Granola. Mmm. Perhaps it’s the mountain girl in me that craves simply oats and honey. Perhaps it’s the way granola crunches. … Or, maybe it’s the way one KNOWS there’s always a special ingredient in it. Either way, I love granola, even the burnt edges of my homemade efforts. Over the summer, I conducted a series of granola creations and have made two batches at … Continue reading Holy granola, Batman! What a wonderful snack!

One seaside university is bowing to the stern educational demands of the times by eliminating its popular course in underwater basket weaving.” -Appleton Post Crescent, May 14, 1958 How are my classes going? Well on Monday/Wednesday /Friday I’ve got bio and chem. Please kill me. I was going to have my Tuesday/Thursdays free, but then I found out I needed to take calc II and … Continue reading Mom? Dad? I’m getting a degree in Basket Weaving

There are a lot of benefits of being a Curriculum I student with a single major. Sure, I’ll leave this school in a few short months with a single degree and have missed out on the bonding Curriculum II experiences, and I’ll also have fewer things to put on my resume. However, I wouldn’t trade that for all the opportunities to study new things and … Continue reading A new perspective

The idea that you like what you’re good at is true most of the time. I love learning foreign languages, which probably has a lot to do with the fact that I have a good ear for them. However, it is not true in all cases. Sometimes it is harder to admit, almost embarrassing to concede, that you really love something that you have absolutely … Continue reading Running takes goals and reflection to a wonderful place

This summer was a summer of clouds. At work, on the beach, in the car, I always seemed to have my head raised toward the sky. There’s just something about that sometimes fluffy, sometimes wispy, sometimes doomful stuff above me that leaves me in awe. My obsession started last fall when I took the weather and climate class in the geography department here at Gustavus. … Continue reading Take a look at the sky

Like many on this campus, I thoroughly enjoy sleeping. whether it’s napping, going to bed early or sleeping late. It seems like a natural right for people our age. Yes, some may have to rouse themselves for 8:00 a.m. class, but their collective suffering is an edifying force among those who drudge themselves out of bed at such an ungodly hour. Sleeping time should be … Continue reading Unwanted Guest

Cogito, ergo sum. Imbimbo navitas, ergo cogito. (I think, therefore I am. I drink energy drinks, therefore I think.) -Descartes When my brain isn’t working properly it usually needs a violent kick in the face. My brain knows this and it tries very hard to respond to my demands. It does have some level of respect for me. But sometimes it forgets its place. It … Continue reading Who needs sleep when there’s caffeine?

There are occasional points in my bouts of contemplation where I have noticed I seem to go “too deep,” where normal human things begin to look stranger and stranger until I get to the point that the only way to return to feeling normal is through an uncomfortable rehabilitative process. These tracts of my life where I go “too deep” can last hours, days or … Continue reading Through the looking glass of oblivion

There are plenty of activities during new student orientation, but probably the most memorable, and I would argue most important (out of no personal motives, I assure you) is the E Pluribus Gustavus show on the last evening before returning students arrive.The show is important because it opens up the campus for social issues that we don’t always know how to talk about, or even … Continue reading Meaningful relationships forged by honesty