Catherine Caruso

English 106

Emre

Bringing Out the Spirit!

Coming from the small town, Bristol Rhode Island, I never got to experience the

excitement of a big college growing up. Here at Purdue University, school spirit and school

advertisements are all over the town. I always knew that my home town was small, but I never

knew how to compare it to anything else till I came here. This campus is larger than where I

grew up. Having people from all over West Lafayette who are excited and proud of Purdue

University is a new and breath taking experience for me.

Having entered Purdue University in summer 2010 I attended the Boiler Gold Rush

orientation for incoming freshman. It amazed me how much school spirit all the students had.

The Boiler Gold Rush activities all incorporated events and programs involving the school. I

personally remember calling my mom and telling her the excitement this school had. By

providing an amazing first week of fun for all freshmen, it really made me proud to be a

Boilermaker. I felt very comfortable in this setting of fun and excitement for my school because

I always had an enthusiastic personality towards activities that I enjoyed participating in. In all

the sports teams that I joined in high school I felt as though I was the team motivator. Especially

on my swimming team, I was a captain for my junior and senior year helping incoming freshman

and previous swimmers be just as excited as I was about being a part of this team. I think the

reason I became so inspired and in love with Purdue was because it fit my personality so well. It

really fulfilled my passion of excitement for being a part of an enthusiastic school.

Before coming to this school I had never been to a college basketball or football game.

Since coming here I have attended almost all of the Big Ten Conference games. With all the

excitement and old traditions that happen at these games really made me feel like this was the

place I belonged. Purdue has become an inspiring and welcoming place for me. Being so far

from my family and friends people may think it could be hard to adjust at first. I thought I would

be homesick and stressed out about not having close family near me, but I have never felt out of

place here. There are people from all over the world that come to Purdue and because of its

opening arms to acceptance many people feel right at home. I enjoy the atmosphere of this

inspiring and fun filled university.

The photos I included in my photo essay here are pictures I have taken at specific events

that I thought demonstrate the school spirit this school has. For this assignment it would be

interesting to exemplify the colors or specific object I the picture that represents Purdue

University. Most of these photos have crowds of people in it, which is an example of the amount

of people that attend and care for this school. The photo black and white, tends to settle down

the excitement of the photo. By highlighting the main points of each photo really creates

powerful message of school spirit. I felt as though it was an entertaining way to demonstrate my

observation of spirit from this school. The text part of the picture needed to be on the outside of

it representing it as a story book. For this project and topic, putting the words on the photo

would have taken away from the spirit being shown from each photo I had chosen. My design

choice for this photo essay really exemplifies my spirit and the spirit this school provides.

In each page of my photo essay there is a specific contrast between the background of the

photos and the colors that are standing out. To make this essay look as a real story book, the

repetition of my theme and designs follows through each page. The design of each page is

aligned to look as a story book with the picture centered as the main attraction and the story

below. Each photo has a brief paragraph that connects and describes the emotion that is being

exemplifies in the photo. The photos and story related and correspond together to create

proximity between the photos.

Being at such a big school I had never known how much school spirit a university could

have. It really amazed me with the excitement and fun one school can provide just by having

students be excited to go here. I love the feeling of supporting something I am a part of. It

makes me feel very passionate and inspiring to be here.