MEET Dan
Name: Dan Treadway
Hometown: Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Transferred from: UT Arlington
Major: Radio-Television-Film
Classification: Sophomore
Expected graduation: 2010
Bleeding Burnt Orange since My Days with a Sippy Cup
Both my parents are UT alumni, so I’ve been wearing burnt orange since the days when I used to drink out of a sippy cup. The sippy cup itself was probably also burnt orange. UT was definitely the most well-rounded school that I encountered during the college application process. This is quite simply the definitive college experience. UT has so much to offer an undergraduate student academically as well as socially. When I graduate, I know I’m going to do so with a degree from a world renowned academic institution and a whole lot of memories. Isn’t that what college is all about?
Living the Burnt Orange Dream
About half way through my freshman year at UT Arlington, I decided that I wanted to major in communications. I was aware of the fact that UT Austin had a very good communications school (College of Communication) so I kept my GPA up and applied. I was fortunate enough to be accepted and now I’m living the burnt orange dream.
Finding a Common Connection
You’ve been through high school so by now you’ve heard the “get involved” speech a bunch of times. This isn’t high school anymore. You don’t have to join clubs just so you can put them on an application. You should join clubs because it’s the best way to connect with people that you have something in common with. It’s really easy to get lost in the shuffle if you don’t get involved with anything during your first month of freshman year. The ball is really in your court. You can sit at your computer and stalk people on Facebook all day or you can get out of your room, meet actual students and make something of your college experience. Or you could always join the “Facestalkers United” club and combine the best of both worlds! (No, this is not an actual club…yet).
Personally, working at The Daily Texan, which is the student newspaper at UT, has definitely been a very interesting and rewarding experience for me. I went from never writing an opinion column in my life, to getting published once a week in one of the most widely circulated college newspapers in America.
Working at The Daily Texan has made me a much better researcher as well as writer. The Daily Texan itself has a very large and dedicated readership. It’s not always easy coming up with something new and creative to write about each week, but I keep at it because I get a little kick out of seeing people read my column as I walk to class. Plus, you get paid, and trust me, cash is at a premium when you’re a student living in Austin.
UT’s Amazing Faculty
One of the great things about UT is the amazing faculty they have here. It’s often surreal to be taught by the person who literally wrote the textbook for your class. I’m not going to lie to you and say the class sizes are small. For many introductory classes, there are a lot of students. This can be overwhelming at first, but there are a lot of ways to make the class seem smaller.
I highly recommend going to teaching assistant help sessions and especially to your professor’s office hours. UT offers many resources to help you succeed if you’re having trouble in a class. Many of the classes themselves are also very engaging. In the American Literature class I’m taking with Professor Brian Bremen, we watch movie clips and listen to music that relates to our readings. The lectures themselves are so interesting that even if I wasn’t enrolled in the class, I wouldn’t mind sitting in on them.
One of the Greatest Challenges in College
Time management is one of the greatest challenges any freshman faces in college. I was no different. If you don’t learn how to manage your time, you will not be successful here. That’s just a fact. There are always several things to do that sound a lot more fun than studying, but you have to remember why you’re here. Nobody is a model student. You’re bound to make mistakes; that’s just part of life, but you have to learn to roll with the punches.
If you bomb a test, don’t panic. Seek out a tutor, join a study group and go to your professor’s office hours. There are countless resources here at your disposal. If you put the work in to be successful academically, you’ll ultimately be much happier socially because you won’t be constantly stressed.
Dan’s Tips
On studying
Don’t down energy drinks, you’ll just end up becoming too wired to sit down and then crashing. Also, they taste like motor oil.
On making friends
Don’t become a hermit. Get out of your room the first week of school and go to some of the social events that UT offers. Everybody’s looking to meet new people, so just be open and friendly. There are over 50,000 undergrads at UT, so there’s a reasonable chance you’ll find at least a few people that you click with.
On being a successful student
Go to class. Go to class. Go to class. I don’t care if its 8 a.m., get your sorry butt out of bed, and go to class!
On living on or off campus
I’ve lived off campus my first semester at UT. It’s been fine for me because I already had a decent friend base at UT prior to transferring here. For freshman students, I’d recommend living on campus your first year. You’re going to hear all sorts of bad things about Jester Residence Hall, but in all honesty, I think it may be one of the better places to live around UT. It’s literally located in the center of everything (classes, the gym, the stadium) which is very helpful and you meet a lot of people. I know quite a few people living there this year and they love it.
The Day of the Flash Mob
My favorite experience at UT so far hands down was my participation in “The Day of the Flash Mob.” A flash mob is basically when a large group of people gather and do some crazy pre-conceived act in public and then disperse and act like nothing happened. UT was the first school to organize three of these in one day, hence the name “Day of the Flash Mob.”
My personal favorite flash mob that we did was one titled “The Angry Mob.” It began around noon the day of when the students who were involved in the flash mob began congregating near the entrance of Gregory Gym. A guy without pants on began making his way through the crowd and was asking random pedestrians if they had seen his pants anywhere. After a couple of minutes, a guy dressed in a full gorilla costume appeared behind our pantless friend holding a pair of blue jeans. In response to this, the guy without pants shouted “Hey! He's got my pants! Get him!” The more than 200 students involved in the flash mob, along with the guy without pants, then proceeded to chase the guy in the gorilla costume all the way down the sidewalk. You can imagine the looks we got from people that had no idea what was going on. Some bystanders laughed, and others just chose to gawk at us with their mouths wide open. Eventually the guy without pants took his pants back from the guy in the gorilla costume, and the flash mob let off a loud cheer and began an “I love pants!” chant. After a few seconds, everybody went silent, dispersed in different directions and pretended like one of the most absurd spectacles that I had ever witnessed in my life hadn’t just transpired. It was perfect.
Dan’s Favorites
Class
Masterworks of American Literature (E316k) with Professor Brian Bremen
Place to eat
Kerbey Lane: It’s close to campus and always open. You will most definitely find yourself eating here at an ungodly hour on several occasions during your time at UT. Kerbey Queso deserves its own food group.
Books
- North Dallas Forty by Peter Gent
- Ball Four by Jim Bouton
Movies
- Pulp Fiction by Quentin Tarantino
- Blazing Saddles by Mel Brooks
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail by Terry Gillliam & Terry Jones
Getting Hooked…on Volleyball
I’ve become an avid volleyball fan since I’ve come to UT. I honestly didn’t see that coming. My friends invited me to a game early in the season and since then I’ve been hooked (pun intended, I suppose). Honestly, the stuff these girls can do is absolutely unbelievable. I see as much athleticism on the volleyball court Friday nights as I do on the football field Saturday afternoons. They always have free giveaways during the game so if you’re willing to concede your dignity and scream like crazy, there’s a good chance you’ll win a free pizza. At this point, my dignity is nowhere to be found, but I’ve eaten an awful lot of pizza. I’d call that a fair trade off.
Discovering More of Austin
I’m definitely looking forward to discovering more of Austin. I haven’t gone off campus all that much since I’ve been here because honestly, everything you really need is on the 40 acres. They seem to have a different kind of festival here every weekend and a great live music show every night. I’d definitely like to take it all in before I graduate. When you feel like taking a break from being a student for a few hours, there’s always something to do. I defy you to get bored in Austin.
Send Dan an e-mail at dtreadway@mail.utexas.edu
Updated 2 April 2008
