So I've Been Thinking...: College is the time to become an adult

Published in the September 24, 2012 Issue of the Kishwaukee Kaleidoscope

It was the summer after I graduated high school. I had just turned 18 a couple weeks earlier, which enabled me to get a job as a counselor at a local summer camp. I think it is safe to say that job changed my life forever. There has never been such a short amount of time in which I have learned so much. In fact, I'm pretty sure I could fill the whole newspaper with all the lessons I've learned. There is one lesson in particular that I learned that summer, though, that I think can benefit everyone on this campus.

A couple weeks into my job, my coordinator dropped a copy of a letter into my mailbox. It covered some general guidelines that, in her eyes, would make us the best counselors we could be if we would just follow them. Although I forget the exact language now, she had written on the bottom of the page something along these lines: "Remember, you are an adult. Act like one, and don't let anyone treat you like a child."

"Wow," I thought. I think that reading that note was the exact moment when I realized that I actually was an adult, and needed to start acting like one. But how? Being an adult was still an entirely new concept to me. I had only legally been an adult for a few weeks. I didn't even really know what being an adult meant, and I wasn't sure what to do with myself.

Figuring out how to be an adult is hard. Everyone has to follow their own path to get there, so to speak. No one can just tell you how to do it. There is so much more to it than that. For me, it was realizing that I can't do everything myself. I need to ask for help. There are some things that I just physically cannot do. I hate having to admit that about myself.

The other part of my coordinator's message is the hardest part, I think. Sure, you can act like an adult, but how do you stop other people from treating you like a child? You can't control what other people do or how they act. I think what my coordinator was trying to let me know is that I should never let someone take advantage of me. I should never let someone put me down or intimidate me. We are all equals. I might not know everything, but neither does everyone else, and I shouldn't let them make me feel inferior or unintelligent, because there are things that I can do that no one else can. If there is someone who is attempting to treat me like a child, I need to stand up to that person, and let them know that I am not happy with their treatment of me.

Kougars, what I am trying to tell you is this. First, we are in college now. It is time to grow up, and act like we belong here. Start taking responsibility for yourself. You can start by showing up to class on time or getting your homework done when it is due and grow by degrees. Everyone learns how to be an adult at their own pace, but it is important to start learning now. Secondly, we are all in college together. Treat those around you accordingly, whether it be your teachers or your peers. We all deserve the same respect.

So I've Been Thinking...: Staying healthy for school, work, and life

     The following was published in the September 10, 2012 issue of the Kishwaukee Kaleidoscope.

      I was one week into school when it happened. Everything had been going great. I felt like I was really on top of my classes and my homework at the end of the week. Thursday, the last day of my school week,  I went to got to bed for the night, laid my head down on my pillow, and immediately my ears began to hurt. "That is strange", I thought to myself. I got up, went downstairs, cleaned them  out, and tried to go back to bed, even though my ears were still hurting me.

     I woke up the next morning feeling absolutely awful. I reached up and felt my lymph nodes. They were swollen and tender to the touch. My nose was running, my ears felt like they were full of water, my throat was raw, dry, and scratchy, and to top it all off, I had a pounding headache. "Oh no!", I groaned. I knew right then and there that I had a caught a cold.

     At that point there was nothing I could do but finish getting ready and head off to work. I just had to deal with it. I hoped that maybe I could muscle through it and still have a productive day, so I popped some cold medicine and headed into the office.

     Work that day and for the next two days was torture. I sat in front of my computer and got very little accomplished. The whole time I was at work I longed to be home sleeping. I was just flat out miserable.

     As I write this I can honestly say that I feel much better. After sleeping for hours, taking whatever cold medicine I could find, and basically being more useless than your average vegetable for three days I feel much better and I am even getting some things done. 

     After this little incident, I know that I am going to be much more careful in taking care of myself. Just because school has started and I'm very busy doesn't mean that I should ignore my health. Kougars, learn from my mistake and start taking care of yourself now, before you get sick.

So I've Been Thinking...: Who's the bigger fan?

This was published in the April 9th issue of the Kishwaukee Kaleidoscope.

I'm pretty sure I've loved Harry Potter my entire life. I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone when I was in first grade and I was hooked instantly. Ever since then Harry, all of his friends, and his enemies have been a huge part of my life. I've read all of the books several times over. I waited in line at midnight for most of them. I've seen all of the movies on their opening weekends, and have spent many hours joyfully debating with my friends over the books finer details. Being a Harry Potter fan has given me a sense of fellowship with others all over the world who share my love for the books. However, I've found that the fandom has a dark side that, until recently, I didn't really notice.
   Last summer I got myself a tumblr. I thought it was the greatest thing I had ever done. I wasted so many hours searching through tumblr for all the things that I love and am passionate about. Harry Potter was of course one of those things. I posted numerous fan written stories and art that had been based on the books. I read character analysis that people had written for college classes about Draco and Harry that caused me to have revelations about the book that previously never would have occurred to me.
   Tumblr also showed me the dark side of the fandom. I can't tell you how many fights I've read on tumblr between fans trying to prove that no one knows more about the book than they do. I was shocked to discover that the books I thought had brought the world together through mutual love were also tearing people apart. Why couldn't we all just learn from each other the way I had learned from so many other fans?
     Then Pottermore was announced. I waited anxiously to sign up. I was one of the lucky million fans who got to be a beta tester for Pottermore. I got on my tumblr so I could share my excitement, but instead I saw something even more sad than fights between fans. I saw fans sending death threats to J.K. Rowling and the company building Pottermore. Words cannot describe how terrible and shameful that is. Fans were threatening to kill? Over a website?
   The reason I'm saying all of this now is because this gross behavior isn't just happening in the Harry Potter Fandom. Other popular series like Twilight and The Hunger Games are beginning to see similar behavior from their fans. I'm here to tell you that it isn't okay. Instead of fighting with other fans take a step back and listen to them. You might actually be able to learn something from them. Who knows, maybe they will learn something from you too.

