Wet or Dry?

            When listening to the podcast “#1 Party School” I developed many opinions of what it really means to be the #1 party school. Penn State truly lives up to their title. In some of the scenarios the faculty members or families described were much different than the ones that the students talked about. To the adults, the students were out of control and parited from Thursday to Sunday. Many of them did not seem to care there were residences that were trying to sleep or enjoy time with their family. But according to the students it is always one hell of a party.

            From pre-gaming to celebrating a 21^st birthday there is always something being celebrated. Before a football game, students will pre-game in the streets or at home, no matter what the weather conditons were. Not ony would students pre-game but so would Alumni’s of Penn State. No matter where you are at the school there is always a party going on and people are always ready to celebrate the next event.

            My personal opinion about this is caught between the middle of a dry to a “wet” campus. As a freshman we tend to relate college to drinking. It is our first time out on our own with totally new freedoms. We don’t have our parents on our backs all the time and we want to take advantage of this freedom as much as we possibly can. But going to Xavier is not like going to Penn State when it comes to partying. Our campus does not present a high party life. But what go there then? Well, some students, like myself, want to go to a school because of it’s education system. I’m always down for a good party but that is not what I am looking as my first priority for a school. With partying comes many distractions. With all the parties going on it is hard to focus on schoolwork and other areas that need to be strongly focused on as well.

            If students that go to party schools, like Penn State, then they have a harder time staying focused. But students who attend a dry campus may become bored and switch to another school. I think that a college should fall in-between. Students should be able to party on the weekends and then focus on mainly their schoolwork during the weekday. Then there is a balance of having fun but also school work is being done too.  

Sheeple

            In David Foster Wallace’s speech, “Kenyon Commencement Speech,” he identifies mostly negative issues. Such as, asking us to pretend we are someone in line at a grocery store and we absolutely hate everyone there because they are creating the biggest line, thus enabling you to leave fast and go home. With references such as these his speech is much different than other commencement speeches that are given today. But within his message, I feel he is trying to tell everyone there, not only the students, the Capital T-Truth of what really happens in everyday life.

            David created a fictional person that is stuck at a dead end job, dislikes everything towards the end of his day because he is unable to go home straight after work. This person is hungry and has to go to the grocery store to pick up food. The fictional character is doing and feeling the same like every other person in the store. They are all alike. I like to call this category of people: sheeple. Why sheeple? Well, if you know anything about sheep, you would realize that if one sheep turns left the entire pack turns left as well. They are all followers. None of them are able to think on their own without the whole group deciding what is going to happen. People can relate in the same way. Everyone feeling tired and wanting to go home did not “think outside the box.” As cliché as it sounds, it is true. According to his story, no one was able to find his or her own identity.

            Even though Wallace’s speech in blunt or straightforward it makes me think: how will choose my path? Will I be a sheeple or will I find a purpose in life and try to live through that purpose? I believe his message is trying to show everyone, through his words, that we all exercise choice. Whether a major or minor, we all choose what we are going to do everyday. We each need to be our own person and have our own thoughts and ideas. We each have to think realistically. Without this kind of reasoning, I believe that we cannot move forward in our world today. Obviously not everyone can make a difference in the world with deductive reasoning, but knowing and understanding how to can create a difference in our own lives. Because either way, we are going to end up being that person in the grocery store or we are going to say no to that choice and become someone who makes a difference in the world.    

"Oral Atrocity"

In Mike Birbiglia’s “ Error at First Base” he describes his first make out session but in a comedic form. During his Jr. High years his friends and others he knew were generating a new fashion trend. Making out, getting to first base, or whatever you would like to call it, was happening to everyone but Mike. He describes himself as unattractive or just plain ugly compared to everyone else. All he wants is his first kiss with someone so he can “fit in” with all the others. But after many attempts he was able to score his first kiss! His first “oral atrocity” (as he explains it in his story) experience gave him the confidence of belonging. Creating an overall feeling of acceptance in his young, teenage world. The usage of his appropriate, colorful language helped me visualize his story in a fascinating way.

While listening to his comedic act, I started to remember my times during Jr. High. Whether it was trying to wear the right clothes or be in certain cliques, I, like everyone else, felt those awkward moments during our Jr. High years. Even though Mike’s conversation was filled with bad jokes and silly punch lines, he was still able to make me laugh and still keep me aware of the point he was trying to make. We all at some point in our lives want to feel we belong with others or have been accepted in our community.

But who describes a make out session as an oral atrocity or compares it to a dog eating spaghetti? Apparently 7^th graders making out for the first time is not the best sight to see, according to the young mind of Mike. Just picturing everything going on made me crinkle my nose. It did not create the most pleasuring experience in my head. It actually made me think of a situation my friend had; who could possibly relate to the awkwardness Mike had when he had his first kiss.

My friend, Kaitlyn, was a little more shy than most people; especially, when it came talking to boys. Young and innocent, she still hadn’t had her first kid like her other friends. When her and this guy started “talking” she would get nervous just from reading text message that asked her to hang out with him. She was afraid she would not know how to kiss “properly”. She would reach out for advice from her friends, who had already had this first time experience. Like 7^th grade Birbiglia, Kaitlyn was in the “non-make out club.” But like the ending of his story, she was able to get her first kiss, but I don’t think she would describe it quite like he did. But Kaitlyn felt she belonged and could relate more with her friends, just like Mike had.