The Magic of Music

   Nothing perhaps encapsulates so much about the American college system like Patriot Idol. For those who do not know, Patriot Idol is one event that makes up the tapestry of Homecoming celebrations. Homecoming, much like how an Emperor would return to Rome in glory, sees current students and faculty engage in events to commemorate/celebrate alumni, current students, and the University of Texas at Tyler itself.

Getting Your Geek On – The Changing Shape of Nerdiness on Campus

Getting Your Geek On PT. 1 – The Changing Shape of Nerdiness on Campus

   While I write this I am seated closely to one UT Student/Employee who likes the TV series called The Legend of Korra. I am also seated close to some fellow co-writers who play video games, some who go and watch the bigger Super Hero films when they are released, and I have even worked with cosplay-lovers.

   We are a fairly awesome staff, but more importantly? We are UT Tyler students and we are a rather mixed group of ages, backgrounds, interests, and even ethnic origins. Can we be viewed as a microcosm for the University of Texas at Tyler Campus as a while? Well, not exactly – our numbers are balanced out to support our capacity as a diverse writing/blogging/call team, where-as University of Texas at Tyler has a more skewed range of students per college. Still, we all represent a great ‘slice’ of what University of Texas at Tyler is.

   One of the thing I can say about the group of people I work with now is that they are very unlike the kinds of people I remember hanging out with as a kid, particularly around when I was in the 10-13 range. These people are popular ( one has a band, some go to debate tourneys, some have represented University of Texas at Tyler  etc… ) and yet they also each have hobbies and passions that ( once upon a time ) were not as popular.

   Using myself as an example, I remember when the trend of simply playing video games was not nearly as widely acceptable as it is now. While the popularity of gaming has not caused their prices to lower ( an argument for another time ), everybody plays some kind of game now, somewhere – Facebook, mobile phones, consoles, PCs, etc…  Things which were once exclusively nerdy are now openly nerdy, capable of being acceptable in public without weird looks or hushed whispers.

   But what does this have to do with being a student on campus?

   Mainly I suppose that it means you, Mr/Miss New/Incoming Student, have a lot more in common with the people around you than you might think, and that is great! The past decade has taken a lot of things we might consider as being ‘not very cool’ and propelled them to become unifying, fun elements which can help us make new friends.

   Here, these are a small list of the ‘geeky’ things that can be used to help open up new topics of conversation ---

   “Awesome Batman/Superman/Whoever T-Shirt/Keychain/Ring/Necklace. Where did you get it?”

   “Are you going to go watch The Wolverine when it comes out next week?”

Mads Mikkelsen from Hannibal. Yes, this is an excuse for
promoting the show! Don't judge me!

   “I like Felecia Day’s cameo/interview/whatever’a. Have you seen it?”

   “I like that [this actor] is doing more work now, like on the new Tv show [whatever]. You should check it out and let me know what you think!” *This one was me gushing about Hugh Dancy and Mads Mikkelsen in Hannibal …

   “Oh hey, I’ve never read that book, have you checked out Cassandra Clare’s stuff? Or Neil Gaiman?”

  Loads of things exist now in the pop-culture sphere, things loved by younger students, graduate students ( I myself being a huge Green Lantern nerd, among other things ), and even our University of Texas at Tyler staff. Discuss these things you love with others. Go to the movie showing we have on campus every few months. Join some of our clubs, or make your own.

   Heck, I recently used Facebook to start a Tyler, Tx Book Club to try and connect some of my friends together who would likely never have any other reason to associate. Use social media and get out there! Meet some people and geek out!

What Words Mean

What Words Mean

   I was recently lucky enough to attend the English Honors Society’s ( Sigma Tau Delta ) event, “Open Mic Night”. The purpose of the event was primarily to warm up students to the idea of presenting before others here on our UT Tyler campus. We were lucky to get a good number of students who felt comfortable presenting, but we were also lucky to get a very good turnout for the event.

Welcoming A New School Year and New Beginnings

                New beginnings and a mile stone in my life welcomes me into the next school year. It’s official! I’m a sophomore and 20! It is still so hard for me to say that or admit to myself. Yes, I know, some of you readers might be shaking your head at me wondering why I’m freaking out about turning twenty. Well, to me it’s just a big realization that I am no longer a teenager. I don’t even have the “teen” after my age anymore! But I do look forward to this new school year with great excitement!

                My name is Gabby Cruz from Allen, Texas. I am a pre nursing major, coming in to my sophomore year here at The University of Texas at Tyler . I was born 8331 miles away in Olongapo, Philippines. Till this day, I still can’t spell Philippines without spell checkL. If you looked at me now, I bet you would never guess that this girl grew up in a farm. Indeed, a full on rolling fields, cows, pigs and chicken kind of farm.  I moved to San Jose, California in 3rd grade and to Texas the summer before 5^th grade. I’ve been living in Texas for 9 years and I still can’t get over this heat!

                Freshman year has been such a great experience, with a few ups and downs here and there. I definitely immersed myself in a lot of organizations on campus including, SGA (Student Government Association,  Expansion (we are in the process of staring a third sorority on campus! Yay!), Sigma Alpha Pi (National Society of Leadership and Success), and  GATE (Global Awareness through Education) which my group is able to travel to Japan this summer! I also enjoy singing and joined University Chorale spring semester of last year. Although I have been in choir since 6^th grade, I still have trouble getting over signing solo in front of people….  I also have played volleyball since 5^th grade. If you ask me to play volleyball with you, you’d probably want to think twice.. .. I’m pretty rusty..ok ALOT rusty.

                I am very honored to be a part of the Student Communication team at UT Tyler.  This is my first time blogging so hopefully you guys enjoyed reading my very first blog! It’s been kind of weird writing about myself.. but don’t worry I definitely cut it short to spare you! As I become more experience with blogging I hope you all would get a chance to get to know me a lot better through my post! Keep reading our  UT Tyler Student Blog because I have so much to share with you about all the things I love about life, college and of course UT Tyler !