Categories
Campus Life Student Organizations

Asosiación de Empresarios Mexicanos

The past couple of years have been exciting for Latino students at SMU. This is because SMU recently inaugurated its chapter of AEM (Asosiación de Empresarios Mexicanos), an organization that aims to connect Latino students interested in business with each other, as well as with entrepreneurs from across the world. Even though this is a Mexican organization, it is open to all Latino and American students. The AEM’s executive board is composed of many of my best friends and some of the most intelligent and entrepreneurial minded students on campus. Because of this, the organization promises a huge success. For example, some of the exciting events that the AEM has hosted so far have been networking mixers at Quill (an up and coming hip lounge in the Dallas Design District), an SMU-TCU pool party at SISU, a speaker series featuring important leaders like Felipe Calderón (former president of México) and Latino tents during the Boulevards. Having Latino tents has been a great way for the Latino community to get to know one another. It is also a fun place where students that are not affiliated with a Greek organization can enjoy the Boulevard, one of SMU’s favorite traditions. In addition, the AEM has started a philanthropy program called Young Leaders of Tomorrow, a mentoring program in which the members of AEM will be paired up with low-income Latino high school students with similar interests. In my experience, being a member of the AEM has been a rewarding opportunity, since it has allowed me to have incredible moments with my best friends while I prepare for the business world of tomorrow.

Sofia Castells

Categories
Academics Transferring to SMU

Transferring to SMU

Applying and deciding on a college is already a tough and tedious process. Now, imagine already being in college and deciding to go through it again. I was attending a highly recognized, four-year university that had been my dream school for as long as I can remember. At the end of my freshman year, I could not stop crying on my flight back to Mexico for the summer. I was so confused as to why I was crying when I had just finished what I thought to be a great first year of college. The summer gave me plenty of time to reflect on my past year and helped me realize that what I had thought was my dream college was not the place for me. It was time to talk to my parents about the idea of transferring. As I looked into universities, I already knew what I was looking for. I wanted a university that offered the idea of community, but at the same time allowed me to develop globally. I wanted a university that offered world-renowned academics, but also allowed me to have close relationships with my professors and fellow classmates. SMU was the best option and the only school I applied to transfer to.

Transferring can be a very scary process. I was coming into a new university without knowing anyone and as an international student. I met many of my best friends the first week of classes. People were extremely accepting and meeting people was not as hard as I thought it would be. Adjusting to classes was not hard either; teachers were helpful and I soon realized that I was not the only one in my situation. Orientation and other events allowed me to meet other transfers that were going through the same adjustment. Even when I wasn’t completely settled in, I already knew I had made the right choice by transferring. I felt more at home and happier at SMU then at my previous university. Classes were more enjoyable and I soon realized the amazing things Dallas has to offer. To this day, I can easily say that transferring has been one of the hardest decisions I have made, but it has a rewarded me with amazing friendships and a much more satisfying college education and overall experience. SMU has become my second home and I know that the day I leave I will cry, because of how much I will miss this University.  

Ivonne Juraidini

Categories
Careers Life Around Dallas

Now Boarding: Internships

Coming to SMU, one of the things I was most excited for was the opportunity to intern. A mentor in high school told me to think of internships as a trial for a career, and unlike many other trials, you’re the one getting paid to upgrade. My first year here in Dallas and at SMU, I began to fully realize how many companies have their headquarters or base office here in the area. One company immediately stood out to me and was only 10 minutes down Mockingbird Lane: Southwest Airlines. However, with over 20,000 applications submitted and only 150 spots, I knew it was going to be a tough opportunity to acquire.

My sophomore year at SMU, I applied for my first internship at Southwest Airlines. I used nearly all the resources on campus to best prepare myself. I went into the career center and had them look over my resume and perfect every word on the page. At one of the career fairs on campus I actually got to meet my recruiter from Southwest in person, and put a face to my resume. Through other SMU students I got to meet young SMU alumni that currently work and received their input and recommendations. I was able to have two of my favorite professors write extremely individualized recommendation letters for me, because they were able to get to know me so well both inside and outside the classroom. Fast forward a few months, and when I got the interview, I went back to the career center to run some practice interviews. I walked into my interview feeling the most prepared I have ever been and perfectly confident. I ended up receiving the internship on the Customer Experience team and loved it so much that I applied again for the following summer and interned as their first Corporate Strategy & Innovation intern.

