AdLib this week!
This week plays host to the AdLib conference, our on-campus conference that brings students and professionals from all fields together to discuss advertising in the liberal arts. Like Science, Society, and the Arts (SSA) next week, AdLib is 100% a W&L experience, and provides students the fantastic opportunity to network and learn more about professionals in their potential fields. For more information on AdLib check out the conference website.
This past weekend W&L’s Venture Club hosted its first ever Entrepreneurship Summit. The Entrepreneurship Program launched in 2010 has gained significant traction on campus and with our alumni. The program now includes four entrepreneurship courses, a student organization (“Venture Club”), business plan and pitch competitions, spring term and summer internship opportunities, an alumni advisory board, and consulting opportunities. One of the reasons I decided to choose Washington and Lee was due to the University’s interest in entrepreneurship which is unique in most business schools let alone liberal arts colleges!
The Entrepreneurship Summit included multiple panels on the topic of entrepreneurship marketing and financing ventures as well as legal issues for entrepreneurs. With over twenty different alumni at the summit it was a great chance for the student body to network and discuss entrepreneurship. I had a chance to go to the Networking Reception on Friday which was a great opportunity to get to meet alumni in all kinds of job who like myself have an interest in entrepreneurship. Washington and Lee has a very strong group of alumni who are genuinely interested in getting to know current students and I feel privileged to have so many opportunities to make these connections.
One of my favorite things that happens at W&L are professor public lectures. Even if it’s the extra credit that brings you to the lecture, it will never be the only thing you take away. All the professors at W&L are not only extremely knowledgable about their field of study, but they are more passionate and excited about their work than any adults I have ever met. And when they get a chance to convey that passion and enthusiasm, they never disappoint.
This afternoon my calculus professor, Nathan Feldman, gave a talk about the beauty of math. I know, beauty in math? I was confused as well. The notes I take in class are definitely not always beautiful. But during this lecture I learned and saw many interesting patterns that can be found in math.Did you know?
But what made the lecture really interesting was Professor Feldman’s passion and love for math.
And if you couldn’t take anything else from this post, here’s a Robert E. Lee Fun Fact I learned in Professor Feldman’s lecture: Robert E. Lee was actually an assistant math professor at West Point during his sophomore year of college!
W&L’s Contact Committee and the Outing Club will be cosponsoring a talk by Aron Ralston on November 1! Mr. Ralston was the real life inspiration for the movie ’127 Hours’ with James Franco. The Contact Committee is a student organization that brings prominent speakers on campus. Last year, Frank Abagnale, Rudy Giuliani, and Adrian Grenier came to speak. This is just one of the many reasons why W&L is so great. It is a small school with big resources. There is so much going on in our little town in Virginia. Did I mention that all of these speakers are free for the students? Plus, that weekend is Parents Weekend so it is going to be one great week!
There are always plenty of things to do at W&L! You can be as busy as you want to be.
My email inbox is always flooded with Career Development Center events, guest speakers presenting, theater productions, RUF (Reformed University Fellowship) events, philanthropy events, social events, and ways to get involved in the community. It can all be handful on top of my classes, but when I do get a break, I take advantage of the plentiful opportunities at W&L. If I have spare time, I can always find a way to fill it with fun rewarding activities.
Washington and Lee’s Hillel hosted a VIP (Very Interesting Professor) Dinner at the Sheridan Livery with Professor Art Goldsmith last week. With spots for only fourteen students the dinner provided an intimate environment to talk with Professor Goldsmith of the Economics Department and discuss his latest research. At W&L professors are genuinely interested in learning and forming relationships with their students. The dinner was a great way for students to get to know Professor Goldsmith and share a delicious meal!
This week, Brent Green came to Washington and Lee to showcase his film work in both the Stainar Gallery and in the Keller Theater with a live band performance. Brent Green is a filmmaker, both of short films and feature length films. He has been featured at the Sundance film festival and at many other prestigious venues.
Two of his short films are on continual loop in the gallery, with many of the hand-crafted props and characters on display. This films are intense, but the creativity is certainly appreciated- the small, delicate props around the room look as though they could never have the impact that they do on screen.
During the evening show, one short film was shown, and a feature length film followed. I myself am not one for sad movies, but I really love the tragic love story portrayed in “Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then.” I had never seen a film with such special effects or with a house that had a whole side that could swing open (a large prop that the artist built himself). The whole show was a wonder, with a captivating score and a unique story line. I highly recommend his work, and I am so glad he came to W&L. I would have never seen anything like it if his show wasn’t offered!
We’re officially in the home stretch for Thanksgiving Break, and these unusually warm temperatures are making me extra excited to head down south to the Lone Star State! But before I start daydreaming of delicious Tex Mex and warm weather too much, I gotta keep my focus. Between writing my two term papers and packing up my suitcase, I will be very busy these next few days. But thankfully I have a few diversions to keep me entertained, like tonight’s event in Lee Chapel. The Contact Committee has brought Frank Abagnale, the Catch Me If You Can con artist, to Lexington! From the number of people I’ve heard raving about his talk, I’m sure the turnout will be great! But I won’t have to wait until 7:30 for a study break because I have a great dinner lined up. My peer counselor hall and I are going to Salerno’s with another peer counselor and his first-year hall for dinner. Salerno’s is one of my favorite places to grab a slice of pizza in Lexington, and getting to enjoy a delicious meal with some of my favorite people will definitely be a treat. It’s the little things like tonight’s dinner, Mr. Abagnale’s speech, and appreciating the vibrant fall leaves all around us that help me get through demanding weeks like this one (and perhaps a chocolate chip cookie or two from Blue Sky Bakery!).
About a week ago, Stacy Nadeau from the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty came to the Hillel House to tell her story. I attended the talk with my sorority, and she was incredible! I’ll admit that I was preoccupied with tests and the excitement of the upcoming reading days at first, but she captured my full attention as soon as she walked in the room. For those of you that aren’t familiar with the campaign, their mission is to inspire the self esteem women need to reach their full potential in a world obsessed with perfection and appearance. In order to achieve this, Dove sought out to find women of all shapes, sizes, age, and race to represent their brand. Stacy, a hilarious but very eloquent speaker, told her story of how she became involved and how the campaign drastically changed her life. Laughing as well as crying, everyone in the room paid close attention to every part of her story. Afterwards we got to hang out with Stacy, bug her with questions, follow her on twitter, and eat some really good food! It was a great escape from the stresses of midterms!
Through the Bonner Scholar program on campus, I was invited to a discussion with Dr. Pip Bevan about her sociological research in Africa. Currently she is working on a study looking at the long-term impacts of developmental interventions in rural Ethiopia. But she’s also done a significant amount of research on a variety of topics related to Africa over the past four decades. I’m going to Africa this summer so I jumped at the opportunity! Other students and I gathered together in a Commons room to hear her speak. We were encouraged to ask questions throughout her presentation and our time with Dr. Pip Bevan turned into quite the discussion!
