Breakdown of Winter Break

1/19/11 12:40 AM

Remember when winter break lasted from like Christmas Eve to January 2 in high school? Mercifully, college students are given more than double that amount of time. In the world of higher education, winter break is this weird hiatus that consists for most students of first recovering from the fall and then anxiously awaiting the spring. To me, a month seems an arbitrary amount of time. Yet, after some reflection I realized that winter break is quite a thoughtful gift because of its weird length of time. That is, it’s not too long and not too short. At first, it may seem unending—especially during the first week or so when suddenly your friends are in another state and your parents are anxious to make up for all the time you didn’t spend with them during the fall. And... 1 comment

Banned: Blackout in a Can

11/29/10 4:27 PM

When Red Bull became popular in the early 2000’s, it was only a matter of time before an entire assortment of energy drinks found its way onto store shelves and into youth’s stomachs. Promising to increase performance and decrease tiredness, they seemed like a godsend to most students. Though they received some criticism for the crashing feeling that occurs after a couple hours of alertness, there was nothing blatantly dangerous about them. They were basically Gatorade for the nonathletic.   But! Never underestimate the mind of someone who wants to keep their buzz. Companies like Phusion Projects and New Century Brewing found caffeine a very marketable mate in the form of another of the college student’s favorite substances: alcohol.   And then they really...

The Sophomore Slump

11/8/10 3:23 PM

Freshman year, with the relief of going to college becoming an actualization, is a time of unquestioned experience. The college freshman need only dip his or her foot in all there is to offer about higher education in order to have a successful year. Taking an introductory course in Philosophy. Signing up for every club on campus. Pulling an all-nighter in the library. Pulling an all-nighter in a drunken stupor.  It was all about participating in the moment.   But this year, as a sophomore, I have to face that terrifying concept of planning for the future. It is a year of transitioning. Studying abroad, declaring a major, and having internships no longer seem remote. Instead, they are feats within my anxious grasp. Between fingers quivering with stress and...