#underthecouch

Hello IAC students and prospective students! The Annual Atlanta Ice Cream Festival isn’t the only fun event you can look forward to this week - get ready for some great shows and lectures that will be offered on campus and off. 

Want to win some cool IAC swag? Send us some snapshots of yourself at any of these events to [email protected] to be entered. 

Georgia Tech

1. Summer Dance Lessons - Ballroom Dancing

Come out for the last dance lesson offered by SCPC this summer!

Location: Student Center Ballroom

Date: July 19, 7:30 p.m.

Cost: Free

Event Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/241303203026318/

2. GTMN Presents: OK Computer by Radiohead

For one night only, Georgia Tech students come together under the name The Let Downs to perform the entirety of Radiohead’s iconic album in honor of its 20th anniversary. Supporting bands are Atlanta bands Fever Monkey, Junior Prom ATL, and Soda Jerks.

Location: Under the Couch, second floor of the Student Center

Date: July 21, 7 p.m.

Cost: Free

Event Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/291824461281314/

Atlanta

3. Wielding Words: An Evening with Ward Churchill

This fascinating lecture will be given by Native American activist and author Ward Churchill based on his essays and scholarship. The topics discussed will include the fallacies of archaeological and anthropological orthodoxy.

Location: Center for Civil and Human Rights

Date: July 19, 6:00 p.m.

Cost: Free

Event Link: https://www.civilandhumanrights.org/event/wielding-words-evening-ward-churchill/

4. Sistahs Writing Themselves Into Existence

Susan “Sue” J. Ross has been an important contributor to the visual depictions of black women authors, scholars, and playwrights. This exhibition of her work will be sure to impress and educate about her subjects’ contributions to society, as well as provide personal statements about writing as a trade from each of them. Catch the artist herself on July 27th for a talk.

Location: Auburn Avenue Research Library

Date: through August 13

Cost: Free

Event Link: http://www.atlantadowntown.com/do/sistahs-writing-themselves-into-existence

5. Coca Cola Summer Movie Festival @ Fox Theater

This week in the Fox’s summer movie series, you can participate in a Mary Poppins sing-along on Saturday, July 23rd. Visit the website below to find out dates and times of other classics that will also be screened as the summer goes on.

Location: The Fox Theatre

Date: Varies, visit link

Cost: Varies, visit link

Hi everyone, this is Merritt Treaster! On Wednesday and Thursday of this week, Tech’s second session of FASET orientation took place. This meant that from 4:30 to 6:30 on Thursday afternoon, the area around Tech Green was once again flooded with representatives from nearly every student organization Georgia Tech has to offer. The amount of uncomfortable eye contact was astounding. I know this because I was one of those sweaty salespeople passing out fliers and looking desperate to get the high school graduates’ attention. Some of you reading this may have been there, and a few of you may have even spoken to me at the Musician’s Network tent. To you I say: I’m sorry, and… I know. I promise, it was even weirder for me. Those of you who weren’t there may still be waiting for your orientation. I imagine reading this is filling you with either excitement or dread (or some terrible combination of both). No matter which of those categories you fall into, I want to dedicate this post to you: the incoming freshmen. Specifically, I want to talk about joining clubs and getting involved on campus.

Before you click away, know that I’m not going to be delivering some candy-coated lecture about how joining on campus organizations makes you smarter or happier or better looking or anything like that. Sure, clubs can do some of that for you, but a lot of the time (especially to incoming students) I see them sold as a kind of cure-all antidote to some of the problems that every person in college is inevitably going to face. If you haven’t sat through a lecture like that yet, believe me, you’re going to have plenty of opportunities to do so. I don’t want this post to be one of those things. It’s just me - a cynical fourth year who happens to be doing this with his free time - talking to you. Okay? Okay.

Firstly, you know that thing that everyone (your teachers, your parents, and that uncomfortably enthusiastic kid that Tech has you follow around campus during orientation) says about trying out all the things that interest you? Yeah, actually do that. And do it as early as you possibly can. I know you’re going to hear this until you’re sick of it, but take my word. As someone who transferred schools and majors before winding up where I am, the first couple of years of college were crazy weird for me. Unfortunately, I ended up using that as an excuse to avoid getting involved in anything for a lot longer than I should have. When I did finally start participating on campus I absolutely loved it, but the wasted opportunity has left me with the feeling that all of my chances to do cool things are fleeting. I know that’s a kind of heavy thing to read, but it’s true, and the last thing I want is for any of you to have a moment of realization like I did. So attend meetings! Look up the list of clubs and organizations on Tech’s website and find the ones that sound interesting to you. Then go to a meeting as soon as you can. They take up a ridiculously small amount of your time and the payoff could be enormous.

Another thing I see happen every semester is students trying everything out, overloading themselves with memberships, then feeling too much of an obligation to admit that they don’t have time to participate in all of it. Guess what: no one has time. As an officer for an on campus organization, I can assure you that we don’t get offended when you don’t either. Most of these clubs have been around for years, and while it’s definitely nice to have as many people participating as possible, our survival doesn’t hang in the balance because you haven’t shown up in three weeks. There’s a reason the first club meeting you go to is way bigger than the ninth or tenth. It takes time to work out your schedule, and part of that process is deciding which extracurricular stuff is most important to you. Eventually, you’ll discover that the things you’re really passionate about find ways of making time on their own, so spend your summer worrying about something else.

The last thing I want to say is if you find yourself in a situation where you feel like your interests aren’t being represented, don’t be afraid to start your own organization. Is it’s going to require a lot of free time? Yeah, absolutely. I’m pretty sure you have to go to some meetings and do paperwork and stuff like that, but if you truly have an interest you think isn’t being represented by any of the organizations currently on campus, Georgia Tech is there to help you fix it. All of the best organizations on campus were founded that exact way. And if you don’t think enough people are going to be interested, just keep in mind that there’s literally a club devoted entirely to seeing who can eat a head of lettuce the fastest (for anyone interested in becoming the Lettuce King / Queen, check out the GT Lettuce Club’s Facebook page for more information). Out of 26,000 people who go here, I guarantee you’ll find a group of students who are passionate about the same thing you are.

Welcome to our newest student blogger, Merritt Treaster!

Merritt is a fourth year LMC major with a Literature and Media thread. As the Studio Manager at Under the Couch, the student-run music lounge on the second floor of the Student Center, Merritt runs shows and events and hosts Open Mic nights.  This summer, Merritt is taking classes and looking to start freelance writing and editing.

Merritt enjoys learning and playing various instruments, and in his words, “spends more time putting microphones in front of people than almost everyone else on the planet.” Look out for his posts every Sunday this summer.