The Voice

The Voice is a new show on NBC about four different artists: Blake Shelton, Christina Aguleria (sp?), Cee Lo Green, and Maroon 5 frontman, Adam Levine. So far, the show has been them choosing people for their teams.  They are turned around in their chairs so they can't look at the person singing until after they choose them. Then they choose the people that they want on their team. And the four celebrities fight for each person that multiple of them want.

Anyway, so I made the show sound a little more confusing than it really is, but whatever. It's good.  I just really love listening to people sing and although I am pretty judgmental because I was a singer in the past.  But when you give me the chills, you give me the chills and I love that songs make me happy and I love shows where singing is involved.

Royal Wedding LIVE

It's 5:30 am.  I just opened my laptop because I am writing a column for the torch about the wedding and how I feel strongly about watching the wedding and even giving up sleep to watch it live.  So I figured I would blog my thoughts.

Right now, we are waiting for the families to arrive.  Kate's mother Carole and younger brother James just arrived at Westminster Abbey right after Prince Harry and groom Prince William arrived.

I'm thinking about the Kate's mother.  Imagine calling your mother and saying that you are going to be a princess...That is just so weird to me! Like I'm guessing she wasn't planning on having a daughter who would eventually be a princess!

22 minutes to go!! One of the biggest moments is seeing Kate's dress.  Most people are guessing that one of  Alexander McQueen's lead designers, Sarah Burton, made the dress, but no one is sure yet.

Camilla and Charles are on their way now.

One of the big things that everyone is wearing are head pieces or hats.  They are huge and they are the main part of the outfits.  Most people are wearing plain dresses and then extravagant hats.

THE QUEEN!! She is so stinking cute! Like the tiniest woman ever is ruling an entire country. She is adorable.

Now the flower girls.  They are adorable too.

Everything is just such a fairy tale about the day and it seems so unreal.  It's like a different world.  Everything about it is so fabulous.

10 minutes!! Can't wait to see Kate's dress!!

OHHH she looks beautiful!! Very simple, but just gorgeous.  I love her dress. Wow.  She looks so happy.  Both William and Kate can't stop smiling, so you know that they are meant to be with each other.

Okay now I have to watch the wedding, but one last thought.  The little ring bearers are freaking adorable!!

Royal Wedding

When I was little, like so many other little girls, I wanted to be a princess.  But they were always this imaginary thing that wasn't real.  Once I grew up some more, I realized that princesses actually did exist and that they were just as glamourous as the imaginary princesses and their stories were definitely fairy tales.

Friday morning at 11 a.m. in London, England there will be a new princess crowned.  Her name is Kate Middleton and she is marrying Prince William, son of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.  Almost 30 years ago on the 29th of July, Diana and Charles were married in a televised wedding which had millions watching.

I have always been a fan of Diana and every time there is an exhibit or a museum that has something to do with her, my mom and I are always there. Recently my sister has joined in on the obsessed and the three of us went to an exhibit in Philadelphia with all of her clothing and personal belongings, an exhibit put together by her family.

So in honor of Diana not being able to be at her eldest son's wedding, I will be getting up at 4 am on Friday to watch E! and take in every moment of the festivities. Hopefully Kate can live up to everything that Diana was and everything that comes with her name.

raincoats and rain boots

Raincoats and rain boots.  As cute as they might be, when you bring them out of your closet that means it is unfortunately raining.  Recently, raincoats and rain boots have been a main fashion accessory on our campus due to the days and days and days of rain.  I know that I have a ton of summer clothes that would love to see the light of day, but are stuck in my closet because why would I want to wear them under my ugly raincoat and they don't even match my rain boots.

Main point: I'm sick of rain boots and rain jackets, I am sick of the rain. Wittenberg is a BEAUTIFUL campus, and even prettier when it is nice out. I guess this weekend it is supposed to be nice out too. But it is supposed to go back to raining early next week.  Just go away rain. Thanks, Savannah.

Blog about Blogs

So this blog thing has been sort of on the back burner for me because I remember that I have to do it and then don't ever get to it.  Also, I'm an awful writer, unlike some other people in this class (we have some really great writers and people who are great at blogs) who are very good at writing. When signing up for this class, I had no idea we were going to be writing blogs.  I'm awful at speaking so writing about topics is just as hard.

