Senior Year

It has been a whirlwind for me these past few weeks. Last Monday I finally took the GRE and did pretty well. It’s nice to know that I could see my verbal and math score before I actually receive the official results. I just have to wait about one more week until I see my score for the writing portion. I’ve been working a lot on making sure that my applications for Graduate school are completed. Thanksgiving is coming up soon and I’m super excited. Last year, because Thanksgiving was so close to finals, I stayed in California instead of going home to Texas. One of my roommates stayed in Orange as well and we made our own Thanksgiving dinner. We mainly watched Law and Order: SUV during the days that we were home. I am excited to go home this year though. Although I had a great time last year, it’s not the same as having Mom and Grandma’s cooking. I’m getting ready to register for my final semester at Chapman as well. My time here is coming to a close and some days are stressful, while others are not. I should have a light load of classes to take, which will be nice for once. This year has been good so far and seems to be getting better and better.
Chelsey

A Tuesday in the life of Brian...

Hello Chappening Readers!!!My name is Brian and currently I’m a senior theatre major. For many of you reading this, senior year might seem like a century or so away. However, I can attest to the preaching of your elders that college does, indeed, fly by. So rather than give you an idea of what an average day is like in the life of a freshman, I thought for my blog entry I would give you an idea of what an average day is like in the life of a college senior! So here goes… a Tuesday in the life of Brian…

8:00am: I greet the world (and my cell phone’s shrill alarm) so I can usually work on some type of homework- today it was finishing a paper on the idea of the “Eskimo” in American pop culture (which, while a dry sounding subject was actually an interesting topic).

10:00am: I saved a couple of the more fun, interesting general education requirements for senior year. So from 10:00-11:15 I have Dr. Takaragawa for a class called Visual Culture. Basically, the class is built around the idea of how images that we see every day construct for us an idea of how others live their lives and how their culture is different from ours. What’s great for about it is that it’s the topic I plan on pursuing in graduate school, so everyday I get more and more excited for studying this kind of work on a full-time basis. We discussed a popular topic today- Disney characters and the idea of “archetypes”. Nothing like a debate on Disney princess to get a group of Chapman student riled up.

11:30am: Lunch with friends in Argyros Forum. I love a good conversation over a chicken sandwich from Sky Ranch Grill.

12:00pm: I begin working in the Office of Admission. Something great about my schedule this semester is that because I have less classes to complete, I can spend more time taking classes I want to take for fun or having a part-time job, like my Admissions Fellow position on-campus. As a fellow, I interview prospective students and answer any of their specific questions about the application process or campus life from a peer-to-peer perspective. I’ve had many interesting jobs, from professional caroler during the holiday season to being a Jungle Cruise skipper at Disneyland, but this has been by far my favorite part-time job.

4:00pm: After an invigorating afternoon with prospective students, I race to the Entertainment Technology Center off-campus (near the film school), where I spend the next two hours being the teacher’s assistant to Professor Tamiko Washington in her Voice Production and Technique class. As a senior theatre major, I get to impart my wisdom to other students, as well as TA my favorite class I’ve ever taken, and hang out with the woman who has become for me a trusted advisor, professor, and friend. I call her my second mother at this point. She is crazy an brilliant, and I love every moment I get to spend in her class.

6:00pm: I run home, get dressed, grab a bite to eat, and maybe chat with my three roommates for a few seconds. I love living in the on-campus apartments because of the amount of convenience I have gained by being able to walk home. If you think your junior or senior years will be busy and full of on-campus activity, I really recommend living on campus. It will make your life a whole lot easier.

6:45pm: My first rehearsal of the night begins, this one being for American Celebration a huge song-and-dance spectacular put on by the College of Performing Arts every year. I’ve been in it since my freshman year, and this year have been designated as one of the two leads. AmCel (As we all call it) is a great opportunity to connect to a wide variety of students from all different types of disciplines.

9:30pm: Second rehearsal of the night, this time though, it’s just me alone, held up in the Moulton Center, working through a monologue for my Business of Acting class. The class, which is the most challenging I have this semester, readies BFA candidates (like myself) to be ready for the challenges of becoming a professional actor (which basically means it’s the class that makes you put your big kid pants on and prepare to graduate). If you run by moulton tonight, you’ll probably see me working through some Shakespeare well into the wee hours of the morning.

2:00am: After a quick chat with the roommates about their days, it’s bed-time. Another wonderful day in the life of a Chapman senior.

Chapman feels like Home

There are instances when I am reminded how much I love Chapman. Last week, the school hosted a pasta party in the Attallah Piazza. It was a completely Italian themed night, complete with President Doti donning a t-shirt with the Italian flag on it and some Italian words were shared. The piazza was full of red and white checkered table clothes, the standard for any Italian restaurant. Then, a buffet line of three kinds of pasta, salad, bread, and desserts was set out. And we just ate. Hundreds of people, mostly students after the free meal, but some staff and faculty too simply sat in the piazza and ate together. It seems that this is not too exciting, not a lavish affair, but the fact that we were just invited to spend dinner with our peers made me happy. A very large, extended, family dinner was what I experienced and it made me feel like I was home, and Chapman has a nice way of doing that.

