LEAP Takes on Fleet Street! Sweeney Todd

By Olivia Discon

Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd!

LEAP students experienced plethoric frightful festivities this ‘Halloweekend’, with some students left more spooked than others. To continue the fun, we enjoyed Theatre Under The Stars’ (TUTS) rendition of Sweeney Todd!

We ventured to our favorite food hall, POST Market, to taste an array of different dishes and cuisines. Similar to our fear factor, some students are more adventurous diners than others. The dishes ranged anywhere from coconut curry, tacos, shrimp alfredo, to a cubed biscoff croissant! This experience-for both newcomers and returning customers- was as refreshing as it was satiating.

Of course, while at Post Houston, we took advantage of some roof-top views for photos.

Our viewing of Sweeney Todd was highly anticipated, as Michelle and I had the chance to watch the Sam Houston’s rendition of the musical back in April. TUTS had a lot to live up to, considering the high standard set by SHSU’s performance.

The story, set in 19th-century London, revolves around the vengeful Sweeney Todd, a barber seeking retribution against those who have wronged him. The eerie plot, coupled with a hauntingly beautiful live orchestra, instilled a palpable sense of unease right from the moment the blade emitted its initial, spine-tingling screech.

There were touches of levity throughout the musical, creating a juxtaposition of humor and horror. The group particularly enjoyed “A Little Priest” and ‘By the Sea” for their wordplay and irony woven into the storytelling. A select few of us in the group found the wordplay extremely humorous, making it known to the rest of the theatre through our persistent giggling.

As we headed back to Huntsville, the group recounted their thoughts, including our favorite moments, plot twists that shocked us, and the characters that resonated with us the most. Personally, the conversation following a visit to a performance or art exhibition is my favorite aspect of the endeavor. While it is intellectually stimulating, it also allows for closer connections and camaraderie!

We had the opportunity to use the holiday as a learning opportunity; looking at Halloween under the scope of both civic engagement and the arts. Activities such as these, while already incredibly enjoyable, become triply important, serving to educate, offering a cultural experience, and providing a team-building exercise.

Learning Law: the DA Way

McKenna Nonnenmann

For our mid-semester Pre-Law Society meeting, we had the honor of meeting Walker County District Attorney Will Durham. Born and raised in Huntsville, Durham carries a lot of pride for his hometown, and after a successful career as a personal injury attorney, followed his “calling” into public service.

Durham went through the structure of the District Attorney’s office, laying out the office’s divisions, responsibilities, staffing, and community involvement. This structure includes divisions for hot checks, protective orders, other misdemeanors, felonies, and victims assistance. The DA also uses interns from SHSU!

Durham also went in depth about some of the updates he made in the office, primarily making it as efficient as possible through the purchase of software and other technology. Now, for example, all discovery can be done electronically, saving costs in terms of copies (and trees). Moreover, Durham described his hiring philosophy, as the 3 Hs. His office wants lawyers/staff who are hungry, happy, and humble. In other words, he wants people who are eager to learn and work, will bring a good attitude to the office, and keep the focus on the public service–not themselves.

We were very grateful for Durham’s enlightening presentation, and I know many in the room are looking forward to applying for internships at the DA’s Office.

That was not the meeting’s only business, however. We also had our normal business matters, as well as elections!

Of our existing officers, VP of Finance (Emily Albright), VP of Membership (Nicole Erazo) and Historian (me!) were unopposed. VP of Marketing (Ariza Martinez) has only one meeting left before graduating, and Cinthia ran unopposed to succeed her. But for President and Secretary, there were challengers.

Olivia Discon came into the meeting as “interim president,” and she quickly distinguished herself as a hands-on officer, working to gain more involvement and greater campus and community participation. Yliana Santillan, a junior at SHSU, challenged her, with Ms. Discon emerging victorious.

Jasmine Crooks has served as Secretary for the past year, and she was challenged by Jessica Cuevas, who first joined the organization in the fall of 2021. Following their presentations, the vote showed Ms. Cuevas as the winner.

As always, we are grateful for all the people who decided to run for office and serve the organization, and we hope those who came up short in the elections will still find ways to contribute their considerable talents to the organization.

Most of all, we are grateful for Mr. Durham for his wonderful and educational presentation.

We’ll see everyone at the November 15 meeting!

A Weekend of Photography

Morgan Robertson

Photographers across the country rose early Saturday morning with extra batteries, tripods and solar filters to witness the Solar Eclipse–and I joined their ranks! But to see it in its full glory, I had to travel to Corpus Christi, which, even without an eclipse, is a great way to spend a weekend.

One of my favorite aspects of LEAP has been my introduction to photography, and this weekend I brought my love of photography to the next level. My familial connections to photography and astronomy gave me the perfect opportunity to join my aunt and uncle, Suzanne and Chris Bowers, and grandparents, Darlene and Robert Robertson, in Corpus Christi, in the direct path of the Solar Eclipse.

