The Best of Everything

My best friend is a Resident Assistant at Wright, and she was lucky enough to be able to lead an academic floor of talented visual artists. One of the biggest worries anyone has in college is how they are going to find a job afterward. Luckily for her residents, a program she offered on Monday opened them up to a world of resources and guidance for careers.


The students, ranging from painters to graphic designers to photographers, were introduced to the Career Development Center and Arts and Sciences Career Services associate director, Sara Pennington-Busick, and her husband Lee Busick. Both are artists of many different mediums, and helped explain how to build and write resumes, portfolios, and the like when applying for a job in an art field.


Like any great program, free pizza, breadsticks, and drinks from Pizza X were offered, so residents were able to receive a delicous meal, helpful advice, artistic inspiration, and save meal points all in one night.

Traditions at "Tradish"

Ever since last year, my best friends from Curry 2 and my neighbors from Landes have started a tradition of eating at "Tradish," the Traditional Landes Dining Room at Read. We call this tradition "Candies Family Dinner," "Candies" meaning a combination of our pronunciation of "Landies" and "Curry."


We really are like a family. We sit in the buffet and talk over long dinners about classes, mutual friends, weekends, and the massive amounts of studying we will have to do after we leave the dining hall. If one person gets up, they will offer to refill drinks for others or grab extra napkins, or, towards the end, pick up the classic vanilla ice cream cone for dessert.



The dining room is the perfect place for us all to catch up and laugh, joke, and blow off steam with each other. Every night offers at least one awesome food choice for everyone, no matter what your tastes are like, and the desserts are always delicious, too. Every time I go there with friends, I leave feeling full and happy.

An Evening of Dance

This Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Indiana University Dance Theater along with the departments of Theatre and Drama will be presenting The Legacy of Graham at the Ruth N. Halls Theater on Jordan Ave. It will consist of Martha Graham's Panorama, Paul Taylor's Aureole and 3 Epitaphs, as well as works by IU faculty.


The show is primarily cast by upperclassmen, and I had a chance to understudy Professor Gwen Hamm's piece, "Interplay." The piece features live and original music by alumni and faculty member, Joe Galvin. "Interplay" is all about how rhythm and dance are interrelated, and build and grow off each other. Joe's percussions emphasize how our steady heartbeats can be built off of and used to create an intertwining song and dance, and the dancers beautifully and athletically express this idea of pulse.



I felt very lucky to be the understudy for "Interplay" because I was able to be a part of it's creation and rehearsal, which was very fun and open-minded. While I was photographing the dance during tech rehearsal on Monday, the others watching were whispering to one another how they wished they could be a part of it. Clearly, it is one of many reasons to go see The Legacy of Graham!

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things

As winter break comes to an end, I would like to recap what some of the highlights were. Although I am excited to get back to dancing constantly at IU, I am not as excited about doing homework every day instead of lounging around, watching TV, and visiting friends. From the time I spent at home this holiday season, these are some of the memories that will stand out most.


1. Coming home to my pets. Animals are a luxury, sense of family, and sense of friendship that are often unmanageable at school, and obviously not allowed in the residence halls, but the time you spend missing them at school makes your reunions that much better. My cat, Rocky, would sleep with me every night, take his naps during the day under our Christmas tree, and spend his waking hours entertaining us along with my dog, Molly.


2. Sledding at Dyer Hill. Not only is this my favorite safe spot in Northwest Indiana to go sledding, but this particular time was the first time I was able to see my best friend, Maya, who attends Ball State! We went late at night, and although it was very cold and some of us came out with injuries (including myself), we had a blast.


3. Coming home to a beautifully decorated house. Before I came home, my mom took over what is usually my job of decorating, and this year was the best our house has ever looked! While it was nearly complete, the best part was that our tree had no ornaments when I arrived, as she waited for me to be able to hang them, too. Unfortunately we never ended up getting around to this, so the bare tree did not necessarily remain the best part of the decorations the entire break.


4. Banik Christmas. My family's celebration this year took place on the 27th, which was an awesome change, because it made Christmas last that much longer! I spent an entire day in South Bend, Indiana with my crazy cousins, goofy uncles, wonderful aunts, and adorable nieces and nephews, as well as my immediate family.