So I've Been Thinking...: Politicians' mothers should be ashamed

Published in the February 20th issue of the Kishwaukee Kaleidoscope.

               As Election Day gets closer the campaigns for president are getting much more intense. Politicians are spending more and more money to tell us that they know best and we should vote for them. They buy commercials and take long trips to make big speeches telling us why they are the best choice. I, however, wouldn’t vote for any of my current options for president, and there are three simple reasons why.
              When I was a little kid my mother taught me three rules to live by, that I am now convinced that politician’s mothers never taught them. My mom always told me that if I didn’t have anything nice to say that I shouldn’t say anything at all. I guess that politician’s mothers never taught their children this rule, because every time I turn on the news I hear about the latest fight going on between candidates as they throw mud at one another in an effort to make themselves look better. To me, it just looks like immature children squabbling at recess.

My mother also used to tell me that you should never make promises you can’t keep, which always seemed like a good policy to me. Apparently this is just being naïve to the politicians, who constantly make ridiculous promises that they could never keep, even if they really wanted to. Again, every time I turn on the television I hear another ridiculous promise made by some politician that I so desperately want to believe in because it would make this country a better place. Then I remember why my mom told me not to make promises I couldn’t keep. In the end, when the promise is eventually broken, everyone gets hurt.

When I would get in fights with my little sister, my mom would yell at us to find a compromise. As a very young child I learned what that meant and how to get to one so that my little sister and I could play together happily. This must just be another life lesson that politician’s mothers skipped since all you see political parties do is fight with one another. Neither one will give an inch to the other, since that might mean defeat. They spend so much time arguing that they can’t even pass a budget to keep the country running. A room full of adults can’t accomplish what my sister and I did as small children.

Am I simplifying this too far? No, I don’t think I am. Why shouldn’t I expect out of the leaders of my country the same behavior my mother expected out of me in elementary school?

Just Friends -- Editorial

I had this editorial published in the February 6th issue of the Kishwaukee Kaleidoscope. Let me know what you think!

Have you ever seen the show the Big Bang Theory? I love that show. Not only is it hysterically funny, but from the first episode I felt like I could really relate to it. Why? Because all through highschool, I felt like Penny. Penny is the ridiculously average girl who happens to live near geniuses Leonard and Sheldon. Through circumstances, she ends up being a part of their circle of nerdy genius friends, who all happen to be guys.  In high school, most of my friends were super-nerdy boys. Half the time I didn't know what they were talking about, but they were funny and I loved them just the same. 

Now if you have ever seen the show, you know that Leonard has a major crush on Penny.  For the longest time Penny and Leonard are just friends. Leonard has all this deep unrequited love for Penny, and she just doesn’t seem to know about it. To her Leonard is just a friend, and for most of the show, that is how she sees him.

I know that I'm not the only girl out there who has guy friends. Just like I know there are all kinds of guys who have mostly girl friends. I also know that this unrequited love where one person (Leonard) falls madly in love with the other person (Penny) happens all the time. It has happened to me. It has happened to friends of mine who have come to me crying about it. There has also been a time or two where someone who I thought was just a friend has told me they hoped for something more. It happens.

This all leads to the million dollar question. Has there ever been a friendship between a boy and girl that has been strictly platonic? Where no romantic feelings have ever been entertained by either party? Or is it simply inevitable that if two people spend enough time together and get to know each other well enough that at least one of them will fall in love with the other one?

I used to think that the platonic relationship was completely possible. If you would have asked me this question in high school, I would have answered without a doubt. I could have even given you examples of guy friends that I had who I didn't feel romantically towards at all. But was I really being honest with myself? Maybe I did have romantic feelings towards them at one time or another. Besides, who was I to judge if they had ever liked me?

So now I'm lost. I used to be so sure of how I felt about this, and now I'm rethinking everything I already thought. Which means everyone should email me at kscope@kishwaukeecollege.edu and let me know what they think. Can guys and girls just be friends?

Nuke Plant

So you might have heard.




The Nuclear Power plant near where I live had to let off Radioactive Steam. The second reactor shut down for an unknown reason thus releasing the steam. Now, my house is quite a ways away from the plant, but my boyfriends house is very very close. It is often the subject matter of my pictures. The towers really are majestic.