My SMU connection was also beneficial while I was there interning. On a daily basis, my academic and extracurricular experiences made me an asset for my team and the projects we were working on. But the SMU benefit didn’t end there. Frequently I would walk down the halls of Southwest’s Corporate headquarters in an SMU shirt and someone would stop me and say they were a Mustang alumni and would love to help me in any way they could. These alumni connections have now become friends who continue to mentor me as I finish my undergraduate time here at SMU.

No matter where you chose to intern, I am confident that your SMU connections will help you professionally. All you need to do is get ready to explore, so buckle up.

Richmond Dewan

Categories
Academics Life Around Dallas Lyle School of Engineering

Beating the Heat and Learning About the World

Coming from California, I’ve been asked countless times by family and friends, “How’s the weather in Texas?” More often than not my response is, “Hot!” And yes, it is hot for the majority of the year, but you adapt quickly so the heat is nothing to fear. Lucky for SMU students, Dallas is home to many impressive museums and entertaining indoor activities for us to enjoy while beating the heat. When I have family or friends visiting and I know it’s going to be a warm day, I love to take them to the Dallas World Aquarium and the Perot Museum.

During Family Weekend of my sophomore year, I took my parents to the Dallas World Aquarium. We all expected a fairly typical aquarium experience with all the familiar aquatic life. You can imagine our surprised looks when we entered the aquarium to see two sloths dangling from a tree, a shoebill stork splashing in the water and an anteater running about its enclosure. The DWA has a collection of the six main classes of animals: mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians and arthropods. Expect to see crocodiles, river otters, a manatee, spiders, bats, penguins and a jaguar just to name a few of the incredible animals you can find in the aquarium. Being the nerd I am, I try to go to all the info sessions the DWA offers to educate visitors on the dozens of exhibits they host. That’s probably why I’ve been there three times and one of the reasons I love having friends and family visit: it gives me an excuse to go back to learn about these amazing animals.

Another great museum for students to visit is the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, perfect for those interested in biology, engineering, physics, geology and paleontology. When my girlfriend visited last spring, we decided it would be a good spot to visit and we’d be able to explore a different side of Dallas. Studying biology, she was extremely excited when we arrived at the “Discovering Life” and “Being Human” Halls. I still laugh when I think about how she’d tell me something she’d learned in class, and within thirty seconds we’d find that same fact displayed in the museum. I was just as excited when we arrived at the “Texas Instruments Engineering and Innovation” Hall. As a computer science major, the engineering hall was my playground. What I love most about the Perot, is its hands-on learning experience, where guests are encouraged to interact with a majority of the displays. My favorite activity was being able to program a robot to navigate an obstacle course. And while I struggled to no end with making it to the end of that course, I had a blast learning about my field of interest.

So yes, Dallas is a hot spot. Not just in temperature, but in entertaining and educational exhibits for all to enjoy. I still plan on exploring the Dallas Museum of Art and the Dallas Zoo when I get the chance. I can’t wait to share my experience!

Christopher Lanoie

Categories
Athletics Campus Life Lyle School of Engineering Spirit and Traditions

Wild about SMU: Family Weekend 2017

SMU Family Weekend is one of my favorite weekends of the school year! It’s always an exciting weekend filled with great company, the best food and countless laughs. I love getting the chance to show my family around the place I call my home away from home. My parents have made the trip from South Carolina to Dallas every year to participate in the festivities, even my grandmother and aunt came from Atlanta for my last Family Weekend.

