As my second year at Baylor comes to an end, I’ve been thinking about all of the amazing opportunities that I’ve had here at Baylor. I can’t express how grateful I am to be here. I knew I wanted to come to Baylor in seventh grade because my pastor had gotten his undergrad from Baylor, and he sort of changed my life.  Then in ninth grade my Algebra teacher was a Baylor bear, and she turned my hatred of math into love, thus sending me on my way to become an accounting major. The next year I got a new clarinet teacher who revolutionized my view of the clarinet, and got me practicing more than ever. This led to success in my high school band, with whom I performed in Carnegie Hall, and eventually went on to make the Texas All State Band. Because of him, I am minoring in music.

These Baylor grads all had major roles in shaping the direction my life has taken and will take, so I have come here hoping to one day extend that same hope to someone else. My time here has been extraordinary, and now I’ll count down my top 5 favorite Baylor experiences.

5. Performing for the Texas State UIL finals in 2011 was exhilarating. After performing our traditional half time show, one which was modeled on Spanish melodies and racing rhythms, we came forward in concert arcs to perform Word Up! The crowd absolutely loved it, and I’ve never had more fun in a marching band performance. 

4. I’ve been studying and performing music for twelve years now, but I have never had the opportunity to perform with a string orchestra before. Until I came to Baylor of course! Dr. Espinosa sent an email to some members of Concert Band asking those who are interested to sign up to help out Campus Orchestra in their last concert this semester. So of course I replied as quickly as I could. My favorite song was Valse Triste; a haunting melody with such dissonance and purity from the strings that it gave me chills. I also was able to perform on an A clarinet, as well as my usual Bb.

3. I love accounting. I don’t know why, I just do. Every year PricewaterhouseCoopers holds their nation-wide XTax competition. Basically we are given a fictitious entrepreneur who we have to advise on the tax ramifications of transferring intangible assets to foreign subsidiaries. (What tax differences will their business face in other countries). I worked with a team of other accounting students, and my team captain is in his fifth year, following the Master’s in Taxation program, exactly what I want to do! I learned so much in the short two weeks. Even though we didn’t win, I am so glad I participated. I met and presented to partners of PricewaterhouseCoopers, and also got free Ninfa’s afterward :)
 

2. Last spring I was in the Baylor Symphonic Band, and it was truly one of the best ensemble experiences I’ve ever had. I learned so much more than I thought I would, I loved the music we played, and we traveled to San Antonio to perform for the College Band Directors National Association. We had the privilege of performing for the composer of one of our pieces, who afterward said that was the best live performance he had heard of it! On our way to San Antonio, we stopped in Austin to perform for a high school. That night we stayed with host families, and I had so much fun. We also performed for and with Waco’s University High School. It took a lot of hard work and long hours of practicing, but it was worth every minute.

1. This Christmas I spent in San Diego, California at the Bowl Game. I was admittedly disappointed to not be able to work for that extra Christmas pay at my job, but of course the trip was way more fun. Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, a pep rally, the game (complete with fireworks, a win, and two performances of Word Up) made for the best Christmas break ever! The drive was long, but there were amazing sights along the way. I grew closer to my BUGWB family, and finally got to see California. The only travel opportunities I’ve had are with band, and I cherish every one of them. 

<3 ITB 
Hillary 

My current favorite animal is a red panda. Need to be cheered up? Well, this blog post should do it.
 

I hope everyone has a good day!

<3 ITB
Kathryn

Hi there, Iota bloggers!!

It’s Lynn, la presidente at your service! 

This is me on the right, with Jenny (graduated Spring 2012) on the right when we were at the Final Four last year in Denver, CO with the Lady Bears and Courtside Players!

So last week, I was making my scrapbook page for SWD convention. It was  in Huntsville this year, at SHSU. I was really bummed I couldn't make it this year, but between graduation and my thesis, I am just too busy.

Anyway, so as I was making my scrapbook page, and I was reminiscing back on my time at Baylor. I’ll be graduating in May, so my time at Baylor and in TBS is coming to a close. While it’s been fun, I am so excited to see what these girls will do over the next few years. Hopefully I’m ready to hit the world running. But I would like to share some fun pictures and things that I have done since I've been in TBS. 

This is a poem that I wrote when I was BUGWB’er Rep the fall of my sophomore year. It was about the rush events we had had so far. Pretty fun. J

Here is a picture of Jenny and I at our trip to the Final Four last year. We were playing a pep rally at a local high school. It was such a fun trip!

