Intertwining Russian History with Science Fiction
Combining science fiction elements with Russian history makes for an interesting class.
While browsing classes under the Russian Department, I stumbled upon Russian 120: Science Fiction in Russia. I was excited to take a Russian class in general, but did not anticipate the extent of what I would learn in the one I came across. It was obvious the class would revolve around the science fiction genre, but I did not know what kind of impact the genre had on Russian culture. Although I am not a big fan of science fiction, mostly due to the exaggeration of aliens and their cheesy appearance, I thought I would give the class a shot. Little did I know, it would soon become one of my favorite courses.
Although I am Russian, I was able to discover new things about my culture through the lens of the sci-fi genre. I saw the Soviet Union from a different point of view and learned how science fiction was interwoven into Russian culture. Though I had an idea of how the people felt about the Soviet Regime, I did not know they integrated their wants and fantasies about communism into books, let alone designed whole fictitious worlds in novels that would mimic the successes and failures of their own.
This class completely changed my perspective on the science fiction genre. There is definitely more to it than just aliens and spaceships. Science fiction explores the depths of humanity, Utopian ideals, and a futuristic world. Those elements intertwined with Russian culture widened my understanding of the two topics. In class, I was exposed to a different side of Russia; one that not only reiterated the events that shaped history, but used science fiction to instill hope and aspiration in the Russian people. At first, novels that talked of utopias and perfected societies implanted false hopes in the minds of Russians. Those hopes vanished, once reality sank in. Novels began to address the reality of society and did not sugar coat the corruption within the Soviet Union.
Many students in class, including myself, engaged in discussions and analyzed how science fiction stories embodied the ideas of political leaders and the social commentary of the time in the fictional characters’ ambitions, surroundings, and overall story narrative. I found myself participating every day and was always so excited to talk and share my views on concepts, like conformity and Russian submission to the social norm. By the time I left class each day, I had plenty of ideas and connections to explore further in my essays.
Professor Jose Alaniz teaches the subject with passion and enthusiasm. He is very open to student opinions and valued our discussions. He enhanced our interest by drawing critical connections between novels and the day to day life of Soviet culture. We analyzed Russia before the Russian Revolution of 1917, life in the Soviet Union, and the the collapse of the Tsarist regime. The professor enriched his explanations with video clips of various sci-fi movies and connected them to science fiction literature. Every form of entertainment tried to tap into the social lives of the Russian people.
Aleksei Gastev and the Metallization of the Revolutionary Body, one of the short stories we read and discussed in class, featured a unique concept that enriched the persona of Russians. Gastev penned a world where people exhibited machine-like qualities, much like what was then rampant in Soviet society. It is ironic to find people who once deemed the factory a source of unfairness and over production now embodying a “machine-like attitude.” Machines are supposed to be strong and flawless; they run endlessly and produce without error. Russians began to think like that of themselves, as strong and flawless in mindset and body. They began to mimic what they once hated; constantly working and striving to produce without error. I find the story to be a very interesting metaphor for the Russian mindset during that time period.
But not all social commentary was free to circulate. The regime was strict on what type of novels could be published. The class allowed us a glimpse into the consequences for an author who didn’t sit well with the oppressive regime. If anyone went against the order of any political figure, his literature was banned and the author sentenced to prison or exiled from the country. Authors either had to fall in line with the political ideology of the state or accept the dire consequences that came with criticizing the regime.
Yevgeny Zamyatin was one such author. He captured how the society had embraced its loss of individuality in his novel “We.” In it, people wore the same clothing, did everything at the same time, and lived in glass houses. The government in the novel controlled every aspect of a person’s life, just like Stalin controlled the Soviet Union. Stalin did not approve of Zamyatin’s novel and banned him from the country. He was one of many who suffered the repercussions of disobeying the Soviet Union.
After reading science fiction novels published before, during, and after the Soviet Union and discussing them in class, I can understand why people were so taken in by them. The books helped me picture myself living and struggling in those eras under the watchful eye of an oppressive regime. The search for a perfect society, that captured the hearts of so many, no longer felt like a distant concern.
So even though I still think aliens are cheesy, science fiction as a whole has definitely earned my attention!
