2018-2019

2018 sep-dec

Dreams

Our first contest this semester is dream themed. Quiddity is accepting all forms of writing and art, including but not limited to fiction pieces, creative nonfiction, poetry, drawings, and photography. A lot of famous writers were inspired by dreams and many of their most-well known works became the product of that inspiration; Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, E.B. White’s Stuart Little, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are just some examples of these dream-inspired pieces.

Whether you want to create a piece inspired by a dream you've had, want to write a reflection about your dreams, or want to write a dream sequence for a character you’ve created we want to read it! 

Writing a story or poem about a dream you’ve had is pretty self-explanatory but it doesn't have to be a play-by-play of the dream. You can take a place, event, or person from the dream and base your work around that idea. For example, if you dream about being on another planet but don’t want to be the protagonist of your story, take the setting of the planet but add a new character to replace yourself to create a new story based on your dream. 

If you choose to reflect on a dream you've had, you can write an entry into a dream journal or write a mini memoir focused in on what you dreamt. Try to find symbolic meaning for the events or objects or people you saw in your dream. Attempt to figure out what your dreams mean. 

Maybe you want to create a story or poem revolving around a character having a dream and take us through their experience. Show us the inner workings of their subconscious or just take us through an adventure in a completely fantastical landscape. In other words, build your own dreamworld! 

Hope you're actually able to sleep so you can have some inspiring dreams to write about! #tiredofcollege 

(This blog was co-authored by Quiddity’s Co-Editors-in-Chief, Monica DiTomassi and Rebecca Hane)

The Hindu Festival of Chariots 

Yesterday I attended the Hindu Festival of Chariots in Philadelphia which was hosted by ISKON Temple. I have been raised Catholic my entire life.

You may be surprised to find that I thoroughly enjoyed this festival and the company of the other people attending. It was a day of brilliant chariots in a parade, bright and beautiful dresses and jewels, intricate henna, and great food. I even participated in a meditation session with counter beads which strangely reminded me of praying the rosary in church. The idea behind the festival is to bring their god to the streets to see the people because not many people are able to come to temples to see the gods. While I may be Catholic, I’ve always had an open mind. My basic belief is that love is more important than hate, there’s always room for a little more kindness in the world, and there is some form of greater power watching over us all. My religion is comprised of various details and specifics but the important fact is that they are what I believe; I’m very aware that there are other religions out there and it’s always been intriguing to see the similarities and differences between them all. I joined the RE265 Inside Hinduism class this semester to gain a better insight to one of the world’s oldest religions...and to get the GE/GR credits as required by Arcadia. I absolutely love the class so far and one of our class requirements is doing field studies in Hindu temples and Hindu activities.

I’ve found that the Hindu belief is based around multiple gods, unlike Catholicism’s belief in one God. Hinduism strongly encourages prayer because in their eyes, anyone can win the favor of the gods if you only ask. But, the most important thing I’ve discovered is that no matter what religion you are or what god you believe in, these people welcome you. The only thing they care about is that you accept the truth of love and have a kindness in your heart towards yourself and others. I will always be a Catholic, but I think that it’s a lesson we should all keep in mind. No matter where you come from or what you were raised to believe, we’re all on this earth together and the best way to get the most out of this life is to spread a bit of love.

Literary Spots Abroad

Studying abroad is an amazing opportunity. For people who love literature, visiting foreign countries can be a great chance to visit places with literary importance that could be difficult to visit otherwise. Below are a few literary spots that students could visit during their free time if they are studying abroad or going on preview in London, England; Paris, France; or Dublin, Ireland. 

There are many places in London that are perfect for literature loves, but I will be highlighting two: the British Library and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. The British Library is great for anyone who loves to spend time surrounded by books. Not only is it a place where one can curl up and read, it houses original manuscripts that date back thousands of years. One example is the original manuscript of Jane Eyre. For Shakespeare lovers, the Globe Theatre is the ultimate tourist spot in London. If you are up for standing during an entire play, tickets to a show at the Globe Theatre can be fairly cheap—approximately five euros, or around six U.S. dollars. 

