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Choreographer’s Showcase Preview

By Laura Crowley

Arts & Life Editor

Each semester, the Choreographer’s Showcase displays the efforts of a 200-level Dance Composition class required for dance minors. This year, the Showcase is expected to attract sizeable crowds to view its 25 separate choreographed pieces that display “the final culmination of their acquired skills and understanding of dance as an art form,” student director Leigh Bryant ’11 said.

Bryant said she and co-director Abigail Mason ’11 “have worked together for three semesters now on the Showcases” and are “excited to be ending [their] senior years with this event through the dance program.”

This semester, the Dance Composition class was co-taught by professor and director of dance Er-Dong Hu and Visiting Assistant Professor Kristy Kuhn and met twice a week to work on theory, composition and improvisational work, Bryant said.

Allowing students to choreograph their own pieces opened new doors for the students. One such student choreographer, Samantha Gosnell ’13, had never choreographed her own piece. “It was really interesting to see my style of dance on other dancers … [since] I never really knew that I had a style until people came up to me and said that they knew it was my piece right away,” she said. Through choreographing her own piece, she realized her “power to influence people and to create something out of [her] own inspiration,” she said.

Another student choreographer, Leigh Arnold ’13, realized the difficulty involved in getting the messages of her dance across to an audience.

“I knew what I wanted,” she said, “so I then had to focus on how to communicate that to the people watching the piece.”

Given the 25 pieces and 70 people involved in the production, Bryant is “proud of everyone’s collaborative efforts this semester” that enabled the group to “find enough space to rehearse and enough energy to get us to the end,” she said. While she admits that the production was “daunting” at times, she is proud that the showcase company was able to succeed by staying positive and supporting each other.

Dancer Patty Meegan ’12 felt this support in the “truly special” relationships between choreographers and dancers.  “[I am] thankful to be a part of this group that is constantly sharing support, friendship and memories through the art of dance,” she said.

For the production, students were allowed to focus on whatever genre of dance they chose and as a result, the genres include pointe, jazz, modern and hip-hop. By showcasing a number of dances, Bryant believes that the performance will display a “diversity of talents” and attract an equally diverse crowd.

With creative freedoms, Mason was able to choreograph a dance exploring the “tension between staying young and growing up” in her piece called “These are Hard Times for Dreamers.”

Performances will be held tonight, Friday April 15 at 8 p.m. and tomorrow at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. in Tustin Black Box Studio Theater. Tickets will be sold at the door if seating remains available. Tickets can be guaranteed ahead of time if bought from the Elaine Langone Center box office, the Weis Center for the Performing Arts box office, the downtown bookstore or online.

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Arts & Life Campus Events Featured Review

Reinterpreted ‘The Bacchae’ performance thrills its audience

By Madison Lane

Layout Editor

Let the bacchanal begin. As audience members filed into Harvey Powers Theater last weekend, they were greeted by the sounds of foreign drums and the sight of a majestic set curtained by long, flowing fabrics. “The Bacchae” was exciting to witness before it even started.

“The Bacchae” is the story of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and ecstasy, as he returns to his home in Thebes. Dionysus, played by Sam Nelsen ’11, narrated much of the story, telling the audience of his birth and his banishment, followed by everything that happens in the city of Thebes upon his return. The story was originally written by Euripides, but the ensemble of this production used a theatrical production technique called “devising” to stage the entire show and even rewrite some of it to make it more relevant to modern audiences.

“As devisors, our ensemble was committed to ‘writing from the stage,’ that is to say we honored all parts of the collaboration as both artistic and interpretational,” director Anjalee Hutchinson said in her note to the audience. “[The show was] an idea conceived by not one but many–an idea better than anyone could have come up with alone.”

For example, a popular line from the very first monologue, delivered by Dionysus, was “All I have to say to that is ‘Haters gonna hate.’” Obviously, Euripides did not write that line, but its inclusion aided in drawing the audience’s attention and guiding their understanding of the plot, as well as adding humor to an otherwise extensive speech.