If you’re interested in Russian SciFi, check out my course’s reading materials:
1. Roadside Picnic by the Strugatsky Brothers
2. We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
3. Ice Trilogy by Vladimir Sorokin
4. Andromeda: A Space-Age Tale by Ivan Yefremov
On Friday, April 12th at 12:01 am, my Facebook turned coral and gold. Profile pictures and cover photos were immediately transformed into campaign pictures of candidates and HuskiesNow and OneHusky symbols. In the blink of an eye, that friend from lecture class turned into a Husky emblem, and his or her cover photo was suddenly full of people perfectly dressed in business attire. Status updates proclaimed election bids, and cheesy “throughout my time here at the UW, I’ve learned an incredible amount blah blah blah… it’s my time to step forward and be the face of the student body, I am running…” proclamations occurred. What does this all even mean? The ASUW elections are in full swing! And the annual spring quarter “Social Media Takeover-” had begun in earnest.
The Associated Students of the University of Washington, also known as ASUW (an organization that lives and breathes off of abbreviations), is the undergraduate student government for the school. Every spring, elections are held to elect the President, Vice President, and six at-large members of the Board of Directors. Additionally, constitutional amendments and ballot measures are considered. Information pertaining to the elections and campaigning can be found here. Details about the current Board of Directors and insight on their positions can be found here. The ASUW is theoretically the representation of the student body and as such should be voted by us. So if you want to be heard by our administrators, our staff, state legislators, and want to see change, taking a stand and voting for the person who best represents you is the first vital step among many to get more involved in the process.
Since social media is the easiest way to reach a broad body of students, the candidates and their respective tickets are now dominating news feeds. From Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Youtube, and Instagram, the two tickets, HuskiesNow and OneHusky have been commanding the internet. The tickets have even gone as far as creating unique and original hashtags for Instagram and Twitter. To experience the social media takeover for yourself, check out the links to their social media sites: HuskiesNow and OneHusky.
Interestingly enough, the candidates’ educational backgrounds are as diverse as their social media platforms. HuskiesNow’s Vice Presidential candidate, Ada Waelder is a Political Science major in the College of Arts & Sciences . She’s running against Finance major, OneHusky’s Alex Fraser. The College of Arts and Science’s is also represented in the Presidential contest with OneHusky’s Daniel Nguyen majoring in English and HuskyNow’s, Michael Kutz, representing the Computer Science major. It’s nice to see College of Arts & Science’s majors/minors represented in many of the candidates on both sides of the election spectrum.
Traditionally the candidates go head to head on issues of policy and qualifications at public forums, held all over the UW campus.The first of these was hosted by the Young Democrats and College Republicans and it was my first introduction to the individual candidates, their positions, and their plans– I saw many student leaders in their element, as well as those who faltered and couldn’t handle the pressure. As a member of the Young Democrats and the Elections Administrative Committee (EAC), it was paramount that I attend this forum. Not only was I able to finally listen and watch the candidates myself to decide who to vote for, but I witnessed the beginnings of an ensuing candidate drama.
What’s an election without drama after all? Come on, it’s politics. Like rival armies, volunteers, students, and members from each political club sat divided in their colored T- shirts. A sea of malibu green, coral, and yellow segregated Gowen 301, the hall where the event was held. As a self-proclaimed people watcher, I not only kept a keen eye on the candidates, but the audience as well. Throughout the forum, members in the audience live tweeted and posted on Facebook, sharing their opinions and commentaries on the candidate’s and their answers. Eye rolling and creepily eerie smirks accompanied the clacking keyboards and catchy hashtags. Since then, more forums have been held and the last one was held this past Friday; again, there was plenty of live tweeting and Facebook posts during these events. The schedule of ASUW forums and events are seen here.
Social media isn’t just an option for campaigns to promote anymore; it is a necessity for their voices to be heard loud and clear. However, the cyber world is dog eat dog, a place where you can gain or lose voters in a blink of an eye. One wrong move by a candidate to the dirty skeletons in their closets can jeopardize their chances of winning the election. For me, the presence of the ASUW elections is felt with every mouse click and every smart phone tap.
Have your Facebook feeds also been bombarded with catchy (but incredibly cheesy) slogans and/or posed pictures of the candidates at various UW events? Have the colors, coral and gold, grown synonymous with their campaigns? Has a particular candidate or event this season impressed you? Share your experiences with the ASUW elections madness with us!
