Julie 2 - Comic Book Heroes

Comic books have been a part of my life since I could read. Being able to forget about my life and live in the world of superheroes is an amazing concept to me. The impossible is possible in between the pages of a comic book. There is always someone there to help the helpless and save the day. The hero can always stop the villain, be it a common criminal or an alien. When I was younger Superman was my favorite comic book hero. The way he could change from being a reporter to being a superhero blew my mind. Flying through the sky and saving the day in only a way a Kryptonian under the Earth’s sun can. He could have used his powers to easily destroy the world yet he risks his life to help the people of Metropolis and the world. This selflessness was always something I looked up to and hope I can live up to. Now that I am older, I have had exposure to more fandoms. To me, a fandom is what a group of people like and follow, usually a fictional universe, but it doesn’t have to be fiction. With this new exposure, I came across my definition of a hero. Over the course of reading comic books, my definition of superhero and hero has strayed from what I used to believe it to be. A superhero is a hero that has extraordinary, nonhuman powers while a hero is anyone who is willing to risk whatever it takes to save or better the lives of others. This leads me back into the comic books that I have been reading presently. Currently, my favorite comic book series is Doctor Who, leading the Doctor to be my new favorite comic book hero. The Doctor is a prime example of my definition of a hero. She is the last of her species from Gallifrey traveling with the TARDIS, which can go through time and space. Instead of having an easy life where she used the TARDIS to find a tropical island to live, she travels through time and space saving lives and planets. She has given her life(she can regenerate), risked the TARDIS, and, even though she wished she didn’t, risked the lives of those she loves while helping the universe. The Doctor did all this with the thought of helping others over her wellbeing. While this might seem like what Superman does, the Doctor has been doing this for thousands of years. Even after losing so much and seeing so much fall to the hands of evil, she keeps striving to save those who need it and showing a helping hand to those who have been wronged. Comic books have helped me through some dark and troubled parts of my life. They have helped me become who I am today and I strive to become a better person because of the heroes in them. They have shown me the true meaning of being a hero.

Part of my collection

Stephan 2: Learning to Live Together

Two weeks ago, our parents took a trip to Nashville with some of our neighbors for a weekend and left my brothers and me home alone for four days. You would think that if three brothers are left home alone, they would be lazy and not do anything at all. You would be right to some degree. At first, we did as little as we possibly could, as at one point we used the dishwasher as an extra cabinet.

We tried to do as little as we possibly could. We eventually realized after the first day that this was not going to be sustainable. We ended up splitting all of the chores between the three of us so that we all had to do something. This worked for the first day, but it went downhill quickly.

Eventually, everyone turned to just pushing all the chores onto each other. We just kept butting heads with each other over and over on a loop. I was surprised that we were even able to accomplish anything at this point. By the third day, we slowly made up with each other, realizing that we were just making everything worse for each other. By the end of it all, I was surprised at the fact we didn’t totally destroy the house. It surprisingly looked as it did before our parents left.

This long weekend was definitely an eye-opening experience. I wasn’t exactly sure how we would survive the weekend at first, but it all worked out in the end. It was a nice reminder to not take everything as done.

MeiLi 2- The End of Our Era

There are only, at this moment, 43 days left in 2019. I know we’ve all seen the tiktoks and instagram posts about how our era is ending, but it didn’t fully hit me until super late one night, as most great realizations do, just what that means. So today’s blog is about how I think about the closing of the early 2000s. 

First off, if you were born in 2002, like I was, then 2020 is going to be the year that you turn 18 and become an adult. AN ADULT GUYS. You know, like those scary people we’ve been looking up at our whole lives.

2020 also marks the close of everything we’ve ever known. It sounds extreme, and it might just be a little bit, but hear me out. Not one of the people we watched on tv shows as a kid are under 20. Most of them are 26-30 and doing things that are completely different from where they started. Iconic parts of our childhood that everyone had/experienced aren’t being experienced by kids growing up now. I mean, just think about the Elefun game we played where his nose blew out all of those butterflies and you had to catch them with the nets. My 7 year old cousin has no idea what that even is. Even my 13 year old cousin can’t tell me what Dragon Tales or Max and Ruby is. And how many kids these days are going to have the opportunity to enjoy club penguin?

