As finals week approaches, many students begin preparing for the worst week of the semester. With summer right around the corner, students are becoming more and more anxious to get done with school. As a senior, I am even more anxious for finals week to be over because not only does it mark the start of summer, but it also marks the end of my college career. The best part about this semester’s finals week, though, is that I don’t have to take a single final.

Sure I have final projects, papers and presentations to prepare for. But, come Thursday, I will officially be done doing work for Dominican University because I don’t have class on Friday. My projects will be done, my presentations will be prepared, my papers will be edited and turned in. The only thing left to do is to go through the motions.

When next week is over, I will be seven days away from being a college graduate. I have spent the last four years of my life dedicated to completing my Bachelor of Arts degree in Apparel Design and Journalism and now I am only two weeks from being done. It is hard to believe that I have been in college and Chicago for four years already. The time has truly flown by, although it didn’t feel that way while I was pulling all-nighters and studying for quizzes. People say that graduating is the end, and it is, but it is also the beginning. And personally, I am ready for a new start, whatever that may mean.

- Stacy

The past few weeks have been blurs of life and school. 

The show, She Stoops to Conquer, went well. Those who saw it said it was an enjoyable experience. It was hard work, but I managed to do my best as a character from the 18th century. The style wasn’t the only challenge, the makeup and costumes presented me with a type of acting that I had not done before. My face was painted white and I had a thick black wig on as well. All in all it was a good show to go out on. As I turned in my senior project forms from the play, I joined the fashion students in their feeling of relief and completeness.

I also recently finished my term as a Board of Trustee member. The last meeting allowed me to thank everyone for all that they have and will continue to do for Dominican. The invocation I did was completely made up by me. It contained a prayer and some insights to the Board as how my experience as a member was this year. This week I am transitioning the new Student Trustee to carry on in my footsteps. As a parting gift, I received a frame with my name etched in it at the top.

After the show and my last meeting, I finally made preparations for life after graduation. I did some hard thinking and realized that, although I want to stay in the area and start my acting career, it would be more beneficial for me and my family if I were to take a break. I have decided to go back home to Arkansas. This is a huge step from my original plans, but I know that when I return, my friends will be here to aid the transition.

- Jaron

Easter Break was supposed to be an opportunity for me to relax and catch up on both my school work and personal life. As I sit here reflecting on my weekend, I realize that I spent the last four days like many other students, doing nothing.

I had made a list of things to do over the weekend, things that would make my last week of school much more enjoyable if I finished them early. When I went to my boyfriend’s on Thursday afternoon, I had every intention of finishing my list. He still had class and work so I would have plenty of time to myself.

Thursday was supposed to be “portfolio day,” but instead Vince and I went out for dinner and came home to watch a movie. Friday was supposed to be “seminar homework day” while Vince was at work. However, despite the Playstation network being down, I decided to watch Netflix until Vince got home. Saturday should have been a day to work on my design presentation but instead, Vince and I slept until 1 p.m. We spent the rest of the day dying eggs, making food for Easter and putting together new patio furniture. That night we went to a friend’s birthday party downtown and didn’t get home until 3 a.m. The next day was Easter, so Vince and I spent the day with his family.

Now that I am back at school, I realize that I didn’t finish any of the things on my list. While it would have been nice to have finished my list, I had a relaxing weekend. I slept in and even had a chance to take naps. Now that I am well rested, I am ready to take on my last week of college.

-Stacy

As most of you know, the fashion show was last week. After several weeks of planning, sewing, and sleepless nights, all of my hard work united on stage in a collaboration known as my senior collection; hoodrat. As a class, we sold more tickets than last year, finished under budget, and got amazing reviews on everything from music and stage to professionalism and models, despite having half as many seniors.  I think it is fair to say, that Dominican University’s Spring Fashion Show 2011 – Awaken, was a complete success. Shannon Seegers won senior collection and several of us seniors, including myself, were selected to participate in the 2011 Driehaus Fashion Show.  Last year, 1st 2nd and 3rd place awards all went to Dominican students, so things are looking quite promising.

As graduation quickly approaches, it is comforting to know that my career in fashion design is not ending, but instead just beginning.

- Stacy

Life comes at you very fast, especially during moments of transition. For the past few months I have been searching for an apartment, possible roommates, and a vehicle. Now with less than a month to go in school, I finally think I know where I am going to live. I plan on visiting apartments next week and setting something up so that I will have a place to lay my head after I walk across the stage as a graduate. The apartments I am going to look at are in the North part of Chicago. From there I will work at Noodles and Co., as well as begin my auditions for theatre in the area.

After seeing the fashion show I thought about my own final project. This week She Stoops to Conquer will be revealed starting Thursday. All of the many rehearsals and sleepless nights are definitely worth the effort, for four nights of theatre. My passion for theatre allows me to dedicate myself and focus all my energy into the show. Along with the transition from rehearsal to performance, this week I will be attending my last Board of Trustees meeting. I get to open the meeting with the invocation and give all my knowledge over to the new trustee who is to take my place.

