Student Blogger: Daniel Hood

A Week Full of Music

2010-04-18T09:32:11-04:00

This week my life is full of music!

Yesterday, I had the privilege of hearing two of the Senior Music Major recitals. Christy Hopkins, a voice major, and a Friend of mine, did something really cool. She traced this one piece of music written by Hans Leo Hassler in 1601 all the way up to the present. Bach had a go at the tune and Mendelssohn and even Brahms! But the most interesting one for me was that this tune showed up in Paul Simon's song "American Tune." It was a beautiful recital and an amazing mix of Christy singing and wonderful recordings. I was so glad that I went.

The other recital I went to was Jesse Freedman's. Jesse is a double major in Music and Philosophy with a musical focus on classical guitar. I know him from choir where he has a lovely tenor voice. In his recital, though, he was just playing the guitar. He opened with Allie Faulkner, a voice major, singing along while he played the guitar. They did four Hispanic pieces that Allie blew out of the water and Jesse did amazing at. After that piece Jesse's music stand was taken away and he did the rest of his recital FROM MEMORY! He played a 7 movement "Suite for Lute" by Bach, from memory. He played 3 etudes by Heitor Villa-Lobos, from memory. And several other pieces. It was amazing. It was not just that all of the pieces were from memory, but that they were perfectly executed. Every note appeared to be right, to my untrained ear, but even those who are musically trained were blown away by Jesse's recital. I was so glad I went.

The rest of the week, though, is musically about me.

On Wednesday the 21st around 5:30 the Oom-Pah Band (Quakerhosen AKA Jeff Jeske and the Dave Parade) will be playing for the German Club's Aprilfest down by the lake. We are a group that gets together every year to play some polka, some waltzes and generally have a grand old time while people eat from Bratwursts and Pretzels. It's awesome and a huge amount of fun.

On Friday the 23rd at 6:30 the Jazz Ensemble (Big Band AKA The Drew Hayes Experience (he hasn't signed off on that band name yet...)) will be playing our end of semester concert in the Choir Room. We're playing a couple of great standards as well as some cool non-traditional tunes. We're playing an arrangement of Miles Davis' "All Blues" that Drew wrote and a Count Basie-like that Drew came up with. It's going to be a lot of fun and shouldn't last more than an hour. Come on out!

On Sunday the 25th at 7:30 the Guilford College Choir (dir. Wendy Looker) will be having our end of semester concert in Dana Auditorium. Our practice performance at New Garden Friends Meeting went well and I have high hopes for the concert. It should be good. Ryan Furlough has a solo, which is always spectacular. We're doing a repertoire that is almost solely love songs but from all around the world. It's a lot of fun. I like singing in foreign languages.

That's what my week looks like. Oh yeah, on top of all that i have to write two research papers by Friday and continue to work on my research paper for HIST 300, my research seminar. The glories of college life. I love it.

P.S. The picture here is one of my Senior portraits from high school. I chose it because it's a great picture of me holding my Euphonium. The best brass instrument in the world. :-D

Nearing the End

2010-04-08T00:08:50-04:00

"The goal of any martial art, Karate, Aikido, anything...is not fighting, but discipline." -- Jackie Chan

There are many days that I feel that my time here at Guilford is more about discipline than about fighting. It has taken me a couple of years to figure that out. I spent much of my first few semesters at Guilford fighting myself, fighting my classes, fighting to find time to breathe, and it tired me out. I was constantly struggling with guilting myself into doing more, or just grappling with the amount of work I had set for myself. I have tried to make this year more about discipline. To that end, I have been more on top of my schedule, I have started to begin my long term projects sooner, and I have eked out time for myself without having a detrimental effect on my studies. I would not go so far as to say that I have become as disciplined as Jackie Chan, I doubt I ever will be, but I have become more disciplined.

The bad thing is, though, that the discipline that I have gained over this year and particularly this semester are not going to really do me any good this semester. My only hope is that I will not lose my discipline over the summer. It's beginning to look like I can't, though, thankfully. This summer I will be participating in what's called CADRE a program that Guilford puts on where you work for a Guilford department for 30 hrs a week (get paid for it) and you get to take two summer classes for free. After this summer I will be only one class shy of completing both of my majors. I'm going to be taking African American History and Comparative Politics, one from each major for good measure. As for the working, I'll be working 30 hours a week dividing my time between the Friends Historical Collection, the historical archive we have in the Library, and Tech Services in the Library, working particularly with acquisitions. I'll have a firsthand knowledge of all of the new books coming in over the summer, because I will be the one putting all of the barcodes on them. In the FHC I'll be getting to learn the inner workings of an historical archive which will be immensely beneficial when I'm applying to graduate schools for a PhD in history.

