Types of Roommates you meet at College

They say that college is the time of your life where you discover who you truly are. Many people in society today accredit a lot of their life from college. People would reminisce frustrating and fun times when they were in college. For two years, I haven't yet hopped on the train of discovering, but I have been observing. Especially when it comes to roommates.

Roommates are the social norms when it comes to college life. You pick a dorm, move in and meet the person you'll be sharing the room with for the rest of the semester. I have jumped from roommate to roommate for two years and roommates are as diverse as the animals in the Amazon rain-forest. Here are a few that I have observed over my two years of college:

1. The Phantom Loaner:
I am very careful with my things. I make sure that I have everything I need and that everything is in its rightful place. But when something I own (let's say...my nail clippers) goes missing, I freak out. At first I think that it's my fault and that I've misplaced it. No big deal. But when I spend the whole day looking for it and it doesn't show up? Well, my friends better keep away because I will RIP through the dorm looking for that thing like it was the Holy Grail. After the failed treasure hunt, I become suspicious and I would interrogate my roommates if they've seen it (Don't tell me that I should have done that first, that's how my brain works! Deal with it). Most of them would deny even seeing it, until you have that roommate that pipes up saying they have it. They were "borrowing" it and would return it right where he found it (at this point, they can have it). You're supposed to alert the owner before taking it, not the other way around!

2. The Vampire
This roommate seems fine the first time you meet him, until you get to understand his sleep schedule. This is one roommate where you notice him sleeping a lot during the day, and then getting up all energetic when the night draws near. It's probably that the smell of alcohol beckoned him from his deep slumber or the realization that the sun is no longer burning the ground below him. It's unnatural! All I know is that this individual stays up all night long doing whatever normal human beings are supposed to do in the morning. Just remember to bring a wooden stake with you (You can never be too sure).

3. The Invisible Man
You know you have a roommate, you've seen his stuff and have seen them move around. But the mystery is: have you seen him at all? The answer is no, you never see him and you never will. This type of roommate comes and goes like the wind, invisible but still felt. You notice things around his side of the room disappear and then reappear in a different area. You know he comes to the dorm but you never seem to catch him, like he has the invisibility cloak as a part of his daily attire. Things around your room change, but you never catch him in the act. All these point to your defense that you're not just hallucinating an imaginary roommate (or are you?),

4. The Party
Ah yes, who could forget the staple of every college life? Every college or university has this roommate in spades. Still, this physical being of alcohol, caffeine, and loud music throws one hell of a party, even at the expense of your precious sleep schedule (and your sanity). This roommate's calendar is lined with every large event found on campus, from frat parties to school musicals. It doesn't matter if the venue is your dorm bathroom or study halls, you always know when they're around.

5. The Samwise 
  We're talking about the pink adorable best friend that would go to the ends of the earth for you (or the ends of Middle-Earth). From the first day of moving in, you and your roommate begin to develop a bond that both of you couldn't have noticed it at the time. Even when your personality polarizes with his, your roommate seems to understand your troubles and reasons why you do things. Yet, he doesn't judge you or make a snarky comment. This type of roommate is a rare, golden ticket. This is one roommate that will never leave your side, even when you two may have moved to different dorms or colleges. Just like Sam in  Lord of the Rings, even through thick or thin, this roommate is your crutch whenever you fall down. Just like the faces of a coin, The Samwise Gamgee is a roommate on one side, a true friend on the other.

Meeting your college roommate is an experience, for better or for worse. It may take time to find that golden roommate, but once you do your college experience will be just as amazing as that feeling of stepping into the university grounds.
  

Five Sins of when at the Cinema

The cinema, a safe have for many of the entertainment industry's films. We like going to the movies, especially in the summer. This season is when most of the year's anticipated movies are released and within the forefront of anticipation. With that being said, there are manners to be followed in the cinemas, just like at a fancy restaurant. I have categorized them as the Five Sins of the Cinema.

