An Inside Look at the Denny Sanford Premier Center

Courtesy-Ryan Bartz's Facebook Page

A little over a week ago, I came home from college and thought I was going to relax and unwind after being in class all week. Little did I know that when my mom and I were in the car, she asked if I was interested in going out to the Come One, Come All Open House for the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center and my answer was very simple: “Yes, I would love to go see what it’s all about.”

As I was first walking into the new events center, I was amazed at what the place had to offer. From sitting in their luxurious suites, to tasting their brand new concession stand menu, this place has something that the City of Sioux Falls has to look forward to. 

When I was sitting in their premium seats for the first time, I was going back, three years ago, to my freshman year of SMSU where I wrote a paper about why Sioux Falls needed a brand new events center. I also talked about how it will shape the local economy and how it will get people from outside of Sioux Falls to check out an event in the future. 

As I turned my paper in, I found out that the Sioux Falls City Council decided to move forward to build a new events center. I was so ecstatic for this to happen that I had to pinch myself to make sure it was real. Three years later and after attending the open house, I pinched myself again and this time I knew Sioux Falls was headed into the right direction. 

So there you have it, my very first time visiting the brand new Denny Sanford Premier Center and it was AWESOME. 

For more about this brand new facility, visit their website at: www.dennysanfordpremiercenter.com/

You can also like them on Facebook (Denny Sanford PREMIER Center), and follow them on Twitter (@PREMIER_Center) or Instagram (premier_center). 

Let Fall Begin.....

Courtesy: Ryan Bartz's Facebook Page

It's official, Fall has come to Southwest Minnesota. This past Monday, the Autumn Equinox started at 10:29 p.m. EST (9:29 p.m.CST) as the leaves on the trees started to change color, and the nights start get darker and the temperatures start to get cooler. According to Examiner.com, the very first day of fall starts when the Sun crosses the celestial equator. This also marks the fact that we can now see an equal amount of daylight and darkness every single day. 

When I think of fall, I tend to think of the outdoors and the leaves that turns many different colors such as orange, yellow, and red. My goal for the rest of this fall season is to exercise outside on very beautiful, sunny days to just take a break from school and just life in general.

To be honest with you, as a kid, I used to really enjoy fall a lot. From carving pumpkins on Halloween to playing on a puddle of leaves, this was when I enjoyed being a kid the most. Now that I'm a college student, I have growed out of those activities and now my favorites are walking around campus and attending football games. These two activities that I just mentioned are the ones that I will only get one more chance to do before I graduate from SMSU next summer. 

While I may have growed out of doing all the fun fall activities I did as a kid, but you know what, I still like to reminisce about what fall was like for me growing up and maybe one day, I will have to put all the challenges of being an adult aside and let the "little kid" in me come out.

As for this weekend (besides homework), I am planning to go out and do one of my favorite activities as an SMSU student: Supporting our SMSU Football team as they take on the Northern State Wolves. 

Until next time, Go MUSTANGS!!!

The new 2014-2015 Primtime TV Lineup is HERE!!

It's that time of the year again....that the new Fall TV Lineup comes in full swing as some of your favorite TV shows come back and some new fresh faces that have or already made their debut this week.

While some of you are really excited about your favorite show coming back after the summer hiatus, let's not forget how technology plays a huge part in watching our favorite shows.

We have that one or many TV shows that are worth watching every week, yet we don't want to miss out on every new episode that comes out each week. Luckily, we live in the 21st century where we have so much access to enjoy our favorite shows.

Most of the major networks such as CBS, ABC, and NBC allow you to watch it live on demand online or as an app so that you don't have to watch the show on your TV. If for some reason you have to miss your show for whatever reason, you can actually watch that episode after it airs online or as an app on Apple products. This is because you can stay on top of what is happening and when people ask if you watched the show last night, you can actually share your thoughts on the episode.

