We love our Seniors

Sarah

Entering week four of the spring semester now. Even though I have been spending a lot of time studying for exams and writing papers, life is good. I’ve been reminded a lot lately that graduation is just around the corner for our seniors. Prep for Student Association’s Graduation Party that honors and celebrates TU graduates this May is under way and I have the privilege of working on this project. In addition to Grad Party festivities, I am also planning Senior Week for my sorority. I am particularly excited for the seniors to give their Tulsa and sorority t-shirts away to us that week. I love t-shirts, especially when they’re free! It’s so awesome that as a Freshman I have multiple opportunities to acknowledge the achievement of some of the best role models on campus. It is clear to me that they love Tulsa and will be sad to leave this spring.

In the mean time I am focused on staying involved on campus (Presbyterian Leaders and Scholars, Greek Life, and Student Association) and staying on top of my school work! When my senior year arrives I plan on looking back and knowing I made the right college choice (woot woot TU!), I made the most of my time, I made lasting friendships, and I set a good example for underclassmen.

So, TU, Think you can Dance?

This weekend’s performance, “So, TU, Think you can Dance?” was a smashing success! There was a full house for both the Friday and Saturday night performances. Good thing we got there early to get our seats!

Here is a great article about it in the Tulsa World:

Some of the contestants were Musical Theatre majors, but others were majoring in Biology, Environmental Studies, etc. They were all great! Congratulations to all of you!

It’s nice to know that TU can, in fact, dance.

The direct URL for the Tulsa World Article is http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectid=272&articleid=20120130_272_D1_CUTLIN345970

Caution: Extreme awesomeness ahead

It’s Emily here. I won’t lie: this semester got off to a rough start. There really isn’t anything quite like getting strep twice in a row to zap your energy and excitement. But starting this week, I will (finally!) not be on an antibiotic. Plus, Thursday is my birthday! I LOVE birthdays. Things are really looking up.

On Wednesday, I’m going to see They Might be Giants at Cain’s. I’ve seen TMBG in concert before and they put on an energetic show packed with fan favorites. Yay!

Thursday is my birthday(!!). I wish I could get myself a kitty, but I’m going to have to continue yearning for a feline friend for a little bit longer. As soon as I move in to a pet-friendly place I am going to the shelter! I’m also going to try really hard not to buy myself every pair of shoes I want for my birthday. This is challenging. I have a (not so) secret, shameful addiction.

But seriously, can you blame me?

Saturday there will be brunch, which I think is a classy, under-21 friendly birthday celebration activity. Plus, Tulsa is brimming with awesome, reasonable brunch places. Seriously, when I lived in DC I missed the brunch here. It is that good. After brunch my boyfriend has promised to take me shooting, which is one of those when-in-Rome activities I have actually started to enjoy.

The brunch here is heaven.

Sunday is the Super Bowl, and while my beloved Steelers choked, at least I get to cheer for the hometown favorite Giants. I’m still a little sore about the Steelers loss, since I expected much better from them and just bought a Mendenhall jersey over winter break. Now I have to wait until next season to wear it again. Alas.

Monday my friend Nathan and I start training for the OKC Memorial half marathon. Running a marathon last semester was fun and all, but I’m looking forward to catching a few more z’s on Saturday morning. Nathan won my eternal devotion by naming his goldfish after enzymes (cpd photolyase and executioner caspase). On Monday I will also be going to the Polyphonic Spree concert at Cain’s(!).

I hope your week ahead is just as exciting! Here’s to getting back on track and making my last semester at TU one to remember!

Engineering & Engineering

Khristen
As a few of you have probably learned, TU has a decent-sized and passable engineering college…. Okay, so TU is pretty well known for its intense and competitive College of Engineering and Natural Sciences! And as a student studying in this discipline, I get to see all the in’s and out’s of the classes, professors and buildings. If you visit TU (especially if you are wanting to do anything that is remotely close to engineering), you will probably be shown the two newest additions to the campus: Stephenson Hall and Rayzor Hall. Let me give you some information on both.

