Many people have preconceived notions about Montana and the West. Often someone thinks that there aren’t many cultural activities offered in a state like Montana. While it is true that we do not have the same range of cultural activities as New York City or Chicago, Billings certainly has a lot to offer its citizens including the two great theaters we have here in town – the Alberta Bair Theater and the Billings Studio Theater. We also have a third theater (Venture Theatre), but since I have never been there I am unable to discuss it in much detail in this blog.

Alberta Bair Theater is the home of a wide variety of high-quality touring productions.  During the past season alone, I have seen five productions at the ABT including a play (Christmas with C.S. Lewis), three musicals(Miracle on 34^th St, Shrek the Musical, and Beauty and the Beast) and a comedian (Bill Cosby). The Alberta Bair also hosts various local productions including those of the Billings Symphony and the Rimrock Opera Company. I love going to the Alberta Bair because of its’ commitment to bringing the best stage productions to the city of Billings. I can’t wait to see what the theater’s management have planned for next season!

Unlike the ABT, Billings Studio Theater (which is located next to the Rocky campus) is the home of productions that are performed, directed, and produced by local citizens. Before seeing my first show at the theater, I was a bit skeptical that community theater could match the quality of the shows I had seen at the ABT. However, I can happily report that the BST shows are indeed blessed with great actors, set designers, and directors who definitely know what they’re doing. After seeing three productions at the Billings Studio Theater during my last two years of college (The Trip to Bountiful, Maggie Getting Married, and 39 Steps), I can’t wait to return to this great theater. I won’t have to wait long since they’re performing one of my favorite musicals (Les Miserables) as their season opener in September!

It’s also worth noting that the BST is the home of Rocky’s theater productions that are performed near the end of each semester. Last year’s performances included a version of Romeo and Juliet set during the 1920’s and an adaptation of the famous musical South Pacific. I’m sad to say that I missed both of these productions, but I hope to make up for it by seeing a Rocky production sometime during my upcoming junior year.

If you’re looking for a fun and relaxing way to spend one of your evenings while in school, be sure to take the time to patronize one of these excellent theaters.

I’m unsure of what I’ll be writing about next week, but it will likely be another installment in my “Places of Interest in Billings” series. After all, there are so many interesting places to tell you about!

 One of the main goals of college education is to adequately prepare students for their lives as adults in the business world. While this mostly involves helping a student gain “book smarts” and knowledge, a good college also instills practical abilities that their students will need in the future.  One way that RMC accomplishes this is through offering their “Economic Decision Making” course. This course covers basic financial concepts such as economics, accounting, financing, and budgeting in the hopes that it will help students as they head into the business world. Instructor Karen Beiser gives a nice explanation of the course in her syllabus:

This is a course that is for non-business students, and it assumes that most (if not all) of you will take your “non-business” knowledge and apply it is some way upon graduation. If you are an artist, this course may well help you to start your own art gallery. If you are an aviation student, most likely you will work for a large company that either flies or makes airplanes. If you are an equestrian student, you will probably be in the business of showing, owning, or managing horses. Education majors will undoubtedly be in a school system somewhere, dealing with the everyday issues of budgets, organizational goals, and measuring expectations. Regardless of your academic pursuits, most of you will be part of an organization someday – maybe even your own – and the information in this class should make you a better employee (or employer!)

The work for the online version of the course involves weekly readings from the textbook BUSN⁴, quizzes, short writing assignments, and discussion questions. In addition to the weekly assignments, there is also a final paper and test.

I’ve learned quite a bit about economics and business from this course. I must admit that I’m disappointed that this course is slowly being phased out by the college. Currently, this course is part of the general requirements, but it will no longer be offered after the 2013-2014 school year. That’s too bad because the practical financial skills taught in this course would be incredibly beneficial to any student.

FINAL GRADE: A

Next week, I’ll resume my “Places of Interest Around Billings” series with a look at two performance arts theaters in the area: The Alberta Bair Theater and The Billings Studio Theater.

Last week, I provided some insight about online courses. This week, I’ll turn my attention to summer courses. Below, I present you with six pros and cons that you might want to consider before signing up for a Summer course.

PROS:

They’re cheaper than regular courses. Summer courses cost $350 per credit as compared to regular courses which cost approximately $723 per credit. Overall, this is a fairly cheap way to take a course.

