What I Learned Sophomore Year

I picked up a few things this year. Here, I pass them on to you.

1. Go to MFA’s enclosed balcony to study and watch the sun set. There’s no other view on campus quite like it. And I know I’m giving away my secret space to study, but I it’s too beautiful not to share. In fact, that is where I am typing this.

2. Don’t be afraid to design your schedule how you want it. My adviser didn’t think it was a good idea that I only take Tuesday/Thursday classes for Fall term – but I told her I could handle it and guess what? I loved it! Winter term I wasn’t so lucky, but now that my GE’s are done I’m going to do that every semester until I graduate.

Hello, May Term!

The Holi Festival!

May Term is like semester condensed into one month. However, you only have one class to focus on! It lasts two hours but usually flies by each day! There are also a lot of fun activities and events that go on during this time.

Last May, the Student Activities Board (SAB) hosted the Holi Festival for the first time. One of my fellow board members simply came in and said he had an idea of an event he’d like to try. After hearing his description of it, we couldn’t pass it up!

The Holi Festival of Colors is primarily celebrated in India.The festival has many purposes. It celebrates the beginning of the new season, spring (this is a great way to say goodbye to winter). It also has a religious purpose, commemorating events present in Hindu mythology. Mostly, it is used to express unity and was a way for all of us pioneers to connect with one another! So, you’re probably wondering, “What do you do at a Holi Festival?”

This Is History and I Am History

Lucille Little Theater is a black box theater, a re-configurable space, where you can make your audience feel the realest theater experience. I tried something new half way through this semester by auditioning for a play.

To be honest, I had no idea what I was getting myself into but I had the spare time and really needed to put myself out there. So, after reading about this production in e-mail from TUnity, Transy’s gender alliance association, I decided to do it.

I met with  Michael Dixon, one of Transy’s theater professors, and his Today Is History class where they explained that the goal of this production is to depict 50′s and current coming of age men and women. Since this was all written by Transy students, he urged all of us to do research to truly understand the 50′s era we were traveling into. After a few days I received my lines. I found out I was performing in two pieces. I felt pretty overwhelmed but realized I had a couple of months and several rehearsals to remember the lines.

My May Term Class is the Bomb…Literally!

Picture enormous mushroom clouds filling the atmosphere, or the first time Rutherford successfully split the atom, or when Leonard visits CERN’s Large Hadron Collider on the Big Bang Theory.

Now imagine an entire class devoted to (at least) the first two of these occurrences, a class that delves into both the history and science behind the atomic bomb, a class that is truly interdisciplinary in the spirit of the liberal arts.

As explained in Rachel’s post, students at Transy take one May Term class per year.  It is a time to fill general education requirements, to broaden your horizons, and overall to have fun and unique learning experiences in the classroom.  Which brings me again to my class, wittily entitled “The Bomb.” 

No, there will be no actually experimentation, no smashing protons into atom nuclei – just some theoretical jargon and a lot of engaging discussion.  However, on the first day, Dr. Rosenberg did demonstrate some chemical properties to the class: apparently when you pour liquid nitrogen onto a balloon, the balloon deflates and then re-inflates after you take away the lithium.  Who knew that explaining ‘pressure’ could be so interactive?

Transy Spotlight: Spring Sports

Spring is here, and for fans, that means a lot of time spent in front the television or at the fields. Sunshine, hot dogs, and lots of excitement come to mind when someone brings up spring sports. Along with its many academic opportunities to experience something new, Transy may offer something new for the sports fan as well. Many of the traditional spring sports are offered: baseball, track and field, golf, etc, and some springs sports are relatively new, such as lacrosse. Transy has also recently broke ground for a new athletic facility!

Lacrosse:

This is Transy’s first year for Lacrosse! In an exciting and history-making event, the team secured their first victory against Alma College at Bryan Station Field in Lexington. It has been quite popular with audiences, including myself. I went to my first lacrosse game here and thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s an entertaining game with lots of movement and it’s really easy to get excited. Even though the season is over, I know I will be attending more games in the future. The men finished the season with a record of 9-5 and the women finished the season 5-6.

New Athletic Facility:

Construction has already commenced on the new athletic facility and the general mood of the project is hopeful. The new athletic facility will be built on a 10 acre plot near the Fourth Street area, only a block away from Transy’s main campus. (Everything is within walking distance downtown!)

To learn more and see pictures, check out the link below!

http://www.transy.edu/news/athletics_complex.htm

I picked the right place.

I have been thinking recently about the difference between who I am as Ameka Menes and who I am as a Transy student. Sometimes the two blend. Sometimes I feel separated from the stereotypes I am assigned by passerby. Sometimes I am more than people make me out to be: I am not just a source of income for my university.

Other times I am not even who I think I am.

We come to college to question who we are, and who we may or may not become, as well as who we aspire to become. This process occurs whether or not you notice it. As people, we are growing. Not necessarily every day, but one obstacle at a time.