In Paris there are two popular places for booklovers to visit: Shakespeare and Company and the Bouquinistes. Shakespeare and Company is a bookstore where many famous writers have bought books. When visiting Shakespeare and Company students can relax in the reading rooms, tickle the ivories of the free piano, and even stay there for a night in one of the beds on site where many writers have drawn inspiration from the surrounding books and wrote late into the night. The Bouquinistes are stalls along the River Seine that sell books. Not only would you be getting books to add to your collection, you would be taking in a gorgeous view along the way. 

In Dublin, two spots are highly recommended for literature lovers to visit: the Dublin Writers Museum and the National Library of Ireland. The Dublin Writers Museum contains hundreds of years of Dublin’s writing history within its walls. Visitors can view rare first-editions and personal items that belonged to famous Irish authors. The National Library of Ireland is another large library that is a must-see for literature lovers. Aside from being a library, the National Library of Ireland also has an exhibit on W.B. Yeats, an Irish poet. 

Reading and writing should not be limited to the culture someone grows up in. So, take the opportunity studying abroad gives you, and learn a bit about literature from another culture’s perspective.

Advice for Midterms

Friends, as we are quickly approaching midterms, we have reached the point in the semester where every college student feels as if they are on fire and desperately trying to escape a gasoline-soaked forest. The fact that you are on fire is a given, it’s not even worth trying to put that one out. I feel that trying to not alight the rest of the forest is the challenge. It’s all about minimizing the collateral damage. I could give you the usual advice of “don’t procrastinate!” or “stay on top of your work!” but we both know that it’s far too late for that. Instead, I’ll give you advice that, while not at all helpful, may help soothe the burning sensation that comes along with, you know, being on fire.

1. Scream a lot. Just get all those feelings out. We’re all struggling here. Maybe if you scream out your window, someone will scream back and you can communicate via screams of sorrow.

2. Consider changing majors. This one will come naturally. Your parents will probably recommend this one too.

3. Adopt a cat. Adopt five cats. Adopt a dog, too. How about a sugar glider? Anything to numb the pain.

4. Stop drinking water and just drink coffee. Maybe the caffeine will put you into a productive zombie state and when you next come to, all your work will be magically done.

Consider hiring a stunt double. This might get you kicked out of college, but that’s a risk you can think about. Weigh those pros and cons.

5. In truth, these are all really bad ideas and you should not do any of them (except maybe screaming, because I do that and I think it helps). Just keep powering through. Eventually, I think we’ll end up on the other side. Somehow. Maybe. We can hope.

Confessions of a Young Writer

When I was younger I did not believe my opinion mattered. I thought that the words I wrote on paper had no substance, meaning or relevance. I will not turn this into a cheesy inspirational post about how each writer’s work matters (even though it does). I will be talking about the uppity society of adult writers who believe that those younger than them have no talent or voice.

A very popular source of publication for young writers is Wattpad. Many teenagers publish short stories, poetry, and novels (like myself) on the platform in order to promote themselves. What always concerned me, which could honestly be my own bitterness, was that most teenagers on the site don’t become successful from it. Authors like Anna Todd, a woman who is almost 30, became famous for writing a fan-fiction about One Direction called After. Despite the fact that she had to change the characters names in the publication, she became an international star - being featured all over the site. If you check the list of the featured work on the front page, most of the authors are adults. Of course it’s slightly annoying for adults to come promote their, already published books, on Wattpad and make the featured list. However, it leaves the question - is this website/app really for teenagers or is it meant to represent an unattainable dream that only few will see as a reality?

I bet the next question is, why do we even care? Well, if you’re anything like me you know that there aren’t too many platforms for young adults to publish their work. It’s also very hard to find platforms that offer publication AND they respect you as a creator. I have been told by many people that young writers aren’t creative enough, smart enough, or cultured enough to create story lines worth reading. They say that we wouldn’t know the first thing about publishing and our ideas are extremely unoriginal. Tragic. 

The point of this post is to say that these statements are pretty rude and uneducated assumptions. So, if an uppity old writer comes up to you and tells you your writing sucks, go to his page on Wattpad and comment: Delete your account.

The Greatest Show on Netflix: The Great British Bake Off

Since Survivor first aired in 2000, reality competition shows have largely dominated television. Nowadays, you can find a reality competition show for just about anything: interior design (Top Design) tattooing (Master Ink), special effects makeup (Face Off), drag (RuPaul’s Drag Race), acapella (Pitch Slapped), children rapping (The Rap Game) moms arguing because their daughter didn’t get a solo (Dance Moms). Try googling “reality competition shows” when you get the chance, you’ll be quite surprised. 