Taking summer courses makes your regular semesters a little easier. By completing some of your courses during the summer, you can take fewer credits during the regular school year which will help ease your work load a little bit.

You can (possibly) complete college quicker. If you take several courses per summer session, it would be possible for you to complete college a semester early. If you’re extremely eager to leave college and head off into the workplace, this might be a viable option for you.

CONS:

They still cost quite a bit of money. As mentioned above, summer courses cost $335 per credit which is less than average courses. However, this is still quite a hefty sum for some cash-strapped college students. Many students might be better served by earning money over the summer and saving up funds for the fall semester.

They’re a lot of work. In summer courses, work that would normally be spread over four months is condensed down into one. This means that a lot of time is spent in class and an equally large amount is spent completing homework. Non-online summer classes meet for three hours each day on Monday-Friday. Students taking online courses should expect to spend at least that much time in order to keep up with their homework.

Next week, I’ll be back with a Course Review of the summer course I’ve been taking this year- Economic Decision Making.

Writer’s Note: This is the first in a series of three blogs about an online course that I’m taking this summer. This week, I’ll talk about the pros and cons of taking an online course. Next week, I’ll discuss the pros and cons of taking a course during the summer time. Lastly, I’ll provide a “Course Review” of the course I’ve been taking this summer- Economic Decision Making.

If you’ve been considering taking online courses during your college experience, I strongly suggest that you pursue this option for some courses. However, before making your choice, you should consider my list of the pros and cons of taking an online course:

PROS:

They’re Convenient. Online courses can be done anytime and anywhere (as long as you have internet access). This is especially helpful if you take an online course during the summer. You don’t have to be on campus and you can work in the comfort of your own home when you have the time. Online courses are also helpful during the regular school year because you don’t have to worry about being at class at a certain time – you can simply do the course work when you have a chance.

The course work is easier. Obviously, “easy” is a relative phrase in college, but I do generally find that online courses are less strenuous then typical classes.  However, don’t think that  taking an online course will be a walk in a park. You’ll still be doing PLENTY of work.

They’re a great way to take general studies classes. I highly recommend taking online courses for general studies. They take less of a time commitment than a normal class and they’re a fairly easy way to earn your GE requirements.

 CONS:

You have to be self-motivated. This isn’t necessarily a con, but it is something that students considering an online course need to be aware of. In regular courses, you have instructors regularly reminding you about impending deadlines, but there is no such luxury in online courses. If you can’t motivate yourself to finish an assignment, an online course may not be for you.

You have less contact with professors. If you’re like me, one of your favorite aspects of college life is getting to know your professors. Unfortunately, you’re unable to do that as well during an online course. You can e-mail the professors regularly, but you never physically meet or talk with them. Therefore you’re unable to develop the strong professor/student relationship that you could build if you were in a regular class.

They’re not a good way to take classes within your major. While online classes are great for general studies and electives, they’re not a good choice for classes within your own major. I highly recommend taking all of your major’s required courses in the classroom where you can get hands-on experience and interact with the professors on a deeper level than you could through an online course.

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I’ll be back next week to talk about the pros and cons of taking summer courses. Until then, be sure to have a pleasant and safe Memorial Day!

    I’m back! You thought that I was gone for the summer, didn’t you? I had expected to take the season off from blogging, but some of my other summer plans fell through. So just when you thought I was gone, I’m back! I’m kind of like a boomerang or that perpetually regifted fruitcake that you always receive every Christmas.

I look forward to writing more about Rocky and the Billings community this summer. So cut yourself a slice of that fruitcake and get ready to read my first blog of the season.

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This week’s blog is dedicated to two very special professors who have had a huge impact on my past two years at Rocky: Linaya Leaf and Jane Van Dyk. It saddens me to announce that this past semester was the last for these ladies who will be retiring after 24 and 22 years at the college respectively. I thought I’d take a few moments to express what these advisors mean to me.

I’ve written quite extensively about Linaya in the past – including a great two part interview which you can read here: http://spinel.rocky.edu/student3/2013/02/02/professor-profiles-linaya-leaf-part-1/ . She is a great friend and a large part of the reason that I chose Creative Writing as my second major. Her passion for writing sparked a passion in myself that I hadn’t felt for several years. I am truly grateful to Linaya for helping me embark on my Creative Writing journey and I look forward to cultivating the skills and passion that she helped instill in me.

