No Longer an Undergrad!

That's right followers of this little martian, your Martian is not so little anymore. Are you ready for this? On May, 6, 2019, it became official. I officially have my bachelor's degree!  Can you tell by the smile on my face how excited I am to finally be done with school? 5 and a half years of grueling coursework, office hours, homework, applying for jobs and financial aid and scholarships...it all lead up to this.

And it wasn't just me who graduated. I got to graduate with my very best friend in the world. Look at all the honor cords she got to wear! She was in every honor society for Mechanical Engineering or being smart, and was in the Catholic Student Union-if you think I'm smart, I'll say you should meet my best friend! I had no honor cords, myself.

And of course, since we graduated,
we just had to jump for joy!

Besides saying goodbye to my best friend, the hardest part was leaving the apartment I've called home for the last three years. I've made it my own, and that apartment has seen my worst days, and my biggest successes. I left a note hidden for the next person who might live there. I left them directions for how to feed the turtles, and the names of all the turtles, of course, and who the best RAs are (hint: it's all of them.) I will miss the place where I hung out with my best friend, where I met Lynze, Tim, Yana, Piers, TJ, Katie, Mike, and so many other people who made my college experience memorable. I will miss running out front to watch the trail of a rocket-even though I was late for class to stop and watch it. I'll miss my turtles, and the lake where I sat and felt the wind in my hair. I hope whoever lives in the complex after me climbs the trees as high as I did and maybe finds where I carved my name into the branches. I like to believe I left my mark on ERAU, and that I made a memorable difference.
So I turned in my key at the student village, knowing it would be the last time I stressed in May about sufficiently moving everything out, with the ever-lasting fear I'd forgotten something, and Mom and I headed north to my next adventure....more on that coming soon! :)

I hope the drama club keeps doing Rocky Horror, and the dance team keeps dancing, that Dr. Szathmary keeps recruiting new students, and that the CSO program (SFO, whatever) Reaches its highest peaks. Most importantly, I hope my best friend never forgets me, and that this apartment might take care of whoever comes behind me, as well as it took care of me. So long, Riddle. Thanks for the ride.

Signing off, as no longer an undergrad.

xo Martian

Touch-N-Go Incentive Trip!

Hey Everyone! Well, it's that time of year again. What? Christmas? No! It's Touch-N-Go INCENTIVE! 
Welcome back to another Episode of The Little Martian Girl. It's been awhile. Welcome back to Touch-N-Go Productions. The Gold Standard for Campus Activities. We've had another year fly by, and we're back...ironically, in black.

It's nearing the end of the year, and students are rushing to the office. Everyone is asking one question; "Did I make hours?" This means-did I attend half of Touch-N-Go meetings and, out of the 96 hours we spent putting on events, did I do at least half of those? The answer, for about twenty of us, was a resounding "Yes!" And so, on a Saturday in November, we piled into the School Transportation Vehicles, and off we headed to Orlando.

We got there within an hour of leaving-around 130. After bags had been searched, and admission bracelets adorned each member's wrist, everyone rushed to the Go-Karts for a traditional TNG Race.

Here we are, waiting our turn, in our handsome Black-and-White Member Polos, indicating our status and making it very easy to find each other

Here we are, identifiable as ever, looking cool, walking in a group, in our Member Polos....

Well, within an hour, my best friend arrived, and off we went to the carousel, tilt-a-whirl, the Fun Slide, the ScramBlurr, and to ride the Go-Karts again. 

And occasionally take a break...

Riding the Rip Curl

Arguably my favorite photo, taken from the old wooden roller coaster looking up.

Then, we all went off to Dinner, a treat paid for by Touch-N-Go, and, by extension, The SGA.

 The place we went was called Texas de Brazil-a dinner place that cost $50/person and there isn't even a menu! They bring different foods (mostly meat) to your table and you say "yes, I'd like to try that" or "No, thank you."

Look at this fancy Ketchup!! It comes on its own boat!