Now it goes without saying that the reason why reality television is enticing is that it features “real” people doing “real” things. No actors, no scripts, just one-hundred percent real. Although let’s be real, nothing about reality television is, and we are all just living a big simulation, but I’ll save the Baudrillard talk for another time. Let’s just focus on something that doesn’t give me an existential crisis. 

While reality competition shows may not be real in the metaphilosophical sense, they are, nonetheless, entertaining. I mean, Survivor wouldn’t be airing its 37th season this year if it wasn’t entertaining. But, for real, Survivor will outlive us all. That’s a guarantee. And, if we’re being totally honest, I probably spend too much of my free time watching not real people doing not real things on these not real reality competition shows. Cue the existential crisis. 

Lately, I’ve been watching the newest season of The Great British Baking Show, otherwise known as The Great British Bake Off, on Netflix. After hearing a little about the show from another British television show (shout out to Never Mind the Buzzcocks), I decided to give the show a watch. Needless to say, I went through all four seasons in a span of a month. Which, of course, may not seem like a lot to an average Netflix binger, but there are ten hour-long episodes per season. That’s one-hundred-and-sixty hours. So you can just imagine how my life was going when I spent a large chunk of my free time watching people bake. 

If you haven’t heard of GBBO, the program features twelve or thirteen amateur bakers who have been chosen from all over Europe to compete for the title of “Ultimate Star Baker.” Each week, the competitors are given a theme and three challenges: a signature bake, a technical challenge, and the showstopper. The signature bake allows competitors to show off their baking skills by creating bakes based on their own recipes. Typically, competitors are given guidelines for their signature bake and the freedom to use whatever flavors, methods, or decorations they desire. The technical challenges the bakers to use their technical knowledge and baking experience to produce a finished product with limited instructions Unlike the first and last challenge, the bakers aren’t informed of what the technical will be and therefore, can’t practice it beforehand. Lastly, the showstopper, as it names suggest, requires bakers to go all out to create professional, over-the-top desserts. Because of the formatting, competitors are essentially given three chances to impress the judges and save themselves from elimination if they mess up during one of the challenges. 

Unlike most American reality competition shows, the competition in GBBO is not cut-throat, in fact, it’s quite pure and innocent. While we often see competitors bad-mouthing other competitors or making excuses for themselves in shows like Big Brother or The Challenge, the GBBO competitors, in all nine of its seasons, have never once complained or undermined another competitor. In fact, the interviews focus solely on the baker and their own feelings about the day. Sort of like mini therapy sessions. 

Now if this little tidbit didn’t just warm your cold, dead heart, then the relationships that the competitors have with one another will. Despite being from all different parts of Europe, the bakers form life-long friendships with one another. If bakers have time left, they always join in to help those who are struggling to finish on time. If bakers become frustrated or upset, other bakers always try comforting them with encouraging words and hugs. And when I watch this show, I just feel happy. There isn’t any drama, the judging system is fair, and it focuses on what’s important: baking.

So, if you can’t find anything on Netflix to watch, or you really enjoy cooking competition shows, I suggest you watch The Great British Baking Show. It’s the closest thing to “real” reality television can get.

2019 jan-apr

Winter Fun @ the RiverRink

This past Saturday, Arcadia hosted a trip to the Blue Cross RiverRink for some late night ice skating. While ice skating is definitely not my strong suit, I really enjoyed the $5 trip (as well as the fact that I didn’t fall!). After an hour drive (with a very angry bus driver muttering about people who don’t know how to drive) we made it safely to Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia. Despite the fact that my internship was in Philly and that my friends and I make frequent trips into the city, I had never been to Penn’s Landing―it was gorgeous. The bridges and boats were all lit up and the water was calm, something I’m sure doesn’t happen too often in the daytime. I absolutely love the water so the backdrop to our ice skating trip was perfect. The RiverRink itself was just as great. With multiple teepee-style places covered in old-fashioned lights to sit at or get food, the small winter village was cozy and welcoming. The multiple fires also helped keep the space toasty warm despite the frigid 22º weather. And while the food and drinks were a bit pricey, the yummy hot chocolate was worth every cent of the $3 spent. 

