It’s times like these
Posted: April 25, 2013 Filed under: Cedar City, Student Life | Tags: cedar city, Choices, college, Feelings, Life, School, Student Life, suu, University Leave a comment »WOW! School is almost over and I can’t really wrap my head around that. My 1st year at SUU has been absolutely amazing and I am so happy I’m here and will be back next year as well. As I have sat here thinking about what this 1st year has done for me, I see so many things that have been a positive influence and have changed my life for good. The people I’ve meet, the professors I have been able to work closely with, my leadership organization, ect, and it’s times like these when I just stop and really see how amazing SUU is. Its been so amazing, that I kind of get all warm and fuzzy just thinking about it all! That, people, is exactly how it should be. When you think about your school, when you think about where you want to be for the next few years of your life, make sure the feelings there. I can say this from experience, college becomes your new home. If you want to like your new home, make sure that the chosen school (sound all epic saying this! 
), is actually the one.
I am proud to say that I am a life long t-bird with pride as big as the ocean blue, and I hope that you can be too.
So go and find that place where you need to be and stick with it. SUU is my groove because of all the amazing things that have made it that way, and I knew from the beginning that this was going to be my new home. I have never, EVER regretted that decision.
Just a picture and a really close friend I met at SUU and I at one of my FAVORITE SUU dances. 
Fly, Peter, Fly! Fly!
Posted: April 19, 2013 Filed under: Cedar City | Tags: Adventures, cedar city, Cedar City Airport, christmas break, college, collegebound, Flights, Fly, friends, Fun, Fun Times, memories, southern utah, Student Life, suu, tbirdnation, UT Leave a comment »Did you know Cedar City has an airport?
Cedar City Airport
Did you know they have flights to the Salt Lake International Airport every single day?
CLICK HERE for a link to Cedar’s webpage about their airport. You can view the regular flight times there.
Did you know that flights are pretty reasonably priced? I’m not saying to fly up north every single day, but perhaps for the occasional concert, event, or wild spontaneous weekend…it’s an option. So, let’s say you want to go to your nephew’s fourth birthday party in Salt Lake on Sunday night but you have to be to class at 10am on Monday morning. Why not just fly back? Or let’s say that you’re super homesick for your rich parents. Why not just have them fly in for lunch? (I recommend the Pastry Pub.) It could happen (for those of you that have rich parents). There are other scenarios I could paint, but let me just tell you, flying from Cedar City to Salt Lake is a pretty good deal. I went home this last weekend for that nephew scenario. Happy Birthday, Cooper….thanks for letting me come to your party.
The Cedar airport is a happy place where life moves a bit slower. When I showed up an hour early for my flight, the only employee I could find told me, “Oh, just take a seat by the fireplace and we’ll make an announcement when we’re ready to start the security screening and boarding processes for the flight.” That’s just how they roll there. I loved it. Here’s what some of my experience looked like.
Like I said, don’t necessarily plan on flying from Cedar to Salt Lake every day or every weekend, but if you ever get the chance, just know that it’s an option. And you never know, upon landing in Salt Lake, you might just run into some good friends off on a weekend adventure of their own.
Lookin’ good, Garret and Kyle!
The Salt Lake airport is pretty nice too, it’s just not quite what we’ve got here in Southern Utah. PS, getting through Salt Lake security screening on a Monday morning took longer than my entire 33 minute flight back to the land of SUU. Ain’t no thang.
My sister told me I was pretty cool for flying up North for the weekend, and honestly, I kinda felt cool. Walking into my class at 10am, nobody even knew that my flight had just arrived at 9:20 that morning. Always be aware of the adventures that are awaiting you…even in Cedar City, Utah.
Mr. SUU
Posted: April 17, 2013 Filed under: Cedar City, Student Life | Tags: 1st man attendant, 2nd man attendant, acoustic, Band, colors of the wind, evening-wear, Fun, Guitar, king, little big heart, Male, Mr. SUU, Pageants, pochahontas, rhythmic gymnastics, Scooters, suu, talent Leave a comment »Every year, SUUSA puts on a pageant for Mr. SUU as part of Sunfest! Sunfest is a week long of activities right before dead week, which is a week where campus-wide activities are prohibited. I believe Sunfest is held so that students can have some last minute fun before cramming for those finals!
