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General

An Open Letter: My SMU Experience

By Michael Saunders

Hey guys my name is Michael Saunders and I am a senior double majoring in Philosophy and Spanish!  I am a Resident Assistant in the Hilltop Scholars Community and an active member on the Cheer team and Hip Hop Club.  This semester has absolutely flown by, partly because every semester seems to, and partly because the job hunt, along with the rigorous training the Cheer team goes through as they prepare for College Nationals, are making it a little challenging to look up and watch the weeks pass by rather than race through each day with no concept of time!  I am having an incredible time, though, and am so grateful for all of the opportunities that this University has made available to me.  Whenever I have time to catch my breath in between classes and extracurriculars, I have a tendency to reflect on some of the many things I have been able to do since enrolling at SMU in the fall of 2010: Open for B.o.B, Study abroad in Madrid, the Hawaii Bowl, being introduced to President Bush, being there for as students stormed the court after our basketball team beat #7 Cincinnati in Moody.  These are only a few of the MANY stories and I can’t help but recognize that it has been an incredible ride and I know it is still far from over!  What happens next? Who knows!  I know that I certainly do not, but I can assure you that I am looking forward to the future and will do everything in my power to make a positive impact on this world.

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Athletics

Moody Magic: An Intern’s Perspective

By Jeffery Jacobs

This semester, I was fortunate enough to work as a Public Relations Intern with Southern Methodist University Athletic program. I started working on January 2nd as a volunteer construction worker for the Moody Coliseum. With only two days before the opening of the coliseum, it was imperative to make sure every tile was in the right place, test the lighting and sound, and experiment the various food options in the different concession stands. It was hard work, but it was amazing to make my contribution into the coliseum that will be standing for at least the next half century. If you have been into the coliseum, you will see the blue section numbers circulating the stadium. Before the coliseum was opened, they were power drilled into the wrong locations. My job was to unscrew all of the blue signs and take them all down so they could be placed in the correct spots. Even though I was going backwards on work that had already been done, it was still cool to make my marks in the coliseum.

The first game was amazing because we played and beat the University of Connecticut by 20+ points. It was a big deal for us at the time and it is even more impressive that we beat the NCAA Champions of 2014 twice. Too bad we couldn’t play them instead of Minnesota. This began the whimsical slogan of “Moody Magic.” During the season, my job was to run the statistical data from the media table in the center of the court to the team benches, the radio crew, the television crew, and all of the media sources that attended the games. I met a number of well known people from ESPN, ABC, and TXA 21. In addition, I also met George Bush, Jason Garret, Jason Witten, Tony Romo, Michael Finley, Vince Carter, and a few other successful individuals. This was just a bonus perk but it was really cool to meet people who I see on television every day. With the year coming to a close, I feel so much more prepared for the business world in sports because I learned that the game itself is what people come to see, but all of the cyber kinetics between the different offices in an athletic department is what lasts on a daily business. This is a tough and time consuming business. People who work in sports have to be prepared to work back to back 16 hour days because it is very possible. Sports in the real world is a very fast paced business and you must learn how to keep up before you actually know what you are actually doing in your position. You have to be prepared for sudden changes, discretion, and representing a positive image for not only your department, but for the athletic program as a whole, and the school/team you are working for. This is the most fun I have had in my life.

 

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Campus Life

Student Life Spotlight: Happy Birthday Peruna!

p1By Taylor Thompson

Every spring SMU students emerge from class to find a huge carnival set up on Dallas Hall Lawn to celebrate Peruna’s birthday. He’s a pretty big deal around here, so we definitely go all out for him. The event is called Perunapalooza and is put on by Student Foundation, one of our student organizations on campus. Dallas Hall Lawn is covered in giant inflatables with everything from slides, an obstacle course, “The Wrecking Ball” (which is probably self-explanatory), and my favorite, the Meltdown. If you’ve ever seen the show “Wipeout,” they have an obstacle with two spinning arms at different heights, one high and one low, that you have to jump and duck under. If you’re not careful, the arms will knock you off your platform and you’ll go flying. By the time I was done, let’s just say the score was Meltdown: 1,000,000 Taylor: 0.

Besides laughing at everyone getting knocked off their feet at “The Meltdown” the food is definitely the best part of Perunapalooza. There is everything from free Chipotle and Kind Bars, to popcorn, fried Oreos, and giant birthday cakes, just to name a few of student’s favorites. I love Peruapalooza because it’s the perfect way to relax before everyone starts heading into final texts, projects, and exams. The entire campus comes together to celebrate the feisty pony who fills SMU with all our spirit, just as it should be, because without Peruna, who knows where we would be. SMU students would probably not be camping outside of the ticket office trying to get into the student section for the Louisville basketball game, that is for sure. But guess what? WE ARE!