In all actuality, I will have about one maybe two weeks of break this summer. I'm mostly ok with that since I worked all of the last two summers. This summer at least I'll be working in A/C and not having to deal with angry customers, I count it as a win.

As a start to my brief career as an archivist, here's a facsimile of a threatening notice from "General Rock" written in March, 1822. If you want to know more about this either ask me or come to my HIST 300 Presentation next Thursday, April 15th at 7:25 in Founders Gallery. It's going to be epic. So here's the pic:

Meeting Reflection

2010-03-29T00:55:44-04:00

Dear Friends and Readers, what follows is a copy of my meeting reflection for my Quakerism class based on my experience last Sunday, the 21st of March, in bringing the prepared message at Spring Friends Meeting. For those of you who dislike the term "God" or have difficulty with spirituality, read no further. For those of you who are curious and want to know how Guilford has deepened my spiritual life to an exponential degree: read on.

It has taken me a whole week to try to grapple with what happened to me and through me last Sunday at Spring Friends Meeting. The week beforehand, I had given vocal ministry first at my own meeting of Friendship the Sunday before and at QLSP worship the Friday prior. In other words, going into last Sunday I had experienced God speaking through me twice before rather recently. I had been on the slate to bring the prepared message at Spring for over a month and had been preparing for my message for a couple of weeks. Yet, in all of that time, God—who saw fit to give me scripture and a direction—did not see fit to give me time to write my message out. I have never before given a prepared message without having it written out. Let me repeat, I have never before given a prepared message without having it written out, and I was so worried about how Sunday would go, I was unsettled and nervous. On Friday, after giving vocal ministry at QLSP, I called my mother and asked her for a chance to meet and talk about my message, and she invited me over for a cup of tea the next morning.

That Saturday I got up early and went over to my house, sometimes it is nice to have my parents so close. I sat down in the kitchen I have grown up in and I talked with my mother. I told her my scripture, the story of the Prodigal Son, and then I told her where I was going with it. As I spoke with her, the words just flowed off my tongue, she held the space, simply listened, and I experienced God speaking through me. It was a powerful moment. Many of the words came to me during that session, but my message still felt incomplete. Mama helped me come to terms with not having my message written out in nice neat typed lines of prose, but she did something even better. Mama helped me become more all right with not having an ending to my message. What I had really come to her that day for was a conclusion, a nice, pithy, ending that would wrap everything up in a nice little bow. I wanted it all to make sense to me, but God does not always work that way. As my ministry the First Day before had said: “God is not in the Certainty business, God is in the Faith business.” I needed to hear that message, my own, more than I could have ever imagined. Mama affirmed the fact that I did not have an ending, and she made me aware that that too might be all right. Therefore, I went to bed that night with faith that God would give me the words I needed, and the hope that I would be able to hear them and deliver them, as God would have me deliver them.

Sunday dawned bright and sunny. I had invited people to come with me, including the QLSP community and my father, but in the end only my close friend, Lars, his girlfriend and Anne Rappe, a fellow QLSPer, ending up being able to attend. Very shortly after getting in the car, I informed my three passengers of the challenge that God had laid on my heart. Lars, who I am very close with, immediately accepted my request for strengthening prayers, and then disregarded it in pursuit of a comedic campaign aimed at keeping my mind off my anxiety: it worked. Lars helped to calm my nerves and put a smile on my face that matched the gloriousness of the day we were blessed with. Lars’ girlfriend, Natasha, who I had never met before aided Lars in his campaign, and Anne tried, haltingly, to try to hold the space, I am somewhat glad she failed. Thanks to Lars and Natasha, I arrived at Spring in a condition of joyful peace. The ritual of drinking from the spring there only heightened my sense of calm and I was able to enter the worship space calm and collected.

