Categories
Athletics

Fry the Frogs!

b4By Billy Hightower

Hail to the red and the blue, we’re the Mustangs from SMU!

 The clock is ticking – tomorrow morning the duel of DFW, a rivalry spanning almost 100 years between SMU and TCU, will begin. The series between the two DFW teams began in 1915 with a 43-0 win by TCU. Over the course of this series the TCU Horned Frogs have maintained at 45-40-7 lead in the series, but not for long! This rivalry is also known as the battle of the iron skillet. The history behind the iron skillet trophy fields back to 1946, with the rivalries between the two teams steadily getting more and more aggressive each and every year, the student council of SMU greeted TCU with the idea of granting the winning team with a trophy. Considering there was over $1000 worth of damage done to the universities by their rivals in the year before, TCU gladly obliged. After that first game, Derrell Tipps, TCU’s student body president was presented the skillet by Bobby Harris, SMU’s student body president. Inscribed the skillet was the phrase, “Presented in token of southwestern friendship to the winner of annual TCU-SMU football game. Student tradition sponsored jointly by student governments of the universities.” The question still remains…why an iron skillet? Many claim that SMU alum were frying frog legs at a tailgate before the game and TCU alum wagered them into the frog legs and the skillet to the winning alumni.

Categories
Academics General

A Weekend in Taos

By Katelyn Hall

The typical weekend at SMU in the fall involves going to the football game, chatting by the tanning pool, and some time in the library. But this weekend, I swapped out the heat of Texas for the mountains and cool air of New Mexico.

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SMU has a campus in Taos, New Mexico, where students can go for summer terms or J-term in the winter. This weekend I went to Taos for a scholarship retreat.

While we were only there for three days, we managed to do all sorts of things. After a morning rafting on the Rio Grande River, we went hiking in the Sangre de Christo Mountains. We also explored the vast campus and sung together at a campfire. On our last day, we took a charter bus into Santa Fe. We walked around the plaza and ate pesole and sopapillas at the Plaza Café.

It was my third time at SMU-in-Taos, and it never gets old. I want to go to SMU-in-Taos this summer and take some classes at such a gorgeous campus.

 

Categories
Life Around Dallas

Dallas: Sports City, USA

By Liz Blumberg

While Dallas is famous for many things, one thing stands out in particular: sports. Whether your favorite team rules the field, the court or the ice, there are plenty of opportunities to catch the action – some are just minutes away from campus!

 NFL: Dallas Cowboys

“The House That Jerry Built” is just 30 minutes away from SMU and the home of the Dallas Cowboys. If football is your passion, then you will love catching a game at the brand new stadium that opened in 2009. The biggest attraction? The jumbotron, measuring 160 feet across.

NBA: Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks, the 2011 NBA Champions, play at the American Airlines Center in the heart of downtown. Watching your favorite NBA team is a short cab ride – or DART journey – away. The Mavericks are the pride of Dallas, and owner Mark Cuban is often sighted at restaurants around the city.

MLB: Texas Rangers

The Ballpark at Arlington is considered one of the nation’s prettiest and premier ballparks and you’ll see why once you visit. In the Spring and Summer, SMU students can be always found enjoying a hot dog and a cold drink while cheering on the Rangers.  Out-of-staters: enjoy singing “Deep in the Heart of Texas” during the 7th inning stretch!

NHL: Dallas Stars

The Dallas Stars are quickly transforming into one of the city’s most popular teams. Tickets are relatively cheap, so it’s easy to get a group together to go watch the Stars tear up the ice. They also play at the American Airlines Center downtown, making any game a short trip and a worthwhile adventure.

Categories
Campus Life

U11: Fostering Mustang Spirit

558862_4820281228524_636664766_nBy Jack Murphy

Oh how sweet it is to return to SMU after a hot summer in the hills of northern California after a great summer internship.  It’s good to get back to the Big D.  While I had been keeping busy over the summer, it seems that SMU has been making big changes as well!  Closing in on finishing the final touches on the Residential Commons, improving Moody Colliseum for our top-caliber basketball team, and welcoming a whole new class of awesome first-years!  I remember my first year, which actually ended only a few months ago.  The people you meet, the classes you take, and the big city you live in all have an impact on every new college student.  But the memories I will never forget is my time with the first-year program called U11.

