Opinion: Columns

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Bold predictions for Mullen’s first year

Life under the influence (of each other)

Even though social media ever-present, it's time to start seeking a life beyond it's validation

No news can be good news

I am a hypocrite. I love writing columns, arguing my opinions, excavating the news of the week for interesting artifacts. I haven’t written a column since the Spring semester, and I waited for that privilege again, which I am exercising and enjoying now and is the ultimate expression of my hypocrisy.

Ask not what Student Government can do for you

Please get involved in Student Government; I said please!

Belly dance is not sexual and never was

Through ignorance, belly dancing has become an art form that breeds judgement and contempt. Some say it’s too hot and too seductive. Some have asked how I feel comfortable in my own skin. Some just look me up and down, slowly.

What even are the NFL’s rules anymore?

Hey all you NFL players, it’s finally time.

The Meyer thing isn't about Meyer

If you are anything like me, you were sitting in front of a TV screen Wednesday night watching Ohio State and Urban Meyer hold a press conference to announce how Meyer’s fate would play out. He was either getting fired (which was extremely improbable), getting suspended or getting off the hook.

Netflix series peddles chronic illness myths

The series "Afflicted" misleads people as to what a chronic illness is really about

Feleipe Franks is clearly UF’s best QB option

The expert’s guide to libraries

The five things you should know, from one of UF's librarians

How to voice your vote in Alachua

Welcome to Alachua County, Gators!

Don't be a lemming: Florida will be playing on New Year's Day

The start of a new semester means facing some hard truths.

PREDICTION: Gators ride easy schedule to eight wins

Yes, the time has come to make a prediction.

FINAL COLUMN: The NBA will surpass the NFL in popularity

Slowly but surely, the totem pole is shifting.

Feeling stuck

College is a time of big changes for anyone. There are a lot of major decisions to make.You have to select your area of study and decide how you’re going spend your time on campus. The moves we make during these years on campus can outline the trajectory for our future. Making concrete and life-changing decisions can feel overwhelming. Things in and out of your control can affect your life path. Choosing one club or class can feel insignificant. But, on the other hand, one experience can illuminate a dream you never knew you had. Conversely, one class or club won’t make or break your life. A failure or a misstep can be a chance to learn or find what’s right for you.For me, this year has been especially crushing. I’ve felt stuck and frustrated due to how sick I’ve been. This summer, I wasn’t able to take on an internship. I’ve been in and out of the doctor and stuck in bed unable to focus on anything. I’m scared how sick I feel now is going to impact my future.Writing my columns for this Summer semester was really my only connection to a world outside of my phone, class on my laptop, bedroom or doctors’ offices. Sometimes I wrote what I needed to hear myself. Other times, I wrote about something impacting me in real time. Some things were reflective.For me, I’m glad I made the decision to write this summer for The Alligator. It taught me a lot about myself. I’m stuck on more than one decision for the Fall semester and grappling with the realities of what I can and can’t take on. More decisions being made by my body without my input.I can’t tell my body to give me more energy and magically function at its best. I wish it was up to running down Stadium Road or past Century Tower under a curtain of Spanish moss. I wish I could spend late nights on campus working in the newsroom or at The Alligator. I wish I could do more outside of my dorm bed and fill my UF bucket list to the brim with things other than going to UF Health Shands Hospital multiple times a week, not for an internship, but for visits.These decisions are made for me, by my doctors or by my health. I can’t change them as much as I want to. What I can do is make the most of the decisions left for me to make. College has taught me many lessons beyond the classroom, most of them about life. I may not have had my dream internship or campus experience yet, but I do have wisdom from my unique experiences that I might not have gotten any other way. And I do have wonderful professors, doctors, mentors and friends who have given me something that’s one of the most important parts of college to me: community.

Why moving out of my dorm made me ugly-cry

Today, I moved out of the dorm I’ve been living in for two years. I secretly liked living in a dorm, and I feel a little sentimental leaving it for a house. Once you get past the embarrassment of telling people you’re a sophomore living in a dorm, it’s not too bad.

Try listening to the Turlington crazies

We all know the walk through Turlington Plaza. It’s a veritable minefield of distractions. People handing out pamphlets, students trying to get you to join their clubs, doughnut sales for the nexus of evil: the Alachua County Humane Society. But there are also those who have a less-than-appealing message. Some of the Turlington heralds preach a very religious message of fire and brimstone, and some go way overboard on the rhetoric. The next time you walk through Turlington try to keep an open mind and listen to what they’ve got to say.

See you later, Alligator — Stefano’s goodbye column

Throughout the semester, I’ve read and edited some pretty bad columns, so I’m hoping I’ve learned how to write a good one.

Things that make you go ‘hmmmm’: how we lost our 24/7 Library West (Part 5)

Given this is my final column for the summer, I wanted to go over everything that went wrong in the way Student Government handled juggling Newell Hall and Library West. Well, perhaps not just everything that went “wrong;” maybe also things that make you go “hmmmm.”

Targeted ads will save advertising

You search Google for “sunglasses.” You browse for a while. You look at a few on Amazon, a few on Ray-Ban’s website and ultimately decide to leave the purchase for another day. But now every website with Google AdSense, like the sidebar on Facebook, offers you sunglasses. It’s called targeted advertising, and even if you might think it’s annoying, computers seem to know us better than we know ourselves. I’m okay with big data as long as it’s good data.