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Congratulations to Cecil Shorts on being drafted to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2011 NFL Draft! He’ll do Mount Union proud. Be sure to follow him on Twitter at CShorts10!

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I woke up this morning with a link in my inbox to a YouTube video from one of my friends. “You have to check this out” was all the message said. After clicking through, I was taken to a video titled “Raider Nation” and the beat from Wiz Khalifa’s “Black and Yellow” started playing. Within seconds, I was listening to one of the coolest remixes of “Black and Yellow” I had heard since Lil Wayne’s “Green and Yellow” for the Super Bowl. With over 700 plays in just 24 hours, I did some searching and finally found the Facebook profile of the account, which uploaded the video.

Meet Jonah Wilson. An alumnus of Mount Union and former football player, I asked him if he would be willing to do an interview with me about his song and also get us a link to the MP3 file for download. He enthusiastically agreed to both and I spent a couple hours messaging him with questions and reading his answers. Read on to see where Jonah got the inspiration for the track from, who his collaborator was and what he plans to do next! I’ll put the video and link to the MP3 after the interview. Enjoy!

UMU: Hi, Jonah. Thanks for agreeing to this interview about your video/music track “Purple Nation.” At almost 700 views on YouTube and being shared all over Facebook, I think we can say you have a hit on your hands. Can you give us the backstory to how you came up with the idea or were inspired to remix “Black and Yellow” with a purple twist?

JW: I am a Mount Union alumnus and former football player, so the song was inspired by my own personal experiences with Mount Union. Me and my best friend, VT, who collaborated with me on the song, planned to do a resin for Mount and it actually fell together in about two days after we started writing it.

UMU: I think the track gained a lot coming from someone who was on the football team and went to Mount; it added that authenticity factor. What about your collaborator VT, does he have ties back to Mount Union?

JW: He went to high school with me and has been my friend since my sophomore year at Copley, but no ties to Mount Union. He has been on campus and experienced the Raider experience, but no actual ties to the school.

UMU: You mentioned it took two days to put the track together after you started writing it. One of my favorite lyrics is “this is Mount Union / all we do is win / we at home on the road / yea we moving in.” Judging from how well this song came together, I’m guessing this isn’t the first time you’ve both came up with lyrics before. What was the actual writing process like? Any writers block, or did it all come pretty easy?

JW: In fact, we just started writing and making music about two months ago or so and we haven’t hit writers block or a proverbial wall yet. The writing process for this particular song was strange. Neither one of us had planned it. I was at home and decided to just record the chorus, so that took about 20 minutes to write and record. That night, Versean (VT) stopped by and listened to it and loved it, so he went home and came back the next day after he finished the middle verse. I wrote the first and third verse the same day, and we recorded and edited the second day. The rest is history. It all came easy to me because everything I talked about I’ve actually been a part of and it came easy to him because there is just so much history with Mount Union.

UMU: That’s really impressive for just two days of work. After you had finally finished, did you share it with your friends privately or did you just put it up on YouTube and let the Internet do the rest?

JW: After I wrote the chorus and recorded it, I sent a snippet of it to a few close friends and that was Wednesday. That Thursday, we finished the song and I was visiting a few alumni and coaches at Mount so I brought the finished song and surprised them with it because they all wanted to hear it after I sent them the teaser. That night they ended playing the song a few times at the bar stopped in. After I saw how excited people were about it I ended up putting it online Friday around noon.

UMU: It seems to be doing pretty well with the online audience as well with over 700 plays and no signs of stopping. Now for the question I’ve been most looking forward to: any future songs planned you want to tease for our readers?

JW: Haha, we have a lot planned for some music finished already. And if Mount Union keeps showing love, Raider Nation part two will definitely be a priority!

UMU: Sounds good! Now to wrap up this interview, I’ve already provided our readers with the link to the YouTube video, but do you have any plans to put up a link to the MP3 file for us to download to our computers and iPods?

JW: Absolutely, I’m currently trying to figure out the best way to put a link in the description of the YouTube video for download so by the end of today [April 30] it will be up and available for download!

