Published

Despite the fact that I am not actually on The Miami Student's staff, I have still successfully gotten five pictures published in the paper in the last two weeks!

Remember that bar photo shoot event that I brought up before? Well, I did not go through that craziness for nothing! This picture made it into the following issue, and this picture of a squirrel just made the front page today!

As I said, I'm not technically on staff, I'm still under this "trial run" and I have yet to meet anyone on the paper. All of the assignments and photo-sending has been through e-mail. It's interesting that I have not met anyone yet, but I can tell a few of the photographers are not on staff yet either.

Oh great, competition, we'll see how this goes. I am getting quite a lot published for being a pre-member, however, so it's definitely a positive sign!

Here are the pictures that I got published! I included the original of this picture of the seal because it was put into a collage-type design on the front page last Friday, so it's hard to see.

Left: Bell Tower

Right: Presentation about avoiding fraud while studying abroad.














**Sorry, formatting these pictures is a pain**

~ Valerie

Stereotypes

One aspect about Miami University that I worried a lot about before my arrival was its "preppy" stereotype. With the dominant greek life and typical rich white kid presence, the nickname "J Crew U" loomed over my head, making me worry that I would not fit in.

However, after living here and experiencing the University first hand, I realized that it is really not as big of a deal as everyone makes it. I may only own a few clothing outfits from J Crew (I had to from when I worked there for two weeks), but my wardrobe is perfectly fine here.



I mean, I have not seen many people wearing pajama clothes to class. Although, I have seen girls wearing Nike running shorts with tank tops or t-shirts, but still. The fact that most students actually try to look decent when they go to class sends another signal to me other than preppy. It tells me that students actually care about school and at having others perceive them professionally. Especially since I already care about how I look, and I would never be able to wear sweatpants to class, I fit in just by not looking like I just rolled out of bed.

Although, my friends did have me buy a couple shirts that would be considered more preppy, so I thought it would not hurt to play along every once in awhile. But my mom also had me buy a pair of Sperrys and riding boots so I could have a more typical "Miami" look at times. I was not worried about fitting in as much, but I really did need more shoes.

However, I am surrounded by all sorts of people already. My roommate Ashton reminds me a lot of my friend Gaby from home. They both care about fashion and love wearing dresses, and are willing to help me out in that fashion regard. However, my friend here, Courtney, primarily wears t-shirts. I am a bit in between. So, you really can be yourself here despite the stereotype. Nobody is going to judge you for not wearing designer clothing. Sure, I see people wearing polos and J Crew, but it is not as dominant and pressuring as I had worried.

~ Valerie

Drunken Photojournalism

I can honestly say that my idea of a Thursday night did not used to involve a pit of drunk people and an electronic band, but yesterday, it did.

After not hearing back from The Miami Student, the school newspaper, about joining, I decided to email the Photo Editor so they knew I was really interested in getting involved. She replied to me yesterday afternoon, asking if I could take pictures at the Savoy concert at Brick Street (the main bar Uptown) that night so they could see my abilities.

Even though the concert supposedly started at 9pm, no one started performing until around ten, and the main band they needed pictures of did not go on until 11:30. What time did I get there? 8:30. The guys at the door probably thought I was crazy. I thought I was being a good early journalist, but I just felt like an awkward freshman for a couple hours. After awhile though, one of the bartenders asked me what I was taking pictures for and offered me a chair. He was probably the only sober person I spoke to from then on.

Once a DJ started performing and some people starting arriving, I decided to test out my camera lighting before the main act. Some random guys would talk to me, asking if the camera I was using was mine and what I was taking pictures for. After awhile though I just started to assume everyone who spoke to me was drunk, so I just smiled and nodded until they went away. I started keeping count of how many drunk guys spoke to me, and by the end of the night, I got to ten.



To avoid the drunk people surrounding me, I stood by one of the security guards for most of the time, and he seemed amused whenever a couple of drunk guys wanted me to take their picture. I just did it anyway because they would be too drunk to realize that it did not come out at all. So many of them thought I was the best person ever for taking their picture, it was amusing. Although this one relatively came out, haha.




After awhile, the fake smoke and alternating lighting became impossible for my camera to get through, so I decided to leave. By then it was just a little after midnight, and I had to get up at 6:30 that morning. How great. Ashton offered to take a bus to meet me Uptown so I would not be alone, but there is a nighttime shuttle bus that you can call to take you home. So after some confusion, I got on the bus and arrived safely at my dorm. Thank goodness. There was a moment there when I was concerned on how I would be able to get back.

Oh well, it was definitely an experience, and I can say that I never experienced a photo assignment like that in high school. I sent some pictures to the Photo Editor this morning, so we'll just have to see how this plays out!