Another aspect of traditional ancient Greek theatre that this ensemble chose to reinterpret was the idea of a Greek chorus. In ancient theatre, the chorus was composed of about 12 members, whose purpose was to serve as the voice of the common people, interjecting between scenes of the show. In “The Bacchae,” the “Greek chorus” was literally the voice of the college population, the common people seeing the show. They sang songs (such as a parody of “Grenade” about being respectful audience members) that tied the themes of the show into the lives of everyday students.

“I felt like it was so well done, it was utterly seamless in its presentation of the story, and the fact that it was student-led and student-created was mind-blowing,” Andrew Vogl ’11 said.

At every moment, there was something unexpected going on onstage, from oranges stampeding out from under the projection screen to water being flung into the air as an act of freedom and rebellion.

“It enlightened me to how artistic the department is and peaked my interest in attending more shows,” Olivia Cohen ’14 said.

For nearly two months, the cast and crew of “The Bacchae” put hours upon hours of work and all of their energy into making the show a lively, humorous, engaging work of art, and they went above and beyond this task.

“[Working on this show was] one of the most challenging but absolutely rewarding experiences [I’ve had in Bucknell theater],” stage manager Emma Case ’13 said.

The department is constantly trying to address the campus climate and improve it. This was a show about tolerance and taking the time to understand “them”–the other side, someone who is outside your circle of acquaintances. If the University community should take one message away from this show, it is to strive to find balance in your life and the world around you.

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Featured Sports

Men’s lax takes down No. 13 Army

By Cooper Sutton

Sports Editor

The men’s lacrosse team completed perhaps its most important and thrilling win on the road last weekend, taking down No. 13 Army. With the last-minute 8-7 win, the Bison remain undefeated in Patriot League play and now are ranked 12th nationally.

The monumental win over Army pushed the Orange and Blue record to 4-0, tied atop the league with Colgate. By taking down Army, the team took a major step towards its goal of attaining the first seed in the league tournament.

“Beating Army is always huge,” midfielder Ryan Klipstein ’11 said. “You know that things will come down to the fourth quarter and sure enough this was the case this year. Yet again the team found a way to win but also discovered plenty of mistakes that will be improved upon over the rest of the season.”

The Bison played a far from perfect game. They were outshot 33-25, failed to clear the ball eight of 24 times and lost the face-off battle. The team was lifted by the dazzling play of goalie Kyle Feeney ’13, who made 11 saves in the game. Four of those saves came in the final minutes of the fourth quarter to ice the game.

The game was also tight throughout the first half. Tied at 4-4 in the second quarter, Kyle O’Keefe ’13 scored his first goal of the season. The Bison would take this one-goal lead into the locker room for halftime.

The Bison came out strong in the third quarter with two straight goals, scored by Mike Danylyshyn ’11 and Peter Burke ’14. The three-goal lead was short-lived, with the Black Knights scoring two goals of their own to come within one goal at the end of the third quarter.

Chase Bailey ’13 scored the final Bison goal of the day halfway through the final quarter on a man-up play. The Black Knights would not respond until the final minute of the game, and their comeback attempt proved to be too little too late.

Bailey and Todd Heritage ’14, registering two goals apiece, led the Bison scoring attack. Bailey also assisted two goals, giving him four points, the most of any Bison player.

With only two games remaining on the year, the Bison will have to face two league rivals in Lehigh and Colgate. These two games will undoubtedly decide the first place team in the Patriot League.

“The next two games against Lehigh and Colgate are important for the PL tourney seeding and hosting, as well as for national seeding later on and a possible at-large bid,” Klipstein said. “Regardless of these implications, we had set ‘undefeated in the Patriot League’ as a goal from the very beginning. Accomplishing this goal is our number one motivation.”

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Clark ’13 blasts three homers in series

By Chris McCree

Writer

Despite notable individual efforts from Travis Clark ’13 and Doug Shribman ’11, the men’s baseball team dropped three of four during this weekend’s pivotal four-game series at Holy Cross.

“We knew Holy Cross was a very good baseball team going into the weekend, and we felt prepared to compete with them,” David Duffett ’12 said. “They got off to a fast start and scored some runs early to open up the weekend. We knew we were in for a battle.”

