“You shall also make no noise in the streets.”

Published by Caitlyn Rhodes on May 19, 2010 in Caitlyn. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

That title is most definitely a Shakespeare quote. I watched “Much Ado About Nothing” tonight with my English teacher mother and the character Dogberry is a pretty funny fella. If you haven’t seen it and you’re thinking, “I don’t understand Shakespeare”, then watch this movie. It all makes perfect sense. Now, on to other things!

Well, folks, I’m back home for the summer! Saying goodbye to all my friends and co-workers was lame and completely the opposite of fun, but this summer is going to go by sooo quickly. Like Alexz said, she’s going to Montana. And I’m going to JAPAN for 2 weeks in July. I’ll try and blog while I’m there. My goal is to put up a picture of me in a UTA shirt and flashing the “Mav Up” sign in the middle of Tokyo…or…anywhere, really. Haha.

I signed up for a Maymester class because in order to keep my scholarship that UTA so graciously offered me…I have to have 30 hours every year from UTA. Which means I can’t take a class at a nearby community college. Enter Maymester course. HEED 1340 – Healthy Lifestyles. Does it count towards my major? Negative. Will it save me money in the long run? Absolutely. And who know…I might actually learn something. Sooo here I am. Searching for the textbook that I need for the class. I have to have the quizzes done over the first 2 chapters by this Wednesday, May 19th. AHHHHHHHHHH. So there’s a handy tip for the future: If you’re taking an online class, don’t assume there isn’t a textbook. That makes you a dummy…like ME.

While I love being home and all that jazz…I already miss my UTA home and all the friends I made this year. I feel my campus tour facts slipping away and being replaced with grocery produce codes. Back to working my summer job at a grocery store! Here I come, rhubarb and broccoli crowns! I’ll try and promote good ol’UT Arlington to all my customers and go all “Tour Guide” on them.

So for now, adieu all!

I shall miss thee!

(Like I said before, I watched “Much Ado About Nothing” tonight. My brain is now in Shakespeare mode. Forgive the strange phrasing.”)

“Looks like a storm’s a-brewin’!”

Published by Alexzandria Siprian on May 14, 2010 in Alexzandria. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

I. AM. DONE! With my first! Year! Of COLLEGE!!!

Iiiii can not believe this!! It’s…aahh!! I was talking to my best friend [Maria Rodriguez] about it yesterday, and I was like “Aahh :’( I’m done with my first year of colleeegggeeeuuhhaaahhhh!!” And her reply was AWESOME! “Ugh! Stop whining! This is exciting! You’re the first in your family to even go to college!” Bahahaaaa….I loved this because…1. She’s a junior in high school. Usually, I’m the one giving her advice and words of wisdom. 2. You just gotta see this girl…I grew up around her [we never talked until I was a sophomore in high school, but] she is the most quiest girl until you hang out with her…and she’s HILARIOUSSS…but in a real subtle way. ANYWAY…I don’t know what the point of this is….

The sweetest Asian girl came into the office earlier and she was so polite! She even asked if she could personally thank our International Advisor [Julie Russel] so I escorted her to her office and then she was thanking me for taking her to her office and I think she was trying to refrain from bowing but she was anyway and aaahh she was such a blessing!

So, this week was finals week. I studied soooo much for my History exam! Caitlyn, Courtney, and I and a couple of our friends [William Johnson and Michael Minasi] had three nights of study group. TONS of fun!! Turns out I helped them study more than I helped myself. Haha. [Brown v. Board of Education was in 1954 because 5 + 4 = 9!] <–Iiii totally forgot to put that in my essay! But they didn’t! Aaahh…haaahaaaa… :|   Lol.

So…this is the end…of a beautiful year. This past week, I’ve been hanging out with my friends from my residence hall, Brazos House. We’ve been having so much fun bonding before we say our goodbyes! From random Bethany runs to visiting the Chinese grocery store, to Ultimate Frisbee at 1am. Last night I stayed up until 6am hanging out with them. ….And then I had an exam at 8am. And here I am writing this blog. Because I am SO! DEDICATED! To my work!! Aaanndd Carl has been pressuring me alot. Haha. SPEAKING OF CARL PRESSURING ME…Yesterday, the admission counselors started helping us with those bagillion packets that we have to do…[Remember, TWELVE THOUSAND!!!] And Carl and I were partners and he was like, “Hurry up, Alexz! They’re beating us!” Apparently…we were racing? Haha. Now, I have a kagillion paper cuts!

