...Of A Waterloo Commuter

When I was a child, I absolutely loved the snow. As with many things in life, the majesty and splendor of those soft white flakes wore off with age and morphed instead into spite and resentment. One of the biggest inconveniences of snow, of course, is driving in it. I, like many of my peers, have an internship which requires me to make the trip over to the "big city" of Waterloo, a task made incredibly difficult by the precipitation I used to adore.

As a Waterloo commuter, I make the trek out to the C parking lot three days a week, put my key in the ignition, and hope to goodness that the engine will come to life. The severe weather of this past week has been awfully rough on old Philip (the name of my Jeep Liberty), and I fear he won't be able to take much more. After all, it's difficult for any car to survive the bipolar nature of an Iowa winter.

In any case, I do appreciate the experience this year has given me with commuting to work. Coming from a town of 5,000, it took me approximately two minutes to get just about anywhere by car, so training myself to allow extra travel time in the winter has been an unexpected benefit of this position. I have actually figured out the exact amount of time it takes to get from my dorm room to my internship, factoring in snowy roads of course (22 minutes, in case you were wondering).

You may ask, "How does any of this affect me?" Well, my friends, there is a good possibility that you too may become a part of the Waterloo commuter club during your time here at UNI. If this ends up being the case, I welcome you and look forward to swapping travel horror stories with you in the future. I mean, come on. If there are snow piles taller than most cars out there, work should just be cancelled, right?

Until next time...

Happy February, and may the weather odds be ever in your favor!

~ Jordan, STAR

...Of a College Snow Day

Who doesn't love a good snow day? In high school, snow days were my favorite. They were unexpected breaks from the normal routine to relax, watch movies, and avoid homework. Imagine my disappointment when I arrived to UNI and found out that universities rarely cancel school due to weather. When you think about it, it does make sense. Since the large majority of students live within ten minutes of their classrooms, the university shouldn't cancel school everytime we receive a few inches of snow. But every now and then, there is a storm that is bad enough that the university decides to cancel classes.

This morning I woke up to a blanket of snow that wasn't in my yard yesterday (Iowa weather always wants to keep us guessing, doesn't it?) as well as numerous e-mails from professors who chose to cancel their classes today because of the snowstorm. I only had one professor who chose to have class today, and in the middle of that class, every student received a message that the university would be closing at 4:00 today. That message meant that all night classes and activities were cancelled for tonight, which gave me the happy surprise of a free schedule.

So how do you spend your time during a college snow day? I can promise you that college snow days, while they might be hard to come by, are so much better than high school snow days because you get snowed in with all of your best friends! There's nothing better than having a night off to spend relaxing with your friends in your residence hall! My plans for the night include a coffee date with my roomie and watching romantic comedies with my friends! (Valentine's Day is just around the corner, you know!) So until tomorrow, the homework can wait while I enjoy a night of relaxing with some wonderful friends!

                                                                                                  Stay warm!
                                                                                                 -Kari, STAR

...of sticking with it!

Okay guys, call me crazy but cold weather is NOT my thing. I was lucky enough to get an "ice day" off from work this Sunday, and of course I used that time off to be super productive....well, not exactly. I spent my entire Sunday watching Netflix movies. (It was a very good day).

As you can imagine, the thought of going to my Boot Camp fitness class this afternoon seemed a little less than appealing. Especially when I looked out my window this morning and saw this:

Isn't winter just wonderful?

Lucky for me, signing up with a bunch of friends turned out to be a really good idea. Even though i really, really, really didn't want to go to class today, they all convinced me to go. So I got my things together, 

and off we went to class! 

Our instructor decided that we were going to have our workout in the dome, which was way cool. Except for the running dome stairs part... have you seen how many stairs are in that place?!

There's kind of a lot...

But anyways, I ended up having a really great workout with my friends, and also making new friends in my workout class. (Nothing builds strong friendships like stair laps!) And so the class that I was dreading ended up making this gloomy day a lot better, who would've thought?

Now, I can't wait to drag them to class when they don't want to go. I mean, I owe them, right? 

Stay strong & healthy, baby panthers!

:)

-Melanie, STAR

...of a Wannabe Thespian!

As a student at UNI with many passions, it has been rather difficult for me to narrow down my major/minor to only two fields of study. One of my biggest passions is theatre. I love performing, writing, learning the history of theatre, the whole nine yards. 

Unfortunately, with an English major and Public Relations minor (as well as having a job and being involved in my sorority), I did not feel that I would have enough time to dedicate to a second minor. I was extremely thrilled to find out that I can still be very involved in the theatre community here at UNI while having a different major!

A scene from last year's production of Bat Boy!

 

For starters, the UNI theatre department offers lots of classes that any student can take. Many of these classes qualify to fulfill the LAC or Liberal Arts Core that all students are required to complete. These classes include everything from playwriting, learning the art of theatre, and even getting to work onstage and perform scenes during class. UNI is well-known for its teachers and professors in the theatre program who are very experienced and great mentors as well. I currently am taking a Shakespeare class and get to do such activities as perform sonnets, work on physical movement for the stage, and help others practice their lines for the upcoming Strayer-Wood Theatre production of Merchant of Venice.

Also, the annual 10 Minute Play Festival is just around the corner, and like all UNI productions, anyone can audition! The 10 Minute Play Festival is an especially great opportunity for those who worry about the time commitment of being in a production, as the 10 Minute plays are only allotted 3 hours of rehearsal total. The really cool thing about the festival is that all of the plays are written and submitted by UNI students!

If acting isn't necessarily "your thing" and you're more of a spectator, you're in luck. As a UNI student, all shows in the Strayer-Wood Theater are free with your Student ID card. Beyond that, all students receive two free tickets to the Gallagher Bluedorn each semester to the show(s) of their choice! Pretty sweet deal if you ask me.

To learn more about the UNI Theatre Department and see a list of upcoming shows, click the link below:

http://www.uni.edu/theatre/

Follow your dreams, and break a leg!

-Emily

STAR

...of a student getting back into the swing of things!

Coming back from winter break means the start of a new semester. This means getting back into the routine of classes and homework. I've had a difficult time getting back into the swing of things since I didn't do anything productive over break :/

So I thought I would share some helpful tips for starting a new semester!

1. Don't forget to order/buy textbooks for your new classes over break! (I made that mistake once and I definitely learned my lesson!)

2. Make sure to bring back gloves, hats, etc because going to class in the freezing cold is no fun!

3. Stay on top of your assignments. Getting behind in the beginning of the semester just means more catch up work and you don't want to get burned out before you've really even started. Using a planner can help keep track of homework, due dates, and tests!

4. Make some time to relax and spend time with your friends! Sometimes coursework can be overwhelming so take time to catch up with your friends! Especially if you haven't seen them for awhile because of break!

Hopefully this helps you get back into the swing of things so you can start the semester off on a good note!

~Diann, STAR