Young - Tim Burton Reading 1

It's surprising that Tim Burton's inspiration for his films include Vincent Van Gogh's paintings. I would not have expected Tim Burton to favor works with such vibrant colors such as the ones in Van Gogh's works. I would have expected him to get influence from some of Francisco Goya's works such as Saturn Devouring His Son:

...or something else this macabre

However, whoever watches some of Tim Burton's movies (mostly the Nightmare Before Christmas and The Corpse Bride) may feel the same dark feeling the average reader may have while reading Edgar Allen Poe. 

Another point that the chapters make is how much Burton rejected normalization and made the villains seem misunderstood. Many times the heroes in books and movies are given such a good reputation when sometimes the villain is portrayed in a completely different light when he/she could be misinterpreted. I just think it's interesting that Burton was able to falsify the whole façade of a perfectly happy family and bring out more complicated emotions. 

Daricek - Introduction

     So, this last week has been extremely fun. I've been making new friends, experiencing a new culture, and trying to keep up with all my new classes. This last summer I was pretty worried about making new friends. But upon my arrival, I discovered that my fears were unfounded. Everyone here is so nice and easy to talk to. They all have such brilliant stories about where they are from, and what life was like there.
    I've spent most of my free time this week either at the gym or hanging out with my new friends. The gym here is awesome for basketball and swimming, but the lifting equipment is pretty old. It also has a spa and a sauna, which is great. When I'm with my friends, we'll normally go out to do random stuff or hang out in each others dorms.  The campus is fantastic. The dorms are pretty small, but I'm barely there when I'm not sleeping anyway. The food here is pretty good, but I've been to the Tulane food court a couple of times and I kind of prefer that. The sushi place is also pretty good.
     As a chemistry major, I was expecting my work load this semester to be pretty heavy, but so far most of my classes don't seem that bad(with the exception of calculus, which is killing me slowly). All of my teachers are really cool, especially professor McCay. The new science building looks really cool as well. I'm really excited for my freshman chemistry seminar(sounds terrible I know). This semester we are going to do some demonstrations for some middle school and elementary school kids i.e. we will blow stuff up for kindergarteners, and get college credit for it.

Garcia-Ruiz_hey y'all

 

 I never expected to be a student at Loyola, I was so close to going to Columbia College Chicago but after my first week here I can say that I feel like I've made the right decision. I was pretty nervous about meeting new people and what to expect from my classes but I made a few friends and so far I like my classes. I wasn't so nervous about living with my roommate since we requested each other and I met her at Warped Tour. New Orleans and Orlando are the only two places I have visited…EVER so I did get homesick around the first few days because I logged onto Facebook and saw posts from my friends. I'm a music industry major so most of my classes deal with music, technology and theory. At first I wasn’t so sure if I wanted to stick with my major but every professor in the music program definitely gave me more confidence to continue with what I love.  I have done a lot of reading and note taking more than ever. I have never had a music theory class so this will be very interesting. I couldn’t even figure out simple notes on a staff for homework, guess I have much to learn. I got lost trying to find my global history class on Wednesday so that was a bit embarrassing but I got over it. I try to sit in the front row for my global history class since I wasn't a huge fan of history in high school. My professor tries to make class funny by saying that he drinks a lot of coffee and takes “drugs”. When I walked into my intro to music technology class, I got really excited because I saw midi keyboards on the tables.  My favorite artist Grimes uses all this technology to write her songs so I’ll finally know what they’re called and how they work. So far I haven't had lunch by myself because I find people to eat with, which have made my week here better. I’m still waiting on the day that one of them won’t want to go and I’ll be the awkward chick sitting by herself.  I have yet to explore the city like crazy but I have gone to the French Quarter and a few other places. It’s a different vibe than from Dallas but I love it and I can’t wait for the rest of my years here.

Buzaid- Introduction

College is a huge change for every freshman. My first week here has been nothing but interesting. I’ve met so many people from so many different places. Surprisingly, I’ve found adapting to college life be very easy. Everyone is friendly and open minded, it’s a bit different from the north east! I come from Connecticut and I’ve never lived in a city like New Orleans. The atmosphere is quite a change, but I really enjoy the warmer weather and the friendlier faces.

My travels to Loyola went something like this…  

                I started my trip off on the wrong foot. I was really excited and couldn’t wait to get away from my parents; I said my farewells to them at JFK airport in New York. I stood in line for U.S. Airways for 30 minutes, by the time I made it to the front of the line the attendant politely informed me that I was at the wrong airport. Yup, a half hour before my flight was supposed to take off I was at the wrong airport. You see, there are two airports not far from each other in New York. One being JFK, the other being La Guardia.  My dad dropped me off at the wrong one and was long gone by the time I figured out where I was actually supposed to be. Frantic and crying I had to pull all my luggage across JFK by myself and wave down a taxi to take me to La Guardia airport 20 minutes away. Luckily, my flight had been delayed for an hour and I was going to make it. Now I’m able to laugh about it, but at the time I was not a happy camper.

