My Love for Theatre

A while back, I talked about how singing and dancing really helped me throughout my teenage years and it gave me a chance to express who I really was. But there's also another thing that many of you reading this blog don't know; what you don't know is that I also have a passion for theatre.

For me, theatre is about playing somebody that your not which allows you to think about the character your playing and what would they do in a situation being thrown out at you.

One of my very first acting roles was being one of the narrators in "Once on This Island, Jr." in eighth grade. This was a very exciting role for me to play in because I got to guide the audience into what the story was about, and how the plot unfolds in the show. During that same year, I remember playing one of the Greek God's children in "It's All Greek to Me." The one thing that I always take away from those two shows is the fun and the adrenaline I had when I was playing those roles and the memories with the people that I worked with.

In high school, I was in a couple of productions but they were more principal/ensemble roles and I was ok with that. I was ok with the fact that I still was involved with those productions yet I would still have a line or two in the shows, so it was a win-win in my part. I also was in my high school's Oral Interpretation Team so that I can still develop my acting skills yet become a more confident public speaker.

I also got a chance to see many Broadway shows such as Wicked, Mamma Mia, West Side Story, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go see Second City Improv Troupe and Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, Illinois.

Since I came to SMSU, I have really enjoyed going to see the Main Stage Productions, Black Box Shows, and the Take Two Improve Troupe as they really taught me to just come out and "play" in life. I have also enjoyed being in Acting Techniques with Professor (Nadine) Schmidt as it taught me to really let loose and have fun in life because you only get one chance to live it.

So, if I were you, I would come out and play with the SMSU Theatre Department for William Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors" playing this upcoming Saturday (November 1st) at 7:30 p.m. and next Sunday (November 2nd) at 2:00 p.m. in the Fine Arts Theatre. If you are a Beatles fan (like myself) or a Shakespeare fanatic, then this show is for you.

The Stress of it All

If there is one thing in college that I get the most stress about are Midterms. Midterms is that certain point of the semester where all (or most) of your professors want to schedule any exams, projects, and papers either on the same week or day.

The reason why I struggle during that time of the semester is because I always feel like I have to focus on one subject at a time yet I always think what I have to do for another class, what I have to do for an club/organization I'm involved, or an event that I want to go to but can't due to midterms.

Probably the reason why I stress out so much is because I don't know how to de-stress myself from the hustle and bustle of school. What has worked for me in the past is to have a stress ball so everytime that I do stress out, I always have something in my hand to squeeze or touch. Other things that I have tried and worked out fine was stepping away from the computer and go out for a walk (or on the treadmill when the weather gets colder), watching TV, and listening to music via my iPhone, iPad, or the radio.

Although they have worked very well in the past, these are just the "bare minimum" ways on how to de-stress myself and I just need more ideas to de-stress myself when I do stress out the most.

So my question to you is: What are other ways to de-stress myself for when things get tough in my life? What's the best advice to handle stress for not just college but in the real world?

Any advice that you give would be very beneficial to me as well to me any other people reading this that are in the same boat as me.

GLAAD's Spirit Day

This past Thursday, you might have seen a sea of purple flooding in your Facebook and Twitter feeds about Spirit Day. I'm not talking about having school spirit at a football game or waving pom-poms out in the crowds; I'm talking about a day set aside nationwide to make a difference in the LGBT community.

Spirit Day 2014-GLADD's Facebook Page

Spirit Day is a day sponsored by GLAAD in which  many students, teachers, celebrities, and media outlets to wear purple or to go purple on social media platforms to take a stand against bullying and to show their support for LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi, and Transgender) youth. Spirit Day first started back in 2010 by a teenager who wanted to remember LGBT youth who lost their lives to suicide and to take a stand against bullying. The color "purple" is also part of the rainbow flag and it resembles spirit.

Not only many companies, and major TV networks showed their support but so did popular landmarks such as the Los Angeles City Hall in Los Angeles, California, Wells Fargo's Duke Energy Tower in Charlotte, North Carolina and even the Empire State Building in New York City.

