The 2015 NCSSM Prom

April 11th, 2015

Prom means a lot of different things to a lot of different people.  For some, it is a special night with a significant other; for others, it is a chance to cut loose on the dance floor, take advantage of some good food, dress up very nicely, and have a fun night with friends.  For all, though, Prom is an unforgettable evening that commemorates a great year of high school, a night that we will remember for the rest of our lives.

With that being said, NCSSM's Prom is always an above-and-beyond effort.  From the administrators to the Student Activities Board and Jennifer Ashe, to the bus-loop drivers Prom is the result of a lot of effort from a lot of different people.  The Prom is actually had at Museum of Life and Science in downtown Durham, a unique venue that has great science-y experiments to toy around with as well as great photo opportunities and a neat nighttime butterfly garden for Prom-mers to investigate.  Many prom groups also make runs out to beautiful Duke Gardens or other parks just before the Prom to take nice group pictures just as the gardens are first blooming for spring.  There are also no shortage of delicious places to eat dinner, whether it be Brightleaf Square, the American Tobacco District, Downtown Durham, Southpoint, or 9th Street.

After Prom, furthermore, NCSSM actually hosts an event called "After Prom", which is held in the PEC and features bouncy houses, inflatable twister, inflatable obstacle courses, movies, and a hot breakfast- all free for students. After Prom runs from 2-5am and by the end of it just about everyone is ready to sleep for the next 24 hours or so.  Unfortunately for us we do go to NCSSM and as a result homework is not in shortage.. so the Sunday after Prom usually hits pretty hard.

Below, please enjoy a few pictures of First Hunt (plus a few others) at Prom 2015- a night we'll never forget!

Ho Li 2015 at NCSSM

Ho Li is an annual Indian festival that celebrates the coming of Spring.  NCSSM has for several years hosted a festival of our own, along with local universities such as UNC Chapel Hill and Duke. The event, which takes place near campus on Maryland Field, is celebrated with homemade powders of various colors that are thown up in the air, forming beautiful colorful patterns in the air.  At Ho Li, everyone gets a couple of bowl-fuls of powder (this is your alottment) that they can release into the air, but most people attempt to *playfully* go after their friends or really anyone around them and blow, flick, or wipe powder to color them a beautiful color.  The powder is especially sticky to skin, hair, and clothes, so it is greatly advised that participants wear white colored T-shirts and shorts they don't intend to wear again.  All in all, Ho Li is a fun, stress-free chance to celebrate the coming of spring and the end of winter- and what better way to do it but by spending an afternoon outside with friends, coloring each other beautiful colors and then taking a whole bunch of pictures afterwards?

2015 First Hunt Manliest Man!!!

March 22nd, 2015

Every year, we on First Hunt like to have a little fun with the annual "Manliest Man" challenge.  Basically, Manliest Man is a "fun" attempt to see who's the toughest, strongest, most charismatic and most noble man on the hall.  While it is in all respects just a fun and friendly competition, some years things can get a little extreme (after all, sticking 35 manly guys together to see who is the manliest is bound to get a little heated).  So I'll tell you a little bit about just what went down.

First, we had the contestants all lay with their backs up against a wall to see who can do the longest "wall sit"- which I must add is seriously hard.  On top of that though, everyone drank a few drops of the hottest hot sauce that Tijuana Flats on 9th street was allowed to sell us.  Finally, everyone was handed a cup of milk for added temptation.  The last person standing who hadn't drunk the milk or dropped the wall sit was the winner. And oh man did was it intense.  Ian Bunner notably suffered wall-sitting against the pegs of about 15 outsticking mailboxes, and finished the challenge with large scars on his back (we now know not to mess with Ian).

As if that wasn't enough, we next had all the contestants down on the floor to see who can do the most push ups according to Jared's count- aka "UP!" "DOWN" Hold it.... hold it... hold it... "UP halfway".. so one of those types of things.  The hero this time was our own RLA the massive Praruj Pant, who went one on one with another guy from off hall and led 1st Hunt to victory.

After a couple of other challenges, we thought we'd crowned ourselves a winner.  Though Ian didn't last the longest on the wall sit or win the push up contest, he amazed us all and we decided that for suffering some cuts like those and still being as cheerful as he is that he deserved to be crowned our manliest man for 2015.

Bravo to all who entered- you are the warriors who bring great dignity to our hall!

Mini-Term 2015 Recap

March 6th, 2015

Hard to believe Mini Term has already come and gone!
Well I would suppose that's why the term it has the "mini" prefix.

This year's mini-term was an awesome time- a mix of snow and warmth crammed into the blur of roughly 10 days.  Unusual for mini-term and for Durham, within the first 24 hours back at campus 8 inches of snow had fallen and turned NCSSM into a winter wonderland. I personally wasn't here to see it, but I saw pictures galore.. looked as if everyone had a fantastic time!  That snow might still be here today, 10 days later, if it wasn't for the 75 degree day we had this past Wednesday.

North Carolina weather is truly just unbelievable. Every time you thought you'd had it figured out, it surprises you to an even greater extent. Wow.. just wow!

Weather aside, though- this year's mini-term really was great. People traveled to China and Greece, Berlin and CERN on various trips internationally, and everywhere from New York to California to Orlando domestically. Closer to home, different courses visited renewable energy facilities around the southeast, got a hands-on look as sustainable agriculture, or learned how to create amazing stop motion movies, intricate and complex polyhedrons, or learned glass blowing.  It really is true, that during mini-term anything could be done.  And this year, the boundaries were pushed once again.

The Death of 2nd Tri

Feb 19th, 2015
5:00pm- Trimester Break Begins

Second Tri's sun has set
Now the actual sun can rise
With longer days ahead of us
And clearer, bluer skies

There's so much still to do
And so little time to do it
Seniors graduating
and Juniors..
well Juniors still striding on

Yes the work is killer
But we've still got each other
Friendships that will last forever
A clear sense of brother-

hood.
Second Tri has passed
Now we again resolve
To once again, at last
Make time for the people and things we care most about.

(Thank you for bearing to read my vain attempt at poetry. I thought it might refresh the blog a bit!)

This week's Weekly Wonder... Uday Uppal!

Uday! Congrats on being chosen as this week's Weekly Wonder. It comes at no surprise, of course, you being as amazing as you are. Please read below to find out more about the awesome, great guy that Uday Uppal is.

And this week's Weekly Wonder.. RLA Jared Noble!!

Congrats on being chosen as this week's weekly wonder Jared! You're the man! Please read below to learn more about the awesome, big-hearted guy that Jared Noble is.