The worship went much as such semi-programmed meetings do. There was an unprofessionally sung hymn or two accompanied by the reading of two poems, both about roses. There was a children’s message that connected the growth of plants to the growth of our spiritual selves. There was a time of joys, concerns and announcements, where several of each type were spoken. Then came my introduction, with the necessary comment about who my mother was and the fact that I had been born into Spring Meeting, which is true. I do consider Spring as my spiritual birthplace and going back there always feels like a homecoming. My introducer said, “Daniel whenever you’re ready….” I sat, collected my thoughts, gripped my bible, cleared my throat, stood up, and walked to the podium. The pulpit of my mother’s time there is gone, and I could not hide behind the podium. I stood there in full view of the congregation and of God and I began to speak. I retold the story of the Prodigal Son, picking and choosing from the scripture, which parts to read, and which to retell, and focused on the younger son’s reintegration into the community where he had been dead. I then related that part of the story to my own experiences coming back from abroad and trying to rejoin a community that had gone on without me. To go along with the theme of plants, I made the analogy of grafting on trees, how it is impossible to graft a limb back on where it was cut off due to the scar tissue left in the bark from its removal. I was going strong through my message, God’s words and mine melding in that beautiful way that can only come from a centered message. Then, in the middle of my flow, I realized that, as before, God had not given me the end of my message, but rather than freeze up I accepted the fact and told the congregation so. I said to them that I did not have the end of my message and that I hoped it would come out of the silence, and then I went and sat down in that waiting silence.

The next few moments were grueling. For all of my big talk, I was not entirely sure that my message had touched people deeply enough for messages to come out of the silence. I sat there, impatiently, letting my ego get in the way of God’s words. Eventually, I was able to let go a little and almost immediately, some spoke out of the silence. There ended up being three different messages out of the silence, largely concerning the benefits that could be gained from leaving and returning to a community, as well as the differences between those who do the leaving and those who remain. Each of the messages struck a chord in me and I knew that God had been working through that entire meeting. One of the people who gave messages said that it was good that my message was left unfinished because that is the way it is in life. Community is not stagnant, but a continuing process. I left Spring that day with my heart greatly lightened, safe in the knowledge that I had delivered the message I was supposed to. It helped that I received affirmations from Lars in particular on the ride back. He told me that had I written the message down on paper it would not have had nearly as much power. I only hope that I will remember this lesson in the future. God has worked through me, and I must make myself an instrument for God’s will in the future. God’s words are so much more powerful than my own could ever be.

Spring is in the Air!

2010-03-20T19:14:37-04:00

I'll bet you're wondering what the Cliffs of Moher have to do with Spring, particularly since I went to Ireland this past Fall. Well I'll tell you the truth, it doesn't have much at all to do with Spring except for the fact that when we went to the Cliffs of Moher (We meaning from left Kate, Bridget, me and Chelsea, Bridget is another Guilford student) it was one of the warmest days of our entire semester. It was clear and beautiful and you could see for forever it seemed. These last few days at Guilford have been just as beautiful.

We have had several days of weather in the 70s and bright sunny skies. I have seen flowers starting to bloom, trees budding and smiles on people's faces who have been frowning all winter. This is our reward for surviving the darkness. Yesterday, I had one of my classes outside and then in the afternoon my roommate, Nate, called me from the library and got me to throw the Frisbee with him out on the quad. Before you know it there were 6 of us standing outside of my class building and the library just tossing the Frisbee around and having a great time. It was so regenerative, to run, to jump, to throw, to catch, I loved every minute of it. Then I had to go to class. But the joy of spring has sprung forth on campus and is bubbling up and over our heads and filling us with exultation. Days like this make me understand why people worship nature. The vast difference between this winter and today shows the incredible variance that nature can produce, and the beauty. I spent a semester in Ireland, arguably one of the most beautiful places on earth, and yet coming home I have been able to appreciate the beauty of North Carolina even more. I got excited, upon my return, when I got red mud on my shoes, it was a great feeling.

This weekend is what's known as Serendipity, a weekend long festival at Guilford celebrating the coming of Spring and a change of pace from our classes. Almost all of the students at Guilford participate in some part of the weekend. I went to the Contra Dance today and it was SO much fun! I did, unfortunately, get a pretty bad blister on my left foot, but the dancing was worth it. The band who played for it included one of my friend's father, and they were great fun! "Good craic" as they say in Ireland. I'm probably going to some of the concerts tonight and not even thinking about all the homework I should be doing. That's the first rule of Serendipity: Don't think about your homework. I'm failing at it thus far, but I've got some time.

I hope that your week has been as beautiful as mine and that the days will get progressively more beautiful for all of us. And remember to do something that I fail at: take time out to breathe. That's the best advice you can take. Enjoy.

