TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2013
PAGE 4
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TEXT FREE FOR ALL
text your FFA submissions to 785-289-8351 or at kansan.com
Who decided to make the K-State football game over Thanksgiving break? Let's change at least the game time.
I'm about to go all "Tiananmen Square" on the SLT construction.
The power is flickering in the Underground and one of the overhead pipes made a strange noise and moved. WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!
that moment when the power goes out in Watson and everyone goes silent and starts praying their work was saved.
28 tests later... If I pass this POLS
exam, can I dismantle a goalpost
and throw it into Potter Lake?
wish you could listen to the lectures in Budig from the restrooms.
Whenever you're feeling down, remember, you're the sperm that won.
Chubby, single, and ready for a Pringle.
heard we can't say "***** in the FFA, is that true?
"Can the UDK PLEASE make an insert for students to hold up during the K-State game like they do for all the basketball games?"
You know you're boring when all you can think of is the criminal implications of tearing down the goal posts.
A couple that candy crushes together... stays together.
Eating for two months is good for two months but owning a PS4 is good for the rest of your life.
Hmm it's 60 degrees out and people still feel the need to wear uggs...
How about those guys rolling out the green carpet in front of Allen Fieldhouse.
I always throw up long-range shots into the nearest trash can to save time, then end up spending an extra five seconds walking over, throwing it away with my head hung in defeat.
Puked in my mouth several times today upon seeing the several Broncos jerseys on campus.
I've never had a girlfriend, but I've seen every James Bond movie.
Beluga whales are the silliest looking animals.
Rob Ford is for the people
I'll drink McDonald's coffee and
light Light, eat Taco Bell and Panda
Express, but if someone brings up
BBQ, I turn into a grade-A snob.
PERCEPTION
Student athletes work just as hard in the classroom
A round this time of the year I always want to jump out of a fourth floor window of Anschutz. For better or worse, Anschutz doesn't have any fourth floor windows that open (they must have known). Yet, as I'm dealing with a decently heavy and stressful schedule, I am always able to take heart in the fact that there is a group that has it way worse than me — student athletes.
I know that people might think it's blasphemous and that Zeus should smite me right now, but I swear I'm telling the truth. Over the years, I have heard athletes called everything from "pampered" to "overpaid" and all other manner of things. They're dead wrong.
This semester I've been given the demanding, yet surprisingly fun and enlightening task of being a KU athletics tutor. While I hope that the students have learned
something from me, it is nothing compared to what I have learned from them about hard work and determination.
When people think of KU athletics, I feel like they are only thinking of the basketball team. It's understandable. Those guys are idolized and followed around and bothered as if they were rock stars (just let them walk to class, man). I guess I can understand that, but there is a whole other spectrum of people who are working at the same level who don't get worshipped and are somehow stereotyped as "dumb" by the general populace.
Honestly, before I started tutoring, I didn't fully appreciate their situation. As I sit crying and pouting to myself about how bad life sucks and how it's unfair how much work I have to do, they are having practice. While I'm taking my extra moments to study or play video games, they are at
By Nick Jackson nbj688@kansan.com
practice again. When I'm taking a break from studying to manage my impressive stream of Facebook posts, they are at weight training. When I'm rolling out of my bed from my after-class nap or browsing the first 200 posts of Reddit, they are finally getting ready to go eat dinner, but their days aren't over yet.
attack opponents, or whatever their sports entail.
might even expect me to give out answers to tests and quizzes as they sat listening to iTunes on their solid gold Beats. As I got to know them, I began to appreciate the difficulties they deal with.
After all they have gone through, they are forced to go to tutoring with me, or someone like me. When I started, I didn't know what to expect. I was nervous that people would feel entitled and be powerfully lazy. I was afraid they
Keep in mind that many athletes are not on full scholarships; they have to find a way to make up for the leftover cost. But, whereas most of us might have time to pick up a part-time job, some of them might only get a living allowance that is meager given the work they put in.
Any stereotype that I expected has been completely blown out of the water insofar that I felt I must write about it. In spite of all the work athletes put in each day, they come to tutoring and listen with rapt attention as I ramb on about some nonsense that I may or may not have made up on the spot at that very moment. They attack their studies with the same intensity and ferocity that they
I just hope and wish that the general populace might understand that all of these young men and women are battling nearly insurmountable hurdles (in some cases literally) to better themselves. Some athletes are using sports as a way to pay for school. Before we go jumping to conclusions about how our athletes get too much special treatment, please remember that their schedules totally suck, and I would never ever want to do it. As a side note, the basketball team is no exception; they are working their butts off every night, breaking the stereotype. So before we judge someone, let us run a really fast mile, hit a ball and jump over something that athletes jump over, in their shoes.
Nick Jackson is a junior majoring in chemical engineering from Lawrence.
ATTITUDE
A personal exposé on how to stop ranting and start mellowing out
I'm having a bit of a mid-life crisis. Or rather, a mid-twenties crisis.
You see, I've spent the past six months really coming into my own. I've been figuring out what I care about, what I don't care about and essentially who I am as a person.
I've been pretty proud to claim my belief in women's equality, LGBT rights, sensitivity to mental health issues and responsible social media use – among other things. Lots of other things. You could say that I'm rather opinionated. Or, put more harshly: rigid, unyielding, sensitive, judge-y, blah blah blah.