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Campus Life

The Time has Come: Graduation

By Margaret Ellen Crawford

My four years of college are finally coming to a close. It is hard to believe that it’s been so long since I first stepped on campus as a bright eyed and eager high school senior. I visited SMU in April and I immediately realized that SMU was an incredible school. Its beautiful campus, its size, and its location in Dallas made SMU stand out from all of my other prospects. I loved that I could study more than one subject here. I loved that SMU students were incredibly involved on campus. And most of all I loved that when I walked around campus students looked happy – like they truly enjoyed going to school here. These were the factors that lead me to make my decision to come to SMU. What I didn’t know at that time was just how big of an impact SMU would have on me.

Graduation-May2013Quad(picured: Last year’s May 2013 SMU graduation ceremony on Dallas Hall lawn)

As I write this I am a mere three weeks away from graduating. In my time at SMU I have changed my major more times than I can count. I have joined clubs and quit clubs. I have had the “what am I going to do with my life” crisis. I have excelled and I have struggled. Your four years of college are a time to discover your passions, develop life long friendships, and build the foundation for your future career. College challenges you in everything you do; teaches you about your strengths and weaknesses; and ultimately shapes who you are. I look back on who I was when I first walked down the boulevard and am so thankful that I chose to be moulded by SMU.

My mom always told me growing up that you are the company you keep. To a certain extent I agreed, but I also thought that a person decides who and what they become. In my time at SMU I have realized that we both were right. When you are surrounded by excellence it challenges you to also be excellent, but ultimately the decision to be excellent is yours. What I have found at SMU is a community defined by excellence, full of students that excel but also that encourage their peers to excel with them. Not a community of competition, but of shared accomplishment. I have done and achieved more in my four years at SMU than I ever imagined I would when I first stepped on campus. I attribute that success to the encouragement and support not only of my professors and mentors, but also my peers. More times than not it was my friends that convinced me I could achieve something when I was skeptical of my own ability.

You always hear people say “College is the best four years of your life!” A part of me can’t help but agree with this. I have had MORE than my fair share of fun during my time at SMU going to themed parties, boulevards, sporting events, and formals. I have stormed the field after our football team beat TCU and the court when our basketball team made it to the NIT championship. I have studied abroad in Italy and traveled all over the country visiting friends. While this is only the tip of the iceberg of the fun I have had in college, a part of me hesitates when I hear that college is the best time of your life. I truly believe that because of my decision to come to SMU I have set myself up to have many more years of incredible memories. SMU has given me friends and mentors that will support me. SMU has given me an education that has prepared me for the real world. SMU has given me outstanding resources that greatly contributed to me getting a job. And finally, SMU has given me the tools to be successful no matter what path I take going forward.

Graduation is a bittersweet time for all seniors. In the past few months there have been many “lasts” and there are even more to come in the next couple of weeks. There will be ceremonies and hard goodbyes, but there definitely won’t be any regrets. I can honestly say that coming to SMU was one of the best decisions of my life, and I hope that you too can say when you graduate that the best is yet to come.

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General

Approaching the Semester’s End

p2By Adam Melson

As the spring semester winds to an end, one obstacle lies in the way of students returning home, starting internships, and even graduating: final exam week. During this week, students will spend hours visiting with their professors and studying in SMU’s various libraries in order to prepare for the semester’s end. After the semester, many students will begin internships set up through SMU’s MustangTrak, which allows them to experience a new job setting and build up one’s credentials for after graduation. For those who are graduating, this is a bittersweet time; the senior class will close a chapter in their lives and finally enter the real world!

Getting through finals isn’t an awful time at SMU because of the amenities that SMU provides for its students. Every night at SMU’s Fondren library, a “midnight breakfast” is catered for the students who are studying away during the night. SMU also provides free massages in the residence halls to relieve stress and provide a break for students who are focusing on exams.

Although exam week is a burden for most students, SMU goes out of their way in order to help us succeed. And we just have to remember that summer is just a week away!

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General

May 1: Decision Day

smuBy Ryan Herrscher

Today is the day! If you were recently accepted into SMU, we hope that by now you have made the decision to join us here on our beautiful campus in Dallas, Texas. SMU is a wonderful school with abundant opportunities, and we think you are going to love it. You have a lot to look forward to this summer with AARO, Mustang Corral, and the beginning of the next chapter of your life! If, on the other hand, you made your decision and plan to go somewhere other than SMU, we wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

Regardless of your choice, I think I speak for all of the SMU Ambassadors when I say congratulations on completing the process. For those of you headed towards the hilltop, we look forward to welcoming you to campus in the fall! Pony up!