829 1341When everyone is scoping out the interesting organizations during “A Night at the Club”-the fair for SMU clubs and organizations – I came across a combined group of the Union and Mustang 11.  Known as U11, this group promotes class spirit and unity, and in doing so they play a major role during football and basketball games!  When U11 accepted me, I became part of a family of friendly and spirited people and we were given to opportunity to uphold a major tradition at SMU: Lead the football team onto the field.  Before every game, I would march down the Boulevard with the Mustang Band, Cheer team, and Pom Squad onto the field and lead our Mustang Football team out of the tunnel and onto the field.  It’s the most exhilarating experience running in front of 50+ large college athletes, praying that I don’t trip and get trampled on!  By participating in U11, I had the opportunity to get a photo-op with some pretty awesome people!  I shook the hand of former President George W. Bush at the first football game and met TOMS shoes founded Blake Mycoskie at the Homecoming game!  After such a memorable experience with U11, I took up an advisor role with the organization and continue to show my SMU spirit for every game, all the way to the forth quarter.  These are the times in college that you will never forget.

Top picture: My U11 friend Allison lost amongst the football team while trying to outrun them.

Bottom picture: Me, (Jack Murphy) in the Sunglasses in the back,  taking a photo with George W. Bush.

Categories
SMU Abroad

SMU Abroad: South Africa

By Shannon Conboy

If there is one thing I could recommend that you absolutely must do in your four years here at SMU, it is to study abroad. This summer, I had the opportunity to be able to spend the month of June in South Africa with a group of eleven awesome SMU students, and I can easily say it has been one of my most rewarding experiences so far.

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Not only was I learning all about the rich history and culture of South Africa from the SMU Professor on the trip, but I was also completely submerged in it. The local students I was surrounded with could verify what I was learning about their culture and history and it was incredible to be able to talk to them about their experiences and to hear their stories. On the last day of our SMU course, our Professor even invited the South African students to come join in our class, and there was quite some interesting discussions having all these different perspectives present to share.

This program was ideal for me as a vocal major, because it offered the chance to perform the musical South Pacific right there in the country, allowing for collaboration between the students from

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SMU and the students of the University of KwaZulu- Natal. Aside from exploring the country, going on a safari, and even visiting a wonder of the world in Cape Town, I spent a great deal of time in a South African opera school, giving me a once in a lifetime opportunity and different perspective on a world in which I am pursuing a career.

While the experience of the land and culture as a whole is one I will never be able to forget, I must say that even more valuable to me are the relationships I formed with the students there as well as with my fellow SMU colleagues. I left inspired by the people I met and with a newfound love for music and all it means. I became close with the SMU students I shared the experience with and now, being back to school for the first week, I love seeing all of them as I walk around campus. In fact, we’re already planning a reunion so that we can remember and reminisce on the great experience we shared this summer through the SMU study abroad program.

Categories
General

Retreating to Taos

taosBy Mehdi Hami

Over Labor Day weekend, I took a trip to Taos, New Mexico, home to one of SMU’s three campuses. When people think of Taos, they think of the art and culture that defines the town. Of course, it is all that, but also so much more.

First of all, the Taos campus is huge. It’s bigger than the campus in Dallas! That means tons of room to jog, mountain bike, and build campfires. With its cool weather, I ended up taking long walks with my friends and sitting around several campfires. From playing games to singing songs, the best times in Taos were the ones spent outdoors.

Even though the campus is rather large, the buildings are all close to each other. The casitas (small dorms), cafeteria, auditorium, and tennis/basketball courts are all centrally located close to each other. There’s even a library and computer lab filled with Mac desktops. The Taos campus is really a college campus! Students have spent a whole semester there before and lots of SMU students take advantage of summer semesters in Taos.

One thing I always get excited about when I go to the Taos campus is the food. They have the best food there. There’s a small, wonderful staff of ladies working to keep us fed with amazing food at all times. In all honesty, even with all the hiking and biking, I gained about 5 pounds in the three days I spent in Taos. But believe me, it was all worth it.

Taos is a beautiful place that every SMU student should make room for in their four years at school. I’ve been there three times already, and I’m planning on going one last time as a senior.

Categories
Careers

My Summer with Mercedes-Benz

By Billy Hightower

This summer I had the awesome experience of finding an Internship through SMU at Park Place Mercedes Benz. I found my internship through an SMU career fair, at which one of the members of the HR department was a Mustang!

My first day in the office, one of the managers threw me a set of keys to a brand new CL63 AMG and asked me to drop it off to one of his clients. From there my experiences as an intern only continued to grow, from sitting in meetings with full departments to helping devise strategies for process improvement techniques throughout the dealership. By the end of the summer I even got to drive a Bentley! I also got a discount and was able to buy a new car!

There are so many opportunities for our students through the SMU Hegi Career Center. SMU is able to set its students up with these wonderful internship experiences by being the only show in town when it comes to being a university directly in the city of Dallas.

