Humanities Flag Football!!!

I want start this out by thanking everyone who played this year for the Humanities Scholars.  Our team this year had the best record of the past Humanities (or at least in the past three years), since we actually won games and made the playoffs (and if we won the playoff game, we would have been in the final game, because the other team forfeited).  I am very glad that we did not have to forfeit any games this year (unlike my Freshman year) and that we actually got wins (last year we got blown out all the time).  I have great hopes for my Senior year next year.  Hopefully we can build off of next year and maybe win a playoff game.  We just need to retain players from this year and also recruit new players from the incoming Freshman class.

Comic Book Series: Cartoon Library Tour

On September 25, 2765 AUC (that is 2012 in the Roman calendar), we visited the Cartoon Library by the Wexner Center.  While I had already been there (catching up on the Spider-man comics, since I never really read the comics as a kid), it was still an interesting tour.  I thought the history about the Center's collection and in comics was interesting, especially about the one newspaper strip that had countless rage mail about the family dog dying in the comic.  I should have asked them if they had any hate mail that was sent to Marvel after they split Spider-man and Mary Jane up.  If there was hate mail about the family dog dying, I would hate to see how harsh the mail was that was sent to Marvel because of the Neighborhood Friendly Web-Slinger.

Mentor Events

Due to a ridiculous amount of time conflicts, the only events I was really able to participate in this semester ended up being the mentor events, which I consider pretty important, since I'm a mentor.
The first event, the scavenger hunt, was kind of a bust because we didn't have any mentees show up, but we did it anyway to get those points in.
The second event, campus hide and seek, was a little better when we had one mentee show up, but it was nice because we got to chat with her and get to know her better and talk about how her semester is going and how she likes college life, and things like that.
Our mentees are involved in loads of different activities, from Women's Glee Club to jobs all over campus, so it's difficult to get them all together at once.  But we have had the opportunity to get dinner with various combinations of the four of them throughout the semester, so we've been able to stay caught up with their lives.

Treat the Hungry

This was my first year participating in our main service event, Treat the Hungry. I was very happily surprised with the number of people who showed up. With so many groups, we were able to get around the neighborhood quickly and efficiently. The weather wasn't that bad or cold, which was great. My group and I had a great time, and everyone we met was very friendly and helpful. People were very generous in their donations and a lot of people even had cans ready for us when we arrived. Overall, this was a great event and I was very proud to be a part of this Humanities Scholars tradition.

Canada

I made an impromptu trip to Canada this semester. It was my first time out of the country although I'd hardly call it an international experience. I went to Niagara Falls and found that it was just about the same as any other tourist city with over-priced food, carnival-esque attractions and way too many people. The trip was super fun though! The waterfall was awesome and I enjoyed hearing all the different languages being spoken. And it turns out it's true what people say about Canadians - very friendly!

Annie Leibovitz and Jann S. Wenner

"In this public celebration of the Wexner Prize, Leibovitz discusses her work with longtime friend Jann S. Wenner, the founder, publisher, and editor of Rolling Stone magazine. Their collaboration at Rolling Stone in the 1970s is legendary, but their subsequent—and independent—roles as interpreters and shapers of the social, cultural, and political history of America are just as interesting." 

This event was absolutely amazing; it was like viewing an intimate conversation between two old friends. They talked about their experiences with icons like Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Wolfe, Mick Jagger and The Beatles. It was so interesting to hear about these people from a first-person perspective. Annie had gone on tour with the Rolling Stones early in her career and subsequently went on a bit of a bender, or so they alluded. Despite the obvious negative outcomes of the tour, both Annie and Jann agreed that it was ultimately good for her artistry because it allowed to get an insider's view of her subjects, a view which she strove for for the rest of her career. Annie also talked about the day Lennon was shot. She had been photographing him and Yoko Ono earlier in the afternoon and insisted that Lennon had never been more in love with Yoko. The following day, instead of running a cover of just Lennon as would be expected following a death, they chose to run of cover of the two of them together to honor Lennon's wishes that Yoko be in the photograph. There were several more stories like these, all equally enchanting. I swear I could have listened to them talk for hours. It was a really a unique perspective on our nation's history. 

