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In life, we each have an opportunity to succeed in anything we desire if we put our minds to it. For opera singer and Trilogy: An Opera Company owner, Kevin Maynor, the desire for opera revealed talent that took him many places and changed his life.
"He's got the world in his hands, He's got the world in his hands, He's got the whole world in his hands, He's got the world in his hands," Maynor singing pridefully with beauty.
When it comes to performing arts, it is very competitive to get your name and voice heard on stage. Maynor, however, has been able to get his voice and name heard throughout 33 countries including France, Canada, Russia, Brazil, Chile, Australia, Africa, India, and China. "I always knew what I wanted to do and it was music," said Maynor.
Maynor has been performing opera for 50 years in 60 opera roles in five different languages. His career includes singing with the The Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, New York City Opera, Sante Fe Opera, Opera Orchestra of New York, Cincinnati Opera, Teatro Municipal of Santiago, Florida Grand Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Dallas Opera, Minnesota Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Knoxville Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Pacific Opera VIctoria, New Jersey State Opera, Scottish Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Saratav Opera, Mobile Opera, Mississippi Opera, and Opera Pacific.
Spring break is one of the most exciting and adventurous weeks for college students out of the whole year. Students use this time to take a break from reality by relaxing with friends and family. A small group of three faculty members, four students and I had a different idea in mind when planning our break. We decided to step out of our comfort zone and make a commitment to serving the unprivileged living in Guatemala. This experience has now changed my perspective of life and will impact my future actions forever.
Chris Hirschler, Ph.D., department chair of the Health and Physical Education department, traveled to Guatemala with students in Guatemala Public Health to work with A Better Life Foundation to help several Guatemalan families in Xela and women residing a domestic violence shelter.
"This faculty-led, international travel course involves service-learning – we learn about issues in the classroom and then we engage with the community in a meaningful way. Graduates of the class have gone on medical school, PT doctoral programs, and MPH degrees and other impressive academic and career achievements, and the memories they carry, of the heartfelt connections they made in Guatemala, are very near the surface," Hirschler said.
This was the ninth year Professor Hirschler traveled with a group of students to Guatemala with a vision of creating a better life for Guatemalan families living in extreme poverty. In preparation for this service-learning experience, Hirschler assigned several readings addressing a number of different ongoing issues that the country is facing. Through the readings, we learned about violence against women, differences in healthcare systems, extreme poverty, and the history of the country. These articles gave me a good sense of the Guatemalan culture before arrival that helped me to adapt more quickly.
Ask anyone you know what their favorite part about the winter holidays are and I'm sure every person will give you a different answer. Some will gush about all the fattening food, from the Thanksgiving turkey to the mountains of Christmas cookies. Some will talk about the Christmas music that blares through their radios during a long car ride. Some will even say that they love the cold winter weather (which for that I will slightly judge you for because the snow and I just don't see eye to eye). Ask me and I'll go on a full blown rant about how the decorations are by far the best part about the holidays. Kind of like what I'm about to do now.
I grew up in a household that is full of traditions, my favorite being our Christmas decorations. We put them up the day after Black Friday every single year and it is no small undertaking. Just putting the ornaments on our tree alone took three hours to complete this year. Every photo on the shelf is replaced, every throw pillow is swapped out and every painting on the wall is wrapped to look like a present you'd find under the tree on Christmas morning. The running joke I have about my family living in the middle of Santa's workshop still stands to this day.
Our outside decorations are no different. In past years our yard was so packed with Christmas lights, blow molds and moving characters that it landed us a picture in the local newspaper. As the years have gone on, my parents decided to decrease the amount of decorations that we put outside, but it still never fails to make our neighbors' houses look like they belong to the Grinch.
It's December so the holiday season is in full swing. And you know what that means! It's that time of year again to do Secret Santa. So grab your notebook paper, write down all of your friends' names on little scraps, and have everyone pick from a hat who they will be assigned to give a gift to!
Although people are often familiar with, and have taken part in Secret Santa, many do not know the origins of it. According to Bustle, the "first Secret Santa," was a millionaire philanthropist named Larry Dean Stewart. It all began in December of 1979 when he was in a restaurant and saw a waitress in a thin coat at the drive-in. Stewart figured how grueling it must be for her to work frigid days and only earn dimes. He handed her a $20 bill, made her day, and from there on out made it a point to anonymously donate during Christmas time to spread cheer. For over 25 years, Stewart anonymously donated $100 bills to people in Kansas. Later in his life, he even donated $25,000 in $100 bills to people in New York after the 9/11 attacks. It was not until 2006 that he revealed himself as the "Secret Santa" who was donating all of this money.