Categories
Academics

Put On Your Creative Hat

By Katie Maiers

As an advertising student, I often forget that research papers, minimum word requirements, and the typical academic fears that loom over many college students continue to exist. Don’t get me wrong: I still write an occasional paper now and then, but for the most part, my assigned work tends to feel more like assigned freedom.IMG_3810

My recent assignment in my Introduction to Creativity course was to make a “creative hat.” The only instruction was to make a hat, and the grade would depend on the creativity and execution of the idea. Yes, that’s it, and yes, that was my homework. Although it seems simple, it truly was a challenge. I went through countless ideas and totally failed, and the deadline was coming closer and closer each day.

I ended up making a hat out of a shoebox lid, real grass, and my own shoe. My inspiration came from one of my favorite things to do when I’m in need of inspiration: take a walk. I glued real grass from the nearby park where I usually walk onto the hat chunk by chunk, and I topped it all off with my own personal shoe.

Like many of the classes that I’ve been able to take at SMU, this course has taught me that when you’re having fun and enjoying yourself, work doesn’t even feel like work. I’ve been given a multitude of opportunities to take risks in the classroom and stretch my brain in ways that I would’ve never imagined, and all that I had to do was put on my creative hat!

 

Categories
General

Spring Break en Panamá

IMG_6094.1By Shauna Davis

This past Spring Break I had the opportunity to travel internationally with several SMU dance majors (and one engineer!).  The location was Panama and what brought us there was dance.  We worked with a group called Movement Exchange that has developed partnerships with orphanages in Panama, Brazil and the States.  Over the course of a week, we taught dance classes to underserved kids in orphanages, providing them an avenue for expression, building self-confidence, developing community, and having fun.  While there we taught other dancers at the University of Panama, tried some of the local food, and fumbled our way through the Spanish language.  Luckily we picked up the words baño, numbers 1-10 and bailar right away. Among the things I learned in Panama, here are some of my highlights.

5 of the many things I learned in Panama:

1- People are always willing and able to help

2- Children are energetic balls of fun, talent, patience and stamina

3- Zanahoria means carrot… and nananja (orange) zanahoria juice is very interesting

4- Panamanian people are extremely passionate and spiritual.  On October 21, Catholics thousands make a pilgrimage to Iglesia de San Felipe in Portobelo to witness Christo Negro (the Black Christ)

5- Power in numbers is very, VERY real people- with 9 students and a combined total of 8 years of high school Spanish (and about 17 years of French) the Movement Exchange students from SMU and FSU have combined forces and made a great curriculum for the kids.

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Life Around Dallas

The Final Four in Dallas

By Elizabeth Dubret

Not too long ago, Dallas was lucky enough to host the Final Four!  It was an exciting time to be in the city, and there were so many amazing things to do as a student.  To kick it all off, SMU hosted the Three Point and Slam Dunk competition in our very own Moody Coliseum.  picAs a student, I got a cheap ticket to go and watch this event.  I sat with some of my best friends as we cheered on the competitors and watched how they had formed a friendship.  I then watched the slam dunk competition.  At first, I was not impressed. I felt like I, at five foot two, could do some of these dunks.  But then, they got really good.  Players jumped over things and people, did full spins in the air, dunked backwards, and even swung the ball around their legs.  But, the best part of the night was watching the amazing Adreian Payne have Lacey Holsworth kiss his basketball for good luck before it was his turn. Her strength, his compassion, and their relationship inspired the entire audience.

The next day, the free concerts in Dallas began.  There were artists from the Killers, to Tim McGraw, and Bruce Springsteen.  It was held downtown under the Reunion Tower, and was such a fun time even though it was raining. There were food trucks, vendors, and games, and the concerts were everything the artists had promised.  The other best part of the weekend, was that SMU students received tickets to the final four for $20. Even though SMU was not playing, we could go and cheer on the teams at AT&T Stadium. Overall, having the Final Four in Dallas was an experience of a lifetime and a blast for SMU students.

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Academics

Class Spotlight: Honors Marketing Practicum

By Lauren Lyngstad

This semester, I have had the opportunity to be a student in the Cox School of Business Honors Marketing Practicum. This course takes place every fall for a select group of graduating Marketing majors, and it has easily been one of my favorite courses that I have taken during my time at SMU. Essentially, at the beginning of the year we start off with 25 students in the class. From there, we divide into five teams consisting of five students. The teams are chosen draft-style–the class designates five leaders and each leader chooses their team members with a goal of creating the best, most well-rounded team. After that, the fun begins!