To find out more about ASUW Elections and browse opportunities to get involved, check out this the Election Administration Committee’s link here. This is an amazing chance to get involved and learn more about the ASUW.
Also, don’t forget to vote at this link on May 11-13! Check out this link to learn more about the candidates and ballot measures before casting your vote. Be an informed husky!
Trey McIntyre Project connects with UW students
Trey McIntyre Project’s Ryan Redmond leaps into the air during “Queen of Goths” — one of the three pieces performed at the UW World Series concert on April 11. [Photo courtesy of treymcintyre.com.]
The student-exclusive after-party complete with heaps of candy, music and prizes—invited over 30 attendees to mingle with world-renown performers. Though the room buzzed with many an awed conversation, the dancers were quick to dismiss their celebrity status and bring the interactions down to earth.
RIGHT: UW students Mike Fujimoto (left) and Audrey Lam (right) pose with dancer Chanel DaSilva at the TMP after-party.
LEFT: Chanel Silva poses with sophomore Zoe Masnik-Greene.
“I think it’s hard for people to actually approach dancers, because they feel a little intimidated,” said TMP dancer Travis Walker. “But we like to get to know the audience that we’re serving. We’re not these untouchable things to be up there [on stage] and look pretty. We’re people doing higher art, but we’re still people, and we want to relate to the people sitting in the seats.”
No one celebrated that sentiment as much as the dance company’s newest addition—Julliard’s Ryan Redmond—who concluded the night with an impromptu Beyoncé battle with sophomore and UW Dance Major Randy Ford. [You can watch the dance-off below.]
“I have never seen such a thing,” exclaimed Zoe Masnik-Greene, another sophomore in attendance. Though she’d frequented many World Series shows before tonight, she’d never seen such a candid gathering between the spectators and the pros. “It is so cool. I hope we can do more of this in the future—really be able to mingle with the dancers. It’s really necessary [for] students at the University of Washington to be engaged and learn about the arts.”
TMP’s uncharacteristic approach to community engagement is precisely what sets it apart from other dance companies. Founded five years ago by dancer and choreographer Trey McIntyre, TMP’s home base is Boise, ID—hardly the cultural powerhouse one would expect a contemporary, non-profit company to settle in. But thanks to McIntyre’s unusual location choice, TMP has become the guiding light for Boise’s burgeoning arts scene.
“Trey fell in love with Boise,” recalled dancer Brett Perry during a post-show Q&A session. “He felt he could make a difference in the community. It’s not saturated. People there are so hungry for art and music and dance.”
LEFT: TMP dancer Travis Walker autographs the dance company’s posters for the students to take home.
RIGHT: TMP dancer Ryan Redmond (left) and UW Dance major Randy Ford break out their moves for a Beyonce song.
For McIntyre, setting up shop meant much more than renting a roof. His vision was to fully integrate the company into the lifeblood of the city. Today, TMP’s dancers are sponsored by Idahoan businesses, their shows performed at local schools and hospitals, and their repertoire inspired by the ancestry of the local population. [Thursday’s performance included Arrantza – a piece commissioned and informed by Boise’s substantial Basque community.] In turn, TMP dancers are bona fide local celebrities and often receive free haircuts and massages as tokens of appreciation from the Idahoan citizenry.
“We take great pride in Boise and they take great pride in us,” Perry summed up.
When TMP tours, their credo of audience interconnectivity travels with them. So while the student/performer after-party was unprecedented for UW, it’s an established and well-loved practice for McIntyre’s talented crew.
“As an artist, it really means a lot to me to know how much I’ve touched at least one person in the audience,” said veteran dancer Chanel DaSilva of her interactions with the students. “That’s [part of] Trey’s idea—that dance shouldn’t just be this elite art form that no one else can be a part of. He wanted his arts organization to be transparent. If you’re a part of TMP, you’re a part of our family.”
![Trey McIntyre Project's Elizabeth Keller dances the part of Queen Tamora in "Queen of Goths." [Photo courtesy of treymcintyre.com.]](http://uwartsci.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/qotg4_1.png)
Trey McIntyre Project’s Elizabeth Keller dances the part of Queen Tamora in “Queen of Goths.” [Photo courtesy of treymcintyre.com.]
