Who is this crazy Alexa girl? Why, she is your newest blogger member for the Spring semester. I'm a senior here at Stetson University, with a theatre major and a journalism minor.

I'm very proud to see that Nic has updated about theatrical productions at Stover Theatre. Stover's a quaint theatre, but with our budget and resources we really do put on awesome productions. Currently, we are performing the farcical show How the Other Half Loves by Alan Ayckbourn, who is a British playwright. It's really fast-paced, upbeat comedy about three married couples, infedelity, and the sharing of space and time. Tonight is opening night, and despite having the jitters, I'm extremely excited (and sad) to be performing in my last mainstage show at Stetson.

In other news, the Campus Movie Fest has been at Stetson and it's been a lot of fun. I've participated in one movie myself, and it's really amazing to see students get together and work off each other's creativity. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone's flicks, and I'm crossing my fingers that our movie wins the competition.

All right, back to work! Work, work, work...

Rainy Days and...Tuesdays?

In keeping with the spirits of crazy Florida weather: It's raining!

It's been pretty warm in the past few days, until it began to cool down yesterday.
Usually, it's a different pattern. It'll be cool, then it'll start to warm up, and because of the warm weather, we are mostly sure to get rain in the following days, which in turn bring in another cold front. Vicious, yet predictable cycle.
Well this time, it was cold yesterday, rainy today, and it's supposed to get warmer for Valentine's Day?

Who knows anymore.

Other than that, some exciting news: Campus MovieFest starts taping this upcoming Thursday!
I'm super excited about it, I got to write the press release for it and will get a chance to document the event (as much as I can and to the best of my ability, of course) as it unfolds. I really do hope the weather lets out so the students can videotape outside and not have to be restricted to indoor areas!

So anyway, Campus MovieFest (www.campusmoviefest.com) is this event that goes to various schools throughout the United States and the United Kingdom and allows students to create their own movie. They provide the camera, equipment, and editing software (along with a mac laptop) for a week, and provide support and assistance in editing. It's really a great idea, and this is the first year Stetson gets a chance to participate. It doesn't cost anything for the students to participate, it's being brought to the campus by CSA (Council for Student Activities), and they pay for them to be here, so we just get to enjoy it :). At the end of the taping week, the movies are screened at a movie festival-esque type thing that invites everyone to watch what all the groups that participated created. Pretty rad, I think. Like a mini award show in little DeLand!

Aside from that, it's been pretty animated around DeLand with the incoming race fans. The 500 race isn't for another week (February 17th, I think), but the fans have been in the Daytona Beach area since last week.

I should be able to post more stuff up as soon as Campus MovieFest begins to unfold on the campus, and hopefully pictures and videos of random things going on around Stetson to come as well.

I think it stopped raining...

...Nope.

Finally settling in

Phew.

That's as much as I can say for the first couple of weeks (and, actually, almost first month) of Spring semester starting.

I'll take some time out to introduce myself, since the familiar bloggers have finished their semester and now it's up to me to keep you well informed:
My name is Marie, and I'm currently in my last semester at Stetson. I graduate May 10, 2008, and although Stetson has been a home away from home to me, I can't even begin to express how relieved I am that everything I've worked for in the past 3 and a half years is finally coming together.

The first few weeks of starting new semesters is always hectic. A lot of paper work has to be done, a new schedule to get used to, and trying to figure out work schedules and study time takes a while to get re-accommodated to. This semester I tried to keep it simple, but I should have known better than trust myself.

This semester I'm taking 4 classes and working at the Public Relations and Communications Office for my journalism internship. Aside from that, I have a work-study job at the Department of Residential Life and Fraternity and Sorority Affairs. I am also an RA (Residential Assistant) for Conrad hall, a first-year women's residential hall. I am currently the chairperson for the radio station on campus (WHAT Radio), and in the process of recruiting DJs and trying to get the station started back up. I usually also work at a restaurant on the weekends in Altamonte Springs, a city that's about 30-35 minutes from DeLand. So, in other words, I keep myself pretty occupied for the majority of my time :).

I, along with Alexa, will be taking care of the blog until the end of the Spring 2008 semester, and will try to update as much as possible with videos and pictures to share. I'll check the HatChat e-mail constantly as well to see if there are any questions or anything anyone would like to talk about.

I'll leave you with a lovely view of Elizabeth Hall, and I promise, most of the time it really does look that amazing.



Now, back to work :).

A HatChat Holliday

(this is my very own little art creation, from me to the readers)

It has come to that time of year, when all the interns here the Public Relations must say good bye, and start wrapping up our final projects for work as well as for classes. I hope that you’ve found the blog useful and entertaining. I have even offered to stay on and write blog entries next semester when I am no longer working at the department.

