Articles by nxiongxtoyed

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So far my “almost” first year of college has been quite the ride. First semester wasn’t too challenging because I was taking a lot of 2 credit classes and was 2 credit short of the maximum credit a student can take before paying for extra credits. My second semester, well, let’s just say it has been the opposite! This semester I am taking a total of 18 credits and on top of that, I am involved with Bomb Squad and the Student Dance Choreography Concert which will take place next weekend. This does not lighten my workload at all. So, coming into second semester with the classes I had first semester did not help me at all. 🙁 I’ve found myself spending more time on homework and studying than I did first semester. I guess I “slacked” too much first semester and it bled onto second semester. So my lesson for the semester is, DON’T SLACK AND STUDY UNTIL YOU FULLY UNDERSTAND THE TOPIC! ^_^

The classes I am taking this semester are:
-Survey of Western Civilization
-Hebrew Bible
-Philosophy 201- Human Nature
-Intro to Statistics
-Intro to Literature
-Intro to sociology

Over spring break I had the oppertunity to help my cousin with a class project about Hmong by Hmong dancing for his presentation. Here’s a clip of the performance. This Hmong dance team is called Nkauj Hmoob Spokane, which in English translates to Young Spokane Hmong Ladies. I am the dance team captain and this team consists of all Hmong girls living in Spokane with ages in the range of 10-20. This performance is only a portion of our whole team and we perform at events where we can spread the awareness of Hmong in Spokane and we also for the Spokane Hmong events like the Spokane Hmong New Years and Spokane Hmong graduation. Coming into Gonzaga University, I hope to also find a place to spread Hmong awareness and show my culture and traditions off. ^_^

Today I just wanted to spend a little time talking about my amazing experience with the Gonzaga Bomb Squad. This year is not only my first year at Gonzaga, but it is also my first year on the Bomb Squad. You might be wondering, what is the Bomb Squad? Do they actually get to work with legit bombs? What do they do? Well, I am here to answer your questions. Bomb Squad is a hip hop dance team here at Gonzaga and we get to perform at most of the Gonzaga men and women’s basketball games during their time-outs, GEL weekend, and freshman orientation. The team currently consists of 16 girls and 2 boys and out of that there 5 seniors, 5 juniors, 4 sophomores, and 2 freshmen. Not only are we performers, but we are also student athletes coming from different backgrounds. There are girls who were originally cheerleaders in high school, boy and girls who have never danced in their life before, or those who had a different dance background other than hip hop. We are not only diverse in our dance backgrounds, but also where we came from. There are dancers from Arizona to California to Washington and even Korea! If any of you incoming freshmen are coming to GEL weekend, that is our last performance to watch us. Here are some pictures of the Gonzaga Bomb Squad. Enjoy. ^_^

WelcometotheJungle
This is a picture from our very first Bomb Squad dance put on at Gonzaga. Our theme was Welcome to the Jungle.

TEAM
Gonzaga Bomb Squad.

lastgame
About to perform!

yaya
Last basketball performance of the year. 8(

So, here is my last post about my winter break. Although I only spent two weeks in sunny California and did a lot of travelling, this is by far my most favorite part about it. This winter break I was fortunate enough to be a part of two Hmong news broadcasting team, one in California and another in Wisconsin. I got the privilege to interview many people who not only attended the Hmong International New Years in Fresno, but also the contestants who competed in the cultural dance competition, the singing competition, and the beauty pageant. This experience has taught me a lot of things about myself and my own Hmong people. I’ve learned that my English is overpowering my native tongue of Hmong, that the younger Hmong generation is changing a LOT, and that there are DEFINITELY Hmong people all over the world! While I was in Fresno, I also had the chance to see my most favorite Hmong band LIVE, Destiny!! Ahh. The concert was amazing and I almost got to touch the lead singer’s hand!! ^_^ Below are some pictures from my amazing second half of winter break.

UsGirls
Here is a picture of my sisters, my cousin, and me.

KouserYaj
This is the second place winner in the singing competition, Kouser Yaj from Wisconsin.

1stPlace
This is the first place winner in the Beauty Pageant. Her name is Joua Xiong from Oklahoma.

2ndPlace
This is the second place winner in the Beauty Pageant. Her name is Maiher Vang from Wisconsin.

3rdPlace
This is the third place winner in the Beauty Pageant. Her name is Hli Yaj.

These are pictures of me interviewing random people at the New Years Celebration.

vik

umm

uhh

And here’s one of me ball tossing. ^_^

balltossing

Here’s a quick link to the youtube clip of me interviewing. 8) The language I am speaking is Hmong.

Thank you!

Nikky Xiongxtoyed
Freshman
Political Science
me

Hello everyone!! I thought I’d should share my winter break experience with you all. I hope you guys had an amazing and relaxing break because I sure did!!

So, I pretty much spent two weeks of my break in sunny California with my mom’s side of the family and travelled around quite a bit. The scariest thing EVER happened to me my first night in town; I experienced my first earthquake ever!! It didn’t even hit me that an earthquake just happened until my mom came running into the room I was staying in. It just felt like a GIANT FART! Haha. I guess this was a great start to my break, NOT. But anyways, my first full day in Cali was spend in LA. I went to the Griffith Observatory and took pictures with the Hollywood sign and I had the chance to walk down the Hollywood Walk of Fame. So, here are some pictures of my amazing first full day!! BTW: I met Kobe Bryant!! Haha. That is, his wax figure! ^_^

alksdjf
Me with the hollywood sign!

