As I lay fast asleep on a Saturday morning a familiar sound woke me. No, it was not the sound of birds chirping or a rooster crowing. Not even the sound of an alarm clock telling me it was time to drag my butt out of bed. What woke me this Saturday morning was a sound that had done the same the previous five nights; it was the sound of car horns being honked one after another, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Oddly enough, I had only been in Manhattan six days and the sound had already become familiar to me. I checked my phone and hopped out of bed. I rushed to the bathroom to shower and get ready for another busy day. Everything seems to run a lot faster in New York City. That is why you hear car horns every other second; everyone is trying to get somewhere.
I was in New York City all last week with a group called Pathways to New York. This is a program that takes the top students from Utah and sets up workshops and appointments to shadow companies in their field of study. There were workshops on resume building, interviewing, finding a job, networking, setting yourself apart as a candidate for a job and others. My favorite was a workshop on finding a job. Because of the current economic crisis, job finding is worrisome. I learned that most jobs never become posted publically. They are found by networking. I also learned a few tips on finding a job such as shadowing companies and interviewing them without asking for a job. This sets you apart from other people because you are only gathering information and trying to become a more marketable candidate. When employers see this they take notice, and you are the first person that they think of when a position does come open.
I was able to shadow advertising, media, and PR companies. A few included Mediavest, Hunter PR, Y & R Advertising. It was fun to see marketing in its full form. You have advertising companies that brainstorm and come up with actual advertising plans. They work with the client to decide which areas of advertising are the best;, they create the actual advertising pieces and control the client’s advertising budget. After the advertising is created, the media companies find the best places to advertise. They find the right magazines to advertise in, the time and station on which to run a TV ad, and other ways of running the advertisement. PR companies work every day to find ways to get free publicity. These would include the front page of The New York Times, on a talk show, or a press conference. PR companies try to get their clients publicity money can’t buy.
New York is a fast-paced place. It is full of opportunity and companies that span the world. I had a great time on this trip and suggest every student broaden his or her horizon and look for opportunities such as this.

-Invictus

Frequently, I take this beautiful state for granted. I have the opportunity to enjoy a variety of scenic views. Utah has crystal clear lakes, mountains that shoot to the heavens, hiking and biking trails that rival the best this world has to offer, and many more breathtaking scenes.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to be a piece with this great earth. I spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday climbing rock faces up Big Cottonwood Canyon. I have never been climbing in the outdoors in my life. I have done similar things such as climbing at an indoor climbing gym and rappelling off cliffs, but this was different. I can’t fully describe the feeling you get after making it to the top of a climb and experiencing not only the view from the top of the world but the serenity of accomplishing such a hefty feat.

As a student at the University of Utah I had the opportunity to learn to climb as a class. It was the best two credit hours I could ever earn. You spend one day in class learning safety tips and climbing lingo. Then you spend one weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) climbing and refining the skills you learned the day before.

By the time I finished the class, I had scaled 10 different walls and seen Big Cottonwood Canyon from 10 different viewpoints. It is amazing how students at the University experience such a great landscape. None of our climbs was more than 35 minutes from campus. Not only are there spots to climb close to campus but hundreds of them as well. I learned that there are over 500 climbs alone in Big Cottonwood Canyon.

I am now hooked on climbing. I have already bought my own harness, rope, and other climbing gear. It is a fairly expensive sport hence I was not able to purchase all that I needed at once. Over time I will accumulate everything I need to climb wherever I want. The University bridges this gap for me. I am able to rent the items that I don’t have from the Outdoor Recreation department. This makes it so I can enjoy many other climbs across the valley.

Anyone interested in learning to climb or getting credit for having a great weekend should consider taking a climbing class. They are listed under the Parks, Recreation & Tourism department at the U. Gear is also available from the Outdoor Recreation department if you ever want to go out on your own.

Now that summer has finally rolled in, Hyper highway has become the slopes of the summer. Day and night, Hyper highway is full of boarding fanatics carving through campus. Long boarding has flooded Utah in the past five years. One of the most popular places to ride is right here on our own campus.

            Long boarding is a sport that is a lot like snowboarding, but on concrete. Most long boards are one and a half times bigger than a skateboard. They aren’t used for half pipes and rails, though some have tried. Most riders use a long board for carving the hillside and making long downhill rides.

            Situated in the mountains, the University of Utah campus makes for a prime long boarding spot. With each path on campus weaving down toward Salt Lake, riders are able to take many routes both challenging and versatile. The greatest thing that riders witness is the euphoric view of the valley while speeding down campus.

            The most popular path is the Hyper highway. Riders drive to the stadium parking lot. After warming up in the parking lot, they take the train to the top of campus near the bridge. From there, riders start their downhill journey through the Hyper parking lots, down Hyper highway, past the Marriott Library, to the south end of the Student Services Building. They then make their way past the west side of the dance building, take the tunnel under the street next to the stadium and then back up to the parking lot. All together the ride takes about 25 minutes.

            This ride is not suggested for beginners. Parts of the ride can exceed 24 miles per hour. The stadium has a medium slope and large open area. This makes it a great learning environment for the uninitiated. Experienced riders also use this area for practicing tricks.

Tricks are different on a long board than a skate or snowboard. On a long board you learn how to slide and make your board spin on the ground. You can also learn how to dance on the long board. This is a new form of boarding in its infant stage. How do you dance on a long board you ask? It is a difficult thing to learn but extremely exciting. You learn to do dance moves on the board while actually riding down a hill. Some moves include walking across the board, making spins on the board while travelling down a hill, and standing on one foot.

Each year as ski bunnies watch the greatest snow on earth turn to run off, riders of the long boarding community dust off their boards and head for Hyper highway. The University of Utah adds one more thing to its diverse campus.