Student Adventures

North America

  • Alternative Spring Break, New York City. (Spring 2009) During Alternative Spring Break 2009, nine SMU students and a staff adviser will be working in New York City for an organization called God's Love We Deliver. They will deliver food and nutritional support to families affected by HIV/AIDS and life-altering illnesses.
  • Alternative Spring Break, Taos. (Spring 2009) Thirteen SMU students and faculty members are headed to Taos, New Mexico, for Alternative Spring Break 2009, where they will work with Taos Habitat for Humanity to build homes. During the trip, students will stay at the SMU-in-Taos campus, while giving back to a community that has given much to SMU.
  • Alternative Spring Break, Taos (Spring 2008) Students participating in the Alternative Spring Break trip to Taos, N.M., are partnering with Taos Habitat for Humanity to help build a home.
  • Alternative Spring Break, Tennessee. (Spring 2009) During Alternative Spring Break 2009, SMU students will be volunteering in Appalachia, Tennessee, with the Once Upon a Time Wilderness Adventures mission. They'll spend the week doing a variety of service learning projects, including trail maintenance, gardening and work with a Cherokee community.
  • Amelia, SMU's New Visions, New Voices. A student director, she journals about her experiences directing fellow students in the The New Visions, New Voices program.
  • Amy, New York City. Attending Parsons School of Design and working with New York designers before launching her fourth collection of clothing under the Revier label
  • Amy D., SMU's New Visions, New Voices. A student playwright, she journals about her experiences creating a production in the The New Visions, New Voices program.
  • Ana, Washington, D.C. A double major in corporate communications and markets and culture from Houston, she participated in "Hilltop on the Hill", an intensive weeklong program that provide opportunities to learn from and network with a variety of communications and political professionals.
  • Andres, New Mexico (Summer 2007), participating in a geology field studies trip this summer in New Mexico and Change It, a weeklong program sponsored by Greenpeace and Seventh Generation for student environmental leaders in Washington, D.C.
  • Angela, New York City. A senior corporate communications and public affairs major from Houston, she spent a week in New York City with other communications students networking and seeing the communications world in action.
  • Anthony (Spring 2008), a senior marketing major from Garland, is participating in an Honors Marketing Practicum Course in charge of promoting SMU's annual Red-Blue Spring Football Game on April 5.
  • Astrud, UTMB-Galveston. (Summer 2009) Astrud is a junior biology major, with minors in chemistry, international studies and human rights, in Dedman College. In Summer 2009, she is participating in her second summer internship with the Joint Admission Medical Program (JAMP) at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. She is taking classes as well as observing and following doctors through preceptorships.
  • Astrud, Texas and Connecticut. (Summer 2007) She will attend Leadershape, a 6-day conference in Bridgeport, Texas, and then go to Yale University (New Haven, CT) for six weeks to attend the Summer Medical Dental Education Program.
  • Astrud, College Station (Summer 2008) Astrud, a junior majoring in biology and minoring in international studies, is participating in a six-week enrichment program for the Joint Admission Medical Program in College Station.
  • Ben, Meadows Opera (Spring 2008) Ben, a first-year graduate student pursuing a Master's of music in vocal performance, is performing February 8 and 10, 2008, in Liebe, L'amour, L'amore . . .Tell me the Truth about Love!, an opera gala presented by the Meadows Symphony Orchestra and Meadows Opera Theatre.
  • Brentney, Washington, D.C. A senior English and creative writing major from Telephone, Texas, she spent the spring (2007)semester in Washington, D.C.
  • Brooks (Summer 2007) a senior political science major from Plano, Texas, is using this summer to focus on academics and raise his GPA.
  • Candice, A senior theater major from Plano, Texas, she writes about performing at SMU in Fabulation during fall 2006.
  • Charanya, Washington, D.C. (Summer 2008) Charanya is a junior and a President's Scholar with a triple major in political science, French and finance. She is interning this summer in Washington, D.C., at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a nonpartisan research institute.
  • Catherine, PRSSA conference. (Fall 2009) Catherine, a senior CCPA major in SMU's Meadows School of the Arts and a member of the SMU rowing team, attended the Public Relations Student Society of America national conference in San Diego in November 2009.
  • Chester, Houston. He is participating in the Debakey Summer Surgery Program through the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston this summer (2007).
  • Christina, Christina was part of a group of students, faculty and staff who spent spring break 2007 journeying to the Deep South to learn more about the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
  • CJ, SMU-in-Taos. (Fall 2009) CJ is a sophomore economics major in Dedman College and finance major in Cox School of Business. In Fall 2009, he is participating in the inaugural fall semester at SMU's campus at Fort Burgwin in New Mexico.
