Gravity won. Rewinding to the beginning, my roommate Betsy, bought a little wall plug-in air freshener that smelled like gingerbread and candied waffles. Those things are supposed to last months, but she managed to plug it in upside down, and well. Gravity did its job. The whole thing evaporated into the air within two hours, and the whole Sanfilippo Residence Hall smells like freshly cooked waffles. Welcome to room 109, home to the shenanigans of Betsy and Skylar!
My dearest grandma, Cheryl, sent me an adorable nativity set to put up in my room. Naturally, it ended up on top of the microwave so everyone could see it. Note: it is fairly hard to move because it is filled with fake (and messy) snow. The nativity set’s roof has a mind of its own and decides to collapse on itself at the most inconvenient of times. My floormates and I have officially declared war on my nativity set, and since then the set has only become more spontaneous with its “breakdowns.” I guess you could say that the effects of finals week are in full gear!
Betsy and I started talking about how we’ve been rubbing off on each other. Betsy’s positivity and spontaneity have rubbed off on me, and my “adulting” has rubbed off on her. This may not be a surprise to some, but I’ve been doing dishes daily (praise the Lord I have more than one plate and cup) and I clean at least once a day. It feels so good! I’ve discovered the best herb cream cheese, swiss, turkey and cucumber sandwich, and the prime time to get dinner (rice bowls) at Benson. In case you wondered, my diet is very Hawaiian and Italian – Yay for teriyaki sauce, rice, and pasta!
And I got free ice cream out of it. The resident director, a Democrat, was so shocked by the election outcome, that she took all of us “First Floor Flippers” to get ice cream. Despite what many people assume about Santa Clara University, there is a larger amount of Republicans on campus than one may think. Wednesday morning, the campus was silent. Fear was everywhere, and the fear was real. But what was astonishing, was that there were no riots. There were no protests. There were no fights, but safety pins everywhere. Look up the safety pin movement, I’ve got mine on.
Gratitude Corner
This one goes to my grandma! I got a lovely package this week, and it was full with surprises and love! Thank you for the sweets and the headbands; I wear them daily, and my Hydroflask is back to hydrating me!
Theatre majors have to sacrifice a good amount of social life to be social with other theatre people during rehearsals and shows. Halloween falling on a Monday (thanks, calendar), it also happened to fall on the first night of tech week! So what was the cast and crew of Arcadia doing on Halloween? Having the first tech run through. Did I mention that having theatre class on Halloween was the best and most hilarious experience ever? Because there’s nothing better than coming to class in costume, specifically Katniss Everdeen from Hunger Games, and watching your professors be in character for 65 minutes. Our professors were dressed up as foreigners, and not even for a split second did they break character. It was hilarious, better than any party any of us could have gone to, and one of the best in-class memory at SCU yet.
The question is answered later in the scene by a tutor, Septimus Hodge, but isn’t it fun to have the first line that opens the show come with a laugh? Arcadia opened last week to a full house and today, we close with a sold-out show. Despite half of the show being set in the early 1800’s, the themes and ideas challenged and discussed are timeless and extremely relevant to today. From the suppression of women’s voices to the power and consequences of lust, I’m proud to have been a part of creating such a powerful show and quite funny for that matter. This was my first show where there was no drama and no one had to say, “quite backstage please.” The cast and crew were full of professionalism, commitment, and passion which was stunning to see. We were so professional in fact, that we were able to fix what could have been a disaster. Arcadia requires the use of fire and water onstage, and one night, the water spilled everywhere. Naturally, as an Assistant Stage Manager would, I got off of headset, ran to get towels, and during a scene changes, went on and cleaned up the whole mess. We managed to save actors from slipping on the wet stage floor and preserved every prop, there are 101 of them, except a personal laptop. Do not worry, the department is reimbursing the student, but lesson learned as to why professional actors get charged when they request to use a personal item as a costume piece or prop in a show! For our beloved director, we knew we had to give her a memorable gift. So we crazy theatre majors went out and tracked down the playwright of Arcadia, Tom Stoppard, and realized he was going to be in San Francisco the week before opening night. Because we love our director so much, we managed to get in contact with Stoppard’s assistant and made arrangements for Stoppard to sign a poster of ours. It happened, and there are signatures and pictures to prove it!
