AsiaFest 2014!!!

Saturday December 6th marked what was actually the second AsiaFest that has taken place in 2014 (usually, they are held in the spring, but this year things got switched up a bit).  And what an amazing show it was!  The roughly 2-hour annual performance choreographed and produced by students is always sure to be an entertaining night, and this year was no exception.  Featuring timeless skits such as Yellow Fever, Asian Tourists, and Piano Battle, cultural dances such as Tinikling, Bhangra, and K-wave, a humorous "5-minute Bollywood" production, an amazing Martial Arts exhibition, and so much more, AsiaFest is as much fun to put on as it is to watch.  And we as a hall were well represented both on the stage and in the audience.  First Hunt's Pranav Kemburu, as one of the Asian Cultures Club Officers, served as a host and in several dances and other acts, in addition to telling the funny story throughout the show of "How I met your mother," where it is gradually unveiled which of three childhood ladies would sweep him off his feet.  Pranav worked very hard to make AsiaFest a success, and we are proud of him for his dedication and hard work that made the show possible.

However, Pranav wasn't the only First Hunt-er to star in AsiaFest.  Several members of the hall did outstandingly in the Fashion Show skit/dance, which was really impressive.  Others danced throughout the evening with 3 or even 4 different dancing acts, such as Bhangra, "I came I danced I conquered," Go Crazy, Enthalpy, and many more.  I myself even acted in the Piano Battle skit, which I thought was so much fun.  In short, the show was an astounding success thanks to the many hours practicing, rehearsing, and putting together AsiaFest so that it could be the success that it was! And for the many members of the hall who either performed our came out to support your hallmates, thank you!  Below I have included some pictures of the performance.. enjoy!

Happy Birthday to Neeraj Suresh!!

Happy 18th, Neeraj!!  We hope you have a great rest of your birthday, and that the rest of your senior year may be just as special.

-First Hunt

Holiday Hall Dinner Reminder

With the annual Hall Dinner just a week away, we ask again that everyone please contribute either a Holiday dish or a gift card to the Hall Dinner fund so that this year's celebration may be a success, as always.  Mr. Newbauer sent out an email around back in November regarding what specific kinds of dishes and what stores we would most appreciate gift card donations for.  About a week ago, additionally, Praruj Pant sent out an email invitation and another request for contributions to the dinner, which also included additional information about the dinner.

As we enter the planning and preparation phase this week for the Dinner (which will be on Sunday, December 14th at 5pm), we thank everyone who has already contributed and we thank those who will in advance.  If you have any questions or would like to make a contribution, please contact Praruj Pant at pant15p@ncssm.edu, as he is in charge of the dinner itself.  Everyone on hall, additionally, will help with dinner in the form of setting up, cleaning up, or helping to cook various dishes for the meal.

Each year, the hall dinner is reported by residents to be one of the fondest memories they have of their time spent at NCSSM and on First Hunt.  It really is a special time that we all get together to enjoy food and fellowship, and celebrate the holiday season.  We thank you all for your help in making this annual event a huge success!

Sincerely,
The First Hunt RLA's and Mike Newbauer

And this week's Weekly Wonder..... Tejas Dalvi!!

What a wonderful person Tejas Dalvi is.  I think I speak for many when I say that I love having him as part of our First Hunt family!  This week we bestow the noblest title of "Wonder of the Week" to Mr. Tejas Dalvi! Please read below to learn more about Tejas.

Happy Birthday to Tejas Dalvi!!

Tejas also celebrated his 17th birthday over the course of the week.  We celebrated by singing to him as a hall and with the usual First Hunt birthday welcome (which happens at midnight).  We hope that you had a great day Tejas and that you can look forward to a wonderful year to come.

Happy Birthday to Henry Bristol!!

Henry celebrated his 17th over Break, but we still sang our unique First Hunt song for him upon his return.  We hope you had a great day and will have many happy days in the year to come, Henry!

Welcome Back! December, Here we Come

Dear Parents and Residents,

With Thanksgiving Break and November behind us, we move farther into Second Tri and know that we will find some tougher weeks ahead.  With just two and a half weeks until Winter Break, us smathers' know that there isn't much time until we find ourselves on another break.  Most teachers, however, take that to be reason enough to really challenge you for those short couple of weeks that you are here.  December is definitely one of the toughest months workload-wise, with lots of assignments, major projects, and tests, and a greater tendency for a lot of those assignments to be crammed into the same week.  It's also the final month for Seniors to wrap up those college applications (and for some of us, college decisions already!).  AsiaFest is on December 6th, Semi-Formal on the 13th, and the Annual First Hunt Hall Dinner is on Sunday, December 14th.  There is also a school-wide Holiday celebration, a December Koffehaus, and a host of hall programs planned for the coming weeks and month.

December can be stressful on the individual at NCSSM.  In response, we need to provide even more support than usual for our hall mates.  First Hunt's Hall Dinner plays a part in promoting hall unity and helping individuals de-stress for a few hours for fun and fellowship with some delicious food.  I'll post additional information about the Hall Dinner soon.. if you haven't seen, though, please RSVP (for residents) to Praruj Pant via email and for parents and family members, we ask that you please donate either a dish or a gift amount to help us provide enough food for all of us.  Thank you so much! See the email from Praruj Pant from just a couple days ago for additional information-  more info coming to you soon.

Happy Holidays!
-First Hunt

Program: Spirituality Discussion

November 19th, 2014

One of my favorite programs of November came just a couple nights before we took off for Thanksgiving break.  I (Steven) led a spirituality discussion with a couple of other hall-mates.  In all honesty, it was something I was a bit nervous about, and that was.. well that was for a couple of reasons.  First, I was nervous about whether I'd ask the right questions, which was really a pretty silly concern- because what I found was that no matter what questions I had prepared, someone else (or myself) probably had a better question stored in their head anyway that just needed the right kind of discussion and thinking to unlock it.  So there we sat, talking for what I thought might be a twenty or twenty-five minute program.  We just got so immersed in the discussion, however, that before we knew it an hour had gone by, even an hour and fifteen minutes.  It was such an incredible discussion we had: we each gave personal thoughts about what spirituality and religion (or lack thereof) meant to us, how we perceived it, what our families taught us, and what we actually do about it or how we deal with it.  We talked about more than just spirituality though.  We went on to explore morality, and how we thought our families' raising of us shaped us to who we are today.  We talked about internal joys and fears, and how we thought we'd changed since our freshman year or even from the previous year of high school.

It's conversations like these that really help one to re-realize what an amazing group of people he is surrounded with at NCSSM, and on First Hunt.  In the spirit of Thanksgiving, one of the things that I am most thankful for at NCSSM is that I have the ability to talk to someone else about this- any person, any time, and they will almost always give me a very meaningful answer.  It's a connection that I never really had with any of my friends before coming here, as I'm sure it is for lots of other NCSSM students.  One of the reasons I am happiest I came to NCSSM is for conversations like that spirituality discussion.  I look forward to many more.

Recap: the First Hunt Relay

November 18th, 2014

Tonight the hall broke up into 5 teams who competed with each other for the noble title of First Hunt Relay champion.  Each team competed to see who could complete a series of 13 events as quickly as they could.  These ranged from eating donuts of a string to spinning around a bat 10 times to building a human pyramid or having to pass a tennis ball to all team members only using the space between the chin and neck.  In short, each team sought to progress through a series of several challenges (which tested both individual and team abilities) to see who was the best 1st-Hunters.

Of course, this was a great deal of fun and no one group is really better than another, which was actually the final result.  One team won by just a few fractions of a second; the remaining teams had completed the last test within just 30 seconds of the first.  In the end, we were all rewarded with a pizza party (hooray!), but what we can really take away from this is that we are one as a hall and we got to have some fun with each other.  It can be tough at NCSSM to be a team player, but in the end it is one of the best things you can do, for both yourself and for others.  First Hunt is a family- and families both work hard and play hard, all the time sticking together.  The First Hunt relay was a great chance for us to come together and enjoy that about each other once again.

November Hall Food Thank-you!

We'd like to think Carol and Steve Tulevech as well as Michael and Betsy Piehler for their generous contributions to the hall on November 12th and 19th, respectively.  You and your donated items were very much appreciated and enjoyed by all on First Hunt!

Furthermore, we at First Hunt hope that all of you and your families had a wonderful Thanksgiving and time with your sons.

Happy Birthday Shane!!!

Shane celebrated his 18th birthday on November 15th (a glorious day, of course).  We wish you a great year and hope you enjoyed your special day! Go Shane! And thank you, Praruj, for this very appropriate birthday sign.

Honoring a Few of Our Pre-Thanksgiving Weekly Wonders

I'd like to apologize for not having uploaded some of our more recent weekly wonders.  Each spent their week of fame on the hall's walls and it is fair that these people receive that same special treatment on our blog.

Each of these individuals is truly wonderful and are so important to making First Hunt the amazing community that we have been and continue to be.  Please read below to learn more about them!

Presenting: the marvelous Jack Robertson, the outstanding Pranav Kemburu, the exceptional Christian Bailey-Burke, the remarkable Reid Herrera, and the amazing Henry Bristol!!

Thorns, Buds, and Roses with Jack Robertson

November 4th, 2014

Jack Robertson's program for the school year was to organize and lead "Thorns, Buds, and Roses," a reflective program.  With over 20 members of the hall in attendance, each member was challenged to voice a thing they disliked about the trimester (Thorn), a thing they looked forward to for next trimester (Bud) and something they loved about the trimester (Rose).  Some members had more than one thing they felt compelled to say; as general guidelines we tried to limit thorns and roses about academics, classes, and teachers and tried to talk more about student life, the hall, and about each other.  There were many roses said but few thorns, as I am happy to report.  All in all, an excellent program for an excellent period of time.

Program(s): Exam De-Stressers

Leading up to exams, we usually try to plan some programs that try to reduce stress for 1st Hunt Residents.  These are excellent opportunities to take study breaks, and this year numerous residents chose to take advantage of them.  On Thursday October 30th, we listened to relaxing music and practiced meditation led by RLA Shane Steele-Pardue.  Shane offered basic meditation instruction and taught basic movements along with techniques to soothe muscles, choose a relaxing position, and help individuals find their inner peace in prep for a stressful exam weekend and week.

We conducted a second stress reliever on Monday November 3rd (which is actually a 1st Hunt Tradition).  We like to do massages before each extended and during especially stressful times of the year- a great opportunity for hallmates to chat, while both offering and giving massages and taking a study break all the while.  (Personally, I am very thankful that the massage train is a thing)- it is an excellent stress reliever and a lot of fun.

Thankfully, we had these couple of programs to help us get through the 1st Trimester Exam week.  As a hall and as individuals, we have completed our first trimester at NCSSM for the year.  This time marks the end of the one of the toughest trimesters for the seniors and a difficult time for the juniors as well, as they have now been living at NCSSM for 3 months and everyone must take five classes during the second trimester.  The winter trimester marks the beginning of Research programs for some of our residents as well (in all different disciplines- Biology, Chemistry, and Computational Sciences), which we are excited about on hall.  With several breaks in our Future (Thanksgiving and the Winter Break, among them) we all look forward to having some extended time away from school to relax and focus on other interests.  The journey continues at NCSSM, while our hall all the time continues to work to better itself, developing a more involved, more tight-knit community.  We all face struggles- both as individuals and as a community- but we rebound from them, and we grow.  We are resilient as a hall, and we stand up for each other.  Second trimester is always a difficult time for students at NCSSM.  Thankfully we have a resilient community that not only cares about its members but looks out for them.

Scavenger Hunt with 4th Bryan!

Downtown Durham Scavenger Hunt with 4^th Bryan!!

On Friday, October 17th, we went out to Bull City Burgers for dinner with 4^th Bryan, a girls' hall.  

Afterwards, we split up into teams to find various restaurants, monuments, and attractions that make Durham.. well, Durham. The goal of the scavenger hunt was to take a picture of your team performing an action described on the item list or with the said item. Items ranged from “A baby” to “Ride a Bull” to “In the back of police car," and challenged teams to explore Durham while also getting to know each other.  We'd like to thank everyone who came out for the program, as well as 4th Bryan's SLI Natasha, for all of their help in making this program a success.  We have included some pictures of the adventure below.  Thanks to everyone for turning up for the fun and for the bonding!  We hope to do something like this again in the future. 

Program: Wikipedia Race

A neat program that allows people on hall to challenge themselves intellectually and compete with their hall-mates is the Wikipedia race.  The wikipedia race is where participants have to navigate between two unrelated ideas, people, events, places, etc. using only wikipedia links.  For example, we had roommates who competed against each other to navigate from one roommate's wonder to another.  The person who managed to navigate from say, "Mount Rushmore" to "William Shakespeare" using just wikipedia links in the least amount of time- would be the winner.  Wikipedia race is a fun, pretty addicting game that those who participated enjoyed!

A big Thank You to Mr. and Mrs. Kirkpatrick, as well as Cole, for this week's Hall Food!

We'd like to thank Mr. Shane, Mrs. Dana, and Cole Kirkpatrick for their generous gift of hall food this week.  The Zaxby's was absolutely delicious and there was a great amount of food to go around for all to share.  We'd like to thank you all very much for providing First Hunt with hall food this past week.