Anyway, I do think that it is getting to be a bigger part of the journalism world.  I know that a few journalists write about what they are writing about before they actually interview people and just sort of use blogs as a sounding board (or this is what I have heard). I like the idea, but I definitely don't read blogs.

I know in middle school I used to blog everyday about my day and I guess random stuff, I tried to find it, but can't remember my password...or the website I used. I think it was xanga or zanga or something.

Back to the blogs...I think that for this class they need to be more based on something specific instead of us just rambling and complaining. I know when we did the topics the first few weeks, it was a lot easier for me to do it because I knew there was a specific topic.

Walking on Broken Glass

Have you ever had a professor that you feel like is out to get you? Like they just don't agree with you on something and they never will? Well mine is my photography professor.  Ever since I met him last semester, I feel like every time I am around him, I am walking on glass.

I have an awful time respecting people that don't respect me and he is one of those people who I have never felt respected from, so why should I respect him? Because he has a degree?  I know that it sounds awful that I don't respect authority or my elders, but seriously, they should respect me too and if they don't, then they don't deserve my respect.

I think that we just have different styles and different approaches to photography, which I understand is completely possible because not everyone has the same style, BUT I would think that we could at least respect each other's style.  Although we may not like each other's styles, I would never let on that I didn't.  I feel like he has said it in every way other then actually saying, Savannah, I do not like your work.

I have no problem even having a different style than him, but when he starts to grade me based on his style, it makes me feel like I need to impress him with photos that I don't exactly like, but that he likes instead, which has caused me to change my style, which I am not entirely okay with.

Don't get me wrong, I have learned a lot from him about film and digital photography, I just wish that I didn't have to change in order to please my professor.

Disclaimer: He just deleted 1,200 of my photos from my memory card which is why I am so frustrated with him at this particular moment. And no, they are not all backed up on my computer.

A Bad Christmas Morning

Imagine waking up to loud bangs of glass being thrown around in the room next to you, this was my saturday night.  I looked up at the clock from where I was laying on Kristin's couch and it read 5:30 a.m. The banging and glass throwing continued and laying on the couch paralyzed from fear, I had no idea what to do. 

All the sudden, a person appeared in the doorway and I started shaking.  I noticed it was a girl in the hallway, she had long blonde hair, so I figured it was one of our friends who spends a lot of time in their house.  The way she was walking was creepy though, like she was possessed, she walked into the front room and my mind was racing with ideas of what to do, should I run upstairs? should I go get Kristin or her roommate? But every time I thought to do something, I would get paralyzed and not be able to do any of those things.

Finally she came back into the room where I was sleeping and realized that I was on the couch and started staring at me while I tried to decide if I should say something to her or just go upstairs or turn the lights on or what, so I pretended to sleep, but was really actually squinting to make sure she didn't do anything crazy, or like try to touch me or hurt me or whatever.  She turned around and walked into the closet and put on Kristin's North Face jacket, then walked back into the kitchen.  Right when I couldn't see her anymore, I sprinted up the stairs and have never tripped so much in my life (if only I was wearing my Power Balance bracelet...darn).  I hit my head on the stairs, but my adrenaline was going so I kept going and finally got to Kristin's room.

I woke Kristin up telling her that her neighbor was possessed and breaking stuff downstairs and she just rolled over and told me to go to bed.  As I rolled over, I couldn't fall asleep because I was still in absolute shock of what had just happened.  (Remember at the time I thought it was their neighbor still).  Not until that moment did I realize that I was shaking because Kristin told me to "quit that." I was restless all night long and I finally decided I would just go home.  But before I went home, I told Kristin to come downstairs with me to figure out what happened in their kitchen and what the loud noises were.  We walked downstairs to all of the lights turned on, the front door and screen door wide open and we turned into the kitchen and the back door had been broken into.  Two of the glass pieces had been shattered, so that this person could unlock the back door to their house from the outside.  There was glass all over the floor.

We called our friend to make sure it wasn't just her being drunk, and it wasn't because I don't think she would do that.  When we looked further, we noticed that all of my stuff from my purse was poured out on the table and that my money was missing from it.  Kristin looked in her purse and she had $20 missing.  Then I remembered the girl putting on Kristin's North Face jacket and that was gone.