Anyway, I grew so much this year. LIKE 5 INCHES!! Haha jk but I mean mentally. And this summer I’m doing an internship with a church in Montana. I just knoooow I’m going to come back so refined! :) I can’t wait. Well, this is my last blog for a while. :sigh:…I’ll let you guys know whether or not I passed History as soon as I find out. :) Stay unique.

[Today's title is a quote from the infamous Zack about 5 minutes ago. BECAUSE THERE'S LIKE A MAJOR STORM GOING ON RIGHT NOW!! AAAAHH!!]

I don’t have an ego. My Facebook photo is a landscape.

Published by Caitlyn Rhodes on May 5, 2010 in Caitlyn. 1 Comment Tags: , , , .

I would like to start by pointing out that…

#1: Zack’s blog had nothing to do with the fantastic-ness of UTA or the MavElite. Only his fancy bone structure.

#2: Zack’s own mother prefers my blogs to his. Just saying. (Heyyy Zack’s mom!)

One thing I LOVE about UTA is that we have movies galore all around campus. Tonight, for example, by the power of a Facebook group, the film “Beware of Christians” is coming to campus and will be showing at Rosebud Theater! Despite what you may think…it’s not an anti-Christian film. Just throwing that out there. There are movies that play at the Planetarium on campus, at the Lonestar Theater in the MAC and the Rosebud Theater in the UC. How exciting is that?! Super exciting. THAT’S how exciting. Last Friday, Courtney and I went to see “Sherlock Holmes” at the Planetarium and we paid $2! Wooo! It was pretty cool. I like that we don’t have to leave campus to find something fun to do. How convenient.

While I will always have a deep love for The Office…Community has really been stepping up it’s game! Funny. Show. If you haven’t seen it….this Thursday…you know what to do. (subliminal messaging…NBC…Community…NBC…Thursday…Abed…)

Well folks, it’s almost time for a break from blogging! The semester is almost over!! This week is Dead Week (which means that most professors aren’t assigning new projects and such) and then finals are next week! I can’t believe my first year of college is almost over! Ridiculous. I remember my first week of classes last semester…I sent my Dad a text telling him that I had one week down. He responding with, “I still can’t believe they’re letting 12-year-olds go to college.” No. I’m not really 12-years-old. Haha.

Here is a picture of Zack and I at a crazy restaurant after a Preview Day.

“Remember my name. Fame!”

Published by Alexzandria Siprian on May 3, 2010 in Alexzandria. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! BOYS AND GIRLS! FACULTY AND STAFF! REAL STUDENTS AND FAKE STUDENTS!!!

Guess what!

I’M FAMOUS!! :D I was tooootally in the Shorthorn today! My picture was pretty decently sized, if I do say so myself! It was for the talent show that I was in last night. Trinity House put on a talent show just for fun. There were cool door prizes and stuff. And prizes for the winners. I performed a monologue that I recently wrote about a family issue that I was recently informed about. And just in case you were wondering, noooo I didn’t win. Haha. But that’s okay because my voice was heard! :D Anywho, I was in the Shorthorn! [voice of the little chihuahua on Oliver and Comany] Check it ooouuut:

And they even spelled my name right! WOOHOO!

On another note…one that is not quite as exciting as making the UTA paper…one that is on the other end of the emotional spectrum…depressing…My life has been overtaken by HISTORY. Ugghh….I was stressed when my life was overtaken by the musical, but at least I had fun doing that! Now, my life is consumed by HISTORY!! I was THIS! CLOSE! To giving up the other day…THIS CLOSE!! |- -| I had already decided that I was just going to accept failure and do grade exclusion next semester. But I have great friends! And they all pushed me to keep trying. Even the general advisor here in Davis Hall told me I should do what I can and if I fail, then at least I’ll know that I didn’t give up. Caitlyn told me that too. ::sigh:: I am so blessed! :)

So, Sophia [an Admissions Counselor here in our office - the New Student Welcome Center] apparently got a new camera or something. Haha. She’s been going all paparazzi on us today. She took a picture of us while we were putting together the GAJILLION packets that we’ve been putting together for kids in the area. 12,000 packets. If I could caps lock numbers, I would repeat myself in caps. Or I could do this: TWELVE THOUSAND packets! I think we’ve just about rounded up to 5,000. It’s quite painstaking. But, it will definitely be worth it. These packets have specific Spanish translations on one side of them. Things like this are so important to me. I know that there are people here who are trying to make a better life for their kids and struggle with English. It’s not that they’re dumb, because they’re not. They’re intelligent people. Imagine yourself going over to Israel only knowing how to speak/read English. You would suddenly become illiterate. It’s a struggle, and I personally know people who face it. That’s why I’m so passionate about it. ANYWHO! Off of the soap box with me…Haha. Here’s a pic that Sophia took of me and Harrison [a new hire who I've been friends with since last semester.] blogpic-1.jpg picture by sippysiip See those boxes in the back? Yeah, those are the packets that we’ve done so far….aaahhh!!

