Web Memoir

Academic

For the Academic category of my Campus Events UNIV100 assignment, I attended an Organic Biology lecture. The teacher for the lecture was Professor Higgins—a very laid back, comical man who seemed inclined to incorporate a certain amount of entertainment into the class and the subject. I really enjoyed the Higgins’s Man of the Week slide show he put together which was basically a few pictures of men relaxing while their wives/girlfriends are hard at work. Overall, I think that Higgins is a great teacher in that he held my attention and managed to have the students laughing at various points during the lecture. As for the class itself, the first subject of the lecture was photosynthesis. I had encountered the topic before in my high school biology class and thought I knew a decent amount. I was wrong. The topic went more in depth then I could have ever imagined. I found myself staring blankly at the screen trying to comprehend all the terms and processes. I guess this just goes to show that college is definitely a step up from high school. After Higgins ended the section on photosynthesis, he moved on to briefly outlining the next section: multi-cellular organisms. At the end of class, Higgins was more than happy to sign my activity-verification sheet and mentioned that he was familiar with both Dr. Holtz and Dr. Merck. In fact, referring to ELT, he called them Earth, Wind, and Fire Holtz and Merck.

Self-Improvement

For the Self-Improvement category of my Campus Events UNIV100 assignment, I played for Terps Club Lacrosse. I have played lacrosse all my life: for my local Boys and Girls club during grade school and for the freshman, JV, and Varsity teams at my high school. I decided to play for Maryland because I loved the sport too much and could not give it up after high school, plus it serves as a great way to keep me in shape. The fall season was very fun and relaxed—the team traveled to a number of different tournaments—and I look forward to playing during the spring semester.

Me playing lax.

Citizenship

For the Citizenship category of my Campus Events UNIV100 assignment, I registered to vote. This was a no-brainer for me, as I believe everyone should register to vote when they are old enough. I am a registered Independent—I do not like to choose sides. Not too much to say here.

Diversity

For the Diversity category of my Campus Events UNIV100 assignment, I went to the North American Indian Cello Project at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. The project, featuring Dawn Avery on the cello and vocals, was a concert of classical Native American pieces. The music brought together many important aspects of the American Indian culture such as nature, conflict, reparation, and heart. Also, it was easy to notice that the project incorporated a number of different Western songs like the National Anthem—although sometimes they were incorporated in a bad light. Altogether I thought that the project was unique, vivid, and emotional. Even if the taste in music wasn’t for you, the beautiful singing of Native American chants was enough to keep your attention. I thought Dawn Avery was an exceptional player and singer, and her pianist accompaniment was especially enthusiastic, but nonetheless excellent.