If you’re looking for something fun to do this winter, I recommend giving the RiverRink a visit. The tickets are normally around $15 with a skate rental included, though you can bring your own skates if you have a pair! If you don’t want to drive into the city, a $13 Septa independence pass will give you access to any Septa trains, trolleys, and busses you could possibly need. If you can handle the cold, it will definitely be worth your time.

The only word of warning I would give is that if you have your own skates, make sure to bring them! The rental skates killed my ankles by the end of the night compared to how comfortable my own skates are―but it was all worth it in the name of fun with some of my Arcadia family!

Concert in Philadelphia

On Saturday night, February 2, my sisters and I attended a concert in Philadelphia in University City at the World Cafe Live. The venue had a seating area right around the stage where we got to see the artists perform. The opener who performed first was an artist from Perkasie, PA named Max Swan. This alternative indie and jazz artist is not only a singer, but also plays the saxophone and he was not alone on stage. He also had a person on the synthesizer, a guitarist, drummer, and bassist making the set more amplified. Max’s voice was very smooth, but edgy and he also has a beautiful falsetto that would intrigue any listener. His songs like “Steady” and “155” show off every musical talent he has and I now want to listen to his music more and more. The next artist that took the stage was Greg Matthews aka Yellow Shoots. He was born and raised in Philadelphia, attended the University of the Arts, and moved to Brooklyn, New York. He has released alternative indie funk music and was backed up by his band made up of a pianist, drummer, guitarist, and bassist. His guitar and vocal skills seemed so effortless when he performed my favorite songs of his, “Everything” and “Wild Fire.” Both artists had their own way of performing and keeping the audience entertained for the whole night. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the concert and this will definitely not be the last time I will listening and watching live music.

Please Stop Saying You "Read an Article" When You Really Only Skimmed It

Like most seniors graduating this semester, I wanted to take courses that were interesting, met the final remaining AUC requirements that I needed to graduate, and most importantly, didn’t require much brain power to do well in. Basically, I just wanted an easy A. 

Now, while I wanted to join every other lazy senior trying to enjoy their last hooray at college without hurting my GPA, my freshmen-year decision to add two minors to my course load pretty much ended that dream real quick. Much to my dismay, overloading with five or six courses from my first semester in sophomore year all the way to the fall semester of my senior year would not be enough for me to breeze by on my last semester. Three-out-of-my-four courses for this semester were pretty much already picked out for me to complete my remaining major requirements. Therefore, I still had to apply myself in four upper-level courses while working seventeen hours a week at my internship and looking for jobs post grad. 

Slightly defeated, I made sure that the only class I had the opportunity to choose for myself would be something different and easier than normal “day-to-day” courses. So, I decided to take an introductory religion course that focuses on popular and unconventional spiritual and religious organizations and movements.  

Recently, we were discussing the spiritual components of Alcoholics Anonymous/Narcotics Anonymous, whose seven-out-of-twelve steps refer to a deity or higher power of some kind. As the discussion progressed, our professor moved on to discuss their beneficial and detrimental effects of legal and illegal drugs. As the classroom began debating with one another, one of my classmates raised her hand and said “I read an article about a new law getting passed in New York. Apparently if you’re a veteran and you’ve been living in New York for some period of time, they’ll give you free weed.”

Although I merely paraphrased what she said, the essence of what she said still rings true in this example: she obviously left out important key information. If you take what she said at face value, it would seem that the state is handing out marijuana to veterans who’ve been living in the state for years for no charge at all. Obviously, this isn’t true. In fact, while the governor of New York has spoken about his plan to legalize recreational weed in the future, as of now, you can only use and/or buy medicinal marijuana. Therefore, it’s only a select veterans, most likely suffering from PTSD, who may need financial assistance for their medical needs. Curious about the article, my professor pressed her for more information, but my classmate couldn’t answer many of his questions. Her reasoning? “Well, I didn’t really read the article. I saw the headline and skimmed it.” 

Now, I don’t blame her for only skimming the article. There are many articles that I have clicked on while scrolling through my timeline where I had only read the first couple of paragraphs, and others, where I have merely skimmed. I believe there are definitely moments where you can effectively and accurately skim and retain most, if not the majority of information being presented. Plus, I’ve known plenty of people and read plenty of Facebook comments where it’s clear that they have only read the title and made an uninformed comment based on their previous beliefs and morals. 

