Bittersweet Feelings

By Justina Tran, College Editor

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Be Careful When You Drink

By Megan Tyson, College Editor

(This is a real story. I’m not covering up myself by saying it happened to a friend.)

Near the end of the semester is when people usually go a little overboard on the party department. My weekend was a perfectly bad example of this:

It’s Saturday night around 8 o’clock and there are about six of us sitting in my apartment getting ready for the night. Of course, like any college students, we’ve already started drinking. Everything was normal, just one or two drinks before leaving for the night. We get to the house we stayed at for the night, and again, everything is normal.  A couple rounds of flip cup, and us girls winning boys vs. girls survivor flip cup, the music went on and the party really started.

Loud music, low lights, and people dancing everywhere. Drinks in hands, and cameras making bright flashes in the dim lights. One of my friends was taking shots from this bottle of Burnett’s citrus bottle. She was fine, or so we thought. All night she had about one mixed drink, two beers, and roughly three shots from the bottle.

The night goes on; we all keep dancing and having a great time. Then we go to leave. My friend ends up falling outside because it was raining out earlier and the grass was wet, plus throwing alcohol in the mix doesn’t help. We get her up and get back to my apartment because we always plan ahead and never let anyone drive home after they’ve been drinking, so we normally have a sleepover somewhere.

This is where things go south. She was sitting on the living room floor with everyone and we’re just laughing about what happened from the night. Then she looks at me and tells me to (literally) drag her to the bathroom. So, I asked her if she was going to be sick, and she just nodded her head. So, to keep her from getting sick on the living room floor, I literally dragged her to the bathroom. Someone tied her hair back, and we gave her a cup of water.

She was okay at first, she got sick, and we’d left the bathroom door open just in case we’d hear anything and we’d keep checking on her. At one point, she was telling us all that she was dying. We didn’t believe her; we just thought she was upset that she was sick, which anyone would be. She stays in the bathroom, and then we didn’t hear her making any noise. So of course we go check on her, at this point she’s stopped moving her head around and trying to get comfortable on the floor. We’d ask her if she was okay, and we’d call her name just to get her attention. She has stopped talking and just started making really faint grunts at us. The only questions she would answer were “do you want us to call 911,” and “do you want us to call your mom.” Other than that, nothing. At this point, we’re scared. The only thing left we can do now is call 911. So, moments later, an ambulance comes screaming and flashing up to my building and two EMTs come through the door followed by a State Cop. Thankfully she is 21 and there was no issues with anyone getting an underage because there is a law now that if you call 911 for someone who is in this kind of situation, they will not change you with an underage because too many people are dying from people being afraid to call.

The EMTs took her out on this wheelchair kind of chair which she is strapped in. One person goes with her in the ambulance, and the rest of us meet them at the hospital. Two IV bags and something for nausea later, it’s 6 o’clock in the morning. We’re all dead tired, but she’s released.

This whole situation doesn’t sound that bad in words, but being there, and experiencing these types of situations that you hear about happening at other schools, it’s a completely different thing. We were all that worked up about it that we were shaking.

Moral of the story: never go out alone, don’t let your friends drive after drinking, don’t assume they’ll be okay, and don’t be afraid to call 911. Don't forget to enter our monthly writing contest for college students.

Decrease the Need for Summer with Consistent Self-Care

By Raisa Garcia, College Editor

Spring is here, summer is there. . . at the tips of our fingertips. The big, sunny S is coming soon. I do not know about the rest of you, but my classmates and I spent our very late lunch today together at the vending machine eating chips, candy, soda, and energy drinks. This junk food binge did not help our already-low levels of energy that only counteracted the need to finish a pile of assignments. We all could not wait for June to come. Was this how the rest of our four years were going to be?—attempt to function with poor eating, sleeping, and exercising habits until summer vacation hit?

Of course, there are some students out there who can efficiently balance the four S’s of school: school work, some money-making gig, social life, and sleep. However, there are students who can only handle a fraction of responsibilities with as much finesse. What happens to those people? It is already unhealthy to have an imbalance during the days and weeks. It is even unhealthier when there is an imbalance of imbalance throughout the year (e.g., attendance at a gym only between the months of June and August). What is there to do then?