My boyfriend built his practice motocross track under some highlines that run through their field.  Those highlines run power from the plant to Chicago.

This is roughly a mile from the plant.

I like the way the steam from the towers adds to the beauty of the sunsets.

They say that the steam is safe. The radiation levels are so low that they will just dissapate in the air, and that no one is in any danger. But you have to wonder how sure they are when they say that. They don't even know what caused the reactor to shut down yet, so how do they know that Tridium is all that was realeased in the steam? I dunno. I'm not a scientist, I'm just a person who has looked at those towers everyday of my life and wonders what is really going on over there.


For those of you who don't know, the towers both shut down quite regularly for cleanings and what not. So it isn't the fact that it shut down that scares me. It is that they don't know why.

I've been Featured!

My friend Melissa was awesome enough to feature me on her blog, So about what I said...! Check it out! Thanks Melissa!

Things I just can't Ignore.... Ridiculous News Stories

I know that I can't be the only one that feels this way.
I get so annoyed when I turn on the Television at night to eat some supper and catch up on what is happening in the world. Admist all the stories that I consider to be important, news of politics, wars, foreign disturbances, natural disasters and weather, I am subjected to news of no particular importance.

You know what I'm talking about, stories like  Kim Kardashian and her ridiculous sham of a marriage. I think she wanted to get married because she was so jealous of how gorgeous Kate Middleton looked at the Royal Wedding. Speaking of that, I would like to mention how I was insulted by the media dubbing the Kardashian wedding as America's Royal Wedding. If Kim Kardashian is American Royalty, I'm moving to Canada. Really? How embarassing. It is even more embarassing considering that it only lasted, what? 72 days? Pathetic.


"I Do" ("Want to make millions of dollars off of a fake wedding! Suckers!")
[okay, sorry, rant over, back to my topic]

As far as I'm concerned, the only real "news" that came out of this wedding was how so many people were surprised that it didn't last. Celebrity marriages rarely seem to. Why is she famous anyway? Because her step father (I guess that is what he is?) is really rich from being a lawyer? Because she leads some sort of fairy tale life that in no way resembles reality? To me, these aren't good enough reasons for people to watch you on TV and wish to be you. But I guess I'm getting off topic.

Anyway, Kim isn't even the story that really pushed me over the edge. It was Casey Anthony. If you don't know who she is, you have obviously been living under a rock. She is the lady who caused a national sensation when her three year old daugher Caylee went missing. Turns out that poor little girl is dead. Now according to a jury Ms. Anthony isn't guilty, even though  public opinion put a rope around her neck long ago. Now I'm not mad that this story was in the news. Watching the judicial system at work is perfectly acceptable. What made me so mad, is that SHE IS STILL IN THE NEWS and the trial is OVER.

"I cannot believe I just got away with that!"

 Apparently, I'm still supposed to care what is going on in this child murderers mind. I'm supposed to care that none of the media outlets wishes to buy her story.This kinda feels like an OJ Sipmson sort of thing. Maybe she will write a book. Maybe Kim Kardashian's step dad will give her tips. (Since him and OJ are such good friends and all) And I'll just have to keep hearing about her FOREVER.

I guess the moral of this story is that I'm sick of seeing "news stories" that aren't real NEWS. I wish the news channels would stop worrying about the entertainment factor and start worrying about what is really important. I wish they would leave stories like this to TMZ and Entertainment Tonight. There are so many other things to talk about! So many more IMPORTANT things.

But then again, maybe it isn't the Media's fault. Maybe the media reports stories like this because that is what the people want to hear. They have a bottom line to think about too. Maybe the public has a responsibility to let the media know that we want to hear real news, and not garbage.

I dunno. Just one persons opinion. What do you think?

Wisdom Teeth, Footie Pajamas, and all sorts of other nonsense.

Okay, I know that I haven't been keeping up in the blogging department like I should have been. This winter break has really taken it out of me. My very first day of break I got my wisdom teeth out, and though that meant all I was doing all day was laying around and could have done all sorts of things, but all I could manage was lying around. I must confess, that I am amazed at my friends who were able to get their wisdom teeth out and go right back to life. I know that I was a complete wreck afterwards, and wasn't capable of anything but being a vegetable.

So that was a week of my life down the drain. Then Christmas happened, and all the shiny things that come with it distracted me. I got these fantastic footie pajamas, cozy soft long underwear and this super awesome Harry Potter Snuggie to lounge around in, and all of these great crafty projects to keep me entertained during my lounging around.

When you wear it, you look like you are wearing the robe. AWESOME.

Now I'm not the most artistic person, but I've always wanted to be able to paint. So for Christmas, my mom got me this really cool Acrylic Painters Starter Kit. I've pretty much learned that I suck hardcore, but painting  is fun. Just as a hobbie. I've had one picture that I took at Biltmore Estate in North Carolina that I've always wanted to paint.

This is the picture I took.

My first, unfinished, attempt.

My next attempt.... We'll see how this goes. I feel like I already messed up. Eek.

Anyway, we will see how this new hobby progresses once school starts. Probably not very far, but we'll see.

Anyway, that is my Christmas Break. What about yours?