For the past four years, this course, and SMU, has partnered with FOX. Every year, FOX Sports kicks off the course by visiting the classroom and proposing a semester-long project to the class. From there, the five teams of student compete to develop the best solution to the project that FOX has presented. This year, we have been tasked with developing a national campaign for FOX Sports 1 soccer programming. At first, I must admit that I was a little bit intimidated by the gravity of the project. After all, this was a NATIONAL campaign! After the intimidation period passed, our group got down to business. We started off the semester by conducting extensive secondary and primary research. From there, we began to develop ad campaign ideas to present to FOX.

Earlier in March, executives and employees from FS1 flew out from Los Angeles and also joined us via Skype. Our group was given a 30-minute meeting to present our research, campaign ideas and receive employee feedback. It was such a phenomenal opportunity to be sitting in a conference with some of FS1’s most influential employees. We walked away from the meeting with praise, criticism and a renewed passion for the rest of the semester. Currently, we are working on finalizing our final campaign that will be presented to FOX Sports later this month. It has been an absolutely crazy ride, but we have had so much fun dreaming up advertising ideas for social media campaigns, print ads, commercials and more. I cannot wait to see our final product, and I am crossing my fingers that FS1 chooses our project!

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General

A Day in the Life…

By Laura Spitler

A question we get fairly often as SMU Ambassadors is “what does a typical day look like for you?”  So I thought it might be fun to spell that out on here since it incorporates info about classes, homework, holding a job, and being involved on campus…

My alarm goes off at 8:30am.  Luckily for me, it’s a Tuesday and my first class doesn’t start until 11am.  But rather than sleep even later, I get up and use that time productively.  Today that means writing my portion of a business case assignment due on Thursday.  It’s a marketing case about Frito Lay’s introduction of SunChips and I’ve got a group of 4 to help get all the questions answered.  Since I live off campus, I try to leave my apartment by 10:40 to give me time to drive to campus, park, and get to my class in plenty of time.

Now I’ve have three back to back classes that are each 80 minutes long. First is the Sociology of Culture, then Consumer Behavior, then Product and Brand Management (the course I was just doing homework for).  So this means I’m in class from 11am until 3:20pm, with 10 minute passing periods to change buildings when need be (my last two classes are actually in the same room!).  Unfortunately this line up of classes is effective for knocking out the classes, but it means I don’t really get a lunch…that’s my bad, I planned it this way.  I just bring a granola bar to eat in class and then get to eat a substantial “snack” when classes release.

The next thing on my schedule is meeting with one of the advertising professors at 4pm.  I’m hoping to get into a Mayterm class she is teaching in New York City, and she wants to meet with all the interested students since she can only pick 12 to attend.  This sounds like such an amazing opportunity because it would mean getting to network with successful SMU alums that now work for places like Nike and Monster.com, plus we could learn more about different sides of advertising and marketing in a very hands-on way.

Now I get to head home, throw in a load of laundry, and start making a study guide for my upcoming sociology exam.  Before I know it, it is 6pm and I need to think about making dinner and heading back to campus for a meeting of a Christian Woman’s group that I am currently secretary of.  We meet in the Hughes Trigg Student Center to sing songs, pray, and talk about the upcoming events we having coming up, like Relay for Life.  When the meeting wraps up an hour later it’s off to the Dedman Rec Center for me.  I’m a part of the SMU Ballroom Dance team and we practice here two hours every Tuesday night.  Right now we are prepping for our big spring competition held in Austin (road trip!).  It’s about 10:45pm before I finally make it home for the night.  I’m worn out, but it’s been a productive, fun day.

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General

A Look Back on Spring Break

By Elishah Ramos

For this past Spring Break I was fortunate enough to serve the Memphis community by working on the Mississippi River in river cleanup. Here at SMU, we have the option to participate in an Alternative Breaks program for our fall, winter, and spring breaks. Last year, picI participated in a spring break trip to Indianapolis, Indiana to work on urban gardening and this past winter break I was in Quito, Ecuador working with low-income children who work in their street markets. After participating in two amazing trips, I decided to be a site leader for the Memphis, Tennessee trip.

While in Memphis, we worked with Chad Pregracke and his non-profit, Living Lands and Waters. They work cleaning up the Mississippi River and several other rivers in multiple states. He was even featured as a CNN hero of the year! It was a very humbling experience and it really helped the group understand a concept that was vaguely familiar to all of us in a more personal level. While we were there, one of the participants in our group was even interviewed for a Memphis news channel. Working with over 15 other schools for a great cause led to a very rewarding spring break.

