 Image c/o Julian Villegas By Lillian La Salle Culture Editor As May is fast approaching and April is coming to a close, the SMC Sports Band has just wrapped up an exciting season. The band has enjoyed playing for the men's and women's Basketball teams in the Las Vegas West Coast Conference and joined the men’s team for the March Madness tournament in New York. This concludes a wonderful season of basketball, and a year full of musical preparation for the St. Mary’s community to celebrate. In efforts to focus on the artistic talents on campus, the Collegian begins their Student Spotlight pieces with a Senior in the Sports Band, Julian Villegas. This stellar saxophonist is here to expand on some of his favorite experiences from his 4 years spent in the band. Julian has been playing his alto-saxophone for a little over 13 years and was unsure whether to major in music when he was met with the opportunity to be in the Sports Band. Julian begins by describing a personal experience, “Picture this. It is 2019, and freshman Julian is wandering and sees the sports band booth with the former president and other exec team members. I had wanted to play an instrument even though I was unsure about majoring or minoring. I really enjoyed meeting everyone and we got really close as time went on, and the band became a nice creative outlet. I had a space where I got to play sax and I genuinely love the band and the people.” Julian kept up his enthusiasm for the band and was excited to spend the next four years working with the SMC community. After his first year bonding with the band, he enjoyed getting to help out new and returning bandmates after getting a better understanding of how the band operated. During and after SMC went online in 2020, Julian experienced such a welcoming environment in the band that he wanted to stay for the lasting connections he had made. Julian described some of his favorite experiences in the band as not just the actual music-making element, but the great bonding time he experienced as well. “It’s always nice to see everyone all together. Sometimes we have a formal night and go get dinner as a group, and we also have a tradition where we all go bowling with the rival band teams. Overall my favorite part of the band is meeting kids and learning what their interests are. Getting to know the rest of the band is really important because we all usually have very busy lives, and it's hard to connect sometimes because we sit in our different instrument sections.” Speaking of some of Julian's favorite parts of being in a sports band. Traveling with the band definitely struck a chord in him and kept him coming back year after year for the experience of traveling with his music community around the U.S. As a Sports band veteran, Julian describes a day in the life of the band when they are traveling around the states. “We wake up around nine o clock, and I start my remote work for the admissions office. After a few hours, I start my zoom classes and meet with my professors to ensure I stay up to date with the assignments. After classes we’ll get food and work on some homework until our call time at 4:45. We all meet in the lobby and head to the stadium to set up our instruments and get tuned up while the rhythm section plays a quick tailgate. After the tailgate we’ll head back down to tune for the game and play in between the timeouts. A lot of time is spent convincing our band director to play jungle boogie!” From the sports band perspective, the basketball games are super energetic and leave the fans feeling thrilled with the SMC team and their ability to play well together and keep the crowd engaged. Julian enjoys seeing the other bands perform because some will have stunt and dance teams as well. After the games, the band gets to decompress together and rest up before playing another game or heading back home to Saint Mary’s. All in all, Julian's experience in sports band was made possible by all the wonderful people he got to meet. Like Julian, we all have a community of individuals who keep us excited about the college experience and coming back for more.