During day two of the series, the Bison didn’t fare as well as they had hoped, losing both games, including a heartbreaking 6-5 loss in game three.

During the final game of the series, Shribman belted two home runs and batted in six runs, but the Bison still fell by a 13-7 margin. Starter Jack Boehm ’12 lasted just one inning on the mound, allowing five runs. The pitching woes continued throughout the game as the Bison used five different pitchers over the course of the contest.

Facing a 3-0 deficit after the first inning of play in game three, the Bison battled back to tie the game in the fifth thanks to a crucial two-RBI double by Bob Donato ’12 and three hits by Duffett. Unfortunately, a late-inning Orange and Blue error allowed the Crusaders to regain a one-run lead and hold on for the victory.

After splitting the first day of play one game apiece, the series showed every indication that it would be a great battle. On the day, each team recorded their own 8-5 victory, yet in very different ways.

Game two stayed tight the entire game, setting the stage for an unlikely hero to bring home the victory for the Bison. Going into the eighth, the two teams were squared at five runs apiece yet with one swing of the bat, Clark was able to break the tie with his third home run of the day. Amazingly, Clark had not hit a home run in his career as a Bison coming into the series, yet he managed three in one day, including the very important game-breaking home run in game two. Donato had a home run of his own in the fifth inning as the Bison continued to use the long ball to their advantage.

In game one, the Crusaders got out to an early lead and never looked back. The Bison received a shaky pitching performance from Dylan Seeley ’11, giving up eight earned runs in 4.2 innings and recorded three of their five runs in the last two innings, when the game was already out of hand.

With the three losses on the weekend, the Bison now find themselves in a difficult spot at the bottom of the Patriot League.

“We were surprised that we didn’t win at least two games,” Donato said. “We are now at a point where every game matters. It’s time to bear down and focus on what we need to accomplish as a team.”

This weekend, the Bison will travel to Navy for a four-game series.

“We know what has to be done now, and we are very close to putting it all together,” Clark said. “Everyone’s pretty confident that with a few adjustments we can win the next three series and grab a spot in the playoffs.”

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Men’s lacrosse secures playoff berth

By Greg Stevenson

Senior Writer

For the fifth consecutive season, the men’s lacrosse team will continue to play into the postseason. The Bison earned a berth in the Patriot League Tournament after beating the Holy Cross Crusaders 10-3 at home last Saturday. The victory gave the Orange and Blue their ninth win of the season, tied for most in the nation as of Wednesday, and kept their perfect 3-0 conference record intact.

“It always feels good to win at home, and beating a league opponent makes it that much sweeter,” Jordan Nies ’11 said. “Holy Cross has struggled this season, so it was important that we held a strong lead against them in order to post a decisive win.”

Led by goalie Kyle Feeney ’13 and an experienced line of defense, the Bison turned in another spectacular defensive performance, holding the Crusaders to just one goal until the five-minute mark in the final quarter. The Bison have allowed just seven goals per game in 2011, good enough for seventh in the nation and top in the Patriot League.

On the offensive end, the Bison dominated the Crusaders throughout the first half. Despite a slow start, the Orange and Blue opened the scoring with three minutes left in the opening quarter with a goal from Nies.

In the second quarter, the Orange and Blue outscored the Crusaders 6-1 to put a close game out of reach. Chase Bailey ’13 tallied the first two goals of the quarter for the Bison, both coming when the Orange and Blue were playing with a man advantage after a Holy Cross penalty. Peter Burke ’14 added to the Bison lead midway through the period with his first goal of the contest.

Mike Danylyshyn ’11 registered two of his three goals at the end of the second quarter, and Charlie Streep ’12 scored with eight seconds remaining to end an impressive first half with the Orange and Blue up 7-1.

Trailing by six at halftime, Holy Cross had no answer for a stingy Bison defense in the second half. The Crusaders went scoreless for over 25 minutes to open the half, allowing the Orange and Blue to push the lead to 10-1. Holy Cross would score twice in the final minutes, but it would not be enough to catch the Bison, as the Crusaders fell 10-3.