Mid-Ohio Food Bank

I went to volunteer with some of my sorority sisters at the Mid-Ohio Food Bank last Thursday and it was a lot of fun! They have student hours from 4-6 every Thursday and you can just show up and they will put you somewhere to help out. We were in the conveyer room and basically packaged boxes of non-perishable food items for families. They had music playing and the atmosphere was very relaxed and all the people that work there were really friendly and made the experience fun. In the end we packaged over 800 boxes so I was really proud of that. The time goes by really fast and it is such a simple but fun way to get involved in community service! I would suggest more people to volunteer there more often. All the people that work there were very appreciative because they are understaffed so all of the help really counts (even though it may not seem that you are doing that much)! I personally am going to try to volunteer there at least once a month :) you guys should too!!!

4th Annual Humanities Film Festival

This past evening I stopped by the Wexner Center to watch the videos put together by the first year humanities scholar students. The theme this year dealt with Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness, and I have to say that the videos had a much greater variety than the year that we had the environment as the theme. With that being said, there were two videos that stuck out to me as being atop the list. First and foremost, I really enjoyed the "What Makes You Happy" video put on by the Zig-a-zig-ahh group. They reenacted the scenes from the Breakfast Club, Rocky, Risky Business, and Good Will Hunting and played their scenes side by side with the actual movie clips. I thought it was the best video of the group and that it had great content. A second video that I enjoyed was the group that showed clips from the media showing the stupidity displayed by many Americans. They did a tremendous job of displacing that common notion. All in all, I was impressed with quite a few videos and enjoyed the show!

Post-Election Discussion

Yes, I was a political nerd and went to both the pre-election and post-election discussions. I really enjoyed this post-election discussion because it was extremely informative and helped us understand the impact of this election. It was interesting to hear people's opinions and what they thought was lost or gained in this election cycle. I'm really glad they had both of these discussions to kind of wrap up and conclude the election. I also really liked hearing the perspective of professors that had a more professional opinion. Overall, I'm glad I attended both political discussions because it allowed me to see both sides of the debate and how others thought they would be impacted by it in the future.

Arc of Justice Book Club

We had a small group for our book club discussion this term, but we had some fabulous discussion. We were lucky enough to have the author, Kevin Boyle, join us to talk about his experiences writing the book. I think this was great, because instead of just speculating what the author was trying to convey, we could hear firsthand how his research and trips inspired him.
The book itself was very enjoyable. It took me a few chapters to realize it was non-fiction, so the level of detail and description was high. Prof. Boyle told us his idea was that people would read this book before bed, and he hoped the plot and characters motivated them to stay up and keep reading.
Not only did I like the book, I also loved the ability to talk to the author about the writing process. For example, he says he hates the title, but would never want to change it. Another marvelous event from the Humanities Scholars, and of course lots of free pizza.

Honors and Scholars Political Talk

I went to the Honors and Scholars political discussion talk (pre-election) and I got a lot of good things out of it. First off, the fact that a political science professor that has had experience in campaigning for local candidates gave a lot of great insight into politics and campaigning. I thought the discussion was very well-rounded and there was a lot of free discussion periods in which we could describe any of our experiences campaigning or ask her any questions we had. I liked that the discussion was not so closed and that it was not just her lecturing; we all really got to talk about the topics we wanted to discuss while still being somewhat guided by the professor. The food was also great! We got it from Qdoba which was definitely switching it up. I overall really enjoyed the discussion and it helped me to understand some of the topics and issues relevant in the presidential election that I was unsure of before the discussion. I would recommend everyone to go to the post-election discussion! Hopefully it will be just as informative. Or maybe I am just a political nerd haha.

BalletMet presents...Dracula!

Last Thursday I joined the Humanities Scholars as we journeyed to the Capitol Theatre to see Dracula the Ballet! I had only been to one ballet before in my life, and that, as you may be able to guess, was The Nutcracker. With that admittance comes the declaration that I am certainly not an expert on ballet, or dance of any sort. I just love the performing arts :) Although I have never read Dracula and was a little unaware of the general plot line, I was entranced from the beginning until the end of the performance. The dancers did a wonderful job of not just dancing, but also acting. I was generally able to realize what was happening even though I only had the dancers and the music to guide me. Also, I was blown away by the strength demonstrated by the dancers. I can now fully understand why Barre workout classes are popping up everywhere as the lastest craze in getting fit!

For all of my fellow readers out there who also attended the performance, I have a question for you. Did the plot of the ballet match up with the storyline of the novel, Dracula?

After this ballet, I really hope that we all get a chance to go see the Little Mermaid in the Spring!