HOLLYWOOD
HOLLYWOOD! I wish I could get closer to it. Haha.

GIRLS
Me with my sisters.

observatory
Griffith Observatory

Albert
Me with the awesome Albert Enstein!

YAYA
Bruce Lee!!

Twilight
Twilight cast.

YAY!
So there was a shopping mall area at the Hollywood Walk of Fame and in the center of that was this giant Christmas tree!!

kobe
Last but not least, Kobe Bryant. ^_^

nikky
Nikky Xiongxtoyed
Freshman
Political Science

MyDesk!!

I know this is totally random, but I just wanted to share what my desk in my dorm looks like. When settling in the day before Freshmen Orientation, my mom and I actually took our time decking my desk out. This is how my desk looks like today and I will describe my desk from top to bottom.

On the wall above my desk is a poster that especially caught my eyes. I really like the colors and how a couple is hugging under a pink umbrella; the emotions they have towards each other is espressed through not only the colors but also by the weather. I actually got this poster a week or two into the school year at the Big Poster Sale. There were so many posters to choose from varying from: movie films to actors and actresses and Marilyn Monroe to Bob Marley and many more. Incoming freshmen, don’t forget to look out for the poster sale if you want to jazz your room up a bit.

Next, onto my shelf. As you can see, there are a lot of things clustered on this little shelf. My mom actually arranged my stuffed animals for me along with my prom picture. The stuff animals here have a meaning to me because most of them were given to me as a good luck charm for my dance competition way back in high school. The little bulldog was actually a gift from my dad to me so that I can show off my “Prep Pride” at home. (The high school I attended was Gonzaga Prep and our mascot was a bullpup.) To the left of the stuffed animals are a little mailbox, a capsule containing Texas beach sand, and my prom picture. These three items are important to me because they all represent memories of my boyfriend and are the gifts he gave to me. To the right of these stuffed animals is a picture of my dad and I. This picture was taken at the Father-Daughter dance at my high school and it deserved to be on my shelf because this dance was a once in a life time experience for me and only through this picture can I relive that moment again. Next to this picture are a red container containing miscellaneous items I found while cleaning, a picture album, another picture of my dad, and a stapler. I made sure I brought this other picture of my dad with me because whenever I miss him, I would just look to this picture and feel his presence around me. Also, in college, some professors greatly appreciate papers being stapled so it’s not a bad idea to have a stapler handy! On the right of my book shelf are my high school yearbook, a binder, some of the books for my classes, and another photo album.

Now, onto the next level of my desk is the wall of pictures. This wall is very convenient in that you can pretty much pin pictures or a calendar on here. For me, I chose to pin up a lot of pictures of my friends and family and a quote that gives me inspiration. Now, to the real desk itself. On my desk is a lamp that comes with a pen, pencil, notepad, high lighter, etc container. This is very convenient in that I spend a lot of my time doing homework on my desk, so whenever I need a new utensil, I can just pick one up from here. Also on my desk are water and gatorade.

So, I hope you all enjoyed looking at my desk and reading about what’s on my desk! ^_^

Nikky

Fall on Gonzaga campus is the most beautiful sight with all the colorful leaf colors ranging from green, yellow, orange, and red. One of the best times to visit Gonzaga’s campus would have to be the fall. During this time, you can capture the most breath-taking scenes on campus from any angle! The weather is also great with no snow fall on the ground yet and just sunshine and cold temperatures. What I love the most about fall is walking in/on the leaves and hearing the crunchy sound of the leaves being crushed below my feet.

FallMarianHall
This is a picture of how fall looks like at Marian Hall, a dorm at Gonzaga University. As you can see, most of the leaves on the trees have fallen, and all the leaves will soon be gone.

A great place to not only look for any campus activity going on during the week, but to promote or advertise your activity is the wall. The wall is next to College Hall, besides Desmet, and across from Crosby. The wall is something “hard to miss” while walking on campus. I’ve never really used the wall until Bomb Squad’s Welcome to the Jungle Dance. Advertising on the wall was one of the many way we spread the word about the dance, which was probably one of the most effective way because I know from personal experiences that whenever I walk by the wall, my eyes are glued onto it reading all the events going on that week. The wall is also another way of showing one’s creativity; many ads by clubs are really artistic. Usually the artistic ones are the ones that “attracts” your eyes first.

This is an example of Bomb Squad's advertisement for their Welcome to the Jungle Dance.

Hello everyone! My name is Nikky. I am a freshman and my intended major is Political Science. I am from Spokane, WA; so the move to Gonzaga was not far. I chose to go to Gonzaga because one, my mom wanted me close to home, two, I heard the Law program here was pretty good, and three, I wanted to be surrounded by a close knit community. Even though I am going to college in my hometown, I still feel independent because I live on campus and I only see my family on the weekends. My hobbies are dancing, doing outdoors activities, and playing all kinds of sports.