Walking downstairs was like on Christmas morning when you are so excited to see what you can find, but instead of being great presents, we were looking for things that were missing.  Looking back, I would have done things completely differently and would have turned on the lights or talked to her or called the police.

Speaking of the police...we called them that morning and when the cop asked me if I had been drinking, I wasn't thinking about the fact that I am underage and could get in trouble for saying yes, instead I was thinking about being a good person and telling the truth.  How do I get repaid for this? A threat that I might be getting a Dean's Citation.  Although at that time I did not get one, it is possible that I could, so right now I'm living on edge in fear that I might be getting one because honestly I don't even know what it is.  It just doesn't make sense to me that if you are trying to do a good thing that you could get in trouble.

London Scheduling

So after saying that I didn't have to deal with scheduling this semester because I was going to London next semester, I have lots of scheduling issues.  I realize that Syracuse is a bigger school with more variety in thier majors than we have here at Witt, but seriously, I would never need some of these courses. There are FOUR architectural design classes!! And it's not like Architectural Design 1 or 2, it's architectural design SEVEN! Like who has taken all of those courses and now needs 7 other than like two people who major in architectural design. 

Anyway, a lot of the courses are like that.  Having a major and two minors, I need this semester to actually count towards my credits for those areas, but of course, there is one comm course, which I will be VERY LUCKY to get into, no art classes other than ones I have already taken, and definitely not any journalism classes because the photojournalism program that I did apply to was canceled. shoot.  I have to figure this out. ASAP.

Traveling

Not having to think about scheduling this semester has been AMAZING.  Since I am going to London next semester, I didn't have to go through the entire process of having to figure out my schedule, going through not getting into classes and then taking the right classes for my major or minors.  Instead of all that, this week I have gotten into my program for London next semester and I couldn't be happier.

I have been traveling all over the US since I was born and then I started my world traveling career when I was in 8th grade when I went to Iceland with my choir.  Since then I have been to Germany, France, Prague, Austria, Hungary and Italy. I am now addicted to traveling.

So for me, spending a month this summer in Lesotho, Africa and then the entire fall in London, England sounds like a dream and I can't believe it's really happening.  I also just got asked to come to Ireland before I go to England.

Anyway, so I don't have to do scheduling and I'm excited about it because I hate advising week because it's just one more thing we have to do.

scheduling issues

My least favorite thing about Wittenberg would have to be scheduling.  It's hard enough being having two minors and a major to fit everything into four years, but then when I can't even get into the classes that I want to take it's even more frustrating.

I learned that if you email the professor ahead of time, they will either sign you into the class or they will reserve a spot for you, which is very good to know, but you have to know the professor well enough to ask them for a favor. I understand that it is smart to take your gen ed requirements your freshman and sophomore year, but if I don't even know what I want to do, then I want to be able to take classes that I choose and not that are chosen for me.  Like taking TWO science classes? I know for a fact that isn't what I want to do, so why should I spend the two years that I have set aside for deciding what I want to major in taking classes that I don't want to major in.

Especially being a comm major, it is so hard to get into the upper level courses because they only have spots open for about 10 people at the most. It is also like this with art courses, I have had to sign up early and was only accepted because I was a minor.  What do people do when they just have to take the courses for gen eds?

I'm not exactly sure about what to do with these compliants, I have never heard anyone say that they have had 100% success with the system, but I'm not sure what else we could do.

Age doesn't matter

When I first visited Witt, there was a single moment when I knew Witt was for me.  We were outside of the  alumni house and my tour guide was talking about how much she loves that as a student, you can be friends with people from all different grades. In high school, I was never close with anyone in my grade, but because of sports, I was always friends with people who were older and younger than me.  Hearing this from my tour guide is what made me decide, in that moment that Witt was the school for me.

My favorite thing about Witt is how close people from every class can be.  Some of my best friends here are older than me and I don't know what I would do if what year you are mattered.  And that, is my favorite part about Witt. 

It's kind of funny that this has nothing to do with the campus or anything and I could probably find it at another school.

Where is everyone going to live??!