Look at this Dessert Selection! (I went for the Chocolate Cake)

My favorite was the mashed potatoes. Look
at the fancy little boats that the sides were
served in!

 Everybody got very excited when they brought the dessert selection around. It was a very serious debate!

 Annd Finally...the Touch-N-Go Group Photo

As you can see, some of my old friends are still around, and I've made some new ones along the way. It's been a great adventure so far, and we aren't done yet. We're rocking and rolling here, and this was a great time, and a fun bonding experience. Well worth the over 70-odd hours I logged to earn the right to be here and call myself, still, a member of Touch-N-Go.

Stay tuned, amd keep visiting me here for more updates on my adventures!

xo -Martian

Martian's-Eye-View from #TNGBigShow2016

So, it's been awhile. Well, don't blame me. Touch-N-Go has been INCREDIBLY busy and I've most definitely been caught up in all the excitement. See, TNG has this super cool thing they call Big Show. Basically, they bring a big name band to kinda wrap the semester up in a super cute fun little bow. They set up the stage, and the sound system, and there's like a billion lights that need to be cued up on the light board...yeah, it's a ton of fun. So Setup started at 08. It wasn't easy to get up at 7AM on a Saturday, but well worth it. I helped Lorraine in the morning, setting up the dressing rooms, then just kinda hung out with Jessica in the afternoon. Throughout the show, I ran around being a shutterbug for your reading pleasure. 

So Big Show starts with an empty gym....

And, with some teamwork, drops a stage right in the middle

Add some trusses for lights

Kendall teaches Lorraine how
it works during a break

And set up what will be the sound and light 'booth' (raised platform)



















And some more equipment from the trailer when the act gets there...

Add some stage decoration and music pieces...

 

And some sound equipment...

And of course you need a crew, some
lights, and some cables...

    

And the show never goes on until Brandon says so...

  

 Add some lights....

And an audience...

 I took plenty of photos as everyone filed in...And I do mean EVERYONE. Kaitlyn got SO MANY people there! I've never seen so many people at a school event!!!!! The concert itself was pretty good, I actually camped out backstage for awhile, and it was so cool to sit there and see people loving something I was a part of, having fun because of even the small jobs I helped with.

 
 

AND WE'VE GOT A SHOW!

Before the show,  I met the opener, and the guy was really nice. Especially because I totally proved the awkward-theatre-kid stereotype when I wouldn't actually SPEAK to him...Jessica did for me. But he signed my sweatshirt. 
During the show, Some of us wanted to eat....

And some of us had to work. 

But when the show ended, it was, once again, all hands on deck. Around 11, everyone rushed toward the stage. And my friend Jessica and I ran to the lobby to meet the act. I actually did meet the band outside, which was good cuz I was super disappointed I missed it before show. Jessica had to ask for me, I just got all shy. Which is funny for a stage kid, but this wasn't theatre-with people I've spent forever with. This was away from my natural habitat and I suddenly forgot how to actually speak.

Cleanup was LATE. I didn't get back to my room till one AM. But it was well worth it, I got to be helpful and put up the stage, which is my favorite thing. When midnight hit and we were still going strong, I jokingly asked Lorraine; "if all meals are provided, does that include midnight snack?" and THIS GIRL, without missing a beat, says; "I already ordered pizza." I was like DANG! I was joking and got an awesome surprise. Midnight Pizza.
And so we all had a quick snack, and got back to work. 

The trussing came down...

And the speakers came down...

And the stage came down

And away went the cables..

Everyone gathered 'round to break
down the stage

we moved the stage pieces to the middle 

of the gym

And we gathered round our Fearless Leader

I liked what Dustin said at the end about TNG being the best at what they do-watching it, watching everyone work together, I know that's true.

In short, 10/10 would do again. I just wish it wasn't the last event. #TNGBigShow2016. American Authors was one heck of a show. And that's all, from this Martian's Eye View from TNG Productions for 2016. Join me back again Next Year!

xoxo -Martian