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Life Around Dallas

It’s Springtime in Dallas!

By Erin Robbins

Spring is arguably the most beautiful time of the year to visit SMU and a perfect season in Dallas.  Everything is in bloom, the weather is perfect, and there are tons of things to do outdoors. One of my favorite things to do on a sunny 78-degree day (like today) is head out to the Katy Trail.  I love enjoying some fresh air and vitamin D after a long week of classes and studying!

springThe Katy Trail is a great 3.5 mile jogging/walking and biking trail that starts near SMU and runs through the Uptown area of Dallas.  This trail follows along the greenbelt that the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad used for over 100 years.  in 1997, a nonprofit organization called Friends of the Katy Trail was created to convert the abandoned railroad tracks into the trail it is today as part of a national “rails-to-trails” initiative.

Throughout the trail you get to see some great views of downtown and green landscapes (yes there are trees in Texas for those of you from far away)!  However, my favorite part is seeing all of the Dallasites out with their dogs, which is a huge plus when I’m missing my dog at home.  Another popular activity among SMU students is rollerblading, and there are places to rent them for your afternoon on the trail.  You would never expect that such a tranquil place existed in the midst of the most densely populated part of the city.  The Katy Trail is so accessible and a great outlet for enjoying these beautiful spring days in Dallas! Here is the Katy Trail website if you’re interested in some of the construction they’re doing to expand:  www.katytraildallas.org

With weather like this there is nothing to keep you from getting out and exploring Dallas!

 

Categories
General

SMU Pom Squad: Bringing the Spirit

p3By Blake Ann Seeker

It has been an honor and privilege to support SMU athletics this past year, as a member of the SMU Pom Squad.  What began with tryouts last May has lead the ‘pommies’ to march in parades, boulevard with fellow mustangs, cheer on our teams to victory, watch the Larry Brown Era take off with the opening of the new Moody, and so much more. p2As other sports seasons wind down, the SMU Pom squad will now put down the pom poms and do some competing of our own. On April 9th, both spirit squads, Pom and Cheer, will head to Daytona, Florida for the national competition. This is the first time the Pom squad will return to the competition since the current seniors were but first year students at SMU. The team, led by Coach Lori Todd, has worked hard to prepare and hopes to “shine bright” (a recurring theme in the song’s lyrics) in our performance.  We would love for any and all members of SMU community, including prospective students in the area, to come to our routine showoff this Friday, April 4th at 6pm. Hope to see everyone then, in the Dedman Rec Center!

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Life Around Dallas

Fighting for the Innocent at SMU

By Liz Crowell

Now that I am almost halfway done with my time in college (which I still refuse to accept), I truly didn’t think that my experience at SMU would continue to diversify and expand.  Thankfully, I have been proven wrong with the addition of The Innocence Project of Texas into my daily routine.  I was one of those students who changed their major about 5 times and who were always looking for diversity when it came to things to be involved in. bloga I finally settled on a double major in Accounting and Public Policy with a recent addition of a minor in Human Rights last fall semester.  This new minor is what spurred my involvement in The Innocence Project.   One of my current classes for my minor this semester, History: America’s Dilemma, requires either 20 hours of community service at one of four organizations or equivalently a thesis at the end of the term.  Naturally, I accepted the hours over a paper.  In this human rights class, we divulge into the history of this topic and issue with the progression of The United States as well as the world.  We analyze the role human rights have played and the growth it has experienced in topics such as civil rights, The Holocaust and the political world.  Although there is a large amount of reading and work this class is incredible, especially since it allows us to fight for a cause and contribute to individual’s human rights.  The required 20 hours of outside community service with The Innocence Project have now become an involvement I look to carry on long past graduation.

Volunteering with SMU’s division of The Innocence Project has allowed me to be a part of something bigger than just papers and tests.  With weekly meetings and group discussions on clients, I am able to have first-hand insight into the legal and justice system while working for individual’s exoneration that have been wrongly convicted.  When discussing cases and possible strategies, I see myself becoming passionate for a cause that I had never really given a second glance before.  Thanks to SMU and the flexibility it gives to its students, I am now able to graduate with 2 majors and a minor…all in 4 years (something my parents are thrilled about).  More importantly though, it has given me knowledge about things I am not necessarily studying and the opportunity to hopefully make a difference in individual’s life by working with The Innocence Project; long after 20 hours of service.  SMU never ceases to surprise me in the opportunities it provides and I can’t wait to see what else I will come across during the last year and a half of my undergraduate time.