A few years ago someone brought up the point of childhood, and how everyone has a specific point in their lives when they feel like their childhood ended. But what actually defines a childhood? I still at 17 feel like a kid. I’m closer to the title adult but in no way, shape, or form do I feel like that applies to me. So to me, this upcoming year marks the end of my childhood, and I’m absolutely terrified and maybe even a little thrilled for it. 

Liam Week 2 - Industrial Music

Throughout history, music has been present as a way to express ourselves, tell stories, and entertain others. Our oldest complete transcribed song is the Seikilos epitaph, from the first or second century AD. If you listen to the sound file, it is very simplistic. As more instrumentation became available, musical complexity advanced, peaking in the classical period. Today, however, music is becoming more simplistic.

When compared to the works of classical composers, modern music seems boring. Classical composers like Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart wrote complex melodies for entire symphonies. Modern music rarely has more than 4. Much of this can be blamed on the music industry. According to the research article Instrumentational Complexity of Music Genres and Why Simplicity Sells, album sales of a given style typically increase with decreasing instrumentational complexity. Many artists start creatively but stick to the beaten path once they have established success. The article explains that the music industry capitalizes on a “recipe” for a successful song. These songs often contain repetitive melodies and lack musical depth. The piece above is a relatively simple one written for a single organist, yet it is as or more complex than may songs on the top 100 charts today. Our desire for simple songs is ruining musical creativity. Many “popular” songs that people play take parts from old music and rap over it. I think that doing that is an insult to the musical geniuses that defined western music. By establishing cookie-cutter methods of musical composition, music has degenerated. As in many aspects of life, industrialization has transformed how we perceive music.

Kadison 2 - Driving

July 26th, 2003. That's the day I was born. Having a summer birthday is pretty nice, right? Pool parties, no school, and having plenty of time to celebrate. I love having a summer birthday, except when it comes to driving.

By the time I got my permit, many of my friends already had their licenses. I have to rely on either them or my parents to give me a ride. This can be frustrating, especially when it comes to figuring out what time I am getting picked and need to be ready by, instead of being able to leave whenever I want. I also end up feeling slightly guilty whenever I ask; I feel as though my friends and family are going out of their way to do something for me, and they have to do it often. 

Finding rides can also be hard if there is no one going who lives by me, especially considering I live down in Lower Nazareth. Sometimes I end up having to try and convince one of my parents to take me. For instance, I have first block study hall and first block cyber every day. However, I usually have to go in early regardless because I cannot drive myself to school, and everyone I know with first block privilege does not live near me. Next semester, when I can (hopefully) drive, I do not have any study halls or privilege. 

Even though not having my license is really inconvenient, there are some upsides. For example, I get “free” rides everywhere I go, without having to pay for gas, insurance, or a car. I also do not have to drive, and therefore do not have to “focus” while driving places. I don't have to worry about maintaining my car and doing chores like scraping the ice off or vacuuming it.

Renee, 2, How Moravian Hall Square Has Changed My Life

Before coming to Moravian, I worked at Emily's Ice Cream. Little did I know that the two would differ immensely, and how much more I'd develop after leaving Emily's.

Working at a nursing home is one of the hardest responsibilities I've had thus far in my life, but recently, it has proved to be the most rewarding as well. In the two months I've been employed there, I have learned more than I ever learned from Emily's. It's a totally different atmosphere and truly challenges how to care for people with many different issues. 

I wanted to share something that happened last week while I was serving a resident with dementia. Due to HIPAA, I'll refer to her as J.B. : 

J.B. is a resident who no one can seem to connect with to get her to comprehend what they are saying. As a server, it is my job to take the resident's order and get his/her food while also making sure they feel as though this is their home. Unfortunately, it can get busy, and when it does sometimes "challenging" residents are overlooked. I have way too much empathy to feel comfortable with that, and ever since I started working there I always give everyone my undivided attention. 

I'm not sure if it is a coincidence, or if I truly made progress, but J.B. can comprehend what I say to her best. She forgets where she is and what her purpose is at a nursing home extremely quickly, and I try to find ways to calm her down and do my best to get her order. I feel like she understands I'm trying to help her but just can't express it.

Stories like these are the reason I know that whatever I do with my life needs to involve helping others who need it most.