Same trip, Final Four! Bruiser is playing the drums! He was pretty good, too. 

This past fall (2012), we hosted Musical Bear Scouts. In this event, we help local Girl Scouts earn music and dance badges. This is Nicky, who was the service chair this past fall. She was really stressed so I forced her to take pictures with Tau the Turtle to calm her nerves. She did such a great job for this event!

Ashley and Allyson are dancing along with the girls as they perform their final dance!

Here is a happy Nicky when it was all over!

This picture is from leadership camp this past year… Yes, this is a black widow spider… Haha.

Here is a picture of the clarinet leadership team from leadership camp! We had so much fun!

Here is a picture from Fall Retreat (2012). We went to a place with an indoor waterpark! There was a sign in the waterpark that said “No Bears”! How rude! This is Sara in the place where we spent the night. She is being silly as Leanna is sleeping!

Here is Christina (at retreat) hoarding the lemonade! J

This is our sponsor, Dr. Espinosa! To please him the week of the Holiday Bowl, Kelsey got him two bears! Dr. E graduated from UCLA as an undergrad! But he was smart; he was completely in support of Baylor! We’ve trained him right! 

We got to go to the San Diego Zoo! It was so neat! This is Heather and I at the zoo… or maybe at the San Diego Sea World! I can’t remember which. Sea World had a huge Christmas tree in the front that had a turtle on it!

This is Taylor and I in the parade for the Holiday Bowl! :)

This is the UCLA band! We got to play Word Up with them on the Broadway Pier!

One of the coolest parts of membership is watching classes cross after you do. This is from Activities Night when the Soul Sisters (Spring 2012) crossed. Christina is there with the five members of the Sole Sisters!

Our brick! (and their shoes, very appropriate).

Here is a pic of the Spring 2013 class, the Mouseketeers and their big sisters! We had nine wonderful girls cross this spring. We had to have 2 sets of twins! :3

This is a picture from the Sweet Sixteen with the man bears in Albuquerque! This is my boyfriend, Cole, with Heather and Becky (Heather crossed with my MC class, and Becky with Orbit). I painted all of their faces! 

Here is a picture with the OU band (Delta chapter of TBS) that we got to take when we played them at OU. We took a Pep Band to this game. It was so cool!

Here is a picture from convention from spring 2012. We got to get a picture with Janet! 

This is when RGIII came to our football game versus Texas Tech! :)

Here is a picture from Homecoming this past year, when a bunch of alumni were able to join us for a picture on the BU! Next year, I might be among them! 

Finally, here is a picture of me at homecoming this year, when I was chosen as the Homecoming Nominee for KKPsi.

My time at Baylor has been so much fun. BUGWB, Courtside, and TBS have been a huge part of this time. I love my sisters, and I am going to miss them a lot next year. This is such a great group of girls, and I am so blessed to have them in my life.

MLITB and MOTS forever,

Lynn Shafer

Hi everyone!

My name is Tori. Thanks for visiting our page today! I am a sophomore this year, so it is great to get different perspectives and experiences! I now embark into the lovely world of Tau Beta Sigma. The MEP was a wonderful experience for me. It was crazy and eventful, but I learned so much! I am so grateful to have gone through this process with such a wonderful group of girls. I have come to love every one of them. They are truly my sisters and I know that I can come to them with anything. It’s such a relief to have a support system throughout college!

My MC sisters and Sara (our VP)!

Meet my bigs!

Kim Jones:

My big sister! She has such a loving spirit and is beautiful inside and out. This girl has seriously been my #1 fan through MEP. I wouldn't trade her for the world! I knew I could talk to her about any of my problems in and outside of school. As we grew closer and closer, I learned how much we have in common. We could relate to each other about so many things and this has helped me with more than she will ever know!

Kyle Wilkinson:

My big brother! He has been such a blessing to me! I could vent to him about so many things bothering me at the time and he would just listen. I couldn’t imagine this process without him as my big brother! He was comic relief at times when I needed a good laugh or just a quiet listener when I needed that as well. All in all, he’s a fantastic guy and I am so grateful for him!

Becoming a member:

It feels so good to be a member of Tau Beta Sigma! I feel so accepted and loved by all the girls in this sorority and I love them all! I love being a part of this organization and I can’t imagine being a part of any other group. I have definitely chosen the right path for me. I have grown so much this year and have learned a lot about myself. Would I do this all over again? YOU BET I WOULD.

MLITB,

Tori