I don't really like being this person. I just thought it came with the territory of growing up and figuring out what your "causes" are. Turns on, I have a lot.
But then, a couple weeks ago, my mom told me, quite candidly, "I mean, it's kind of cliché. A privileged girl from the suburbs goes off to liberal Lawrence and comes back a Birkenstock-wearing anti-sorority girl who's always railing against something." To be fair, my mom didn't say it quite like this, but I filled in the blanks.
This was a show-stopper. I mean, REALLY? I had no idea. I thought people appreciated my rants. But, looking back, they probably found them more comical than convincing.
So, the past few weeks have been my official attempt to practice wholehearted living. Or.
put more plainly, giving people a break once every in a while, letting people be who they're going to be, trying to put good vibes into the universe instead of focusing on myself, etc.
Let me tell you, it has been totally awesome/really hard. For pretty much my whole life, I've been this fiercely independent, succeed at all costs, check off the to-do list type of girl, so actually slowing down and trying to find calm in my life has been awfully weird.
And yet, there's something so peaceful about letting go and focusing only on what you can control - your own personal happiness and contentment.
If you're like me - a type-A, borderline OCD, self-described "go-getter" who sometimes leans on the stubborn side - I highly recommend spending some time on this. Since my world was rocked by this, I've been employing the help of sites like Tiny-Buddha and Thought Catalog; authors like Gretchen Rubin and Brené Brown; spiritual elements such as yoga and meditation; and health considerations such as good sleep and - not gonna lie -
a well-placed anti-anxiety med.
a well placed and easy way. And though I'm not sure I agree with my mom that my ideals will mellow out as I grow older, settle down and take on bigger responsibilities than my minimum-wage internship, I am coming to realize that there is more to life than having an immovable opinion about several dozen things. Because, in the end, that can be a pretty negative place to be.
I used to be highly skeptical of people who were self-proclaimed optimists, had a "zen" mentality or who tended to just go with the flow and not overthink things. In some ways I still am, mostly because I know that type of disposition will never come easily to me. But I'm starting to see how existing in that mindset can be really comfortable, healthy and just easy.
As college students, it can be easy to get caught up in the resume, the GPA, the social scene and the part-time jobs. But I would argue that spending time on personal well-being is just as important — if not more important — than any of these. Because, in the end, how much we earn in a week or how well we score on that test will eventually become irrelevant, but living our lives with a sense of purpose and self-care will never go out of style.
Lindsay Mayfield is a senior from Overland Park studying journalism, public policy and leadership.
SCHOOL
Writing tips for non-writing majors
College is stressful. College papers are even more stressful. And even though
even more stressful. And even though all your life your parents, teachers and professors stressed to you the importance of knowing how to write a strong, vividly worded, well-thought-out essay, some still have trouble accomplishing this.
Everything starts with a thesis.
Without a good thesis, a paper is nothing. It has no sense of direction, and there's no way of telling where it will go. I typically start by brainstorming all the material on the topic, and no matter what the subject, no matter how long the paper has to be. It opens up my mind and helps direct where I want to go with the paper.
Having a strong thesis to argue makes it much easier to establish your voice and give your professor a better idea of where your paper is. Take into account how many papers your professor will have to read: it's not only important to have a strong thesis, but one that will stand out among the other papers. Instead of writing an obvious, normal thesis, write one that will make your professor think. Make sure they know you are actually putting effort into the assignment and not just going through the motions.
Finding an identity for your paper can also be difficult. In other words, you have to find a way to make the paper yours. The identity of your paper is usually how you are able voice your opinion (or the facts), successfully. It's something to separate yourself from other students, and for your paper to stand out to your professor. There are multiple ways to do this, but it all really depends on your own writing style. For me, it's different with everything I write.
As far as English papers go, examining the author's past can give a much better understanding of the book at hand. This includes researching their previous works.
CAMPUS CHIRPS BACK
but extends even beyond that. You can look into where the author grew up, if they have any religious affiliation and if, or where, they attended college. In everything you will ever write, your voice is another crucial part of your writing. Finding your voice is the only thing that will keep your reader interested and safe from the temptation of napping.
The next step, as easy as it sounds, can sometimes be the hardest. Just start writing. It doesn't matter if it sounds horrible or doesn't flow well. The important thing is to get words and information out of your head and onto the paper, especially because the amount of information college students are supposed to grasp is absolutely insane. Once it's on paper and somewhere other than your head, it's much easier to understand and continue with the paper.
Being able to write clear, concise essays is vital to success in college. Whether you're a journalism major, wanting to write for a living or a petroleum engineer wanting nothing to do with it, being able to write is a necessity for any college student.
As for me, I am the biggest critic of my writing. But I still need a new pair of eyes on my work. Whoever it is, it is absolutely crucial to have someone look at your writing, because what makes sense to you may not make sense to someone else.
GJ Melia is a freshman majoring in journalism from Prairie Village.
Today marks the 4th time in my life I've witnessed road head in the car next to me. Am I incredibly unlucky or just way too observant?
@Davis_Samuel
@KansanOpinion Reading books...but by reading I mean drinking, and by books I mean beer.
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@Timmy_Hewitt
@KansanOpinion getting a photo opp with
Bernie afterward.
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