After Professor Yawn outfitted me with the correct equipment and some tips for shooting, I made my way southwest bright and early Friday morning. We hit the ground running with a day full of adventures! We began by conducting tests of my new homemade filters and with the guidance from Aunt “Zan,” we decided we were ready for hours of shooting the following day.

Eclipse

Aunt Zan and I rose early to enjoy sunrise on the beach and to stake our claim to prime eclipse-territory. Originally we were located on the beach and were met with 25 mph winds that would have made for an uncomfortable 3 hours of shooting. After scouting with her trusty sidekick, Willie, Aunt Zan came upon our new favorite feature in Corpus: a shipping container!

Willie Bowers, trusty sidekick
Our home for three hours

We set up shop away from the winds and sand, and eventually a few other photographers caught on to our stroke of genius.

After some slight adjustments, we settled in to watch this amazing experience. I did run into some complications due to the cloud coverage and the darkness of my filter… but we adopted and waited for clearer skies.

Luck was on our side and the clouds provided some drama to our photos. Rather than attempt to describe the wonders of the Eclipse, here are just a few photos of what I captured.

Other experiences

In a typical LEAP fashion, I would be remiss if I didn’t stop by the local art museum to get a taste for the creative tones of the city. The Art Museum of South Texas, located right on the beach, was a perfect stop for Aunt Zan and myself. My favorites from the collection were a Dale Chihuly and Jesús Moroles. Another great feature of the Museum was a strategic window placement that provided an amazing view of the USS Lexington.


We also made sure to take advantage of our proximity to the beach to practice some long exposure shots during sunset, and sunrise.

We all learned this weekend that Corpus Christi is known as the Birdiest City in America and we made sure to take advantage of this fact! Here are a few photos from Hans and Pat Suter Wildlife Refuge and Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center.

A pelican landing series…

And a pelican taking flight…

The last shots of the evening from Roberts Point Park.

I would like to express my sincerest gratitude toward my grandparents for being the perfect representation southern hospitality and towards my Aunt Zan and Uncle Chris for fostering my love for this creative art and their constant encouragement.

Serial Killers, Friday the 13th, and Jana Monroe- Murder By The Book

By Cinthia Villarreal

Friday the 13th is known for being an unlucky day; however, LEAP students felt the exact opposite when they had the opportunity to meet the former FBI agent Jana Monroe! Jessica Cuevas, Olivia Discon, and I went to my newfound favorite bookstore, Murder by the Book, to listen to the one-of-a-kind author talk about her new memoir Hearts of Darkness where she talks about her journey through the FBI as one of the first analysts in the FBI Behavioral Science Unit, where she oversaw over 850 homicide cases. 

In order to approach the book mindfully and explore Jana Monroe’s background and inspirations, former FBI agent John Iannarelli flew from Arizona to converse with Monroe about her life experiences before and throughout her influential career. Iannarelli read from the foreword, written by Joe Navarro, describing Monroe as “the single most influential woman to ever serve in the FBI.” Iannarelli did a great job asking the questions we all wanted the answers to. 

Monroe spoke about an instance in which she attended a job fair in high school, where she inquired with a recruiter about a future career with the FBI. She asked about the coursework recommended to prepare herself for the academy and after a back and forth discussion, the agent told Monroe she would never have the necessary criteria to be an agent, since women were only employed at the FBI as secretaries or file clerks. 

As the years passed and minds opened, Monroe served as a special agent and became the first assistant director of the FBI Cyber Division. Monroe is passionate about women staying true to themselves no matter their line of work. In fact, she mentions how she got in trouble with her supervisor once because of the polka dot heels she would wear to work. “There was no language that says that I cannot wear high heels because you have never had a woman agent before”, she countered.

During the Q&A space, Olivia asked Monroe about the impact her career as an agent and analyst had on her writing.  

A question from the audience prompted Monroe to choose her favorite serial killer, and without a second thought, she chose Edmund Kemper. She described Kemper as a “true sociopath” who would copy people’s emotions and expressions.  He killed his parents when he was 15 years old “to know what it would feel like”. The six foot nine inches serial killer killed seven people, and once walked around downtown with the head of one of his victims inside a clear plastic bag. He anticipated someone would call the police and have him arrested, but no one did. According to Monroe, he knew he was not going to stop killing people, so he turned himself in, not before calling the police inept. 

 

Students had the opportunity to get their books signed by Monroe, and through small talk, Monroe spoke about her current and future projects, including two TV shows.

The LEAP Ambassadors and I thank Jana Monroe for her enthusiastic talk. She has truly carved the path for young women like ourselves. I was able to chat with Monroe and describe what an inspiration she is for us, she might not have had a role model, but she definitely is ours! 

After the formal event, we headed to Taste of Mulan for some delicious Chinese cuisine. We were all impressed by the variety of the menu which included meats like chicken, beef, shrimp and even duck. Olivia got the General Tsao’s Chicken and a side of egg fried rice while Jessica and I went with basil fried rice with chicken. The night luckily ended without any trickery, making this meal was an excellent close to our night in Houston!