It Doesn't Matter Where You Are

Daniel Ralston dressed for the SRU international fashion show.

Daniel Ralston, 25, is a junior and exchange student from Melbourne, Australia studying Education at Slippery Rock University. He was influenced to go on exchange in America by what he’s heard from his friends back home that have taken classes at schools in the U.S. He decided to come to Slippery Rock because the school matched with his school in Melbourne under the list of partnering institutions and because the classes he needed were offered here at SRU.

The differences Ralston has faced between the classes he’s been taking here at SRU and the classes he’s taken back home revolve around when education majors do their field experience. “We tend to do a lot of that early on whereas my classmates here in America who are in their third year seemed to have not been teaching in schools as much,” Ralston stated. “I liked that we’ve gotten a lot of experience in the schools, in fact I think I learn a lot more when I’m student teaching than when I’m in a lecture class.” He believes in order to become a good teacher, you need to experience teaching in classes rather than learning all the theories.

Another difference Ralston finds interesting about America is the politics. He watches different TV shows about American politics along with the debates between candidates which he pointed out the difference between political campaigns here versus back home in Australia. He said the campaigning period here is a lot longer than back home, in which here in America they start campaigning a year before the elections.

Along with the political differences, he finds the culture differences interesting as well. “Each state’s kind of got its own flavor, which I quite like,” Ralston said. “You can kind of travel around without ever leaving the country.”

He also noticed that students in America tend to go straight into college after graduating from high school. In Australia, some students take gap years between ending high school and starting college because it gives them a break from going straight into four more years of school after being in school for twelve years. “It’s a common theme back home for when you finish your last year of high school before you start university, you maybe go work for a while, or travel overseas, get a bit of life experience before going straight into school again where you’ve just been for twelve years.”

Daniel and Jungkeon dressed for the International Fashion show at SRU.

Ralston was also part of SRU’s Internations club where he met his friend Jungkeon Jo, another exchange student from South Korea. Jo became interested in learning about Australian culture through Ralston and also noticed the different slang words Australians use. He also shared an interest in American politics just as Ralston did and found themselves discussing the differences in each other’s cultures just as much as the differences between theirs and American culture.

Out of all the exchange students in Internations club that come from different countries around the world, Jo and Ralston bonded due to similar interests in music and international politics. Jo noticed that he liked the same music groups that Ralston did such as The Rolling Stones and Radiohead. “We hang out and listen to music every day,” Jo said. “We’ll talk about American politics or current international issues.”

Not only did they have plenty in common, but Jo was happy he became friends with Ralston and hopes to keep in contact with him after they leave back to their hometowns. “Thanks to him, I can understand Australian culture, which was hard for me and I want to keep in touch with him.”

But what’s fascinating about Ralston is the path he decided to take after finishing high school. He did go straight into University after high school and focused on civil engineering. Even though he decided to study civil engineering, he knew he could switch out of it later if he didn’t want to continue with it, which was another difference he noticed between colleges in America and Australia. In America, freshman tend to take general classes in different subjects such as science and English and math whereas in Australia, freshman can focus mainly on their field of study rather than a number of general courses.

After deciding not to continue with civil engineering, Ralston took an “army gap year” in which they take a few people to go into the Australian defense force in a one year contract. He got drafted into the artillery to do basic training and was in a unit in Northern Australia for around four months and realized the military wasn’t for him.

When he finished up his one year contract with the army, he still didn’t want to go back to school, specifically civil engineering, and ended up extending the gap year and traveled to the United Kingdom. After traveling and working around the UK for a year and a half, he went back to Australia and knew he wanted to do teaching and applied as soon as he could.

The map below provides some of the different places Ralston has traveled to during his lifetime. Each point on the map has a video attached in which he shares a story about how he became interested in traveling, his experience being in the Army and what he's found interesting about going to school here in Slippery Rock.

Three years later, he ended up in America through an exchange program due to the need to keep traveling. He plans on teaching math and science once he’s finished with school in Australia. His favorite year to teach is grade seven which is the starting year for high school because they don’t have middle school in Australia. Once he becomes a qualified teacher, he wants to teach overseas because traveling is something he really enjoys doing as well.

Though his experience here at Slippery Rock University wasn’t what he was expecting it to be due to what he’s seen in the movies, he did enjoy meeting all the different students from America and international countries as well. “I wasn’t too worried about where specifically I came in America because it’s not so much about where you are, the people you meet is what makes it,” Ralston said. “If you meet cool people, you have a good time, no matter where you are.”

Biography Proposal: Australian in Slippery Rock

Daniel, an international student, gives a speech on popular topics in Australia. 