Any male student can apply for Mr. SUU and it’s always a blast to enjoy. This year there were seven beautiful contestants. Today’s pageant consisted of two sections: a talent section and an evening-wear section with a random questionairre. Some of the great talents we saw tonight were rhythmic gymnastics, acoustic guitar performances, a piano performance, and stand-up comedy. I have to say that my favorite performance was when one of the contestants did rhythmic gymnastics to “Colors of the Wind” from Pochahontas.
In the evening-wear section, the question that stood out to me was “If you could have only one of the qualities listed, which would it be? Beautiful, intelligence, or rich?” The contestant chose beauty because he believed that almost anything could be attained with beauty. By the way, there was some spiffy outfits tonight! Looking good, guys!
Judges left briefly as the audience was entertained by Little Big Heart, a local band comprised of many great SUU students.
The constentants waited nervously for the results.
The titles awarded were 2nd Man Attendant, 1st Man Attendant, and Mr. SUU. Those who won one of the titles were given a brand new scooter! I’m way jealous!
In the end, Joey Cardenas took the win as Mr. SUU! All hail the new king!
SUU is full of Excellence
Posted: April 12, 2013 Filed under: Cedar City, Experiential Education, Student Life | Tags: Campus Activities, cedar city, Excellence, Festival, Psychology, Research, Student Life, suu Leave a comment »This past week, SUU was able to put on the very 1st Festival of Excellence! This was a campus wide conference where students and professors alike where able to present their ideas or things that they had done in school with the rest of the student body. Classes where suspended and every student was encouraged to go and see what was offered. We had many seniors present their Cap Stone projects for SUU’s Edge projects and we had professors present on topics that they had written on.
The morning stated off early with a performance by our Cheerleaders and an introduction to the things that were provided for the rest of the day. Along with other single presenters, such as the students and professors, a Poster Session was held where many people or groups of students where able to present their findings on research projects they did, whether for Psychology or other things. I was privileged enough to have the opportunity to present with 2 other students on a Psychology research project that we conducted for more than a month. It was nice to be able to talk to students about what I had learned and share my findings.
The idea behind the Festival was to get students more engaged in the academics, as well as open other student’s eyes to things that they may not have know before and give them ideas to do more with their education. Which is actually what SUU is all about. We want students to take control of their education and do what they want with it and experience many different things.
Chelsea Kimptom, a junior History/Anthropology major, said that she really enjoyed having the Festival on campus and she was happy that we were able to have it and hopes that it will become an annual thing.
So when you think about where to attend, keep in mind that you’ll only find the best form of excellence at Southern Utah University
I’m going there some day
Posted: April 12, 2013 Filed under: Cedar City | Tags: cedar city, friends, LDS, Mormons, Religion, southern utah, tbirdnation, Temple, UT Leave a comment »The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has an exciting announcement. Watch!
They’re going to build a Mormon temple in Cedar City. It’s going to be a couple years before this comes to fruition, but seeing as I’ve already been hoping for this for four years, I can wait patiently (and excitedly) for a little bit longer until it happens.
For more information on why Mormons build temples, CLICK HERE.
For some details on the Cedar City temple specifically, CLICK HERE.
For the SUU Journal article listing some additional benefits of the temple, CLICK HERE.
And in the meantime, just know that I’m one very excited tbirdnation-er!
Power Outages
Posted: April 10, 2013 Filed under: Cedar City, Student Life | Tags: Dark, dorm, electricity, epiphany, flashlight, flashlight apps, phones, Power outage, Shower, society 1 Comment »Oh that awkward moment in my life when I really should get out of my bed and go out to greet society, but I haven’t showered in two days. Lo and behold as I crawl out of bed I learn from my roommates’ wild shenanigans that the power is out in the dorms. I think nothing of it until I walk into the bathroom, ready to shower. It is then that I realize that I would have to shower in the darkness. I had to think to myself – should I shower in the dark or go on another day without it? Possibly stumble around in the darkness and slip or harm society with poor hygiene? I was caught between a rock and a hard place.
But don’t fear! That is why we have flashlights on our phones! (And real flashlights around the dorm)
I was able to become squeaky clean with 29% brightness or so in the bathroom! I had a moment of epiphany as I would close my eyes. “Hey. It’s dark when I shut my eyes.” When we shower, water gets in our face and we tend to close our eyes, so it’s already dark in that aspect. We’re all experienced at showering in the dark.