First year cookout...or so I thought

Last Monday, Natalie Howard and I decided to take a "spontaneous" drive to north campus. We heard there may or may not be a cookout in Hav lobby for first years. We got to Hav excited to meet some of the newest members of the Humanities Scholars program; however, we were devastated to find Hav lobby empty. We waited for a few minutes before a PSL scholar informed us of the date change. This was a very sad day for Natalie and I.

Alumni Band Day

Woooo for alumni band day! I had the pleasure of running into our very own Ben Fortman jazzing it up in the alumni band section. I felt especially cool when he told me I could go down to the bottom of the alumni group to try to find my friend who conveniently played in the band with Ben in college. I won't tell the stories, don't worry Ben. It was a lovely game and the quadruple script Ohio was awesome!

Study Abroad Expo

Last Thursday (September 6th) the Buckeye Reading Room in Thompson Library was filled with all sorts of study abroad information. For the third year, I ventured into the expo with curiosity and came out blown away by most of the opportunities that we have right here at OSU. The two experiences that stuck out to me were the "Semester at Sea" and the AIFS opportunity to study in the capital of Western Australia, Perth.  I couldn't possibly list all of the specifics of each program, but if anyone is interested in studying abroad, I highly recommend going to the office of international affairs and requesting information on a program that excites you!  AIFS offers many more opportunities than just Australia, for other countries include China, New Zealand, Ireland, Chile, Costa Rica, and many more!

Mentor/Mentee Scavenger Hunt

I had a lot of fun with the mentor scavenger hunt last year, so I was really excited to see that it was on the calendar again this year! Only one of my mentees was able to attend, but Gabi, Devon, and I had a lot of fun. We had some difficulties collecting the puzzle pieces, as some of the pieces appeared to be missing, so we ended up with a very mixed-up puzzle in the end! My favorite part was taking pictures for bonus points. We threw away someone's lunch trash at the Union, took O-H-I-O pictures with random strangers, did a human pyramid outside of Thompson, and took a picture with a picture of Gorden Gee! It was fun way to spend time getting to know Gabi, and getting to know Devon better too!

Spring Quarter

WATER FOR ELEPHANTS is a new favorite book of mine. I became totally engrossed in it as soon as I started reading and finished it in just a couple of sittings. It was beautifully written and intriguing the whole way through. The movie was a pretty big disappointment in comparison to the book. Characters were missing, had altered histories, and different roles or personalities. Maybe if I had seen the movie independent of the book I would have been able to enjoy it, but since I knew what the story could be, I could not fully appreciate the movie.

I really enjoyed seeing MEMPHIS at the end of the quarter. It was nice to relax a little and go out before getting caught up in finals. I might even say that seeing the musical helped me on one of my finals as the story fit in perfectly with my class on the history of African American music. It was exciting to see everything my professor had said in class come to life on the stage.

This quarter I had to say goodbye to my MENTOR after two years of friendship. We grabbed lunch together to celebrate her graduation from Ohio State and her admission to grad school at the University of Tennessee. It has been great to have her around the last couple of years but I am so excited for her to be moving on to bigger things and I know we will keep in touch for years to come.

Spring Quarter 2012 :)

1. Toronto

The trip to Toronto was so much fun. I had never been to Canada so this was a very fun and exciting trip for me. It was a great chance also for me to meet some new people that I hadn't met and explore a new city with my friends. My favorite thing that we did was either the Hockey Hall of Fame or the CN Tower. The CN Tower was a great opportunity to see the city. The Hockey Hall of Fame was really exciting also because it is Canada's national sport and I am a big hockey fan. It was unreal to get to see the memorabilia up close, especially the Golden Goal exhibit from the 2010 Olympics. I had a great time and am looking forward to seeing what is going to be next year's Spring Trip.

2. West Side Story

I really enjoyed West Side Story when I went with Humanities Scholars. I love the Ohio Theatre and loved this production of it. I love the movie version so I was excited to see the story on stage. I thought all the actors did great and really like the costumes. Although I know some people did not enjoy the play, I really liked it. The actress who played Maria also had an amazing voice and I enjoyed the songs.

3. Water for Elephants

This book to me was a fantastic read and I really really enjoyed it. Sadly I saw the movie before I read the book, which I never like to do, but I thought the movie was at least close to the book. I loved the development of the characters and the way she portrayed them. It was clear that the author had done her research and tried to keep her story line as realistic as possible. I really liked this book and would definitely recommend it. As for our group discussion, it was very interesting to me to hear everyone else's opinion on the novel. They brought new perspectives that I had not considered to the discussion and it brought new elements to the novel. I am interested to see what novels are chosen for next year.