An international student from Australia is here studying at SRU for the fall semester and I'm interested in finding out why. What brought him here to Slippery Rock PA of all places? What is he studying here at SRU. I'm also interested in knowing what differences he faces here that are unusual from what he's used to back home in Australia. I'm also curious about what his semester was like at Slippery Rock and what he thought of the education here. I would also ask about what he plans to do after finishing his semester here at SRU and what he'll be doing once he gets back to Australia, and even after he's done with school. From what I heard him talk about at the international panel, I think he has some really interesting facts to talk about and could help show American students what an outsider's views of Slippery Rock education.

Lip Sync Battle Finals at SRU

The final Lip Sync Battle of the semester was held on Tuesday, November 17th during common hour. Ryan Logue and Logan Stiegerwalt went head to head, battling off for the winning title. Down below, you will see a video featuring everything that went down at this battle. Along with photos and videos, there are a few helpful links to give you more information on these organizations and how to get involved with each club and the student center.

The Proposal for the SRU Lip Sync Battle CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!

Brandon Quinn lip syncing at the first Lip Sync Battle in the Smith Center.

Jill Lema, the graduate assistant for Programing at the Smith Student Center, created the lip sync battles that have been held once each month in the new student union. The first ever lip sync battle was held during common hour on September 15th in which Logan Steigerwalt, the president of SGA, won the battle against Brandon Quinn, the president of UPB. Lema's inspiration for this event came from watching it on Spike TV and decided to bring it to SRU's campus for students and faculty to be apart of during the busy semesters. 

The final battle, The Lip Sync Battle Championships, will be held on Tuesday November 17th during common hour in the lobby of the Smith Student Center. This event is news worthy because this is the first semester this event has been happening on campus and this final battle of the semester is the championships. All the winners from each lip sync battle that has occurred this semester will be battling off against each other for the championship to be crowned the best at lip syncing. 

This story could be told using a "thinglink" information tagged video by linking different videos of popular lip sync battles from TV shows to go along with a video of the lip sync battle that will be happening on Tuesday. Linking interviews from students who watched the SRU lip sync battle would be appropriate for this project as well along with interviews from the lip syncers themselves because it would be interesting to see what they thought of the competition. 

The contact for this event is Jill Lema because she's hosting the event again and came up with the idea for the event herself. 

SRU Percussion Ensemble gives a striking performance

Justin Vorp (left) and Stevie Pachesky (right) open the concert with Sossa-Bala

Slippery Rock University Department of Music presented the Percussion Ensemble concert on Thursday night, November 5th, 2015. The concert consisted of many different percussion arrangements for almost anyone to enjoy and included twelve students performing in the show. 

The show opened with two pieces by Emmanuel Sejourne which included marimbas and conga drums and lighters. The opening song, Sossa-Balla, started with one performer, then adding two, and soon there were eight performers showcasing different sounds from the marimbas and congas. 

The second song opening the show was done with lighters. Four freshman, holding two lighters each, created sounds along with a visual show by memorizing a stunning light show pattern. The room was completely dark and the only light visible was from the lighters in their hands.  

Another unique performance was "The Gilded Cage" which was played by four drummers striking break drums from cars and trucks. This piece was very loud and energetic versus some of the other performances in the show. The four drummers also used sounds from their drumsticks hitting and tapping each other, combined with symbols and tom toms. 

After performing a more formal, classical first half of the show, the performers came back for a second performance for the night, playing steel pan instruments. This half of the show was more lively and upbeat, creating a fun way to end the concert.

Sarah Sabota rocking out on the steel drums in the second half of the percussion concert

The opening song for the second half of the concert was Radiohead’s “Creep” which was a unique, steel pan performance, giving a spin off of the original rock tune. Another unique piece added to the second half was Afro Blue, in which SRU student Jamison Lopochonksy directed himself, putting his own twist on the song.

The Percussion Ensemble concert showcased a diverse sound for any music lover to enjoy, adding authentic elements that created new vibrations and tones for the audience to tune into to. 

International Students at SRU

The international students here at Slippery Rock University discusses the many cultural and social differences between their home countries and what they've experienced here in America. Students from Ireland, Australia, Brazil, China and Sir Lanka all came together to educate SRU students about their culture. Here's a few links that show what all went down at the International Students Panel.

Celebrities and performers at SRU since Spring 2014

Kalin and Myles performing at the SRUPB Fall 

Concert in December 2014.