I had known about Linaya’s retirement for quite a while, but I was truly shocked to learn of Dr. Jane Van Dyk’s retirement. She had forgotten to tell me about it and I may not have known if I didn’t see a newspaper article about her impending retirement. Luckily, I was given the chance to give her a proper farewell.

Dr. Van Dyk has been the head of the Services for Academic Success Program on campus for 23 years. The program provides support services to students who meet a variety of different criteria including disabilities and low income. For more information on the program, you can read here: http://spinel.rocky.edu/student3/2012/09/15/rockys-best-kept-secret/. Each student in the SAS program is required to have regular meeting with one of the SAS staff and I was lucky enough to be paired with Jane. She has truly been a great friend, advocate, and advice-giver during the past two years. I will miss our biweekly meetings and her willingness to help me with whichever problems I encountered.

If you want to learn more about either of these special ladies and what they’ll be doing after retirement, the Billings Gazette wrote some great articles about them which I provide the links for below:

Linaya Leaf: http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/education/leaf-will-keep-writing-after-retirement/article_a05052b2-67fe-515e-8213-5813f0affab5.html

Jane Van Dyk: http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/education/van-dyk-looks-looks-forward-to-the-next-chapter-in/article_7bed98e3-8e8b-5b7c-8cb1-0940c9ae9852.html

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Come back next week when I write about the online course that I’m taking this summer!

It was easy to tell last week that summer break was rapidly approaching. Students were scrambling to study for finals, professors were concluding their teaching, and the campus grounds were covered with snow. It’s safe to say that springtime in Montana is one of the stranger phenomena that Rocky students experience. (In all fairness, it is finally starting to seem like summer around here. Right now, the temperature is a balmy 83 degrees.)

Yet another sign of the impending break was the annual Soliloquy ceremony in Fraley Lounge on Wednesday evening. Taking place every spring semester during the week before finals, Soliloquy honors the top accomplishments of English and Art students from the past year.  If you’re having trouble visualizing this ceremony, just imagine what the Academy Awards would look like if all the famous celebrities were replaced by college students, and the movie clips were replaced by poetry readings. Are you starting to get the picture?

The ceremony was comprised of various students reading a total of 13 poems, 3 short stories, 2 plays, and 1 essay. There was also a short intermission during which we could eat snacks and admire the prize-winning artwork that was displayed throughout the room. At the end of the ceremony, the students came up to the front of the room and accepted their cash prizes.

This year’s Soliloquy was extra special for several reasons. The first of these was that I won first place in the essay competition. This award came with a cash prize, but I was more excited that, out of all the student submissions, the judges found my essay to be one of the best. I was equally thrilled that one of my poems was published in the yearly student publication, Soliloquy Magazine. It was a true honor to have my hard work recognized and honored by my peers and professors.

As mentioned above, summer break is rapidly approaching. Next week is Finals Week and I probably won’t have the time to write another blog. Therefore, this is my last blog until I resume school in late August! I hope you all have a pleasant summer. Before I go, I thought I’d conclude with a supersized edition of “Professorisms” courtesy of History Professor Tim Lehman and English Professor Andrew Kirk.

PROFESSORISMS:

“I am going to change our schedule slightly. I give you permission to do what you were going to do anyway and not read the assigned chapter.”- Tim Lehman

“Do you have any questions for me before I start teaching and take an hour from your life that you’ll never get back?”- Andrew Kirk

“I want to make something very clear. We did not ‘take out’ Osama Bin Laden. We killed him. If we went to lunch with him, we would be ‘taking him out’.” – Tim Lehman

One of the great things about college is that it allows you to develop your skills and discover your passions in life. Many Rocky graduates parlay these skills into a variety of careers, but a few have been lucky enough to find worldwide success. Here are brief biographies of some of Rocky’s most famous alumni.

Valeen Tippets Avery (historian and biographer)

Ms. Avery attended Rocky from 1954-1958. She has since become known for her many biographies and history books including several dedicated to the history of the Mormon religion. She is best known for writing  Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith about the wife of Mormon prophet Joseph Smith. This biography won the Evans Biography Award, the Mormon History Association Best Book Award, and the John Whitmer Historical Association (RLDS) Best Book Award when it was published in 1984.

