It took me a long time to learn how to read. In fact, I’m pretty sure I still don’t have it down. I remember having my parents read Roald Dahl books as a kid, and finally getting to chapter books in second grade, and I definitely thought I could read pretty well when I picked up Plato’s Republic for the first time in 9th grade. … Continue reading Learning How to Read

With a few weeks of school behind us and reams of homework to do, we could all use a break from the exhausting load of responsibilities placed upon us. Luckily, in just over a week, the college will grant us a vacation planted right in the middle between Monday and Friday. And by vacation, I mean the annually held, nationally renowned science forum known as … Continue reading H20 – Don’t Believe the Uncertainity!

As I began to write this column, I hesitated for a minute or 20. Questions flowed through my mind: What if I offend someone? What if my English professors are disappointed in my grammar? What if, at parties, my friends bring up something embarrassing that I wrote? What if I write a truly liberal piece, and a conservative writes back taking a crack at my … Continue reading Trust Yourself

Something I have noticed in the past few years has been the growing trend in the entertainment industry of showcasing sweet little girls as sinister figures of horror. There are of course earlier examples I can think of, the twins in matching Sunday dresses from The Shining for instance, but in the recent years few could deny that this practice has grown to mania proportions. … Continue reading Sinister Little Girls

I always love coming back to school. Everything is so green and vibrant, even if banana plants look a little out of place in Minnesota. The first-year class wanders about bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, wearing their lanyards around their necks and always looking a little lost in the caf. Each year my room gets better, and after you unpack, there’s really nothing like having all your … Continue reading Back to School

Neo-conservative, or neo-con, has been thrown around the last 8 years to describe President Bush’s overall philosophy. While this is true to some extent, neo-con has turned into a dirty word used to describe all conservatives. I have breaking news for the Gustavus campus: conservative philosophy is a very large and diverse grouping of ideas. And so I find the need, after spending a summer … Continue reading The Philosophy of Conservatism

Abraham Lincoln once said, “Don’t leave anything for tomorrow that can be done today.” Last Wednesday, when President Obama addressed the nation, he seemed to be living by those words. He is driving the country to take action on our healthcare issues, and he is doing it with a sense of urgency. American healthcare obviously has its problems. With some 46 million Americans who do … Continue reading If we don’t help, who will?

Heroes have value, but hero worship is a useless thing. Heroes can inspire us and provide an example or inspiration in our lives, but too much adulation makes us forget they were just human beings, people like us. Hero worship can negate or remove our own belief in ourselves. It’s even worse when the hero being worshipped is an empty shell, a mere image or … Continue reading We Must Name Every Highway and Public Area We Can Find After Ronald Reagan

I am still haunted by one childhood memory.  I was 10 years old, jamming out to the Backstreet Boys in my room, when suddenly my big brother barged through the door and yelled, “Turn that off! Backstreet Boys are lame.” This was my astute older sibling coming to enlighten me of a supposed fact. He is, after all, older and wiser than I am. But … Continue reading Shoot me an I-Message

Welcome all ye students! Welcome back to the paradise that is college. Smell the green grass and giant plants growing in the Gustavus jungle. Gaze upon the tall, brick buildings and that tiny space called your dorm room. Feel the pages of brand new, overpriced textbooks. Smell the delicious scents wafting from the cafeteria. Hear the birds chirping, cicadas buzzing and the Gustie Greeters shouting … Continue reading Farewell Old Man Summer