Offensively, the Orange and Blue used an all-around dominating performance to defeat the Crusaders. Eight different Bison recorded either a goal or an assist against Holy Cross, and three, Danylyshyn, Burke and Bailey, scored at least twice in the game.

The Orange and Blue remain tied at first with Colgate in the Patriot League with three league games left, including a head-to-head match-up with the Raiders in the final game of the season.

The win assures that the Bison will have a spot in the Patriot League Tournament in a few weeks. Even though the Orange and Blue have made the playoffs, bigger and better things are on the minds of the Bison.

“It feels good to be back in the tournament, but our goal is to win out and host the Patriot League tournament,” Feeney said.

Up next for the Orange and Blue is another crucial Patriot League match-up, this time against the Black Knights of Army, this Saturday in West Point, N.Y.

“We are also not satisfied as of right now,”  Ryan Klipstein ’11 said. “We enter this weekend playing our biggest game of the year against Army and it will begin a three-game in-league away series that we must do well in. We intend on pushing harder than ever to run the table on these upcoming games and host the tourney.”

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Arts & Life Featured Study Abroad

Adventures Down Under : Living Life in Australia

By Julie Kohn

Contributing Writer

“Root” in Aussie lingo means to have sex, “thongs” are flip flops, “lollies” are candies and girls with bangs have “fringe.” Stepping foot off the plane into the country of boomerangs, roos and koalas, I had a lot to learn. On my plane ride to the “land down under,” I held a feeling of uncertainty far greater than any I’d ever faced. I heard the “ding” as the “fasten seatbelt” sign lit up above me. The clouds broke and the deep teal water slapped against the fine white sand. I was looking down at my new home for the next five months. “Is this real life?” the guy behind me asked, and all of the Americans around me laughed. We were all astounded that we were not only privileged to visit this oasis, but that we were going to be exploring it for months.

My studies in Australia were structured so that I was able to travel often–and I did, stopping in New Zealand on the way home. I’d been on 26 flights within six months by the time I got home. Ask any of my University friends, and they’ll tell you I am a safe person, but something about being in another country made me feel like I was in a fairytale. In Australia I hopped with hundreds of wild kangaroos, jumped 14,000 feet out of a plane, held a fuzzy koala, scuba-dived the Great Barrier Reef, cliff jumped in the rainforest and slept for eight nights in the wild Outback. In New Zealand I whitewater rafted down a 21-foot waterfall, climbed a volcano, got pushed down a hill in a giant hamster-ball (zorbing), learned how to play underwater hockey and visited the Shire from “The Lord of the Rings.”

In Australia I was at first confused by the style of learning. But having little homework allowed me to understand that in Australia, living your life took a priority over studying every single night until 1 a.m. and fitting fun in on the side. The Aussies really do live life with “no worries.” Once I was able to understand their accents a little better I met a great group of girls who became my family there. I think they were just as interested in learning about American ways as I was in learning about theirs. What are squirrels? Reese’s peanut butter cups? Are there really fraternities? What’s a sorority? Sharing my culture became a part of our relationship as much as my learning about theirs. For Halloween I helped them carve pumpkins and one night we made (makeshift) s’mores.

Fast-forward to spring break: the Australian Outback. With my program of about 15 Americans we spent eight nights sleeping under the infinite night sky of the Outback: no civilization, no tents. This is when I began to taste the communal feeling the Australian Aboriginal people feel with their country. I sniffed in the red dust and gazed at the land stretching in front of our truck, layered in sharp spinifex grass, vast gorges filled with the magic of water and in the distance the sacred rock of Uluru.

When I had finally settled into my Aussie life, it was time to leave for New Zealand. I explored the north island of the great sheep country with friends from Germany and Taiwan. Our cheap rental car zipped (on the left side of the road) through mountains, along the coast and through the famous Lord of the Rings background. While eating Tim Tams (the famous Australian chocolate cookie) and looking towards the south island on our last night I began to hum “Hallelujah”–you know, that song from “Shrek.” To my surprise my friends began to join in. Three friends all from different continents, together in New Zealand, humming the same song. The world really is a small place.

When I got back to Lewisburg the administration asked what we had learned, and this is what I said: Vegemite on toast is equal to eating straight salt. If you don’t know what it is, don’t touch it, because it might kill or paralyze you. You need to be happy both independently and when with friends. Live your life first and do your work second.