However, it’s a big pet peeve of mine when people try to educate or argue points that they’ve read about in these articles when they only “read” a small portion of it.. Not only did you not fully get the author’s point of the article because you stopped short or skimmed through it quickly, but you’ve blindly taken the small, partial information that sparked your eye and made an uninformed, and unfair decision from it. 

Unfortunately, this just doesn’t happen on Facebook or Twitter. I’ve seen this a lot in my other classes, where people raise their hand and state they’ve “read” an article, and either incorrectly summarized the main points, or couldn’t answer a lot of the questions because they either didn’t read it or skimmed it. Funny enough, I saw this same thing in the two journalism classes I took here, where we talked about this exact issue before. 

Now, I don’t necessarily think it’s wrong for that classmate to have brought up the article. In fact, it made a lot of us look the article up right then and there, which helped educate a new group of people and also helped us have a more informed debate about it, which I think is beneficial in any situation where there are two, justifiable sides. However, this type of reading can be harmful. Nowadays, newspaper outlets and journalists face the tedious, and nearly impossible task of relating news in a short and concise manner for readers because we have such short attention spans now. The unfortunate reality is that many social media users only read headlines, basing their decision on the validity of the content on five or six words. Naturally, this can cause unnecessary debate and comments, especially when newspaper articles are highlighting hot button issues, like New York’s most recent abortion law, for example. 

If you found yourself scrolling through Twitter or Facebook this past week, I would bet that you’ve stumbled upon many users commenting on the issue. Unfortunately, there are many comments and assumptions that could have been quickly cleared up if the viewer fully read, not skimmed the article, or even better, read the bill itself. No, New York isn’t legalizing all “late-term” abortions, it’s legalizing the “late-term” abortions where medical staff that are educated in these situations deem that the birth will either put the mother or the fetus in danger, or will result in death for both parties. Yes, there have been cases where mothers have been told that their unborn child would not survive post-birth, and have gone through the pregnancy anyways and their child survived, but there are other cases where mothers were told this same news in their third trimester and were forced to give birth and either to get sick or for their child to die. No, this bill does not allow medical staff to kill a baby if it’s born alive. 

Regardless of whether you are pro-choice, pro-life, pro-wall, anti-wall, pro-LGBTQA+ or anti-LGBTQA+, it’s important to be educated with correct and accurate information so that you can have a civil conversation with those who agree with you and those who don’t. Because so many of us are uninformed on these issues because we read uninformed tweets or Facebook comments, or we only skim articles or read these clickbait titles, we are straying further and further away from a world where we can come to a mutual understanding and resolution on these issues. If you make it a habit to only skim rather than actually read articles, you are denying yourself an accurate representation of the world and its multi-faced opinions and issues and feeding into this toxic culture of “fake news” and ignorance. People are so misinformed and unwilling to read or hear differing opinions, it’s nearly impossible to have a simple conversation about anything political right now. If we can’t even have a civil conversation, how are we ever going to resolve anything?

Spring Contest!

When I came home from work today, I noticed a robin in my yard and the beginnings of daffodils popping up in the flower bed, two sure signs that Spring is on its way. Warmer weather, sunnier skies, flowers, gentle breezes, and absolutely no snow. That is going to be welcome after the snowy winter we’ve had so far. In order to honor the coming of Spring, Quiddity’s second contest of the semester is all about Spring.

You can take Spring to mean a number of different things. You can write us a story or poem full of imagery representing the Spring season. Show us those budding tulips, show us the pastel colors of Easter, show us the chirping birds in the new leaves on the trees. You can make it an ode to Spring or just a tale set in the season. Just immerse us in all things Spring.

The other path you could take is to create a piece using the symbolism of Spring. This season is often considered one of rebirth, as all the plants start to bloom and the animals come out of hibernation after a long, hard winter. It’s a time of life and growth. It’s a time of new beginnings. Spring came after the rebirth of Persephone as she emerged from the Underworld in Greek mythology, showing us how deeply the symbolism of rebirth is rooted in the season. Tell us a story or write us a poem about rebirth, new beginnings, or growth. 

Let this contest be an opportunity for you to bring some light and warmth, some Spring, into your busy semester. Find some joy in the opportunities Spring brings with it in all of its many forms! Good luck!