Arlo Guthrie (musician)

Mr. Guthrie attended Rocky from 1965-1967. He went on to become a successful American folk singer whose songs are known for protesting social injustice. His most famous work is the 18-minute-long Blues song “Alice’s Restaurant” which spoke out against the Vietnam War Draft.

Montana Logging and Ballet Company (musicians/comedians)

The four members (Steve Garnaas-Holmes, Rusty Harper, Tim Holmes, and Bob FitzGerald) of this popular political satire group first met as students at RMC from 1967-1971. The quartet went on to perform for thousands of audiences including the US Congress and the Democratic convention. These musicians are quite accomplished on their own as well. Holmes is an internationally acclaimed sculptor and documentary filmmaker while his brother Garnaas-Holmes is a Methodist pastor and writer of poems and hymns. After 37 years together, the group broke up in late 2012.

Bill Bowers (actor/mime)

Mr. Bowers attended Rocky from 1977-1981. He graduated with the Dean’s Cup, President’s Award, and was Valedictorian. Mr. Bowers has starred in and created three different mime shows (Night Sweetheart, Night Buttercup and Under A Montana Moon) which have been performed all over the world. As an actor, Bowers starred as Zazu in the original Broadway performances of The Lion King and costarred with Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant in the 2002 film Two Weeks Notice.

Timothy Hunt (writer)

Mr. Hunt attended Rocky from 1977-1981. He graduated with a B.S. in Economics and Business Administration. He is best known for writing the historical book The Politics of Bones (published in 1995). Under the pseudonym of Tim Beiser, he has written the children’s books Bradley McGogg, the Very Fine Frog and Miss Mousie’s Blind Date.

 Jason Earles (actor)

Mr. Earles attended Rocky from 1996-2000. He has since become best known for his role as Miley Cyrus’ big brother on the Disney Channel show Hannah Montana which ran from 2006-2011. Earles currently headlines his own TV show Kickin’ It on Disney XD. Earles has also appeared in the films National Treasure and Hannah Montana: The Movie.

Chris Horn (football player)

Mr. Horn played football at Rocky from 1996-2000. He holds the distinction of being the only Rocky student to play in the National Football League. Horn played for the Kansas City Chiefs from 2003-2005. He also played briefly for the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers.

Michal Wisniowski (artist)

Mr. Wisniowski attended Rocky from 1999-2003 and studied fine art and philosophy. His artwork exhibits a strong focus on visuals derived from Japanese art forms such as anime and manga. He works in fine arts media, such as painting, as well as digital and commercial mediums.

It seems that I’ve written a lot recently about searches for new faculty on campus. Indeed, this semester alone has brought potential Computer Science and Creative Writing professors to campus. I am happy to say that new professors in these disciplines have been hired, but it seems that yet another search is under way on the Rocky campus as we have been visited by a couple of candidates who hope to be the next President of Rocky Mountain College.

The first visitor to campus was Dr. David Evans who is currently vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa. Mr. Evans previously served as the dean of the Petree College of Arts and Sciences at Oklahoma City University. He has also been  a faculty member at Georgia State University and at Cornell College located in Mt. Vernon, Iowa.  During the brief question and answer session in which I was able to listen to Dr. Evans, I was impressed with his vision for the college and his love for the Billings area. I think he would be a good fit for our college and he certainly has the knowledge necessary to be a good President.

The other candidate for the job is Dr. Robert Wilmouth who is the current interim President of the college and has been serving in this position since January of this year. Previously, Dr. Wilmouth served four years as the Program Director for the Master of Physician Assistant Studies program at RMC. He also worked at the local Billings Clinic hospital where he was a cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon. He had served in numerous leadership positions while at the Billings Clinic, including Chief of Cardiac Services and Medical Director. I had a chance to listen to Dr. Wilmouth during the SAS scholarship ceremony a couple of months ago and liked him a lot. He seems like a very nice and down to earth man.

I’ll be sure to update you when I hear any news about who the Board of Directors has chosen for this prestigious position. In the meantime, I’ll be back next week, although I’m unsure of what I’ll write about. If you have any ideas for me, leave a comment!