Stetson tends to get very quiet during the holiday break, with all the students going home to their families within 24 hours after their final exams are over. If you do however, have any questions over the holidays, you will always be able to contact us here at HatChat. Ill do my best to check the blog as well as my e-mail regularly. I know it’s getting to be that time when many of you are submitting your applications to your select universities and I’d like to do the best I can in helping you make that decision.

It has been a pleasure and privilege being able to write for this blog. I hope to continue growing its success in the coming semester as we introduce you to some new writers. From all of us here at HatChat, we wish our readers happy holidays.

Nicholas van der Kwast

Only a week and a half left of classes! Is it almost over already?

It seems that all semester, though you’re busy, is never has hectic as the last two weeks of class. Those last few classes before finals begin are always the worst—trying to fit in reviews and finishing up big papers and projects. Everything is always due on the same day, and once everything is turned in, then you’ve gotta turn around and start studying for finals. Take-home finals and tests, then packing and saying good-bye to friends. It’s so much!

The only advice I can give is first to make a list of everything that needs to be done, down to the little details. Categorize by what’s due first or what’s going to take the longest, and when it’s all due. Then make a game plan, and STICK TO IT. Don’t overload yourself; rather, start as early as possible and get a little bit done every day. Keep that list and mark things off as you finish them. You’ll feel accomplished, and it will motivate you to keep going. Also, don’t feel bad about taking breaks, as long as they’re not hours at a time. When it’s all done, you’ll be glad you weren’t up the entire night before writing a paper or studying for an exam.

Another piece of advice I can give is to keep your work. You never know when you’ll decide to write a paper on something similar to what you’ve done before and wish you’d had your works cited page or notes on a subject. So many times, I’ve written papers and essays on the same subjects or in a similar field. So keep everything, even if it’s backed up electronically.

Well, wish me luck for the next two weeks! After this, only one more semester till graduation… yikes!

Good luck to all of you as well! –Elaine

CARTEL LIVE AT SU

A small clip from the show that took place at Stetson over the past weekend.

Bustling Stetson University

So here we are at the end of the semester, I got tons and tons of work to do and what comes up, how about the busiest weekend ever!!!

During the past weekend Stetson hosted the Atlantic Sun Tournament for D1 soccer. I am a huge soccer fan and Stetson had a great season. They finished second in t he conference and played some terrific games, and every one thought they had a good shot to go all the way during the tournament. So Thursday night I went out to watch the green and white play. Only the truly loyal fans were out that night, I could tell because the cold night air was as unforgiving as Stetson’s opponents. Campbell University ran out 2-0 winners over Stetson in the Semi-final match. It almost brought a tear to my eye. I’m glad it did not, however, seeing as how it probably would have frozen to my face on its way down. Below is a video I took at the game just to show you what the atmosphere was like. Even though we lost it was a lot of fun, and I wish the team better luck next year.



The next thing on the menu was fraternity formal, which is probably the two most fun days every Greek student can look forward to at the end of the semester. This year my fraternity went to a restaurant at Downtown Disney in Orlando for dinner, spent the night at a nice hotel across the street from Universal Studios, and then spent the following day riding the rollercoaster’s at Islands of Adventure. Since Stetson is so close to Orlando it’s easy to plan a fun trip like this for formal events. We left the park at 4 on Saturday afternoon and were right back at Stetson at five.

That night, Stetson’s Council for Student Activities (CSA) put on a concert on campus in the Rinker Field House featuring the popular MTV band Cartel and special guest Copeland. The music was great and the crowd was very lively and a lot of fun. Now that I spent this past weekend attending sporting events, theme parks and concerts I think it’d be best if I get back to doing some school work. Before I go there, there is also a small clip I took at the Cartel show for you all to check out.

Nic (wish me luck, on my exams) van der Kwast

Greenfeather

Hi all! Sorry it’s been so long… I’ve been swamped. After formal recruitment my sorority welcomed over 25 new members into our chapter, so I’ve been busy getting to know them as well as keeping up with school and everything going on here in the PR office. Thanksgiving is creeping up, and I’ve got so much left to do this semester!

Anyway, I wanted to tell you a little about Greenfeather, which is going on this week. Greenfeather is a campus wide event that helps raise money for local charities such as Hospice, Humane Society, Rape Crisis Center and other agencies around the DeLand area. I’ll be honest—it gets a little competitive, but in a good way! There are events every day of the week, beginning with a yard sale and including activities such as outfit and banner contests, penny wars, a rocking chair ‘rock-a-thon’ and lip sync competition. Many of the events collect donations, and additional pledges from staff and faculty help students raise a lot of money. Last year Greenfeather donations totaled over $25,000.