Categories
Athletics

Back to the Boulevard

photoBy John Morrow

It’s that time of year again! Football season is back in full swing, and we all know what that means. The Boulevard is back. We’re only two weeks into the year, and we’ve already knocked out two Boulevards in true SMU style. Despite the hot summer heat, we’ve been out in droves the past two weekends sporting our SMU spirit hours before kickoff.

This past weekend’s game was anything but boring. After trailing much of the game, the Mustang’s capitalized on a late 4th quarter drive to take a one point lead over Montana St. with a whopping 12 seconds left. A game of small disappointments quickly evolved into a joyous celebration as the Mustangs start the season with a 1-1 record after losing a hard fought season opener to Texas Tech. Sitting in the front row as the final seconds ticked down reminded me of the TCU game my freshman year when we upset the Horned Frogs of Fort Worth in overtime for SMU’s first Iron Skillet win in years.

The season looks promising for this young, but talented group of mustangs! Pony Up!

Categories
Ambassadors

Visiting SMU on Game Day

By Kathleen Batman

There is no better way to start off a day of SMU spirit with a Saturday visit! Gamedays are the best days to be at SMU and they embody everything that SMU is! There’s always so much going on and it’s always a blast! On select Saturdays the Admissions Office hosts visitors from all over that are interested in SMU so that they can get a campus tour and then spend the rest of the day cheering on the Mustangs! I was so happy to be able to help out with this past Saturday’s event! It was nice to be able to meet a bunch of eager students! The boulevard is a unique experience to SMU and to be able to have perspective students see the campus and spend the day on the boulevard is amazing! All of the student ambassadors love helping out for these events because it feels incredible to be able to show off our beautiful school on such special days! Pony up and go mustangs!

Categories
Campus Life Life Around Dallas

Back on the Hilltop

1150320_10200527032207355_698717938_nBy John Angle

Can you believe it? Summer break is already over – again! I’m especially sad about this summer ending, as it’ll be my last one ever. The real world comes calling after this year! Although I’ll miss the ability to sleep in, not do homework, watch as much Netflix as my retinas can handle it is really great to be back on the Hilltop!

One of the things I’m most excited about this coming year at SMU will be serving as a student representative on the SMU Board of Trustees! At SMU one student serves as a full voting member of the Board of Trustees and one also sits on each of the trustee committees. I was lucky enough to be selected to sit on the Finance and Audit committees, and I could not be more excited. My first audit committee meeting is this week and am enjoying thoroughly pouring over all the information and data they already provided me.  It’s exciting to have the opportunity to serve alongside many of the important business and civic leaders who also serve as Trustees and to give back to SMU in a new way.

On an unrelated – and much more fun – note I played Dallas tour guide all weekend as one of my closest childhood friends, Elizabeth, came to visit me from Atlanta.  Over the long Labor Day weekend we got in a Boulevard and the Texas Tech/SMU game, the Katy Trail, White Rock Lake, Klyde Warren Park, Perot Science Museum, and a Rangers game. We also ate our weight in barbeque, Tex-Mex, pizza, cupcakes, burgers, and some of the other awesome food Dallas has to offer. We’re lucky here to live in one of the most fun cities in America to be a young person – there is always something going on, it’s filled with cool people, and there is amazing food. It was a hot but incredibly fun weekend that reminded me how much I love my adoptive city!

Categories
Campus Life

Panic at the Disco

Screen Shot 2013-09-05 at 2.53.17 PMBy Ashley Garner

The first few weeks of school have been a success! A couple of my friends celebrated the third day of school by hitting the Silent Disco hosted by Silent Productionz. This program was put on by our Hughes Trigg programming staff to celebrate the beginning of the school year.

The concept of the disco is really unique.  Everyone gets a pair of headphones and can choose between 2 stations. There are 2 DJ’s that are playing music from hip-hop, pop, and electronica genres. The event was held outside and as you chose a different station, your headphones would light up with a red or blue color. This was probably one of the coolest events that I had ever attended. Since music stations had two different colors, you could dance with people who had the same color as you, and switch back and forth.

There was also mocktail bar with yummy drinks to help us cool down. To the outsider the event looked like a bunch of crazy people dancing to no music, but to us, the whole dance floor was our playground. My friend Anita and I (pictured below) wanted to relieve some back to school stress with a fun on campus event.

SMU planning councils do a great job of having fun and safe events on campus especially during the first 6 weeks of class. After the event, my friend and I begged Silent Productionz to come to this event again, we gave it 2 thumbs up!