First is my home: Stephenson Hall! Alright, so maybe it’s not my home yet. But it will be starting the fall semester. The building is actually scheduled to be open this summer. So just in time for any of you high school seniors! This building will be the home of Mechanical and Petroleum Engineering.

Stephenson Hall: Under Construction!

Next is the beautiful Rayzor Hall. This building opened toward the end of last semester, meaning that I am a part of the first group of students to have classes there. Rayzor is now home to the Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. It’s so fancy!

The Newly Opened Rayzor Hall

This next photo is to show you a more inside view of Rayzor. Look how much people love studying here!

Studying for Computer Science

So as you can see, TU loves to give its students the best of the best when it comes to resources to succeed.

SENEA: Sustainable Engineering for Needy and Emerging Areas

The Office of Admission
23 days into 2012, and TU students have already changed lives….
Read this great project report about two TU undergraduate mechanical engineering students who traveled to Guyana, South America a few weeks ago to establish solar powered water chlorination systems in three different villages. This project began in May 2010 and the research and development was performed by students at the undergraduate level.
Sustainable Engineering for Needy and Emerging Areas
Guyana Pilot Implementation

I can’t wait to read the reviews next year, when the students return to expand this year’s project.

Financial Aid Workshop for Parents

The Office of Admission
Hi SENIORS!

Have you registered for the Financial Aid Workshop on Sunday? This is a GREAT workshop for parents of seniors. That’s right, students, you don’t even have to go! Just send your parents!

If your parents are like most other parents who are about to send a child to college, they probably have a lot of questions about financial aid. This workshop is the place to get all of these questions answered.

Our Director of Student Financial Services, Vicki Hendrickson, will explain the financial aid process in great detail- everything from filing financial aid forms to understanding your rights and responsibilities regarding financial awards. Vicki is great- she is very thorough and has a knack for explaining financial aid so that it just makes sense. Also, I will be there. If your parents have questions for me about admission and scholarships, I will be happy to chat with them!

Here are the details:

Sunday, January 22nd, 2012

2:00pm – 4:00pm

The University of Tulsa

Collins College of Business, Helmerich Hall, Room 219

2900 E. 5th Street (one block East of Delaware on 5th Street)

Online Registration (please register as a student, but list any parents/guardians that will be attending when it asks you to “add guests”. Students do not need to attend, but the registration needs to be made in the student’s name)

Event Listing

See you Sunday!

-Casey Reed

Salutations

Aaron
Hello everyone, I’m Aaron. It’s a pleasure for you to meet me. Not trying to be conceited or anything, only honest, because I’d be lying if I said I was pleased to meet you, as the nature of blogs presents a rather one-sided conversation that prevents me from actually knowing anything at all about the reader of this post. Instead, I’m forced to talk solely about myself and my experiences, something which I would normally rather avoid. Be that as it may, I’m thrilled to be able to share my thoughts/happenings/comments on life here at TU, specifically from the point-of-view of a student-athlete (and occasional nighttime musician).  I’m flattered if you made it through this opening paragraph without scrolling down the page to look at someone else’s, so I shall do my best to keep this as lively and whimsical as is possible without losing my (vice-like) grip on what relevant, helpful information I’m trying to convey. Wish me luck.

