Laughter is a Smile That Bursts

While planning my senior photography show I came across Mary H. Waldrip's quote "Laughter is a smile that bursts." It was this quote that became my inspiration. In my project I wanted to showcase portrait photography and I took pictures of people being serious, smiling and laughing. I then printed the serious photos in black and white, the smiling photos had faded color, and the laughing photos were rich in saturation. The project faded from black and white to color and from serious faces to laughter. I did this to emphasize that laughter really does burst. I mounted the images together and raised some off of the flat surface for a continued bursting effect. The project was very time consuming, but as I collected each image, my excitement for the project grew! i had so much fun building an image collection and designing a display for them. Now I just cross my fingers and hope for a good grade!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

It is true, Christmas is just around the corner! I love this time of year. I can't get enough of the lights, music, and fun events, and I have been taking advantage of as many of them as possible! Last week some friends and I went to the local Christmas parade! We strategically placed ourselves near lots of children so we would have a chance at grabbing some candy, but we ended up sharing all of our candy with the kids around us. We did run into Buddy the elf while we were there!A few days later I decided to host a lighting ceremony at my house! I am originally form Kansas City, and my family and friends look forward to the Plaza lighting ceremony every year. The lighting ceremony in Kansas City usually consists of thousands of people waiting outside in the dark with live entertainment. After a ten second countdown all of the lights come on and everyone cheers, then rushes to the warmest place they can find!
I thought it would be appropriate to create my very own lighting ceremony this year! With the help of my roommates and friends, we decorated my house with Christmas lights and prepared for the ceremony. About 20 of my friends showed up. Our live entertainment consisted of a few tambourines and recorders, followed by an impromptu ribbon dance. Then, Santa Clause came marching over the roof and began the ten second countdown!
My construction major friend had hooked a large plastic candy cane to the light switch to create a lever for turning on the lights! The lights came on, everyone cheered, and we all ran inside for hot chocolate, apple cider, and freshly baked cookies!
It turned out to be quite the event, and a total blast for everyone involved!
During the week, Pitt State hosted a gingerbread house competition. I did not enter the competition, but it did inspire some friends and I to build one of our own! On Friday, I was recruited for the construction of a gingerbread house. The task is a lot harder than it looks! We ended up making a huge mess of frosting and sprinkles, but it was delicious to break apart and eat after pictures!
After decorating the gingerbread house we set up my Christmas tree! Every year a group of my friends all get together for a gag gift exchange! I never fail to laugh at the gifts that come out of the exchange!
Even with the holiday season in full swing, all of my final projects have been assigned, and work is well underway to get them all done!

Busy Bee

Tri Sigma has been keeping me extra busy lately. In November my calendar was filled with Sigma events galore! It all started with the Panhellinic Leaf Rake. The leaf rake is an event hosted once a year. The entire Greek community at Pitt puts on their working shoes and heads out to rake the town, one yard at a time! It is a great opportunity to get to know people in other houses and be a part of helping out the community. The people in Pittsburg are so supportive of the school, that it is always awesome to give back and say thank you.

I am from a town with a college, but honestly, if you drove through town, you would not know the college existed. They get very little support from the community. Pittsburg is the opposite story. Every street you turn down has a gorilla somewhere or a sign of support for PSU. The town would bend over backwards for the school to help us start projects and develop. I am so grateful for the support the community members offer the school, and the support I feel as a student.

November also marked the date for Sigma Retreat. Each year, the sorority takes a day to get out of the town of Pittsburg and do something new, fun, and different. This year we went to CoCoa Key Water Resort in Kansas City! We spent the whole day relaxing in the lazy river, plummeting down water slides, getting drenched in the fort, and chilling in the cabana. It was an absolute blast getting to know each other and taking a daycation from school and classwork!


The last major event for the month of November was Sigma Formal. I like to think of formal as prom for college students. It is an opportunity to bust out the dresses we wore in high school, and get out on the dance floor! With dinner, awards, and a DJ, the night is something that is looked forward to every semester. Dressing up is fun, and spending that fun night with fun friends is a guaranteed pleasure.

Sigma formal marked the end of November. This means the end of the semester is quickly approaching, and final projects are being assigned, so the work has just begun for me. These next few weeks will be overflowing with graphic design and photography projects, and a chance to prove that I have learned and developed my skills this semester... I hope my teachers agree!

Nice to Meet You

My name is Melissa McDonald. I am a commercial graphics major with an emphasis in photography. Basically that means my schedule consists of graphic design and photography classes.

I am a city girl at heart, but I have found a home here in Pittsburg. I thought that I would be bored living in a small town like Pittsburg, but I have found that this campus thrives on student involvement, and I have taken advantage of that. With the opportunities I have been given, there is never a dull moment.

When I am not in class, I spend a lot of time on campus participating in 8 organizations. I have learned that sometimes the best lessons are taught outside the classroom in the clubs and organizations I am involved in. The best way to get a glimpse of my life is to understand where I spend my time.

I am a member of Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority. The Greek system makes up about 7% of our campus, but their involvement with the campus and the community is very apparent. I was very active with community service in high school and the sorority has helped me to continue that in college. Not to mention we have loads of fun participating in Greek and school wide competitions and social networking opportunities.

I am also secretary of University Student Ambassadors. Ambassadors work through the admissions office to give tours to prospective students. I get to learn all of the fun facts about campus. Each week when I give tours and tell people about all of the awesome things Pitt State has to offer, I remind myself why this school was the best choice for me.

I am often found in the Student Activities Council office. As vice president of SAC I am in charge of recruitment and training. My favorite way to describe SAC is that they are the main source for all the fun, free stuff on campus. We host everything from hypnotists and comedians to musicians, speakers, movies, and more. The best part is that all of our events are free for students.

I am also a member of Crimson Club. Crimson Club members are the student face of Pittsburg State University. We work closely with Dr. Scott, the university president. We get to help host alumni events and any event that goes through the President’s office. When alumni come to town, they want to know what the student’s are doing, and Crimson Club is there to be the representatives for the student body.

Another organization I am passionate about is Campus Crusade for Christ. My faith is very important to me and Pitt State is home to multiple religious organizations, but Cru is where I found I fit. Cru offers lots of opportunities to travel and connect with students from other schools. It is always fun to interact with students from other schools and share with them what is going on here at Pitt.

The rest of my time is spent with Order of Omega, Omicron Delta Kappa, and Gamma Epsilon Tau. Order of Omega is the Greek honor society. ODK is a junior/senior leadership and honor society. GET is a graphics honor society. All three organizations focus the majority of their efforts on community service and academic achievement.

A motto is my sorority is “To receive much, you must give much.” I have found this to be so true. The more I involve myself, the more I seem to get out of it all. As for the experiences I have had so far at Pitt… I would not trade them for the world!

I can’t wait to keep you updated about my life as a student!