Sept, Oct and Nov Review

As I sit here writing this blog, it's hard for me to believe that it's December 1st already! It seems like yesterday that I just arrived and there was no snow on the ground. Since most students reading this have no idea what happened in the last three months, I thought I'd give a little re-cap and get you up to date!

In September, one main event was Spirit Night! This night consists of the houses competing against each other for the 'Golden Shoe' which is awarded to the house that shows the most spirit, cooperation, energy, and best costumes. This year the theme was "Batman Begins" so naturally, Edwards House had the villains, Batman and Robin (though Robin was quite literally a bird), and everyone else were buildings or signs saying "Ka-Boom!" or "SHAZAM!" - we looked quite good, if I do say so myself. All the other houses were also very creative and everyone really showed their house spirit. Competitions included relays and dance-offs, and if even your team wasn't playing, you were supposed to cheer anyways! And cheer Edwards did because we ended up winning the 'Golden Shoe'! Not bad for one of the smallest houses on campus!

Edwards House on Spirit Night

Lester Brown also came in September to give a speech on student leadership and the concepts in his new book, Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization - it was a very full house for that speech! Another event included a play called "Charivari: Sounds of the Tantrmar", which was about Sackville and the surrounding area (history, weather, the people). Homecoming weekend was also in September and it was amazing to see all the garnet and gold colours at the Mounties football game! And one final main event in September was the debate of all candidates running in the Beausejour electoral district, in which students were free to go, ask questions and see first-hand a political debate.

And now the month of October included the Federal Election Day, where MTA had the first on-campus voting station, Relay for Life, and a fantastic show by an acapella group, 'Cadence', part of the Performing Arts Series. There was also the Thanksgiving Long Weekend, and as I'm from BC, I stayed behind and had a wonderful dinner with 24 other people at Cuthberston. Edwards House had their first coffeehouse, where residents performed their various talents, which included a wide range from Irish tap dancing to singing ballads! 'Coming Out' Week was also held in October which was put on by the Catalyst Society and they held a 'Positive Space Seminar' to promote awareness of homosexuality on-campus.

In November, the Campus Climate Challenge began in which houses compete against each other to see who can lower their emissions the most - water, electrical, heat, etc. This means getting dirty as less laundry is done, less showers are taken, and less dishes are washed! The winner will get an awesome prize and the satisfaction of knowing they helped the environment.

The Rights and Democracy Delegation brought the Panties for Peace Campaign to MTA to support the women in Burma and had Mika Levesque who founded the campaign in Canada speak about Burma - we managed to send off quite a number of panties to Burma! This campaign plays on the superstitous belief that if a man touches a women's panties, he will lose his power or his 'manhood', thus by sending the panties to the militia who abuse, torture, and rape the women of Burma, awarness can be raised.

As well, Tom Fun Orchestra came to George's Roadhouse and put on an amazing show that lasted until 2 am! Free the Children had their annual dinner and dance, and finally, Argument was performed in the Windsor Theatre which was a bilingual comedy about family, friendship and conflicting lifestyles. With a cast of 31 and a crew of 20, it was quite a big production but everyone in it did amazing and brought tears of laughter to the audience.

Argument's cast (or a bit of it)

Well, that's quite a summary! Of course, these are not the only events that happened at MTA and in Sackville these past three months, these are just ones I happened to attend or the ones I consider the "big ones". Other events included various concerts at George's, UNICEF Halloween Party at Uncle Larry's, Edwards House Floor Crawl, various speakers at MTA, Thalloween, Harper Havoc, and much much more! And because it is Mount Allison, there is going to be much more to come!