I also wore purple during Thursday's KSSU News. The reason why I took part in this was because I wanted to take a stand against bullying and to show my support for LGBT youth in the Marshall and Sioux Falls communities.

Spirit Day is just one of two days for millions of people to take a stand against bullying during National Bullying Prevention Month in the month of October.

This Wednesday, join me and many more people for Unity Day as we also take a stand against bullying and to promote safe and supportive schools and communities.

For more information about GLAAD's Spirit Day, a recap of Spirit Day 2014 and Unity Day (PACER's National Bullying Center) check out the following links:
http://www.glaad.org/blog/photosvideo-glaad-leads-millions-stand-against-bullying-spiritday 
http://www.glaad.org/spiritday/about
http://www.pacer.org/bullying/nbpm/unity-day.asp

Embarassing Moments

As a millennial, have you ever had an embarassing moment happen to you? Well of course you have had this happened to you but how many times a week do those moments happen? The answer may surprise you.

In a national Wakefield survey of 1,000 adults, roughly 34 percent of millennials experience more than 3 uncomfortable social situations per week.

I am no stranger to embarassing moments but I'll tell you what I went through this past week:

I was getting out of one of my afternoon classes and when I was going down the stairs, I actually tripped all the way down to the stairs feet first (thank goodness) and no students or professors were around. I would most likely call this a "personal embarassing moment" because it was just me and only me that experienced it instead of other people in shock or worse comes to worse have pointing and laughing being thrown at me.

When this happened the next time, I had to use the railing (whether if I was going up or down the stairs) to make sure that I wasn't going to trip (and I haven't yet).

My best advice for handling those embarassing moments is to "live in the moment" because we only have one life to live and we all have one of those days where something embarassing really happens.

Another piece of advice is to laugh at all the embarassing moments that have had happen to you and let's not forget what Taylor Swift's philosophy in life is in three words: SHAKE IT OFF.

The Last Homecoming as an SMSU Student

As the Rise of the Mustangs Homecoming celebration concludes today, I thought I would talk about one of my favorite highlights of Homecoming is none other than the Homecoming Parade that I got to be involved in each of my four years at SMSU.

The SMSU Homecoming Parade is just one of the annual productions that KSSU-TV does and it is one of the service projects that the SMSU Radio and TV Club gets to do each year. KSSU-TV televises this parade each year for the sole purpose of community members that don't have a way of getting to downtown Marshall to attend the parade in person.

For the last two years, I was very fortunate to serve as a Roving Reporter in which I got a chance to interact with SMSU students and the Marshall community to talk about their favorite Homecoming events.

KSSU-TV's Homecoming Parade 2013 Roving Reporters:
Ryan Bartz (right), Leah Hester (center), and Michael Sterling (left)
Courtesy: KSSU Radio/TV-Marshall,MN Facebook Page

While having a positive, upbeat attitude was my favorite part about being a Roving Reporter, the worst part was having candy getting thrown at you by the people walking in the parade (it was something out of my control but it is what it is).

It was a lot of fun and I would totally do this all over again. To top it all off, I also enjoyed the Homecoming Football game that got me off my seat as the Mustangs defeated the Upper Iowa Peacocks 28 to 25.

Overall, I really enjoyed my last Homecoming as an SMSU student and in case you didn't get a chance to see the parade on Saturday, have no fear it will be replayed this Tuesday and Thursday at 9:00 p.m. on Charter 28.9 (on campus) or 180 (off campus) and WOW 67. It can also be viewed online under the Campus Life section (KSSU-TV Live Stream) of the SMSU website.

Hope you all had a very nice Homecoming and please share your thoughts, experiences of this year's Homecoming festivities.

Not Your Average Guy

Everyone had a childhood dream growing up; From a journalist, to a nurse we all wanted to stand out in our own way and as we get older, we may pursue these childhood dreams or we may pursue something else.

When I was a kid growing up, I would sing, dance, and walk around my living room like I owned the place. My childhood dream was to be a pop star because I always love to express myself through music and I didn't care about what others thought about me.