One of the best parts is getting to introduce my family to some of my favorite Dallas restaurants. Since my parents have been visiting for four years now, they even have some of their own favorites! Our must-hit restaurants include Bistro 31 in Highland Park Village for lunch, Javier’s for the best Mexican food, R&D Kitchen for the most delicious hamburger, and Al Biernat’s for the best steak and coconut cream pie in Dallas. My parents always joke that all we do is eat when they visit, but that’s because Dallas has some of the best food!

I also enjoy showing my family all the great things SMU has to offer. My parents always make a point to attend the “Meet the Faculty” reception at the engineering school. This is such a great opportunity to introduce your parents to some of your professors so that they can really see what you’re learning and doing in the classroom.

And, don’t forget about the Boulevard! This is one of SMU’s greatest traditions and a must for the Family Weekend schedule. It is so much fun to walk down the Boulevard, stop at all the different tents and show your parents all of the Mustang pride before the football game. It’s also a great time to catch up with family friends. It has been great to see the friendships formed between my parents and my best friends’ parents over the years, and my parents always look forward to seeing these friends during Family Weekend.

Family Weekend is always a memorable event, and this year was no exception. The excitement on all of the families’ faces is evident, whether it’s their first time on campus or their seventh! As a senior, I’m sad to see my last Family Weekend pass, but I will always remember all of the wonderful memories made during Family Weekends past.

Perrin Griffin

Categories
Academics Careers Lyle School of Engineering

In the Midst of Internship Applications

My first and second years of college at SMU were full of new experiences and exploration of possible careers—so many opportunities, so much excitement! Now junior year has already rolled around and I find myself starting to narrow in on what I want to do with my life. Mechanical engineering and mathematics—check. Now, I am starting to narrow in on particularly what I want to do this summer. I look back to the summer after my freshman year when I had free time to explore—I studied abroad in Prague, took engineering and Russian Culture courses, and fell more in love with traveling and engineering applications. During the summer after my sophomore year, I began my search for internships.

This journey began when I joined Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and attended meetings each semester. I learned about various companies that came to speak to our organization and became an officer my sophomore year. In addition to networking with companies at SWE meetings and attending the SMU career fair, I was given the opportunity to travel with SWE to Philadelphia in September of 2016 and attended the national SWE conference. At the conference, I handed out my resume and networked with numerous companies that interested me. It was only a matter of time before I received my first interview with one of my dream companies.

Attending the national SWE conference and meeting employers on SMU’s campus connected me with many companies that I was potentially interested in working for. The process continued with personal research, emails and online applications. A blessing through the whole journey was the Hart Leadership Center—an amazing on-campus resource with a wonderful staff that helps with resumes and interning information.

I ended up accepting an internship at a biomedical engineering company the summer after my sophomore year thanks in part to attending the SMU career fair and the SWE conference. As I continue to search for my dream job this summer, I will definitely be utilizing resources on campus to help make my dream a reality.  I am also planning on attending the national SWE conference again which is being held in Austin, TX this year, not too far from home.

Emily Osman

Categories
Life Around Dallas

Life in Dallas

Welcome to Dallas – a modern, diverse, cosmopolitan city that is a paradise for students! The city of Dallas is a place that every SMU student will call home. Yes, students have many opportunities to study abroad; study at SMU’s 2nd campus location in Taos, New Mexico; and have internships in other cities, but none of these experiences beat the experiences students have while living in Dallas, Texas. Life in Dallas is full of city lights, a stunning skyline, some of the best food in the world, concerts featuring top artists, sporting events and shopping!  

Living in the Highland Park and University Park area, home to SMU, allows me to start my day with healthy bites before class, on or off campus! In addition to the healthy food options, exercise is key to living a healthy lifestyle in college. The off-campus exercise opportunities are endless: cycling, yoga, running on the Katy Trail and many more. After class, I love hanging out with friends at Curtis Park, Caruth Park or Lakeside Park.

What can I say, shopping is awesome in Dallas– North Park, Mockingbird Station, Snider Plaza, Park Lane, The Galleria and Preston Center are just a small number of the many shopping locations! You can honestly find anything you can possibly need or want!

