My classes are getting in the way of my extracurricular activities.

Hi there everyone! Sorry it's been a while- I've been pretty busy this week. I had a retreat, a PLEDGE council meeting, an article due for the newspaper, work, a Study Buddies Meeting, Voice Lessons, Choir, Quiz Bowl meeting, Sang in Chapel, Hosted a prospective student overnight, Swing Club, attended a debate, went to a concert and had 2 applications due this week (so far). And, oh yeah, homework.

I don't know if this is just a Gustavus phenomenon, but it seems like everyone is always running from one extracurricular activity to the next. Is it just me, or is it starting to seem like classes are becoming overshadowed by our Extracurricular Activities? I know everyone always says "school comes first", but does it really? How many times this week have you not done your homework because you were too busy the night before, running from meeting to dinner to debate to meeting? I know I have. Or maybe you are the type of person who just sacrifices sleep in order to fit everything in. I find that basically everyone in class ends up either exhausted or they didn't do the homework. Sometimes both. Healthy.

Maybe it's just the stress of the new semester, but I'm starting to feel like I'm drowning here. And there's no way I can give anything up. What will my grad school/job application look like if it doesn't include enough volunteer time? or arts credits? or leadership roles? or writing experience?

Is it just me, or are our Extracurricular Activities taking over our lives?
-Darcy

“Constant complaint is the poorest sort of pay for all the comforts we enjoy.” – Benjamin Franklin

Hello all.
For those of you who live under a rock and haven't been out lately, it's snowing like a banshee out there! Windy, fresh, deep snow.

Inevitably, along with the weather, comes those who approve of it and those who don't. Now, I'm not going to make this a complaining session about how bad the weather is, because I love snow! I truly love living in the great state of Minnesota and everything that comes with that-both the good and the bad. But some people out there do not appreciate the definite seasons that come with living in the state of lakes. I'm not going to say that those people should move, or that they should not ever complain about it, because that would be completely ridiculous. Part of being human is being able to complain; mind you, that is nowhere near the basic defining characteristics of humanity, but it is one of the innumerable.

I respect you and your ability to complain. That being said, I may not want to sit there and actually listen to your sob stories about how you had to walk 600 meters in snow piled halfway up your shin because to be completely honest, I think it's pathetic that it's something you feel compelled to complain about. There isn't anything you can do to change the weather, but if complaining about it makes you feel better, I do hope you can find somebody to listen to your complaints. Maybe your stuffed animal? Significant other? Parents? (I'm sure they'd love to hear from you!) Now, if you’ve got a story about how you were trekking miles and miles back from somewhere and encountered a bear that was so hungry it decided to chase you up a tree and you had to stay there for a couple hours before it finally let you down, only to follow your tracks/scent and thus sneak up on you while cautiously moving across the icy patches of sidewalk, and start an insanely hilarious (yet sad) story about your escape from the bear’s grasp, I would love to hear it. Honestly, I would. Or you can tell me a less interesting story, and I may pretend to pity you while staring blankly off into space.

I also will not pity you if (while living in MN) you lack the supplies needed to adequately survive a Minnesota winter, and fail to wear most or all of the necessary items for your outing. These include, but are NOT limited to:
-hat
-mittens (waterproof is nice)
-heavy parka (also preferably wind and water-proof; thick, puffy, huge-not necessarily small and form fitting for style, because usually they aren’t sufficient, however if you are able to find one that encompasses all warmth/other needs AND is stylish, more power to you!)
-warm boots, landing well above the ankle (again, don’t worry about style here, either)
-snowpants (again again, the style thing…everyone looks like a numpty when wearing snowpants so don’t even worry about it.)
-more mittens (for when the other ones get soggy)
-long underwear
-scarf/neck/face warmer (optional)
-hood (I personally this is a much-too-often overlooked piece of gear, they are quite useful for many weather types!)
-warm, thick socks (wool sometimes preferred; multiple pairs most likely necessary for multiple days)

So wear what's right. And if you're not sure about what's will be good for the day, bring extra stuff! If you fail to wear the appropriate items, I will, again, not take pity on you. Sorry. You should have looked out the window. Or checked the temperature on the crazy amount of technology we have constantly available to us. But it’s up to you.

So. Moral of the story is: Wear your coats, hats, mittens, and boots. Or don’t. But if you decide not to, don’t complain.

And please don’t plead ignorance.

Practice Makes Perfect

I thought that Anna brought up a really good point in one of her questions posts. Are people born good at something or is it practice that makes them good at it?
I think that practice really does make perfect. Have you ever noticed that people are really good at things they like? Well, if you like doing something you are going to practice it more and get better at it, right? So that would indicate to me that practice is really the thing that makes talent. Obviously, there are some instances where talent is obvious from a young age. And some people are born tone-deaf or have no rhythm. BUT then that makes me think that maybe those people who are tone-deaf were told that they were tone-deaf from a young age, and therefore decided not to practice very much. Maybe if they were born tone-deaf but had encouragement and the right voice instructors, they would be able to develop into a great singers. But we will never know, will we?

My relevant story involves my turbulent relationship with math. When I was in 2nd and 3rd grade, time tests were a really big deal in math class. And I sucked at time tests. (If you don't know what a time test is, its a whole bunch of math problems on a sheet of paper, and you have like 60 seconds to finish as many as you can.) I could figure out the answers if I had time to do so, but for some reason my brain just couldn't work quickly enough to please my teachers. So I was put in 'special' math classes, where they would specifically work with me on my quick math skills. Even that didn't help, though. It just didn't fit the way I learned. I was basically told I was bad at math from a young age. But I wasn't, and I'm still not bad at Math. I just learned differently, and according to elementary school Math teachers, that was wrong.
Now, let's talk about English. From the 1st grade, I have been in enriched/advanced/gifted&talented English classes. I have always been a great reader, and I started at a young age. I've been told many times that I am a great writer, and I have never really had trouble with English classes.