Living Abroad

It’s been more than one month since I came to the United States. 

I’m an exchange student from Ewha Womans University in South Korea. The partnership between Ewha Womans University and Arcadia University gave me a chance to study at Acadia for a year. As I prepared to come to America from Korea, I was full of expectations like a child. I was on a plane without any thought, hoping that it would be different from life in Korea. However, living abroad is not as easy as I thought it would be.

I thought I knew a lot about America, but there was so much I didn't know. The English that I should use in real life was also different from the English that I had learned in class. In the indifferent gaze that looked at me, I lost my courage. There were no friends around me. I wanted to go back to Korea and spent every night crying for about two weeks. I also missed my parents and friends in Korea. The time alone in the room after class made me feel helpless and more depressed.

One day, I began to write down my feelings one by one on my blog to relieve my depression. Whenever I posted my feelings and my daily routines on a blog, it was a great comfort to me. My parents and friends always left me a comforting comment on my post and I even made a relationship with a Korean sister who is living in Hatboro and saw my post. 

Then, what about me now? To be honest, I can't say it's completely fine. But it's much better than before. I just decided to concentrate and enjoy the present. Time does not wait for me and I can’t not go back. 

I heard that there is studying abroad program for spring break or more long time in Arcadia.  

Many students will have hopes up now, and I just want to tell you all a few things.

Please get ready as much as you can! For example, there are languages, cultures, norms, food and money. The more prepared you are, the more easily you can get over unexpected situations. Also, some things may be pleasant, but some hard things will surely come to you. At that time, please don’t fall into negative feelings! All is well. 

Hope you enjoy your studying abroad and spring break! Carpe diem!

Not All Country Roads

Punxsutawny Phil told us the weather is going to get warmer, and sooner, but while he sleeps snugly in his multi-million dollar hole, the rest of us are starting to hunker down for yet another sleet storm. I love snow, but even I can’t get excited about a sleet storm. That’s like trading a slip n’ slide for waterboarding. So rather than drink away my mid-winter blues with cup after cup of cheap hot chocolate, I’ve turned to music. In fact, I’ve turned to the greatest genre of all time – country music. Now, I realize this is a widely unpopular opinion, or at the very least, a polarizing one, but if you all can trust a groundhog with the weather, than perhaps you’ll consider hearing me out. 

I, too, used to rally vehemently against country music. My picket sign didn’t get nearly as much use as those of, say, vegans and PETA, but if you were quick to hum a twangy ditty, I was quick to hum something else at a more obnoxious volume. (I’d say it was a great party trick, but then people stopped inviting me.) Why encourage hillbilly jargon that promotes alcoholism and sleeping with your sister? I’ve heard every argument before. I’ve even used some of them, but you see, fellow readers, those arguments are the defense of the uncultured, those people who have never deigned to sit still to let Chris Stapleton’s voice make them weep tears of joy. In all my years of embracing country music, never have I stumbled upon a song that suggests incest is best because there is not, and never will be, an audience for such music. Come on now, that’s just common decency. I admit there are heavy amounts of drinking, but I fail to see how that is worse than the copious drug references and angst that populate other genres of music. Apparently that’s just called culture.  

The appeal of country is that each song tells a relatable story. It celebrates the ups, the catchy bops that takeover the radio, but it also mourns the downs, the melancholy ballads that make you shiver. The biggest complaints I hear revolve around the idea that country music all sounds the same. But you can put together the chords of a banjo in as many different ways as you can the chords of a guitar. If you hear the pot and pan sounding razzle dazzle that appears in so many pop and hip hop songs, in country music, it’s probably real pots and pans that someone borrowed from Ree Drummond’s kitchen because that’s just how they do it down home. 

I’m convinced that the people who can’t relate to country music just haven’t found a song that tells part of their story. While I have never fully grasped the fascination that country music has with California girls, (can I hear it for my Pennsylvania girls for once?), if Katy Perry and the Beach Boys can also agree, then who am I to say otherwise? You don’t need to churn butter in the Bible Belt to understand the universality of the messages country music is trying to offer. Understand is the key word; I’m not saying country music is for everyone. There are people in this world who hate listening to three minutes of sunshine and warm weather. It happens. But for the rest of you trying to find a reason to smile on upcoming cloudy days, go find one song that tickles your peach and warms your heart. It’ll be worth it.