Birthday and Midterms

2010-03-03T23:04:45-05:00

"To name is to take a stand...every name is a symbol." -- Deborah Stone in Policy Paradox

So what, in that vein, what is the symbolism behind a 21st birthday? I turned 21 this past Monday, March the 1st. What does that mean? And I suppose the definition varies for every person that you ask. For me, here at Guilford, I received a card signed by almost the entirety of the Campus Life Staff, wishing me a happy birthday and including suggestions for "how to party/drink safely" and a guide to what my Blood Alcohol Content should be. It's nice to see that they care. I'm not, however, a person who has drunk alcohol flagrantly illegally while in school. I drank a little bit in Ireland last semester, but that was in a country where it was legal. So what does it mean to me to have turned 21 in College? Short answer: it's weird.

I've known some people who went kind of crazy and just drank to excess the entire week that they turned 21. I have another friend who is having a "virgin party" where there will only be "virgin" (non-alcoholic) beverages. I, on the other hand, am somewhere in between. I have had some alcohol, but not to excess. It's still, as mentioned earlier, weird. What doesn't help is that I turned 21 the week of midterms.

I will now leave off my examination of the oddity known as turning 21 at college to discuss midterms at Guilford. This semester I have three different types of midterm exams to do. For my Political Science class, I have a traditional in-class test combining multiple-choice and short answer questions. For my History of the Second World War class, I have a take-home exam where I have to write two 3-5 page papers on subjects that the professor has given me. For my History Research Seminar I have a 15 page draft of my final paper due. Other types of midterms include orals (particularly in the foreign languages) or a combination of in- and out-of-class test. This week is often make-or-break for some people in particular classes. For some professors the midterm is the only thing graded in the first half of the semester. For others the midterm is worth less than 10% of the grade for the class, it all depends.

Readers, I would like to apologize for the apparent randomness of this post. I would like to point out that this is the last week before spring break, in other words my brain is stuck in midterms and in break at the same time. a dangerous combination. It will all be well, though, I have faith.

I would like to include a picture of me presenting at GUS. Enjoy.

GUS? Who is GUS?

2010-02-27T09:39:56-05:00

Yesterday I dressed myself in a 3-piece suit. I put on the new tie and and dress shirt I got for Christmas. I looked spiffy, or so I was told. I had a set of cue cards in one jacket pocket and a flash drive in the other. Yesterday was GUS, the Guilford Undergraduate Symposium, in its third year, and I was presenting.

The Undergraduate Symposium, for those of you who don't know, is an opportunity for students at Guilford to present their research to the community at large. With topics ranging from visual programming languages to Russian peasant revolts the day was bound to be fascinating. For me, it started with a panel discussion for about a dozen admitted students. I was asked by Nancy Reimer, one of the admissions counselors, to sit on a panel discussing GUS and student academic achievements at Guilford. Since this year was my second one participating in GUS I was in a pretty good place to discuss the process and how it is a great experience, not to say that my fellow panelists were not. The questions started focusing primarily around GUS and how it worked, but quickly devolved or evolved into a conversation about Guilford, about classes, and campus life; i.e. the perennial questions of prospective students and their parents. According to Nancy we handled these questions with aplomb.

One of the questioners asked us, the student panelists, what set Guilford aside from other similar schools and, in complete unanimity, the four panelists all agreed that it was primarily the professors. Guilford is blessed with a dedicated and talented faculty. There is a culture on campus of communication and community between faculty and students and the professors that don't really feel comfortable with that often do not get tenure. This leaves us with professors who want to be at Guilford, they want to teach students as best they can, and they're not distracted (for the most part) by their own research like they might be at a larger R1 school. Professors here are devoted to student's learning and it's at GUS that you see the fruits of their labor. Sure, it is the student's research but without our faculty sponsors, our academic advisors, or our other professors, many of us would not have even been able to apply to be a part of GUS!

GUS is teaching students how to present research, how to present to a group of their peers and elders at all even! Last year when I did GUS they had to send out several emails urging more people to sign up. This year there was just an email reminder about when the proposals should be made by. Next year, I expect, people will sign up on their own. GUS is only in its third year, but I see its potential continuing for years to come. I hope to come back here in twenty years and hear more great research by undergraduates.

P.S. Everyone told me that my presentations went very well. Apparently I can command an audience, I look very comfortable in front of an audience, and I can deal well with distractions. All those years of theatre training are starting to pay off! Sweet.

Objective Reality and Walls

2010-02-21T22:18:35-05:00

"Objective reality does not change because you refuse to accept it. The fact that you refuse to acknowledge a wall does not change the fact that it's a wall. And you shouldn't have to hit it to find that out."-- Leonard Pitts, Jr.