Joe 2: How I Accidentally Didn’t Have a Summer Vacation and Was Okay With It

This past summer posed an interesting set of challenges that I’d never been faced with before. Basically, with the bright orange car sitting in my garage, I had to find a way to get myself the money with which to pay for it. A lot of money.

My dad had the idea for me to ask my neighbor across the street for some work at one of the houses that he rents out and manages. I expressed an interest in the idea. So, my dad did me the solid of emailing him, and he responded quickly with a 3-day job of “clean-out” at a little house that’d he’d recently purchased. Naturally, I accepted. 

The task was simple. Be there by 8AM sharp and take out all of the random furniture and garbage littering the floors of the quaint little split-level home. I arrived slightly early with the hope of making a slight impression. Judging how the rest of the job went, I guess it worked. 

My now-boss walked over to the door, unlocked the latch, and walked in. As soon as I followed, only one thought crossed my mind.

Oh lawd. 

The house, for lack of a better word, was an utter disaster. Apparently at some point before my arrival, someone else had been doing work on the property. Carpet was half-ripped off the floor, couches and chairs were situated in wild locations just about everywhere, and there was a disgusting wallpaper lining every. Single. Wall. 

Without breaking pace, my boss showed me around, pointing out all of the little tasks and details I had to tackle. Soon I realized three days was a comically low number. Once my orientation was complete, he walked out the door with a cheery “you got it?” and left me with my thoughts and a hideous workload looming behind me. So, I composed myself and strode into the house ready to take the job on.

I worked at that house almost every day for three months. 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. 

I did every obscure job you could think of. I pulled hundreds of staples out of the floor. I demolished walls and tile floors. I obliterated an entire shower with only hand tools. I even scraped every square inch of that god awful wallpaper off the walls with a scraper the size of a putty knife. Mold, bugs, and asbestos galore. And looking back, it was one of the best experiences of my life. 

Sure, sweeping rat poop out of tight corners and almost getting killed by a live electrical outlet was less than a walk in the park. But coming home every day, tired and self-satisfied with a day’s work? All with the knowledge that it was all for a goal that I would reach with my own two hands? That is the takeaway that really made me realize it was all worth it.

Sydney Week #2 Dance

As most of you guys know I do dance (11 years and counting). What a lot of you don’t know is what goes on behind the scenes at dance. Yes of course we work hard, dance, critique, but there are also a lot of times when we just take a break and talk.

The length of these little chats can vary a lot depending on how hard we feel like working. If we are all in the mood to work then that’s exactly what we do. We get straight to the point and skip the idle chit chat.

Other days, which are usually the day we don’t have school (seems ironic but it’s true), when we are all feeling tired and just out of it we like to take it easy. We do a fun warm up and make jokes throughout the whole class. Although we don’t usually get a lot done on these days, they are usually the ones I look forward to the most.

Now you’re probably wondering what the point of this little story is. What I’m trying to get at is that sometimes in life it’s good to work. We need to do this a lot since obviously if we don’t we won’t get anything done in life. On the other hand sometimes we just need a break. Whether your break is going to dance and just having fun, or staying home curled up with your favorite book or show, these times of relaxation are so so important. Without these times, it can be very hard to keep putting your best foot front, and being the best you can be.

Mackenna 2: Why do we choose to remember the small things in life?

As I was doing my psychology homework over the weekend, I found myself flashing back to old memories from when I was a child. We are currently learning about developmental psychology, and one of the questions that really bugged me involved what age we have our earliest memories. The earliest memories I can recall are all from events of extreme emotion, particularly fear.

My earliest memory, or what I perceive to be my earliest memory, comes from what I remember as being the summer after I turned four years old. We were at my grandparents' house, who were still living up in Wantagh, New York in Long Island at that time. We were at the beach for the day, and I happened to be standing in the shallow end of the water. All of a sudden, a huge wave came crashing my head drowning my entire body. I can still so vividly see the water rushing over my face, as I remember my eyes being open.

What bothers me about the specific memory is not the intensity of it, but the fact that I chose to remember something so simple. This memory lasted no more than five seconds, yet I chose to remember it. Why would I choose to remember that moment, but not my fourth birthday party, or my first trip to Disney? Why would I choose to allow a memory that was so short and insignificant become so important to me?