Sincerely, Me

It was one of those late-night conversations. You know, the ones where it starts out as a rant about an assignment and turns into a passionate scream-fest about human rights and equality. Although there was plenty of ranting about schoolwork and human rights (or lack thereof), the conversation switched to a sappy look back at high school. I know, high school was terrible for everyone. We all harbor bad memories from it but I think we need to move beyond bad and remember the education or rather the educators. Now, three years removed from high school, I am able to analyze what I did and who influenced me without feeling as if I’m suffering from a gentler form of PTSD. Personally, I have a list of about five teachers throughout my four years of high school whose voices creep into my subconscious when I need them most. So, I’m planning to email my teachers to tell them what an impact they had on me. 

For example, I write all my essays in 12-point Garamond font until they’re ready to be handed in and need to be changed into Times New Roman. Why Garamond, you ask? Because my AP Language and Composition teacher, also known as Fazz, would have us hand in essays etched into stone rather than Times New Roman font. On the surface, it would seem that I just got attached to his preferences, but upon a deeper dig into my mind, I know that he was the first teacher to make me consider what a well-written essay could be and should be. Getting an A on an essay from Fazz was the equivalent to being told I had won some lottery to never receive spam calls ever again as far as I was concerned. I associate Garamond font with a Fazz-worthy essay. Each time I sit down to write, I ask myself “what would Fazz say about this sentence…this paragraph…this page?” and my essays are better because of it. He was the first person to know my path was to be an English major, even before I did. Fazz saw something in me that I was unaware of or just didn’t want to admit to myself. I think he deserves a whole lot more than a sentimental email from a former student but it’s the best I can offer. 

Unfortunately, I have so many Fazz-worthy essays to write that I haven’t had the time to write the perfect email to him to tell him about how his lessons have stuck with me. Like how sometimes I reread my notes from his class or how I still write in Garamond or how I remember him reciting Fox in Socks while the book was worn like a hat because he knew it from memory. I even want to tell him about how his rendition of Taylor Swift’s “Ours” as if it were a dramatic monologue straight out of Shakespeare makes the song difficult to listen to without laughing. Once the semester ends, I’ll have the extra time I need to sit down and write. May is the perfect time to send out emails since the high schoolers are in school until June. Hopefully, I’ll be able to put a smile on my top five teachers’ faces with a simple email with weirdly specific anecdotes to prove they shaped me not only as a student but as a human being. I’m thankful to have been in their classes and was able to hear their lessons (school related or not). Frankly, they deserve to know their job as a teacher really is changing the world one student at a time. 

I have little doubt that four years from now when I’m three years out of college, I’ll be sitting at my laptop writing emails to at least five Arcadia professors who have also shaped me in an equally important way as my high school teachers.

Anyone Can Wear The Mask

As a member of my high school’s Community Involvement Club during my freshman year in 2014, it was brought to my attention that for the full month of October every year at the Philadelphia Zoo they celebrated Halloween by having willing students and families act as volunteers by dressing up in costumes and standing at different stations at the zoo to pass out candy to children. 

I arrived on the cold chilly day in regular clothes with a bookbag filled with an oversized store brought suit. I put on the suit and took a few pictures with other volunteers and we headed outside. Each child that passed by my station ran up to me in amazement as The Amazing Spiderman-Man stood in front of them in the living flesh and handed them candy, even posed in unrehearsed positions to get the character just right in their pictures. During my breaks, I’d aimlessly roamed the zoo instantly getting lost but it didn't matter because every step I took, I was stopped for a picture with children meeting their idol. That was the first time I wore the mask. 

Flash forward four years later when in late August 2017, I purchased my custom made Miles Morales Spider-Man suit. For all you non-nerds, the Miles Morales incarnation of Spider-Man is an African American and Latino mixed high school student who became the first male minority to take on the mantle of Spider-Man when the original mantle holder, Peter Parker died in the Ulitmate line. The suit came on Halloween of 2017, and even though I was 20 years old, I grabbed my three friends and we went trick or treating. Parents and children stopped me in between houses not to yell at me for being a grown man trick or treating but for pictures and hugs with the children. This was a reminder of what being behind the mask meant. 

