Being The Quiet One - By Amanda Mendenhall

Being The Quiet One

By Amanda Mendenhall

I have discovered that being the quiet person in my group of friends, in a class, or in general has many pros and cons. One of my favorite things about being the quiet person is that nobody bothers me. I love to read, and I don’t know about anyone else, but I like to be left alone when I’m reading. I also listen to music a lot. Whenever people try talking to me while I’m trying to enjoy my music I get annoyed. It’s a never ending struggle.

I’m an introvert, and I notice everything. Some of my friends get surprised when I remember small facts about them that they told me in passing four months ago, like the fact that their favorite actor is Leonard Nimoy or that they have a pet tarantula named Alice Cooper. I’m very aware of little things like that. For example, I notice that my English teacher wrinkles her nose occasionally, that my friend has a very loud voice and is an extreme extrovert, and that listening to loud music when I’m angry or upset helps me calm down.

There are some cons to being the quiet one though. My most frequent trouble with it is the feeling of being invisible since nobody talks to me. I also hate getting up in front of the class for presentations or speeches. I know that this is a part of life, and I’ll have to get over my fear eventually, but most people don’t understand why it bothers me so much.

Being the quiet one also means that people talk about EVERYTHING when you’re around, not thinking about the fact that you have ears too. You’re overlooked, and it’s kind of cool to know the daily scoop on people’s lives, but it also gets really annoying. I don’t like it when people, girls especially, constantly run their mouths about seemingly nothing. When girls endlessly talk it really aggravates me, but maybe that’s just because I don’t talk much. Loud voices and nonstop chatter is too much of a contrast to what I’m used to, since I’m always quiet.

Although there are many pros and cons, being the quiet one is something I really enjoy. As long as I’m happy with it that’s all that matters, right? Many people enjoy talking, but keeping quiet has never been a struggle of mine. It’s also really nice that I don’t get in many arguments, unless I’m passionate about the topic, because I don’t have an angry voice.

The Key to your First Time Skiing - By Mallory Thompson

The Key to your First Time Skiing

By Mallory Thompson

    These are a few tips and hints for your first ski trip. Try not to get discouraged; it’s worth it in the end.

You will fall a lot. That is just part of the skiing experience. Everyone falls. You just have to get back up. After a while, you will look back at your falls and laugh about how funny they were.

    That said, getting up from falling down is the worst part. Your skis go everywhere, and you will probably fall down a couple of times just trying to get up.

    Skis can pick up speed faster than you think. Just remember pizza to slow down. (Pizza is when you turn the tips of your skis in to create a pizza shape.) When in doubt, pizza.

     Getting lost is actually fun. It makes the best stories to tell when you get home. So if you accidentally take a wrong turn and ski your way down only to find out you just did a black, embrace and be glad you made it down with no harm done.

     Tiny little kids will zip right past you in a crouched position while you are struggling to keep moving. I always wondered how you could be so good at skiing at the age of 6. You just have to remember they probably have a lot more experience than you, and you are not small enough to ski like they do.

    Halfway through your first day, you will probable never want to ski again. By the end of the day, things will start to look up. The morning of the second day, all hope will be lost. But if you never give up, the third and fourth day you will be skiing slopes you never thought possible, and it will all be worth it. On the way home you will be planning your next ski trip.

Living with Wanderlust - By Allison Redmond

Living with Wanderlust

By Allison Redmond

wan·der·lust

noun

1. a strong desire to travel.

I have always loved to travel. Whenever I have an opportunity to go on an adventure, I do everything in my power to make it happen. There is something special about going somewhere you have never been before. Adventure is all over, and I want to experience it all!! My travel bucket list is so long, I don’t even know if I will be able to accomplish it all before I die (but I’m going to try my best to get to them all).

Someday I would love to hike through Antelope Canyon in Arizona, climb the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru, view the Iguazu Falls in Argentina, and swim The Enchanted River in the Philippines. All of these places look beautiful in photos and would be even more incredible in person.