UMU: Excellent, I know a lot of people will throw this into their warmup playlist!
Thank you again, Jonah, for doing this interview with me. I know our readers appreciate the insight into the making of “Raider Nation” and we all look forward to your next tracks!

JW: Thank you.

I would just like to thank Jonah again for doing this interview and be sure to check out the video on YouTube and download the MP3 today!

“Raider Nation” music video on YouTube
“Raider Nation” MP3 Download

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For most students at Mount, this week is a hectic one, but it starts out slow. Monday is our last full day of class, Tuesday is a reading/studying day and then finals begin and continue through the following Tuesday. Personally this week I have four finals, a job interview and the OAC Track and Field Championships at Mount Union. My four finals this week include – American Family, Forensic Psychology, Theories and Practices of Professional Editing and Critical Theory and Rhetoric. I also had a final project due for my basic drawing class. Next week, I have my human experience in literature and language final exam.

Most of my junior classmates in addition to studying for finals are preparing themselves for internships this summer. My senior roommates, however, are preparing themselves for job interviews and graduate school interviews in the next few weeks. It is a curious thing to observe the four different stages of “end of school” experiences. Freshmen are ecstatic to be going home and spending the summer with their high school friends and their new college friends. Sophomores are starting to get more professional jobs and taking a summer course and spending time with their college sweet heart. Juniors are getting internships, and seniors are preparing for adulthood.

The spring weather has been uncharacteristically poor in all of Ohio, a record setting performance I believe. But on this week of finals and pressure, the weather has decided to play nice and allow for a sunny, warm quad to study in.

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One of the many things I love about Mount Union is how early we start the summer.

I moved out this past weekend (while it was still April!) and it so nice to be home now.  Moving out took so much more time this year than it ever has because of all the furniture I had (because I lived off campus in a house).  It was a lot of heavy lifting and packing, but we did it!  Now, it’s just a matter of unpacking everything at home and figuring out places for it all to go.  :]

It’s also nice getting out early because we get a jump start on jobs! I interviewed at the Winking Lizard Tavern back in March and they hired me, and I’m going in for my orientation today! I’ve been waitressing at Bob Evans for the past five years and I’m really excited for a change of pace and scenery but to continue serving.  I love being around people and it’s usually good money too! $

Well, that’s all for now.  I’ll keep you updated on my latest happenings throughout the summer.  Happy May everyone!!

-Shannon

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Well, it’s hard to believe that another year at Mount Union is over. After tomorrow, exams will be over, and the rest of campus will be finally heading home for the summer. If you read my last post, you will remember that I actually have a couple more days after exams until I get to head home for summer. As a Preview and Orientation guide, we have our last retreat this Wednesday until Friday, and then after that it’s back to Pittsburgh for me!

In this past year, I feel like I have accomplished a lot as a student and person. At the beginning of the semester, I received my open bid from Alpha Chi Omega, was initiated into the sorority and even became vice president of risk management. Sorority is something that has meant a lot to me this year and really helped me to grow as a person and excel as a student. It is certainly something that I encourage everyone to look into! This year has also been a big year for student involvement on my part. I knew that I wanted to get more involved this year, and I certainly accomplished that goal! I have been accepted into positions such as Preview and Orientation, Residence Life and Up til’ Dawn committee and was also initiated into Kappa Delta Pi, the education honor fraternity. All of these accomplishments have meant so much to me and are really going to be important parts of my college experiences.

If there were one piece of advice that I would give incoming freshman, it would be to GET INVOLVED! You meet so many different kinds of people and have amazing opportunities when you join different organizations and clubs. These organizations and the people you meet and work with while being involved become your family at Mount and really help you to enjoy every moment you spend here.

I feel like time goes by way too fast, and the past two years of my college career have really flown by. As I started packing up my room today, I was shocked that I was actually going to be leaving for the summer because I felt as If I was just unpacking to put pictures up and make me room feel “homey.” All I can say is … I will be sure to make the most of my last two years at Mount because you don’t have time to sit around and say “I should have done this, or I should have done that.” You just have to do it.

I hope everyone has a safe a great summer!

- Alexa

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Well, here it is. Move out day.

Too bad the weather makes it seem like it is still March. Ugh.

