Auggie at a Glance - Carly Lassegard

This week's "Auggie at a Glance," taken from Augsburg's newspaper, the Echo.

Auggie at a Glance – Carly Lassegard

Carly Lassegard, a junior Auggie, spends most of her time maneuvering rooms few people—even veteran students—know exist. She is a guru among her peers, with a vast knowledge of both the academic and tangible sides of her field. And she understands the workings of numerous complicated—and very expensive—pieces of equipment. What does Lassegard do, you ask? The answer is film, an exploding semi-interdisciplinary program, housed within Augsburg’s Communication Studies Department.
Lassegard, the eldest of three children, grew up in Woodbury, a suburb of St. Paul. Though always interested in film, Carly attended Woodbury’s Math and Science Academy from sixth to twelfth grade. She described the experience fondly, “My parents [initially] forced me to go, but within a year, I loved it.” With only twenty-seven students in her graduating class, “There was no room for cliques…no drama…if you started drama, you had no friends.” Her time at the Academy, Lassegard said, was spent “[following] everyone around with a video camera…I was that person.”
When asked why she chose Augsburg, Lassegard explained that Augsburg is the only private college in Minnesota that offers a film degree. And she always knew she wanted to do film, saying “I never thought I would go to college for anything else…It’s always been something I’ve been good at it…and although I’m creative, I’m also shy, and film is really good for that—no audience participation—[I] can turn the movie on and run to the back of the room.”
What’s great about Augsburg’s film program in particular, Lassegard said, is that “It’s small. It feels like a school within a school…it’s amazing what gets produced in our classes.” And the program is growing rapidly, Lassegard said. “We’ve had double-digit growth every year for the past five years,” and it’s set to continue. “We’re getting more recognition…[but we’ll] need more money, more space…”
When asked about the other organizations she’s involved with, Lassegard laughed, saying, “Film takes over my life.” As the Head T.A. for the film program, Lassegard not only controls the keys (and thus, all the access) to the TV/film studio and the film equipment, she also fields most questions from students, handling all but the most complicated (which she relays to Wes Ellenwood, Assistant Professor in the film program).
After she graduates in 2011, Lassegard hopes to attend graduate school, and then to “sell [her] soul to Hollywood, for a little while.” After that, Lassegard wants to “be in charge of something…I enjoy screenwriting, so I want to [continue] that. I don’t want to be a director.”
Whatever Lassegard decides to do, her stellar experiences within Augsburg’s rising film program (not to mention her own aspirations—creative and otherwise) will no doubt prove priceless.

Auggie at a Glance - Whitney Pratt

From Augsburg's newspaper, the Echo (two weeks ago):

Auggie at a Glance - Whitney Pratt

Born in Landstuhl, Germany to parents stationed at the Ramstein Air Force Base, Whitney Pratt has lived an extraordinary life. At three, Pratt moved to Oslo Norway; two years later, she moved to Stavanger (on the opposite Norwegian coast). After Stavanger (where her dad worked for NATO), she moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, then finally, to Mitchell, South Dakota. Initially, Pratt was home schooled, but upon entering sixth grade, she entered the Mitchell Public School system. “I hated it with my whole heart. I wasn’t a fan of having a structured day,” said Pratt. Lucky for Pratt, the “typical” educational experience didn’t last long. Her senior year, Pratt was a foreign exchange student in Sweden, studying math and science at Uddevalla Gymnaseiskola.
When asked why she picked Augsburg, Pratt said, “I originally didn’t want to look at Augsburg, but my mom convinced me too. So I visited campus, and I instantly knew I wanted to come here. I liked Coach Pohtilla, and Brenda [Hemmingsen] really made me feel at home. I felt comfortable.”
Now a third-year Economics major in the Honors Program, Pratt is most heavily involved in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (better known as the ROTC). Her first and second years were spent in the GMC, or General Military Course, learning the proper ways to wear her uniform and appropriate methods of communication within the armed services: “It was basically an introduction to the Air Force, along with a course on history,” said Pratt. The summer after her sophomore year, Pratt attended field training, which she describes as “a lot of yelling and screaming. It’s an evaluation of how well you can lead and follow under pressure.” Now, Pratt leads as a “Flight Commander,” helping first and second-year cadets learn the ropes. When she graduates, Pratt hopes to attend undergraduate pilot training to fly fighter jets. If her application is accepted, and she completes her training, she’ll be required to devote another ten years of her life to the armed services as a pilot—preferably, as Pratt explained, working with NATO. “After I graduate [from Augsburg], my first vacation might not be a vacation,” Pratt said. But she assured me it was what she wants to do. “Once you have military in your blood, it’s really hard to get it out of you…you get the ‘three-year itch…’”
Pratt, after discussing her personal experiences with the ROTC, wanted to debunk some misconceptions about the military: “We’re not war-mongers. I’m not in it to go to war. We do a lot of infrastructure-building, setting up clean water sources…We believe we should leave a place cleaner than it was when we arrived. The military is not a political machine. It’s not left-wing or right-wing—we’re neutral that way.”
Pratt’s advice for Auggies included: “Work hard and follow your dreams. I know that’s what a lot of people say, but I mean it. There’s nothing you can’t do if you put your mind to it.”
Obviously, Pratt has had no trouble doing just that.

Halloween and other super-awesome-fun-times

つかれた！

I just finished studying for tomorrow's Japanese test. It's on all of Chapter 1, so about 40 pages of Japanese grammar and vocab. I feel ready for the test material-wise, so now all that's left is to get a good night's sleep and eat a healthy breakfast tomorrow morning. Wish me luck!

What's gone on since my last post? Well, Halloween happened. Guess what I was? A CAT! (giving new meaning to No, I Am a Cat!). The gang, minus Katie who was at another rockin' party, came over to our apartment. Fun times were had by all: we ordered in Chinese food, played Guitar Hero and DDR, and watched Zombieland. I wanted to watch something legit scary, but neither Brian or Tony like legit scary movies, so we opted for a "scary" comedy. After the movie and plenty of video games, we spent the rest of the night unconventionally, perusing old high school yearbooks.
Here are just a few pics from Halloween:

Per as a cowboy

Alan was also a kitty. Tearin' toilet paper!

This was supposed to be me acting like a cat drinking milk. The actual photo, as you can see, turned out with me looking like a weirdo.

Mitch playing Guitar Hero (II)

Of course, Halloween wasn't the only time I've relaxed in the past month. Every weekend, we usually hang with the gang and play board games and such.

Alan and I love .hack!

Lookin' at my deck (fire fire fire is the best!)

Mitch and Per

Playing Citadels. I love the king.

LOL.

I'm finally meeting with Dixie tomorrow. We were supposed to meet last week (and the week before that), but things kept coming up. So tomorrow, so help me, we're meeting and discussing my life after graduation. What will I do? Apply to grad school? Head straight into the workforce? And what about my life in the next year and a half? Will I go abroad again? Complete another research project? Intern? I have a stellar resume, so I've got a lot of options, but it's hard to pick (and make the choice a responsible one).

Time for bed...おやすみなさい！