UMass Lowell VS. Quinnipiac U (10/18)

    For as long as I can remember, I have always loved going to sporting events. Some of my favorite memories as a child growing up involved going to baseball games in New York City to watch the Mets play (even though half of my family were Yankees fans). If I had to give a single reason as to why I love these events, I would say it’s because of the sense of community that these games foster. The feeling of unity and togetherness that these sports can create amongst people can be unparalleled at times compared to other mediums. In that sense, college sports games can be extremely important to a college student’s social and personal development, especially in freshman year. Despite the loss to Quinnipiac University bringing spirits down, the UMass Lowell hockey game on October 18 helped me to connect with fellow students and appreciate UML even more.

A look at the ice rink

     Before the event, I had no idea of what to expect. Interestingly enough, while I am a fan of sporting events, I had never been to a hockey game before this one. It was probably because hockey has never been as big of a deal in Albany, NY as it is in Boston, or maybe it was just a lack of interest on my part (if I remember correctly, Albany had a hockey team for a little while, but I never went to their games). In any case, I was excited to see the Riverhawks in action. I had heard so much about their previous history, including their ascension into the Frozen Four last year. It seemed like whenever UML was mentioned, the Riverhawks were immediately mentioned too. With this in mind, I was ridiculously pumped to see this game.

    When I first got into the Tsongas Arena with friends, I was immediately struck by the grand scope of the arena itself. I had been in Tsongas for events like Open House and Convocation, but I had never realized the grand scope of its interior until this game. Everything looked pristine and clean down to the last spot, and everyone working the booths and concession stands was very friendly.

A small blimp that dropped free goodies

    Of course, the reason I was there to begin with was for the hockey game, and for the most part, it didn’t disappoint. The Riverhawks played quite well against Quinnipiac, and even though we ended up losing 4-1, the game was still tense, particularly in a final period that made us believe that the Riverhawks could win this one. Granted, my hockey knowledge was limited at best (I didn’t know that hockey only had three periods), but even without knowing certain things, I still enjoyed the game.

    The thing that I was most impressed with, however, was the crowd supporting the Riverhawks. While the other sides of the arena were modestly filled in support for Quinnipiac, the seats were absolutely packed for UML. I had always thought that my high school games had great crowds, but that thought quickly faded when I saw UML’s crowd. Not only were the seats filled, but everyone there had such a great energy. The students had many chants and yells that were used throughout the game. For instance, the crowd would put their hands up and wiggle their fingers, as if they were trying to scare the opposing team. At another time, the crowd would chant “Fred C. Church!” whenever his name was announced, since his firm sponsors the power plays. The best moment of all, though, was the reaction to the one goal that the Riverhawks made. All at once, every single UML student in the building stood up and cheered their hearts out for a good couple of minutes. The feeling of pride was present in every one of us there, and in some way, it brought all of us closer together. Even later on when we lost to Quinnipiac, I still felt some pride in the team and in the fact that they would definitely come back with a vengeance next time (And they did; the Riverhawks won the two games following that). I would go back to the arena just to be around the UML fans again.

    As we were leaving the Tsongas Arena, I felt a sense of unity with my fellow classmates that I had not felt before. Even though we lost, I knew that our energy would be back in time for the next game, and when that happened, we wouldn’t let the other team win so easily. My first experience with UML hockey games was fantastic, and I encourage all other students to check them out in the near future.

The Serious Amram Jam: A Reflection on the Lowell Celebrates Kerouac Festival

            It’s interesting to consider the kinds of people that have lived and passed through a town. So many times, people only consider the place that they live in terms of the negative and present, but it helps to remember that, aside from the memories that we build on our own, the places that we call our homes have their own history and have been the residence or even birthplace of brilliant men and women. Considering this, it’s only natural that people would want to commemorate the history of their town. One such example of this is the Lowell Celebrates Kerouac Festival in Lowell, Massachusetts dedicated to the famous writer, Jack Kerouac. The Kerouac Festival (and specifically the Amram Jam on Sunday) has done a fantastic job in creating a sense of community and hometown pride while channeling the energy of (and humanizing) one of America’s greatest writers.

            

The first thing that struck me about the Kerouac Festival was how well planned out it appeared to be. This wasn’t just some little get-together on a Sunday afternoon; it was a full-blown event spanning from Thursday (10/10) to Monday (10/13) that involved everything from nature walks to concerts and poetry readings. It truly seemed like there was some kind of activity planned for everyone, which speaks volumes to the planning that must have gone into this event. 

The activity that I chose to go to was the Serious Amram Jam on Sunday at Lowell Beerworks. It took place in a reasonably-sized room towards the edge of the restaurant that could seat about fifty people. It mainly involved local or national poets and musicians sharing their work and/or love of Kerouac in numerous ways; some recited original poems, some read select passages from Kerouac’s novels detailing his life in Lowell, and some even used instruments to express their feelings. While all of this happened, an elderly man (whom I later learned was Mr. David Amram) sat and played piano and the occasional drum. Sometimes he would accompany the poets, and sometimes he would even join the musicians in their jams. Each element came together to give the activity a very relaxed and inviting atmosphere.