My struggle is that I want to do all of this RIGHT NOW. Unfortunately, my schedule and my bank account do not share my wanderlust. Why was I not blessed with unlimited time and money to tour the world and see all the gorgeous sights that my heart desires? I long for an adventure. Nothing would please me more than buying a plane ticket to a random destination and just waiting to see where I end up.

Sadly, many of my traveling dreams are unrealistic, so I guess that for the next few years I am stuck googling pictures of gorgeous destinations and photoshopping myself into them.

Why The Book is Always Better - By Kayla Dvorak

Why The Book is Always Better

by Kayla Dvorak

    It happens too often. The book is written, it becomes a best seller, you read it (along with everyone else) and next thing you know it’s going to be made into a Hollywood movie. At first you’re excited because the book deserves this. It was wonderful, and it touched you deeply. Now, it’s going to be brought to life on the big screen. You devour the trailers and patiently wait for it to arrive at your local theater. Five minutes into the film, the main character shows up and she’s BRUNETTE. BRUNETTE! She. Is. Supposed. To. Be. Blonde.

    For the next two hours, you enjoy the movie, but the inaccuracies pile up and gnaw at you. The movie is over and your friends are raving about how cool the special effects were and how hot the villain was. One turns to you and asks, “Wasn’t that awesome?” and you can only offer an unenthused, “Eh,” because it’s happened once again; the book outshone the movie.

    Books are better than movies for more reasons than one. Here are just a few of those reasons:

Books Are Portable

    You can read a book anywhere. It is so much easier to pull out a book while sitting in a waiting room than to try and watch a bit of Netflix.  You don’t have to worry about storage on your phone, wi-fi, or finding headphones. You just have to look at the page and dive in.

Movies have to be Condensed Down to 90 Minutes

    Understandably, movies have to cut out parts of the story, even some important parts. Books are better because the author has no limitations on how long the story is, allowing readers to experience valuable details that the movie can’t include.

Books Improve Vocabulary and Teach

    Movies can teach people things too, but it is easy to miss an interesting word or fact as it passes by in conversation on the screen. Books don’t require you to rewind, you can just reread the sentence again and gain from it what was intended by the author. Not only can you reread the sentence to pick up on new vocab or facts, but sometimes the first time you read a sentence you just flat out don’t understand what’s happened. It’s easy to reread it as many times as you need to. If you run to the bathroom while at a movie theater, you’re surely going to miss some important scenes.

    As disappointed as you are sometimes by movies based on books, remember, my fellow readers, we’ll always have a deeper connection to the story. The next time you’re sitting in a theater full of people watching the film adaptation’s debut, enjoy the deeper understanding you have of the film because of the book. You read that book, and therefore shared the successes, failures, and deep moments of sadness or happiness with the characters. You know them as friends. And trust me, you’re going to know special little bits that don’t fit into 90 minutes and that will make the experience feel all the more special.

Who Is The Greatest - By Peyton Reynolds

Who Is The Greatest?

by Peyton Reynolds

“Michael Jordan is the best player to ever play the game of basketball.”  True or false?

This past decade, LeBron James has been a big leader in the game of basketball.  LeBron fans and Michael fans often argue about whether LeBron will steal the title of the best player to ever play basketball or will Michael Jordan forever hold that title? It is something we may never be able to empirically prove because Jordan is in his 50’s. Statistics, on the other hand, may be able to provide evidence.

I am a total LeBron fan. It’s so hard to argue who the greatest when I get to see all these great accomplishments of LeBron’s. It is also really hard because I never did get to see MJ play. But let’s look at the stats. LeBron has two rings and Jordan has 6. LeBron, though, still has at least 9 more years before retirement. MJ saw 13 play-off appearances, and James has seen 10 so far. Jordan played in 14 all-star games while James has competed in 11.

Honors and awards mean a lot to athletes. James has been named the season MVP four times while Jordan was only named it five times. Jordan was on the All-NBA First Team 10 times, and James has been on it 9 times.

Awards, honors and rings aren't everything. Some people also argue, greatness is determined by who they played with or against. MJ played with and/or against Wilt Chamberlain, Scottie Pippen, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and many, many more great players. James has played with or is currently playing with and/or against Steph Curry, Dwayne Wade, Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce, Kevin Durant and Tim Duncan. They both have had tough competition.

