Katie Couric The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons from Extraordinary Lives

As an aspiring journalist I feel that there is many people I look up to whether it be for inspiration or to model my work after. Since I was little I have watched morning talk shows with my mom. She would run around the house getting things ready for the day as I sat at watched, eyes glued, to The Today Show while I quickly ate my cereal.

I always admired Katie Couric and still to this day admire her. She is a shining example of the type of journalist I strive to be one day. Katie Couric is such a strong woman and lives her life with so much grace. I loved how in Katie Courics book she talks about her normal middle class family in a normal suburban life. I really relate to this. I have had a life a lot life Katie's full of love and family. Sure not every moment of my life has been shiny. My parents have encountered their fair share of hardships. However, one thing I can say for sure is that thoughout all the hardships our love for one another was always there.

Throughout Katie Courics book she gives the reader insight on to some of the best advice she has ever received and I really took to heart a lot of the advice.

For any aspring Journalist this book is a must read!

Stay fabulous

Priscilla <3

Bennu Meets Hoboken Pie

Yes. I. Have. An. Obsession. With. Food. 

I love everything about it. They way it looks the way it smells everything! I just have such an appreciation for it that it might be a little too much. But I refuse to believe I have a problem so I just never acknowledge my addiction to good food. Also, living in Austin, TX creates an even bigger problem because there are amazing restaurants everywhere you turn. 

Today while I was studying at Bennu coffee for my five tests I have this week I decided to buy a slice of pizza. The pizza choices at Bennu are usually AMAZING. So I knew no matter what I chose the slice of pizza would not disappoint. All the slices that are served at Bennu are from Hoboken Pie. 

Hoboken Pie prides themselves by having 99% of their menu items made in house. On their website http://www.hobokenpie.com/ said, "Hoboken Pie makes 99% of our menu items in house. From roasted vegetable stock for our from scratch sauce to ricotta cheesecake, every item is made with care and the best ingredients available. We purchase unbleached, unbromated flour, nitrate and MSG-free meats from local purveyors, farm-fresh veggies, locally grown tomatoes and whole-milk cheeses to bring you delicious, high-quality pizza, pastas, subs and salads."

Let me tell you what ITS amazing what superb ingredients like this can do for a Pizza! 

Today I ordered the Torres. The Torres is a white pie with roasted garlic olive oil base, fresh Anjou pears, bacon, sundried tomatoes, spinach and gorgonzola cheese. Yes, this may sound like the strangest mix of flavors but there amazing together! 

The taste was electrifying paired with the amazingly thin crust! I couldn't think about anything else in that moment. 

The moral of the story is if you’re looking for some great pizza. Stop by Hoboken Pie or Bennu to get this amazing slice of pizza. 

Think Cash And Planning

Lately, I have been working on "Balling On A Budget." At first I did not know how to successfully go about doing so. All I knew is that I had limited funds and I needed to find a way how to make my money last month to month.

The obstacles that stood in my way were...

1.I am in College

2.I am very involved on campus

3.I have two internships

4.I have a job

When I took in to account all these factors I knew that one thing had to happening PLANNING! LOTS AND LOTS OF PLANNING.

The plan that I developed was to take my Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and two snacks to school everyday. Yes, it's not cute carrying around a huge lunch box; however, it's just something that I needed to do. 

In that first week from taking my meals not only did I save money from not eating out I dropped 4 pounds. I was absolutely amazed with my progress and the amount of money that I saved. It's safe to say that I will continue the trend of taking all meals to school! 

Now what about eating out and local coffee shops you ask?

The key is treat yourself. You need to ask if eating out or that $4 dollar vanilla latte is going to break the bank. If it is don't do it. If you can afford it go ahead. 

So what's this cash part you haven't talked about yet come into play you ask?

