The Clothesline Project at STJ

          The third week of April was "Turn Off the Violence Week" on the St. John's University Campus. The purpose of the week is to raise awareness of gender violence, and through The Clothesline project, students get to create and hang t-shirts around the campus with positive messages. My friend Stacey and I decorated shirts on Tuesday, April 17, and we were excited to see the amount of shirts on the clotheslines growing as the week went on.

Me and Stacey in the process of painting our shirts for the Clothesline Project

My finished t-shirt

Stacey's and my shirts hanging out in the sunshine

A beautiful rendering Stacey drew, inspired by the photo above

Accepted Students Day 2012

          The St. John's campus was even more alive and bustling than usual on Sunday, April 15, for Accepted Students Day. The Pep Band played for the event, welcoming prospective students with our lively and energetic music as they walked past Marillac Terrace. It was fun getting to show everyone just how much we love STJ and how much fun we have as part of its student body! 

STJ Relay for Life 2012

          April 13, 2012 was a day that students and faculty members of St. John's University had anticipated for months. That night, the school's 7th Annual Relay for Life fundraiser was held. Student organizations had prepared teams and gathered donations to try to reach the goal of raising $75,000 for the American Cancer Society. 

          As the Pep Band was asked to play at the opening ceremonies, I was there and got to witness all the emotional and inspiring stories being told, and learned more about the lives at STJ that have been affected by cancer.

          By the time the walk-a-thon ended at sunrise the next morning, $80,000 had been raised, surpassing the school's goal, and proving once again just how passionate and giving the members of the STJ community are!

Carnesecca Arena before the event began

DAC After Dark - "Dirt & Worms"

          DAC After Dark on Thursday, April 12, was one of the most delicious of the year. The theme was "Dirt & Worms," the name of a fun and delicious dessert creation which involves chocolate pudding, crumbled Oreo cookie pieces, and of course, gummy worms! Needless to say, my friend Sarah and I had a lot of fun both making and eating our creations, as can be seen in the pictures below!

National Grilled Cheese Day at STJ

          As I was getting ready for school on the morning of Thursday, April 12, I happened to hear on Good Morning America that it was National Grilled Cheese Day. Being an avid lover of grilled cheese sandwiches, I knew I must celebrate this day, so I decided to head over to the St. John's Law School cafe at lunchtime and got myself a delicious grilled American cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread, which is beautifully displayed in the picture below!

My 1st STJ Track & Field Meet

          St. John's Athletics Department hosted its annual track meet at the DaSilva Memorial Track on campus on Monday, April 9. Although there were no classes that day, I came to the event to support my friend, sprinter Claire Mooney, as the track & field team competed against student athletes from various other colleges and universities. It was a good event for the team overall, and I really enjoyed seeing all the work STJ put into it. Plus, the best part was getting to see and spend some time with Claire! 

Me with Claire on the track in between contests

Springtime at St. John's

          Now that I've shared one of my favorite St. John's sunset photos, I figured I should also share some of my favorite photos from April that show why I love springtime at St. John's. It's one of the greatest feelings in the world to sit on these white lounge chairs and to enjoy the fresh spring air and sunshine!

Sunset at St. John's

          Of all the beautiful views on the St. John's campus, one of the most breathtaking is the sun setting on the NYC skyline backdrop that can be seen from the hill of the D'Angelo center. Here's one of my favorite photos of this phenomenon from one evening in early April.

My 1st STJ Softball Game

          My first STJ softball game was actually a doubleheader against Fairleigh Dickinson University on Wednesday, April 4. Below is a photo from the first game, which ended in a 4-0 victory for STJ. I didn't stay for the entire second game as I had to leave for class, but I was happy to know I saw the better game anyway, since the Lady Johnnies fell 5-2 in their second contest.

Heart at the Art Show

          I just loved and wanted to post this clever piece of art I discovered at an art show this year at STJ. The show, which opened on Tuesday, April 3, was presented by a photography class at STJ that did an exhibit  on historical photos from the Farm Security Administration (FSA) collection. While the people of the United States were struggling through the Great Depression and Dust Bowl during the time these photos were taken, I had such an appreciation for how a photographer managed to find a symbol of love and warmth during the gloomy days. As someone who gets excited about finding heart-shaped potato chips (or any other heart-shaped food items for that matter), I figured I had to post this because I never imagined I'd see a heart of melons!

The photograph is titled "Melons on Frank Tengle's porch," and it was taken in the summer of 1936 by Walker Evans, in Hale County, Alabama.

To find out more about the FSA photographic archives, visit the Library of Congress's page on it at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsahtml/fahome.html

Easter Egg Event

          As Easter approached, St. John's reached out to elementary school students in the community by hosting an Easter celebration that included teaching children about the holiday as well as painting and hunting Easter eggs, on Friday, March 30. My friend Stephanie and I volunteered to help as the kids painted their eggs, and while there, we even painted a couple of our own for them to add to their hunt! 

