Supporting Senior Projects

By Luci Farrell

Hello there Blogosphere,

As Dorothy mentioned in her blog, we are back into the swing of things and it truly is surreal. This is my last semester, graduation is swiftly approaching, and my senior project presentation is speeding toward me like a freight train that was tampered with by Howard Payne (that was the villain in Speed for those playing the home game). Yet, I am still managing to function.

Of course, I think that is probably because I am still under stress from my break. My flight last week that was supposed to bring me to Florida was cancelled. After hours of phone calls and two friends calming me down, I realized my only hope was to get to the airport and try to find another flight to get me to the Promised Land. At 0500 I was at the airport. I did not manage to get to the front of the line for another hour. After much discussion and planning I managed to get on a flight leaving at 0800. The truth of the matter is that we did not take off until 0900. By this time I had been up for over 24 hours. That was fine. They did not tell me, however, that they had cancelled my return flight. …but I digress.

The point is that with second semester coming to a close you can find seniors on campus in a state of panic. The real world is fast approaching, but more terrifying than that are senior project presentations. Some write papers, some make websites, others create portfolios, and there are a few who even put on events. I can tell you right now that there are some fascinating projects going through final editing and presentations approaching.

In fact, I have an event coming up that I would like to tell you all about. A fellow Communication major, Matt Cavanaugh, just invited me to an event he is putting on as part of his senior project called Hearing What We See. This event features viewing the movie The Long Goodbye (1973) and a discussion with film critic Adam Kempenaar. One of the focuses of the discussion will look at how musical scores communicate meaning to the audience. It will take place on Friday, March 16th at 2:00 pm in McGuire Hall. For more information go to http://libcal.sxu.edu/event.php?id=59488.

Senior projects are a huge challenge and planning them takes up great amounts of time. If you can manage please come out and support Matt, just reserve your seat by clicking the link above. There is nothing more that a senior who has been piecing together their project appreciates more than support from their fellow students and the rest of the SXU community.

As a side note I am quite interested in this project. While a film score may not be the first thing we think of in regards to a movie’s strength, but they stay with us. Admit it. Whenever you talk about Star Wars, Jurassic Park, or Indiana Jones your mind immediately begins playing the scores of John Williams. The ominous music that begins to play lets us know that we are about to meet a villain or that a battle is quickly approaching. So if you enjoy movies and enjoy getting musical scores stuck in your head, go to Hearing What We See!

Keep Calm and Support Senior Projects!

Luci Farrell is a senior from New Haven, CT. She is an Organizational Communication major with a minor in Anthropology. Luci is a Resident Peer Minister on campus and chair of the Honors Program Advisory Council at Saint Xavier University.