Saturday, April 24, 2010

The Asian American Scholarship Has Been Named!

Hey guys!

I'm proud to say that the Asian American Scholarship has been named!! HOORAY! Why is this important you might ask?

For a few years now, the scholarship has been left nameless; there has been no one for Asians to look up to, unlike other mentors such as Martin Luther King (a scholarship in his name goes to an African American student every year). So the BC community believed that the Asian American Scholarship should be named after someone also.

However, BC has been denying our candidates that we believe the scholarship should be named after, for reasons such as having no connection to Boston College or not living within the Catholic faith, but all that changed this past week!


With the scholarship now named, the Asian community here at BC can feel a bit more at peace. To celebrate, everyone was invited to participate in a few events, one of them being a small "flash flood" in the Quad with lots of music and dancing. Such a great accomplishment!

That's it for now! Peace!

David - A&S 2013
nguyenec@bc.edu

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Boston

Hey y’all,

My name is Katherine McKenna, and I’m an economics major from Houston, TX. One of my favorite things about BC is the city of Boston. One of the cool things about BC is that we’re out in the suburbs, and we have awesome football games and tailgates just like other big schools, but you can also hop on the T (the subway) and go into downtown Boston or Cambridge. The trip usually takes about 20 minutes, and it is definitely worth it.

There are a ton of fun things to explore in Boston. My friends and I love to go to Newbury Street when the weather’s nice on Saturday or Sunday to go shopping and eat lunch. There are also lots of really cool museums and historical sites around Boston. Being in a city full of colleges is a blast. You can go check out parties at other schools like MIT or Harvard (who actually have fun parties, shocking huh?) or go see a concert at the House of Blues or other venues.

There are a ton of schools in Boston, and therefore there’s always something cool to check out. However, BC is nice because it is not directly in the hustle of the city.

Thanks,
Katherine

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Play that Funky Music...

Wow! There's always so much to talk about here, especially in the spring; when the weather goes nuts, people emerge from their winter-sleepwalking, every group on campus seems to have events going on, professors basking in all this forget to give as much work as usual, and on and on! But, it's Easter break, I'm relaxing at home, and I'll keep this one quick.

So, there always seems to be something going on through the music department, and I usually completely overlook many of the smaller, solo-performance artists they bring into the Irish Room (a beautiful performance hall used for performances in Gasson Hall).

Thankfully, my music professor told us not to miss Mana Tokuno's performances this week. A professional pianist, she came in to do a recital performing a piece one of my old professors composed just for her, Tokuno Toccata, but while she was here, she also played Beethoven, Schumann, and another entire recital dedicated to Chopin.

I'm not usually one to gush over small ensemble or solo pieces, but I have to say her Chopin recital was probably one of the most beautiful musical performances I've ever seen or heard. I'm definitely going to pay more attention to the Arts Calendar from now on, especially since all these concerts are completely free!

Also, did I mention that this performance was a rehearsal for her main recital coming up at Carnegie Hall? I feel very special now.

That's all I wanted to share for now, but happy Spring! The rain's finally stopped here in the Northeast, and it's gorgeous outside!

As always, feel free to comment or email: mahonjc@bc.edu

~Joe M

Sunday, March 28, 2010

SHOWDOWN brought down the house!

What's up people?

The ALC Showdown has come and gone. Every single ticket sold out! (And might I say some people even sneaked into the show because there were rows filled that should not have anyone in them). I was part of the VSA cultural dance and we left our mark for sure. There were two competitions: Cultural and Modern. For cultural category, MASTI took 2nd place and AeroK took 1st. For Modern, Fuego received 2nd and Synergy received first (with their "SinCity" Theme dance). Here are some photos!

Synergy


Conspiracy Theory


Easter Break is coming up so I think I will be enjoying that as much as possible, given the fact that people who participated in Showdown put in hours of practice each day! Congrats to everyone!

Peace!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

It's Almost April?!

Hey Guys,

So it has been a while since I posted, but I figured it would be a nice break to jot down the things that have been happening since Spring Break ended.

I'm amazed that it is almost April. Where did my semester go?!?! Midterms are for the most part done with, which is amazing. To make this even more amazing, the weather here in Boston has been phenomenal. There's nothing better than Boston when there isn't an enormous pile of snow covering the Million Dollar Stairs. It's great to see all the BC kids dust off their shorts and T-shirts and play some Frisbee in the Dustbowl or eat their lunch outside of Hillside.

I also went to a phenomenal lecture last night called "The Last Lecture." It has become a pretty popular concept, but in case you aren't familiar here's a small re-cap: Each semester a Professor is asked to pretend as if he were reaching the end of his or her days, think about what is the most important lesson they have learned over the years that they would like to pass along, and then actually pass it on. This year the lecture was given by Father Fleming, a beloved Father here on Campus who is unfortunately leaving BC at the end of year. He focused his speech on what a Jesuit Education truly means, and how its cardinal principles can be incorporated into our daily lives. It was an amazing speech and a great way to put my last weeks at BC into perspective/prepare how I want to spend my last year at BC. Unfortunately his lecture isn't up, but if you want to catch the first "last lecture" at BC from Father Himes, an equally beloved and distinguished professor here on the Heights, click here!

Alright well time to get some more work done so I can go and lay out in the Quad before the rain comes.

Thanks for reading,
Juan

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Spring at BC

The most amazing thing happened last weekend - it got warm. You have no idea how weird it feels to be walking around outside in a T-shirt after wearing layer upon layer all winter. I'm from Atlanta, and on Friday and Saturday I felt like I was back home every time I stepped out the door.

The really incredible thing, however, wasn't just the weather, it was what the weather did to people. I kid you not, a spontaneous party broke out across campus. Literally more people than I have ever seen on Upper Campus at one time were outside blasting music, throwing footballs and talking with friends. So naturally I threw on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and ran outside; I loved every minute of it.

You know how on the cover of every college brochure you get in the mail there's a picture of some kid doing homework on the nicest lawn you've ever seen as he basks in sunlight? Yeah turns out those things aren't staged, at least at BC. You will actually see people doing that, and a lot of people at that. The weather is just too good to pass up.

During the winter people never want to go outside, and why should they? So after all that time cooped up in your dorm room, you can't wait to get out. So when that first weekend up spring time weather comes around, tell your work it can wait and put it off until tomorrow, I promise you won't regret it.

-Jake

Monday, March 15, 2010

It's SHOWTIME!

Hey everyone! What's up?

Lately, I've been getting into some new activities which I thought would be fun, besides Parkour of course. The ALC Showdown is coming up soon! It's only about two weeks away!

The ALC Showdown is basically where all the student dance organizations and a couple of culture clubs come together and compete in a dance-off. I heard it draws crowds each year, so yes I am nervous. There are two separate categories: Modern & Culture. Competing in the Modern category are Synergy, Conspiracy Theory, Sexual Chocolate, and more. For Culture, we have the Vietnamese Students Association (for their first year!), Aero-K, and others! Right now I'm training with the VSA to do something amazing! Too bad my body is in pain at the end of each practice. Here are some clips:

Synergy:




Conspiracy Theory (2008)




And: the housing selection process has begun! Except it is going to be wicked hard to get a 4-man in Edmond's (which has a kitchen so I can cook). I don't like the system because there is no way to reward the students who were not written up during the year. It starts tomorrow, so wish me luck! I really want to do some Pho Nights in my 4-man!

PS: I thought this was cool and wanted to bring it to your attention for when it's time to start decorating your room.


PEACE!