These moments present a brief portrait of Senior Matt Gacioch: generous, helpful, optimistic, and most definingly-genuine.
Controlled randomness. That's how senior, Ashlee Arder, describes the way she lives her life. No matter how ''random'' her style, or inspiration, or even friend base may be, she tells me that there's always a connection in her thought process. Just by talking with her for a short time at Ahmer's, Ashlee's uniqueness and individuality come through in many facets and her energy provokes creativity. It's all of these qualities combined, as well as her extensive involvement and impact on campus and in the community, that make her a great leader.
Currently in her last semester at the University, Ashlee made the most out of her college experience. As Co-President of F.O.K.U.S, an arts advocacy organization whose mission is to bring people of diverse backgrounds together using art, and as a member of the Art Museum Program Advisory Board, the medium between UMMA and the student body, Ashlee has been able to pursue what she's really passionate about on campus-art. When I asked her what her dream job would be, she smiled and said, ''Funny you should ask that, because I just had an epiphany and decided that I want to open a gallery. I had no idea what I really wanted to do in the future, and then it was just like duh, that's what I'm supposed to do.''
Beyond being an amabassador of the arts on UM's campus, Ashlee is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta, a public service sorority, where she serves as the publicity chair, webmistress, and the fundraising chair. She's a member of the UM Residential Staff, working as the resident computing systems consultant in Couzens Hall, and she is also a mentor at the Neutral Zone Teen Center, where she contributes to an emcee workshop for high school kids.
S.W.I.T.C.H. (Style with Intentions to Create Havoc) magazine, Ashlee's recent creation, is her latest undertaking. And, if anything epitomizes her style, personality, and philosophy on life, S.W.I.T.C.H. is it. Described by Ashlee as a ''street magazine'', S.W.I.T.C.H.'s goal is to highlight raw artistic expression inspired by feelings and spontaneity, and to avoid structure at any costs. Like many things in Ashlee's own life, she explains that ''a S.W.I.T.C.H. reader should never expect anything. It's intended to be random in every way.'' The mag is still in its beginning stages, but her and her co-founder hope to pass the torch to some underclassmen when they graduate this year.
When retrospectively thinking about her diverse involvement in the community, Ashlee, not surprisingly, thought long and hard about her most important take-away from the college experience. ''I would have to say,'' she said, ''to go with the flow and don't stifle your impulses. If there's an organization that you want to be involved with, but you know you're here to earn a degree, try it out anyways.'' This advice, spoken from someone who took it to heart, speaks to Ashlee's self-assured attitude and curiosity.
Through talking with her, however, Ashlee told me that she didn't always possess this outward confidence. She explained, ''I've definitely become more comfortable with who I am since my freshman year. I started learning not to care about what other people thought about what I had on, or what I said, and just become more true to myself.'' Ashlee's style mimics this evolution, as she said she's one to go through stages. She told me that during her sophomore year, she would wear glasses with a piece of tape in the middle, just because she could; she actually has perfect vision. ''When you start doing weird stuff like that people ask a lot of questions, but then they just get used to it. Now everyone accepts what I do because they know they should never expect anything from me.'' Ashlee's latest expression of self-expression is what she calls a ''fast from color''. She's been wearing all black for almost three weeks now as a sort of social experiment, and she's recording her experiences in a blog, littleblacklook.wordpress.com.
After Ashlee told me about littleblacklook, I had to ask. Where does all of this inspiration come from? ''I read a lot of blogs that spark a lot of creativity within me,'' she said. ''I also get a lot from music. It's such a huge part of my life. A line of a song will spike a feeling in me and that may be my feeling for the week. Also, I take a lot from the people I'm around, especially the members of F.O.K.U.S.''
After getting a small glimpse into Ashlee's life, it's clear that what she has to offer is new and invigorating. She owns a fresh perspective on life, and we here at LEAD hope that she will be an inspiration to the UM student body. Now, after hearing about all of the heavy stuff, it's time to find out; what are Ashlee's favorites?
LM: What's your favorite color?
AA: Orange
LM: Food?
AA: I actually just became a vegetarian recently, so I'm still trying to figure out what's good. Right now I really like beignets.