Mystery of Edwin Drood

A few of my non-humanities friends were going to see this and they had an extra canned food item so they invited me along. Unfortunately I was so tired I ended up falling asleep during it. :( Not quite sure if that counts but I went all the same.

Spring Quarter 2012!

1.Toronto
By far the most exciting thing we did this quarter was the trip to Toronto. I had never been across the northern border before, so I was super excited.  Canada is obviously a different country, but you never really think about it having a different culture, so it was fun to see that.  We experienced most of what Toronto had to offer us as tourists, including the CN Tower, and the Hockey Hall of Fame, of Course.

2. Mentor/Mentee Minute to Win It
Unfortunately, our mentees were not able to attend Spring Quarter's signature event.  But we still had fun.  I was a little skeptical going in as to how it would be, but I was pleasantly surprised.  My group, which consisted of all mentors and no mentees, didn't get very many points, but we tried, and that's what counts, right?

3. West Side Story
This quarter I saw West Side Story for the very first time.  I've never even seen the movie.  The show was good, although not what I expected at all.  It seemed like there was too much happening to successfully fit into a two act show, but somehow it ended up working out.  I was expecting it to end up with all happy endings, but it never happens like that, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised.

Spring Quarter

This spring quarter had so many fun events to attend! I seemed to take a theater theme this quarter.
1. I went to see West Side Story at the Ohio Theater. It was such a great show. I loved all of the dancing, especially between the jets and sharks. I thought they did a fantastic job of keeping the integrity of the original production while adding new flair.
2. I also saw The Mystery of Edwin Drood. This show was so much fun! Everyone was entertaining and I absolutely loved the audience participation. I thought that OTL Productions was better than most all of the OSU Theater productions I've seen.
3. Finally, I saw Memphis at the Ohio Theater. This was my favorite of all the performances I saw this quarter. The music was outstanding, the storyline was old as time but with a new flair, and the costumes were fantastic. Although the lead actor sometimes got on my nerves, the vocals of the leading lady were incredible and the stories of all the characters were touching. Also, the musical did NOT end the way I expected to, which was actually really refreshing.

Spring Quarter 2012

This quarter I went to the quarterly Mentor-Mentee meeting.  We actually won third place in the challenges! I had a lot of fun with my friends even though my mentees weren't able to show up.  I can't wait to go to more events like this in the future, since I will be a mentor next year as well.

One event that was super big for me this quarter was Relay for Life.  I am a director for the ceremonies and survivorship committee.  I had a blast running the event, but I had the most fun getting to know the survivors and hearing their inspiring stories.

Lastly, I went to an Ohio State jazz band concert and heard one of my friends perform.  It was such a fun experience! I have never been to a concert on campus and was so glad I could finally go.  It was such a different crowd than I normally see.  It gave me a different experience from my usual on campus.

Mid Ohio Food Bank

I went to volunteer at the Mid Ohio Food Bank. It was my first time there and it was really fun. I got to meet some different Art Scholars and we talked the whole time. Marcus in the video explained the rules very clearly and it made the day run smooth. I really hope to get into more volunteering in the future.

Mentor Group Minute to Win It

I attended the 3rd and final signature mentor-mentee event for this year.  Unfortunately, a much of my mentees were no-shows (although I will not reveal names...), although part of me suspected that to happen both due to the attendance for the previous mentor-mentee event (only one mentee showed up) and when I emailed everyone in my group (both mentors and mentees alike), I got two replies that alerted me that they were not going to be able to make it to the event (I am not going to say names, but if I were to say who, I might mention that those who replied to my email were the same people at the 2nd mentor-mentee event ;) See what I did there).  Therefore, after I cried "Isis Hear My Plea" and Arkantos and friends appeared out of NOWHERE...wait ONE SECOND, that's Age of Mythology (a RTS game based on Greek, Norse, and Egyptian mythology, for those who did not know.  Oh, and an RTS is a Real Time Strategy, for those who did not know that either), not this event.  My bad. ;)  Well, Arkantos and friends didn't show up (because I did not say Isis Hear My Plea) but the other mentor in my group showed up.  Due to the lack of participate, we had to combine with another "menteeless" group.  It was fun seeing our group win at (and also fail at) the different games for this event.  Would I do this event again?  Sure (as long as my mentor group can motivate our mentees to go to the events).  Would I choose this as one of the signature mentor-mentee events again for next year?  I personally would recommend something different to change things up (so things don't get boring or dull).  And I apologize that Age of Mythology captured a lot of space on this blog post.