Seeing as how I’ve never written for the TU student bloggers (or really any blog) before—in fact I can’t recall ever writing anything longer than my brief (but extremely sincere and from-the-heart) “thank you” notes to relatives and relations after Christmas/my birthday—I figure it’d be best for all of us if I just took a short 30 seconds of your time and 20 minutes of my time to properly introduce myself. Like I already said, my name’s Aaron. (I figure it’s important enough to merit repeating.) I hail from Kansas City, Kansas (Lenexa, if you want to be specific), I love using parenthesis (love!), I’m a second semester freshmen, and I run cross country/track here for Tulsa. I particularly enjoy the taste of refrigerated chocolate milk, and I’ve played the piano for approximately 11 years and three months (plus or minus eight days). I generally enjoy reading and writing (yeah…that part about the thank you notes was a lie…sorry) and I have zero pets. I speak English proficiently (or at least I’d like to think so), Spanish un poco, and have about 23 other languages currently on my Wish List. In my spare time, I study Chemical Engineering at TU’s picturesque library. (Seriously, it’s very picturesque: I’d wager an estimate that 96% of all TU paraphernalia involving photos has the mammoth stone library somewhere within its boundaries.) When the library’s closed, which isn’t actually all that often, my dorm room is always kind enough to offer itself as a comfortable working space. Sometimes it’s a little bit too comfortable, however. I’d advise against the “Oh I’ll just lay down and read this book from my bed” approach. Studies have shown that it is historically not a very effective method of studying. My own personal studies have confirmed this. I think that’ll about do it for the introductions, and I think that’ll also about do it for this post. The semester has just started, and it already carries with it a whirlwind of promise. I’m looking forward to keeping you (pl.) updated as this year transpires!

P.S. While I’m getting started on this whole blogging thing a bit late (one semester to be exact), I figured you might want to know all about my first semester of college! But unfortunately, I don’t have the time, energy, motivation, and/or a large enough character limit to tell you all about those five-ish months. So instead, allow me to sum it all up in the form of some life advice for the average college student: speak softly, sing softlier (else people look at you weird), carry a big backpack, and love your dorm neighbors as yourself.

It’s Tulsa Time Again!

Hillary
I’m so excited to be back on campus! I had such a fun-filled break, but the highlight was definitely driving all the way from St. Louis to Dallas to attend the Armed Forces Bowl. It was TU vs. BYU in a drama-filled game, and I had a blast! For a really, really low price TU drove us down to the game from Tulsa, paid for us to go to a really nice, fun-filled alumni dinner called the  Bowl Bash (delicious BBQ!), and put us up in a GORGEOUS hotel right in the heart of downtown Dallas! We also got transportation to and from the game and tickets to the game that were basically in the front row. It was so fun!

After the bowl game was over, I couldn’t wait to get back to TU to see all of my friends again! It’s been really great to be back on campus for my last semester (*tear*), and I’m excited to see what the new semester brings! I already really like my classes, I’m training for a half marathon, and I turn 22 this semester. No matter what, it’s bound to be fun! =)

My friends and I at the Armed Forces Bowl in December!

Victory Lap

Work it

This is how excited I am to graduate!

It’s Emily here.

This week marks the beginning of the last semester of my senior year, and I am counting down the days until graduation. Last semester, a combination of class, my internship, and writing for the Collegian put a damper on the frequency of my blog posts. This semester is just as crowded (and the job search is piling additional items onto my list of things to do), but I still plan to be more consistent.

I’m planning to make some other changes this semester:

    • My boyfriend and I have started cooking on a more regular basis. We trade off days and basically cook the cheapest meals we possibly can while using minimally processed foods. Some of my posts will probably include our creations.
    • I’m going to try to go to more events on campus. The biology department is in the process of hiring a new faculty member and is hosting talks given by the applicants. I like to think of these as auditions, and they’re a fun way to learn a little bit more about topics that come up in class (and some that don’t).
    • I’m going to get out more. And by out, I mean off campus, maybe even out of Tulsa. Last weekend I went to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville and it was amazing. I’m doing a story on my visit for the Collegian this week! I also want to get down to some of the museums in OKC.
    • I’m going to lift weights. Any ability I once had to do a proper pushup has basically evaporated. It’s embarrassing.
rawr

See this girl? I want her arms

I hope you guys also have great goals for the year. For those of you about to graduate from high school, this is the year you will start college!

I obsessed with Laura Marling lately (Mumford and Sons got their start as her backup band), so I leave you with her incredible voice: