Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Weenie of the Week: Maris Briggs

Maris Briggs
Hometown: Beaumont, Tx
Major: Nursing
Spring '15 Weenie

What is your favorite thing to do in Austin?
Favorite thing about Austin- there's always something to do! Like graffiti park, mini golf, tons of restaurants.

What is your go-to song right now?
Go-to song is Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran!

Where is the next place you would love to travel?
I'd love to travel to Europe and visit countries like Spain, France, and Italy!

Spirit of the Week: Sonia Montejano

Sonia Montejano
Hometown: Madrid, Spain/ Tyler, Tx
Major: International Relations
Fall '13 Weenie

What is your favorite thing about Austin?
My favorite thing about Austin is that the sun shines 300 days out of the year. 

Where is the next place you would love to travel?
I would absolutely love to explore Southeast Asia - I'm thinking Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.
Asia remains unexplored territory to me, and I'm itching to change that. 

What is your favorite memory from spirits?
My favorite memory in Spirits to this day is my initiation brunch during the fall of 2013. Being scarved was such a significant moment!


Useful iPhone apps to use While at UT

(A Guest blog by Maris Briggs)
Moving to the 40 acres as a freshman, I had no idea what to expect, what to do, or where to go! However, after downloading a few apps on my phone such as Hooked, CapMetro, Uber, and UT’s own Texas app, I was ready to take on the semester!
The struggle first started when I had no idea where any of my classes were. How are you supposed to be successful if you can’t even get to the building of a classroom?! If you’re anything like me, reading a map off a piece of paper is out of the question. That’s why the first app that saved my UT career is called Texas. It’s an app made by UT for UT, and it is an actual lifesaver. The Texas app includes a map of campus with all buildings included, bus routes, dining, museums, news, sports, and so much more! However, so many students at UT are unaware this app even exists.
The next app I’ve found to be useful is called CapMetro. While the 40 acres buses are great for going from one location on campus to another, CapMetro is useful to get around Austin in general. For example, I ride the CapMetro buses twice a week to get to the School of Nursing. If you’re looking for a way to get to the Disch-Falk Field to watch a homerun in baseball or Frank Erwin Center for some basketball, CapMetro is also useful. All you do is: select your current location, select your ending location, when you want to depart, and BAM! CapMetro tells you exactly which bus to catch. And the best part, it is FREE! Using your UTID will pay for the bus ride.
Another great app for traveling from one location to another is Uber if you do not want to bring a car and worry about parking. Uber is a way of transportation which actual people like you and me use their own vehicles to chauffeur passengers. Because your credit card is already hooked up to the app, Uber saves the hassle of paying and tipping drivers. Uber drivers are available 24/7. However, they do tend to charge more money on the weekends. Even with this raised price, Uber is still very reasonable, and is such a convenient app for Austin!
After learning all these new means of transportation, we need to go somewhere! What’s better than trying new food? ATX has so many wonderful restaurants to enjoy, but being a broke college kid limits my choices! That’s why Hooked is a wonderful app if you are looking for a great deal at a delicious restaurant. Hooked finds deals and discounts at restaurants within a few miles from your location. Many well-known restaurants have deals such as “Buy one get one free” and “20% off entire bill” that one would be completely unaware about without checking Hooked.

Enjoying UT can be made easier with the help of just a few phone apps: Texas, CapMetro, Uber, and Hooked. Enjoy!

Monday, March 9, 2015

Weenie of the Week: Riely Samaniego

Riley Samaniego
Hometown: Nashville, TN
Major: Biochemistry
Spring '15 Weenie

What is your go-to song?
My go-to song would have to be: Bridge Over Troubled Waters by Simon and Garfunkel because it reminds me of my family. It's my dad's favorite song and I listen to it and always think of my family of 6 singing along in the car!
Where is the next place you would love to travel? I would love to travel to the Philippines. It is my family's native land, and it is a dream of mine to experience the place where they grew up. I think it would be the most humbling experience to really understand how successful they have all really become. 
If you could have dinner with any person, living or not, who would that be? I would have dinner with my Uncle/Godfather James. He passed away when I was nine years old, and his girlfriend was actually pregnant with his daughter. This amazing little girl was adopted by my family, and is the best little sister I could ever ask for. Uncle James was the happiest and most loving person I knew, and I would love to tell him how much I see of him in my little sister, Audrey.

Spirit of the Week: Nisha George

Nisha George
Hometown: Lufkin, TX
Major: Communication Science Disorders
Fall '13 Weenie

Where is the next place you would love to travel?
A recent TX Spirit alumna (J-Wong) went to Thailand last summer and got to play with baby tigers in a tiger sanctuary which is basically my dream. So yes, I would definitely love to travel to Thailand. 
If you could have dinner with any person, living or not, who would that be? J.K. Rowling would probably make a lovely dinner guest. Aside from being a creative genius who went from living on welfare to being a multi-millionaire, she's just an exceptional human based off what I've seen. My admiration began with watching her commencement speech at Harvard (watch it!) and has continued with everything I've heard from her ever since. She actually donates so much to charity that she's no longer a billionaire. She explained: "You have a moral responsibility when you’ve been given far more than you need, to do wise things with it and give intelligently."
What is your favorite memory from Texas Spirits? My favorite memory is probably Weenie Beanie from my weenie semester. My family was dressed as characters from Finding Nemo and Lindsey White was waiting for me holding a sign that said "Finding Nisha." It's amazing to think how close we got in such a short amount of time after that day and it's my favorite memory simply because I realize our friendship kind of started there. We both get a little emotional at the sight of anything Finding Nemo-related now.

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Weenie of the Week: Madeline Jasper

Madeline Jasper
Hometown: Lake Jackson, Tx
Major: Electrical Engineering
Spring 14' Weenie

What is your go-to song right now?
Anything Lady Gaga or Sam Smith!

If you could meet any person, living or dead, who would that be and why?
If I could meet anyone dead or alive: Anne Frank, because I really admire her positivity and hopefulness during such a sad time. It would be so inspiring and humbling to meet her.

If you could travel anywhere right now, where would you go?
If I could travel anywhere: I think going to the amazon rainforest and meeting the people native to that area would be an incredible experience! I love to try new things and go anywhere I have never been.

Spirit of the Week: Bea Scott

Bea Scott
Hometown: Brady, Tx
Major: Communications Studies
Spring '13 Weenie

What is your go-to song right now?
She Moves In Her Own Way by The Kooks. Brings me back to a wonderfully awkward time in middle school. 

If you could meet any person, living or dead who would that be and why?
Tina Fey. She's incredibly witty, intelligent, successful, and definitely my girl crush. I would love to talk about how she got to the place she's at now, and maybe crack some jokes with her on the side.

What is your favorite memory from Spirits?
Favorite memory has been DU 2013. It was my first semester in spirits, and I am a huge fan of roller coasters. A lot of my closest friendships today were formed or solidified thanks to the du shenanigans.