End of the Year

I once again attended the end of the year festivities. The subs were really good and it was great to see everybody one last time before summer. Congrats to all the graduating seniors, it's hard to believe I am already halfway done with college!

Spring Quarter 2012

So this quarter has by far been one of the busiest quarters at Ohio State, so I'll give a brief view of all the cool places I've been and things I've done humanities related:

(1) I had the opportunity to go on the spring trip to Toronto (which was super exciting, because I had the chance to bring my nice, new, and very expensive camera to take pictures.) Of the multitudes of things we did, and sights seen, I'd have to say my favorite is a toss up of the Hockey Hall of Fame and seeing War Horse. Of course, I am always a huge fan of theatre, so that's no surprise; but still, it was a really great trip!

(2) I went to several of the theatre shows in town this quarter, including Memphis (which was superb), Shrek the Musical, OSU's Marat/Sade, OTL's The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and Falstaff. They were all really well produced, and though I will not go into length about each of them, I will say that Memphis was probably my favorite of all, closely followed by Drood.

(3) I went on another service trip with Access88: Access to Education initiative through ServeCorps, and had the opportunity to talk to elementary students about the importance of preparing early for college as well as thinking about what will college look like in the future.

So many things, and this isn't even 1/3 of it all. But, by and by, it's been an eventful quarter!

Spring Quarter

This quarter has been a busy one!

One Humanities related event I attended I also helped organize. This event is called the World's Longest Barbecue, sponsored and run by Alpha Epsilon Pi and the Barbeque Qlub. This year we raised around 15,000 dollars for the mid-Ohio Food Bank and international food banks as well. The barbecue went for 5 straight days, 24 hours a day non-stop. It was an incredible experience and one that has done a lot of good year after year. Another event I attended was the end of the year meeting/and food party which recognized the seniors, most of whom I have never seen before. It was awesome seeing some new faces. Another event I attended was the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity fashion show which raises money for various philanthropies. It was great seeing so many people I know, with very little experience, gaining some confidence by looking great on stage. The final event, or events, that I saw involved the dance majors who went around campus doing impromptu and organized dances. I saw 3 performances: one outside the RPAC, on the Oval, and in Drake. It was great seeing a good friend and a friend from high school performing.

Spring!

This quarter I attended the mentee event with the 60 second games; all of the games were so fun! I also attended the mack hall drag show in the Union. There were professional and amateur participants in the show and they all did a great job. Last Thursday I went to see my friend play in one of the OSU jazz ensembles' concerts. The concert was behind the union and they played a nice mix of older big band jazz and more modern smooth jazz. Another event I attended was when I went to see a performance of Spring Awakening downtown. I had never seen the show but I thought they did a great job.

Gallery Hop

On Saturday, April 7th, I went to the short north gallery hop with my boyfriend. It was a lovely evening. We enjoyed some pretty cool paintings by obscure artists (everything ridiculously overpriced) and had ice cream at Jeni's because it's basically against moral standards to go to the short north without indulging in some fabulous Jeni's! The short north gallery hop is one of my favorite things about Columbus. It's so cute and artsy, everyone should do it before they graduate!

:)

Medieval and Renaissance Faire

This weekend my brother came down for the Siblings Weekend being held here at Ohio State. We attended the Medieval and Renaissance Faire and had a good time. It was really cool seeing the old-fashioned weapons, clothing, and jewelery being sold at the various stalls. The costumes being worn were also really interesting. We had already eaten before attending the Faire so I do not know how the carnival style food was. Overall it was a good event to have attended.

Minute to Win It

Earlier today, some of the Humanities Scholars participated in our own version of the TV show Minute to Win It.  I have to say that it was quite entertaining! Some of the tasks seemed incredibly difficult. Take balancing three golf balls as an example. I have a feeling that the golf balls have to be of the same brand because the dimple patterns in a golf balls vary across producers. Also, I'd be extremely impressed if someone could keep up a sheet of wax paper in the air for 60 seconds with using nothing but their breath. Those were the two toughest challenges, but at the same time they were fun to attempt. Whether it was trying to get Oreos to your mouth form your forehead without using anything but face muscles or trying to keep 3 balloons in the air for a minute, the Minute to Win It was a great time!