  • Cody, Dallas (Summer 2008) Cody, a junior political science major, received a public service internship award from the Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility this summer. She will be working with the Stewpot in downtown Dallas. She plans to attend several City Council meetings and to learn about the public policy of homelessness and how it is changing in Dallas, with the opening of the new and nontraditional Bridge Homeless Assistance Center. She hopes to help the Stewpot understand the attitude of the city toward the homeless population and the reflections of that attitude in city policy.
  • Cole, Dallas. A summer intern for the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau
  • Deidre, Dallas. (Spring 2009) Deidre is a junior political science and history major who has an internship with U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison in Spring 2009. She also will be attending the weeklong Conservative Political Action Conference in February, working with and assisting lobbying groups, political action groups and politicians as an intern.
  • Donatas, Dallas. interning at KPGM in Dallas, an international firm providing audit, tax and advisory services
  • Eiseley, SMU-in-Taos (Summer 2007). Eiseley is a senior majoring in art history from St. Petersburg, Florida. She is helping restore the Catholic church of San Jose de Gracia in Las Trampas, New Mexico, this August at SMU-in-Taos as part of Professor Adam Herring’s course, Art and Architecture of Hispanic New Mexico.
  • Eiseley and Emily in Marfa. (Fall 2007) Art history majors Eiseley and Emily are traveling to West Texas in October to the Chinati Foundation, a contemporary art museum, in Marfa. They are two of 12 SMU students working as guides at the Judd Foundation Open House, a weekend of art, music and talks that attracts an international audience of 2,000 people – and one of the most exciting contemporary art events of the year.
  • Emily, Houston. Emily graduated from SMU in 2003 with a major in Creative Advertising and a minor in Dance Performance, and taught 3rd grade in Houston as part of the Teach for America program.
  • Erica, Mane Event. (Spring 2008) Erica, a sophomore advertising major, is getting ready for Mane Event, a campus-wide carnival in celebration of the end of classes that takes place on April 25, 2008.
  • Hilltop on the Hill, Washington. (Fall 2009) Seventeen Journalism and Corporate Communications & Public Affairs students are studying in Washington, D.C., this October for the Hilltop on The Hill 2009 program.
  • Inauguration Trip, Washington, D.C. (January 2009) A group of SMU communications and journalism students led by Rita Kirk, professor in the Division of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs in Meadows School of the Arts, is headed to Washington, D.C., in January 2009 for Barack Obama's inauguration.
  • Jade, Dallas and New York City. A dance major from Jacksonville, Florida, she is participating in a project to help the Dance Theater of Harlem
  • Joanna, Massachusetts (Summer 2007). Joanna, a sophomore and an aspiring veterinarian from McKinney, hopes to gain as much veterinary clinical experience as possible within the fields of small, large and exotic animals.
  • John C., Dallas. A senior business major, he started a business in spring 2007 called Follow My Band for fans needing reliable concert information.
  • Jonathan (Summer 2007). Jonathan, a junior majoring in psychology, will branch out from his hometown of San Antonio this summer (2007) to visit New Mexico and England.
  • Jordan, SMU-in-Taos (Summer 2007). Jordan is a senior from Atlanta studying cinema/television and music. He is helping restore the Catholic church of San Jose de Gracia in Las Trampas, New Mexico, this August at SMU-in-Taos as part of Professor Adam Herring’s course, Art and Architecture of Hispanic New Mexico.
  • Karoline & Amelia, Signature Theatre Company in New York (Summer 2007). Karoline will be company management intern and Amelia will be artistic intern.
  • Laura, Colorado. Press intern for Colorado gubernatorial candidate Marc Holtzman.
  • Laurel, Washington, D.C. A Corporate Communications major from Dallas, she participated in "Hilltop on the Hill", an intensive weeklong program that provide opportunities to learn from and network with a variety of communications and political professionals.
  • Lauren, SMU-in-Taos. (Fall 2009) Lauren is a sophomore participating in the first fall term at SMU's campus at Fort Burgwin in New Mexico. A recipient of the University Scholar and Rotunda Award scholarships, she is taking courses including geology and engaged in service-learning at Taos.
  • Lindsay, Dallas. (Summer 2008) Lindsay, a second-year graduate student pursuing a Master's in counseling, received a public service internship award from the Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility this summer. She will perform her internship at Our Friends' Place in Dallas, serving on the treatment team that works with girls and young women who have been neglected, abandoned or otherwise abused.
  • Lydia, Taos. (Summer 2009) Lydia is a sophomore President’s Scholar with a double major in Spanish in Dedman College and theater studies in Meadows School of the Arts. She is spending the June 2009 term in SMU-in-Taos, where she will be taking plant biology and acting scene study. Then she plans to visit the city of Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where her sister works with the nonprofit Food for the Hungry.
