Amelia's Farewell

   This past Friday, I had to say, "See you later" to someone very close to the Student Call Center . After 5 years at UT Tyler , Amelia Harrell sets of on a new adventure! Amelia (or Amy) established the Call Center here at UT Tyler. She was actually the one who hired me for this job almost two years ago when I applied on Patriot Jobs !

     This woman is such an amazing person. It's still a bit emotional for me to write about her leaving so i'll keep it brief. Amelia will truly be missed in The Office of Admissions, especially here at the Call Center. She put so much effort and dedication towards the success of our office here. She invested so much time and energy to train each of us, write manuals, and about one hundred other things to make the Call Center,  Preview Day and other Admission events so successful.

Spring Break Blues

   Back to reality..   UT Tyler's Spring Break is over, and eveyone is either still in Spring break mode, still dreaming about Spring Break, or college student like me, who wished their Spring Break was a lot more eventful.


      I spent a majority of my Spring Break, unfortunately cooped up in a library since I had a test the Monday morning after Spring Break... That's nursing school for ya! I did however went to Marble Falls, Tx to go zip lining! Marble Falls is about 30 minutes outside of Austin. Speaking of Austin, I just want to express my condolances to the vicitms of the SXSW car aaccident.

UT Tyler Gate goes to Meiji Jingu Shrine and Imperial Palace

      Meiji Jingu Shrine is a Shintu Shrine dedicated to Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. After the Emperor and Emperess passed away, people commerate their virtues by donating 100,000 tress throughout Japan and overseas and worked voluntary to create the forest around the Meiji Jungu Shrine.

We had the opportunity to witness a traditional Japanese wedding! 

    Shintu does not have a founder, a holy book, as well as the concept of religious conversation. Shintu values for example harmony with nature and virtues such as "sincere heart" or Magokoro. Shinto believes in Kami, divine spirit, that is seen in mythology, nature, as well as human beings. In Shintu, it is believe that there is an unlimited number of Kami.

You can also purchase Ema, a wooden tablet which wishes can be written down and hung around the camphor tree.

Isn't it beautiful? 

UT Tyler's GATE student's also toured the Emperial Palace! This is a brief description from the Japan National Tourism Organization, which I could not have put any better " The Imperial Palaces, where their Majesties the Emperor and Empress reside, is situated in the center of Tokyo. The palace is surrounded by a water-filled moat and tree-covered grounds - a precious taste of nature within the bustling metropolitan city" 

Imperial Palace

I'm Back!

       After a semester of being away from the Call Center, I can't express how much I miss this second family of mine! I am so pleased to see familiar faces as well as two new ones:) Carver. and Dallas., I'm excited to get to know you guys better!

Valkerie’s Debut

Welcome to my page 

Hey readers, it’s me- Valkerie Burkart! I’m new to telecounseling. This is my second year here at The University of Texas at Tyler and I am a nursing major. I went into nursing because I want to become a pediatric nurse after college. This has been my dream since I was a little girl because of my love for people and helping others.

 I have a lot of other interests that have helped shaped me to be the young woman I am today. I love kittens, puppies…pretty much baby anything! I will make things easier on your eyes and list my favorite things a la Julie Andrews style: 

True story, the hills are alive!

These are a few of my favorite things:

Hello, we are so happy to see you <3

• ·         Traveling (I’m going to Japan in 2016 and Brazil/Argentina for GATE in 2014!)
• ·         German Shepherds (I have one named Dakota. She’s my baby <3)
• ·         Pink and Sparkles
• ·         Fashion/Interior Design (Old French Couture)
• ·         Smiling is my favorite
• ·         Sunsets and Sweet Tea
• ·         Dance/ Drill Team
• ·         Costume Conventions!

I fell in love with UT Tyler because the scenery here is so tranquil and peaceful. The university is kept so clean and neat and the people are so unique here. Everyone that I have met here in Tyler have been so kind and helpful, and I have met my closest friends here My experiences here at UT Tyler have been amazing so far and I want to guide others to a place where they can find a place where they feel as at home as I do.

The fun has been doubled. Again.

I am so excited to meet my readers and be a guide to all of you. I believe in inspiring and exhilarating those around me! I hope you will follow up on the blog and please don’t be shy in the comments. Let me know what you’d like to see from me in future posts!

My goodness, I just love kittens!

Dallas' First Blog Post (Yes, Like the City) for the UT Tyler Student Blog

Hello to the followers of the UT Tyler Student Blog!  My name is Dallas Flick, and I am a junior Speech Communication/Political Science major at The University of Texas at Tyler.  I write this introductory post during my first day as a member of the UT Tyler Telecommunications team, which to this point has been an extremely exciting process.  I am very grateful for this position, not only because I have the opportunity to communicate with current and future students at UT Tyler, but also because it is my first employment position that includes air conditioning and desk chairs.

I was born in Denton, Texas, and since then have lived in Texas all my life.  I graduated from Aubrey High School in Aubrey, Texas in May of 2011, and since then have been a full-time student at UT Tyler.  Since my high school years, I have always held an interest in communication, current events, politics, and other social issues, all of which I was able to channel into competitive debate.  After debating in high school for three and a half years, I continued my debate career by enrolling at UT Tyler, and joining the parliamentary debate team on campus.  