O Canada

Over the weekend, humanities and arts scholars went to Toronto and for the first international spring trip it was a lot of fun. The amount of museums, sights, etc. that we got to see for the cost was a steal. And while I didn't go through the art museum (I was already sleepy and it didn't seem like it was going to help), the CN Tower, Niagara Falls, the guided city tour, and Casa Loma were all fantastic. A few of us actually ran into someone who worked at the castle and he gave us a mini ghost tour, which is always fun. Niagara Falls was beautiful, it's kind of a shame the town is so touristy and hokey. Our tour guide Jason was great at showing us both the typical sites and other, more local things like graffiti alley and introducing me to butter tarts. I am so glad I got to see and experience a new city-it was absolutely worth the bus ride full of animated movies.

Hunger Games!

I went on April 1st to see The Hunger Games with Humanities Scholars...of course, it wasn't my first time seeing it. I'd gone to see it twice during opening weekend. Needless to say, I was actually impressed by how well they did with the movie. I had just finished the book two days before the movie came out, so everything was fresh in my mind. There were definitely somethings from the book that I would have loved to see in the movie, but I was impressed over all.

May the odds be ever in your favor!

The Hunger Games

Happy Hunger Games! Just yesterday, I headed down to Gateway to join other Humanities scholars in watching Suzanne Collins' bestselling book put onto screen. I have to say that having read all 3 books in the trilogy the movie was somewhat disappointing. In my opinion, if I had to rate the books and the movie on a 1-10 scale (10 being the highest) I would give the books a 9.8 and the movie a 7.0. I'm not usually one to pick up a book for casual reading, but for some reason the story of Katniss Everdeen kept me coming back for more. I understand that you can only fit so much into one film, and for that reason I thought the movie was good at staying true to the plot. For the first time in my life I can say I have read the books and believe that they are far better than the film. If you haven't picked up Suzanne Collins' trilogy yet, then I highly recommend giving it a chance.

Gallery Hop

My friend had his first gallery display during January's gallery hop. Five of his paintings were featured in a room covered ceiling to floor in art. Although I was not familiar with all of his paintings and did not know which pieces he had submitted, I was able to pick out his works among the rest. I was then able to notice the similarities between other works and put together the other artists' collections. I found the layout of the gallery exciting for that reason. One artist's paintings could be scattered and mixed it in with the others, but viewers were still able to find the style and know that they came from the same person.

Winter 2012

This quarter I went to the Family Feud with my mentees. We actually won! It was super fun to get to know the girls better and learn about what other students thought of Ohio State. I really enjoyed this event!

I went to the 8th Floor improv night. It was actually my first 8th Floor show. I had a ton of fun! It was definitely impressive to see how they thought quickly and made witty jokes.

I also went to Buckeyethon. It was my second year and it was just as rewarding. It is amazing to see how many students take time out of their lives to help children they don't even know. My favorite part, besides the dancing, was meeting the children we were helping. It was a great experience. I would definitely do it again!

Poverty Series Session 2

On March 8th, we watched an episode of Morgan Spurlock's 30 Days: Living on Minimum Wage. I though it was interesting seeing a small glimpse into the life of the urban poor. The cost of just walking into the emergency room and having your wrist wrapped up was just ridiculous (almost as ridiculous as how many girls play intramural sports in this scholars program...). How did that father with two or three kids (if my memory serves me correctly) live and support his children while Morgan and his fiance Alex could barely getting by with only themselves? I would think that the episode about a Christian being a Muslim for thirty days would be really interesting and I would suggest having an event devoted to that (I would go to it).

All-Scholars Basketball (x2)

The Humanities Scholars' basketball team went 0 - 2 - 1 (slightly better than our football record: 0-3). I couldn't play in the first game because I had Athletic Band; however, (as the title suggests) I was able to play in the last two games. In the first game, we got blown out and we had to grab three girls who were not in our scholars program to play for us. In the last game, we only had five people play, with only four guys and one girl. Since we only had one girl, we had to play four-on-five for the whole game. Fortunately, we somehow stayed with our opponents (they also only had two girls playing for the whole game). It is so pathetic that we cannot get a few girls in our scholars program to play intramural sports! How is this possible? There are so many more girls in this scholars program than there are men, yet we still cannot get enough girls. I am getting sick and tired of it; it is just not fun playing at a disadvantage when the all-scholars intramural sports give extreme handicaps for the female participants (such a girls get one extra point when they make a normal basket).