My professors at school often endorse practice of self-care—great, another S to incorporate into our lives. How can there be self-care when there is hardly any time to finish an essay? Then again, what exactly is self-care anyways? I have always conceptualized it as doing something for the self to relax, unwind, and de-stress. Common ways to do this include doing yoga, watching a movie, and eating out. Such activities obviously take time, which can lead to more stress. “Should I be editing my bibliography instead of attempting to meditate with Kaskade?” I may think. Needless to say, I have not done much consistent self-care. . . But I will now.

From now on I will view self-care differently. Instead of an activity, I will view it as a mindset. This mindset should strengthen everyday to keep me relaxed and more resilient to stress. This mindset could be a “You can do it!” attitude or a thought of my primary motivation in what I want to ultimately achieve. Fortunately, I can concentrate on these throughout the day without feeling guilty—at the bus stop, in front of my meals, and even in the bathroom stall. Those short moments to breathe are good opportunities to feed the self with positive words. I do not have a specific mantra yet, but I will personally start with some Mother Teresa quotes. One such quote is, “Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” All right, it is advice for practice within advice for practice, self-care within self-care. But it is a start. If I can stay collected during all the still, silent moments, I can do the same for the rest of the day and days to come. Soon summer will be here and I will be cool as a cucumber, hopefully even through the winter.

Don't forget to enter our monthly writing contest for college students.

Graduation

By Britt Saunders, College Editor

Graduation is quickly approaching. The real world for seniors. Well, some seniors. Some graduates will go on to become graduate students, others will move back home, and still others will pursue jobs. I guess some people already have jobs lined up. You get the gist. It’s exciting. It’s also terrifying. In a capitalist society, some people are going to fail and end up at the bottom. The struggle is to make it to the top. It’s nice to think that we’ll make it at least to the middle and be okay. Personally, I always feel the risk of being one of the many who fail, but I know I have a family who will take care of me. I just don’t want to forget that possibility because it causes me to have a plan to prevent it. There’s a lot to worry about with graduation though. Not only where will I find a job? but how will I keep in touch with the people I’m leaving behind (do I have the concentration and willpower to stay in touch when the rest of my life is going on?)? and trying to figure out all of the responsibilities of an adult. I certainly don’t feel like an adult. I feel prepared for  the job market, but I do not feel prepared to make choices about what to buy for dinner or make mature decisions about my romantic relationship. Graduating seniors, what are you looking forward to, and what are your concerns for after graduation?

Don't forget to enter our monthly writing contest for college students.

Words of Wisdom

By Justina Tran, College Editor

“Here’s the thing. If we have goals and dreams and we want to do our best. And if we love people and we don’t want to hurt or lose them, then we should feel pain when things go wrong. The point is not to live without regrets. The point is not to hate ourselves for having them. . . . We need to learn to love the flawed, imperfect things that we create and to forgive ourselves for creating them. Regret doesn’t remind us that we did badly. It reminds us that we can do better.” – Kathryn Schulz

So, what do you think of Schulz’s words? Don't forget to enter our monthly writing contest for college students.

Procrastination at its Finest

By Megan Tyson, College Editor

End of the semester is always a packed time. The father up you get in your classes, the worse the end of semester workload becomes. This semester is definitely my toughest. In four of my five classes, I have about a ten-page paper due all around the same time. Add five finals on top of that, and you’ve got what I’m looking at for the next three or so weeks. Plus, on top of that, everything I’m involved in is also coming to the end of the semester, so they are trying to cram in last minute projects, and finishing projects for the end of the semester, and getting things ready to start at the beginning of next year. It’s definitely getting crazy.

Procrastination is not helping. Sometimes you just need to put off other things to get more important things accomplished. In the end, however, you just need to keep pushing through to get to the end.

Don't forget to enter our monthly writing contest for college students.

Things I Wish I Knew About Graduate School

By Raisa Garcia, College Editor

Since opening myself up to be a “mentor” to the general Internet public, I have been asked many questions about graduate school, many questions in terms of the decision process in pursuing graduate studies and the preparation process before applying. I know this is the “College Stage” but graduate studies should be under this umbrella. Having said, I am presenting here a short list of things I wish I had known before attending graduate school. My adjustment phase in Semester 1 might have been smoother. In no particular order of importance here it is:

(Note: I am a really young clinical psychology student at a professional university, so my experiences can definitely differ from other graduate students.)