DAC After Dark - Yogurt Parfaits

          After the InterVarsity meeting on Thursday, March 29, my friend Stacey and I went to DAC After Dark to make our own yogurt parfaits. Although I'm not the greatest fan of yogurt's texture, I have no problem if I can disguise it with candy, so this was definitely my style, as I put candy and Fruity Pebbles cereal on mine. 

Museum of the Moving Image Visit

          Isn't it just great when school forces you to do something you've always wanted to but never got around to doing? I had that happen this past semester when I had to visit the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens, for a project for my Introduction to Mass Communications class. I visited the museum on Thursday, March 29, and finally got to experience what all the hype was about. It was just as good as I expected - and even better! There were a lot of interesting things to see and read about on the history of electronic communication, TV, and film. I even got to experience some of the interactive exhibits, including ones where I recorded my voice over Dorothy's in scenes from the Wizard of Oz and then one where I performed sound editing on the Terminator 2 movie. I was also fascinated getting to see vintage Lamb Chop toys in an exhibit and walking into an old style movie theater decorated with an Egyptian theme! 

An array of early television sets

A display on how movie cameras have progressed over time

Charlie Horse, Lamb Chop, and Hush Puppy - three of my favorite TV personalities when I was a little girl!

Me outside the museum

My 1st STJ Baseball Game

          I attended my first STJ Baseball game after work on Wednesday, March 28, with friends Amber and Candace. We enjoyed the beautiful afternoon while watching the Johnnies take on the University of Maryland (Candace's home state). Unfortunately, we didn't get to witness a win, as our team suffered a   16-4 loss, but it's always fun to spend time together while supporting our teams.

Candace and me outside the Jack Kaiser STJ baseball stadium on campus

Amber, me, and Candace at the game

The STJ baseball team at play

Traveling with Pep!

          One of the most exciting parts of my freshman year of college was getting to take the historical trip with the STJ Women's Basketball team to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 round, as a traveling member of the STJ Pep Band. The whirlwind journey began with a pep rally in the lobby of Carnesecca Arena on Friday, March 16, followed by a plane ride to Norman, Oklahoma, where No. 3 seed St. John's would face No. 14 seed Creighton University on Sunday, March 18, at the University of Oklahoma arena. When Nadirah McKenith scored the winning basket with 0.1 seconds left in what had been a very tight game, STJ fans (basically meaning the band, dance team, and cheerleaders --since we were so far from home) excitedly cheered and earned the right to stay until Tuesday, March 20, when the next game would be played against Oklahoma University. 

          Even with threats of tornadoes in the area over that weekend, the girls pushed on and ended up beating the Oklahoma's team in their own stadium 74-70. This victory meant we were headed to California (a place I've wanted to visit my whole life and never yet had!) to witness St. John's Women's Basketball's first ever appearance in the Sweet 16 round! I'll never forget how the Oklahoma fans sitting behind us immediately wished us well with God's blessings as we went forward. Oklahomans are such nice people!

          Although the women weren't able to beat Duke on Saturday, March 21 (our team fell to them 74-47), and we were all heartbroken to leave the stadium that day knowing President Obama's prediction that our team would make it to the final 4 didn't come true, we were so proud of our team and knew we could look back on this trip as the experience of a lifetime! I looked forward to coming back home and seeing all my STJ friends who had supported us so nicely by attending campus watching parties (where they saw us on tv) and praying for our safe travels!

          Now, onto some pictures of the games and all the sightseeing things the band got to do in our spare time on the trip!!!

Me after we landed in Oklahoma!

Band members and our director, Kevin, on the tarmac!

The view of Oklahoma plains from our hotel room

Our beautiful Embassy Suites hotel in Oklahoma

The band at Qdoba (sponsor of our basketball teams)
on our first night in Oklahoma!

Centennial Land Run Monument in Oklahoma City

Melissa, me, Stephanie, and Adela with Miss Oklahoma (center),
whom we met outside Toby Keith's restaurant after
watching Bricktown's St. Patrick's Day parade

Bandmates getting ready to cheer on our team before their first game!

Oklahoma University's beautiful sports arena

The band's front row floor view of the action in the game against Creighton

The STJ Pep Band with our awesome bus driver Rusty (holding the sousaphone and wearing the white shirt in the center) before the game against Oklahoma University

Band members gave acclaimed Coach Kim Barnes Arico high fives back at the hotel after the victory against Oklahoma University.  

STJ women's basketball player Briana Brown walking through the victory tunnel the band, cheerleaders, and dance team made at the hotel

Me and fellow flute player Stephanie after we touched down in sunny California!

The Radisson Hotel in Fresno, California

California palm trees and Armenian church right outside our hotel

The hotel pool where my 2012 tan began

Before the game against Duke, the band got to visit the Fresno Zoo!

Me feeding a giraffe at the Fresno Zoo!

The Save Mart Center at Fresno State University, where Sweet 16 game was held

The inside of the Save Mart Center before the game began  - it felt almost like a mini version of Madison Square Garden.

Stephanie, me, and Jessica showing our STJ spirit before STJ vs. Duke game!