So, in the end I made it and I’m here now. My classes so far have been great. My schedule works really well for me and my teachers have been awesome. The work load hasn’t hit me yet but I know it’s coming… it’s going to hit us all… I’m actually kind of worried about it. I don’t know if any of you feel the same. I went to a public school and was able to ease my way through it. I’m probably about to be in for a rude awakening. But hey at least I know Loyola has helpful resources available for me.  With that I’m going to sum up my intro, hope you all enjoyed my little story!

Turnage - Meet Me !

The beginning of my college career has been what I call, the unexpected. It was far from what I every expected. Of course you hear the stories of late, sleepless nights in the library, the piles of homework and the wonderful freshman fifteen , but I never believed, someone else’s story would actually become my reality.

August twenty sixth two – thousand and thirteen is when it begun.  After my first class, my brain was on full overload and by the second class I was already on my way to my death bed.

I was overwhelmed not by the fact that I had all this work to do, but by the reality I had no one to guide me to do it. No one to pace me through, no one to encourage me, I had to be my own motivation. It was THE beginning of my life, my entrance into adulthood.

By the end of the first day I had talked to my mom over thirty six times and had over forty two calls to her phone, and cried six times

By five o’clock I was in the library printing many papers, from syllabuses to homework assignments due the next week.  I ended my night studying, trying to get ahead and returning to my dorm at three thirty A.M

The second day seemed to set better with me, as I only had two simple classes I knew I would be fine in. But as the night before, I was occupied in the library. I was then typing my first paper that was not due till September the twenty sixth, nearly a month away, studying for a test two months away and writing a study guide a semester away.

As the third day arrived I was feeling much better about my being, I felt as I was better prepared as I was ahead of the game, until chemistry. I soon learned I had a quiz the next class, along with thirty two homework questions to be turned in the next day. “I can’t win for loosing”, I thought; another restless night in the library it would be.

The fourth day is today! It’s been a breeze, kind of a reliever. I am ahead in all my classes and my first grade in my Loyola University career is a ninety eight percent, I could not be any happier. On top of that tomorrow is Friday and the library closes at nine so I will be in my dorm by ten o’clock.

I cannot be stopped.

Jump - Introduction

Move in day: one of the most anti-climatic days of my life. Everyone says how college is the beginning of the rest of your life, its your first steps into the real world, etc. As I began to bring my things up to my fourth floor room, however, I thought to myself "I don't think the rest of my life will be spent in small brick dorm room where I share the bathroom with 40 other people." For me college seems more like camp but with a lot more studying. My mind still hasn't registered that I am at college. I feel like I will be back home in Boston before I know it.

Orientation was a blur of faces; I was constantly meeting new people that I hate to say, don't remember their names. People on my floor, in my dorm, in my orientation group, or just random people I talked to in the hallways, its hard to keep track! I met people from all over the country, and even students from other countries. There a lot more music industry students that I thought, they are everywhere! I didn't realize it was such a big program full of such talented people. I am a singer studying music industry, and I was really excited to get started with classes.

I started my first day of classes at 9:30 and ended at 1:30. My teachers and classes seem a lot less intimating than I thought they would be. They have an attitude of "we are here to teach and help you, but if you don't want to utilize that then that's your problem." My teachers are all successful in the music industry and I think I have a lot to learn from them. Every Monday we have a music industry forum where we will find out whats happening in music on campus, in New Orleans, and all about different internships we can apply for. Music is everywhere in New Orleans, and I really hope I can take as much advantage of it as I can.

I would stay the hardest part of my first days of classes was actually finding them! I never had a problem finding the building but I feel my classrooms where NEVER in the right place. For example, my music technology classroom number is 113. I found 112 and 114 but no 113. When I finally asked, it turns out I had to go all the way to the end of the hallway, go around, and then there was the door unlabeled. Of course.

And now its Thursday! I can't believe the week is already almost over. This is going to be one quick semester.