Although I can't answer these questions for myself, what I do know for sure based on research is that moments of intense emotions tend to be the ones we remember best, no matter how short they are. I found this to be really cool that we can remember these tiny memories but not be able to recall other things that you would think would be important in somebody's life.

I still can't fully comprehend why this memory has always stuck out to me, but I'm sure I will better understand the meaning behind this in the future.

Adria Ragazzo 2: "Who Is Carter?" Gala

Two years ago, my aunt and uncle decided to start a foundation to help families of children with any brain injury find a loving community and treatment. Their son (my cousin) was directly impacted by brain damage when he was just a few days old-- I can still remember hearing the news that he was not going to live. The doctors specifically said to say goodbye because he would not make it another day. My aunt and uncle made the risky decision, however, to take him off of life support so that he could enjoy whatever time he had left and feel no more pain-- because he was. The miraculous part is what happened next: my baby cousin lived for 20 months after that, defying the odds of the doctors. When he passed away at almost two, my aunt and uncle knew they had to keep his legacy alive and help more families in similar situations. 

On Friday, I attended the foundation’s annual gala, where their goal is to raise a bunch of money for their cause. My aunt and uncle own a company called Abbott Properties, and they own most of Kansas City, where we stayed. We stayed in their hotel called Hotel Indigo, and the event itself was held in their wedding venue called The Abbott. My aunt is an incredible interior designer and decorates all of their buildings. It is such a beautifully put together event each year, and I am so proud of them for changing the world one smile at a time. I can’t wait for next year!
Down below is the book they wrote telling their story (picture is linked):

Ryan 2: Why I'm Interested in Anatomy & Physiology

Usually in school I find myself bored and staring at the clock. Most subjects don't interest me that much, but this year is different. I'm engaged and inspired to learn in 'human anatomy and physiology'. It's interesting to me, how i'm learning about stuff that I have been controlling my whole life, for example all systems of the human body. Don't get me wrong though, the class is hard and very demanding, but I enjoy it more than any other for some reason.

There is so much new vocabulary that I have learned since I started the class. Learning these brand new terms and definitions almost makes it feel like i'm learning a new language. Something else new that I have never done before are practicals. These are more hands on exams, in this class practicals test you on locating body parts, organs, muscles, and bones.

I think the biggest reason I like this class the most right now is because personally I like learning new things about the body and how it works. Studying feels fun, relevant, and important. I think my interest in this topic will lead me to study this in college or a topic related to anatomy. I'm already excited to schedule my classes for next year because I have a few courses similar to this one I want to take. Another class i'm looking forward to taking is psychology because the study of the mind interests me and I already try to learn about it by watching YouTube videos.

Connor 2: 7 Deadly Sins

Some rules are meant to be broken. Most are meant to be followed, thus why they are implemented in the first place, but some only exist to make life a lot harder for a specific group of people. Putting restrictions on others' lives is a recipe for disaster. For example, there is a religion out there that says to avoid feeling 7 specific things or you will die and burn in a fiery pit of agony for eternity. These 7 rules then dictate people's lives. Some of those rules are good to follow and make sense, while others basically tell you to suppress your natural human emotions. Basically, rules are just things made by imperfect humans, for imperfect humans. Rules are all subjective and not all are meant to be taken seriously. That being said, I have 7 deadly sins of my own when it comes to food. They may not mean a thing to others, but to me, they mean everything.

1. Applesauce Brownies: My mother found online one time that you can substitute oil in brownies with applesauce and it will taste the same. All lies. Making brownies with applesauce reserves you a special place in the fire pits. 

2. This Kale Kick: I have no problem with healthy eating, or kale itself. The problem is some people think they can put kale in everything. You can't make food healthy by adding more food to it. I was watching an episode of "Parks and Recreation," as I do every day, and the main character teared up because someone asked her if she would like kale in her milkshake. It was one of those scenes that really hit you hard in your emotional places like the iceberg in Titanic or every Disney's characters mother dying in the first 5 minutes. 

3. Seasoning Food: It is important to season food and season it right. Adding a little bit of salt is not seasoning. And make sure your spice cabinets are organized right. I once had cinnamon chicken because my mom can't tell the difference between paprika and cinnamon. 
4. Seasonal Flavors: We have the technology to get anything we want whenever we want. Don't pretend that peppermint is only a thing in December. If you want a pumpkin spice coffee in March, then it is your right to do so. Seasonal flavors are marketing scams. 