Times Are Changing at the University of Texas at Tyler, and I Couldn't Be More Excited

As Bob Dylan once sang, "For the times they are a-changin'."  My life has taken me on quite the adventure for the past few months.  My name is Carver Hodgkiss and I am one of the newest additions to the UT Tyler Student Blogging team.  I just finished my Freshman year at the University of Texas at Tyler, working towards my ultimate goal of receiving a Bachelor's in History.  This past year has certainly been an interesting one!

To tell you a little more about myself, I am a dork.  There's not much more to me, unfortunately.  I like to play video games, I love to read, and I love to debate (not the arguing kind, but the academically competitive kind.) I try to be funny, but as you will soon find out, I am not very successful.  

The strangest thing for me is that my first year of college is already over!  I feel like it was just yesterday sitting in elementary school trying to calculate the exact number of days until I was "done with school forever."  It has been an excellent year, though.  I have met new people, gotten to travel the country with the UT Tyler Forensics Team, and learned so much about myself - like how much better at procrastinating I have become. 

I am a member of the UT Tyler Forensics Team, and I compete in what is called Parliamentary Debate.  I will likely spend a majority of my time with the Student Blogging Team discussing my adventures with the team.  I can tell you this, though, you will certainly be seeing some awesome pictures  and descriptions of places that we travel.  For example, our national tournament last semester was held at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.  I got some excellent pictures of various mountain ranges that we passed along the way.  So get ready!

Bob Dylan was right; the times certainly are changing. I am SO excited to be working for this team! I am looking forward to providing you readers with information regarding my exploits as I progress through the ranks at the University of Texas at Tyler.  

If you want to see some pictures that I have already posted, check out our Tumblr and Pinterest pages!

5-Hour Experiment at UT Tyler

I’m sure by now most of you have sat through one of those 5-hour Energy commercials or at least seen an advertisement for it in a newspaper, a magazine, etc. And I’m sure by now most of you have tried one and learned of its hidden power. However, I have not. So today when I went into the call center I decided to try one and see the effects it had on my work.

Highlights of 2012!

IT took me FOREVER to finish this video. Technology was not being nice to me. But I hope you guys enjoy it :) 

Gabby's Winter Break!

Today marks my first official work day of the new year! I'm not going to lie, leaving home and coming back to school was not something I was looking forward to :( I definitely got use to lounging around, not having to think about school related things and mom's home cooking, not to mention the Filipino food that my grandpa was cooking during the holiday season! YUMM:) My grandparents from the Philippines came this past October after being out of the US for 2 years! It really made the holidays extra special <3
  So now i'm back at UT Tyler and enjoyed an extremely busy day of re-organizing my room and putting my gazillion stuff back in my apartment in PV ( I kinda have an over packing problem.... ) So my very first blog of the year is of course about my winter break!!!:) Instead of writing long and detailed paragraphs about it, i'm just gonna show you in pictures and captions :) Hope you enjoy it!( By the way, I didn't do anything special since I am taking a GINORMOUS 5 week trip to Japan this summer )

UT Tyler: A New Beginning

It’s official! The college experience has finally begun for me! For all of you out there, my name is R. Chandler Upchurch, and I’m a freshman here at The University of Texas at Tyler! I’m currently pursuing a major in business management, and I would love to become a movie producer or music manager one day. I am starting my first college semester with very high expectations.

 I was born and raised in Dallas Texas, which never ceased to keep growing up interesting. When I was in elementary and middle school, I attended a few vanguard/magnet schools in and surrounding the Downtown Dallas area. That was good while it lasted, then I decided to turn back to public school. Instead of going to one of the huge public schools inside of Dallas County, I went to high school in a small town just outside of Kaufman, called Scurry-Rosser High School. You’ve probably never heard about it.

One of the things I love to do most is listening to music. I have always had a passion for music, so I began to learn to play a variety of different instruments. Here is a list of all the musical instruments that I either have known how to play, or can still play to this day:

·         Piano

·         Violin

·         Guitar

·         Clarinet

·         Euphonium

·         Snare

·         Bass Drum

·         Quads

·         Xylophone/Marimba

I’m very honored to be a new member of the UT Tyler Student Communications Team, and I hope that this new part of my life ends up being everything I expect it to be and more! But I don’t know what the future holds for me and that alright with me! Sometimes not knowing what to expect next is what keeps life intersting! J

UT Tyler Student Vlog: Update!

Hey, I wanted to update you guys with a quick vlog about what is going on in the office for the UT Tyler Student Bloggers! Also includes a quick update on my life, and some information if you have any questions for us!

About The UT Tyler Bloggers

Follow The UT Tyler Student Communications Team as they share their social, academic, recreational, and student life experiences while attending The University of Texas at Tyler. The blogger team of Summer 2013 is comprised of students that are eager to answer your questions about our campus: Kevin Berber, Julia Bodiford (Student Supervisor), Dallas Flick, Michael Hale, Carver Hodgkiss, Gabby Cruz, Valkerie Burkhart, and Keerin deWet (Student Supervisor)! Use the labels at the bottom left to find each person's blogs!