In Spring semester 2014, I transferred here to SRU from Washington College. My first experience here was getting to meet Carly Aquilino and Chris Distefano from MTV's Girl Code/ Guy Code. Even before I came to SRU, there have been many comedians and singers and actors that have come to campus to share their story to SRU students. Here, I focused on the time that I started here at SRU, beginning in Spring 2014 until now in Fall 2015. There have been a wide variety of talent and inspirations that have visited the college and many students are unaware of these names that have stepped foot on campus for us to see and hear from. Here are the several different celebrities and performers that have been invited to SRU since Spring 2014.

SRU wins Reserve High Point team at the Seton Hill IHSA show

SRU English Equestrian team placed 2nd overall, winning Reserve High Point Team at the Seton Hill University IHSA show on October 11th, 2015.

Seton Hill University hosted the Zone 2 Region 5 IHSA show on October 11th, 2015. Schools from all over Western Pennsylvania and some parts of West Virginia came together to compete at Bloomfield Stables, Seton Hill Equestrian Team's facility. SRU had 11 riders compete and ended up placing 2nd overall against schools such as WVU, UPitt, CalU, St. Vincent, and Edinboro. Next weekend, SRU will be traveling over to West Virginia to compete at WVU's IHSA show against the rest of the schools in the region. 

Hurling and bunnies in the quad

Have you ever heard of the sport Hurling? Here's a few videos of Slippery Rock students from Ireland who play the sport and explain a little bit about the game.

Cormac and Caroline practice Hurling together in the quad.

Julie Kelly talks about the rules and how the game is played. Super helpful for those of you who have never heard of the sport (like me).

Caroline and Cormac continue to play while I creepily film them like a stalker. No big deal.

Julie also talks about what type of uniforms the athletes wear in the game and the differences between Hurling and Gaelic football which is a similar sport.

Cormac talks about how people are raised into the sport and how it's part of Irish culture to play the sport. It's almost like if your parents were to make you play soccer or t-ball when you were in elementary school.

And of course, we have students playing with a pet rabbit in the quad. You know, because that happens everyday...

SRU's Equestrian team kicks off the season with first team practice

The Slippery Rock Equestrian team started off with several new showing members practicing to prepare for hosting the first horse show of the 2015-2016 IHSA season. The team has over 15 riders and has an addition of new freshman ready to compete with the rest of the girls. Rock equestrian practices every week during the season and travels around Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia to compete against 13 other schools in the region. The first practice of the season was busy with lots of new members and it was also their first time being instructed by the team's coach, Amy Keefer. The team will continue to practice leading up to the first show of the season in October and will continue showing all semester long. 

Coach Amy Keefer (right) and Captain of the team, Kate Campbell (left) watch teammate Jessica jump Cisco in the biggest group lesson of the day.

Amy Keefer showing the group the exercise they're going to do next.

Minnie Davis (left) helps teammate Bre Gigler (right) adjust her stirrup length before mounting. 

The rest of the team watches the Advanced Walk, Trot, Canter group lesson. 

Emily Ellis (right) helps Kelly Rothrock (left) fix Zippy's polo wraps.

Amy Keefer (right) demonstrates to rider Kylie Gilmore (left) how to do an exercise called "marching."

Amy Keefer (right) and Emily Ellis (center) watch teammate Kylie Gilmore warming up in the lesson.

Bre Gigler untacks Annie after a successful first lesson back with the team.

Kylie Gilmore adjusts Smooch's halter before taking her outside for a bath.

Kelly Rothrock (center) and Emilie Dumach (right) hose down Zippy after their ride together. 

To stay a virgin or naw?

Pros and cons to remaining a virgin until married. 

Photo from vodkacranburryclooney.com

"When you become 40 and still a virgin, you'll be issued a medal from the government (I think my grandfather has one from Franklin Roosevelt...) and they will make a movie out of your life."

Virgin. Just let that sink in for a minute.

What's wrong with remaining a virgin? It's your life, it's your choice. You shouldn't have to feel pressured to do something you're not comfortable with. 

What about if you're not a virgin and you have sex on the regular? Again, it's your choice, do as you please. Or who you please, pun intended. 

So if you're curious to know what's alright about remaining a virgin until you're married and what's alright with just getting it done and over with before marriage, there's a few facts here you need to know. 

From the pro virgin side:

1. You're safe from STD's.

2. You're safe from becoming pregnant or getting someone pregnant.

3. You don't have to feel ashamed of who you've done the nasty with because, guess what, you didn't have sex!

From the "just do it" side:

1. You're experienced! No awkward encounters in bed or having to confess being a virgin since you're not one!

2. People are more desirable of non virgins, depends on the person however. 

3. You'll have a better idea of what your partner is like in bed before putting a ring on it. 

Let's go further into detail on these points. 

