Victory!

Victory was once celebrated in Fraternities and Sororities as a celebration. So how did it turn into this huge event that incorporates a formal dance and buses and the whole enchilada? In my opinion formals have become way overblown. For a dance that starts at 10:30, girl start getting ready by 5 to be at a pre-party by 6:30 for dinner at 8 which you still end up being late to the buses which you maybe, if you are lucky, get there by 11. Formals , in my opinion, have become ridiculous. Who made what shoes you wear a huge ordeal? And then after the dance, you continue until 3 in the morning. So how did this celebration turn into a 11 hour ordeal? Society has. I believe that it sad how society has the impact to turn a little celebration into a huge 11 hour event. Society, today has become a huge influence in how we celebrate every little event.

Facebook

one word: ADDICTION! At the moment, my is deactivated. Yeah I said it, deactivated. Say that to any college student, they will think you are crazy. So what is even the big deal? So you can essentially stalk people? So you can show the world your life and everything you do? You want to say no its for networking, but yeah that is precisely it. Even if I promise myself not to go on it, I get emails on my iPhone saying I have new notifications, and well if you have new notifications you have to check it right? Yeah, that is an addiction. Solution: DEACTIVATION! Facebook has become such an imperative part of a young adults life that they cannot go more than 24 hours without checking it. Do I have tagged photos, oh please tell me someone wrote on my wall. What did we do before this? Myspace. Duh. Remember that? And what did we do before that? AIM! Well what about in our parents time? Oh God, lets not even think about that. They must have been antisocial right? Facebook of our time is essential to know when parties are happening, what people are doing, how your friends are doing from back home. You can literally do almost anything, leave videos, chat, message, and even make events. It is a life saviour when you lose your cellphone like me. Facebook is life. That is the conclusion. But I wonder if there is a correlation with test grades going down? I can tell you half the people in the library right now, have facebook up in some tab of their computer, and are checking it regularly which is essentially distracting them. Solution again: DEACTIVATION!

Midterms

Stressful. Anxiety. Late nights. All words that come to mind. Spring break right around the corner, everyone is anxious to get out. However, before we can leave, midterms must take place. Being tested on everything we have learned from the first day of class? Scary. It is funny to watch girl dieting and getting their spring break bodies in shape and then binge eat in the library at 3 am stressed out of their minds.... I believe midterms and finals are stressful times where collaboratively the entire library is thinking oh shit what is going to be on this exam. What I find even more interesting are the midterms the week after spring break and the teachers who believe students will spend the entire spring BREAK studying. Yes, I understand you must study at some points, but isn't it a break for a reason? I thought it was. I find it very stressful to worry about exams the week after. Midterms are a funny thing that must be done but are very stressful and unhealthy. Between the unhealthy eating and the late nights which makes everyone sick which turns into misery between just the thought of freedom and break into studying for my midterms when we get back? It is a funny phenomenon that amuses me to think about.

Red Bull

My late night/cramming addiction. Some people take Aderall to stay up and study hard, some people chug coffee, but all I need is my Red Bull. It gets me through the night. Before coming to Fondren Library at night I always go to 7/11 to stack up on snacks and Red Bull. The caffeine gives me an adrenaline that is irreplaceable. Then as I was sitting here thinking, I must be immuned to it. Or even if I am not it can't give me this huge rush of energy that I make it hyped up to be. I think its the mentality that one night I took it and got a 98 percent on my final. I think Red Bull is half the energy and half the mentality I have towards it. I had one great experience with it and now I am addicted to it. Red Bull, it gives you wings!

Apple

My family has always been PC all the way. However, while searching for laptops for college, I knew I had to have an apple. So what is the big deal about them anyways? I got it just to go with the flow and all my friends were getting them, so why shouldn't I? Now, I don't know how I survived without one. Between syncing my iPhone and using iPhoto and iChat, how did I go without one my entire life. It's funny how you can go without something your whole life and within a week you become addicted and don't even know how to function with your previous one. Apple has slowly started dominating my world. I don't know if it is a good thing or a bad thing? Is it good to become addicted to one company? What if something ever happened to Apple? What would I do? What if I work at a company with only PC such as my past summer job? I forgot even how to do some simple things on a PC. Apple is great for personal use but what about the broader picture? This is when I thought about how I cannot solely become reliant on one company. This may just end up being self destruction. I need to stay open minded and stay educated on all different types of computers.

Lent

Lent: the start of Easter: a Catholic observance. Tradition goes that you give up something for 40 days to parallel Jesus' long journey in the desert where He did not have food or drink for 40 days and 40 nights. Me, being a very religious catholic, saw a whole different side when I came to college. I saw girls giving up every food except vegetables and fruits. Taking lent into an extreme. Turning a religious holiday into an eating disorder. How does one go from religious observance to essentially starving yourself? I still do not understand it. However, I learned that anyone can take a simple thing into a complex self-interested, unhealthy obsession. The fact that spring break is during lent, only makes these matter worse. I have noticed that people take things differently and justify their instabilities with religion.

Olympics

The rise of nationalism. It is funny how one day we are walking around the street, traveling abroad, going about our day normally, then all of a sudden we are super Americans. We are decked out in Red, White and Blue and anyone from another country is a loser for the next 2 weeks. The olympics cause a huge deal of excitement. All of a sudden everyone is a pro on snowboarding, or skiing, or figure skating and everyone knows better than the referees bad call. A competition meant to test for the best turns into every average American being pros at every sport. People who never even have seen a game of hockey start chucking things at the TV screen because they "know" better than the referee. Everyone has huge American flags flying and are decked out in Red, White, and Blue. The olympics change a nation for an entire 2 weeks. I beleive that it is funny but good for a nation. Every 2 years, whether it be summer or winter olympics, for a nation to come together and rejoice in pride. Especially coming from a country who is clearly athletic and does well, it is a great feeling in even hearing our national anthem on the podium. I believe the olympics do a nation well.