UT with Alice and the Kiddos!

[1]
(Explore UT is an awesome day of fun for kids of all ages!)

I would like to begin by saying that I absolutely LOVED Explore UT!! As I drove onto campus with Ben and Bethany, the eleven and twelve year old children I babysat for the weekend, I could see their eyes light up as they saw other children walking with bags of goodies and balloons. I explained to them that Explore UT is an event set up by the University for children. Different departments set up activities and performances to introduce kids to all of the opportunities offered here at UT. On our walk to campus, we walked past a t-shirt making station, t-shirts with original paintings by the kids hanging up to dry. Nearly every child we passed wore a smile and a UT t-shirt. It was awesome.

Our first stop was Parlin 209 where the Alice in Wonderland tea party was taking place. As soon as I walked onto the second floor, I could see the crowd outside of the room and hear Professor Bump’s bellowing voice. The children and I sneaked into the room and took a seat on the floor, ready to watch the performance. [2] (This is what the children looked like during our performance.) The room was rather full with both children and adults, all on the edge of their seats with eager looks in their eyes. The performance began and immediately engaged the audience. Bethany sat next to me, her eyes glued to Alice and the other performers. Ben did not seem quite as interested initially but quickly was focused on the performance too.

I watch closely, especially the March Hare, to pick up on actions taken since I would be playing in it next. [3] This is a cartoon of the tea party) When it was my turn, I made my way to the table and Bethany accompanied Alice to the hallway to participate in the skit while Ben remained on the floor to watch. I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout at the performance and the responses by the viewers. Most seemed very intrigued and satisfied with the topic. The video of Alice in Wonderland playing the background was also a very nice touch.

Bethany seemed to enjoy participating in the skit, sitting next to me, the March Hare, and Alice. I really liked the scene we picked to perform; it was funny and represented the different personalities of the characters. My favorite character was the Mad Hatter. Conrad played this part while I was the March Hare, and he did an excellent job!! He brought the character to life and added a lot of personality. Danielle was the Dormouse, constantly falling asleep during the tea party.

My favorite part of Alice and Wonderland is the combination of reality and imagination. In reality, Alice is a young girl on her way to adulthood, exploring different paths and attempting to understand the world as it presents itself. The majority of Alice in Wonderland is a fantasy sort of land where animals talk and tea parties go on forever and ever. [4](Picture is of an LSD blotter. These oftentimes have images from Alice in Wonderland on them.) It is often said the C.S. Lewis intended for their to be drug references and hidden innuendos throughout the story, yet with or without these underlying ideas, it is a beautiful story of a childhood fantasy and an adventure into a miraculous place. We did an excellent job of portraying this during our own tea party.

We continued on to various booths set up for Explore UT, making spiders out of Styrofoam and crowns out of paper and glitter. Having never been to Explore UT, I was extremely shocked at the great turnout of children and thrilled to have introduced Bethany and Ben to the campus and activities. I hope to participate in this event in some form or another for all of my remaining years at UT.

[1] http://www.engr.utexas.edu/exploreut/images/logo-postcard.jpg

[2]http://www.peekskill.org/Kid_s_Corner/progphoto/2003Jun26/Nikki%20audience.JPG

[3]http://www.crayoncastles.com/i/Waverly/Alice_in_Wonderland_Tea_Party_5814880.JPG

[4] http://farm1.static.flickr.com/96/245865830_d173bc38b1_m.jpg