Everyone needs "Milk"

Last night I finally made the time to sit down and watch “Milk.” I was worried I would be disappointed because of all the hype, but I was amazed. Not only was the acting phenomenal, but the story was so inspiring. This movie is especially important when considering the incredible advancements in equal rights made in just the past few months.

I am so proud of the progress our country is making. There are now five states that allow gay marriage and several more look promising to pass legislation. This is such a great time for my generation because we actually feel that we CAN make a difference. The election of Barack Obama was a huge step, and now we are finding our voice and speaking out against all inequalities.

I’m the first to admit that change scares me, but not this kind. I hope we continue to push ourselves and our fellow Americans to take action, even in the smallest ways.

I’ll end with one of my favorite lines from the movie: “Because it's not about personal gain, not about ego, not about power... it's about the "us's" out there. Not only gays, but the Blacks, the Asians, the disabled, the seniors, the us's. Without hope, the us's give up - I know you cannot live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living. So you, and you, and you... You gotta give em' hope... you gotta give em' hope.”

Broadway meets Twitter

If you follow me on Twitter or know me personally, you know I have an obsession for anything musical. I also have a passion for social media. I was attending a student performance of "The Last Five Years" last week and, as usual, during the director's speech, he asked everyone to turn off their phones. I followed suit, of course, but I know many people probably didn't.

With the advent of Twitter, a trend of live "tweeting" events was born. While I readily partake, especially during American Idol, I can't help but think that there are some times when you should just let your fingers rest and enjoy the art that is in front of you.

As a performer, I know how annoying, distracting, and disrespectful it is when people are texting or taking pictures while you are onstage. People may try to tell you that when you are on stage you can only see the first five rows, but I can tell you from personal experience that you can see way past that. Why come to the theater and potentially pay money when you could just sit at home doing the same thing?

My feeling on this is that it just is not the time or place to be linked to social media while at a play or concert or dance performance. The Arts provide an escape from reality, one much appreciated in such a fast-paced, on-the-go society.

Busy, busy, busy

I don't think I've ever been this busy in my life. In high school I was the student body president and thought that job was intensive, but now I'm actually having to limit myself on my activities so I don't have a nervous breakdown.

I'm the kind of person that almost never says no to an opportunity to either help someone or to help me grow as a person. Although it's been hard, I've had to say no to opportunities in college, and that's been a difficult adjustment for me.

I think I had this idea coming into college that I needed to do as much as possible as not to miss anything. I'm beginning to see that maybe focusing one a few things that I really love is the best way to go. By limiting myself, I've been able to throw myself into everything I do and have been able to gain a lot of experience this year.

This summer I'll be interning at the Charleston Area Medical Center in the Marketing and Public Affairs department. I'm thrilled to work on one project instead of three or four and I hope my devotion to this internship will show through my work.

Meanwhile, I'm crossing my fingers for warm weather and a great end to sophomore year!