Tag: LEAP Center

Music & Mayhem: Damn Yankees!

Although finals week is rapidly approaching, LEAP Ambassadors were glad to have some free time to see SHSU Department of Theatre and Musical Theatre’s showing of Damn Yankees, the last production of the spring semester.

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Everyone expected Damn Yankees to be a homerun and we were not disappointed!

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Based on the book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, Damn Yankees is a musical that tells the story of 50-year old Joe Boyd.  As one of the Washington Senators’ biggest fans, he sells his soul to the devil to become the 20-year old star baseball player for the Washington Senators. After the sinful pact is made, Joe is able to accomplish his lifelong dream of beating those “damn” New York Yankees. As the plot unfolds, we discover that perhaps Joe’s selfish ambition may have overshadowed his true love for his wife.

The play incorporated many musical numbers with rich orchestration that captivated the audience members. Although each musical number was entertaining, “Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, MO” was voted as the group’s favorite.

In this whimsical dance number, each move was choreographed so as to playfully resemble a dance off, which captured the spirit of Damn Yankees.

Of course, “Whatever Lola Wants” was also a lot of fun, and later in the week, while volunteering at the HEARTS Museum, we heard a Marilyn Monroe impersonator do the same song!

“It was my first time to attend a musical, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  But it was fun!  It had comedy, with the addition of great music and dancing!”–Karla Rosales.

 

Etiquette 101: Class and College Can Go Together

The LEAP Center Ambassadors jumped at the opportunity to enhance their professionalism by attending an Etiquette Dinner presented by SHSU Career Services and taught by national etiquette expert, Diane Gottsman. She is the author and owner of the Protocol School of Texas, a company that specializes in executive and business etiquette training. Ms. Gottsman is also the resident etiquette expert for talk shows like, San Antonio Living and Good Day Austin, so we all knew that we were in good hands.

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That evening Ms. Gottsman’s main focus was teaching us how to behave at a dinner interview, as these types of interviews are becoming more popular. We learned that Employers want to be able to see how you behave and handle awkward situations and how you treat your wait staff. By the end of the training we were experts in both!

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Before beginning the training, Ms. Gottsman emphasized the importance of asking questions and definitely made sure we asked plenty of questions. She reminded us that etiquette is not about criticizing because the minute you criticize others you lose your power. Ms. Gottsman pointed out that “Smart people ask questions” and this gave us confidence when raising our hands to ask all kinds of questions.

We started with the basics, the “b and d” rule. This is an easy way to remember that your bread plate goes on the left and your drink goes on the right. This should help us stay away from any awkward situations such as drinking out of another person’s glass, but just in case we also learned how to deal with these situations if they arise. Along with this, we learned many more rules such as how to use utensils appropriately, how to pass the bread, how to enter and exit your chair, how to excuse yourself if needed, and how to follow your host or be the host.

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We didn’t only learn about the American and European style of dining, but we also learned about how to prepare for interviews ahead of time and about the best color clothing to wear to interviews. For example, white or blue color shirts would be preferable over dark colored shirts. According to Ms. Gottsman, light colors gives you more power than darker colors would.

Starting the dinner we were all (even those who had attended the etiquette dinner last year) timid in our every movements, not wanting to mess up, but by the end of the night we were all eating confidently and correctly. We were very fortunate to have the opportunity to learn from an expert like Ms. Gottsman who made us feel comfortable when asking questions and provided a great learning environment for us.

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Thank you to SHSU Career Services for providing us with this great opportunity.

On the Road to Success: LEAP Offers Mock LSAT

As it does every semester, the LEAP Center again collaborated with Kaplan testing to offer a free Mock LSAT, an opportunity for students to assess their performance on one of the keys to being admitted to law school.

The LSAT is a different test than the SAT or ACT because it tests different skills than what students were exposed to in high school and, to some extent, college.  It takes intelligence, grit, and a lot of practice for students to do sufficiently well to get into the school of their choice.