Consider this: I fulfilled the minimum math requirements in High School and immediately quit math. But I took 5 English classes my senior year of High School, way more than were required. In fact, over the course of my 4 years of High School, I took every English class my school had to offer except two. I am in College now, and I am going to be an English Major.
Do you think if I had been told I was really great at Math my life would be completely different? I don't know.

What do you think? Is talent something you're born with, or is it encouragement and practice that causes you to excel at things?

Darcy

Questions 3 - 5

3. How does one become a saint? And also, how does one nominate someone for sainthood?
I know it has somehting to do with miracles and being dead, but I'm not completely sure.

4. What is it in people's brains that makes them more "naturally inclined" towards certain areas of acadamia (ex. the arts, numerical subjects, etc.)? Is it solely practice in that area or does it also involve a certain part of the brain that makes you "better" at it?
I realize that while it is possible to become quite good at something one was not especially brilliant at to begin with, one still may not particularly enjoy that subject. (We tend to most enjoy the things we are good at.) Which leads me to my next question.

5. What determines what a person likes and dislikes (in broad terms)? Nature? Nurture? Hormones? Culture? Religion? Brain size? I don't know, you tell me.

Keep your brain questioning,
-Anna

Forever - is composed of Nows - (Emily Dickinson)

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in 'forever' that we forget about the 'now'. (And sometimes, vice versa.) As a college student who needs to declare a major next year, I find myself thinking more and more about the future. Nowadays, you basically NEED to have your life planned out by the age of five, because most occupations are so specialized. You can't just major in underwater basket-weaving and then after college decide that you want to weave baskets ABOVE water... you'd need a different degree for that.

Here is a quote for enjoyment and thought-provoking purposes:

"Did you know that for pretty much the entire history of the human species, the average life span was less than thirty years? You could count on ten years or so of real adulthood, right? There was no planning for retirement, There was no planning for a career. There was no planning. No time for planning. No time for a future. But then the life spans started getting longer, and people started having more and more future. And now life has become the future. Every moment of your life is lived for the future—you go to high school so you can go to college so you can get a good job so you can get a nice house so you can afford to send your kids to college so they can get a good job so they can get a nice house so they can afford to send their kids to college."
— John Green (excerpt from the book Paper Towns)

Maybe I'll double major: Underwater basket weaving and Terrestrial basket weaving. That should cover it.
-Emily

Homemade is Best

What is it about homemade food that makes it so much better than boughten, highly processed food? Does it really taste better or is it just what we grew up learning?
I just ate my last homemade chocolate chip and M&M cookie that I had in my room. Despite its slightly dry and crustiness, it was absolutely delicious and far better than any boughten cookie. There's something super appealing about homemade food. Sometimes I get sick of caf food because it just doesn't taste like my parents' homemade cooking. I think, growing up eating a large portion of homemade food has affected my taste buds and mentality about food in such away that I regard homemade food as healthier, and better tasting than other foods. It probably is in most cases. When I can taste the ingredients in food and know that it's not just artificially flavored, it makes the food so much more enjoyable.
Furthermore I think being able to cook is a skill that everyone should have. "Anyone can cook", but not everyone can cook well. If you're not a skilled chef and your passion isn't cooking, that's okay. I do however recommend that you know how to make a few good homemade things. It's a useful thing to know.
Licking my lips after a delicious homemade cookie,
Ashley

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." Anne Frank

I've been really charitable lately. I spent part of my J-term organizing a Silent Auction to benefit Children's Miracle Network (cmn.org) and bought something at that auction; I recently bought two pairs of Toms shoes, therefore donating two pairs of shoes to children who need them (toms.com); I also got a red thread, which helps victims of sex trafficking (redthreadmovement.org); I adopted a soldier with my roommate, Zoe (Adoptaussoldier.org); bought mittens to benefit Habitat for Humanity; Created a Kiva account so I can lend money to people who need it around the world (Kiva.org); and spent my Saturday working at a Feed My Starving Children food packing event here at school (at which I bought this really cute bracelet that provided some 37 meals to starving children).

Most of this is just coincidentally happening at about the same time, but I think it also helps that I worked full time all through J-term, so I have a bunch of money. It's so much easier to be charitable when you have money.

All of these good actions got me thinking about how easy it is to be charitable in the world now. Feed My Starving Children came to us, and I just had to walk across a parking lot to get there. People table for the Red Thread Movement outside the Caf, so I can be charitable on my way to lunch. People make facebook events inviting us to send them money through the POs and we will get some mittens! How convenient! Maybe it's just the environment at a small liberal arts college that we want to help people, but I don't think it's exactly hard to help the world outside of Gustavus either. I mean, I ordered my Toms online and so could anyone else.

And then that made me think about why people do good things for the world. And I thought about all the things I've gotten for my charitableness. A bracelet, a red thread, 2 pairs of shoes, a 8x10 print... I got paid for the organizational things I did for the silent auction, and my boss offered to pay my for working at the Feed My Starving Children event too. When you loan someone money through Kiva, you eventually get paid back. Not to mention that I got to feel really good about myself. So... do people buy Toms because they want a pair of shoes or because they want to help people who need shoes? Maybe both.

I recently read a book which talked about the religious tradition of tithing. The point of tithing 10% of your income (or whatever percent) is that you are supposed to feel the loss but recognize that it is OK and it is helping people. It helps make you less selfish. Nowadays, when you do something charitable, do you feel the loss? Do people really care about helping the world or do they need to get something out of it for it to be worth their time and money?

-Darcy