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Featured Sports

Goalie DeLorenz ’11 leading nation in saves

By Cooper Sutton

Sports Editor

 

Alyssa DeLorenz ’11 has started every game for the Bison women’s lacrosse team in goal this year, only missing seven and a half minutes of game time in the team’s 11 games. As a result of her hard work and persistence in goal, she currently leads the NCAA in saves with 139. Overall, she is sixth all-time in Bison history in saves.

Though her number of saves is very high, so too is her goals against average, standing at 15.17 goals per game. She does not refute that some bad comes with the good.

“I’ve seen a lot of shots, so I’m going to have to make a lot more saves,” she said. “I have to play differently when I’m facing more shots than I would when I face less. If I make a mistake here or there it’s a lot less noticeable. Then it also gives me chances to make saves that I shouldn’t make to make up for the other ones I let in.”

DeLorenz has been resilient in more ways than one in goal so far in her career. Beyond staying persistent after letting in shots, she also continues to play to the best of her abilities despite her team’s losing record.

“I just love lacrosse in general,” she said. “Being from Texas, there aren’t really that many opportunities to play at the collegiate level, so I’ve just been enjoying playing here.”

The high quantity of shots that DeLorenz sees stems in large part to the youth of her team, comprised of 70 percent first-years. As a senior on this team, she has, aside from taking a huge quantity of shots, had to serve as a leader for the young team. She is a co-captain for the team and someone that the young members of the team look up to.

“[DeLorenz] plays with intensity and makes everyone want to work harder,” midfielder Sophie Klienert ’14 said.

She leads by example: when she was struggling earlier this year, she actively sought to make herself better. She spent time working with a former all-American from Duke, who, DeLorenz said, significantly improved her play.

“Right before the Penn State game, she showed me some pointers and some things to work on that I had never thought of before. I’ve been really focusing on those and they have helped me improve significantly. I’m still not quite to where they’d like me to be, but I think I’m getting there,” she said.

Continuing to improve, even as a senior, DeLorenz exemplifies persistence and hard work on a team that is continuing to improve itself. It seems that she may be one of the building blocks that the young team builds on as it attempts to move forward in the future.

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Men’s track dominates in Baltimore

By Colin Fields

Contributing Writer

The men’s track team, the defending outdoor Patriot League champions, lived up to expectations on Saturday at the Towson Invitational in Maryland. Lenny Joseph ’13, Ted Heitzman ’12, Luke Webster ’13, Chris Sacks ’14, Isaih Bell ’11, John Picardo ’11, Ian Shore ’11 and Drew Fitzgerald ’11 all brought home victories for the Bison. Bison athletes also took the top two spots in the hammer throw, discus, 1500-meter and 100-meter.

Joseph ran away with the hammer throw, throwing 182′ 1″ and breaking his personal record by over 13 feet. His teammate, Tom Barr ’12, threw 169’9″ for second place and his own personal record.

The Bison continued their successful throwing in the discus where Webster finished first, Barr second and Joseph third. Heitzman won the javelin while Barr finished second in the shot put, his third second-place finish.

In the 1500-meter run, the Bison took the top six spots. Sacks, Rookie of the Meet at the Patriot League Indoor Championships, grabbed first with a time of 4:04.20. Teammate Christopher Boyd ’11 finished a close second with a time of 4:04.76.

“I am excited to be racing outside, and I think it will be a great spring season,” Sacks said. “In terms of last weekend, my time was slow, but the meet served as a good warm-up to prepare everybody for the rest of the outdoor season.”

Bell and Justin Hicks ’13 took the top two spots for the Bison in the 100-meter run. Bell ran it in 10.98 seconds while Hicks finished just two hundredths behind with a mark of 11 seconds.

Picardo took gold in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:55.22, and Shore took home gold in the 5K.

Fitzgerald placed first in the high jump at 6’4″. He nearly won a second event by finishing second in the long jump.

