![It was definitely out of my comfort zone to get [the dress] and decide I loved it enough not to wait and risk not having something that memorable.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Precious_20180902_JRS_00008_ed1.jpg)
![In their full runway outfits, (from left) Audrey Lee 25, Olivia Lucy Teets, 25, Fashion Design teacher Ms. Judy Chance, and Xueying Lili Yang pose for a photo. All three girls made it to Austin Fashion Week by getting in the top 10 in a previous runway show held by Shop LC.
[I like my students] creativity and how they can look at a fabric and make it their own, Ms. Chance said.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_9686-e1714088765730-1129x1200.jpeg)
![IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Junior Zalie Mann performs “I Love to Cry at Weddings,” an ensemble piece from the fall musical Sweet Charity, to prospective students during the Fine Arts Showcase on Wednesday, Nov. 8. The showcase is a compilation of performances and demonstrations from each fine arts strand offered at McCallum. This show is put on so that prospective students can see if they are interested in joining an academy or major.
Sweet Charity originally ran the weekends of Sept. 28 and Oct. 8, but made a comeback for the Fine Arts Showcase.
“[Being at the front in the spotlight] is my favorite part of the whole dance, so I was super happy to be on stage performing and smiling at the audience,” Mann said.
Mann performed in both the musical theatre performance and dance excerpt “Ethereal,” a contemporary piece choreographed by the new dance director Terrance Carson, in the showcase. With also being a dance ambassador, Mann got to talk about what MAC dance is, her experience and answer any questions the aspiring arts majors and their parents may have.
Caption by Maya Tackett.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/53321803427_47cd17fe70_o-1-1200x800.jpg)
![SPREADING THE JOY: Sophomore Chim Becker poses with sophomores Cozbi Sims and Lou Davidson while manning a table at the Hispanic Heritage treat day during lunch of Sept 28. Becker is a part of the students of color alliance, who put together the activity to raise money for their club.
“It [the stand] was really fun because McCallum has a lot of latino kids,” Becker said. “And I think it was nice that I could share the stuff that I usually just have at home with people who have never tried it before.”
Becker recognizes the importance of celebrating Hispanic heritage at Mac.
“I think its important to celebrate,” Becker said. “Because our culture is awesome and super cool, and everybody should be able to learn about other cultures of the world.”
Caption by JoJo Barnard.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/53221601352_4127a81c41_o-1200x675.jpg)
On this episode of Listen In, junior Jessica Guan sits down with Opinions Editor Samantha Haney to discuss the importance of the Lunar New Year in Chinese culture.
Since she was a child, Guan has celebrated the Lunar New Year.
Guan’s parents are from China and the majority of their family still live there so they follow some of the traditional practices such as wearing red, decorating with fish for good luck and hanging red papers around the house.
The holiday prompts cleaning, wearing new clothes and other traditions to start the new year with prosperity. This year’s celebration is extra special Guan said since 2024 is the year of the dragon, one of the 12 Chinese zodiacs.
According to Time magazine, the creature largely symbolizes luck, strength, ambition and charm.
China has the largest Lunar New Year celebration in the world, prompting the largest mass migration as people travel home to China to celebrate. Although Guan has never made it due to the holiday’s timing being in the middle of the school year, she would love to go in the future.
“I would love to see the celebrations. They have enormous parades in the cities [and] market vendors sell trinkets in the streets,” Guan said.
The most important thing that Guan wants people to know about Chinese culture as a whole is that it needs to be kept separate from the Chinese government’s decisions. She enjoys wearing traditional Chinese clothes because they prompt that conversation and allow her to have that conversation with people.
“Just because a government does one thing does not mean that the culture is necessarily associated with that or symbolic of that,” Guan said. “I find that’s a common misconception that people have in the West.”
The Lunar New Year is Feb. 10 but there is a 14-day celebration that will end on Feb. 24.
This story was originally published on The Lancer Feed on February 14, 2024.