1. It is mighty expensive to just APPLY to schools. From recall, my cheapest application fee was $30. My most expensive was $90. I applied to nine schools and that number was considered “in the middle” (not to too few, but not a lot either).
2. Grades are like herpes—they stay with you forever. An “A” never ever hurts. If anything, a series of A’s can help in getting a fellowship.
3. Writing well never hurts either. Writing extremely well is golden. Theses and dissertations will become your life during one of your last years in school.
4. Even math courses such as statistics have assignments for writing.
5. Much learning comes from self-motivation to do the readings and do well in projects and essays. Do not expect to be taught only the bare minimum and have to memorize that minimum for the sake of a test.
6. Much learning also comes from doing many presentations—group or individual, time ranging from 20 minutes to 1 hour. (It has come to the point where I do not even feel nervous in public speaking.)
7. Books, like in undergraduate studies, are still ultimately optional for you to buy.
8. You will see the same set of people over and over and over and over again whether you like it or not.
9. You will probably have dreams about the set of people you constantly see. (I never dreamed about schoolmates before attending graduate school.)
10. You can often feel left out at parties. . . If everyone already graduated from college and is already in the workforce.
11. People still expect you to do everything a person in the workforce can do—socially, financially, physically, etc.
12. “Sleep is for the weak,” becomes a mantra. This mantra gets less and less fun saying the older and older you get.
13. Because the program is highly specialized, you must love, love, love the subject matter itself more than you love the idea of being in school again.
14. You must love the subject even more when it comes time to take crucial written and oral examinations.
15. Although essays completely outnumber tests in the classroom, there are still many crucial tests to take. . . Ones that require weeks or even months of preparation.

I have other ideas to put out there, but here is the shortlist for now. Look, it’s 2:00 in the morning. That is life as a graduate student.

Please do feel free to make comments and ask questions! Don't forget to enter our monthly writing contest for college students.

Hard Times

By Britt Saunders, College Editor

Usually, when I write my editor’s pieces, I like to write about a relevant time of the year. My slot usually fits in around a holiday or a break, so there’s plenty to discuss. I could, for instance write about celebrating St. Patrick’s Day this time. However, I have something much more pressing on my mind. It’s pretty personal, and I can’t go into too much detail on it in case somebody from my school was to find this blog. Right now, at my college, a storm is brewing. Because the school has taken certain actions on a decision involving a professor, my department is falling apart. The magazine I work for is not publishing this semester, and we are about to lose an ever growing reputation because of that. As students, without any prompting from faculty here, we want the administration to know what they’ve done to us. Even if we can’t undo the damage they’ve done to our department, a few of us are trying to be heard and, at the very least, recognized.

In all my life, I never imagined I would be a part of something like this. To be blunt, as a middle class, white, straight girl, I didn’t expect to be persecuted in any way. And I feel persecuted. The reason behind this feeling is not just the administration taking actions without caring about the effect on students; it’s the students from other departments who look on our cause as something to be afraid of—something that will get everyone in trouble. Our point is that everyone is in trouble. When a school makes a decision like this, maybe only a few people are affected at first but in the end, all students are going to be seeing stricter codes and limitations on what they can do. The fear of other people I talk to about this is disheartening. They start to look at us as rabble-rousers and as dangerous people to associate with. It’s not a good feeling, especially when you care so deeply about something.

This is a stage of life I thought I’d never see. I thought giving my support for gay marriage would be as politically outspoken as I would ever get. I think there are issues most college students feel passionate about, and I hope education and censorship are at the base.

What issues would you put yourself under scrutiny, or at risk for at your college? Don't forget to enter our monthly writing contest for college students.

Procrastination

By Justina Tran, College Editor

Don't forget to enter our monthly writing contest for college students.

Spring Break Is Coming!

By Megan Tyson, College Editor

Are you looking forward to spring break, or dreading what awaits you when you return home? Don't forget to enter our monthly writing contest for college students.