Category: Amanda Langell (page 2 of 3)

“UDHP’s Key to Success: Small Class Sizes” by Amanda Langell

After a relatively domestic winter break, I am happy to return to UD and begin the new semester. Although I love hanging out with my family and binge watching new TV shows, I prefer to get back into a routine. However, with five major courses on my schedule this spring and an order of 25 textbooks, this semester seemed more daunting than others. The night before the first day of classes my eyes were locked on the clock for lifetimes, watching the minutes tick up, recycle, and then start again. Suddenly, the 1 I had been staring at morphed into a 7 and the dreaded iPhone alarm signaled my necessary departure from my sheets. Nothing is ever as bad you think it will be. Nothing is ever as bad as you think it will be.

Continue reading

“Destigmatizing Creative Writing” by Amanda Langell

We live in a society that scowls at us if we answer “creative writing” to the question, “What is your passion in life?” It’s not fighting for justice in court, saving lives in an OR, perfecting marketing strategies for billion-dollar corporations, or engineering the next big invention that will take over the world. It’s a “waste of time” to sit in front of Microsoft Word for hours concocting stories that could never happen in real life. It’s “unrealistic” to believe it can be made into a substantial career. It’s “counterproductive” in a culture that thrives on practicality and twenty-year plans. “How do you expect to be successful when all you do is write stories about nothing? Stupid romance novels that are laughable compared to the achievements of your peers researching in labs for hours every day.” It’s time to destigmatize creative writing and to stop making those who spend years working on 80,000 word manuscripts feel like their work is insignificant. Continue reading

“Another Year of the REP” by Amanda Langell

Another semester here at UD means another opportunity to attend the plays put on by the REP. My freshman year I took an honors theatre course that introduced me to the university’s outstanding productions. Since attending those two mandatory plays, I have purchased season tickets and make sure to see every play the REP offers every year. Continue reading

Nights at the Theatre by Amanda Langell

Being the Broadway enthusiast that I am, I was ecstatic to find out the plays put on by the REP here at the University of Delaware are of equal caliber to the shows lining the streets of Manhattan. For a little over two weeks, the REP has been showcasing two plays at once: Red and The Things We Do For Love. The plays are wildly different; while one focuses on abstract messages of life through art, the other delves into the twisted feelings of love present in a three-story home. However, despite their contrasting tones and messages, both scripts are compelling, brilliantly executed, and effortlessly manage to captivate audiences.

Red highlights the relationship between Mark Rothko, a well-established artist, and his new employee, Ken, in a breathtakingly intimate performance in the Studio Theatre at the University of Delaware. The two characters battle through their individual ideas concerning art, life, and commercialism for ninety minutes with no intermission. It is an organic display of passion as principles of the past conflict and interchange with introductions to the new world of art. There are no overdramatic costumes, flaunty sets, or any other material objects that would take away the rawness of the performance. As an audience member, I felt every pulsating wave of emotion emitting from both actors on stage and left feeling inspired by the ideas presented throughout the show.

Continue reading

Villanova’s Upset: The Magic of Sports by Amanda Langell

Some monumental things have already happened in 2016: Leonardo DiCaprio won his first Oscar, the trailer for Finding Dory was released, and Justin Bieber now has dreadlocks. The world of pop culture and cinema has a way of drawing everyone into a seemingly endless void of fame, debate, and gossip within seconds of each new event that sweeps the tabloids. Even though people are consumed by the drama of Hollywood, when it’s the month of March, all of that comes second to the NCAA tournament. Suddenly, every commercial on television is about March Madness and everyone around you is talking about college basketball, whether they are a big fan or just making a bracket for charity. For a month, it is a pulsating time that is undoubtedly more noteworthy than Justin Bieber’s dreadlocks.

There is a certain passion that erupts when watching sports that cannot be duplicated. Sure, when Leo won his Oscar, everyone was extremely happy, but after three minutes, it was over. There was no jolt of electricity like there is when thousands of people scream for a common cause in an arena for an extended period of time, all wearing their team’s colors and almost dizzy with anxiety and excitement. The adrenaline that causes fans to instinctively spring up and scream in ecstasy when a tied game is decided in the final dwindling seconds is, in my opinion, something that is unique and unprecedented. It produces tiny strikes of lighting that curl around your heart, dance around your chest, and refuse to simmer even when you are trying to sleep that night as opposed to the ephemeral feelings Hollywood draws from us. The NCAA final produced all of these emotions and more with Kris Jenkins’ buzzer beater three-point shot to bring glory to Pennsylvania.

When you think of colleges with power basketball teams, the obvious answers are always Duke University, the University of Kentucky, and the University of Kansas. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is always up there as well, so it did not surprise anyone when they made the final. But Villanova? They are not typically on that list; however, they prevailed throughout the tournament and managed to upset UNC with their offensive determination. With the last possession of the game and only seconds left on the clock, Villanova had to make something happen quickly or else the game was going to overtime. When Jenkins set his feet for the three and let the ball leave his hands, millions of eyes, both in the arena and at home, followed the trajectory of the ball as time seemed to slow down. The country went silent and then it erupted in chaos. There are some occasions in sports that unfold as perfectly and dramatic as if they were scripted and they just do not compare to the faraway events happening on the west coast. There is an overwhelming element of human drama in sports that makes moments like these historic and everlasting, both in the minds of fans and on the replays of ESPN.

Older posts Newer posts

© 2024

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑

Skip to toolbar