LM: Movie?
AA: 300
LM: Hobby?
AA: Using my body as a canvas.
LM: Place to travel:
AA: Amsterdam
LM: Musician?
AA: It's changing all the time, but I'll go with Lauryn Hill.
Currently in her last semester at the University, Ashlee made the most out of her college experience. As Co-President of F.O.K.U.S, an arts advocacy organization whose mission is to bring people of diverse backgrounds together using art, and as a member of the Art Museum Program Advisory Board, the medium between UMMA and the student body, Ashlee has been able to pursue what she's really passionate about on campus-art. When I asked her what her dream job would be, she smiled and said, ''Funny you should ask that, because I just had an epiphany and decided that I want to open a gallery. I had no idea what I really wanted to do in the future, and then it was just like duh, that's what I'm supposed to do.''
Beyond being an amabassador of the arts on UM's campus, Ashlee is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta, a public service sorority, where she serves as the publicity chair, webmistress, and the fundraising chair. She's a member of the UM Residential Staff, working as the resident computing systems consultant in Couzens Hall, and she is also a mentor at the Neutral Zone Teen Center, where she contributes to an emcee workshop for high school kids.
S.W.I.T.C.H. (Style with Intentions to Create Havoc) magazine, Ashlee's recent creation, is her latest undertaking. And, if anything epitomizes her style, personality, and philosophy on life, S.W.I.T.C.H. is it. Described by Ashlee as a ''street magazine'', S.W.I.T.C.H.'s goal is to highlight raw artistic expression inspired by feelings and spontaneity, and to avoid structure at any costs. Like many things in Ashlee's own life, she explains that ''a S.W.I.T.C.H. reader should never expect anything. It's intended to be random in every way.'' The mag is still in its beginning stages, but her and her co-founder hope to pass the torch to some underclassmen when they graduate this year.
When retrospectively thinking about her diverse involvement in the community, Ashlee, not surprisingly, thought long and hard about her most important take-away from the college experience. ''I would have to say,'' she said, ''to go with the flow and don't stifle your impulses. If there's an organization that you want to be involved with, but you know you're here to earn a degree, try it out anyways.'' This advice, spoken from someone who took it to heart, speaks to Ashlee's self-assured attitude and curiosity.
Through talking with her, however, Ashlee told me that she didn't always possess this outward confidence. She explained, ''I've definitely become more comfortable with who I am since my freshman year. I started learning not to care about what other people thought about what I had on, or what I said, and just become more true to myself.'' Ashlee's style mimics this evolution, as she said she's one to go through stages. She told me that during her sophomore year, she would wear glasses with a piece of tape in the middle, just because she could; she actually has perfect vision. ''When you start doing weird stuff like that people ask a lot of questions, but then they just get used to it. Now everyone accepts what I do because they know they should never expect anything from me.'' Ashlee's latest expression of self-expression is what she calls a ''fast from color''. She's been wearing all black for almost three weeks now as a sort of social experiment, and she's recording her experiences in a blog, littleblacklook.wordpress.com.
After Ashlee told me about littleblacklook, I had to ask. Where does all of this inspiration come from? ''I read a lot of blogs that spark a lot of creativity within me,'' she said. ''I also get a lot from music. It's such a huge part of my life. A line of a song will spike a feeling in me and that may be my feeling for the week. Also, I take a lot from the people I'm around, especially the members of F.O.K.U.S.''
After getting a small glimpse into Ashlee's life, it's clear that what she has to offer is new and invigorating. She owns a fresh perspective on life, and we here at LEAD hope that she will be an inspiration to the UM student body. Now, after hearing about all of the heavy stuff, it's time to find out; what are Ashlee's favorites?
LM: What's your favorite color?
AA: Orange
LM: Food?
AA: I actually just became a vegetarian recently, so I'm still trying to figure out what's good. Right now I really like beignets.
LM: Movie?
AA: 300
LM: Hobby?
AA: Using my body as a canvas.
LM: Place to travel:
AA: Amsterdam
LM: Musician?
AA: It's changing all the time, but I'll go with Lauryn Hill.