5. Artificial Everything: Don't get me wrong, artificial banana is my favorite fruit, but all these artificial flavors and colors just taste disgusting. Not to mention that they are slowly killing us all. It's not much work just to squeeze an actual orange into something than sit in a lab and try to mimic the flavor using chemicals.

6. The Meat Industry: Everyone who works in the meat industry has a special fire pit for them. I'm not a vegetarian and love the taste of meat, but the way we go about getting it is terrible. Not to mention most of our meat is held together with actual glue while they just want us to think it's fat. Disgusting.

The biggest "no me gusta" of all,

7. Touching My Food: If you did not ask, then you do not touch. I have a lot of issues and thus require a lot of food. If you want to share, then you have to alert me and ask first, or I will attack you like a wild animal. As the common phrase goes, "JOEY DOESN'T SHARE FOOD."

Owen 2: My Trip to Ohio!

Last weekend I went and toured The Ohio State University. It was a great experience for me and a true eye-opener in college life and finances. First off I should make it clear that my family is HUGE Ohio State Buckeyes fans so this might be a bit biased :). While I was there I was able to tour the Fisher School of Business, the college dorms, and talk to student ambassadors about campus life and classes. When I go to college I plan on majoring in International Business with hopefully a minor in Spanish. 

What I learned on my trip is that getting into the School of Business is really hard. You need to score 1350 on the SAT or higher and graduate in the top 20% in your class. This was a huge eye-opener for me, it has made me aspire to do better in my classes and strive to be the best in anything you do. 

If you paid attention to anything in the last decade or so you’ll know that college is really expensive. The Ohio State University is an out of state school and so I would have to pay out of state tuition. This has become an important deciding factor in my path of college searching. However, while I was visiting the university I found out there are so many ways to lower your student debt by participating in programs on campus. 

The Ohio State University offers honors programs and a “Scholars program.” You apply to it the same time you are applying to the college and if you’re considered eligible for the program Ohio State will pay for your first year of college while studying at the school of business. I thought this was an awesome way to hopefully reduce your college debt. I plan on applying to this program when I apply to The Ohio State University. This is just the first stop on the long journey of college searching. 

GO BUCKS!

Emma 2: Stolen Keys

  Last weekend I was supposed to go out to eat with two of my friends. We were going to originally go out for brunch, but then I went shopping in the morning. Then we arranged on going out for dinner, but my one friend had a college visit. Finally, we just decided to have a sleepover because we were all busy during the day.

   I planned on cleaning my car before I left, so I moved my car into my driveway instead of in front of my house. After cleaning it out, I put my keys on my kitchen table. I went upstairs for a shower and to pack my bag.

   When I walked back into the kitchen to get my keys to leave, they weren’t on the table. I was really confused because I had specifically remembered putting them there. I walked back and forth through my house, but they were nowhere to be found.

   I asked my mom and my younger sister Macie to help me look for them. We searched my entire bedroom, the living room, kitchen, and everywhere else in the house that I had been. I even took my phone’s flashlight to see if I had dropped them outside somehow on the way in. I asked my other sister Rowan if she had seen them, and she said no.

   I was really frustrated because I wanted to go to my friend’s house, and I had been searching for almost two hours. My mom asked Rowan if she had put them anywhere, and she laughed. She said that she knew where they were and proceeded to walk over to her toy kitchen and pull them out of the ‘fridge’.

   I was really annoyed that she had been watching me look for them for two hours and hadn’t said anything, but I didn’t make a big deal about it because I was just glad to be able to finally drive to my friend’s house.

Alanna, 2; College is expensive & I am not having it

Right now college is a HUGE topic in my house right now due to my sister applying and getting accepted into them right now and me getting ready to do that whole process. You would be surprised how many fights it starts between our parents and us about where, financial aid (the number of times I have heard FAFSA in the past week is more than I care to admit), SAT and ACT, grades, etc. and it got me thinking.

