Voices Merging

Being a part of student groups on campus has certainly been the highlight of my undergraduate experience. In fact, I am currently president of a group called Voices Merging (VM). 


We are the U of M's only student group centered around spoken word and the urban arts. We host a variety of events on campus, varying from our popular open mics, to workshops, to a big event we held last Monday night. That event was our 7th Annual Poetry Slam and MC Battle. Every other year, it had been held at The Whole, a really sweet performance venue inside of Coffman Memorial Union (the University's student union). However, lately we have been consistently getting 300-400 attendees, so for capacity reasons, we had to move it to Coffman Theater in the same building. The theater is pretty awesome, it has cool seats and a large stage, which provided lots of room for our DJ to spin on stage, the Skizzmatics (the U of M Breakdance Club) to dance and artists to perform.


For those who are unfamiliar with what this event entails, here is a small description:


"A Poetry Slam is a competition in which poets compete in several rounds for a prize or award. They are allotted 3 minutes to spit (this term is used to describe any spoken-word artist saying their piece) and a team of judges reviews the criteria and gives them scores from 1-10. The highest and lowest scores are dropped, meaning the highest score they can get is a 30. In our competition, we awarded cash prizes to the first, second, and third place winners."


This year, we had some really awesome poets--the winners had close scores. The topics they discussed ranged from confidence in being a woman, to tragedy, to love, to everyday mundane things. The creativity, wordplay, and the language that the artists selected was quite impressive. It's a really fun event for people who like spoken word.


After the Poetry Slam, we had a guest comedian, Ty Sosina, and following his performance was the MC Battle. An "MC" is another name for a rapper or lyricist. An MC Battle is where two rappers go head-to-head for 30 seconds each to a beat of the DJ's selection. They have 30 seconds to impress the crowd with lyrical creativity and prove that they are better than their opponent. The crowd votes by applause and the winner moves on to the next round. The winner of our MC Battle, Bobby Richardson, took home the $100 cash prize. There were some really funny punchlines and and cool ideas presented in the battle. The crowd got very excited in some rounds, with people standing up and cheering for the MC they liked the best.


Overall, it was a very exciting evening and we had a great turnout, especially for it being our very first time having it in Coffman Theater. It's cool that on this campus, there is so much to do. This event is one that people look forward to every year, and it's a guarantee that they were not disappointed. It is great to see fellow students on stage expressing themselves and showcasing their work. It's even more amazing to witness the creativity and hear the wordplay. Spoken word is a passion of mine and I am overjoyed that I could find a community of people on campus who love it as much as I do. Hopefully, the 8th Annual Poetry Slam and MC Battle will be even better!


Here are a few pics from the event:

1st place winner Sam Cook

Hello!

Hi everyone!

I'm Jasmine, a new blogger here, and I am so happy that I get to share my experiences with you. I am here to give you the inside scoop on the life of a student at the U of M. 

Let's start with a little about me. I am a graduating senior in the University Honors Program and studying communications the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) here at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. I am originally from North Minneapolis and graduated from the International Baccalaureate (IB) program at Patrick Henry High School. 

I decided that I wanted to come to the U of M long ago. I am definitely a "big city" type of person, and wanted that same atmosphere at college. There is so much to do in the Twin Cities that I knew I would keep busy and be close enough to my family and friends that I could still see them often. I was also excited to jump right in to student life at the U of M. One of my main reasons for attending the U of M was because of a visit to my high school in tenth grade by a group of current U of M students called Voices Merging.

They performed spoken word (performance poetry) at a time where I had just begun to get into writing and performing. When I saw this group of multicultural students in college who were having fun performing together, I knew that I wanted to be a part of the U of M. The cool thing is that I am now president of Voices Merging, and have gone back to my high school to perform several times! It is funny how things come full circle--now I am inspiring others to consider to the U of M as well.

Time flies so quickly; it's hard to believe that I have spent almost four years here. I have absolutely loved it! I have taken advantage of many of the opportunities available on campus including study abroad, living on campus, and being a leader of a student group. Getting involved has definitely enhanced my undergraduate experience. Wondering how? Don't worry, I'll talk more about all of those experiences in future posts.

When I was getting ready to graduate high school, I was bombarded with questions about my future: 

"Where are you going to go to college?" 

"What are you going to major in?" 

I finally found the answers to those questions and four years later, with just days left until I graduate, I am being bombarded with questions again, however this time they are more like:

"What are you going to do after graduation?"

"Where are you going to graduate school?" 

I am certainly glad that the University has resources to help me figure all of this out because these questions are not so easy to answer. Nearing graduation is an anxious, yet exciting time in my life and on this blog over the couple months, I'll be sharing all the highlights, learning experiences, and cool things that go along with it.

Until next time,

Jasmine