In addition to raising money and helping out local charities in need, I think Greenfeather is a great way to have fun with your fellow Stetson students. I always have so much fun going to all of the Greenfeather events. I’ll admit, it’s going to be a very very busy week, but an awesome one as well. When I’m not attending events, I’ll be decorating our banner or the rocking chair or practicing our dance routine for the lip sync competition. I’ll post some pictures next week so you all can see what Greenfeather is like.

Hope all is well!
Elaine

Romeo and Juliet

So here is something some of you may have not know about me, I am a Thespian. And, no it’s not some weird disease; it’s a passion for art and expression. I have been living in the backstage wings and greenrooms of the theatre all my life. As a child my mother was the hairstylist for a local theatre and since she was not able to find a sitter, she would always take me with her to the shows. Even when she was able to find a sitter I would insist on going with her, because of how the life of an actor fascinated me, I thought to myself; these people get to play and pretend all day! I love playing and pretending.”

So here I am all these years later, a senior at Stetson University, with all the stress of school work. Every now, and then I still get to play and pretend. Currently I occupy the roll of Paris is Shakespeare’s famed Romeo and Juliet. Opening night is TONIGHT and although I am not nervous, I certainly am anxious however. The entire cast and crew has been working on the production very long and hard. Everything has been done to perfection, so I am certain people will enjoy the show. I’ll get back to you next week with a quick follow up, just to let you all know how it all went.

Besides using the blog as a source to plug my play, I wanted to use my experience with theatre as another example of the possible things to get involved with here at Stetson. I am not a theatre major nor minor, but I was still welcomed to audition and got myself a part at that. Though I have been involved with university shows since my freshman year, the competition for roles does seem to get tougher every year. So I am very glad I still get the chance to play every now and then. Any questions about the show or the university theater program, don’t hesitate to ask me!

Nic van der Kwast
nvander@stetson.edu


(Mercutio entertains partygoers with a tall tale which Tybalt stews over his hatred for the Montagues in “Romeo and Juliet” presented at Stetson University’s Stover Theatre, 535 N. Florida Ave., DeLand. Left to right: Daniel Roscoe and Greg Adams. Photo by Ken McCoy)

Where is the semester going?

Sorry I have been a little delayed on the blogs, but that is because I am the only person who cannot seem to get on to the website and post anything. Nic has given me the password and the user name, yet it tells me that it does not exist and still works for him. Weird, this is why I have not been up to date recently. Oh well, I can include what I have done thus far…
Two weekends ago was our Fall Break, which came and went as fast as fall semester almost being over, we are now ¼ of the way done! That is very, very scary! Fall Break is a nice little break in the month of October; midterms are ending and we need time to relax, so four days off is really enjoyable. Some go home, some visit friends, others travel just somewhere to get out of Deland for a bit; this year, a few of us went down to the University of Miami and stayed with a friend’s friend from home. The weather was gorgeous; we went out on the boat and went to the Miami/Georgia Tech game, tailgating and all. It was great to see a big, city school and the game was intense, the number of fans in orange, green, and white jerseys was overwhelming. I can’t imagine being a player and having all those fans cheering you on, the adrenaline rush must be like no other feeling in the world. We left on Thursday, which was one of my best friend’s 21st birthdays, so we celebrated in Miami and another reason for our getaway. We left Sunday morning and headed back home to reality.
After a great weekend away, it is hard to get back into the grind of school work and projects. This is when the semester starts speeding up; we have Halloween to look forward to, which is a big deal here at Stetson. Then not too far off is Thanksgiving and once that holiday hits, it is basically all over except a few more days of classes then finals. I cannot believe how quickly this semester has gone by and how it is going to continue speeding up before ever slowing down. College flies by and senior year is here before you know it, then it’s over. Do I really need to start thinking about life after college?! I never thought that day would actually come…College is too much fun to have be over so soon, I am not ready to grow up!
Now, we are here, October 22nd, and the work load is starting to increase tremendously as well, I am writing more and more stories for the PR department and my other classes are getting more and more stressful. It seems like there is something to do every week, and just when I think it is time for a break something else comes along. I am realizing that October is nearly over as well. It is scary to think that November is right around the corner and we have Thanksgiving to look forward to before our big break in December.
Midterms have passed and so the stress has worn off a little; however, these next couple of weeks are time for registration for spring classes. I had my final advisor meeting today for the last time at Stetson and it was sad to think I won’t do that again here. I picked out my final classes for my second semester of senior year and the last ones before I graduate! It is scary! I also declared two minors: journalism and marketing, which I am very excited about. But hopefully my work load won’t be too bad for my last semester at Stetson. I need to get back to work, questions or comments? Email me!