Some of the shows that I'm looking forward to watching are Glee, America's Next Top Model, Red Band Society, Modern Family, Black-ish, are just some of the shows that I'm looking forward to watching this year.

I plan on watching these shows on my TV, online, and my iPad.

So in return, what shows are you planning to watch this year and how are you going to watch them?

Let me know what you think and I'm looking forward to reading your responses.

My Reaction to the latest NFL Scandals

This week, for me was a bit of an emotional one. It wasn't just the homework is getting tough or me not having time to relax, it was a current event that's been on my mind recently. Throughout the last week, the NFL has been in some very hot water.

Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens was suspended from the NFL after a video of assaulting his wife Janay, went viral. The video came out two weeks after the NFL developed a new, yet harsher policy on domestic violence.

On the other hand, Minnesota Vikings has now reversed their decision to keep Adrian Peterson on their team. This decision comes right after Peterson admitted that he abused his son with a light switch.

After hearing and watching these stories unfold, I'm ashamed of being a man in general, period. It makes really sad and very upset that men are the ones dominating their relationships between women and children. Now, I'm just sitting here thinking:

1. "Where does the line get drawn between disciplining a child and using abuse to get your way?"
2. "Why do men have to use violence to solve their problems?"
3. "What needs to be done to make sure both of these incidents don't happen?"

Personally, I never think it's OK for men to hit women and children because children don't have that mentality to see what's good behavior and what's bad behavior. As for women, they have the power and authority to leave the relationship before it turns ugly and then start to seek help.

So a question that I want to ask you is:

While we still live in a very progressive society, do you think that we still live in a pre-domaintly male culture?

Please feel free to comment below and I look forward to reading your responses.

The Most Special Time of the Year

We all have something about ourselves that makes us special in our own way. Some people can be good at sports, some are musically talented, and some can turn their favorite hobby into a career or a business of their own. We even have special memories in our lives that will be treasured forever and defines who we really are.

Some of my favorite memories were from the five summers I was involved in the South Dakota 4-H Performing Arts Troupe. Each of those summers, I would attend a preparation camp where I would learn a show within four days and perform in front of an audience on a college campus. But that's not over yet, we also make appearances at county fairs and the South Dakota State Fair every Labor Day weekend.

Now call me crazy but, I really enjoyed every minute, second, and day at this camp. Why you may ask.....because I love expressing myself with an audience. Whether it be singing, dancing, or acting I love to show the many different sides of my personality through my facial expressions and body language. It also gave me a chance to empower people into believing in their selves as well.

I have made many friends throughout this program and it gave me an outlet to just be myself and not care about what others think of me. I believe that 4-H Performing Arts (and 4-H) have really developed my interests and talents in performing, public speaking, and most important leadership.

Overall, this program was very beneficial and something positive that I was most proud of. All the memories and people I met through this is now something that defines who I really am.

So in honor of "Throwback Thursday," I thought I showed you my most empowering moment of my Performing Arts career and some of the amazing people I got to do this with.



Facebook-Shelby Hartung



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Welcome to My Life

Hi, my name is Ryan Bartz and I'm a senior here at SMSU majoring in Speech Communications emphasizing in Radio and TV Broadcasting with a minor in Public Relations. Smart, funny, friendly, are some of my best qualities that I describe myself, but one thing that's unique about me is that I'm a "millennial."

Now most of you reading this might say "Ryan, what in the world are you talking about?" Well, I have the answer for you. 

The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia defines a millennial as a person that was born between the 1980's and the 1990's." My definition of a millennial is someone that is very smart, funny, and knows what they want to do with their life. To me, a millennial has to be: 

• Tech and Social Media savvy (whether if it's their social life or their professional), 
• Are willing to accept and embrace people for who they are. 
• Have a desire interest in wanting to make a difference in the world

Throughout this blog, I’m going to give you some insight about my life and what life of a millennial is like. So, fasten your seatbelts and come on board to see what my millennial life is like.

Have fun J

Ryan Bartz