~ Valerie

Weekend Life

After experiencing relatively typical, homework filled weekends, I finally had one more memorable. This past weekend began with a concert on Friday! This made me wish I was with my concert-junkie friends at home. Concerts just are not the same without them...

The headliner was Parachute, but a few of my friends here at Miami looked into the band directly under Parachute, called South Jordan. Excuse the quality of this picture of them, but concert photography with an iPhone is not always the best. We ended up leaving a bit early because my friends are not used to surroundings involved with a concert. After the fact, I was kind of upset because we did not meet any of the band members, but I know that once I get home and go to a concert with my friends there, it will be another great experience.







Saturday was definitely where some memories lie. My friends Courtney and Ashton joined me to attend the first home football game against Southern Illinois University. Although we did not stay the whole time since we had to get some work done, I still enjoy getting together with friends and attending those games. Besides, we won! Although, I cannot wait for hockey season to start! Hockey is the main sport here, so those games will be intense and so much fun.

That night, we got invited to go to a party at an off-campus house. A little hesitant, we got ready and went anyway. I guess we were feeling adventurous. And boy, did we get an adventure. Well, we actually did not even make it to the party because us three got separated from the other people we knew who were in the group. We were not about to follow a flock of people that we did not know to some house party, so we left the group and went to a coffee house instead! It was perfectly fine with us, and that hot chocolate was delicious. Ashton and I kept saying that we wanted to go out just to get dressed up, anyway, and we got to do just that!

Sunday, there was an afternoon get-together at my orchestra conductor's house for the new members to attend. It consisted of information about our New York trip as well as what was coming after. However, the most amusing aspect was when his two young boys took us on a "ghost tour" of their two sheds and bathroom. They were so enthused and pent up on scaring us. We had to crawl behind this shed into that fenced area to the left, which was interesting because I chose to wear a dress that day. The some of the boys in the tour group with me were really getting into it and making it even more entertaining. I'm sure my conductor's sons enjoyed taking us on the tour, I definitely enjoyed experiencing it!








Oh well, now that that craziness is over, back to school. My first Spanish exam is tomorrow, I better start studying!



~ Valerie 

Courseload

 What would a college experience be without plenty of Ramen noodles? My brother always figured that the college life was not complete without it, so clearly, he made sure it was included in my care package the other week. I finally got around to making some last weekend, which pleased my brother as well! Anyway, there's one typical college stereotype I have encountered.

As my primary news, I am glad to say that I dropped my BMZ (Botany, Microbiology, Zoology) course!!! I had not really considered dropping it before since I do not give up easily, but after going in for help a couple of times and realizing that passing the class would not be plausible for me, I decided that it was not worth it. That class was primarily filled with Pre-Med inclined students and I only took it because my Academic Adviser suggested it when I said I was interested in Zoology. Nonetheless, it is clear that Zoology is not my calling and I shall stick with Psychology for the time being. It is such a relief to be out though. It is similar to when you walk out of taking an AP test and you realize that all of that work and stress is finally over. Thank goodness.

After this decision, I realized I would only have 12 credit hours (the minimum to be considered a full-time student), so I decided to take up viola lessons since I would have much more time and plus, it is a two credit hour class. Those lessons will be pretty intense, but it cannot compare to the insanity that that BMZ class was to me.

Another interesting event is when my parents attempted to send me a credit card through the mail. After  almost a week of not receiving it in the mail, my dad realized that there were purchases on it, from the Miami University book store. Funny, since I did not have it, looks like someone else got it in their mail box by mistake and decided to take advantage. After my parents promptly cancelled the card, they sent me a new one. When Ashton and I went to check the mail on Wednesday, what do you know, both of them were in there. One envelope perfectly fine and one previously opened and severely crumpled up, but with the credit card inside. To me, it looks like someone opened it and crumpled it in the trash, but when they discovered the card was cancelled, they decided to send it to its rightful over. Either that or it got run over by a truck. I cannot really tell. Oh well, at least I finally have that problem credit card.

Until next time!


~ Valerie

Living with Friends

I do not know about you, but when I was in grade school (high school included), I thought it would be awesome if all of my friends lived in the same neighborhood or if we had least had secret underground tunnels that would lead to each others' houses. That way, it would be way easier to hang out! Now, living in a college dorm, I kind of know how that would actually turn out. It is quite easy to hang out with friends, which is awesome! ... Except if you have a lot of work to do.