Don’t worry. I felt safe after having this epiphany.
Living on your own teaches you to improvise sometimes!
P.S. Why isn’t there a picture? Because it’s totally pitch black, silly goose.
Popcorn Popping
Posted: April 5, 2013 Filed under: Cedar City | Tags: cedar city, Nature, Popcorn Popping, southern utah university, spring semester, Student Life, suu, tbirdnation 1 Comment »Good news.
Spring is here.
And that’s all you need to worry about today.
Carry on.
Dancing with the Stars!
Posted: April 3, 2013 Filed under: Cedar City, Student Life Leave a comment »The SUU Ballroom Company puts on their very own Dancing with the Stars competition every year. This year, a few of my friends, Jeffrey Hertig, Eva Chau, and Lance Lowry participated in the event along with many others. What’s cool about this event is that the Ballroom Company invites people from different areas of the school and community to participate. My friend Eva is a graphic design major who doesn’t dance at all. Jeff and Lance were both in SUUSA, but Jeff is an accounting major. There was a high school teacher from Canyon View High School, one of Power 91′s DJs, a faculty and staff member from SUU and many more. Eight different people pair up with a Ballroom Dance Company member and dance in a different genre. The genres Rumba, Tango, Hustle, Quickstep, Salsa, Cha Cha, Viennese Waltz, and Swing. My favorite part is watching the performances of course, but also cheering for fan favorites. I definitely screamed my lungs out for Jeff and Eva! Be sure to come watch this fun competition when you get a chance!
Jeff and Chandler’s priceless facial expressions!
Friends and supporters of Jeffs with our homemade signs. By the way, congratulations to him and his partner for winning the competition!
A few participants and friends gathered around Eva Chau!
Midnight Movies
Posted: March 27, 2013 Filed under: Cedar City | Tags: Experience More, Experience of a lifetime, Life, memories, Midnight Premiers, Roommates, suu, The Host, the hunger games Leave a comment »This week, my roommates and I will be at the midnight premier of The Host. Looking at my ticket, I thought back to the another midnight premier I’ve attended with my roommate, Bethany. We’ve been together since October 2011 and were lucky enough to see The Hunger Games last March together. We were front row Joes for that event. We arrived at 9 pm and there were no seats left. It makes me wonder if we’ll be going to The Host early to get good seats or if we’ll be stuck in the front forever craning our necks.
I was just thinking about how fun it is to go to a movie premier at this time of my life. I won’t be young forever. That thought got me thinking about this time of my life where I will never get to experience it again. These last two years have been really fun, but lately, things have mellowed out a bit. I think I’ve gotten into a slump of things. It’s that moment when you hit routine and you just go through the motions. I want to get out of it and I’m going to. It’s good to take breathers, but now is the time to be really kicking things forward. Finals is coming up. Summer is almost here. Great things will start to happen, but I’ve gotta get up and maybe you’re in the same boat I’m in.
So I just want to tell you to enjoy what time you do have. Enjoy the moment because it won’t happen again.
Go and experience more.
(Yes, my entire post was just a segue into this promotional video)
[Abby], Pretty Ballerina
Posted: March 25, 2013 Filed under: Cedar City, Student Life | Tags: admissions, Ballet, cedar city, cedar city junior ballet, college, dancing, friends, Fun, sleeping beauty, southern utah, southern utah university, suu, suu admissions, tbirdnation, tchaikovsky, UT, utah, utah college, Utah High School Tour Leave a comment »One thing that I love about SUU (that I’m sure I’ve said before) is the ample opportunities SUU students have to get involved with the community.
One of my best friends, Abby, had that opportunity, too. She was in The Sleeping Beauty ballet presented by Cedar City Junior Ballet. She was one of the fairies and I was so proud of the work she did.
My other friend, Alex (from this post) was also in it as Aurora. It really was a splendid production. The costuming, makeup, adaptation, and set were all exquisite.
Photography was not permitted in the theatre, so here’s the link to Parker Grimes Photography and you can see some great shots of the ballet.
Cadence, Scott, Abby, and me after her remarkable performance. I was one proud friend.
Eric
jillowhitaker
Kirk
Laurel
Jess
Nathan
Thor
Becky
