Northwest Missouri State University - Tower Yearbook (Maryville, MO)

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Student Life • 12 First Impressions initial experiences during liis first week of life at college M e o IBO E e o B 9 (0 (0 0) by Mark Hornickel It all started at about 7 a.m. on Aug. 20. I was not too fond of the thought of getting out of bed. especially since I was out until 2 a.m. saying good-bye to friends. I seated myself in between a bunch of boxes on the floor of our caravan and my parents and I began the two-hour drive to Maryville. I slept for most of the ride and woke up to see the sign that read Maryville 10. Soon we had parked the van in front of Phillips Hall. I entered the lobby and was greeted by a bunch of upperclassman. which 1 later realized were Resident Assistants. I met my roommate at about noon. We had talked several times on the phone before, but I was pleased to finally meet him. Dad and I soon began putting together a loft that would allow us to have more space in our room. Two hours and a lot of drilling later, it was finished. My parents and I spent the rest of the afternoon hauling stuff up to my room. My roommate brought his stereo and I brought my TV and VCR and for a while, we seemed to be the attraction of the hall. After awhile, I realized I had nothing more to do but organize the room. My parents could leave. A small smile leaked out of my mouth and I quickly hid it. I did not want to seem too happy they were leaving. I gave my parents hugs and led them to the door as a tear started running down Mom ' s cheek. I told them I loved them as they left. By 5 p.m., my roommate and I decided our room was organized. We went to the Union for dinner. He was from the Maryville area, so he knew a lot of people. I followed him shyly. After dinner, my roommate and I went back to our room and finished it as well as we could. It still would not be fully functional for a couple of days. Our phones were dead, and we could not watch TV because we needed a special cable to hook it up. Finally, we needed extension cords for our refrigerator and microwave. My dad called nights later wondering if we had caused a major explosion with our problems. After a hall meeting, we hung out in our room for a bit. Then we met other guys from our floor to go see Jim Wand. When he tried to hypnotize members of the audience, I became hypnotized. Later, I snapped out of it. I was glad I had snapped out of it because I would not have wanted to miss the comedy show he put on. I thought it was hilarious the way he put people to sleep with sound effects such as machine guns and airpumps. On Thursday, 1 woke up at 7 a.m. so I would get to Freshman Seminar on time. I made the journey across campus to Wells Hall, and after a bit of searching, I found the room. A few minutes later, our peer adviser introduced herself and our instructor sauntered into the room. At 7:30 p.m., my seminar class met to go to Tiger by the Tail, a comical show about college issues. Following the performance, I waited patiently to see David Naster. As a guy that loves comedy, I could not believe all the people that were leaving the auditorium before Naster even got on stage. Once Naster started his routine, I do not think I ever stopped laughing. The tears were streaming down my cheeks as he performed sketches about Daytona fans, golfers, fishing and country music. He also wowed the crowd with his drumming ability. On Friday, I had a tough time getting out of bed to meet my seminar class for Social Issues in College at 8 a.m. Then I had to struggle to stay awake during the two speakers. Later that night, I spent some time with my roommate and a couple of other guys before they took off on a date. Then I invited another friend over to watch the Chiefs game. The ComedySportz show was also happening at Lamkin Activity Center that night. When the all- call was made, we looked at each other and decided the football game was boring and we had nothing better to do. We laughed a ton and were glad we went. On Saturday evening, I attended the multicultural event with Mohammed Bilal, a fonnercast member of MTVs The Real World. Bilal touched on many issues concerting diversity and read a variety of poems. Later, I met .some friends for the X- 1 06 Beach Party on the Tundra. The disc jockeys were comical and my head was nearly knocked off when they threw out free CDs. I was talking to some people and drinking a mocktail when I turned around just in time to catch a Holly McNarland CD. It shattered my plastic cup in the process. Sunday arrived, and after checking out the Methodist church in the morning, 1 spent much of the afternoon preparing for classes. That night I went back to my residence hall. ..ready to start college. i

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Advantage ' 97 ' 11 Mohammed Bilal speaks about his Twelve Steps to Becoming Culturally Diverse. Some of his steps included traveling, reading and learning other languages. Bilal, a former cast member of MTV ' s The Real World, used the fame he got from the show to publicize his message. Photo by Sarah Phipps CassandraJohansen signs upto join Campus Activity Programmers at the Merchant Organization Fair. The fair gave students the chance to get involved with groups like CAPs, which used the fair as a chance both to recruit members and publicize various events CAPs brought to campus. Photo by Lesley Thacker Carrying box after box, freshmen move into Millikan Hall. The Cat Crew, which consisted of several upperclassmen who lived in the residence halls, arrived a day early to help students move in. Cat Crew was very helpful with moving really big objects, Amy Blunk said. Advantage ' 97 allowed freshmen to move in 2 days earlier than upperclassmen. Photo by Amy Roh • 57% female • 4-37o male • Keeidence hall with the moet freehmen: Diet- erlch • Total money awarded to Uni- ersity Freslden- tial Scholarship of I Merit recipients: about $64;000 • Total money awarded tc University Fresidenttal Scholarship of Merit eemifinalists. about $34:000

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u r n d I 1 3 Several students fall under hypnotist Dr. Jim Wand ' s spell during his performance in Bear- cat Arena. Wand was no stranger to the North- west campus. This was his tenth straight year performing for Advantage. Over a span of 14 years, Wand had performed more than 30 shows for Northwest. Photo by Chris Tucker Two members of ComedySportz perform a Shakespearian version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Complete with a referee, penal- ties and points, ComedySportz teams compet- ed against each other in improvisational com- edy skits. Photo by Amy Roh ! M J ' . ■mSmfl gl mM - j i . ' 4« ,. . pnMB .. m ' ' ■■ D 1 kfl Hft iir rm mmmmm «. ' ' Tti P ■« m B - tB- wt. m ■ - ' - ■IF ' VOfl Lii .:•;.. Advantage Events| Wednesday, August 20 Family Luncheon Hypnotist Dr Jm Wand Late Night 3ari?ecue Thursday, August 21 Jazz Feaat Tiger Ipy the Tail Pgv ' d N it-f ' Friday, August 22 5oaai issues in College Pancake Brunch Downtown Merchants Open House ComedySportz Saturday, August 23 Merchant Organization Fair Ivtohammed dilal X-tOe Beach Party Sunday, August 24- Pool Party Sand Volleyball Pesidence Hall Orientation ' la ' ' ' ■ ' tf -xn. ' VcTvat ' cna! speaker