I spent my whole life idolizing the fictional men and women who decided that rubber, spandex, and leather was the proper materials to save the world in. It wasn’t until I met others in the city of Philadelphia who did the same growing up, did I discover that I could be a hero just like those colorful people on my tv and in my books. By June 2018, I was officially apart of an underoos boy band of men and women who idolize Spiderman, The Philadelphia Web Warriors. The group works as a way to gather ordinary people who felt empowered cosplaying as Spider-man and Spider-man related characters. Each of us has our own collections of spider suits and gear from the Spidey rogues gallery. Together we are Spiderman. We volunteer at events for children to see Spider-man, events to empower other cosplayers to do the same, and just to empower each other to be human beings. We all wear the mask, not just because anyone can wear the mask but because we knew that if one were to wear the mask it's their job to make a difference just like the character who wears the emblem that rests on our chests, Spider-Man.

On Growing Up

Lately, I’ve been feeling really nostalgic. You remember those days when we were kids, running around outside and eating whatever we wanted? I miss the days where the only thing I worried about was if I was going to have time to eat breakfast before school, or whether or not it was going to rain during recess. I remember when we wore whatever we wanted, those god awful bootcut jeans and mismatched prints, texting each other in middle school the night before, “Are you going to dress up with me tomorrow?” 

Now that I’m twenty, it feels like everything is impossible. Making friends is not as easy as it used to be, navigating the hardships of interpersonal relationships having become an impossible feat – not at all like the days where we shared our snacks and became instant best friends for the next ten years. Juggling school, a personal life, and a job is something that feels impossible too, the days never seeming to last enough hours to get everything done. Now we have to watch ourselves and eat healthier, not just those frozen kid cuisine meals with the gooey brownies that were a childhood staple. And what’s with all the body aches? My knees should not be this bad for a young person. 

I miss the days where responsibility was doing your homework before dinner, cleaning up your room weekly, and making sure you helped around the house. Now it’s paying bills, saving money, and realizing that one hundred or even one thousand dollars is barely any money at all. I miss when the scariest thing to me was whether or not I was going to win the fifth grade spelling bee (which I did, and felt like a badass, but now realize that it’s useless just like everything else that they said mattered when we were younger). Now, there’s the ever-looming fact that we could all spend four or even more years in college, slowly shoveling the debt on top of ourselves, only to step out and not get a job. Isn’t it funny how that works? 

Maybe I’m just bitter, or it’s all the anxiety and issues I’ve developed from adulthood talking, but this growing up thing really blows. 

These things keep me up at night and if I could, I’d go back and punch 10-year-old me right in the face for wishing so bad to grow up where things would be “better.”

The Revelry

Have ya ever had one of those days where it was just bad in someway or other? Dumb question I know, but I assure you there is a point. Before that I’m gonna ask you another question: you ever have one of those days where it was just good, everything seemed fine or perhaps more than fine? You get the idea I’m sure. 

One way or another, I’m fairly certain the answer to both these questions is yes. Even if your personal ratio of good days to bad seems a bit... unfair. There is one good thing that I’ll mention about the bad days, specifically that they don’t exist anymore, anything that’s in the past no longer exists from a certain point of view of course. Sure, you have your memories and perhaps tangible mementos, but the actual events of those exact moments from that exact day no longer exist in a tangible form. To some people that brings no comfort at all, for others it brings just enough for them to function in day-to-day life. 

While we’re on the subject of something that technically doesn’t exist anymore, let’s switch to thinking about things that don’t exist, yet one key example of this is the concept of “tomorrow”. You may know what classes you have tomorrow, what papers you have to turn in, exams you have to study for, things like that, but let’s get simpler. Let’s discuss the simple reality that tomorrow in all its questionable glory or tragedy is not guaranteed. So when you think back to the best day of your life or the worst, know that that day was once a tomorrow, that in its very nature was not guaranteed. I know some days just suck and you probably wish they didn’t happen, pretty normal trust me, and honestly that’s part of what I’m trying to say here. The general message of this thing is that you should live in the moment, something I’m sure you’ve heard before. I’m just giving you a slightly different reason for it, the reason being that you have no idea whether tomorrow’s gonna be the best day of your life or the worst. So instead of stressing about it, just revel in whatever today has because today was once a tomorrow... a tomorrow that was not guaranteed.