You know how we all remember exactly where we were and what we were doing on 9-11? Well, I can say I remember where I was and what I was doing when I found out about Osama bin Laden… Hanging out with my friends on the last night of my junior year of college. It was kind of strange because I was over at the townhouses and one of my friends ran upstairs to check his Twitter and Facebook and he yelled down “Osama is dead!” and none of us really believed it. Well, low and behold, it was true. I spent the next few hours watching CNN and wishing I was in DC for that huge celebration!

God bless America.

The Indians are ROCKING it! Thirteen consecutive wins at home… five sweeps ALREADY… this is crazy. Proud to be a true Tribe fan! I can’t wait to start working again down at the ballpark! My first day back is next Tuesday so stay tuned to my blogs to read all about life at The Jake (yes, I still call it the Jake)!

-samantha

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Well for those of you who love romance and weddings, it’s going to be great end to the week! As everyone knows, the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton is just hours away and I couldn’t be more excited. After a hard week of finals and still one more to go tomorrow, I made sure all of my studying was done so I can wake up extra early tomorrow before my exam and tune into watch the “Wedding of the Century!”

Schedule of events for the wedding

I hope everyone’s finals are going great! Don’t forget to tune in to watch the Royal Wedding tomorrow! Coverage starts at approximately 4 a.m.

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Phew… what a week it has been so far.

Tuesday was Reading Day, meaning it was the day before finals so we didn’t have class. My mom came to visit and took the first load of my furniture home.  It was nice seeing her and starting the move-out process but my room is so weird right now. She took away my dresser, two of my bookshelves and a couple boxes of clothes.  My poor TV is sitting on a chair right now because it used to sit on my dresser :]

But, like I said, I’m glad we got some stuff out and the rest of it will be moved out on Saturday! I cannot believe that is two days away already.  I will just have to make the most of these next two days! :[

Last night was the Lady Gaga concert and it was so amazing!  She is such an awesome performer and person.  It was such a fun way to start finals week too!  There were a few technical difficulties at the beginning of the concert so it was delayed about an hour and we didn't leave the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland until about 12:15 a.m.  That meant that we didn't get home until almost 1 a.m. and I didn't go to bed until 2 a.m.  Even more fun than that was that I had to get back up at 5 a.m. to get my stuff together and drive back to Mount. Whoooo. I was so tired on the drive back to school this morning but it was well worth it.  I've been humming Gaga songs all day today.  :]

I had two exams today and I think they both went pretty well.  I have two more tomorrow and then I’m done for the semester!

Hope everyone is having a fantastic week!!

-Shannon

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Hope you all had a great holiday weekend!

I love that I live just a short hour away from school because I was able to head home for the short holiday weekend – and it wasn’t too big of a stab into my wallet because of those crazy gas prices!

Today is the last day of classes, can you believe it? It is April 25 and my summer starts in one week … just a few finals stand in between me and a nice, relaxing summer.

Happy Monday, and have a fantastic week!

-samantha

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It’s hard to believe that another year has gone by and in two weeks students on campus will be packing up and heading home to their families for the summer. Last week, we had our “senior wills,” for the seniors in Alpha Chi Omega. Seniors wills is basically a time where we all get together to say goodbye to the seniors and they say goodbye or maybe just “see ya later” to the rest of the sorority. At the senior wills banquet, the seniors’ littles will read letters to them that the seniors’ parents have written. This usually gets very emotional, but is always nice to hear. Then, the seniors will respond by reading a letter to the entire chapter.

After all the emotional stuff is over with, it’s time to hand down presents :] The seniors usually like to “will” down a bunch of their sorority stuff to the younger girls in the chapter. This is mainly because they won’t be using/or wearing it as much after they graduate. It is also because through the years of being in Alpha Chi, the amount of t-shirts and other clothing that you accumulate is insane! I have only been a part of the sorority for two semesters and I already have way too many t-shirts! I feel like before I know it, I’ll be at senior wills giving all of my Alpha Chi stuff away to new girls in the chapter … but I think I’d rather not think about that :]

One piece of advice that was told from all of the seniors was this: “Live it up, and have fun.” So as I end my sophomore year, I’m going to always remember that, because time doesn’t stop for anyone and it goes by way too fast!