The reason that I think LeBron will claim the title of greatest of all time is because he has been to five straight NBA Finals appearances even when hopping from team to team. This shows that he doesn’t need a lot of help; he can and will do it without help. Many people say, “He left the Cleveland Cavaliers to go win a ring with the Miami Heat because he can’t do it all by himself.” Well wait a second, he can’t do it all by himself? James went to the Miami Heat, the first year he was there he led them to the Finals and lost to the Dallas Mavericks. The second year, 2012, the Miami Heat won their second ring, but it was James’ first. In 2013, they won the finals against the Spurs for the second year in a row. In 2014, the Spurs came back and beat the Heat for the Heat’s third year in a row as a finalist. In 2015, LeBron left the Heat and joined the Cavaliers again. They were defeated by the Golden State Warriors. The point is when LeBron joins a team, they end up in the NBA finals.

Jordan won all six of his championships with the Chicago Bulls. He never led the Washington Wizards to a finals appearance in the two years he was there. Jordan led the Bulls with the help of Scottie Pippen, to win more championship rings. James only has two rings, but at this pace he may have many more before retirement. So, the real question is, will King James claim this title or has he already?

Italian Stereotypes about America - By Allegra Giacomelli

Italian Stereotypes about America

by Allegra Giacomelli

Every country has assumed stereotypes about other countries, and they think they know everything about the other culture. Sometimes they are right and sometimes not...usually not. In Italy there are many stereotypes about Americans. Here some of them.

1. Americans are always ahead of any other country in everything, such like technology and medicine.
2. Americans are lazy. They drive the car to go everywhere.
3. All Americans love McDonald’s and any kind of fast food because they do not like to cook.
4. Every American is fat.
5. Americans have guns at home and they are ready to use them. They can not live without these.
6. They are super patriotic.
7. The only cities are New York, Los Angeles, and Miami.
8. Americans are always friendly, funny, nice, and talkative but at the same time use bad words in each sentence.
9. In America the shopping bags are made of paper and brown, without handles.
10. Their whole life is like a movie, including car chases.
11. American schools are like what you can see in the movies.There are the cool guys on one side and on the other side are the nerds. Every Italian teenager would like to go to an American high school, have a locker, be a cheerleader or a football player and ride the famous yellow bus!

If I Could be a King - Bryson Johnson

If I Could be a King

By – Bryson Johnson

            Being royalty would be amazing because I could tell everybody what to do. Having all the money I can imagine, and being able to do anything I want would be awesome.

            The first thing I would do if I was a king, would be to form my own kingdom. I would name it something cool like Vertexcia. Vertexcia would be a smaller kingdom about the size of a Texas with limited occupants. I would let people come and visit my country, but only a chosen few would be able to stay in my country. I would do this so that my country would not get overpopulated to the point where I would not be able to go and mess around in peace. Vertexcia would be amazing because people would work for their money, but I would make the minimum wage around $15 an hour so my people could survive easily but would not have enough money to overthrow me. I would also be a pleasant king; I wouldn’t make the taxes outrageous, just enough to supply a steady cash income. I would allow everybody to choose what job they want no questions asked, then send them to get training. My servants would be treated as equals and would get paid very well.  

            After establishing Vertexcia I would build my house on the side of a mountain and it would be huge. I would make the house out of stone to make it look like a castle. The front door would be made out of dark oak, and when you walk in there would be a huge open area with a giant fountain in the middle and instead of water it would have chocolate. In the living room I would have a projection screen for the T.V. and have a dark brown leather couch with cup holders installed and a glass table to put drinks on. I would also have a fireplace under the projection screen and a bear rug in front of the fireplace, because why not? In my bedroom I would have a king-sized bed because I am a king. The bed would hang from the ceiling and it would have an option if I wanted it to swing or not. Also in the house I would install an indoor swimming pool and a bowling alley. I would also put in a bar in because I will be at least 21 when I am king. I would also have a servant named Albert.