Stewart's idea behind being a Secret Santa was to spread the gift of giving, but currently, what ha Secret Santa developed into? Are they an activity that is fun and spreads holiday cheer, or are they just bothersome? Personally, I enjoy Secret Santa. From choosing a friend's name out of a hat to finding the perfect gift for them, I feel like it is an exciting experience. I am a little biased, however, because I have a passion, and a knack for finding an ideal gift for individual people.
At last, Thanksgiving is over and now everyone can finally start getting ready for Christmas. You turn on nearly every radio station and Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas" song is blaring through the speakers. Whether you are alone or with friends, everyone sings Christmas music to the top of their lungs. Every snap chat story or Instagram feed is filled with people setting up their Christmas trees.
As the semester starts to dwindle down and finals start to creep up on us, the phrase "Christmas vacation" starts being heard throughout campus. The excitement of having a month off of school is felt even through the stresses of preparing for finals. However, I used to not think twice about that phrase but as I have gotten older I started thinking more into the small phrase "Christmas vacation" may affect people who do not celebrate Christmas.
I can admit being raised Jewish I always had a sense of jealousy for those who celebrated Christmas. I would hear my friends talk about Christmas morning, waking up to a glistening tree, with presents all around the trunk. I remember telling my parents I wished I had celebrated Christmas. I wanted the tree, the lights, the cookies for Santa and his reindeers. I wanted what I thought was "normal." Almost all of my friends are Christian, because let's face it most of America is Christian. When I hear the phrase "Christmas vacation" I almost feel like an outcast, like I am so different because I do not celebrate Christmas.
With the semester winding down we tend to reflect back on everything that has happened but we also look forward to winter break. Winter break is a long time away from school that is filled with Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Years that brings lots of excitement but once that is over what is there to do?
Dolphin continued, "You can keep it local, or travel to a park. The New Jersey state parks are quite lovely." Hiking is just one of the many fun winter break activities to keep you occupied. For those who love to be outside during the cold weather, there are so many options for activities. You could go skiing, snowboarding, or snow tubing, they are all fun activities. It doesn't have to be snowing to have fun hitting the slopes. As long as it's cold the snow can be made.
Another common winter break activity is taking a quick trip to the city. Whether you venture to New York or Philadelphia, both places are great choices for a quick day trip to see a show or grab a bite to eat.
Men's basketball falls to the Valparaiso Crusaders 64-53 in the second game of the Myrtle Beach Invitational as the Hawks were unable to have a lead in the game.
"Very tough night for us. You take your hats off to Valpo, I figured somebody would grab a hold of this game with two teams playing after hard fought games yesterday," Head Coach King Rice said. "Kids come in and they're fired up and when you don't win that first one, this next game is so important. I think both teams started a little bit slow but they grabbed a hold of the game and once they did that, there wasn't much we could do."
In the first half, Valpo and Monmouth went back and forth early. After the game was tied at six all, the Crusaders went on a 7-0 run to take the 13-6 lead. They would lead as much as ten mid-way through the half before the Hawks brought it to within three twice in the second half, but Valpo went on a 9-3 run to finish the half, with the score being 29-23.
Men's basketball falls to RV/13 West Virginia Moutaineers 71-53 where the Hawks led for over eight minutes in the first half and as much as four points.
Monmouth was up for as long as 8:12 and as high as four points in the first half, but West Virginia's defense would anchor down, and they would lead by as much as 22 points in the second half.
"I feel bad for my kids because their bodies are so big and strong and when you're dealing with West Virginia, they have one of the best strength training programs in college basketball and Coach goes that way to wear you down and I think my kids got a little tired with the physicality of the game," said Head Coach King Rice. "But we battled West Virginia and I'm proud of that part. I'm not one of these guys that's into this 'Oh, we played them tough,' I'm trying to win the game. But when you're going against a Hall of Famer that's been doing it as long as him, you've got to take small victories. Being down six after we fouled them so many times in the first half to give them 25 free throws and only be down six, I think our kids did great tonight."