Homecoming Week at Northern Vermont University is being celebrated a little different this year in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the week leading up to Saturday’s “Homecoming @ Home” event lineup, current NVU community members and alumni are encouraged to participate in a social media Spirit Week. Yesterday’s theme was to reflect on a favorite college memory. The Critic extended the opportunity to write about these memories to our club members, and this is what they had to say…
Loon Mountain
By Quinlan Peer
In this picture, I am at Loon Mountain in New Hampshire. This was one of the free trips available in the Ski and Ride Club. This was my first-year snowboarding and all of these trips have been some of the best times I had in my first year.
Storytime
By Becca Fauteux
One of my favorite memories from college so far has been when I created a story with two endings for two separate final exams. During my second semester, I was taking Interactive Media Design and Visual Narrative simultaneously with the same professor, Robby Gilbert. Exams were coming up and I had some free reign on what I could do for both classes. For the former class, I had to create a multimedia presentation of some kind that implemented images, sound, and some kind of story. As for the latter, I just had to storyboard a story of my choice and process it digitally to post online.
I already knew what story I wanted to do for Visual Narrative: one that had an ordinary human man saving an angel from an evil demon, and the two forming a strong bond as a result. Interactive Media was way harder to think of. Part of my storyboard so far had a panel where the protagonist, Joel, was contemplating how to attack the demon. That sparked an idea; what if I changed that panel to be a transition to two possible endings, and split the stories between both classes? One would be way shorter, which would be ideal for making into a video animatic, and the other would be take enough drawings to fulfill my quota for the storyboard project.
The only obstacle in my way was Robby, which is a bit of a stretch to say. Even though he was pretty easygoing, it was technically considered plagiarism to use material from one class for another. If I got turned down for this idea, what would I do for IMD? Lucky for me, the alternate ending idea intrigued Robby, and so he gave me the go-ahead to pursue the idea.
The final story went like this: Joel is strolling down the street when he hears a commotion from a nearby alleyway. He peers inside to see the angel being strangled with dark magic by the demon. The angel looks to him for help, and Joel contemplates his options. If you were in IMD, you saw Joel turn his back on the situation and walk away before breaking down over his inability to man up and help. If you were in Visual Narrative, then you saw Joel attack the demon with a stick, only to suffer defeat pretty quickly. The demon is distracted long enough for the angel to free himself and smite the demon. Joel and the angel befriend one another and they go their separate ways.
Best Friend Whitebait
By Alexandra Huff
During my first year at NVU-Lyndon, I had the opportunity to join some students in the Visual Arts department on a week-long trip to Japan. As we explored bamboo forests, national monuments, and the animated streets of Akihabara, one visit we made will forever have a special place in my heart.
Akiba Fukurou Owl Cafe is located on a small sidestreet in the Akihabara district of Tokyo, Japan. All of the students on the trip were allowed to choose from an array of owl companions to hold and take pictures with. After much consideration, I asked to meet Whitebait, a barn owl born on May 31. I chose him in part because of his breed since I grew up on a dairy farm, but also because his birthday is the day before mine.
Whitebait was placed on my forearm where he “fell asleep” for some time. According to the cafe’s website, he’s known to sleep when guests are around, and then suddenly wake to become the more rambunctious character in the room. My visit was no exception. After a quick nap, Whitebait made his way up my arm and onto my shoulder.
It was then time for a group photo session. Our tour group was split into two smaller groups to take pictures with our owls. Right before our picture was taken, Whitebait turned to look directly at my head. I was mildly concerned and leaned away from him when the cafe took our photo. After the flash, though, Whitebait thought it would be fun to jump on the top of my head.
The staff was concerned at first, worried his talons were digging into my head, but I couldn’t have been more honored and giddy. I returned to my seat, happily taking Snapchats of Whitebait having the time of his life as the highest perched. Other owls my friends were holding also made their way to the top of our heads during our visit.
In Japanese culture, owls are seen as tokens of good fortune and luck. Whitebait will forever hold a special place in my heart as the highlight of a wonderful trip, and I constantly check on the Akiba Fukurou Owl Cafe’s Facebook page to see how he’s doing.