College is preached to students to be almost necessary if you want to be successful in life. But even though this happens, they make the process and the ability to go SO HARD. For starters, the stress it puts on students during the application process is insane. Between SATs, college essays, finding the right school, having the right GPA for your selected school, etc. Most colleges are very selective and are very specific with the grades and type of student they want and many high school kids work themselves sleepless to become suitable. This makes for a very unhealthy habit and carries on throughout your attendance at college. Secondly, the price. Getting into college is one thing, but after that, you need to pay for it all. Tuition throughout the years has just been going up and the financial aid system is not as generous as some need. Many families, like mine, struggle to pay for these schools but need to do the most and break their bank to give their kid the world. Even after college, you are left drowning in student debt.

I decided to do some research about college students’ thoughts on the system. Caitlyn Pellerin (Danvers, Mass) admitted, “I fear for the stress of scholarship applications, taking student loans, and being left thousands of dollars in debt as a twenty-something-year-old, due to furthering my education.” It amazes me because I do not think you should have to deal with fear when you are just trying to better your education and success in the future. Likewise, Jack Murray (Danvers, Mass) said, “If your family can’t provide enough money, that shouldn’t be the factor that decides your future for you.” I agree completely with this statement because no matter the amount of money your family has I still believe you should have the chance to further yourself but because of the financial system, some don’t.

Not at all does this make me question going to college but instead it just frustrates me how much some families will struggle to just allow their kids to succeed.

Jam 2: All By Myself

On Thursday this week I’m going to Baltimore for the NCTE Conference.This will be my second time going and I’m really excited. I love learning new things; I’ll get to see old friends and some I’ve never met offline before; I get to take a train; I get to go to the National Aquarium; and I get a whole hotel room with a king sized bed all to myself!

I actually really like traveling by myself. Not that I don’t like traveling with friends and family, but there’s a pilgrimage aspect of going it alone. I don’t have to worry about anyone else’s wants or needs. I find myself more present when I’m alone, able to take in the experience in a way that I can’t when I’m with other people. If I were there with my husband, I’d spend the whole time talking; alone, I’ll spend the whole time observing and thinking and reflecting. I’m not an introvert by nature, but I do enjoy that sort of headspace once in a while.

My mom, however, is a mess of nerves over my trip. She can’t believe I’m going to the big, bad city alone. She’s appalled that I’m taking the train alone. She’s worried about some apparent danger in me going to the aquarium alone. 

Now I guess to some degree it’s just a matter of mothering, right? I mean, even as a grown adult, I’m still her kid and she’ll worry about me. But I’m wondering if it’s something more than that. I wonder if it’s a generational thing, or life-experience thing, where she can’t fathom feeling comfortable doing things alone the way I can.

My mom met my dad when she was 15. When she graduated from high school, she moved out of her parents house and into an apartment, and I came along the following year. Suffice it to say that my mom has never experienced being alone for any extended period of time. She never lived on her own or supported herself completely on her own or really ever had a reason to go anywhere significant on her own. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, just the way her life played out.

I, on the other hand, had a very different life experience. When I graduated, I went to college and lived in a dorm for four years. After that, I packed up my little purple car and drove myself 900 miles to Nashville, a city where I knew no next to no one, didn’t have a job or a place to live. I went there and made those things happen for myself. After moving back to PA, I lived on my own for another seven years before moving in with my now-husband.

Me on a plane, alone.

I’ve gone to movies alone; I’ve gone to restaurants on my own; I LOVE shopping alone; I’ve travelled alone many times; I’ve made my own meals, done my own laundry, put a spoiler on my own car, adopted my own cat, paid my own bills, suffered from my own big mistakes, and loved in my own stubborn way. 

But truth be told, I’ve always struggled to find peace in the way my life has turned out. I wanted to get married young, and have kids young, and the traditional life everyone expects. It seemed like that was the key to adulthood, moving through these milestones that were expected. I always thought my parents’ experiences were pretty good. By the time my mom was my age, her two kids were both in college. Here I am without even managing to have one. It’s always seemed a little unfair that my life has just never seemed to take a straight line to anywhere.

But on the other hand, my experiences of spending my 20s alone have given me something that might be more valuable than a straight line to adulthood. There’s a peace that comes with knowing you can handle life without relying on someone else. There’s a confidence in knowing I can be alone and be okay. That I can get on that train to Baltimore alone and not be afraid, not be nervous, not be lonely.