For those of my readers who don't know, Leonard Pitts Jr. is a nationally-syndicated columnist who writes powerful and poignant pieces on the state of politics in the country, on race relations, and on culture. I find his insights profound and very touching in my life. This quote, in particular, really spoke to me when I read his most recent column "Facts No Longer Mean What They Once Did." I agree with him, in that I fear we, as a society, as a culture, have taken plausible deny-ability too far. It is also, however, applicable to my own life. The objective reality is that I have a lot of homework to do, that I have friends that I'm trying keep and maintain bonds with, and that balancing it all is exceedingly difficult. As I said, that's the "objective reality," the "wall" that Pitts talks about. I, like many college students I know, choice one of those parts of the reality to ignore in favor of the other. College is supposed to be about finding a balance between work and play, but instead can become a shoving match between the two.

In my first two years of college striking a balance was very easy. My classes were not too difficult and I could spend plenty of time with my friends without sacrificing my academics. Junior year is more difficult. It doesn't help that I went abroad last semester, but it also doesn't help that I'm taking 19 credits: that's my fault. My advice to incoming first years, if you can, avoid taking more than 18 credits in a semester, especially of upper-level courses. Some people thrive on that, but some people also do not have social lives. I think you should try and find a balance, just be aware that things will change from year to year. Classes will get harder and some friends will get more distant and require more of an effort to maintain. Just be prepared for change, like I wasn't, and you'll be fine.

For those of us who have trouble finding a balance, just remember that if you deny reality long enough it will turn into that wall. You will smack into it. And then you will have to deal with all the things that you've been running from. But don't worry, there's always someone there to help you pick yourself back up after you hit that wall. That's one of the things I love the most about Guilford, is that no matter how much I've hurt myself denying a reality, hitting that wall, there has always been someone there to help me out of my funk. It's not always the person you would expect, but it's always the person you need. And that, in and of itself, is a beautiful thing, and almost makes it worth hitting that wall.

Snowday, Papers, and Classes Oh my!

2010-02-11T11:13:28-05:00

Last Friday we had a snowday, the second one I've ever gotten here at Guilford. And even though the weather was better than the Monday before when we only had 8:30 classes canceled, my fellow students and I all enjoyed a day off, a three-day weekend. My Friday was going to be spent sitting in my apartment reading interlibrary loan books, drinking hot chocolate and having a regenerative and restful day after a month of strenuous school. Sadly, it was not to be. Even though the school was closed my Quaker Leadership Scholars Program year level still met, and there went two hours. That also got me out of my apartment for the first time that day. Then my roommate's car died at Costco and so I suited up to go rescue him and my other roommate by giving him a jumpstart, but halfway there I get the call that I wasn't needed. I get home and soon my roommates are back and I'm convinced to help with the dishes that hadn't gotten done, and before you know it, it was 5:00 and I had to go off to my next QLSP event of the day. I got home from QLSP hungry and spiritually unfulfilled and there were about a half a dozen people in my apartment. I pulled a vanishing trick and sequestered myself away in my room, but it wasn't enough. I was asked several times "Why are you being anti-social?" All-in-all, I got little to nothing done last Friday and that led to my being behind at the beginning of the week, which ratcheted up my stress level, and so here I am thanking god that the week is almost over.

Sorry about the whiny doom and gloom of that first paragraph. Let's talk about something lighter ok? Have I mentioned to you all how much the new interlibrary loan system rocks? So, as I'm sure I mentioned I'm a history major. As part of the history major you have to take HIST 300 which is a research seminar in which you have to do original research on a topic of your choice. The Guilford library, understandably doesn't have many books on my subject, Irish Agrarian Rebellions in the 1820s, and so i was forced to caste my net a bit wider to find resources. I signed up for this library resource called ILLIAD and requested about a dozen or so books that are critical for my research. Within two weeks I got every one of them and from all over the United States. I have two compilations of Daniel O'Connell's correspondence from the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, and another couple from the University of Florida. I've got a book from La Salle University and another from Assumption College in Massachusetts. On Monday, I had three come in at once including the one that I had been REALLY waiting for, and the people behind the circulation desk joked that I was "acting like it was Christmas." I explained to them, "It may as well be!" They got a kick out of that.

Mostly, what I think I'm trying to say by juxtaposing these two different experiences, is that even in weeks that may seem crummy, good things can happen. At college, there's never an opportunity for things to cement themselves into all bad or all good, even if it looks like it might. There's always something good coming round the corner and there's always a paper sneaking up on you from behind. You just have to learn to roll with it, and that life goes on. As I write this, the song "Let it Be" by the Beatles is playing, it's excellent advice that I try best to follow.