Compagnie Marie Chouinard’s Rite of Spring performance was accompanied by live music from the UW Symphony Orchestra.
Richard Karpen is ready to collaborate. The School of Music director has been actively forging novel partnerships with outside organizations and creating new artistic opportunities for students, faculty and the city of Seattle in the process.
“Our job is to be the engine for music in the region, to educate and teach not only the musicians, but the audiences of the future,” he said. “There’s a collaborative spirit right now between the School of Music, the World Series and the Seattle Symphony, because of an understanding that we can’t do these big things, unless we partner together.”
The fruits of that effort are evident in the star-studded repertoire of the UW Symphony Orchestra (UWSO)—the School of Music’s biggest instrumental group dedicated to classical music. In January, the student ensemble performed alongside the Marie Chouinard ballet company and last Thursday the UWSO took to the Meany stage with Seattle Symphony Music Director Ludovic Morlot.
The first partnership was born out of a conversation with UW World Series Director Michelle Witt. She and Karpen had sat down to discuss ways denizens of the music school could collaborate with the artists the Series brought to campus.
Compagnie Marie Chouinard was the answer. The Montreal-based ballet company, famed for its innovative choreography, was to perform Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring at Meany Hall in January. Witt and Karpen suggested the Compagnie substitute their usual pre-recorded CD music with a live pit performance from the UWSO. The dancers embraced the idea wholeheartedly.
Jonathan Pasternack, who directs the UWSO and conducted the pit performance, thought the World Series collaboration, albeit the first of its kind, was a natural fit.
“A lot of Marie Chouinard’s choreography incorporates improvisation and yet when you’re working with canned music, the music can’t improvise along with the dancers,” he explained. “That’s actually something they were able to do working with us. And I think some of the [dance] soloists were able to have more of their dream tempos.” (Check out a clip of the performance at the World Series site.)
Seattle Symphony’s Ludovic Morlot guest conducted the UW Symphony Orchestra at his Meany Hall concert debut on Feb. 28.
But the partnership’s biggest beneficiaries were the student musicians. The ensemble’s performance of the very challenging Stravinsky piece was as much a benchmark of orchestral proficiency, as it was a confidence boost.
“They were all very happy,” Pasternack said. “I saw a lot of beaming orchestra musicians throughout this experience.”
Energized by the event’s success, Karpen and Witt see the School of Music and World Series collaborating more in the future.
“Just being with other great artists and watching them work and knowing that you’re contributing to their work, puts you into a different frame of mind as a young anything—young artist, young scholar, young scientist,” Karpen said. “That perspective is valuable.”
Seattle Symphony’s Ludovic Morlot challenged the students’ abilities and comfort zones further at Thursday’s performance of Maurice Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2 — his concert debut appearance on the Meany stage as the music school’s affiliate professor.
In rehearsal, Morlot’s passion for the work is obvious. The famous French conductor directs with his facial expression as much as his hands. Paying minute attention to each problematic phrase, he teases out the right notes—pianissimo!—from the students with metaphoric imagery, amicable jokes and animated gestures.
“Morlot focuses more on the emotional shape and subtleties of the music,” said Allion Salvador, a junior and violinist, who performed at the concert. “He holds the orchestra to a high standard of technical proficiency, [which allows] him to be free to focus on making the music come out and speak.”
But while the Maestro didn’t hesitate to rework a piece until it gives him goose-bumps, his most common remark was a call for courage.
“The great thing about you being so young is that you can do anything. The only thing I can help you with is having the courage to do it,” he urged the players. “Don’t be embarrassed by being more expressive. The minute you have the courage, it’s going to be incredible.”
Though Morlot’s rehearsals with UWSO were few, he felt the impact on the students was lasting.
“I can sense that they’re going home with some things to think about,” he said. “In some ways that’s already a big achievement and a big growth pattern.”
The program also included the showcase pieces of three student soloists–all winners of the school’s annual Concerto Competition–and an ensemble performance of Olivier Messiaen’s Un Sourire, directed by Pasternack. The conductors were confident that the repertoire’s arrangement would be a crowd-pleaser.
