Monthly Archive for February, 2010

696 days until I go to England.

Published by Caitlyn Rhodes on February 24, 2010 in Caitlyn. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , .

Alexz is right. The snow day was epic. I’ve never seen that much snow in my entire life…except for when I was in Alaska…but that doesn’t count. A friend of mine said that she finally learned to “run in the snow”. Is it supposed to be hard? Don’t you just pick up your feet and run normally…with snow under your feet? Yes. That’s how it happens. I tried it.

So, now that The Office is making people think that it’s coming to an end…I’ve moved on to bigger and better things. Flight of the Conchords. Ohhh, yes. It’s Business Time. Flight of the Conchords consists of two guys from New Zealand. They are funny. Not the usual “they are funny.” But as in, they ARE funny. After the 3.5 day weekend we had, I needed a little bit of “funny”. Sitting in your room is not all it’s cracked up to be. You get sooo bored sooo easily. That’s where the TV comes in. Beautiful things can happen. Especially if your friend lets your borrow Season 1 of Flight of the Conchords. If you’ve never seen them…go to YouTube. Right now. Go.

Our new tour kicked off this week! Yay! I give the 2 p.m. on Wednesdays and the 1 p.m. on Thursdays, and I have yet to give the new tour. Today, we have a special tour (a bunch of high schoolers!) and yesterday…no one showed up for my tour. Bummerrrr. So for me, the new tour kicks off NEXT week. I love special tours! They’re so much fun! Especially when it’s a big group. They always have questions and fun things to say.

Zack is proud of me because 2 days ago I ordered some Burberry London perfume. Apparently that’s a milestone for my life. And I have “many, many Zack points” now. Yippee? I suppose I should feel like my life has been blessed or something by his approval. Yay me?

I’m sooo ready to go to London for my study abroad. Only 696 more days! :)

-Caitlyn!

Who’s your hero?

Published by Carl on February 16, 2010 in Carl. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Last night I got to hear on of my childhood heroes speak on campus.  Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, and the youngest American in space at the time, came to our campus to speak during the Maverick Speaker Series!  It was awesome.

I can still remember watching her in space when I was five.  I wanted to be an astronaut so bad!  After the Challenger crashed, I remember pouring over the newspaper articles and Time magazine issues dedicated to the astronauts.  I even went to Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama when I was in 6th grade.  Other kids played cowboys and Indians and built forts out of pillows and boxes.  I built a space shuttle out of an old ironing board, pillows, blankets, and snack tables.  I had tons of books about space, astronauts, and the space shuttle.

As I got older I could see the chances of me being an astronaut slipping away.  I got glasses, which meant being a test pilot in the Air Force wasn’t an option and I struggled with Math, limiting my options as a scientist.  I found other things to be passionate about, and I while my dream of going to space isn’t dead (feel free to donate $ to the send Carl on a Virgin Galactic flight) it isn’t in the forefront of my mind either.

Until last night, when Sally Ride took the stage and all those memories came flooding back.  She talked about her experiences with NASA and in space and about her foundation, which aims to keep children interested in science and math as potential careers.  For me though, her speech was about dreams and heroes.

Sally Ride will always be one of my heroes, whether or not I ever feel the excitement at launch or the release of weightlessness, but she’s not my only hero.  More importantly, find a place where your dreams can flourish.  It’s not enough to simply follow your dreams.  You need to constantly mold your life so that you live and work and study in a place where your dreams can come alive.  68% of 4th grade boys and 66% of 4th grade girls like science, but by fifth and sixth grade, their passion fades. . . something about society and their environment sends them the wrong message about liking science.  It’s a function of not being in the right place.  Dreams should be stretches of the imagination, challenges to your mind and body.  You wouldn’t expect to be physically fit if the gym where you worked out was a tiny room with a big couch, a big screen TV, and refrigerator filled with junk food.  The same thing goes for dreams.  You need to find a place to work on them that supports you.

While my dreams today don’t involve flying the space shuttle, they are still about answering tough questions and working to make the world a better place.  For me, the place that supports my dreams is UT Arlington and mentors and professors who have been my heroes.  I hope UT Arlington will be that place for you too.  Wherever you go to college, keep in mind that for most people, this is the place your dreams will either begin to take root or start to retreat.  You will need to be in a place that understands your dreams and surrounded by heroes who will inspire  you to accomplish them.

“Lately, the weather has been so bipolar that consequently, so have I.”

Published by Alexzandria Siprian on February 16, 2010 in Alexzandria. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Yessss….

Since the first time I saw Caitlyn creating a MavElite blog, I craved that opportunity to write great things to be published on the world wide web! I know I could just get my own blog, but…eh. It would make me a regular blogger. With this, I’m a MavElite blogger. Yessss….

Allow me to introduce myself to you, world. I am Alexzandria Siprian, or Alexz. I am pretty much the most outrageous person you will ever know. “Outrageous”. That’s my new word to describe myself. I used to use words like “awesome” and “nifty”, but those have begun to be thrown around too often, and the uniqueness in them is fading. Therefore, I am the most “outrageous” person y0u will ever know!

Anyway…So, UTA has been going through some pretty outrageous weather, lately! We got snow on Thursday. It snowed ALL DAY!! Aah! I was overwhelmed with joy! Let me tell you something about myself that nobody noticed until the snow showed up: I love snow. I’ve been randomly yearning for it since aboouuut October last semester. I did not expect it at all, but when I woke up Thursday to my roommate telling me there was snow outside the window, I FREAKED OUT! I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to get out of bed!

I took over 200 photos that day. From frolicking in the snow with Caitlyn, to the epic snowball fight that my Lipscomb friends and I had at the “Secret Destination”. [It's dubbed as the "Secret Destination" because we're not too sure if we were allowed to be there or not...] We were supposed to go sledding, but the snow was too thick! Isn’t that outrageous?! The snow was too thick in Texas to sled! Ha!

We still have some snow on the ground, and I’m not going to waste one minute while I have it here. When I see a spot of snow, I automatically run towards it with the demeanor of a child. I especially love the spots that nobody has yet walked through. I run through them with my arms flailing and I squeal because I’m just so derned excited!!  I’ve developed this…not obsession, but something like that…where every time I walk past a pile of snow, I grab a handful and chunk it at somebody. Usually, I chunk it at my friend, Julian [or Joose]. I would chunk it at my friend, Rob, but he throws back and he has no mercy. [Rob and Joose are like my big brothers. I'm with them all the time. You'll hear more about them later.] On my way to lunch at the Connection Cafe [or as I call it, "Connections"] I grabbed a chunk of snow and carried it with me through the UC. When I got into Connections, I threw it at Joose. Hahaha! He says I’m addicted to snow. He’s right. Haha.

Oh man, I have so many stories to tell about these few days we’ve had with the snow! I wouldn’t want to bore you, though. Because I, for one, know that too many words makes anything boring. For me, anyway. Most of my friends love to read. When I go with them to Walden Books at the mall or something, I always complain, whining: “Tooooo mannnyyy woooorrddss….Come oooonnn! Let’s goooo…fooood cooouuurrtt or sooomeetthhiinng, pllleeasseeee!!!” Haha. Continue reading ‘“Lately, the weather has been so bipolar that consequently, so have I.”’

Best teacher in the world!!!

Published by Delonte Lynch on February 3, 2010 in Delonte. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

I always look forward to Business Law on Mondays and Wednesdays because my teacher is one of the best. Every topic of discussion is explained very well.  Jerry is hilarious and he also relates each topic to real life experience. He turns intricate topics into simple real life situations that can be understood by the normal student. Also,  he has inspired me to pursue a career in law, and I will never forget him.