Other indoor destinations include one of our many first-class museums. SMU students have the benefit of the Bush Presidential Center right on their own campus! In addition, the Meadows Museum on campus holds one of the largest Spanish art outside of Spain. If you are an art, theater, dance or classical music enthusiast you are in a city that will provide you with entertainment equal to or better than other metropolitan cities.

For ambitious eaters, one can attend four years of school in Dallas and never eat at the same restaurant twice. My personal favorites are those that specialize in brunch, which is a must before Boulevarding for an SMU football game! North Dallas and Uptown are a foodie heaven, with every cuisine a person could possibly want. Some of my favorite restaurants around Dallas are Flower Child, Grub Burger, Mi Cocina, True Foods, The Porch and Fireside Pies; check them out when ever you come to visit campus!

Laura Catherine Harrell

Categories
Campus Life General

The Beauty of Fall Break

I have always been a huge fan of the underdog: Rocky, Rudy, the 1980 US Men’s Olympic hockey team, etc. An underdog’s story tends to strike deep in the hearts of the masses. Despite all odds, the underdog overcomes and basks in his or her unexpected glory.  Where am I going with this? Good question.

At SMU we have a Fall Break, which, in most students’ minds, will forever live in the shadows of Spring Break. For two days, a Monday and Tuesday in October, you get to take a break from school and your responsibilities.

For some, this means going home to visit friends or family. For others, this may mean extra sleep in the Residential Commons or even going down to Austin City Limits for a few days of live music. For my friends and me, this meant spontaneously driving 18 hours through the night to the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park. Five students with five days to explore pile in a car to travel cross country on Thursday night (because no class on Friday in the Cox School of Business, which is the best thing ever).  

To prep for our trip, we went to SMU’s Outdoor Adventure office in the Dedman Rec Center and rented all the gear we needed for next to nothing (I’m fairly sure it was a dollar a day for a sleeping bag).  From almost falling into the Grand Canyon, watching a friend try to eat a 72oz steak in an hour, sleeping in the car, and seeing the beauty of the world around us, this trip was one of the best trips of my life, and it was all because of SMU’s Fall Break.  

While you don’t have to drive 18 hours away from Dallas, these two days coupled with a weekend open up the opportunity for you to get out of the ordinary with friends. This is why Fall Break will always have a special place in my heart.

Cameron Farr

Categories
Campus Life Residence Life and Student Housing

Movies Are Better With 100 of Your Best Friends

I am an RA in one of the Residential Commons on campus and one of my favorite events that my commons, Morrison McGinnis (Momac for short), puts on every semester is Momac at the Movies. For this event Momac rents a theater at the Angelika, an independent theater that is about a seven minute walk from campus, and selects a popular movie for a private screening. Most recently we chose to show “Get Out,” a movie that has generated a lot of talk in the media. The best part about watching this movie as a residential community was laughing and jumping at the scary parts of the movie with about 100 of my Momac friends. Trust me, there is no better way to watch a scary movie! This is an event that our Faculty in Residence started three years ago, and has quickly become a favorite tradition for many of our residents. Also, as if watching a new movie in a private theater with all your friends wasn’t enough, our Faculty in Residence, Mark Kerins, is a film professor. This means that after the movie we have a chance to hear him explain more about what went into making the movie and about some of the more subtle themes.

Although Momac at the Movies is one of my favorite events my commons puts on, there are a lot of great residential events. Every Residential Commons has its own signature event that they host for everyone on campus at least once a year. These events run the gamut from an arts festival, to a Halloween festival with student film contest, to a huge Mardi Gras Party and so much more. These events are run by students, for students and are one of my favorite parts about living on campus. They are a great way to get involved and meet people from all over SMU!

Ben Ovenshire

Categories
Academics Life Around Dallas

Study Spots around Dallas

Though Fondren Library is a great spot to study, sometimes you need to find a different atmosphere away from campus to really be productive. Because of Dallas’ hundreds of different popular study spots, I would like to recommend three that provide not only delicious treats, but also a prime studying environment.

 

Union – This coffee shop is barely five minutes from campus and offers delicious drinks and pastries while providing a multitude of different study spaces ranging from bean bags to tables. Not only this, but the friendly staff is extremely welcoming, giving Union a warm atmosphere.