“The students are getting experience doing things that are world class right here on campus,” Karpen concluded. “They’re struggling to become professionals. It’s beautiful. We want people to see the actual learning process live.”
Ludovic Morlot, the School of Music’s newly appointed affiliate professor, coaxes emotional notes out of the UW Symphony Orchestra at a rehearsal.
Becoming an English Major
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Although I am a freshman, I immediately knew that I wanted to study English. I was always fascinated with how effortlessly words could paint elaborate mental pictures and expand my imagination. Now I will have the chance to enhance my creative writing ability and read novels that have dramatically impacted society. I want to use fictional stories and devices to bring forth greater societal awareness on issues. My ultimate goal is to become a novelist and deepen the minds of my readers, while providing new sights and perspectives.
I am currently writing a short story for my creative writing class that incorporates religion and science fiction elements. By practicing short story writing, I have the opportunity to put my writing skills to use, and vividly describe characters, scenery, and make my thoughts come to life on paper.
This is a scene from my short story:
*************
“Light illuminates the darkness. It purifies the land and provides a remedy for madness. It cures men of their sickness. It washes down their pride and prevails. Light, my friends, is our ally and darkness our enemy.”
Lessons From A Hollywood Whirlwind
Photo courtesy of J. Griffin Stewart at Flickr Creative Commons.
Never underestimate the power of 48 hours.
Earlier this month, eight Communication undergraduates boarded a plane to Los Angeles, clad in business attire and jittery excitement. They knew the basics. There would be meetings with illustrious UW alumni. There would be questions, dinners and networking opportunities. And Chair David Domke would shepherd the adventure.
They wouldn’t know what hit them. For the next 48 hours, Hollywood would be pried open, spilling its secrets and wisdom, and filling the young hopefuls with more inspiration than their minds could hold.
Thus began the Communication Department’s first L.A. Expedition.
The selected undergraduates pose for a photo before take-off. Top row, from left: Garrett Nelson, Treyci Kay, Michael Lopez, Sean Fraser. Bottom row, from left: Christy Choi, Ilona Idlis, Shanoa Pinkham, Natalie Huyen.
When I first heard of the pilot program—framed as way to prepare students for Hollywood careers by getting them acquainted with the alumni who live there—I approached it with a journalistic curiosity. I wanted to know what goes on behind the scenes of our country’s cultural mouthpiece. I figured knowing how Hollywood builds its fairytale narratives would help me unpack their messaging and be a better journalist. I ended up with so much more—professionally and personally.
Insider knowledge would indeed be abundant; we navigated spaces and conversations usually inaccessible to the general public. But all that information didn’t just make me a wiser critic. Instead the trip fostered a huge respect for the gargantuan amount of work that these fairytales demand and even more for the passionately creative people who craft them.
Whether it was an episode of Hell’s Kitchen, Curious George or a Comedy Central digital short, the journey of a concept to a screen is rife with challenges, endless tasks and a lot of creative problem solving. Just learning the tricks of the trade was exhausting, so feel to skip about the anecdotes depending on what interests you:
Producing the Heat of Hell’s Kitchen
The group poses with Lindsey Marcus and Carley Simpson (center) while Chef Gordon Ramsey looms in the background.
After a tour of Hell’s Kitchen Production Studios with alumna Carley Simpson (‘05) and Lindsey Marcus {’10), it became clear that a producer’s work is never done and there’s nothing easy about putting together a “cheap reality show.” For this series, multiple teams of four producers are responsible for crafting an episode’s plot, arranging resources and tasks lists for every single department, directing on set and then splicing the show together with a cohesive season theme in months of post-production.
Though Simpson and Marcus have a hand in every stage of the process, the most grueling days are spent on set. The actual live competition is filmed in a mere month, so producers will be at the soundstage from 5 am to 2 am, overseeing everything from hanging the right lights in the morning to the contestants’ last words before they hit the sack.
Don’t get me wrong. The show isn’t scripted—the drama of the rivaling chefs comes about naturally under the fiery reign of Gordon Ramsey (who Simpson says is just as intense off-screen, but totally a nice guy to grab a beer with). But documenting the struggles and squabbles of dozens of contestants requires an intense digital omnipresence. It requires the control center.