            The garage on the house would be filled with the world’s greatest cars like Lamborghinis, and Ferraris. I would drive these cars all the time. I would go as fast as I could go and drive them around and have fun. It would be fine to do this because I would have my private fueling station so I would not have to pay for gas. I would have some friends come and race these cars with me.

            Being a king is my dream, and I would enjoy being a ruler of a country. I can’t wait until this happens to me (which it will).       

What I'd Do With One Billion Dollars! - Connor Reynolds

WHAT I’D DO WITH ONE BILLION DOLLARS!

By Connor Reynolds

            A big topic currently being discussed in American is the Powerball lottery. At 1.5 billion dollars it is bigger than ever before. Now, everyone has a different approach as to what they would do with that amount of money. Some people have ridiculous ideas while other have more logical ideas. I’m going to be in the middle and list both crazy ideas and more logical ones I have heard.

CRAZY IDEA #1:

Let’s say for example I went out to eat at a non-chain restaurant order food and wait. After a while I begin to notice that the service is very slow and my waiter has only brought out the drinks. Eventually, after waiting I get fed up with the service and I leave. Now here is where the crazy part comes in. First thing I would do is buy that restaurant. Then I would fire the waiter and have a laugh. End of story!

LOGICAL IDEA #1:

It would take 47.5 years to spend 1.5 billion dollars if you spent a dollar every second. THAT IS CRAZY! What is one person going to do with that much money? The first thing I would do would be to give a large sum of money to a charity or a few charities that I support. I would give money out to family and friends with stipulations attached. I would invest a lot of the money into companies I support or upcoming companies. I’d also save money so I wouldn’t go broke. End of story!

CRAZY IDEA #2:

Another crazy idea that is sort of a logical in the way. If I won, keeping it a secret would be the beginning of the plan. I would store the money at my house. Hide all the bills. Then, I would continue to go work, but one thing would change. At random times I would write a fake million dollar check to someone. They would never realize I have the money. Even if the cashed the check they wouldn’t be able to get the money either. It would be a silent victory in a comedic/ironic sense. End of story!

LOGICAL IDEA #2:

If I didn’t go with logical idea #1, I would use this method instead. I would invest my money into retail and buy multiple houses and apartment complexes. I’d have them fixed and would rent them out. This way if I wanted to I could make back all my money and more if I live long enough. I’d also buy a mansion but that’s more of a personal thing. Not any logic behind that idea. End of story.

These ideas are just a few crazy and logical ideas with some that were a mix of both that I’ve heard or invented. What would you do with 1.5 billion dollars?

Why Out-Of-State Colleges Aren’t So Bad - Taylor Lagasse

 

Why Out-Of-State Colleges Aren't So Bad

By Taylor Lagasse

            Ever since I was a little girl I have been an addict. No, not to any form of drug or anything along those lines, but to a form of legalized gambling. I have had the privilege of growing up in a die-hard rodeo family. Nice horses, chasing white lines, and long-distance friendships are what we live for.

            As my senior year is rapidly coming to an end, the stress of preparing for college is kicking in. Where will I go? What scholarships will I be able to get? Is a two-year or four-year school more beneficial? These were all questions that picked and pecked at me constantly.

            I knew I wanted to go to a school where I was able to continue to rodeo and preferably in Texas, but where was the ultimate question. Through one of my close friends I got a visit lined up to tour Vernon College and met with the rodeo coach. The moment we pulled in I just knew this was where I was going to end up. The school was a smaller two-year college, the rodeo team practice set up was amazing, and the coach was one of the best. I couldn’t have found a better opportunity.

            But here’s the problem: I have recently noticed that people from Kansas, not just Concordia, have a hard time accepting a student’s choice to leave their home state to continue their education. It seems to me that it is a small town mentality that you MUST stick to the roots you came from. Staying in your hometown or your home state is the perfect choice for some people. However, it’s not the best choice for everyone. There is so much out there to experience.

            It is never easy to decide to leave your family and your hometown to move eight hours away, but sometimes it is what you need to do. I wish people would realize that before they make snide remarks or make disapproving faces about my decision. An out-of-state college isn’t for everyone, but it is the only thing for me.