It has been a journey, and though I may not be completely ready to leave, I know I will always have my friends, family, and the confidence in myself to do anything I put my mind to.

- Jaron

Growing up in St. Louis, it was hard not to be inspired by the urban inner-city culture. Around every corner there was graffiti, grunge, and music. After moving to Chicago, I began drawing the urban parallels. My line is a progression of my signature black look, from what I was to what I have become. It demonstrates the importance of your past and how it influences your future.

- Stacy

Near the end of the year, many types of events occur. Some of them are organized by clubs and organizations, while others are University sponsored events.

Campus Activities Board has a casino night every year. This is a night with a theme, which could range from pirates to cowboys. The Social Hall is turned into a casino with multiple types of gambling available. The more chips you win, the more tickets you get to drop into different raffle buckets in order to win awesome prizes. Though I’ve never won anything, I always had a great time.

Before I went to the casino night, I enjoyed the Dominican Dance Team’s performance. This year they had 18 dances, three of which were done by guest performers. As I can attest to, the dance team gets better every year. They were on fire, with quick costume changes and many dances full of high energy. The music and lights were very well orchestrated as well. The types of dances range from hip-hop/stomp, ballet, Irish dancing, and beyond. While I was there I noticed many girls who had graduated from Dominican came back to support their friends whom they had worked with before. I asked one of them and they said sitting back and watching filled them with multiple emotions.

The final event that is a Dominican tradition is the Candle & Rose Ceremony. Though the ceremony will not be until the final week of school, I want to mention it, because I was honored with the privilege to give my personally written speech at the ceremony. To anyone who wants to audition to speak, my advice is to be honest in your speech. My speech is not traditional in that it does joke around, but it is truthful of my experience.

- Jaron

Is it spring yet?

Many things have happened since Spring Break, but senior year is so full of things to do that I sometimes forget to relax, unless of course the event in my schedule is a relaxing one.

At Dominican’s Job Fair I dressed in business attire, printed out some fresh resumes, took out my lip rings, put on a smile of confidence and shaved my five o’clock shadow. Though the job fair was smaller than the convention in Oakbrook Terrace, it did contain many important businesses who are looking for employees. I strolled around the tables for a bit, then decided to try my hand at the insurance business. I handed the gentleman my resume and he gave me his card. The next day I sent him an email, and then I received a call from him the very next day. I set up an interview time and got some ideas of how to prepare for the interview. Before I attended the interview, I made sure I had a notepad, resume, pen, Dominican folder and a list of questions. The questions show the company that you have done some research about their business. The interview process went well and I learned that the branch manager actually graduated from Rosary (now Dominican) College, small world. I hope to hear from him soon.

Then I attended two concerts. The first was actually an opera. Lohengrin was four hours long. Sadly to say I learned that I am not a fan of opera, at least not German opera, and I left after thee hours. Though I left early, I still enjoyed my time. During Spring Break, I attended the annual Trustee Benefit Concert and dinner. The programs that were handed out actually included a picture and quote from me, kind of weird, but makes for an interesting conversation piece. The concert featured the fabulous Camerata Ireland. The dinner afterward was fun, because I was seated with four Dominican Sisters and four men from a bank that helped support the university.

Regardless of how I feel about it being over, the production was a huge success and I’m extremely happy with the work that we all put into it.

- Jaron

As with every semester since I’ve been at Dominican, I was involved with a recent performance. One of the productions this semester was the Black Box Experiment: Wendy Wasserstein, The Uncommon Woman. It was a series of student directed scenes by the playwright Wendy Wasserstein. My role this semester? Stage Manager. This was my first time stage managing. I’ve assistant stage managed before but I’ve never been a Stage Manager. It was nerve racking when I was given the position, to say the least. 

During rehearsals, it was difficult to get into the role. I was not very confident in my position. Throughout the rehearsal process approaching Tech week, though, I got much more confident. By the beginning of tech week, I had definitely grown into the position. Running a tech rehearsal was awesome. It was a whole new side of theatre that I had experienced before but never been in charge of. 

When the actual performance rolled around, the weekend of March 18, the show had shaped up into a beautiful production. Audiences had nothing but good things to say about the show. Professors who came to see it also said that they were impressed. Overall, I was extremely proud of the work we put together as a cast and crew. It was great working with such amazing people from the cast to the directors and my amazing assistant stage manager. 

Now the production is over and I’m done with shows until the summer. I’m not sure how I feel about that. On the one hand, I have free time to do homework, get all of my finals in order, and go out this semester with a bang On the other hand, I will not be with a production for several months. It’s the longest I will have gone without being involved in a production since my first semester here. 

Regardless of how I feel about it being over, the production was a huge success and I’m extremely happy with the work that we all put into it.

- Dannie