a world worth seeing // ross wylde-macneil

We’ve read two books, multiple articles and essays, watched a few documentaries, and discussed everything from Plato to cannibalism. Sometimes, it was hard to make sense of the cluster of information, philosophies and facts. Trying to find a unifying idea or a core truth to everything we’ve learned proved nearly impossible, but I knew there was some kernel to everything we’ve read and watched, some phrase that we could use to conjure all of the wisdom we’ve gained. Leave it to David Foster Wallace: “This is water.”

The Truth is, Lying is Normal // Matthew Lin

Before you begin skimming (no shame in doing so), ask yourself these questions as I did in professor Leither’s class this quarter:

• Have you ever lied before?
• What did those lies involve?
• Why did you (honest truth, please) decide to lie?

Remember: DO NOT LIE TO YOURSELF WHEN ANSWERING THESE QUESTIONS.

I bet you if you really analyzed each lie you have ever made, you will find that the answer was never cost and benefit. That really wasn’t the big factor that led you to lie, right? This was the reality that was revealed in the book The Honest Truth About Dishonesty written by Dan Ariely.

I Turned in this assignment In minutes before it was due // Claire Nguyen

My suitemate’s shrill alarm rings and I hear her shuffle around to get ready for her 8am class. I look up, eyes red and barely open, with a crazed smile upon my face. Illuminated by the computer screen, my suitemate makes eye contact with me. “Holy crap,” she mutters, squinting against the light. “Why are you still awake?” I chuckle and look down at my blank google doc, with little to show for my actions. “Good question,” I exclaim, still smiling. At this point, I had lost all feeling of my legs, and the room barely felt real. On the table in front of me were bags of chips and a tub of Nutella, half-eaten. My suitemate laughs uncomfortably, wishes me good luck, and proceeds with her morning routine. “Well, that’s my cue to get a quick nap in,” I reason with myself, rather proud of my one and only health-conscious decision. I hobble into my room and pass out, only to wake up in a cold sweat, having had a dream about my grades slipping. Funnily enough, the scariest dreams are not the ones where I’m being hunted down by a empty-eyed ghost, they are the dreams that blur the line between my reality and my nightmares.

Self-induced Deception: Retrospective thinking for a forward minded soul // Alec Melosini

THINGS ARE NOT ALWAYS THE WAY THEY SEEM TO BE

“We see the world, not as it is, but as we are──or, as we are conditioned to see it.” – Stephen R. Covey

The recent controversy with Fair Oaks Farms is a perfect example. On Fair Oaks Farms website, the following quotation was near the top of their main page,

Choose your own adventure//Rohan Mandalaparthy

As an elementary school student, books surrounded me. From frequent family trips to the local public library just down the street, to the hours I spent in my school’s library, to the book reports and presentations that I completed for my classes, I felt like I was always reading. A stubborn child who loved to watch and play sports, I only read two types of books: novels written by authors such as Mike Lupica about young athletes just like me, who overcame obstacles to hit the game winning shot, and the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, by Edward Packard. These were gripping books about thrilling, suspense-filled adventures that the main character went on. The twist, however, was that I was the main character. The reader would be given a series of choices to make at several points in the book, and based on the choices that they made, the outcome would be different (Walker). I loved the feeling of power that this brought me. I felt like I had more autonomy and involvement in my reading experience, I was hooked on the books, and I continued to search for control over my life.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choose_Your_Own_Adventure#/media/File:Cave_of_time.jpg

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Is there anything more frightening than People? || Kleid Hoxha

HBO’s latest show Chernobyl became IMDB’s top-rated show last week with an average rating of 9.6 out of 10. The 5 part drama miniseries tells the story of the nuclear disaster that happened in Chernobyl 33 years ago. The show was able to hit the sweet spot with critics and viewers as the combination of a well-written story while maintaining historical accuracy provided for an enjoyable experience. As the hype built up online, I realized I couldn’t escape the hype so decided to give it a shot.

The show was a masterpiece.

You think the right question will get you the truth? There is no truth.

Anatoly Dyatlov

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The Freshman Experience // Jacob Scheid

What is the freshman experience in the first place? Everybody talks about it as the jumping stone for how you will get through the rest of college and the decider in what your views on life are. But again, let me ask, what is the freshman experience? Well, let me give you a rather short answer and tell you that I am about to tell you what I think in long form. Through the gruelling process of dragging up evidence and finding ways to convince you that I’m right. At least that is what my english classes my freshman year of college have taught me, the perfect way to convince you that I am right. How will I go about doing this one might ask? Well first I need to present you with what I am going to argue as long as this hook has hopefully done its job. These two english courses have played a large role in my freshman experience, so I am going to use it as one of my leading examples and reference points.

A Remedy for Superficiality

Waiting at the gate to board our plane back home, my dad recognized my ten year old self was getting a little exhausted. This posed a problem as I was the mandatory passport holder when we started to board. My sister was curled up in a snug ball, half asleep, and leaning on my leg. The sun had just set, dimming the small gates at the end of the terminal and fading away any last energy the day could spare us. My dad pulled a deck of cards from his backpack and did something I had never seen before- let alone thought was possible. His hands were sweaty and covered with calluses from lugging our suitcases across the airport. As he shuffled the cards slowly, he bent down to me and smiled as he whispered “watch closely”.

An Optimistic, Ignorant, Arrogant Nihilist // Alec Corn

I’ve never really enjoyed writing. Throughout high school I never did exceedingly well on the essays but I did enjoy the readings. Shakespeare, early American literature, modern literature—I read each book and enjoyed it. Except Beloved. I just got bored I guess. After reading the books, we were expected to write a paper on them. I can’t remember what we were supposed to write about so that could be why I didn’t do too well. Nevertheless, when I was pre-enrolled into Critical Thinking and Writing (CTW) at SCU, my first thought was “damn it”. I even came to the conclusion that maybe this school was not for me. It was not only the required English but all of the core requirements that made me think that. It just felt too much like high school. I did not want to be forced to take classes that I simply did not care about, yet every time I got asked what classes I enjoyed in high school, I struggled to name one. Maybe I don’t really have a preference after all.

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Digging Deep // Matthew Hesse

Nine months ago I was a wide eyed freshman, excited about finally leaving the nest and beginning the oh-so glorified college life. While I was still unsure about what I wanted to major in, I knew I was interested in business. Now as the year comes to an end, my eyes are not quite as wide, college has been as great as most made it out to be, and I have found a niche within the business that I am passionate about. I’ve declared finance as my major, stemming from an interest in the financial markets as well as discussions with upperclassmen about their experiences and work they hope to do. But while finance satisfies my quantitative desires, over this past year I’ve learned that I also have a strong qualitative interest as well. I have enjoyed learning derivatives and integrals, becoming proficient in excel, and understanding company financial statements. But I’ve also loved thinking and having discussions about ideas, laws, and issues. CTW 1 was the class that initially peaked my interest in potentially double majoring or minoring in a qualitative field, and my business ethics class that followed was what solidified my decision.

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