Picture this. From the moment the contestants awake, Simpson, Marcus and two other producers observe their every move from a room with 80 screens—one for each camera on set. Usually, “only” 17 are running, but in case that wasn’t sensory overload enough, the producers are plugged into three audio feeds each, listening for burgeoning conflict. When Simpson anticipates a confrontation, she signals the cameramen to get in the best position possible to capture the moment and tunes in.
After a big blow out or an eventful announcement, the producers must grab the contestants’ most visceral reactions. The trick to that is an “Ice Out.” The episode progression is frozen and the chefs are not allowed to speak to one another. They are sequestered into individual interview booths and one by one, the producers interview them to get the juiciest commentary on the previous scene.
When filming is done, it’s those interview bits that color almost every reality show’s narrative. The producers build a 50 minute show from hours and hours of footage. But the guiding light is always the story—and the story is very hard work.
Animation or the Long Road to Eleven Minutes
The group poses with alumna Ellen Cockrill at Curious George Production Studios.
Ellen Cockrill’s (’80) process is a little different. As Senior Vice President of Animation at Universal Studios, Cockrill oversees the production of the beloved Curious George cartoon series. While animation doesn’t require 80 cameras and a control center, the work is arduous in a different way—mainly the 11,854 drawn frames necessary for an 11 minute episode. After the concept, story and voice-over work are done under Cockrill’s prevue, the detailed storyboards are sent to be animated overseas. Three months later, the episode is sent back, ready for further revision.
Finding Funny and the Pitfalls of Measuring Laughter
The students met with Comedy Central’s top digital executives, from left: Brad Winters, Allison Kingsley, Jon Slusser, alumnus and EVP Erik Flannigan and Jason Jordan.
After a lunch with the upper echelon of digital innovators at Comedy Central, Spike and TV Land, the group became privy to a whole different struggle in broadcast media—keeping that toiled over show on air. Accompanied by his Viacom team, Executive Vice President of Multiplatform Strategy and Development Erik Flannigan (’90) was quite frank—selling a TV show to advertisers is an antiquated transaction and Nielsen ratings are the industry’s biggest frustration.
The clandestine organization has been the middleman operative to a show’s success for decades. It measures viewership by a “People Meter”—a device that registers the channel being watched—placed in 20,000 secret homes across the country. From this sampling of 0.02 percent of the population, Nielsen tells advertisers what shows America is watching and they buy commercial slots accordingly. That ad money keeps the shows running. But if Nielsen says no one is watching, you can kiss your favorite series goodbye.
Flannigan insisted that Nielsen’s methods don’t capture accurate viewership, since they don’t measure online viewing and gauge only a limited number of DVR screenings. The unaccounted for views often prove to be the death knell for quality TV shows. That’s why Flannigan’s task is building the Comedy Central brand in the digital sphere. He was the man responsible for putting full episodes of the Daily Show and Colbert Report on easily accessible web services like Hulu and ComedyCentral.com. Now he’s overseeing the founding of CC Studios—a production studio within Viacom that will incubate internet-only series.
“We can’t keep protecting the linear TV business,” Flannigan said, but the shift requires careful maneuvers. “What’s best for digital audiences is not always best for the company.”
Life Lessons
Our wanderings around production studios, Viacom boardrooms and the sets of How I Met Your Mother and Modern Family at the FOX lot were memorable, privileged moments. Experiencing the lived realities of Hollywood’s success stories informed and inspired new career paths. But for me, the most valuable part of the journey was the honesty, kindness and encouragement every alumna and alumnus offered our rag tag team. Their personal struggles proved to be the trip’s biggest teaching moments. Pete Chiarelli’s (The Proposal) successful career switch from producer to screenwriter alleviated my fears of a job choice’s finality. Ken Baldwin’s (Season on the Edge) raw enthusiasm and dedication to each new project—whether it’s salsa dancing or a fishing show—told me that anything is possible with the right attitude and unwavering commitment.
With each visit, our notions of Hollywood were tweaked, our understanding of success altered. But certain ideas resonated over and over. Alumni with no present connections apart from their alma mater would echo each other, reaffirming the truth of their advice. Their guide to success has relevance far beyond Hollywood, and so I share it with you here:
1. Surround yourself with good people. There’s plenty of negativity in Hollywood. Schadenfreude—pleasure derived from the misfortune of others—is abundant. But you won’t get far reveling in negativity.
