are nothing to be afraid of if you are living in a healthy and safe manner! If you make sure not to have items that are not allowed and keep your room clean, you will be fine!

Siamo La Roma

Siamo La Roma

AS Rome vs. Feyenoord Rotterdam 1-1. Great game to watch. Most terrified I’ve been so far while abroad.

The Student Activities Committee helped organize a group of students to go to the AS Roma soccer game on Thursday night. My ticket only set me back 22 euro–in order to encourage more women to come to the games, tickets for women cost 3 euro less than tickets for men, not too shabby. The next best news I had was that the JFRC is actually within walking distance of Stadio Olimpico. The walk wasn’t so bad on the way there because it was entirely downhill–the walk home wasn’t quite as easy.

Our group of almost 30 students had a bit of an issue getting into the stadium once we arrived. Steven, the Student Life Assistant that came with us,  led us towards the gate he usually enters, but we were stopped by the police because a group of Dutch fans were currently entering the stadium…

Side note: These games are nothing like any sporting event I’ve been to in the States. Not only were there city police patroling the outside of the stadium, the military police was there–in full “SWAT team gear”– and stadium security. The biggest difference though is that fans from opposing teams, especially during games of intense rivalries, never cross paths. Huge glass walls and lines of security guards separate the fans from each other and they enter the stadium through different gates. By the way the fans were behaving throughout the game I would say the separation is for good reason. I can’t even imagine what it would of been like had our game not ended in a tie.

…After the Dutch fans made their way in, we kept walking to the next gate. Only to be stopped by the military police who said it wasn’t safe for us to go that way. So we turned around and started heading for gates on the other end of the stadium. We thought we were home free, but before we even made it to the next gate we were stopped by another group of police officers. They turned us back around the way we came, but this time they escorted us past the military police and right up to the gate. After a bit of a scare from a variety of intimidating, Italian police officers it was a huge relief to make it inside and to our seats.

By the time we finally made it into the stadium the game had already started. We were lucky though, because minutes after we sat down Roma scored a goal! By the way the crowd reacted you would of thought we won the World Cup. Everyone (minus the Dutch) was roaring with Roma cheers (and cursing the Dutch). The most dedicated fans behind our goal were swinging flags in the air throughout the entire match. Some set off flares and red and yellow “smoke bombs”. How they got those past security beats me.

The entire game was a lot of back and forth between these two clearly talented teams. The skill level of these players was incredible watch. But I think watching the fans on both sides was just as entertaining. Shortly after half-time, Feyenoord scored and I was sure the Dutch fans would storm the field–somehow they stayed mostly contained. The synchronization of their cheers was amazing, and their intimidation factor even from across the field.

Roma had a few more chances to score before the game was over, but was unable to make it happen. Ending in a tie may have been for the best, for the sake of the livelihood of the fans at least. Although, I am bummed I couldn’t see them win. But hey, I definitely enjoyed the game so maybe I’ll be back before the semester’s over. Siamo la Roma–We are Rome.