1. Using your Phone
It's downright rude to pull out your phone in the middle of a dark room and have your screen lit up like a beacon meant to signal extraterrestrial life. No matter how dim you put your brightness down, you are basically drawing your attention from the movie to text with somebody. Your attention will divert to your phone and you will miss key moments that make up your movie watching experience. At the end, you would just not understand the basis of the movie because you were watching your phone instead of the movie. It's better to keep it on silent for the duration of the movie or to step out if it's urgent.


2. Raising your voice.
Shhhh! People are watching here! Raising your voice when talking about something that has nothing to do with the movie is annoying, much more when you're asking what's going on. This doesn't happen as often, but it is a problem on those occasions when it does come up. It's best to keep talking to a minimum, but if you need to say something, whispering is just as effective.



3. Recklessly open your bag of treats
Imagine you're watching our movie, and it reaches the most intense moment. You're so absorbed into the movie when out of nowhere, the sound of plastic being ripped rings through the cinema and you're dragged back to reality. It sucks, huh?  I'm usually this person and it sends me down this dark road of awkwardness.What I usually do is I open it before heading into the movies, but the temptation to eat it before the movie can start can be very high. That, or be really good at opening plastic packaging.

4. Coming in late
As the phrase goes: Early bird gets the worm, and everybody doesn't have to hate your guts for coming in late. It pains me to see people walk into the cinema, finding a seat among the crowd and having to traverse the many that has already been seated, while ruining others of their movie-watching experience. Cinemas have set times, it's best to be there five minutes before doors open or just get there when it does. This way, it lessens the amount of people that will be annoyed by you and you won't have to miss any of the good previews or any of the scenes. Although if you're late and had to do something important beforehand, don't sweat it. Just get in your seat as quickly as possible and enjoy your popcorn.

5. Moving around
People hate to have their focus broken unceremoniously, especially when watching something only to have a person pass by their field of sight and block the movie playing. It is understandable if a person has to go to the bathroom or take a phone call. However, it is best to lower his or herself so as not to ruin the cinema experience to the rest of the audience.

These five are just a few of what I have noticed during my experience of going to the movies. These are very general (and, frankly, just the rantings of a film-lover) as well as an interesting thing I have noticed. Whether this needs corrections or addition, let me know. There are many factors that annoy people in the cinema, and I have not observed all that was under the sun.

A Global Community

When I was eight, the first computer available to access the internet was a weird concept to me. It required a phone line and would take me minutes to connect with the weird beeping sound going off, indicating it was in process. When I was finally connected, a single webpage would take minutes to load (with futile clicking on the user's part). Back then, the internet was a small and insignificant thing, everybody had no idea what it was. But we humans are curious creatures. We toyed with ideas that swam in our head. Naturally, we were curious about a network that connected computers in a wide geographical range. This wondering began in 1969, and it has brought about an age people long ago would never believe. It sparked a revolution.

Coincidentally, the internet evolved. It improved as the years went by. First came ARPANET, one of the "technological foundations". Then AOL, which connected millions of people in America. And since then, the internet rapidly grew. As computers improved, so too did the internet. Speed and stability followed for the digital network, able to connect millions of people. Then the term "wireless" sparked more curiosity in our minds, "What if we didn't need the use of the dial-up services?" Computer engineers were put to the challenge of making the internet "wireless", and they succeeded. Now, we have Wi-Fi, a wireless connection to the internet.

Through the internet, we see a different world.

Because of the internet, information is now at our fingertips. One push of a button and we know all about the Roman Empire. We are now able to stream music in a matter of seconds. We live in an age where we can see the world through another person's eyes. We are able to make video calls to people who live on the other side of the world. The internet and our access to it has linked us all in a giant web of data and information that covers the entire world. Through it, we can sway the thoughts of others. Theories and concepts are also no longer barred from the public.

But on the other side, information in this day and age has become a weapon. Through the internet, people with malicious intent can spread violence and horror that can shake us to the very bone. Through the internet, ideas of racism and discrimination can bleed through the screens of those who read it. In this Age of Information, it has become a poison, toxic enough for anybody holding to these ideals.