Now there's many reasons behind a person's choice to remain a virgin. It could be because of their religious beliefs or maybe they have no self confidence and are just uncomfortable. Trust plays a pretty big role as well, some people just don't have any trust in others. It's said, according to Business Insider, that "the longer you wait to have sex, the less likely you are to actually do it."

There's plenty of consequences that come with having sex. For example, you could get STD's in which there are over 65 million Americans that have an STD that can't be cured. And not only that but each year, there's 20 million cases added to that, in which the infected people range from age 15 to 24. It's true! Read about all the STD facts here. 

Pregnancy is another consequence that comes along with having sex. According to The Shriver Report, about 50% of all pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended. That's around 3 million women in America that experience accidental pregnancy. Don't want to accidentally make a baby? Simple, either use protection, or don't have sex. But even with using a condom for protection, there's a 2% chance it'll lead to failure. There's different reasons that lead to unplanned pregnancies and here's an article that could help you understand why. 

As opposed to the idea of staying a virgin until marriage, some people actually regret saving it until their wedding night. Too many high expectations are built up when you're saving it until after you say your vows. Some people experienced it as not being what they expected it to be like, not as fun, not as enjoyable. Maybe even both partners couldn't figure out what they were doing in bed and it just ended up being an awkward mess. A brave soul decided to confess her personal story of what she went through after losing her virginity on her wedding night. Read about it here to get a true perspective of this topic. 

But in the end, everything you do in life comes with consequences. Whether you have sex or not, there's going to be consequences. Remain a virgin and you're looked at as a prude or undesirable or it's a turn off to some people. Or you can be confident in yourself as a virgin and be looked as someone with a good head on their shoulders, someone who respects themselves and doesn't settle for less than you deserve. For the non virgins, you're viewed as dirty or someone who "gets around" or someone who's insecure and needs to have sex to feel wanted or liked. Or you can be a non virgin that's looked at as someone who has put themselves out there for someone else because they felt loved or is in love or has been married to the same person for several years. No matter what the situation is, there's going to be view points and actual facts that go with those choices, good or bad or even both. 

At the end of the day, it's your body, your choice, your life and your desire to do as you please. Don't feel pressured to give up something that you're not ready to. Don't feel guilty for doing something you did do. Everything you do is followed by some kind of reaction or feeling in the end. Just be watchful of yourself and do what you want, not what society makes you think you do want or should be doing. Check out this video on virginity and sexual confidence if you'd like to hear more advice. 

Well that got a little mushy at the end there, but I hope you see what I'm trying to say. There's a lot of facts on both sides of the situation, and from these facts, they're there to help you figure out what's the best decision for yourself. 

Just be who you are and be comfortable with yourself and your decisions and you're golden! 

What's up with new media?

This is me pretending to be Jesus.

Hi. How are you? I'm Emily, what's your name? Let's be friends. 

I'm a student at Slippery Rock University (you can check out the school's home page here) studying Communication with a track in Digital Media Production. I'm also working for the school newspaper as the Multimedia Reporter where I bring my creepy/awkward self out for the rest of campus to see and be freaked out by. But it is a cool job, I get to talk to random students and make them feel uncomfortable as I film them. As for my reason behind taking this class, New-media journalism, I thought it would be a great class to learn more about not only journalism but how to share information through other mediums than just writing. I'm more of a film/photography type person when it comes to showing people something I want them to see or sharing information. Working as the multimedia reporter has given me a chance to work with video mixed with news which is really fun and an entertaining way to share information to others. If you would like to see some videos I've worked on to get a better idea of what I do, visit the multimedia page on the online rocket site.

As a kid growing up, I remember being handed LIFE magazine in my first grade class, in which I would always just skim through the pictures because I didn't like reading as a kid, and I actually still don't which is horrible to admit. But what entertains me about LIFE is mostly the nostalgia that comes with it from looking through them as a kid. I was a weird child and anything that reminds me of being a kid again is automatically a favorite of mine. Another new-media outlet I find myself reading a lot from is MTV News because I love reading celebrity news, especially about the music world. I love music like it's going out of style. It's something I can't live without. Whenever I discover a new band that I find really incredible musically, I have to know every personal detail about their members, how the band started, where they're all from and so on. I also read a lot of news on One Direction because, let's be real, they are life. They are perfection. Don't deny it. You love them too.

Just check out this article on 18 truths 1D fans in their 20s relate to and it'll help you visualize me as a person. 

And there you have it people, there's a few things about me and what I do and what I like. If you have similar interests, hopefully this blog will be something you'll look forward to reading and viewing. And don't be shy, come say hi to me on my Twitter and Facebook, I use social media too much for my own health.