Categories
Athletics Campus Life

Moody Magic

SMU storms the court after SMU upset #7 Cincinnati!
SMU storms the court after SMU upset #7 Cincinnati!

Welcome to Moody Coliseum, SMU’s 7,000 seat capacity basketball arena. Moody has become one of the premier places in the nation to watch a college basketball game, as well as one of the most feared places for opposing teams to visit. Moody Coliseum was renovated in 2014 and ever since the Mustangs have returned, they have gone 30-3. This has caused national attention as SMU is consistently ranked as one of the top 25 in national rankings.

In 2014, when I was a senior and high school and deciding where I wanted to go to college, I could not help but watch every SMU basketball game that was on national television. The fans, the energy, and the excitement had me hooked. No other school in the nation has a former President of the United States consistently in attendance along with a raucous fan section called the Mob that was led by a lobster. When I came onto campus later that year, I went to enough games of SMU soccer, football, and volleyball to get guaranteed tickets to every game and be a part of the Mob.

I went to every home basketball game I was in town for, and never had I been to such a loud sports venue. When the Mustangs came from behind to beat Temple, or hosted Connecticut and absolutely crushed them on ESPN College Gameday, there was no better place in the nation to be than Moody Coliseum. The whole school was watching as SMU went onto win the American Conference Championship and go to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 20 years. It is an exciting time for sports here at SMU, so come and check us out you will not be disappointed.

-David Shirzad

Categories
Student Organizations

Not Such an Anomaly

keya

The above picture describes one of the most significant experiences I have been a part of here at SMU.  It amazes me how these group of students- who sat with me in chamber every Tuesday from 3:30pm-6:00pm- could teach me so much. As a member of the SMU 102nd student senate, I have learned what it means to thoroughly know and defend my positions, build coalitions, create change, and to speak up for others. In the 2015-2016 school year, I have had the pleasure of completing my term as a transfer student senator. Along with my responsibilities as a transfer senator, I was honored to work with seven other diverse student organizations that represent various cultures on campus.

It took me at least a semester to find “my” organization: an organization that put my passion to create change and my desire to connect with others to good use. When I first came to SMU, looking at the 250+ organizations on campus, I thought it would be nearly impossible to find something that would make me feel at home. I thought I was the anomaly transfer student who had to be an outsider. That was not the case! My psychology degree sister has a theory of the feeling of being an anomaly. She calls it the theory of singularity. It is the phenomenon in which people think that they are the only one who feel a certain way, do something a specific way, etc. In reality, that is seldom the case.

In college you find people that are just as geeky about culture as you are, students that care about lighting, parking, dinning, academic issues on campus, and most importantly passionate individuals that are as serious about becoming a world changer as you are. It is with these people that you find your home away from home. It is here that you discover that you are not an anomaly.

-Keya Tollossa

Categories
SMU Abroad

Hygee!

Courtney DamoreI’m currently sitting in the Innsbruck, Austria airport awaiting my flight back to Copenhagen, Denmark where I’ve been lucky enough to spend the past 4 months studying abroad. To answer the typical question, “Why Copenhagen?” I’ll be honest and say it was the one program that had course options for both my Environmental Studies and Marketing majors. It was also the city I knew the least about and that excited me!

Through my three months and counting abroad I can easily say “Cope,” as we like to call it, is one of my favorite European cities. The city is modern yet charming, exciting but safe, and most importantly filled with AMAZING restaurants! As a self-proclaimed foodie, I have made Copenhagen my palette’s playground.

My personal favorite? Paper Island. What is it? An upgraded food truck paradise. Located inside a refurbished warehouse along the harbor, Paper Island is filled with only the trendiest and tastiest eateries. From pulled pork sandwiches that melt in your mouth to double fried, duck fat French fries, this place has everything you need to satisfy your taste buds. As for my friends and I, you can find us there almost every Thursday evening trying new dishes and probably playing with a deck of cards. The atmosphere of Paper Island is warm and inviting, making it a great place to hang out and enjoy a tasty treat!

Another personal favorite of mine is Kalaset’s brunch. Situated just off the main train station, Kalaset is a quaint, little restaurant that is known for their amazing pancakes and deluxe hot chocolate. When the fall gloom gets to my head and I need a pick me up, Kalaset is the first place I go. Their fluffy blueberry pancakes have never let me down. They even home-make their own Nutella and jam!

Although Copenhagen food is top-notch, I would have to say my favorite thing about Denmark is the vibe of the city and it’s people. For the Danes, atmosphere is everything. They even came up with a special word for it, “Hygge”! Although there is no direct translation for it in English, hygge represents the feeling of coziness. Whether it means inside enjoying coffee with friends or bundled in blankets on the porch watching the rain, you find traces of hygge all throughout Denmark. As temperatures drop and winter settles in, candles and wool blankets are seen in every shop and eatery around the city. Though the weather may be cold and rainy some days, Copenhagen remains warm and inviting.

I try not to think about the fact that I leave for home in exactly one month, but I’m lucky in that my departure from Copenhagen will be bittersweet. The friendships and experiences I’ve had abroad are going to be hard to say goodbye to, but at the same time SMU spring semester is right around the corner!

-Courteney Damore

 

Categories
Academics Meadows School of the Arts

Dancing the Days Away

madison mckay

The SMU Dance majors immediately hit the ground running this semester. On the evening following the first day of classes, we jumped into rehearsals for the Fall Hope Show, which we recently performed. The show was comprised of three pieces, the first (and the one that I had the opportunity to perform) was a contemporary piece called Wild and Precious. As the name suggests, the contemporary ballet piece was a celebration of youth and exuberance. The music was relentlessly upbeat, and featured twenty-five dancers sprinting and dancing across the stage wearing brightly-colored costumes most likely inspired by the “Jane Fonda 80s Workout Section” that was incorporated into the middle of the piece. I had the chance to work with a choreographer named Robert Dekkers, the Artistic Director of Post: Ballet in San Francisco. He worked with us for two weeks and created an original piece that featured both his choreography and the choreography of his cast! Overall, it was an incredible experience and was so thankful for the chance to work with so many talented artists!

-Madison McKay

Categories
Academics Bush Library Cox Business School

A Unique Experience: A Guest Lecture by President Bush

Meeting President Bush on campus was one of the things I had on my bucket list since my freshman year at SMU. However, I never thought that the way I would meet him was through a surprise guest lecture in one of my business classes.

jun-hoI am currently taking Professor Don Vandewalle’s class on Leadership and Culture in the Cox School of Business. The course is an evidence-based study on the science of leadership, and it utilizes interdisciplinary frameworks to understand what makes leaders successful.

When class started that fateful day, everything seemed normal. Professor Vandewalle began class by outlining the objectives of the day and asking us if we had any questions.

However, about five minutes into the lecture, our class began to realize that this class period would be anything but normal. We were told to put our computers and other electronic devices below our tables. Shortly after, former President George W. Bush walked into our classroom, shook Professor Vanderwalle’s hand and sat down on a chair across from our professor, ready to talk about some of his leadership experiences during his career.

Professor Vanderwalle led the beginning of the session by asking some questions tailored to the topics that our class was currently covering through case studies and in-class discussions. Near the middle of the class period, President Bush opened the floor to questions from the class. He took the time to answer each question asked and even stayed past the allotted class time to make sure that every student who wanted to ask a question had the opportunity to do so.

I am extremely thankful for the opportunity that SMU provided to not only meet the former president, but also to hear about his unique experiences and lessons learned as a co-owner of the Rangers, as the governor of Texas, and as the President of the United States of America.

-Jun-Ho Koh