But through the internet, we have a voice. This voice can influence good in the world, a connection that has given us an opportunity to convey ideas. Ideas that can save the planet, ideas that dissolve discrimination and abuse, and even end world hunger and poverty. This digital voice has given power to the powerless, a fighting force against those that misuse this gift. The internet has also opened our eyes to a world so vast and beautiful, we see cultures blend and mix in the digital web. We have evolved into a global community that shares ideas and concepts that help the human race. We are now in the transition phase where we use the internet and the technology it has sired in our daily lives. Education is now being integrated with the internet, helping us learn in any environment. We can use our voice to search for something through the use of artificial intelligence. We can turn off the lights in our house through a phone that has internet access. The spark of innovation is now a raging fire. We are living in a digital web, and we are its weavers.

A Fraction of my Life: How it feels to be 17 and in College.

Some of you might not relate to this since this is an extremely rare occurrence. But, yes, I am seventeen years old and in my Bachelor's in Utah State University Eastern. Starting at age fifteen I have spent two years in USU Eastern-Price getting my associate's degree. Day in and day out, going to classes and doing the homework all while remaining in the little cove that is my dorm. That has been my life for the past two years and am now doing it all over again with my Bachelor's. For the next fourteen weeks I will be stuck in the campus studying and cramming a four-month course into seven weeks of classes. I thought "Sure, I've done it before. It's no big deal." But then I realized, I'll be taking harder and bigger classes, classes that are supposed to be part of a four month course. But that's the least of my problems.

I'm seventeen years old and now working on my Bachelor's in Accounting. I have spent an approximate total of my life in lecture halls and in people's homes for a few weeks when the semester's out. Those two years combined with the six months this year, I'm starting to feel what I call the "Burnout". I don't know if this is a real thing or not, but a "burnout" is a feeling that you get when you are exhausted from all the workload or labor you put into something. Two years and three months of school, while adding another three has brought my energy level to a near zero. It has reached the point where I don't even know if an Accounting major is the right thing to do. I don't even know what I should be doing! Taking higher-level/specific classes has taken a big toll on me and that burnout is showing that.

When I was younger, it was my goal to be unique. I preferred to stand above the crowd and go beyond the normal standards.  At this point in college, I regret it. I have sped through all my classes, aiming to get so far ahead while I still can, only to see so much people looking at me with hopes of more successes. So much anticipation for me to excel in every step of the way. Whenever people look at me in amazement and wonder at how young and how much I have accomplished, I just shrug and look away. I am a high-school aged boy surrounded by nineteen or older people, and I just cannot relate to anybody. I may seem mature and brave and unique on the outside, but at the end of the day, the stress eats me from the inside.  I lie at my bed at night staring at the wall how or why did I even agree to this? Why did I choose to be this different? What do I want to do with my life? These questions swirl my thoughts almost every night and it sucks. Today, I do not want to be different, I don't want to meet people older my age who have to reel things back because I am "underage". I want to be a normal teenage boy, spending the time with friends my age who don't have to spend every waking moment taking college courses to get ahead of everybody else.

It does not mean that I have given up. No one should ever give up when they are trying to be who they want to be. But as for me, I don't know who I want to be. I have burned out and am now a heap of ash inside a fireplace. People say that college is the best environment to discover who you truly want to be. I am still hoping to find that. I'm tired of the studying and piles of endless homework. Tired of being called the "youngest person on campus". But, as fate would have it, I have enrolled myself to take more classes in the summer semester. And for all the things I have said above, I may be tired but I have put myself up to the challenge. I will still continue be unique and will go so far that the people behind me will look like peas over the horizon.

I will ENDURE.~ E. Lockhart

A Fraction of my Life: Why moving sucks (and doesn't).

     On Friday morning, May 6th 2016, I had packed up my entire room from my dorm in USU Eastern in Price, Utah and moved to the dorms in Utah State University (USU) in Logan to take classes for the summer. Everything is now unpacked from the 4-hour drive and in their desired location (despite the fact that the room is much smaller than the one I had in USU Eastern), so you could say that my room is now the way I want it to be. And though things may look fine now, there was this nightmare and chaos that ensued before the calm: MOVING!

