Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Finishing Strong- Semester in Review

Our most recent and, in my opinion, the most meaningful event was our recent service at a local food pantry. Our Next Generation is a branch of The Gathering that is located on Milwaukee's north side. Together we served members of the community a warm meal with smiling faces. This event was also a great achievement for the members, to be able to take time from their lives to make a difference in  the local community.

By being in the LLC I think the residents got more of a sense of community living in the Residence Halls. They are apart of the lager community on the floor but get a more personal experience by being in the LLC. It provides a common interest the residents can bond over and open up new opportunities to meet new people and experience new things.

Speaking of experiences, that brings me to one of my favorite moments. As part of the class the residents take together, they were commissioned to make a traditional Japanese dinner. The scene was chaos as the residents attempted to pull this dinner together (thank goodness for Haruka and Jason for holding it together). It was touch and go for a bit but in the end the residents were able to pull together and make a delicious dinner. Below if the link to the adventure.



<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/55278650?badge=0" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe> <p><a href="http://vimeo.com/55278650">Japanese Food Night Tempura Okonomiyaki 4</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/jasonchristopherjones">Jason Jones</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

To Infinity and Beyond

To Infinity and Beyond
 
Beyond Borders LLC comes to the end of first semester. I feel like we the staff were really able to connect and interact with the students on a personal level. I really enjoyed coming to class every week to learn and participate in their activities as they learned about the Japanese Culture and themselves as they opened their eyes to a new world.

 The "Beyond Tie Dye" event was was the highlight of our semester I believe as well as when we all got together to cook Japanese food. Everyone was really able to come together and I cannot wait for second semester to come. This is only the stepping stone of what's to come, so as Buzz Lightyear states, "To infinity, and beyond!"

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Art and Design Fall Semester Recap

This semester, the Art and Design LLC had a lot of fun. We went to Redline as a kickoff for the beginning of the year, we went to the Milwaukee Museum after dark, learned about the Riverwest community, and even got to make advertisements and watch the production of King Lear. The LLC has worked really hard on projects in the 2D Concepts course with the help of our excellent instructors, Raoul Deal and Leah Shreiber, and our awesome mentor, Rhiannon Urbanowski. We have done projects that have forced all of the students to interact with the Milwaukee community by means of interviewing the people of the Milwaukee community and we are even doing a mural of the river right now that will be hung up outside of Riverview. How awesome is that?

Throughout the semester, my residents have made me laugh on numerous occasions. I have loved having events with the LLC and going to the MAM was always a great time. I also think that, in the class, the residents really enjoyed seeing their King Lear posters hanging up in the Peck School of the Arts, and I look forward to seeing the mural being put up. We had such a great art-filled semester.


Throughout this semester, I have been extremely impressed with all of the talent and uniqueness that the LLC residents have brought to the table. I have learned a lot about different styles of art and I was amazed by the how well so many different people were brought together by art alone. After meeting all of my residents and working with them throughout the semester, I truly know what it's like to feel inspired.


The residents have connected with each other more than I could have ever hoped, and by having art as a common interest, it was very easy to relate to one another. Having class together made going to class more enjoyable and being able to work together on project without even having to leave the Residence Halls was an incredible opportunity to have. I think that the residents have really enjoyed being a part of an LLC and I hope that we continue to get more and more residents interested in the LLC in the future.

Monday, December 17, 2012

The End of the Beginning- Honors LLC Semester in Review

Hey ya'll

Ready for my last post of the semester? I can't believe it is already that time of the year...peppermint hot chocolate, ice skating and, of course, FINALS! It feels like just yesterday that I was sitting in the lounge helping everyone move in, when I didn't know who anyone was and was excited (and nervous) for the year to begin. I still remember Aaron Davis being the first one to sit down in the lounge and talk to me (I'm not sure if he knew I was the RA ;) and now I feel like I've really gotten to know him.

I don't know how I can go about describing this semester in one blog post. So here's a question:

We won the Halloween decorating contest!
What do you get when you pair 30 freshmen with 1 first year RA? A lot of mistakes and a lot of learning. 

I have so much about people, the Honors college, life and "the college experience" that I ever thought I would. I think my residents, without speaking for them, have learned (or in the process of learning) what it means to be a successful member of a larger community; we have gone through a lot of stuff together but we have also had a lot of fun. 

I am thankful to have Mentor Molly, Advisor Shannon, and Supervisor Sarah by my side this semester. We planned some great events together and they have stuck by me 100% - I couldn't have done it without them (as cliche as that sounds, it's true, ask them!)

Working together to decorate for Halloween
I wish everyone the best of luck with finals and I can't wait until next semester! Bring it on!

This is RA-nnah, signing off for now :)