Harry Potter – College Admission at Loyola

Top Reasons to Love Harry Potter

By | April 11, 2015

…for all you Harry Potter fans….

MAGIC IS JUST COOL. Who doesn’t love having a wand in their hand and creating magic? It’s so cool to use a wand and feel the power. For all you Harry Potter fans, we all know that one saying from Hermione when she corrects Ron in class, “It’s LeviOSA, not Leviosa!” <– That is my favorite scene. With magic, you can make polyjuice potion and turn into another person, defeat Voldemort (only if you are Harry), and so much more. The list is endless.
FRIENDSHIPS RULE. It is obvious that there is a strong friendship among three people: Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Throughout the seven books, we get to see their friendship grow. Harry has bravery, Ron has persistence, and Hermione has intelligence- all three work well together. I’ve never seen a friendship so beautiful and unbreakable in real life.

HOGWARTS IS BEAUTIFUL. If there was such a school in real life, I would apply for Hogwarts without hesitation. Not only is Hogwarts prestigious for witchcraft and wizardry, but the campus is so beautiful! The architecture, the courtyard, everything…. I have been to the Harry Potter theme park in Orlando, Florida and I was speechless by the view. Everything is grand- the school towers are so tall, there are vines growing on the stone walls, there are stain-glass windows, chandeliers, fancy frames of portraits, etc.

HOGSMEADE IS THE PLACE TO BE! This is the little town-like place that Harry and his friends like to go to get butterbeers, candy from Honeydukes (the chocolate frogs are my favorite!), or walk around the Shrieking Shack. This places has everything a person could ever want in life. Especially as a student, this is the place to be to hang out and enjoy oneself with good friends.

LOVE IS UNIVERSAL. It doesn’t have to pertain to the romantic sense completely but in every book, there are new relationships that are created between/among teachers, friends, family, and more. It is amazing to read about the character’s stories and go with them through their journey and see how things work out. I believe that the best book/movie that demonstrates love the most would be Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Here, Ron gets feelings for Hermione but Hermoine gets feelings for someone else. Also, Harry gets introduced to Professor Moody and they begin to interact a lot. In the end, a dear friend to Harry, Cedric, dies in front of his eyes and he is heartbroken…..Nonetheless, as you can see, a lot happens in this book.
NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM IS THE BEST. HANDS DOWN. Well, this is a personal opinion, but he is my favorite character. In the first few chapters, J.K. Rowling depicts him as a shy, introverted character (such as myself). He tries hard to do well in all aspects- socially and academically. Towards the later novels, he has drastically become braver, courageous, and confident. He is the key person that killed the last horcrux and therefore killed Lord Volermort once and for all. He is a hero. Without Neville in the last book, I believe things would have been much more difficult and maybe, just maybe, Harry would have been defeated.

Almost all of the books I love to read are fiction-based. These types of books open up my imagination and take me away from reality. Especially with fictional books, characters are given unique personalities and the story plot can be fun, mystical, and suspenseful. I enjoy this very much because I get to visualize the story as I read along.

Harry Potter Series (J.K. Rowling) I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan! Despite the series actually containing 7 books in all, I decided to combine all the books together here. I love the way J.K Rowling develops each distinct character and creates a sense of endless, mystical fantasy that keeps readers reading. Her style of writing is phenomenal as it is easy to read and follow along; anyone who is capable of reading can understand the story. The morals of the stories are so pure and full of heart. All in all, the Harry Potter novels are good books I highly recommend to read or even reread!

The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Brain Selznick) This has been a favorite book of mine since grade school because of the novel’s art and the style in which the book was made. When people say that pictures mean more than 1,000 words, this novel says it all. More than half of the book is composed of full-page illustrations that help the reader visualize the story the way the author wants them to see it. The story is heartbreaking, heartwarming, and so engaging to read. Those who have seen the wonderful movie version of this novel know I what mean by this.

Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck) Steinbeck never fails to disappoint us through his stories. Grapes of Wrath is a longer read than most of his other books, but it takes us into the time of the American Depression and Recession through a particular man and his family. The readers will be able to experience what it was like to live at that time and realize all the difficulties and struggles people had to face. Steinbeck’s diction is well suited for the time period and his format (splitting the story up by section) is quite different and interesting.

The Canterbury Tales (Geoffery Chaucer) There are many short stories of different wacky, funny, sickening, and lovely characters; some stories will really make you laugh! The animations of the stories (claymation videos on YouTube) are fantastic to watch after you read the stories. Despite the text to be written in Middle English, I think readers can still read and understand the text just fine.

Never A City So Real (Alex Kotlowitz) This is a novel I read with my friends from DePaul University from a class pertaining to Chicago History. This novel is all about Chicago and is written to point out many hotspots of Chicago (20-30 years ago). There is much emphasis on the urban lifestyle, different neighborhoods with different cultures, famous restaurants (like Manny’s), notorious gangs, and more. After reading this book, you will definitely be more aware of Chicago’s past history and see the city in a more interesting way!

Fall’s Fun Functions Part 2

By | September 18, 2012

As promised, I am writing another blog today. To continue on my Saturday, along with having my fortune told, I got to experience other cool things, some that I had previously done and some that I had not.

One thing that I had never done before was pet and feed a Llama. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever even seen a live Llama, so getting up close to it and feeding it was really cool. Here’s a picture:

I also sang karaoke there, which was recorded, so I have a CD of myself singing the original version of “Life Is A Highway” by Tom Cochrane. I played some Frisbee there as well, realizing that I am quite horrible at it, but I am pretty good at rock climbing. There was a rock climbing wall put up there, and I got the chance to climb the harder segment of it. I got to the top, which felt pretty great considering I hadn’t done it since high school several years ago.

I also got to see some people dressed up as Batman, Harry Potter, and all sorts of other characters, and I saw the Jesse White Tumbling Team perform again.

In between activities, I ate chili cheese dogs and the best M&M cookies I’ve ever had, and I collected souvenirs from the day to keep as memorabilia. It’s great to know I have three pairs of crazy “sunglasses” now that I’ll never actually wear anywhere.

After such an awesome day, it was nice to know that I could hang out on Sunday and…study. Since I had my first Accounting exam on Monday, I spent the day brushing up on my material and touching up any final pieces of knowledge I would need for the test. Last year, when I took my first Accounting exam, I was nervous, but going into this one, I felt confident and ready because I’d taken a different approach to studying. Now I get to wait till next Monday to find out what I got on my exam, but until then, I can begin studying for my first Macroeconomics exam coming up in a week and a half, and preparing my Accounting project due soon after that.

Finding a Niche

By | February 12, 2012

When you come to college for the first time, it’s a bit difficult to find that perfect place to study. After growing up and spending a majority of your time at home, college it is quite the change of atmospheres.

Over the past week and for the next week I would probably go crazy if I did not have places on campus where I love to study. When you have a test in every class and you are a major in Biophysics and Biology, you’re bound to feel a little crazed.

Here are my two favorite study places:

Harry Potter Room: Honestly I have no idea how it got the name, I actually don’t even know the real name of the silent study hall in Cudahy Library. And personally I do not think it looks anything like the hall in Harry Potter. This space is a large silent study hall with lots of people burying their heads in books and laptops.

Isaac and Al’s: This is the Physics study lounge, most departments do not have there own lounge but being that our dept. is kinda awesome we not only have a lounge but we are also equipped with a computer room providing free printing for Physics Majors. Not to mention the free food any time Professor Rubbel is in his good mood. Sure, it would be nice if the dome on top of Cudahy was a physics lounge but its not, it is an empty old room. If I get the chance to go up I will take a picture and post it as proof.

Tag: Harry Potter