Writing In & For Digital Environments

So here I am. I already showed my Passport at the airport and I am waiting for my flight. I do not know anybody there, but my family is somewhere outside waiting for my flight to take off. I am sure my nephew will be shouting: “Bye, bye, Memé”. By the way, Santino is the only person who calls me Memé. I think he chose that nickname because it sounds similar to Mamá.

I still feel his hug. It was the longest, the deepest and the last one.

I won’t cry.

I can’t cry.

Santiago’s airport is cool. I’m in Chile now, and I have to wait five hours for the next flight to New York. I think I have some cookies in my backpack. When I open it, I see a colorful envelope in it. What is it? It is a huge envelope that says ‘Open it when you miss us’. The envelope was full of smaller ones with letters written by my family and my friends. I just take one and I start crying while I am reading the second line.

What’s wrong with me? I am living a dream and I am crying!

I won’t keep crying.

I can’t cry.

Such a huge dream, it scares me a little bitt. But I am fine! I mean, I am always fine, I have to be fine, right? I will just open letters once in a while during my five months away from home.

Now I need Wi-Fi to let everybody know that I am fine. That is what I always do when I leave my place. After more than an hour of walking, I find a place to have a coffee and Wi-Fi, the other restaurants are really crowded or do not have Internet. I send a text to the ‘Familia’ group, ‘Amigas’ group and to him. I just feel like singing ‘All by Myself’ out loud. Being completely alone has not happened to me before. But I kind of like it, it is you, your choices, your timing and your thoughts.

New York City is marvelous, captivating, unique. I’m just thinking about this after having gone in a transfer from JFK to Penn Station. I can’t wait to come back for Christmas and explore this awesome city! (If the snow allows me to do so!)

The train from Penn Station to Harrisburg is good, but it is getting darker and I feel a little bit afraid of being in an unknown city with a pretty heavy package and no familiar faces around me.  I take a deep breath, everything is going to be fine. Around 9 pm I arrive to Harrisburg and there is a very nice man waiting for me with a ‘Dickinson’ banner. So it is happening, I am almost there!

After around 50 minutes, the man tells me: so here you are! Welcome to Dickinson!

Yes, the Academic Quad that I have seen in so many pictures is there, in front of my eyes. It is real, it is beautiful.

A really nice woman gives my key and my ID at DPS. Why is everybody so nice here? Clearly, I am not in my country anymore.

I arrive home and two girls who are going into the house help me with my baggage. They are Marie, from France and Anna, from Russia. I go into my room and after a shower, I go to bed.

After more than 24 hours of airports and train stations, I can say that I have experienced a thunder of feelings. I think they will evolve, change, arise and disappear. I am ready for the adventure!

1) Great Support Network

Joining Dickinson Cross Country has been one of the best parts of my college experience. It is an incredibly unique experience and I am thankful for it everyday. I mean, how many people can say that they get to go out and run everyday and compete in meets on weekends with the most amazing group of people? My team works so hard each day and supports each other throughout every workout and run. Going to practice every day is always the highlight of my day. It is a time for me to set aside all my stresses from the day (aka schoolwork) and focus solely on running. Practice is the perfect outlet and the best form of stress relief. Even when my team is doing a hard workout, though daunting, I know that I will be able to get through it with all the amazing support my team and coaches give me.

2) My team can help me with ANYTHING

Another reason why running on a team is special is because it provides structure in my day. It pushes me to strive more academically and set goals in and out of the classroom. Being part of a team also gives me access to a broad range of resources. For example, if I am struggling in a class, it is highly likely that I will have a team member that has already in the class with more or has taken it in the past.

3) Caf Meals

I know this sounds weird, but eating in the Caf with my teammates is so much fun. There are so many on both sides of the team (men and women), that there is always a teammate at the table. Since we are always busy at practice, eating in the Caf is the perfect time to talk and catch up on how our day is going. We are notorious for sitting in the Caf for extended periods of time and eating enormous amounts of food.

4) Meets

Cross Country meets are one of the best parts of being on a team! They are a time for the team to show off how fast we are and how hard we have trained. My coach always tells us “run home together”, even if you are running by yourself at a meet. This saying helps us to push through the toughest parts of the meet and it helps to remind us that we are running for the team no matter where we finish. It is always amazing to see how far we progress throughout the season because it epitomizes how we are getting stronger and how all the hard work pays off.

So Tuesday night the Chicago Cubs FINALLY won a playoff series at home, defeating the mighty St. Louis Cardinals in four games. Only took 145 years of being a professional baseball team to do so, but hey at least they did it.

This series win puts them one step closer to finally ending the longest championship drought in professional sports history, 107 years. Do you understand how much important stuff has happened in 107 years??? Two World Wars, the Beatles, iPhones, etc etc etc. You get the point. It’s been a while.

The Cubbies are just that team (or guy) who can’t seem to get out of the ever-dreaded “friend zone”. Now, Urban Dictionary defines the friend zone as “a state of being where a male inadvertently becomes a ‘platonic friend’ of an attractive female who he was trying to intitate a romantic relationship.” The Cubs have been flirting with a World Series title for SO LONG, but never seem to be able to close the deal. The baseball gods are literally doing everything they can to ensure the Cubs stay in the World Series friend zone.

The Cubs came close to getting out of the friend zone in 2003. But, like all guys stuck in the friend zone, the ever-feared “cock block” reared its ugly head and swiftly shut down any chance the Cubs had to score with their dream girl.

To Cubs fans, Steve Bartman is the ULTIMATE cock block. It’s like your best friend swooping in right before you’re going to close the deal with the girl who’s friend zoned you since the first week of freshman year and telling her you peed the bed until you were 18. She walks away thinking you’re weird as hell and you look at your friend like “wtf dude?”.