Well here you go! What has helped me determine whether or not I can spend the money has been carrying cash! Credit cards are not your friend! I repeat CREDIT CARDS ARE NOT YOUR FRIEND! I encourage anyone and everyone to carry cash. I am a poor college student and only allow myself $20 for every two weeks. (I am aware I am poor...) However, whatever your budget is only take out that much money. If you have spent all the cash you allotted yourself for the week then you know you cant spend any money the rest of the week. It may be hard at first but then it becomes a game. Eventually you will get to the point where you have money left over by the end of the week or two week period. 

So there you have it "Think Cash and Planning"! It's your key to a frugal and financially stable life style. 

Stay fabulous

Priscilla <3

America’s Changing Tides of Acceptance

America’s Changing Tides of Acceptance

By: Priscilla Patterson

The melting pot. These are three words that America prides itself on. However the makeup of the American melting pot is quickly changing, leaving many aspects of different cultures, specifically language, in the dark.

Societal views in the past of assimilating to the American way of life caused many immigrant parents to not teach their children their native language. Now, as our society has become more accepting of cultural diversity, this is causing younger generations to feel tension within family ties, a loss of their culture, and a feeling of not belonging.

“A big part of it is people who used to speak a different language were not seen as American. They see and think that speaking English will have their child become more American,” said Ikram Toumi a Radio-Television-Film doctoral candidate here at the University of Texas.

To understand why parents did not teach their children their language stems back to the way American society used to be. If you were different you were not seen as American.

Toumi explained how Cesar Chavez stated, “During the Chicano movement in the 1970’s Hispanic people read Spanish newspapers covered by an English newspaper. The fear of the discrimination that they might face for reading a Spanish newspaper was so great causing such action to occur.”

Realizing why America “Others” a culture roots back to when America was founded. It stemmed from a fear of the unknown. The idea of having a person with less superiority take over what our white founding fathers had set into place did not exist.  This fear forced all immigrants to accept American culture as a way life, and this acceptance became known as “Americanization”.

“My parents didn’t teach me Korean because they wanted me to learn English as a first language. They wanted me to be comfortable and successful with English in school. If that meant not learning Korean that’s the sacrifice they were willing to take,” said Jeanjoo Hwang, a Journalism student at the University of Texas.

The term “Americanization” is the catalyst that enabled much of the discrimination that we see towards other cultures. This factor can be seen as a reason why many parents of today’s culture do not embrace their native background and share it with their children.

“My mother who is Honduran, told me growing up as a woman of color she faced numerous counts of discrimination. She wanted me to be as Americanized as possible. I already had the skin color, which I find sad,” said Katherine Massey, a Radio-Television-Film student at the University of Texas. “My mom was even going to name me Isabella but since Katherine is more white that is the name she chose. She didn’t want me to have many ties to my Hispanic culture.  My mother did not want me to experience racism the way that she has.”

Another huge issue amongst the children that do not learn their language is a feeling of resentment towards their parents. Many of these children wonder, how they embrace another country if they don’t embrace the heartbeat of it – the heartbeat being how they communicate.

Julius Zerwick, a Physics student of South African descent here at the University of Texas said, “Its difficult to represent your nationality if you don’t speak your language. A lot of times when I was growing up and I would tell people ‘I am South African.’ They would ask me if I could speak the language. When I replied ‘No,’ they would say, ‘You’re not fully South African then.’”

A common problem many children who do not speak their language find is not being able to gain a close connection with their culture. Many have feelings of animosity or wish there was something more that could only be gained with knowledge of the language.

“I do resent my mom for not teaching me Portuguese. My whole family resents her, my grandmother, my aunt, everyone. Even my mom resents the fact she never taught me. I feel like I lost a part of me,” Louise Glasper an Undeclared student at the University of Texas said.

In an effort to redeem her culture Louise is taking Portuguese classes at the University of Texas. She hopes to become fluent in her language, which will enable her to once and for all solidify her status as a child and a person of Brazilian descent.

Personally, growing up as a child to an immigrant mother from Brazil I constantly wondered why my mother never taught me her language.  As a young child I constantly felt ostracized when I attended Brazilian functions. As a young adult people constantly ask me, “What ethnicity are you?” Forced to reply, I will say my mother is half Brazilian, and then my favorite part comes. “Do you speak Portuguese?”  As the words slowly begin to come out I feel my heart drop due to the estrangement I feel with my culture.