Well, that’s all for today! :)

As my soccer prof/coach says: “Keep the Samba in life and soccer!”

:) Alexz

[Title quote source: Fame (the musical) "I'm gonna live forever!"]

“That was actually pretty cool, what you just did…”

Published by Alexzandria Siprian on April 26, 2010 in Alexzandria. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

WOOHHOOO!!!

I had a super-long weekend….guess what I was doing….

STUDYING!!!

“Whaaaaat?? Alexz studies??”

Yeah, that’s right! I studied aaallll weekend. I even skipped a super-awesome concert with super-awesome artists including David Crowder and Francesca Battistelli! I did go to Maverick Mania on Saturday, though, and I got to show one of my bestest friends in the whole wide world [Grace Minor] how awesome UTA is. She’s coming here next year, and she and I and Caitlyn are getting an apartment together! Woohoo! Anyway, back to studying. I studied every day this weekend. I was a little more lenient on Friday so I could kind of have a break from the week. Anywho, here’s what I got accomplished:

I wrote a rough draft for my book review in History.

I started and finished my Spanish lab work which most people do a little bit every day to not take forever.

I read two chapters for a History quiz [big deal for me, because it takes me forever to read! Not because I can't read, but because I'm easily distracted. Ha.]

I wrote a character analysis for my Acting class.

And I studied for a test in Spanish! [Which I'm pretty sure I beasted on.]

Quite a productive weekend, no? :) I feel great about it.

ANYWAY…If there were a moral to this story, it would be this: College is nothing like high school, as far as studying goes. Reading is required. You have to study to do well.  It is time consuming. It is your purpose as a student.

That’s all for now. :)

-Alexz

[By the way...I got the title for this blog from Night At The Museum 2. Watch iiiit. :) ]

I DECLARE BANKRUPTCY!

Published by Caitlyn Rhodes on April 9, 2010 in Caitlyn. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , .

No. I’m not legitimately “declaring” bankruptcy. If you don’t know what I just quoted…then…you should come to UTA so that we can be The Office friends.

In about 640 days, I will be heading to England. It’s happening. I am beyond excited. This summer, I will go to Japan for 15 days to visit my family’s foreign exchange student that lived with us for a year 3 years ago. I’m on my way to becoming a world traveler! Yay life!

UT Arlington has 80 programs in 40 countries including New Zealand, Spain, and Leicester, England (where I’m going to go). Check out The Shorthorn’s study abroad blog! I know a  lot of people that say the one thing they regret about college is not studying abroad. So if you’re reading this and you’re in college…GO SEE A STUDY ABROAD ADVISOR TODAYYY. I’m convinced it will change my life. Plus, ever since I was a kid I’ve loovvedd England. Absolutely everything about it appeals to me…except the weather. But then again…I live in Texas. I’m used to stupid weather. I love medieval architecture and the history of England. Dramatic stuff. It’s exciting.

You should Youtube “Star Wars according to a 3 year old”. It’s an exccittiinngg video. :)

Sooooo, The Office. Date Mike. Where to begin…I still don’t know where to begin…

“Guess what? I have flaws. What are they? Oh I dunno, I sing in the shower? Sometimes I spend too much time volunteering. Occasionally I’ll hit somebody with my car. So sue me– no, don’t sue me. That is opposite the point I’m trying to make.” That is all. That wasn’t from the Date Mike episode…but it’s still an epic Michael Scott quote.

Apparently I put a “bottle full of sunshine and gold velvet particles” on my hair. That was a Sam Watson quote. That sounds luscious.

Today is my sister, Jordon’s, 24th birthday. Shoutout timeee! Happy Birthdayyy, Jordon!!

The Z Files.

Published by Alexzandria Siprian on March 26, 2010 in Alexzandria. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

(Titled by anonymous. [Mr. Kenne Evans])

Hello people of America! …and the rest of the world! Spain, Australia….Iceland.