Oh, here's all my library books!

The Past Week

2010-02-03T20:53:30-05:00

It's been a pretty white world here for the past few days. I haven't touched my car for a week now. I'm scared to move it because of all the ice and snow. And yet, I love this weather! Not the driving in it, or the going to class in it, but the staying inside and drinking hot chocolate while doing my reading for class that's what I like! Having my dad come over and going sledding, like I was a little kid again, that's what I like! Having my friend Bridget get my attention by throwing snowballs at my window, that's what I like. So, I suppose you get it by now, it snowed here (a lot) and I had a nice weekend full of it, and then had my 8:30 class canceled on Monday! First big score of the week.

But anyway, the world of academia does not stop for snow or ice. While my 8:30 class was canceled on Monday none of my other classes were canceled. The college went about its business as usual. The cafeteria's food was just as good as it always is, the maintenance crews were up even earlier than usual working on the sidewalks, and the professors (at least mine) were here and ready to teach. I take that back one of my profs was not here on Monday claiming her Californian upbringing as her reason for not braving the weather, but she was there for class on Tuesday. And it was a fairly apt class. We started watching part of a documentary called "When the Levees Broke" which is about Hurricane Katrina and her devastating display of the power of mother nature. Many of the citizens of New Orleans discounted the threat prior to Katrina making landfall and that's much of what we did with the snow.

As a native of Greensboro, I'm not really used to the snow, but I definitely know how to enjoy it when it comes. Now I'll bet you're wondering how a Greensboro native, someone whose house is just down the street from the college could bear to come to Guilford with his folks so close. And even if that's not what you're asking it's the question I'm going to answer:

A few things brought me to Guilford, but most importantly is the family tradition that is attached to this school for me. My sister who graduated from Guilford in 2006 was the 6th generation of women in my family to attend Guilford. Guilford is where my grandparents met, and it's where my parents met. My dad came back to Guilford after getting his PhD and teaches English here, and I'm sure to many of you that would be even MORE reason not to come here. But there's been one rule that has infinitely helped me and my family cope with me being so close. It's the "California Rule." First developed when my sister came to Guilford, the "California Rule" stipulates that whatever you wouldn't do if you were in school in California you couldn't do at Guilford. For example, if I were at school in California I couldn't come home on weekends to do laundry, so I have to do laundry at school. I wouldn't fly all the way home for a dinner party, so I eat in the caf. That sort of thing. The "California Rule" has saved me more than once because it applies to my parents as well. It means that they can't randomly pop in on me at my dorm when I haven't cleaned up or my apartment now with dirty dishes all in the sink.

It's odd, looking back at how I started this post talking about snow and ended talking about California, but that's alright. I'm sure next week will be more coherent. (I hope) Cheers.

Introductions

2010-01-27T10:51:25-05:00

I'm not entirely certain what the protocol for starting a blog is, but for my blog I would very much like to introduce myself to you my readers. As a history major I understand that you must know where someone has come from to understand where they might be going. So with that in mind:

Hi! My name is Daniel Hood, I'm a third year (Junior) at Guilford College in Greensboro, NC which also happens to be my hometown. I'm a double major in History and Political Science with a minor in Medieval and Early Modern Studies, which is a fancy way of saying I like reading and studying old things. The majority of my research in both of my majors, and to a certain extent in my minor, focuses primarily on Ireland. Before you ask, no I'm not Irish, but I've been captivated by the history and the stories of that small island for years now. That's where I studied abroad last semester, at the University of Limerick in Limerick, Ireland. But you don't want to hear about my exploits at another school (I'll save that for another day, a slow news week perhaps).

Some of the things I'm involved in at Guilford include being a Tour Guide, working as a tutor, I'm part of three different musical groups: the College Choir, Jazz Ensemble and what is colloquially known as the "Oom-Pah" Band, which is the German cultural band where we play waltzes and Polkas for April- and Oktoberfest. (And no I'm not German either!) I'm also a member of the Quaker Leadership Scholars Program which is a great spiritual grounding for me in what might be an otherwise overwhelming environment. I'm an honors student, I've been on the Dean's list, and last year I submitted two papers to the second Annual Guilford Undergraduate Symposium that were both accepted. I hope that they'll accept me again this year.

Well, that's about all of who I am. I know I didn't give you much of my own history, but I have to keep you wanting more don't I? Isn't that the point of a blog? So tune in next week when our intrepid hero will write more!