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Images c/o Lillian La Salle Willow and Houston… features a by-students, for-students aesthetic. By Lillian La Salle Culture Editor Enter the LeFevre Theatre on the SMC campus and find a finely lit auditorium with numerous students humming, stretching, singing, dancing, and chatting together. The student tech crew is meticulously making sure all the songs are queued, at the right volume, and ready for a run-through. The lighting practitioners flash the spotlights a few times for a quick test, and the student directors lead the actors through a myriad of dynamic warm-ups. One thing worth mentioning, there is not a professor in sight. For the SMC theatre program's spring production, as many as 20 current undergraduate students are serving in leadership roles. The directors and stage managers are especially key to rolling out the visual performance because they are guiding everyone through the production process. The students are fully disciplined, running through warmups and lines to get ready for rehearsal. The student leaders guide the process along with a perfect balance of student support and director authority. Similar to a sports practice, producing and acting in a musical is a full-body experience. The directors act as a coach by critiquing and providing feedback while also being supportive and strong in the eyes of the other students. One stage manager explained, “Every line is a point,” and that the point is necessary for the audience to understand what is happening on stage. Even the smallest details in the production are given the utmost care by these student managers and directors. It is clear that the leaders want to help the students give all their effort into the production to execute their community's vision. With the student directors' and managers' guidance and support, the student actors work as a team to bring to the stage their latest production, “Willow & Houston Throw the Grad Party of the F*cking Century”, which encapsulates all the small details and feelings of young adult life. The actors presence clearly displays the sense of community amongst the cast, which helps bring the different highschool graduation experiences to life on the LeFevre stage. With a sprinkling of self-discovery, rivalries, perfectionism, romance, sibling dynamics, and a fear of the unknown, this hilarious musical is a must watch for all students and faculty at SMC. The musical is a medley of student writing, Broadway musical numbers, scenes from different plays. The students seem to be having a blast carrying out this storyline on stage, and their infectious energy is a major draw for any theatre-going person. The show depicts all the details of young adult life in an hour-and-a-half production. All the small moments of the high school experience- jokes, roasts, heartaches, heartbreaks, hard conversations, and tearful endings– all packed into a hilarious and honest musical of the young adult experience. This is a must-watch for the SMC community, and if you see the student leaders make sure to give them an extra round of applause. By Remy Zerber Tik Tok Expert Wouldn’t it be great if SMC did a musical inspired by TikTok? It would have all the popular songs from TikTok like “I’m Good (Blue)” by David Guetta & Bebe Rexha, “As It Was” by Harry Styles and “Anti-hero” by Taylor Swift. All the students would be really excited because they would get to dance to their favorite songs. The songs change every year depending on what is popular on TikTok so the script stays updated. Everyone would get to dance to their favorite songs. Everyone would be cast as famous TikTokers like Charli D'Amelio or Addison Rae. It would be hilarious watching everyone do the WAP dance on stage! All the TikTok dances would be included. All the characters would be in high school, college or just living life in their twenties. One person could even be the TikTok symbol and another person would be the person in charge of the app in China. The antagonists would be the people trying to get TikTok banned and the protagonist would be all the people trying to convince them not to ban it. All the characters would do one big group dance for the finale and one in the middle of the show. It would be so funny to see the TikTok CEO dancing! Just imagine a bunch of old men doing a TikTok dance! The sets would include a high school and a college. They could have a ridiculous mascot like the yellow cows or the Uni unicorn. Uni would be perfect for college since college is often called uni. Plus just imagine someone trotting around in a unicorn suit. It would be so cute! A yellow cow walking around the school would be so funny too! It would be like a sunshine cow or a golden cow for good luck. The golden cow would bring good luck to the sports teams. A TikTok musical is a great idea! It would be super fun and hilarious with all the great costumes, sets and characters, not to mention the hilarious storyline! All the students will love it! HAPPY APRIL FOOLS DAY FROM THE COLLEGIAN!
Crocs: Why everyone is wearing the highly coveted shoe? By Madison “I only wear them in sports mode” Sciba Crocs Expert There is a new fashion trend spreading across the United States and it is coming as no surprise. Crocs, the famous rubber shoes, are becoming the center of the world of footwear. They are truly becoming the footwear of the future, featuring several different styles and “modes.” Most popular among the youth are sport mode and relaxed mode. Sport mode, also known as x-games mode, is done by removing your foot from the croc, lowering the strap and putting the shoe back on so the strap is now resting behind the foot. This is optimal for turning crocs from everyday lounging shoes into athletic, all terrain shoes. Relaxed mode involves the strap resting in the top of the shoe, giving the heel freedom to move about. This is ideal for just walking around, just a casual everyday shoe. Need to take the trash out? Just slide them on in relaxed mode, it's easy peasy. Not only are crocs functional, but they are also becoming the epitome of style. Available in a variety of colors and patterns, choosing your design is the first step to making them truly unique. The next step in croc ownership is the jibbitz. Little charms that just pop in the holes on the tops of the shoes. Now this is where you can really personalize your crocs. The options for jibbitz are endless, cute animals, food, plants, objects, phrases. If you can name it, then you can find a jibbitz. So stop talking bad about today’s youth and how they “don’t wear real shoes” because crocs are far superior to any loafers or granny shoe from the 1970s. Just suck it up and invest in a pair of crocs, they will change your life and your relationship with your feet. HAPPY APRIL FOOLS DAY FROM THE COLLEGIAN STAFF!
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STAFFMadison Sciba '24, Archives
May 2024
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