“Surround yourself with aggressively creative people,” Jerry Collins, the president of Arnett/Bateman’s dumbdumb company, advised us. They’ll encourage you to try things, to keep going even when the going gets tough.
Ellen Cockrill assured us of the same: “There’s always room for good people at the top.”
The crew throws their “Dubs” up in a moment of Husky Pride with Jerry Collins of dumbdumb.
2. Have confidence in what you bring to the table. Both Jerry Collins and Pete Chiarelli spoke on this point extensively. Rejection is inescapable and everyone will be a critic, but you can’t let that defeat your effort and talent.
“Give yourself permission to fail,” said Chiarelli. Then get up again, because no one can offer what you can.
“The more you change to be here, the less in touch you’ll be with your voice,” Collins warned. “Bet on yourself.”
Screenwriter Pete Chiarelli (center) poses with the group after a long heart-to-heart.
3. Make a choice and then commit to it. Pick something that interests you and then pursue it with all the passion you can muster. Don’t fret—it won’t be the last choice you ever make. If in two years, you don’t like where you are, you can seek another career. But now your acquired skills and hard-working reputation will transfer with you.
“Don’t worry about the position and salary of your first job,” Viacom’s executives advised on picking the right career path. “Just get in with a great company and inherit their business culture. Take the mail-room job to be with a great company.” Because from there, the only way to go is up.
These life lessons will stick with me much longer than the fleeting thrill of Hollywood’s glamour. I am incredibly grateful to the L.A. Expedition for giving me 48 hours to seize them and I hope they can help you, too.
All smiles after a dinner with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists: David Horsey, Evelyn Iritani and Carol J. Williams.
The Perks of Being a UW Student
There are many advantages to being a UW student. One, of course, is being able to call yourself a Husky for the rest of your life. But there are other great perks to being a student here at our wonderful university.
1. Bus passes!
Living in a bustling metropolis such as Seattle, the most efficient form of transportation is definitely the public transit. Added into our tuition, we have access to everything the bus system has to offer. Adventures in Downtown, the International District, Capitol Hill, and more are available at the swipe of your husky card. To truly be a Seattleite, you must ride the bus and witness the interesting people-that later become fantastic stories to tell- that ride along with you.
photo credit: flickr user Seattle Municipal Archives
2. Free computer software (Windows 7 and latest Microsoft software!)
Thank you, Microsoft! Another perk of being a UW student is the free software you have access to. This year, Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2010 were available; during late night papers, I was so thankful to have Microsoft correct the misspelled words and grammar errors caffeinated me contrived up at 2 in the morning.
3. Free visit at the Hall Health Center!
Every quarter, the Hall Health Center allows for one free visit (exam, procedure, check-up, etc). As well, there are free (or at least significantly discounted condoms) at your reach!
4. Burke/ Henry Art Gallery
Having a membership to the amazing Burke Museum and Henry Art Gallery allows your artistic side to finally indulge in some great pieces/projects the museum and gallery have to offer!
5. Discounts galore!
Being a Husky provides abundant benefits, especially when shopping and eating out! There are a plentiful amount of shops and restaurants that provide discounts. Here are just a few of them! For my comparative politics class, I was required to get a New York Times subscription but thankfully with my student discount, the price of the subscription was 75% off the regular purchase!
6. Free T-shirts everywhere!
Throughout Dawg Daze and other events around campus, the UW was very generous with their giveaways, especially free T-shirts and other UW apparel!
7. Free cable and internet!
As an on-campus student, I am able to access WiFi in all the UW buildings, as well as my own residential hall! Internet is essential for research papers, the occasional (or lots of) Facebook creeping, and distraction from the stress that is college. Cable is available with networks like HBO, AMC, Showtime, Disney, and much more. As a hardcore Game of Thrones and The Newsroom fan, HBO, in my opinion, was a necessity.
8. Free friendships!!
This may be a cliche, but friendships and close bonds with other students are not only free, but worthwhile. Already I have met amazing and incredible people who long lasting relationships with. College is the opportune time to meet great people and network for the future.
9. What are you favorite free things that the University has to offer?