“As a team we have very high expectations for the spring season, and we understand that we need strong performances right from the start,” Fitzgerald said. “The outdoor season is short, making every practice and competition very important. Personally, as a senior, each meet takes on a little more meaning, and I hope to make the best of it and win another team championship.”

The Orange and Blue will look to continue their success at the William and Mary Colonial Relays on April 1-2.

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LeValley ’11 places 7th in nation

By Joe Ruby

Writer

Bison wrestler Kevin LeValley ’11 earned All-American Honors for the second consecutive year and Jay Hahn ’11 won his first round match at the NCAA Wrestling Championships this weekend in Philadelphia, Pa. LeValley equaled last year’s performance with a seventh-place finish to become the third Bison wrestler to be a two-time All-American.

LeValley, seeded third, easily won his first two matches to reach the quarterfinals, where he suffered only his second defeat of the year, 4-3 in the first tie-breaker period to sixth seed Jason Chamberlain of Boise State. After defeating Edinboro’s Torsten Gillespie 11-2 to reach the consolation quarterfinals and guarantee All-American status, LeValley lost 6-5 to Andrew Nadhir, the 11th seed, of Northwestern.

LeValley took a 4-0 lead in the seventh-place match against unseeded Derek Valenti of Virginia and hung on for a 5-4 victory. LeValley finished the season at 34-3 with a record of 11-3 against nationally-ranked wrestlers. Cornell’s Kyle Dake, who LeValley defeated to earn his EIWA Championship, won the 149 lb. National Championship.

Hahn, unseeded entering the tournament, won his first-round match, defeating Nikolas Brown of Chattanooga by a score of 11-7. Hahn next faced fourth-seed and eventual National Champion Dustin Kilgore of Kent State, losing 13-4. In the consolation second round, Hahn was defeated by Daniel Mitchell of American for the third time this season, falling by a 10-1 major decision.

On the strength of LeValley’s and Hahn’s performances, the Bison finished 36th of the 73 teams present with 11.5 points, just behind EIWA foe Harvard and just ahead of EIWA foe Navy. Penn State won the overall team championship with 107.5 points.

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Bison defeat Lafayette to win Patriot League title

By Greg Stevenson

Senior Writer

The weight of a five-year title drought was lifted off the collective shoulders of the men’s basketball team when the Bison hoisted the Patriot League Championship trophy in the air March 11 in front of the third largest crowd in Sojka Pavilion history. The Orange and Blue defeated Lafayette 72-57.

“It was surreal,” Mike Muscala ’13 said after the Patriot League title game. “It was the best moment of my basketball career.”

Early on, Lafayette seemed poised to pull off another upset on the road in the Patriot League Tournament. Defensively for the Bison, the physical play of the Leopards’ Jared Mintz posed match-up problems. His 13 first-half points kept the Bison advantage to just five at halftime.

Normally the defensive stopper for the Bison, Bryan Cohen ’12 set the tone early for the Orange and Blue on offense, scoring the first six points for the team on its opening two possessions. After Cohen’s run, Muscala took over, contributing 13 of his team-high 18 points in the opening half.

In the second half, the stingy defense of the Bison prevented Lafayette from making an extended run and taking the lead. The inside presence of Muscala and Joe Willman ’13 limited Mintz to no field goals and just three points in the second half. Timely baskets down the stretch by G.W. Boon ’11 and Cameron Ayers ’14 gave the Orange and Blue the signature victory to cap off a historic season.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock, the thousands of orange-clad fans that had filled Sojka Pavilion stormed the court in celebration of a title five years in the making.

All 14 players as well as head coach Dave Paulsen advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time.

The three seniors, Darryl Shazier ’11, Boon and Stephen Tyree ’11, all of whom had been recruited by previous head coach, Pat Flannery, finally filled the shoes of past Bison who had won consecutive conference titles in 2005 and 2006.

For all three of them, it was their final game in Sojka Pavilion after an entire career of suiting up in a Bison uniform. But the memories from winning the title on their home court will never be forgotten.

“Winning the championship was absolutely unbelievable,” Boon said. “Hearing that buzzer sound off and seeing the crowd rush the court to celebrate with us was amazing. It was easily one of the most exciting and gratifying moments of my life.”