 

Café Brazil –  If you are looking for a more upbeat, late night study spot, Café Brazil is the place for you. The vibrant walls, bottomless coffee bar and famous chocolate chip pancakes allow you to take on your studying with a new, more positive attitude.

 

Royal Blue Grocery – Though groceries are not usually go-to study spots, this Highland Park shop includes a cozy coffee bar with seating not only along the wall, but also in the loft above.

 

 

Rebecca Brewbaker

Categories
Life Around Dallas

The Dallas Arboretum

Fall in Dallas is one of my favorite times. I love when the heat becomes mild, because we all know that Thanksgiving and Christmas are around the corner. There are so many fun things to do in Dallas during this wonderful season, like attend the State Fair of Texas, Boulevard and enjoy the beautiful weather on the Katy Trail and at White Rock Lake. Yesterday, I went to the Dallas Arboretum, one of my favorite fall spots.

The Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens is a magical place. They routinely change the exhibits for each season. Currently, there is a pumpkin garden. The pumpkins are arranged by pumpkin type, and they are manipulated to create beautiful structures and pieces of art. This year’s theme is the Wizard of Oz. The garden was constructed to create pumpkin structures along the Yellow Brick Road and capture the magic of the movie. At the Arboretum, I felt like I was in Oz as opposed to Dallas! In addition to enjoying the pumpkin garden, the Dallas Arboretum has numerous dining options. I ate at the café that overlooked White Rock Lake. It was surreal. The restaurant is located in a building that is over 100 years old, with a Floridian vibe to it, which adds to the almost mystical feel of the Dallas Arboretum. Despite all the homework and stress I dealt with during midterms, going to the Arboretum allowed me to escape and take some time for myself as I enjoyed an afternoon with friends.

It is important to take advantage of the opportunities Dallas gives SMU students. No matter how much stress people feel, there are many ways to alleviate it. Visiting the arboretum allowed me to focus on the beauty of this incredible city we are lucky enough to live in.

Larissa Spies

Categories
Campus Life Meadows School of the Arts Student Organizations

Culture on Campus

SMU has some of the most entertaining cultural and artistic experiences on a college campus through our Meadows School of the Arts. Over the course of the semester, you could easily catch performances in dance, vocal performance, studio art and orchestra. A while ago, I had the opportunity to see the Cézanne String Quartet’s final recital as SMU’s Peak Fellowship Ensemble in Residence. The fellowship is Meadow’s way of bringing extraordinary artists, some from around the world, to campus. The group consists of two violins, one viola and one cello. They are currently working on recording their first album. The fall recital will be on the first album and focuses on tragedy in the human experience.

Overall, it was an incredible experience. Many people will never get the chance to see the caliber of performers that are in the Cézanne Quartet, much less for free, but at SMU, experiences like this are the norm. One of my favorite things about our University being located in Dallas is that these artistic and cultural opportunities are not limited to campus. Almost any day of the year, it’s simple to find an event in fine arts. Whether you are interested in venturing into the city or filling a few hours between classes, Dallas and Meadows ensure that there are no shortages of opportunities to learn and grow in areas that may be culturally different. As a student studying accounting and biology, two subjects that do not make much room for creative leaning, I find myself being refreshed and inspired by programs and performances that break up the monotony of my own academic agenda. Make sure to check out Meadows’ performance schedule if you are visiting us on the Hilltop – you won’t regret it!

Holt Garner

Categories
Life Around Dallas Texas Travel

Weekend Trip to Austin

For a little weekend getaway, my friends and I drove down to Austin, Texas for Austin City Limits last weekend. That’s one of the great things about Dallas, its proximity to other really cool cities. Austin is just a quick 3-hour drive and can be fun for a change of scenery.