I have always loved literature. Since I was little, I’ve enjoyed lying down on my bed and reading a good book. As you can expect, one of my favorite courses this semester has been “British Literature: 1800 to Present” taught by Professor Andrew Kirk. This is the second British Literature course taught at the college (earlier works are covered in “British Literature: 800 to 1800”) and covers the Victorian, Romantic, and Modern periods. Important assignments in the course include pop quizzes, two tests, and two essays. Professor Kirk doesn’t make any of these assignments easy so you should be prepared to do a lot of reading and writing in this course. However, if you’re willing to put in the extra work, you’ll find that you’ll gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the subject.

For the first half of our semester, we were mostly reading poetry, but after midterm break we started reading great novels, short stories, and plays such as Jane Eyre( one of my all-time favorites), The Importance of Being Earnest, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Heart of Darkness. These are great works on their own, but they are even better when Professor Kirk helps provide analysis on their historical contexts and deeper meanings. Overall, this course has done something that I would have thought was impossible – it has made me love British literature even more! If you love to read, I highly recommend that you take this course.

FINAL GRADE: A+

Next week, I’ll chat about the search for the new President of Rocky Mountain College!

Once again, I’m going to provide some short snapshots of some of the exciting things happening around Rocky.

New Professors: I had mentioned in previous posts that both the Creative Writing and Computer Science departments were searching for new professors. I am happy to announce that both searches are over and that two new professors will be coming to Rocky next semester. Andy Farkas, the new Creative Writing professor, comes to us from Chicago and will teach many of the classes taught by outgoing professor Linaya Leaf. He will also teach fiction writing which has previously been unavailable at Rocky. In addition to earning his doctorate from the University of Illinois in Chicago, Professor Farkas published a book of short-fiction called Self-Titled Debut in 2008. Melissa Holmes, the new Computer Science Professor, received her Masters Degree in Computer Science at the University of Montana in Missoula and will be teaching many of the lower division computer science classes. Therefore, I unfortunately will not be taking any classes with her, but it will be nice to have another professor so that all of the burden of teaching doesn’t fall on current professor Andy Wildenberg. It will truly be exciting to have both of these experienced and knowledgeable professors on the Rocky campus.

Registration Week: Once again, it is that time during the semester where students register for the next term’s classes. I registered for my new classes yesterday. They include two computer science courses( “Python” and “Algorithms”), two English courses( “Close Reading of Poetry” and “Journalism”), “Economic Decision Making” (which is one of my General Education Requirements), and a one-credit outdoor recreation course where we take a trip to Yellowstone. I am eagerly anticipating taking all of these courses in the Fall.

How to Write a Term Paper in Two Days: Due to unexpected schedule changes, I found that I had to write a 4,000 word “Tech and Society” term paper in two days so that a fellow student could do a peer review. It was difficult to meet this deadline, but I still managed it pretty well. Plus, this edition of the paper is simply a draft – not the finished paper.  Thankfully, I still have a couple more weeks to make revisions before I finally turn it in.

Soliloquy Writing Competition: For the second year in the row, I have entered submissions into the Soliloquy Student Writing Competition. Soliloquy is a Creative Writing and Art competition for Rocky students that awards prizes in a variety of categories. In addition, the best pieces are published in the yearly student publication Soliloquy. The creative writing judges of the contest pick the three best submissions in a variety of categories including poetry, short stories, plays, and essays. I submitted eight works this year and I’m eager to see how I do. I’ll be sure to let you all know the results when they are announced near the end of April.

An Unexpected Gift: Lastly, I wanted to share my joy of unexpectedly becoming the recipient of the Cliff and Margaret Murphy Scholarship which is awarded at the recommendation of faculty members from Philosophy and Religion, Art, Literary Studies, Creative Writing, Music, and Theater Arts as an honor scholarship in the humanities. Both Cliff and Margaret Murphy were professors at Rocky and established this scholarship after they retired. This scholarship is one of many that was provided through generous donations from donors and former faculty members of the college. Be sure to look into all of the possible scholarships and grants offered at the college- you might be surprised by what you find! I’m truly blessed to be one of the many people who have been touched by the generous spirit of these former faculty members.

That’s it for this week’s blog. Come back next week when I do a Course Review of my British Literature course. In the meantime, have a happy Easter!