So, last week was spring break. Woohoo! My spring break was, in a word, LEGIT. I was waaay homesick before spring break, because I hadn’t been home since winter break. So, while others were going to Padre Island and Galveston, I went to my simple small town of Temple/Holland/Bartlett, TX. It was great! I won’t go into too much detail about the events of the week, because that would take forever (especially since I tend to go off on tangents and I, for some reason, feel like I need to tell every detail of every story – like the set-up and everything). However, I will mention that due to my awesome spring break, I have been hoarse for almost 2 weeks now. It was that epic.

Anyway! So, the Friday before spring break, I took a midterm in my History class. Let’s just say I was pretty much depending on it for my grade in the class. I got the test back yesterday and found out that I made a B-!!! Heck. Yes. Ooh! Also, I took a midterm in my Spanish class the week before spring break. I got my test back yesterday. Wanna guess what I made on it? I’ll give you a moment…

……………….. . . . . .  .  .  .  .   .   .   .   .    .    .    .    .     .     .     .     .      .      .       .       .        .          .        .

I made….a 100!!!! Can you believe that?! WOOHOO!!!! I’m telling you, the only thing that helped me maintain my composure when I saw my grade was the fact that it was 8:13ish in the morning and…well, need I say more? Anywho, it pretty much made my LIFE. The sad thing is that I’m making a B in that class. After class yesterday, my professor was sure to give me a pep-talk about my potential in the class and that he knows it’s early, but I need to wake up earlier so that….wom wom wom wom wom wom wom….haha jk. I really took everything he said to heart. I’m too good with Spanish to make anything less than an A. So, I’m going to step up my game!

Next topic on the Alexz’s Super-Awesome Blog-Show…

I HAVE DECLARED MY MAJOR!! I am officially a Spanish major! I can’t tell you how cool I felt yesterday when I got interviewed after watching politician Jeffrey Toobin (who, by the way, should run for president. I’d vote for him, and I don’t even like politics!). When asked, “What’s your major?” I almost said, “Undeclared” because I was so used to it! However, I did, in fact, although it was at the last minute, remember to say “Spanish”. I felt like a brand new woman. NOT. But I did feel cool. Haha.

I think I’ll end this blog with a quote that was spoken about 30 seconds ago.

“I’ll look good in anything!” – Admissions Counselor Kenne Evans

Complete.

I Finally Figured It Out…

Published by Delonte Lynch on March 8, 2010 in Delonte. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Being a young man in this world you hear a lot of sayings and words of wisdom from people further along in their life. My mom always use to tell me a poem we I was growing up:

Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor –
Bare.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on the steps
‘Cause you finds it’s kinda hard.
Don’t you fall now –
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’,
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

When your first told things in life, your like, what in the world does this have to do with me and my situation? After 19 years of living I’ve learned here, while at college, to open your mind up and try to look at things from different perspectives. Having a supporting cast of students, all the way up to some of my teachers here at UTA have taught me valuable life lessons that I can actually use in real world situations. I write this blog to you, anybody out there that needs motivation. I’ll leave you with these words that I’ve found very helpful: Your only facing just what other people have met! Have a great day to anybody who reads this and See It Through to anybody who has difficulty in any situation.

P.S.- My mom can talk, that’s just how the poem is spelled out by Langston Hughes.

Dear Ian,

Published by Caitlyn Rhodes on March 8, 2010 in Caitlyn. 1 Comment Tags: , , .

So, on Tuesday night we had a special tour. 3 of us volunteered for it (Me, Sam & Dana). It was pretty fun.

But most importantly…

….I have a new best friend.

When we went into the Chemistry and Physics building, I attempted to tell our tour about how we have a team that makes parts for the Particle Accelerator in Switzerland. I said something along the lines of “…I wish I knew more about it…”

“Oooh! Ohhh! I know!”

I looked over and the guy that was working at the planetarium that night was literally jumping up and down waving his arms around. His name is Ian. We’re best friends. He just doesn’t know it quiitteeee yet.

He described it as this: “I work on that thing! It’s the biggest piece of machinery in the world! It’s like watching cars run right into each other! That’s what we do! With protons!”

And yes…he said all of that with exclamation marks at the ends. He was really exciting. Brittney is basically ready to hire him as our Honorary Enthusiast.

And just in case you were wondering…I love my job.

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!