Ending the Semester on a High Note

Vanessa, a PMC student, is back with a post about her favorite course she took during the spring semester.

Greetings!

It’s been awhile since I have blogged and I have missed it.  But, I am happy to share with you the classes that I took during the spring semester, particularly one of my favorite classes, Vocal Performance.  I took a lot of interesting classes during the spring semester, but the one I found the most interesting and enjoyable was the singing class.  I love to sing because it helps me feel relaxed and at peace.  The purpose of the singing class was to teach students who have never sung before to find what voices they are more comfortable with such as soprano, alto, and tenor and to work to make their voice better.  Also the professor helped the students who were at a higher level of singing with techniques that could help them become even better singers.  Ms. June Ambush taught us how to stand on stage when we were singing and how to read musical notes.  For our final we performed a concert for the school and chose some of the songs that we learned to sing during the semester.  Three of the students in the class performed a solo because they wanted to show their friends and family that their voices improved over the course of the course.  I learned a lot in that course and will apply the techniques that I have been taught in the future.  If you come to Pine Manor College, I would recommend you to take this course because it is fun and you will learn a lot about music.

Vanessa

Candlepin Bowling in Boston

Hello!

Recently, one of my friends invited me to go bowling at Boston Bowl.  I’m not very good at bowling, but I don’t mind bowling once in awhile.  This was not the typical bowling outing.  My friend wanted to introduce me to candlepin bowling.  I’m originally from Southern California and never heard of candlepin bowling.  When I moved to Massachusetts, I quickly learned that candlepin bowling is quite popular here.

Candlepin bowling is different compared to traditional bowling.  There are three balls per frame.  The balls are much smaller than the ones used in traditional bowling and the balls do not have holes.  Plus, when the pins are knocked down, they are not cleared until the end of your frame.  I liked the fact that the balls used in candlepin bowling are much lighter, but this also posed as a challenge.  I could not tell which direction my ball would gravitate toward and it was difficult to be consistent each time.  Also, the pins are thinner and resemble candles.  They are also and much harder to knock down with a ball.

Thankfully, I did not do as badly as I thought I would during my first experience with candlepin bowling.  Plus, I had a blast.  It’s always fun to go bowling with a group of friends.  My goal the next time I visit Boston Bowl is to get a strike when I try candlepin bowling again.  Also, Boston Bowl is open 24 hours so if you are ever in the mood to bowl in the middle of the night, you can stop by this bowling alley.

Here is the address:

Boston Bowl

820 William T Morrissey Blvd

Boston, MA 02122

 

I hope to see you all at Boston Bowl!

Julie

 

I couldn’t take a close up of the candlepins, but if you look closely, you will see that the pins look thinner than the ones that are used in traditional bowling.

It was dark so I apologize that this isn’t a very clear picture of the bowling balls used in candlepin bowling.  But, they were much smaller and lighter than the ones I normally use.

PMC’s Commencement Ceremony

Hi Everyone!

This year, PMC’s commencement ceremony was held on Sunday, May 13, 2012.  A few days before the ceremony, a tent was set up near the pond in case it rained on the big day.  One great thing about that day was that it was sunny and warm!  What a nice treat!  Before the ceremony began, I met graduating seniors outside of the Annenberg Communication Center.  It was an exciting time for the graduates and they all looked so beautiful and happy.  I was pleasantly surprised when I ran into of our Student Ambassadors and bloggers, Jiao Fu.  I am so proud of Jiao because she received the Faculty Award for having the highest grade point average in her graduating class.

Congratulations Jiao and the Class of 2012!

Julie

Jiao and I outside of the Annenberg Communication Center.

This is a picture of Jiao right after she was called up to the stage to receive her award from President Shanks.  I wonder what was inside the box…

Here’s a video that I put together to capture the spirit of the commencement ceremony.  Enjoy!

Exploring the Art World

Senait shares her thoughts on her final project for her printmaking class.

Since Pine Manor College is a liberal arts Institution, I am required to take a visual arts course.  I chose to take printmaking to fulfill that requirement .  The final project for my printmaking class was to develop a series of personal prints.  I was required to make 48 good prints.  There was no rule or limitation to what the project would turn out to be.  We were allowed to experiment as well as demonstrate the different printmaking styles we have learned throughout the semester. I chose to demonstrate the plexiglass technique for my final project.

I copied a series of a small anime baby into four plexiglass blocks.  After that, I carved the image into the plexi glass to transfer the image and then I used oil based ink and rubbed it in only in the carved image.  Afterward I wet the paper with water and printed the image through the press.

After going through the process of making 48 and more prints I wanted to experiment and used watercolor to give it a background. It turned out better than I projected.  The only problem was that the watercolor took the attention away from the drawing.  I spent two weeks both inside and out of class preparing my prints.

I liked this class because I got the chance to learn different techniques and different types of art styles.  I would recommend this class to others because it taught me patience and I learned to pay more attention to details.  Also, I learned how to control how moist the paper should be, how much ink to use, and how to adjust the amount of pressure on the press.  I am not an art major, but I have come to enjoy the experience and my appreciation for art has grown.

