TEDx Bella's Performance!

This past weekend, the Acabella's took a little road trip to Manchester, NH to perform at TEDx on the Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) campus. We piled into two big St. Mike's vans at 8 am on Saturday and made the trek, which was about 2 1/2 hour drive. Though early, we definitely enjoyed the ride, practicing our songs and stopping halfway to grab food at Panera.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by Gabbi Hall, who was an Alto 2 in the Bella's just a few years ago! She helped to bring us to TEDx because she volunteers with them. She also happens to be my alumni mentor, so it was my first time being able to meet her!

The Bella's have arrived!

On our way to the venue

The Bella's and our biggest fan's, Danny and Julia

The Bella's doing what we do best, singing

It was such an amazing experience! We were able to perform on live stream and had the highest viewing all day! We had an amazing day and we could not have done it without Gabbi Hall giving us the opportunity to perform and our lovely friends Danny and Julia. We needed another driver, so Julia stepped up and her/our friend Danny joined in the adventure. Without them, we couldn't have done it. Thank you and I can't wait for more performance to come!

Film Festival Friday

The Venue

This past Friday, I went to the Telluride Film Festival that was hosted at the Davis Center at the University of Vermont. I went because we had to attend one of two film festivals for my Nature and Outdoor writing class, which is awesome! The films ranged in length from 2 minutes to 20.
I went with my friend Jack and we each brought our significant others, which was great! It was like a double date for a class.
The film festival was so interesting! We were able to see a bunch of films that covered a variety of topics. There was one that looked at a surfer, one that looked at ranchers, and another that followed ice climbers. It was so cool to be able to see different aspects of the world and where people go to seek adventure or make a livelihood.
After seeing the films, we are doing a write up about two films that we saw. I want to focus on the ice climbing and ranchers. They are very different, one looks at a lifestyle and the other looks at a hobby. Both were really well shot, it makes me want to look into making videos more. Hopefully I can produce a short film as good as the ones I saw at the festival for my senior project.

My Crazy Week and Wonderful Professors

Right now, I am having one of the best semesters ever! I am taking all MJD classes and absolutely loving every second of it. I am learning more than I ever have and I know that I've chosen the right major for me!
But I also have to admit, MJD is tough. The major is mostly focused around final articles or photo projects, which I love (I'm a horrible test taker) but around this time of year, everything starts to pile up. This week, I had to juggle classes, writing an article for the Defender, finishing my multimedia project for photojournalism (basically a slide show of photos with sound and interviews), write a natural history piece for nature and outdoor writing, revise an old paper for that class, start my photojournalism final project, and eat and sleep. It has been my busiest week yet.
But today, two of my professors were able to help me make my life a little easier. That is something I've always found at St. Mike's, professors are super helpful and willing to talk with you about any issues you may be having.
When I was going to take photos for my final project in photojournalism, I wanted to check out a 50mm lens from the library (they give us a camera for the class and then we can check out different lenses depending on the projects we are doing). Unfortunately, they didn't have it. But my professor was standing right next to me as I was looking at the lenses they did have and said, "Why don't you just stop by my office in a few minutes and I can give you the 50mm lens to use until someone else needs it?" Yes please! It was great, now I have the lens to finish my project and it has helped a lot of my photos!
And then, just a few minutes ago, I was sitting in my Nature and Outdoor Writing class thinking, "I've done all my work, I'm not stressed anymore, this is great!" Until I heard her ask for the revisions that were due. Oh no! But I didn't panic, I knew I would just have to explain what was happening and why I forgot. After class, I told her I had full intention of doing the revision, it was just the one thing that slipped my mind this crazy week. She was so understanding and said to slide the revision under her door when I was finished, which I am planning to do right after dinner tonight. How awesome is that?
I just thought that before I forget, I need to acknowledge the awesome professors of St. Mikes. Special shout outs to Professor Swope and Professor Sultze for helping me with my work, but also to the rest of the professors here. Today, Professor Cleary brought in a reporter from a local paper who broke some amazing stories for our reporting class, which was amazing! And on Tuesday, Professor Sultze is having someone come in and bring raptors to our class! How cool is that? You won't find as awesome professors anywhere else.
And in case you wanted to see, here is my multimedia about the Quidditch Tournaments we have on campus! I may make some edits based off of what Professor Swope said, but this is version 1.