On a completely different note, I have had some great interactions with professors lately that prove to me that the whole concept of personalized education does matter. Of course it takes a commitment from the professor and the student to make it work, but when it does, it can be fantastic. I continuously run into a marketing professor I had last spring and never do we talk about school, grades, or work. We talk about how obnoxious I look with my guitar slung over my back or how silly I look walking backward while giving tours. I have another professor that I do some intern work with, but I have never had in class. He has volunteered to help me figure out what I want to do with my life and then help me get there. They work to get to know students as people and create worthwhile relationships. They go beyond advice on grades or how to pass a class, and understand there is more that we as students are doing and take that upon themselves as well. So when you see a professor around campus, he or she is not just a teacher, but perhaps a colleague or a mentor or a positive adult figure. It gives our campus a community feeling, a feeling like home.

-Leah

Warlocks and Witches Ball Tonight!

Warlocks and Witches Ball Tonight!

Each year Chapman AdClub and PRSSA join together to put on the annual Warlocks and Witches Ball. This year our theme is Cirque Dement. We have been slaving away working on it and its going to be great once its complete! Currently we are working on transforming the sound stages in the film school to become a circus themed dance club.

Yesterday, in addition to attending classes and all that jazz I spent most of my time working on this event. As a public relations and advertising major, I am very involved with these clubs and therefore have the opportunity to participate in planning and executing it. Yesterday that meant sitting in front of Argyros Forum selling tickets, running around Orange picking up cob webs and flame retardant, and then spending my entire night in the film school setting up decorations. So much work - but the pay off is worth it in the end. One thing that I have learned here at Chapman is a true way to measure success is how hard you work on something. The more you put into an activity, the more you get out!

Tonight will be round two in the sound stages work session. This is the last night before our Halloween party! We will be working on setting up a huge chandelier that we created by hand, putting together props, hanging spider webs, lighting, stages, tenting, and much much more.

At the party we will be having Chapman Radio DJ, a burlesque dance troop called Vixen Kabbaret, Red Bull sponsorship, and much more! It is bound to be the best event on campus this year. I am sure all of our hard work will pay off, but currently my week is a crazy blur of classes, meetings, work, internship and WARLOCKS AND WITCHES :)

Amy
A very sleep-deprived Chapman Student

APPLY TO CHAPMAN!

First, I must commend you for applying to Chapman University. As a junior Film Production major I can honestly say I am SO THANKFUL I chose Chapman. From academics so social life, I have made Chapman my home. The opportunities and personalized education offered are unparalleled.
Second, I want to make sure your application process is simple and all forms are properly completed. The video below is an overall view of the admission process. For deadlines, application information and Admission Counselors, the Office of Admission is your key to success. To set up a campus tour, attend an information session or meet with a Counselor, Contact the Office of Admission (714) 997-6711.

Varsity Volleyball

My name is Kela. I am a junior here at Chapman, studying International Business and Spanish. I am from Denver, Colorado and have a HUGE passion for sports. I especially love volleyball. I am currently on the Chapman Varsity Volleyball team. I have played for Chapman for all three years that I've been here. It has been such a great experience. Coming from out of state, I didn't really know anyone else at Chapman. Volleyball season is in the fall. It actually started during Freshman Orientation Week. It was an amazing way to meet new people and it gave me some structure during my transition from home to college. It is a huge time commitment, but I have gotten so much out of it. We practice three hours a day with games during the week and tournaments on the weekends. However, our season is super short and it goes by so fast. We start at the end of August and are finished by the second week in November. As hard as it is once it is over I always wish I was still in season. The girls on the team are amazing. We have team dinners, team gifts, and crazy bonding team nights. One of the best parts about being on the team is that we get to travel together for tournaments too. My freshman year we went to San Antonio, Texas for a tournament at Trinity University. Luckily we have a devoted amount of family fans, who travel everywhere the team goes, so usually we have a bigger fan base than the home team. San Antonio was a blast. We got to go sight seeing, walk down the River Walk and went to see the Alamo. My sophomore year we took a bus up to San Jose, CA. Road trip with the teammates make for the best stories and inside jokes. I mean after spending almost 3 hours everyday with these girls, we really get to know each other really well. This past weekend was this year's big tournament. It was in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Lucky for me that I am from Colorado so my whole family was able to come and watch me play. My aunt who live is the springs hosted a team dinner for all of our devoted fans and the team. We had such a great time hanging out with all the families and the teammates. We ended up taking 2nd place in this tournament. Which was a great success because Colorado College is nationally ranked and we took 2nd after them. This will hopefully give us a better chance at getting to play-offs this year.

The team is great. I absolutely love the girls. Not only are they my teammates, but they are my friends and family. We all support each other and realize how hard it is to play a sport and go to school. It is nice knowing that we aren't alone. Chapman does a great job at recognizing the Student-Athlete. So being able to balance social life, athletics, and academics makes life great when you make life-long friendships along the way!
-Kela

Air Bands

Hello! My name is Taylor and I am a junior at Chapman studying Business marketing. The past few years, my main involvement here has been with my sorority. Greek life has given me the opportunity to meet new people, take on leadership positions, and give back through community service and philanthropic events.

Last week, my sorority hosted our annual philanthropic event called Airbands. Basically, Airbands is a big lip-sync competition in which anyone on campus can compete and all of the proceeds from the admission sales and raffle tickets go to our local charity, Camp del Corazon. This night is pure craziness, excitement and emotion. Greek and non-Greek students, alumni, parents and faculty of Chapman all cram into our auditorium to watch and cheer on their favorite acts. I could not believe the overwhelming amount of support we received for this event. Not only was the show a sellout, the dedication, time and effort the groups put into their acts blew me away. There intricate routines to themes like Mulan, Legally Blonde the Musical, and Peter Pan – all complete with costumes, props and complicated choreography. This is always such a great way to bring the entire Chapman community together, and nights like that make me love this school even more!

-Taylor