To vote! It was quick and easy and I’m happy to say that my first presidential election I voted in will without a doubt be in future textbooks. I’m currently obsessed with the new musical, Hamilton about, you guessed it, Alexander Hamilton. I a group wants to pitch in to buy me a ticket I will love you for eternity. and it’s amazing to see history happen right before your eyes! I have no idea how our country is going to change over the course of the next four years, but either way, I’m proud to vote because every single little vote matter! Especially this one! (more…)
yet I still don’t know the Italian word for “Orange.” But I did memorize my 20 pages worth of lines that includes three monologues! This weekend, the 22nd and the 23rd, I will be starring in the SCU One Act Festival! On an exhausting note, I start my job this week. I will be working in the Admissions Office and assisting the scholarship recruitment officers and keeping everything organized; yes it’s right up my alley – projects and organization. On the more boring side, I have an Italian exam on Monday, the 17th at 11:45pm! Wish me BUCKETS of luck because I will desperately need it!
and that’s what we call midterms. By Tuesday, October 11th, I should have two 4-5 page essays turned in. One for English and one for my LEAD Scholars class. Have I started either of them? Nope. Have I done 447 pages of reading instead? Yes. Did I need those readings to create my essays? Absolutely. Maybe you can see where I’m going with this: If I don’t respond to an email until Wednesday, you’ll know what I’m doing. Side note: Monday the 10th, I am meeting my professor’s father, who is coming to talk about his book we read and his experience at SCU in the 1960’s!
More specifically, the green room. I have a minimum of 15 hours of rehearsal a week and it’s the highlight of every day of mine. Not to mention, I’m getting college credit for the show as well! I have the honor of watching our outstanding director work with us and have the thrill of perfecting my British dialect. When I’m not honing my craft in the rehearsal hall, you can usually find me down the street grabbing a cup of tea, or in the green room studying and/or sleeping. I was studying last week and fell asleep on the couch and ended up taking a two-hour nap. I went back to studying which included watching and reflecting on two videos for my theatre class. This is a link for one of them:
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=uba-qzbZsV8&feature=youtu.be
Please go watch and open your mind to endless possibilities.
This may not be the story you are expecting. I went to the bathroom down the hall, and a group of friends wanted to do a late Star Wars movie night. I wanted, and needed, some time to myself so I graciously declined. My roommate, as sweet as she is, wanted me to come to have some fun (disclaimer: there was no alcohol) and had locked our door but my key was in our room. Naturally, she wouldn’t give her key away with her Student ID card attached to it, but I wanted nothing to do with a movie night. Like any person begging for her night to herself, I followed my roommate around for 45 minutes trying to get her to unlock our door. For a split second, she was distracted and left her bag unattended. Tired as I was, I snatched her keys out of her bag and literally sprinted back to my room. All was well in the end, but that was quite a college adventure. When I was settled in my room, it was warm and quiet. I opened my box full of my beloved letters and memories from all of you and began to cry. I am fully in love with Santa Clara University and as I was reading, I was overwhelmed by the love, strength, sacrifice, and dedication standing behind me. I am honestly in awe of how many of you believe in me, and it truly drives me to do my best every day here. I fell upon one note from a dear friend of mine. She passed on to me the best word of advice she was given and it’s what I am concentrating on this week and I wanted to share. She wrote to me,
Let others know that they are loved and be okay with not knowing (not having to be reminded) that you are so loved and cherished by everyone with whose life you’ve entered.
I’ll leave that as my last words for the week for all of you. I know that I am loved, and am so fortunate to have all of you behind me. I will always pursue what I cherish and you give me the strength to do so!
and other adult things I learned. After 45 minutes of cleaning old milk out of my hydro flask, I pondered all the other adulty things I’ve learned this week. Like the fact that I can’t eat fried chicken every day and it isn’t a very good idea to make a quesadilla in the microwave without a plate or napkin underneath it. Note: It still tasted delicious. Another thing I learned is that asking for help is one of the best tools I have in my toolbox because this week wouldn’t have happened without the help of my friends, family, and professors. I got an A on my first college essay!
The least I can say is that there is never a dull moment in Swig Hall! I hear people scream “WAKE UP SWIG!” a minimum of four times a night, usually around midnight. College 101: It’s nice to be sober, but it sucks when you’re the only sober one on the floor and you have to watch a drunk person with EMT supervision until 2am. It’s very irritating also when I try to record my Italian Pronunciation assignment and have to redo it four times because the Swig hallways are so loud. Long story short, and many sleepless nights later—I’m moving out of Swig!
I have made a TON of new friends from LEAD including upper and lower classmen, and in my first day of English class, I created our first study group! One sweet heart of a girl, in particular, is Marialisa, she’s from Italy! She’s Catholic, we both wear cross necklaces, and she has the same beautiful personality as Ashley Bruce. We share the same viewpoints on many different subjects, and best yet we have two classes together—English and LEAD Seminar. She’s a freshman LEAD commuter student, so she lives with her family in San Jose, but now I have a friend with a car! (more…)
Skylar Rose Adams 