It was around the last jam session that I began to understand the influence that Jack Kerouac had on these people. Some of these poets and musicians had come from as far as Texas and California to share their work and bond with others over their love of Kerouac. It all seems incredible when one considers that Kerouac was once a normal person who walked the streets of Lowell like many college students.

This is a point that was first put into my head during a walking tour of the many places that Kerouac used to visit as a child. While it can be nigh impossible to truly imagine what a person was thinking at a specific place, the tour helped me to gain some understanding of who Kerouac was as a person and not the famous wordsmith that many see. Walking on the sidewalk and observing the grotto, stations of the cross, funeral homes, and library made me realize that young Kerouac was a person who grew up just like many of us; he had good days and bad days, he had his hobbies, and most importantly, the places that he frequented in Lowell helped him to develop into the person he eventually became. Just think; someone else could have experienced the same things that Kerouac did at a young age, yet that person could have built up a completely different worldview. On the other hand, someone who was growing up in Lowell at the same time as Kerouac could have had a completely different set of experiences and memories of the town, even though they grew up at the same time and in the same place. It’s these early memories that helped to define Kerouac as a person and eventually a writer, and it’s this energy that has inspired countless writers, poets, and musicians to follow in Kerouac’s footsteps. Even though Kerouac’s writings are mainly about exploration and freedom from one place, his beginnings in Lowell set the foundation for many of his novels’ most resonant themes. 

The Amram Jam and Kerouac Festival in general have helped me to recognize the importance of Kerouac’s impact of the city of Lowell and the effects that one’s hometown can have on their lives. The idea that seemingly unrelated people would come from all over the country to celebrate the ideals of one man still boggles my mind. I hope that I will be able to go again next year, and I’m sure it will make me feel as welcome as it did this year.

A VIsit To The Boott Cotton Mill & Museum In Lowell

      There are times when you are reminded that you have it much better, in terms of health and quality of life, than others in the world and especially people who lived in the past. That reminder can come in many different forms; it can be a television special on the working conditions of Foxconn buildings, where many products from companies like Apple and Nintendo, or it can be as simple as Eddie Vedder covering a James Taylor song about a young girl working in the mills. In my opinion, however, the best way to place yourself in the shoes of someone less fortunate is to visit the places that are so often talked about. A local example of this is the old Boott Cotton mill, which has now become a museum about the mill. My visit to the Boott Cotton Museum (as well as the Foxconn documentary and Eddie Vedder cover) has educated me on the conditions of those who work in these mills and factories when they are only useful for what they can produce.

The front of the Boott Cotton Museum

    

      The very first thing I noticed about the Boott Cotton Mill was the courtyard area within the mill. While there was not a cloud in the sky on the day I and some friends went and the people who take care of the mill had done a great job of preserving the building, I could only imagine how the workers years ago must have felt. The courtyard was essentially a box, and considering that the sky would be hard to see with the smoke emanating from the buildings and the somewhat bland-looking buildings themselves, it must have been a very bleak place to relax in between work sessions. If this was what the outside was like, I thought, the inside must have been even worse.

The courtyard of the mill

    

      For the most part, I was right; the inside of the mill only confirmed my concerns on the working conditions of the workers. The first room of the museum (after an information desk) was the weave room, a relatively large room consisting of dozens of weaving machines. The machines were in straight lines running vertically across the room, in a manner similar to an assembly line. A sign outside stated that the room was not an exact replication; the noise wasn’t as loud, not every machine was running, and the air was (thankfully) not filled with cotton particles. Even with these considerations, it still looked like a terrible place to work; the sign even read, “Try to imagine working all day, day after day for years, in the mills.”

The Weave Room

    

      The weave room actually reminded me of the working rooms in Foxconn today. They both have the same assembly line style of production, and both places seem to be absolutely terrible places to work, where each worker is thought of not as a human being, but as a machine that is swiftly replaced as soon as it is rendered useless. Both places also seem to be known for the abuse that their workers endure, whether it be physical (a video interview of the millworkers in the museum was full of stories of injuries and deaths) or mental (the stress put on Foxconn workers has been so great that the company had to implement nets to catch suicidal workers).

    

      If there is anything that the mill museum does incredibly well, it’s that it gives a great view into the lives of the workers. Aside from the aforementioned video and weave room, there are exhibits on the various different kinds of workers and their positions and purpose in the mill, physical examples of the fabric that the workers would produce, various testimonies and quotes from millworkers, and scale models of the mill itself. Each of these things, like Eddie Vedder’s cover of “Millworker,” convey the trials that the workers went through every day, thus humanizing the people who were considered means to an end by the people who ran the mills.

    
      My visit to the Boott Cotton Mill/Museum has helped me understand the working conditions and overall quality of life of millworkers in ways that people like Eddie Vedder and James Taylor have communicated before. It has also made me sympathize with workers who are facing these issues today in companies like Foxconn. While I may never truly understand what it was/is like to work in places like these, I believe that this experience has taught me to not take the good things in my life for granted.