The LEAP Mock LSAT is traditionally offered from 9:30-2:00pm on a Saturday and this semester was no exception.  A bit before 9:30am, students began filing into the classroom, and we listened to Randy, our prep course instructor.  He was enthusiastic and charismatic, and he captured our attention as we learned how the Mock LSAT is structured.  The sections include: Logical Reasoning (2 such sections), Analytical Reasoning, and Reading Comprehension.  The actual LSAT also has a writing section and an experimental section. Each section allows 35 minutes for completion.  And with that intro, we began.

If anyone were to look into that room at that moment, they would have seen 20+ students with their heads bent down, faces scrunched in extreme concentration.  As it turns out, Professor Yawn did exactly that…

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Some were scribbling furiously, while others were staring intently at their paper. All of us were intensely focused, ready to take charge of this challenge. At the second to last section, we were able to take a 15 minute break, where we were provided chocolate chip cookies to give us some much needed energy. Once the 15 minutes were up, we were all energized and I was ready to start the exam again to finish the last section.

Finally, at around 2 p.m. we finished the last section. Randy then started to explain how to complete various questions from some of the toughest sections. He explained it in such a way that I could not believe I did not understand it the first time around.

It was time for the results. We all walked to the computer lab where we were able to receive the scores we got. Emotions varied with each score but everyone was happy that they had taken this test as it had bee worth it. Overall, I enjoyed the experience. Even though it was my second time taking it, the Mock LSAT still makes me nervous but by having the opportunity to take it before the real deal helps me feel more prepared. This experience has boosted my self-confidence and helped me make new goals for myself.

Leaving Little Rock

Following a whirlwind tour of Little Rock and central Arkansas, it was departure day.  But before we left, we had a couple of sites left to see.

First, we did a quick photo op of the Capitol building…

 

 

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…where the LEAP Ambassadors visited (by unofficial count) their 18th state capitol building.  Bill Clinton’s office was here in the late 70s, most of the 1980s, and the very early 1990s.  They also have an interesting set of statues paying tribute to the Little Rock Nine and, in apparent contradiction, a monument to the confederate soldiers as well.

We chose to focus on the Little Rock Nine, so shortly after visiting the capitol we made our way to Little Rock Central High.  LRCH is the original school that the Little Rock Nine first attempted to integrate in 1957, and it is very large.

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It’s a humbling experience to stand where the Little Rock Nine stood.  They faced taunts, hatred, and ignorance and, in the process, made major progress for the country.

On the front of the school are four pillars, each representing a quality crucial to success…

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…ambition, personality, opportunity, and preparation.  Interestingly, these four qualities are also stressed by the LEAP Center, and that added an extra dimension of interest.

Spurred on by this interest, we went to the LRCH Musuem, located across the street.  This is a small museum, but it has an intimacy with its subject matter that makes for a compelling experience.

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The Museum begins with an overview of the Civil Rights experience, which is described along the left wall.  Toward the rear of the Museum are videos with headsets telling the stories of each of the Little Rock Nine.

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Intriguingly, the video screens are facing Little Rock Central High, which brings the experience home with greater impact.  Even sixty years later, it’s difficult to listen to the turmoil that these heroes went through…

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The right side of the Museum is dedicated to other civil rights struggles…

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…and the center of the Museum is a fairly in-depth story of the integration of Little Rock Central High.

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They give an overview of the events, with video of Eisenhower discussing the importance of the rule of law, as well as journalists and the original Little Rock Nine looking at these events retrospectively.

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It captivated our group.

We ended the tour with a film from 1964, which was shown to foreign audiences and detailed the experiences of the Little Rock Nine six-seven years after the integration.

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It was interesting to learn more about the integration process, and also interesting to see how these events were presented in the mid-1960s.

The LRCH is a can’t-miss site in Little Rock, in a City that is full of fun and interesting attractions.  It was a sobering but fitting way to end our trip, and our departure was made more acceptable knowing we’d be making a return visit in July.

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