Friday, December 25, 2009

We made it! Now for break!

Top Ten Favorite LLC Moments of Fall 2009 Semester!

1. Thomas Vu Daniels' gallery at Redline Grand Opening
- I LOVED meeting this artist and learning ALL about him! He is a master printmaker and the entire Visual Arts LLC got to chill with him and talk. he was so normal and relaxed. he talked about everything we wanted to know and we saw a lot of his work.

2. Watching the Visual Arts LLC members work on their assignments.
- It was really interested to see the different artistic styles of each art student in the LLC. I enjoyed visiting them in the lounge and seeing them work on their projects and hearing them talk about them. I hope to be able to attend some project critiques next semester. I really liked watching them create Artist Books.

3. Being Exposed to Something (somewhat) New
- I was happy to take on the job as the RA leader for the Film LLC. Film is something I have been interested in and can conceptually study, but have not had much experience with. I really liked that I have been exposed to new kinds of film and different ideas by becong involed with the Film LLC.

4. Showing them my favorite East Side Gallery...
- At the beginning of the year I made sure to bring the Visual Art LLC residents to the Inova Gallery. It is a short five minute walk from Riverview Residence Hall. We all walked there together and then explored the exhibit. It is a gallery that is set up by Peck School of the Arts and located on Prospect and Kennilworth. The gallery hosts local artists as well as international artists. There was an exhibit for a Wisconsin artist who uses natural materials in his art. Afterwards, we noticed that Urban Outfitters, a clothing store next door, had a great sale going on, so we all stopped in to do a little shopping together. It was a good outing to get to know eachother a little better and also find oneof the East Side's greatest treatures.

5. Free Pizza
- I like to provide free food for the residents at a lot of our events...usually it is PIZZA!!! Every college student loves free food...

6. Rivers Wash Over Me---and meeting a director
- We viewerd an awesome film called, River's Wash Over Me. It won awards at Sundance and many other film festivals. It was one of thos emovies where you just don't know what to ay at the end becasue it blew away your mind...(check it out)! Then we got to meet with the director and executive producer. And have free pizza...

7. Being surrounded by cool people
- I really enjoy the people I work with in the LLC. They always have great ideas and are a fun group of people. I know I can depend on them and they are helpful whenever I need help with something. It is also cool that they are interested in the same things and enjoy their jobs.

8. Milwaukee Art Museaum Trip
- I have a post about this from last month on the blog, but needless to say it was a lot of fun and we saw some cool stuff together- for free.

9. Experimental Tuesday
- The Union Theatre shows experimental films every Tuesday. They are free and a good way to spend an hour ot two on a Tuesday. The Film LLC checked out "Three Corners of the World". It was a silent film...which I havn't seen too many of, but it was interesting. We stocked up on soda and candy bars for the show. The week before they went to see Where the Wild things at at Mayfair's AMC!

10. End of Semester!!
- As much as I enjoy the LLC, UWM and Riverview, who doesn't love being able to have a month long vacation at the end of semester! It is one of the best parts of college. I'm looking forward to relaxing, time with family and friends and making a little extra money.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Why live in an LLC?

It's almost Christmas, and I'm horribly late posting this. I think I'm going to blame it on exams. They are not really fun.

Everyone knows that though, no one likes taking exams. It's nice when you're finally done with them, but you have to study for hours and hours, and sometimes you might not even know exactly what to study! You're going to have to track down a friend or someone you know in the class, figure out when you two can meet, hopefully both of you know what to study, and then have a little study party. It's hard finding a time that will work, and if you want to get a few more people to study, it's a huge hassle.
I had a pretty tough math exam last Friday, so I decided to really cram for it the night before (I studied before that, too, Mom, don't worry!) , and I was really struggling with it. I went one room away, and asked when my friend was free. He said he'd meet up with me later that night, sure enough he grabbed another person from our floor, and we poured over the material for hours.

That's what's great about living in an LLC, you have tons of people taking the same classes as you had. Six of us studied for our CompSci exam together, then we all walked over to the room together. It's pretty nice just talking about the test you took with some friends as you play a round of Halo that night.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

This is why you want to...

So, you might think, "Why should I join an LLC? I can just take the normal course.."
Consider the following and think again....
1. Making Friends is Easier
- When you leave home to go to college it can be really difficult to leave behind your friends and be in an environment with all new people. Being in an LLC, you are surrounded with people who have a similar interest, goals and area of study. This gives you something to talk about with them. You also are attending classes with the same people that you live with which helps create closer relationships. There is nothing like bonding over trying to survive the next big assignment!
2. Have a relationship with your instructor
- This is more important than you may think. Feeling like you can talk to your instructor helps with class confusion, exams and finding resources. Beyond that you will feel more connected to your instructor rather than a number in a pool of people. This is also helpful when you need letters of recommendation or references.
3. Easy resources at your fingertips
- When you are in LLC, you not only have your instructor to help you along the way, you also have your RA and Mentor. Both of these figures major in the field of your LLC so they are great resources about the program you are involved with. Your RA lives on the same floor and can assist with questions about the residence halls as well as any other concerns or questions, your mentor helps you get through any struggles. Both figures will also be able to help with anything related to your LLC.
4. Class is right down the hall….
- Did you have to stay up late? Having trouble getting out of bed? No worries, class is located right here in Riverview. If you sign up for a LLC located in Riverview, it is likely that you will have at least one class located in Riverview. I loved being able to wake up and walk down the hall in my comfortable clothing to go to class. If you are in the art LLC this is perfect when you need to carry around a lot of heavy supplies.
5. Unique Opportunities
- When you are part of an LLC, special opportunities are created for you that you would not receive in other classes. For example, the Film LLC was able to meet with an award winning director who was extremely popular at the Sundance film festival. The Visual Arts LLC is always meeting with artists and doing extra projects and services for the community. These experiences help you learn and grow but are also A TON of fun and look great when you are filling out resumes.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Visual Arts LLC Instructor Honored

Raoul Deal, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Visual Art, received the 2009 Alumni Association Award for Teaching Excellence. Raoul teaches in the Visual Art Living Learning Community in RiverView Residence Hall. If you see him, congratulate him!



Raoul works with an LLC student designing a replica of a common object, to scale.