  • Micah, SMU Homecoming. As the 2006 Student Foundation Homecoming Chair, he oversaw all of the Homecoming activities and works with participating student organizations.
  • Michael E., Houston. assisting with medical research at the Stehlin Foundation for Cancer Research in Houston, Texas.
  • Michael W., Memphis. Working for Teach for America in Memphis
  • Morgan, New York City (Summer 2008) Morgan is a senior majoring in journalism, with a minor in cinema/television, who will be interning with NBC Mobile, Retirement Living TV, and 30 Rock in New York City. Her internship will involve writing stories for a national audience, getting hands-on experience behind the camera and working with reporters.
  • Nicola, Taos. (Summer 2009) Nicola, a senior majoring in political science in Dedman College, is spending Summer 2009 studying archaeology at SMU-in-Taos.
  • Nureen, Atlanta. (Summer 2009) Nureen, a sophomore in Dedman College who plans to major in advertising, has an internship in Atlanta with the American Civil Liberties Union. Nureen is one of nine SMU students awarded a Maguire and Irby Family Public Service Internship for Summer 2009 from SMU’s Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility. She says she is looking forward to seeing the ACLU’s commitment, devotion, passion and service for human rights in action.
  • Orientation Leaders, SMU. (Summer 2009) The 2009 student Mustang Corral directors help lead the two-step summer orientation process for incoming students. AARO (Academic Advising, Registration and Orientation) starts July 1. Mustang Corral, an off-campus retreat, is August 21-23.
  • Quia, Plano. a marketing communications writer for a software company based in Plano
  • Rachel, Taos and London. (Summer 2009) Rachel is spending the June 2009 term in SMU-in-Taos, where the photography courses she is taking will complement her journalism degree. After Taos, she's immediately off to SMU-in-London, where she'll study journalism from the British point of view, as well as the history of postwar European cinema.
  • Red and Blue Scrimmage 2009. (Spring 2009) The Cox School of Business Honors Marketing Practicum class (in photo, right) is teaming up with SMU Athletics this spring to promote SMU Football's Red and Blue Scrimmage on April 25. The marketing class also is organizing festivities at Doak Walker Plaza before the scrimmage for students, alumni and the community.
  • Robert, Alaska. Robert, a double major in dance and geological sciences, attended Geology Field Camp at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. (Summer 2005)
  • Rukhmani, Kitchen Dog Theater. (Spring 2009) Rukhmani, a junior theatre major at Meadows School of the Arts, plays the role of Lavinia in "Titus Andronicus," a co-production between Kitchen Dog Theater and Meadows School of the Arts from April 17 to May 16, 2009. Lavinia is Titus' daughter and a victim of the violent revenge that characterizes many aspects of the play.
  • Sara, Texas Rio Grande Valley. Working for Teach for America in Rio Grande Valley
  • Sarah and 13 other Meadows dance students, along with an alumna, were selected to perform the Martha Graham ballet Primitive Mysteries for the Fall Dance Concert in November 2007.
  • SMU Model U.N., the Netherlands (Spring 2009) Ten students in SMU's Model United Nations program are participating in the World Model U.N. 2009 Conference in March in The Hague, Netherlands. The SMU delegation was assigned to represent the Vatican at the conference, where students from more than 40 countries will debate and discuss the world issues facing the U.N. system.
  • SMU Outdoor Adventures SMU Outdoor Adventures offers recreational trips and outdoor skills workshops from its “base camp” at the Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports.
  • SMU-in-Taos, New Mexico. Students taking classes through the SMU-in-Taos program
  • Spring Break 2007 Adventures
  • Steven, Washington, D.C. (Summer 2007) Steven will be conducting research with the head of the Russia-EU Program at the Finish Institute of International Affairs in Helsinki.
  • Susan, Phoenix, AZ. She has committed the next two years to Teach for America, a program that places recent college graduates in some of the nation's most low-income communities.
  • Tatiana, Hawaii-California-Oregon (Summer 2007). Tatiana is planning an active summer, training for triathlons.
  • Tiana, Tiana has written about her studies and travels in Copenhagen, Denmark, the Nazi death camps, The Czech Republic, Arizona, and Australia.
  • Tommy, Dallas, TX. Working with junior high and high school athletes as an assistant strength instructor for the Performance Course
  • Varsha, Houston surgery program (Summer 2008) Varsha is a sophomore BBA Scholar and SMU Distinguished Scholar majoring in finance and biochemistry. This summer, she is participating in the Michael E. DeBakey Summer Surgery Program at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston.
  • Whitney, Florida internship (Summer 2008) Whitney is a junior from Albuquerque, New Mexico, who is an international studies and premed major. At SMU, she serves as a resident assistant and is involved with Campus Ministries. This summer she has an internship in Florida in a church youth department, and in the fall she will study abroad with SMU-in-Copenhagen