Winter 2012

1. Family Feud
I really like how the Mentor events are working this year. It's gives us an opportunity to talk to our mentees, without having to smother them, and still get an event for Humanities :) Family Feud was really fun, in an odd sort of way. But it got us talking, and we had all kinds of conversations we probably never would have had otherwise.

2. The Help
Last quarter, we read The Help in book club, and since I refuse to see movies before I read the book, I hadn't seen the movie yet. While I thought the movie was good, it was really interesting to hear what people with different backgrounds thought of it. One of the speakers who came was from the south, so he brought an entirely different perspective into the discussion.

3. The Hunger Games
This quarter we read The Hunger Games in book club. I actually read these books at the very end of summer break, so it had been a while, but, regardless, I loved them. Most people who have read them feel the same way, but there were a couple who felt differently, and I think with series like this with such a huge fan base, it's good to hear those other opinions.

All Scholars Ice Skate

I went to the All scholars ice skate, and it was a lot of fun. I haven't ice skated in like 6 years, so it was a little rough, but what can you do. I enjoyed it! It was a good way to end a busy school week

Safety With Chuck!

I know that this review may seem a little biased because "Chuck" is my dad, but nevertheless, I really enjoyed both parts of his presentations. Although I have sat through both parts before, there are always new things that he chooses to incorporate and I feel like I am always learning something new from him. I have definitely been paying more attention when I walk places and when I have to park in the garages on campus. After his first presentation, I was discussing it with my roommate Katy and she said that it made her scared- I can relate to this!! My dad is full of stories about scary things that have happened and I have grown up hearing them repeated over and over. It's hard to determine how you should be feeling after hearing some of the things my dad talked about. Scared? Empowered? Aware? I think a combination of all three is probably what most people feel. When I told my dad that some people feel a little uneasy about walking alone and being safe after his presentations he said that fear is a gift (like the title of the book that he read from) and that when you feel a little uneasy, you're probably a lot more aware of what is happening around you- which is the purpose of his presentation!

Hunger Games discussion

I went to the Hunger Games book club discussion, which was a pretty good time overall. I enjoyed reading the books and chatting with everyone about our favorite characters and favorite moments. However, I feel that these books were not written at a level that encourages serious, philosophical conversation; and many individuals tried to turn them into such. The book club, at certain points, reminded me of my high school english classes--taking trivial issues and lacing them with symbolism and allegory that is arguably nonexistent just to make for a pretty debate. I guess my point is, if there are no deep connections that can be made, then don't make them. Just enjoy the read. Other than that, I enjoyed my time. I'd probably go to a follow up discussion on the rest of the series if one was presented.

Family Feud

At first I was sort of dreading going to family feud because I am really bad at these kinds of games. However, it actually turned out to be pretty fun and I liked being competitive with it. However, I felt that if more people would have come, it would have been more fun. None of my group's mentees showed up so it was just a little disappointing. Overall, however, I think it was a good bonding experience for those groups that had both their mentors and their mentees present. I like that we are having more events through the mentor program because it is a great way to meet new people in Humanities Scholars.

The popcorn and soda refreshments were also a nice touch. I especially liked how Ben got so into reading the questions. One other criticism I would have of family feud was that the way it was organized took a long time to go through all the questions and get the scores from the groups. In the future, I would recommend that ALL mentors and mentees try to attend because it really is a great way of bonding with other scholars and getting to know more people.

Primary Debate

A political science organization held a discussion about the state of the 2012 election at the Union today. They went over various issues and let the room discuss ideas, opinions, and the electability of the various candidates. The various social issues in politics were addressed and these directly relate tot he Humanities because they affect our personal lives.

Drums Downtown

I originally heard about Drums Downtown from one of my former roommates and dear friend, Leisa DeCarlo, who actually danced on stage for the event. I had already bought the tickets ($5 via the Union) to go with a friend when I found out it counted as a Humanities Event.

The School of Music and the Dance Department put together a phenomenal show. Every section of the show exhibited great talent and creative expression. I was surprised by the different types of talents that were featured in a percussion show. I had expected to hear different drumming patterns on various drum-like instruments paired with some expressive dancing, but the show was so much more than that. A small orchestra opened the night with new, urban-styled music featuring soundbites of city life. I also really enjoyed the classical vocalists that were featured in a different act alongside the small orchestra.