While most of my peers were playing with Barbie's or playing with Hot Wheels, I had a passion of music as I was cranking up the CD player and singing and dancing to some of my favorite CD's. The first CD that I got was none other than the classic Britney Spears album "Baby One More Time." I would always listen to that album numerous times in my house and I would always listen to my favorite songs on the album more than the album itself. Some of my favorite songs from the album are "You Drive Me Crazy" "Born to Make Me Happy" "I Will Be There" and let's not forget "Baby One More Time." Why I loved these songs so much was my personality in general. My personality is a fun, vibrant, bubbly personality who can drive the ones that he cares about crazy ( not SO crazy but crazy enough that I always have my friends back).

I remember seeing her Disney Channel concert when I was a kid (yes Disney Channel did do concerts of many popular 90's groups) and she had so much stage presence, and energy that I would always try to copy her every move she made and that she always cared about her fans inside and out. For my 8th Birthday Cake, I had my Birthday Cake devoted to her because I was such a huge fan of her and I wanted to make my friends jealous. 

Not only did I not listen to her, but I also grew up listening to Christina Aguliera, N*SYNC, and the Backstreet Boys. These are and still will be my favorite singers/groups of the 90's.

As I got older, I sort of did listen to her much current music but wasn't really crazy about her in general. I still liked a few newer songs such as "Circus" "Till the World Ends" and "Work." As for what I wanted to do with my life, the pop star career wasn't going to happen and now I'm a college senior that still listen to her every now and then.

Like I said before, I wasn't your average kid growing up playing with Hot Wheels after school, I wanted to express myself in a positive way by acting like a popstar and not caring what the world thinks of me.

For Flashback Friday, I thought I would take you back to right around this time in 1998 when "Baby One More Time" first came onto the scene. Hope you enjoy:  

Festival of Bands, USA

This past weekend, I finally was able to see my younger brother Aaron perform with the South Dakota State University's Pride of the Dakotas Marching Band at the Festival of Bands Competition at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls. The Pride of the Dakotas was not the only band performing at Saturday's competition, spectators also were treated to a performance by the Marine Corps Band of New Orleans.

I was very thrilled that I got to see my brother perform with the Pride of the Dakotas because it's a great opportunity to see his progression from High School Marching Band to a Collegiate Marching Band. From just my observations, Marching Band in the college level is a lot more fun and energetic than in the high school level.

I also enjoyed watching the Marine Corps Band because it just gives spectators an opportunity to see a band in which the corps members are not just musically talented, but they also serve their country to their full potential.

Overall, the Festival of Bands competition was very excellent and I would totally recommend it to anybody.

To just get a taste of what this band is about check out their performance of "Hey Jude" by Paul McCartney during one of their halftime performances at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium at SDSU in 2012:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqqcQMo7d9s

Be sure to "like" both the SDSU Pride of the Dakotas (The Pride of the Dakotas Marching Band) and the Marine Corps Band of New Orleans (Marine Corps Band New Orleans) on Facebook and follow them on Twitter as well: (@SDSU_PrideBand) and (@marineband)

All Kinds of Minds are Needed

As I was finding sources for my speech that I have to do for a class, I came across a TED Talk from Temple Grandin called "The World Needs All Kinds of Minds"

For those of you that don't know who Temple Grandin is, she is an Animal Science Professor at Colorado State University and is one of the leading advocates in the autism community. She even had a biopic about her life called "Temple Grandin" which premiered on HBO in 2010. While she has become a very successful person, she also happens to have Autism.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention defines Autism as a "developmental disability that can cause significant social, communication, and behavioral challenges." (2014)

Her TED Talk talks about her concerns with schools being more abstact and taking out hands-on learning classes such as Art, Music, She then goes on about the different minds that are going to be needed in the 21st century.

I really enjoyed watching this because it gave me a new perspective in how people think and how society needs to get "smart, nerdy kids" to embrace the fact that the world is going to need all different minds in whatever career path they choose.

Feel free to watch this TED Talk and share your thoughts about it. I'm really looking forward to reading and responding to your comments below.