Another thing that my friends and I have been talking a lot about is the crazy greek housing situation.  I know that in my house (DG), we are having issues because since 5 girls who were supposed to live in the house this year didn't, we thought that they might have to live in the house next year, so that almost half of us sophomores might not be able to live there next year, so we would have to our senior year instead.  Even now that we found out that those seniors don't have to live there, we still can't fit everyone in the house.  But it seems that every other house is having the opposite problem.  The Gamma Phi Beta girls and the Sigma Kappa's have to have seniors live in the house because the incoming junior classes aren't big enough to fit into the houses.  Everyone is already stressed out about roommates, where they are living and making commitments to their houses.

SpRiNg BrEaK 2011

So a big topic of conversation is what everyone is doing for spring break.  Usually people choose to go somewhere either cold for skiing or hot for relaxing and tanning.  But this year money seems like a bigger issue than usual.  I know that my friends and I were going to go to Florida, but it just isn't worth paying for EVERYTHING when we can have just as good of a time at a place that we don't have to pay for.  We decided we would go to my lake house in PA, where it won't exactly be hot, but it's cheaper to go there and get a tanning package than it is to go all the way to FL just for the tan.

Does the groundhog really think spring is coming?

So today is our third "ice" day... It is a little sad to say, but I sort of just wish we had school today.  I understand why we didn't have classes because the sidewalks are AWFUL, but seriously people were playing ice hockey on Alumni Way yesterday! I understand the whole physical plant thing, but come on.  Anyway, I'm a little surprised that I haven't heard of any big falls or anything since it is pretty dangerous.

I guess that Puxsetauny Phil didn't see his shadow which means that spring is coming soon. I HOPE SO. This weather just makes everyone look so down, I guess because a lot of people are pale, which makes everyone look sort of sick.  I just wish we could find out a little earlier than 7 am that classes are canceled.  I have studied for 3 tests that haven't happened! Now some people think we won't have school tomorrow too, but I would be shocked if we didn't. I was a little shocked that we didn't today.

My story

For my story, I interviewed Kristin Komar, who went on the trip to Florida.  I also interviewed the president of Distance for Dreams, Whitnee Dickson.  They both expressed how amazing the program at Disneyworld is for children with terminal illnesses. Give Kids the World is a huge village in Disneyworld that has EVERYTHING for these children.  They both had a tour of the facility and after researching it more for my story, I realized how great it is too and how many dreams come true there.

four simple words

Unfortunately, racism isn't just an issue at Witt.  I know that it has been less of an issue in recent generations, but that doesn't mean it isn't still an issue.  It is also unfortunate that four simple words have to be said for people to realize that it is still a prominent issue in our society.

Growing up I didn't even think of it as much of an issue, I went to private school and all of the African-American kids were considered "white" because they wanted to be treated that way.  The first time I realized that it was still a big issue was last year.  One of my really good friends was going to an initiation party for the lacrosse team.  They first made him dress like a girl and at the party made him drink excessively.  He understood it was part of becoming a member of the team, but then one player took it too far.  An upperclassman shoved a drink in his hand and said, "Drink this n****r."  I had NEVER seen him cry before, he was a tough guy, so when he called me sobbing, I was really concerned.  Of course, nothing came of the situation because the player didn't think anything of it and my friend would never have said anything bad about a teammate, but my friend ultimately ended up leaving Wittenberg because of it.

I have never had to deal with being the minority, but I consider my friends, my family and when they are upset it makes me upset.  So we shouldn't look at this situation as a crime towards a black person, we should look at it as a hate crime towards our friends and family.

Today's reflection on what happened left me VERY impressed with our campus.  Now I just can't wait to see what happens next and if people take the next step towards equality.

At what point is it too much?

So drugs at witt...

I think drugs are present on every college campus and that they probably always will be.  I know that in the dorms people get in trouble for drinking and having alcohol, but not that many people get in trouble for drugs, other than like if the smell is overwhelming, I have seen someone get in trouble for that, but alcohol in dorms is probably a bigger issue than drugs.  

BUT, at parties and stuff, drugs are everywhere and people just sort of ignore it.  I know that when I see someone smoking, it is just like seeing people drink, it is just ever present. 

I don't really know much about drugs on campus since I don't do them, but I know a lot of people smoke marijuana, like multiple times a day...