An interesting aspect in this factor of resentment is the changing tides of acceptance amongst our culture. America’s past involving racial tensions influenced the reasons immigrant parents did not teach their children their language. However, in America’s new era our culture is moving towards acceptance of all multiculturalism.

“I hope there is a way to raise awareness of these old misunderstandings; times have changed.  Our culture is not perfect but is changing every day towards a more accepting society,” Toumi said.

A Night Atop The Hillside

 Lightning hit the Zilker Hillside Theater this past Saturday night —“Grease Lightning,” that is.

The Austin Civic Orchestra put on their annual concert in a park series entitled  “Missed It By That Much,” where the Orchestra played music from movies and plays whose anniversaries they had just missed. “Titanic,” “Superman,” “Star Wars,” and “Grease” were among a few of the pieces played at this year’s “Pops” concert.

The Hillside was filled with hundreds of happy families, baby boomers and young adults. One thing everyone shared was his or her excitement for the concert to begin.

Before the concert began, I sat down with two of Austin Civic Orchestra’s biggest stars, Lois Ferrari and Caroline Richards-Chacon.

Lois Ferrari, the director of the Austin Civic Orchestra, got her start playing in middle school.  From there, Ferrari went on to Ithaca College and proceeded to Eastmon College of Music to study conducting. Soon after graduating Eastmon, a job at Georgetown University called her name, and she soon found herself teaching orchestra and wind ensemble, as well as conducting.

“As a musician I wanted to keep growing over the years, and so you need something like a full symphonic band with mature players to do that,” said Ferrari. This reason is exactly what brought Ferrari to the Austin Civic Orchestra and it has been her love for the past ten years.

“The entire Austin Civic Orchestra is a volunteer group. The only people paid are the conductor and a few staff members,” said Ferrari. Other than that, this group truly performs a labor of love. Head Mistress Caroline Richards-Chacon can vouch for this statement: “If it wasn’t for the Austin Civic Orchestra, my violin would have probably still been sitting in its case,” said Richards-Chacon.

Soon after my chat with these influential members, I made my way up to the hillside and secured the best spot on the hill. The weather was perfect with a gentle breeze blowing through the park. Before Ferrari began the concert in a joking tone she said, “While y’all get a nice breeze, we get the luxury of clothespins.”

At exactly 8 p.m. the sun set and the concert began. As the pieces changed, so did the orchestra’s costumes. For songs played from “Superman,” the orchestra put on Superman cloaks, while for songs by the musical “Cats” (you guessed it), the orchestra put on cat masks. The costume changes created a roar of laughter on the hillside and allowed a way for the orchestra to connect with the audience.

The most exciting part of the concert took place in the form of a raffle. The winning raffle winner got the opportunity to conduct “Stars and Stripes Forever.” The time came for the winner to be called, and the suspense drew as the raffle ticket was drawn. “Number 962,” said the woman calling the raffle. As people tried to look at their number on the now dark hillside, an “I won!” was heard from the top of the hill. Quickly, a woman ran down the hill and proceeded to conduct the orchestra; however, halfway into conducting, she handed the baton to an eager little girl who was a volunteer at the concert.

When “Stars and Stripes Forever” ended, the Orchestra received a standing ovation, along with many hoops and hollers.

“I loved the music. It was a great family event,” said Andrea Garcia. Garcia attended the event with her young daughter and came to support her husband who plays in the orchestra.

As people walked away from the concert that night, one thing is for certain “Grease lightning, go, grease lightning” was definitely in the minds of all concertgoers.

"21 and Over" - Sneak Peek

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dS7_3-HU8U

Conversations with the cast of 21 And Over

Check it out on its release this Friday March 1st, 2013.

Miles Teller and Justin Chon
http://youtu.be/67uqZM3BMz4

Skylar Astin and Sarah Wright
http://youtu.be/VsgkUwjAEIA