Senait

This is the drawer where I stored my artwork throughout the semester.

Below you will find some of the prints I made for my final project.

Can’t Stress About Finals!

In this post, Phalogne shares some advice about studying for final exams.

It all comes down to the last week of school, final exams.  You can walk around campus and see less than ten students and wonder, where is everybody?!  Most of the students can be found either in their dorms or hidden in the back of the library studying.  At PMC, students work hard on wrapping off their year on the right foot, which means acing their finals.  Never wait until the last minute to study for finals because you will regret the grade you will receive.

My advice to incoming freshman is to plan your time wisely and STUDY.  Study as much as possible, but don’t over study.  For my math final, I got together with a few of my classmates and reviewed all of our notes from day one to the last class we had.  This helped me because whatever notes I could not find, my classmates had them and shared their notes with me.

Also, get some good rest the night before your final exam and eat breakfast.  You don’t want to take a final when you are exhausted to the point where you can barely keep your eyes open.  From my personal experience, study as much as possible before your exam and eat lots fruit.  Take your finals seriously because it will have a major impact on your grade for the class.

Good luck to all as you spend your future years at Pine Manor!

Phalogne

Accepted Students Day at PMC

Hi Everyone!

It’s great to be blogging again!  I know it has been awhile since my last post.  It’s been a busy few weeks here at PMC.  Recently, our admission office hosted Accepted Students Day where admitted students were invited to visit the campus and be a part of the PMC community for an afternoon.  The event took place on Thursday, April 19, 2012 from 3:00pm to 6:30pm.

One of the activities was a scavenger hunt where students had to get into groups and work together to locate various offices, speak with some professors, and find a few statues on campus.  The first group to finish the scavenger hunt would be named the winners.  I’m glad the weather was nice and warm because rain would have made it a bit more challenging for the students to travel around the campus.  Two groups finished at the same time and were named the winners.  However, each participant won a gold medal for their hard work.

My favorite stop on the scavenger hunt was when each participant had to take a picture as a group in front of President Ferry’s portrait in the Ferry Administration Building.  In the picture, President Ferry has a more solemn expression and everyone was supposed to have the same expression in order for their picture to count.  I saw some students laughing with their group a few times before they were able to master the same solemn expression.  At the end of the scavenger hunt, the photo that most resembled President Ferry’s expression was chosen and honored as the “best photo.”

After the scavenger hunt, there was a leadership workshop presented by the student life team.  Students were given pink crayons and a sheet of paper and were asked to draw a pig.  At first, I was a little puzzled as to why they were asked to draw a pig.  But, then the team analyzed the meaning behind the way in which the students drew their pig.  I had no idea that the way someone drew a pig was an expression of their personality and leadership style.

Next, a few PMC students and alums performed their poems to the audience.  I really enjoyed this part because the poems were beautifully written and performed.  Lastly, the group had dinner in the dining hall.  The dining services team prepared a special menu for the event, which consisted of the following items: roasted chicken, buttered corn on the cob, pizza sandwiches, spinach fried dough bites, and a station where the students could decorate their own cupcake.  I love desserts so my favorite part of the meal was naturally the cupcake station.

Even though this event required a lot of planning, I had a blast.  Thank you to all of the accepted students and their families for joining us for the event.  I hope to see those of you who going to be seniors this fall at our Accepted Students Day event next year!

Julie

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Photos courtesy of Sarah Vogele

Work and Fun in NYC

Senait, a current PMC student, blogs about her experience at the Model United Nations Conference in New York.

This semester, I am taking a class called the United Nations with seven other students.  The United Nations brings all nations of the world together to work for peace and development, based on the principles of justice, human dignity, and the well-being of all people.  In class we learned about world politics, negotiation skills, and researched the country we represented at the Model United Nations Conference.  For this year’s conference, we represented Cambodia.  In preparation for this conference, we had to conduct research on Cambodia’s history, economic, social, and governmental system.

The purpose of the conference was for each country to collaborate and come to consensus by compromising with one another and come up with a resolution to the issue that was discussed.  Once our class arrived in NYC, we made our way to the Sheraton hotel in Manhattan.  That same day, we got together with our assigned group members and prepared for the conference.  After we made it to our assigned room, we followed the procedures and set the agenda.  We spent the following day in a caucus and negotiated on writing the working paper.  Cambodia was 131 on the speaker list, but we managed to give an effective speech.

Although I spent most of my time at the Model United Nations Conference, I did get to explore the city.  In New York, you will most likely see more taxis than cars.  The streets are very busy.  Walking into one of New York City’s largest Forever 21 stores in Times Square was such a warm feeling due to the fact that shopping is my passion.  Being able to see a wide variety of clothes on numerous floors was a great experience for me.  Plus, I have never seen such a big Forever 21 store.

My trip to NYC was a memorable experience and I hope to visit again sometime soon!  You can see pictures of my trip below.  Enjoy!

Senait

This slideshow requires JavaScript.