We'd also like to apologize for not thanking all of the families who have given the gift of Hall Food to First Hunt already (it truly is one of the best gifts one can give!).  We'd also like to thank:

Teresa, Don, and Ian Bunner

Charlene, Mickey, and Aaron Sartin

Bob, Michele, and Kevin Larson 

John, Sharmila, and Henry Bristol

Abhilasha, Puneet, and Uday Uppal

Cameron, Chris, and Reid Herrera

and

Jennie, Allen, and Jack Robertson

 

Thank you all so much for your gifts to the hall. They have been enjoyed and appreciated!  We apologize for not thanking you sooner.

A Big Happy 17th Birthday to Mr. Cole Kirkpatrick!

Hope you had a Great Birthday, Cole!  I know that your hall-mates treated you well on your day, that's for sure.

A Farewell to one of our own, Gabe Freeland! (Gabe was also this past week's Weekly Wonder).

October 8th, 2014

We will dearly miss Mr. Gabe Freeland, who spent his last week with us this past week.  Gabe was a wonderful person to have on hall- his big smile, cheerful personality, and love of First Hunt's community have made him a person this hall will dearly miss.  We wish you the best in all of your future endeavors, Gabe, and we hope to see you again on hall sometime in the future!  You are, of course, always welcome back into the family of your old hall.  Know that we will support you and be there for you in all that you do.  On that note, please get to know a little bit about the very wonderful Gabe Freeland.

The Electric Fence

October 6th, 2014

With September now behind us, we find ourselves deep into First Trimester.  The Electric Fence is one way that we continue to build hall strength and hall trust, now that everyone has more or less settled into the routine of life at NCSSM.  The Electric Fence (one of Mike's favorites) is a powerful hall program- no pun intended.  In fact, though, Electric Fence is essential in continuing to advance and develop hall unity.

The idea of electric fence is that every member of the hall must use teamwork (and no props) to get every other member of the hall over a horizontal rope about 5 feet high.  Additionally, one cannot touch the rope or the two people holding up the rope, or reach under the rope (for they will be "electrocuted."  Every member of the hall is required to participate, and this takes place in the wrestling room (which is padded) to try to prevent any injuries.  This exercise is really an activity focused on trust, team-building, and problem solving.  Individuals must step up and be leader-like, and make decisions in order to organize the hall to get the task completed quickly and efficiently, but also safely.  It's not okay, for example, to simply throw people over the rope.  No.  This program is set up such that there Have to be people waiting to catch you, and you have to trust them to do just that.  It's an opportunity for the hall to work together and develop leadership and teamwork skills with the entire hall involved.

As we continue to move toward the end of First Trimester, it really is incredible to see how the members of First Hunt have come together and bonded over just a seven-week period.  This hall has proved to be an incredibly close and caring family in such a short period of time.  The involvement of individuals at hall programs is astounding, too.  As a First Hunt RLA, I can't get over just how awesome this hall really is.  It just makes me feel incredibly proud and fortunate, and I wanted to share that with all of you!

(More) Hall Food- Making Macaroni in Hunt Kitchen

A big thanks to Shane Steele-Pardue for organizing, shopping, and leading the cooking for Macaroni Night!  

Recently, we as a hall gathered after midnight check to cook up a delicious Macaroni casserole in Hunt Kitchen.  It's unusual to have tasty, warm food after midnight at NCSSM, so this served as a special treat in many ways.  Many members of the hall helped out with the preparing, cooking, and cleaning up of the meal, and many both on-hall and off-hall enjoyed the spoils of hanging around when "home-cooked" food is being handed out.  Regardless, the meal was enjoyed by many and is certainly something that might be done again.  

1st Hunt- Dance Marathon! Please Make a Pledge for a Member on Hall to help Raise Money for Children's Miracle Network

Dance Marathon at NCSSM is an annual event where members of the community dance for hours "for those who can't."  This year's Dance Marathon, which will take place on Saturday November 15th, 2014, is a great opportunity for members of the community and families, friends, etc., to make a pledge for a very good cause.  All proceeds go towards the Children's Miracle Network.  Please visit this page and take a look at the Hall Roster to make a pledge for an individual on our hall.  Your donations will make a difference for people who need a difference.

Thank you so much to Bina Amin, this year's Dance Marathon President, for sharing with us at last Monday's hall meeting.  We hope as a hall to contribute significantly to Dance Marathon this year!

  http://events.dancemarathon.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.team&teamID=5221

Our Fifth Weekly Wonder is....... Cole Kirkpatrick!!

Congratulations, Cole!! You've been chosen!

Learn a little bit about an awesome guy on hall named Cole this week.