The dancing, I had expected to see, but I was so impressed by the level of talent of all the dancers. The way the dancers danced off of each other, giving energy to each other and seemingly transferring life from one to another was beautiful and was, hands down, my favorite part.

Drums Downtown is an OSU tradition and if you missed it this year, I would definitely recommend you watch it next year.

Chinese New Year Celebration

(A little late in the quarter but...)

I had a really great time at the Chinese New Year culture show. Not being of Chinese descent, it was really eye opening and interesting to learn about Chinese culture. Not only so, but there was free Chinese food and entertaining acts that reminded me how talented OSU students can be. There were some memorable dancing and martial arts acts, but my favorite portion was the fashion show of traditional Chinese clothing. I've been learning about color theory in one of my design classes lately and we had discussed how colors can mean different things in different cultures. One of the examples was that red is the color worn by brides on wedding days in China instead of the white that is worn in our culture. Watching the fashion show, I noticed a lot of red either in the whole dress or used as an accent color. I was also intrigued by the fit of the dresses and how beauty was defined differently in that culture compared to my own.

The night was educational and most definitely enjoyable; I am glad I went.

8th floor improv

Went to 8th floor improv last night, it was pretty fun. There were SO many people there, which was nice to see for a change. I feel like 8th floor can be kind of hit or miss with their skits, and some of them were definitely a miss, but I had a good time and enjoyed it overall!

Humanities Events

This quarter I went to the Humanities Family Fued which was really fun, and my team won! I also attended the 8th floor improve night which was really funny. I went to two events that were related to humanities, I saw a linguist speak about how different dialects spread through New York state. I also went to the first day of the Academics and Activism series- the film viewing and discussion. We watched a movie about the Tucson City Public Schools. The documentary centered around a conflict between the government and the local school- the school offered an optional Latino curriculum program to students. The government has since disbanned the program, but the documentary showed all of the benefits of keeping the program (including boosting Latino American graduation rates from 50% to 93%). The event was really interesting!

The Help

I went to the Humanities viewing of The Help. I personally did not care for the movie very much, the plot was all over the place and none of the characters were fully developed. I also found the brief romance segment in the film to be unnecessary, but I did not read the book. Having two professors from the history department attend the viewing was really cool. Their insight and opinions on the movie were very interesting to hear. For those of you that were not at the viewing, the professors said The Help was a very poor portrayal of that Civil Rights movement. While the movie was sub-par for me, I really enjoyed the viewing and I hope there are similar events in the future. Having the opportunity to hear a professor's opinions on culture was a great experience.

Campus safety 101

I am so glad I attended this event. Chuck Duerre, a Lebanon,Oh police officer talked to us about some non-physical ways to keep safe. I always thought I paid attention to my surroundings and could spot a creeper from a mile away, but the stories he shared really opened my eyes to how little I see. Now I don't wear headphones when I walk to class and I scan the area around me. I'm less excited to go home and test my Mace on a tree...This was a great, informative event and I want to thank Mr. Duerre for coming to speak with us.

Taste of OSU

Food, food, and food! The taste of OSU is an event that I have been to the past 2 years and I'm so glad that I have the chance to experience the tastes of all cultures. The night gives students opportunities to taste the foods of several cultures that they normally would not have the opportunity to indulge in during their daily routines. If the smells and tastes are not your thing then you can also see cultural performances on the stage. Overall, I would highly recommend participating next year!

Family Feud

I recently attended the Humanities Family Feud! Unfortunately our group fell short of lifelong glory by placing second in the contest. The event was a great idea for bringing together mentors and mentees. Personally, our mentees did not make it over to Hagerty Hall, but the creative questions and popcorn were a great addition to hump day.

Rascal Flatts Concert

For my birthday, my mom bought me tickets to the Rascal Flatts concert at Nationwide Arena on Saturday. The concert was AMAZING. There were acts from up-and-coming Hunter Hayes and the wonderful Sara Evans. And then Rascal Flatts was just phenomenal all over. I was especially impressed by their synthesizer (for the background) and their lighting display, which was a giant wall of LED bulbs that projected realtime videos. It was overall a great experience!

COSI After Dark

So last Friday I went to COSI after dark with my lovely roommate and boyfriend. It was a swell time. Everyone loves free COSI. What can be better than running around a science-y place at 12am? We saw water world and space and a cesarean section being performed (ouch!). Anyway, COSI is always a good time. I'm sad I couldn't stay longer. YAY COSI!