Some consider this an art form.

     Ah yes, the verb "moving" can make people cringe and despair. Moving is difficult and tedious, as people have to pack their appliances and other paraphernalia they have acquired. Turning a well-decorated and furnished room into a barren one is also hard since you have to take everything in that room and place them into categorized boxes that would then be placed in the trunk for four hours, yeah not that great. You also have to make sure that there is space for everything in the trunk, it is always a real-life version of Tetris. What's even worse is the problem of how to make sure that anything does not get thrown around while on the trip to your new place. 

     What happens next is the inevitable part. Since nobody wants to sleep surrounded by packed boxes in a car, you have to unload all those packed boxes and take them to your room where you will spend hours sorting through them and placing them in areas where you would feel it would be best. Arranging your clothes, thinking of where to place your books and paraphernalia and making sure that your side of the room looks like your room away from room can be a pain. Especially when there is nobody there to help you. This part of moving in took me about six hours total.

     But with that aside, moving can be a bittersweet experience. Besides the frustrating packing, leaving a certain place can be the bitter part. Especially when you have made a specific group of friends leaving to better places, living their life and continuing to better themselves as you would do too. Leaving friends is hard, but that's what makes it sweet at the same time. You may leave the place, but you never leave your memories behind. You carry it with you as you explore the world, experiencing newer things. Moving is an extremely brave and adventurous thing to do, not a lot of people would want to uproot themselves from an area where they have spent a large amount of their life. But hey, life goes on and moving only sets a new chapter in motion. It's only through this that we find the value of our memories.

"Adventure is out there!" -Carl Muntz  from Pixar's Up

Music for a rainy day

I'm writing this blog post at my desk in the newspaper lab. The outside is drenched, and is getting a well-deserved break from the downpour. Not a single soul save for me is present in the room, leaving me alone to my thoughts. As my mind wanders, I always think of how calm and beautiful rainy days like these are. Looking out at the gloomy sky, I feel that hot chocolate and a book would do to compliment the kind of day I'm having. However, I brought no hot chocolate or book so I have to comply with music. There is so much music I have found through Spotify that I had to spend hours sorting through different music types and grouping them, while discovering new songs to add to the categories. I have, as luck would have it, songs for a rainy day:



1. It Will Rain by: Bruno Mars

If you're feeling a little down and the rain is just adding to that gloomy feeling, this song will help you perk up. Bruno Mars tells an almost-real story of a love that is both broken and fractured, but they try to make it work as the thought of the loss of their loved one would shatter their worlds. This song does not tell a story about mending a broken relationship, but a survival of one where both people are meant for each other.



2. Lay Me Down by: Sam Smith feat. John Legend

This song from Sam Smith's smash album In the Lonely Hour is one that I would listen to over and over. The sweet and smooth vocals from Sam Smith and John Legend brings this song together. Just sitting there while the raindrops slide down the window and listening to the melody of Lay Me Down would put you in a state of peace and comfort. This is a song I would have in my favorites list for a rainy day.


3. Riptide by: Vance Joy

Riptide's  lighthearted mood makes you want to go out and dance in the rain. The fun tune coupled with the ukulele will get you tapping your feet to the tune and your body moving to the energetic mood of Vance Joy. It is difficult to decipher what the lyrics really mean, but they are still fun to sing along to during a gloomy day.

Rainy days are perfect to just sit there and contemplate. It also helps when music walks with your wandering mind. Music is a versatile tool for healing, comfort, and to just have fun. It helps elevate our emotions, and the variety of music out in the world today caters to a larger audience. Rainy days aren't typically the best days, as they usually bring about a gloomy mood. But music can change that. It can turn a gloomy day into one where there is sunshine even amongst the darkness.

Links to the Songs:
It Will Rain
Lay Me Down
Riptide

Credits:
ithinkyoulikethissong.tumblr.com
wikipedia.org