Crowe: Introduction

My full name is Gadusi Tate Win Crowe, I am 18 years old and I am from Cherokee, North Carolina. I am 3/4 Native American and 1/4 Black Dutch Irish. I am three different tribes: Sioux, Arikara, and Cherokee. My first week at college so far has been very fun and a really big adjustment. I have many many new friends and enjoyed hanging out with my friends that I met at orientation. I changed my entire schedule today and I am pretty excited about my new classes, this class in particular. I am an English major but I have many other interests such as photography, singing, childcare, and psychology. I have considered minoring in music industry and taking singing classes to improve my talents and possibly get in songs that my other friends produce. I would like to meet all of the freshman class and become familiar with them on a first name basis. I have an older brother and sister and a cat named Iktome, her name means Trickster in Lakota. My older sister, Janine, lives across the lake in Mandeville, Louisiana. It takes ten hours to get here by car and I really miss my family, I still have not unpacked my belongings yet. I moved in later than the other freshmen because I had to wait until the weekend to drive here, also, I stayed with my sister on the saturday that I arrived in Nola. My close friends so far are: Devin, Bennett, Duncan, Will, Ricardo, Jon, and Julian. My roommate is Taylor Herbert, Taylor is pretty cool and I enjoy her attitude concerning the college roommate experience. I would like to have more close friends and I believe I will get there because I keep meeting people every day. Yesterday, I met Leo, Paul, Noah, Jaque, Elliot, and Jana. Jana kind of scares me because she is very intense. I hope to become an author, mostly just fiction writing. My favorite author is John Green because he writes beautiful life lessons that break your heart but inspire you to have hope in the end. I also enjoy writing poetry and flash fiction. My music taste veries from some country, to alternative, to heavy metal, and death metal. Some of my favorite bands are A Day To Remember, Of Mice & Men Asking Alexandria, Bring Me The Horizon, Kid Cudi, Modest Mouse, and bands of that sort. I am going to hang out with my sister tomorrow and I'm pretty excited about that. Until next time,
Gadusi Tate Win. (:

Butler Introduction

This past week has been absolutely insane. Finally getting to college has been so great and amazing. This is the third time I’ve lived away from home for an extended period of time, and I’m so excited to just live on my own again. This past summer and two summers before that, I lived in Germany for a month with an exchange partner, and those times there were some of the best times of my life so far. So I’m beyond excited to get to live away from home again, and this time, it’s going to be even more freeing. My mom came down with me to get me all settled in here at Loyola, and even though she was here for a whole week, she didn’t think a week was long enough. She’s going miss me a lot, but I think she’ll be okay. To my mom’s joy, I came down here to Loyola with a great friend of mine, and it has really helped me transition into college life quite nicely. We’ve met a bunch of great people this past week, and it feels like a bit of home has come with me here.

Every day since I’ve gotten to Loyola, I’ve done something, and I’ve been very active meeting new people. Here in New Orleans, every person I’ve met and talked to has been nothing but nice and friendly towards me. That was a real culture shock to me. I’m from a small suburb right outside of Philadelphia, and the one thing that I’ve noticed about back home is that no one is friendly towards one another there. It’s a very nice and refreshing change of pace that I’ve welcomed with open arms.

This is the first time I’ve ever been to New Orleans, and I’m really glad that I made the choice to come down here. I love the whole atmosphere and the whole culture surrounding the city, and I can’t wait to go out and see everything New Orleans and Loyola has to offer. So far, I’ve been to the French Quarter, a cemetery, and I tried alligator for the first time. That alligator may have been the spiciest thing that I’ve ever had. All in all, this past week has been crazy, amazing, and wonderful. I can already tell that I’m going to love every second of being here at Loyola and living in New Orleans.

Prevost- Introduction

I arrived on a Wednesday with my Red Hyundai packed down to its maximum capacity. I had always known that I had an issue with over packing, but after I had finished packing a small family car, and a four door truck I knew that I had surpassed an over packing issue. It’s only a three hour drive, but those three hours seemed like an eternity because during the entire drive I had just finally realized I was on my own. We got to the school, and then it seems just a few seconds later I was hugging and kissing my family goodbye.

My first actual day of college had arrived; I was as giddy as a child on Christmas Day. I skipped over to my first class, which was General Chemistry I was nervous because obviously it was my first class. After I met my professor and realized what my dreams and goals were set to, my nerves and anxiety shot through the roof. I began to doubt myself, and it was only the first class on the first day.

I had always been a paranoid individual, I over-think, over-analyze, make simple things and situations to complex, and just ultimately make things a lot tougher on myself.  When it comes to school I am a perfectionist and nothing short of that, but I began thinking I was in over my head.

I went on to my few other classes, met the professors, received the syllabus, same routine in every room. At the end of the day I went back to my dorm and just lied on my bed still criticizing myself. A few minutes past and I received a call from a familiar voice, who somehow always knew when something was wrong, and always had a solution. He talked me through it, calmed my nerves, and got my mind straight. So, with a bit more confidence I tackled on the next day, and the next and I was not as terrified, I told myself to not let the big textbooks and long Chemistry conversions frighten me into being something less than I have dreamed of becoming.

Now, I am almost done with my first week of college and I have aced my first test, and finished physics homework (I have not taken physics, yet). I may have wanted to rip my hair out on the first day, but I am glad I stuck to my guns.