Steve Bartman is THAT friend. He grabbed the ball from Moises Alou and practically gave the Marlins that NLCS series. In the blink of an eye, the Cubs returned to the World Series friend zone, completely embarrassed and dejected like the hopeless bed-wetter.

Well hey, Cubs fans, this could be the year your team finally scores with the girl of their dreams and gets out of this horrible friend zone. Just bear in mind that that cock block is out there somewhere, lurking in the shadows and ready to rear its head at a moments notice to crush your World Series dreams.

**UPDATE** Cubs still in the friend zone.

Our lacrosse team competed in our fall tournament this past weekend. We were the host to five other teams and were able to play in three scrimmages. Our team has been working hard all fall for this day. Fortunately, our hard work paid off and we were able to win all three of our games.

In our first game, we played Susquehanna University. Going into the game, it was apparent that most of us were a little nervous. This was the first time that this group would be playing together. Coming off of a rough year last year (we finished with a record of 7-9), we knew we had to execute in this first scrimmage to set the tone for a successful year. Well, that is what we just did. We handedly beat up on Susquehanna in that first scrimmage. Our offense was moving the ball well, getting great shots and scoring tons of assisted goals. Our defense and goalie  played superb only letting up two goals. We had a lot of energy going into our second scrimmage… and we needed it.

Our second game was against Essex Community College. This team had just played in the junior college national championship this past spring. We knew we were going to have our work cut out for us this game. However, we picked up just where we left off against Susquehanna and played a very disciplined game. Once again, we were able to beat another tough opponent.

Our first two scrimmages were set up for mainly the “starters” and “2nd” string guys to play in. The third game was set for mostly the freshman and other back ups. While they watched the first two games from the sideline, they brought an incredible amount of enthusiasm that definitely added to our success on the field. So, when they played in that third game, we made sure to be super energetic from the sideline and give them the same amount of enthusiasm and support that they gave us.

That third game ended up being the best game out of all three that day. We did crush our opponent in that game, but that is not why it was the best one of the day. It was because that game was just flat out fun for everyone on our team. All fifty of us were completely into our team and into that game. That is something we strive to do every time we are all together. We put in all of that work during the off season and practices so we can have a fun time in the games.

With the fall season being over, that does not mean our team does not stop working. Although we will not have to come down to practice three times a week with our coaches, we will still have to put in plenty of work on our own. It is expected of us that we push ourselves this offseason so come February 1st, our first day of practice, we are completely ready to compete at a high level.

The USFSA (United States Figure Skating Association) has some amazing opportunities for figure skaters. One of which I had the chance to participate in this past week, Nancy Kerrigan’s Halloween On Ice. This was something I’ll never forget, we had two practices to learn the program. Only two! Luckily it was short and was easy to comprehend.

The group of skaters we had were from all over. Our practices were in Wilkes Barre, so most of the girls were from that area. However there were some girls from New York and New Jersey. The rest of us live in Pennsylvania. Our last practice was crazy, as we had two run throughs then the show. During these we got to meet Nancy Kerrigan. It was an amazing experience to see all the professional skaters backstage, seeing all the costumes before the show and seeing what they do to get ready.

The one thing I will remember the most is being able to see one of my favorite skaters, Johnny Weir. Johnny is an amazing skater, his energy given off while skating is unexplainable. The way he can capture attention pulls you in. Sadly, I didn’t get to meet him, however we saw him multiple times backstage.

Being a part of this was so much fun. It was such an experience to skate out there and look up and see the stands filled with people smiling down and enjoying your skating. The rush you get from skating in front of an audience like that makes you feel like you can do anything…

JumpStart, by Robb Armstrong, from GoComics.com

As I’ve said before, and will most definitely say again, racial identity can play a huge part in someone’s life. But that doesn’t mean it has to. I, myself, know plenty of people who have a mixed heritage, some being 99% this and 1% that, others are split right down the middle, who have little interest in dual-culture efforts or the separation of racial background. When people ask me about my ‘ethnicity’, I will most often say that I’m 50% Chinese (sometimes I’ll specify that my family lives in Taiwan or that my recent ancestors were from Manchuria) and 50% white. White? Did they ask me what color underwear I avoid? Why is white an appropriate answer? Better yet, where is white an appropriate answer?

Well let me backtrack to the asking of the question. If you’re someone who’s physical features, voice, or lifestyle do not fit the stereotypical mold(s) associated with your race, then maybe you too have been stumped by the question, “Please check the box that best describes your race.”

Whether it be in the form of an official US census or a project handed to you by a classmate, this sort of question is not easily avoided in the United States.
-Are you of Hispanic or Latino origin?
-What is your race? Mark one.
-Please fill in the bubble with your race. Mark all that apply.

As a bi- or multiracial person what is the best/right choice? If they ask to only check one box, which do I check? I may be half and half but I look more white, and most people assume I’m white? Why is the color (or shade) white an option but Chinese is another possible answer? What about my various European ancestries, where is that box? If I am allowed to check more than one, how much my ethnic background do I need to divulge? Who checks the box that says ‘other’? The choices are usually limited, and speaking logically, how could they not be? Even if the point of the question/survey isn’t gathering racial data or numbers, it may very well have an effect on whomever is attempting to check the box.

But so what? Why does it matter what one survey asks or what a stranger assumes about you? Things like race, they’re just social constructs. Well that’s just it. We live as social creatures, for the most part, constantly planning our days around contact with one another, with society. To some, questions like those above are answered with a swift flick of the wrist and not thought of again until the next survey. But I am writing to reach the audience that raises a brow at this kind of question; those that scan the boxes up and down before marking them.

And if you’re thinking that boxes on a form or survey are just boxes… check again, please.