On Monday morning I was rolled up in my blankets, all of my extremities icy, waiting on the motivation to get out of bed. It was in this state that I shut off my phone alarm, looked through my missed texts and learned that David Bowie had died.
The atmosphere on the first day of a big lecture class, at least before the professor arrives, is something akin to a rock concert that’s going to immediately sour. Everyone has some semblance of a clue as to why they’re there, but no one has an idea of what this event — the performance of entertaining the attention of as many as 600 students — is really going to be like.
I suffer from generalized anxiety disorder and depression. I’m not ashamed of it, and I don’t let it define me. I’ve done as much as I can to educate myself on my illnesses so I’m properly equipped to keep them managed as much as possible. However, there are times when it feels like I’m losing the battle, and that’s when I seek outside help.
It’s more likely than not every person in the world has, at least once, seen a tree. As human beings, we cannot live without trees: They clean our air, provide oxygen, conserve energy, save water, prevent water pollution and soil erosion, offer food and healing and create economic opportunities. I could go on, noting how they create a canopy and habitat for wildlife, provide wood and combat climate change. This last one is particularly critical, as the Paris Climate Change Conference attested to it. As stated by Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving land, “a single grown tree can release enough oxygen back into the atmosphere to support two human beings.”
If this election cycle will be remembered for anything, it will be not only for the amount of candidates, but also for the sheer amount of polling conducted. The average news watcher is bombarded with percentage points on a daily basis when reading or watching the news. The only other place you could get this many numbers is when Bernie Sanders talks about economic reform and taxing the one percent.
I’d like to thank everyone who emailed me last week about my column’s new literary focus. I greatly appreciate the support and the interest. In the future, if you’d like to email me with column suggestions, please direct your emails to sbg_column@aol.com.
Do you remember the first few weeks of elementary school? Because, when looking at the other side of the globe, it seems like some leaders forgot life lessons taught to them when they were children.
"You like potato and I like potahto,
Being like-minded with those who sought a fitness renaissance in the New Year, I went to a sporting goods store last week and purchased a dorky pair of running shoes. The half-off marking, coupled with the promise of a more efficient and healthy respiratory system, had my head and hopes high. Leaving the store, box of Asics in hand, I passed by a panderer who was making his last pleas before the night set in. It was less empathetic and more in the spirit of karmic rectification that I gave the man a few dollars in spare change. During the rummage I happened upon a pack of Marlboro 27’s in my pocket and, once again being altruistic, opted to donate the rest of my rather full pack to the strip-mall nomad who wanted for so much.
Any successful strategy against ISIS will ultimately require both a military and political campaign. On the one hand, our military campaign has proven relatively successful. On the other, our political opposition to ISIS needs considerable improvement. Before going any further, let’s establish some context.
As Jan. 1 neared, many media outlets published articles that reviewed and ranked the most noteworthy events of the past 365 days. For many left-wing publications, the event that gained the most praise was the 2015 United Nations Paris Climate Change Conference. This event, apparently the most important and consequential event of the past year, was magnificently monumental in nature. Because of the hot air emissions created at the talks and coupled with the negotiators’ unduly self-praise, the media declared that all of the polar bears clinging onto nearly liquid glaciers can rest easy.
"Nothing is true; everything is permitted.”
I don’t have an Instagram. I’d like to pretend it’s because I’m too subversive for social media, but the truth is I’m too lazy for it. After witnessing my friends pour hours into photo capturing and filter selection, I decided it wasn’t worth the effort. Putting on makeup for a first-day-of-school selfie? Please.
If you’re one of the lucky people who got a drone as a holiday gift, don’t strap on your flying goggles just yet.
"We two have run about the hills
Happy January! It’s the beginning of a new year and a new semester. Here’s to saying goodbye to Winter Break, a glorious time of rest, relaxation and stuffing myself with home-cooked food. It was good while it lasted. Does anyone else feel decidedly underprepared for this semester? Coming to school in the fall often feels exciting and full of promise, but the (semi) cold, dreary air of spring has a habit of sucking the enthusiasm for school right out of me. Luckily, there are ways to stay positive about rolling out of bed and trundling to class this week.
As we return from Winter Break, many of us can easily attest to the difficulty of making plans with old and new friends alike. Perhaps the struggle stems from overscheduled lives or your inability to change out of the pajamas you wore for three weeks straight, but you can’t deny that making plans often morphs into a viciously futile cycle of back-and-forth texts that ultimately lead nowhere. Responses like, “Maybe!” and, “I’ll try!” become increasingly prevalent as they incorporate the perfect amount of ambiguity without becoming a full-out “no.” But it wasn’t always this way. So what’s changed?
A few weeks ago, I ran into an old classmate from high school.
If there’s one thing college taught me besides how to be a journalist, it’s that you can’t force friendship.
Let’s go back to Sept. 8, 2011. The U.S. unemployment rate is around 9 percent and President Barack Obama has called a joint session of Congress to address the nation on what the U.S. government is going to do to improve the economy. Millions of Americans at the time were struggling to make ends meet while unemployed, scraping together what they had just to make it by. That night, Obama had the answer to the fear and struggle of many Americans. But this wasn’t the priority for most: That night it was Thursday Night Football.
Solutions by The State News