We drove down on Friday after class just in time to see Jay-Z, Martin Garrix and Foster the People. On Saturday morning, we went to brunch at Jo’s Coffee and then went in to ACL early to explore Zilker Park. They have the most amazing ACL Eats Food Court- with everything from Shake Shack to local Austin pizza places (eating pizza in Austin is a must!). There are 8 different stages, and the Austin skyline is visible from everywhere in the park. On Saturday, we saw Ice Cube, Red Hot Chili Peppers and then went to a Silent Disco.

There is so much to do in Dallas on the weekends that you would never have to leave, but I recommend exploring other cities in Texas if you get the opportunity. Over the past four years, I have fallen in love with not only Dallas and SMU but more broadly, Texas. Everything truly is bigger and better in Texas!

Taylor Walden

Categories
Academics SMU Abroad

My Semester Abroad in Copenhagen

One of the factors that drew me to SMU was the vast amount of opportunities to study abroad. I’ve always known that I wanted to study abroad at some point, but I was never sure where I wanted to go or for how long. After my freshman year, I had met friends who had studied all over the globe for as short as three-week programs all the way to programs that lasted a whole year! The program that continuously stood out to me was DIS (Danish Institute for Study Abroad), in Copenhagen, Denmark. The program drew a mixture of students from universities across America, offering classes that transferred for credit in nearly every major.

The spring semester of my junior year, I flew across the world to Copenhagen, my home for the next four months. I lived in an apartment with eight other students from all different universities whom I became friends with instantly! I also become friends with several other students from SMU that I didn’t know prior to going abroad. Immersing myself in Danish culture was the best part of living abroad, I experienced so much more than I could have possibly imagined in just four short months.

Every morning I rode my bike to class, which is by far the most common way to commute in Denmark. At school, I was able to complete my European Studies minor; some of the classes I took were Terrorism & Counterterrorism From a European Perspective, Danish Politics & Society, and The Holocaust & Genocide. My counterterrorism class traveled to London for a week where we met with a counterterrorism think-tank, a renown BBC reporter and other influential people within the political sphere. The classes I took abroad were the most interesting courses I have ever taken, largely in part because DIS enables students to use Europe as their classroom.

Between classes I studied in the coziest coffee shops known to man, browsed the cobblestone streets of the inner city and people watched with friends. On the weekends I managed to check a couple cities off my bucket list… London, Hamburg, Geneva, Brussels, Amsterdam, Budapest, Oslo, Paris, Prague, Dublin, Rome, Florence, Venice, Stockholm, Berlin, Lisbon, Madrid, Barcelona and Munich to name a few.

While studying abroad I learned more about myself in four months, than I have my entire life. SMU is my home, but if I can give one piece of advice to a student, no matter where they go to school, it would be to abroad. Rachel Wolchin said,  “If we were meant to stay in one place, we’d have roots instead of feet.” If not now, when? Just go.

Julia Traylor

Categories
General Life Around Dallas

Texas State Fair

SMU’s location in Dallas, Texas has many perks.  There is always new food, music and entertainment to enjoy in the big city.  One of the most famous events is the world-famous Texas State Fair.  At the end of September each year, the fairgrounds come alive as vendors flock towards Dallas to show and sell everything from fried Oreos to fried jello. One of my favorite parts about going to the Texas State Fair each year is listening to the live music.  Surprisingly, there’s more than just country music to enjoy! I’ve seen everything from pop singers to Irish rock bands perform.  There are endless rides, games and performances to enjoy. One of the busiest days at the fairgrounds is when more than 100,000 people travel to the State Fair for the AT&T Red River Showdown game between the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners.  These rivals have met at the fairgrounds each year since 1929!  

As an SMU student, it’s impossible to miss the Texas State Fair.  Some classes will have projects that involve the fair and many student groups attend together throughout the season.  One of the easiest ways to get to the Texas State Fair is through the Dallas Area Rapid Transit transportation network.  As a benefit of enrollment at SMU, students may obtain an Annual DART Local Pass for a one-time fee of $5.00.  This is one of my favorite perks as an SMU student.  The DART goes to areas downtown, the American Airlines Center, the DFW airport and many more places.  Most importantly, it goes directly to the Texas State Fair!

Caroline Gurley