I got so behind in my BMZ (Botany, Microbiology, Zoology) class this week because I would continuously get distracted from being in a dorm hall. On Wednesday evening, I was planning on catching up on all of my BMZ notes, but my friends and I ended up hanging out with the girl who lives in the single next door to me instead. I ended up studying in the building where my Philosophy class is held to have a more quiet study area temporarily. At least the building's view is beautiful!

I feel like a nerd, but the main reason I'm thankful for this three-day weekend now upon us is so I can catch up, and maybe even get ahead, on my homework. Plus, most of the Ohio residents in my hall have left for home since it is Labor Day weekend (my roommate and my friend Courtney's roommate included), so it should be more quiet and easier to concentrate than usual. Although, I am really happy that Courtney is also an out-of-state student (she's from Georgia!) and is not going home so that I will not be alone!

I'm planning on video messaging in some way with my family, and my best friends Gaby, Krista, and Hannah this weekend. So, I suppose it can almost be like I'm going home, but not really. I'll get a taste of home at least. 

In other news... (sorry, I rarely have the spare time to write, so these might be long). My roommate walked into the hallway the other day and saw this.

How does that even happen? We're on the third floor, I really want to know who carried one of the construction cones from outside up three flights of stairs and left it toppled over in the hallway. Oh well, we didn't question it much, my roommate just described it as "so college!"

Our hall also all had a day where we went outside and painted doorstops for our dorms. I thought they were going to be bricks, but apparently that is not allowed anymore for some reason. By the time that anyone shared the paint with us, we only had three colors: red, white, and black. School spirit? Ashton (my roommate) had to make her own pink, and she also made the black one for our Resident Assistant, Stephanie. My awesome art skills went into the red one (note sarcasm).



Oh, and how could I almost forget how intense the Miami University Symphony Orchestra is so far. I had an appointment with the viola teacher, and apparently taking lessons as a class is an option. However, the lessons are way more intense than any I have ever taken, and if I also plan on joining The Miami Student (Miami University's newspaper) along with my course load, I would probably lose my mind if I took them. So I decided to hold off on lessons, which I hope is okay. It is just weird because I'm the only violist who is neither a music major nor a minor, so everyone else is way more intense than I am - I hope the environment will not overwhelm me.

I love playing in an orchestra, but when it comes to personal performances and even just singling us out during viola sectionals, I tend to get stressed out. I hope I'll be able to handle everything I'm getting myself into. There are just so many options in college, it is hard to not do them all!



I'll leave you with a picture of the Center of Performing Arts in the distance.

Until next time!

~ Valerie

Getting Involved

Anyone who knows me knows that I stress out over anything and everything, even when it is completely unnecessary. Fortunately, my roommate aims to be as studious as me and she's hoping to avoid procrastinating, so at least I do not have to combat her convincing me to go out and party instead of completing my homework. Although, our two friends from down the hall have the tendency to procrastinate, so we always feel like bums when we say we have to stay and do our homework. Gladly though, I've finally caught up with my homework and I'm trying to figure out an organized schedule to avoid becoming too stressed out. I want to be able to go out on the weekends (I did bring a couple party/club dresses after all), so I want to be organized and on top of my time management in order to have time to do so.

My family sent me my first care package on Friday! I was excited, not so much for the couple block hike to the mail center, but still. I figured there would be food, and there was plenty. Candy, chocolate, and of course, Ramen (what every college student lives on, in my brother's opinion). 

The only area we have to put all of this lovely food is in my overhead compartment above my closet. Good thing my roommate is going to bring a step-stool when she goes home for Labor Day weekend next weekend because we can barely reach it! Short people problems.









In other news, I made the Miami University Symphony Orchestra!! We're going to New York City to perform in a concert at Carnegie Hall in early October. It's exciting, but I really hope the school is funding the trip :p. I'll have more information about it tomorrow. Although I'm excited to be a part of this group, I know it will be difficult because orchestra was such a slack off activity in high school, so now I actually have to go out of my way to practice outside of scheduled rehearsal time. I mean, the orchestra primarily consists of music majors to start with, so I really have to step up my game if I want to be able to perform well compared to them.

Everyone says that it is important to get involved right away once you begin college, it helps in making friends and finding a place at the University. So yesterday, when the annual "Mega Fair," which hosts all 400+ student organizations one could join, was held, I signed up to be more involved on campus. I found the school newspaper (who seemed pretty excited that I was a photographer with some experience, yay Spokesman!), the badminton club, a wildlife volunteer club, some environmentally green club, and I signed up to get more information to become a Resident Assistant. I do not want to overwhelm myself, but these just seemed like some activities I would love to be a part of.

So anyway, let's hope I can discover a way to manage my time well while still having time to have fun. After all, college is more than just grades and a grade point average!

~ Valerie