At some point during or after college every single person should move back in with their parents.

Three months ago, I would have called myself out as a liar for saying something like that.

How could a step backwards ever help my future? How could I just give up my freedom and independence? Why would you ever want to return to the high school version of yourself? (Unless, of course, you peaked there.)

For the last three months, I’ve been working towards completing my first co-op in my hometown. And I like being home. It is nice to just sit back and let dinners be planned for you. It’s nice to let the laundry just magically appear in neatly folded piles day after day. It’s nice to not have to worry about cramming for a test and just find comfort in the constant 9-to-5.

My life is free of almost all stress. Work related problems end after I leave work. I don’t have to stay up all night to finish a project due in class the next day. If I need to, I can take a day off of work without feeling like I missed an important concept that makes up 60 percent of the final.

Whereas Drexel feels like a sprint through the ten week term, co-op feels like a jog through an oasis. I cannot stress how nice the money is as well, especially coupled with the fact that I don’t have to pay for rent or food. Loans feel less looming when you are making regular payments towards them.

Yes, this co-op is so incredibly relaxing. But it’s also incredibly boring.

Everyone I know is at Drexel, doing things with their nights as I am going to bed early to wake up for my job in the morning. I’ve begun to feel left behind, like everyone out there is working toward something that they love while I have plateaued. My friends can’t talk because it is “finals week” when for me it’s just another Wednesday.

I want to go back more than anything right now. This time away has just made me hungrier to succeed. All of my priorities that were getting lost with the constant grind of classes have been refocused in the face of stagnation.

I don’t really want to be at home anymore. I want to be out there doing research in my field. I want to be talking to the people that think like me and share my interests. I want to be free to play soccer at 3 a.m. with a bunch of friends and watch the sunrise.

Taking a step backwards has only made me more ready to jump those two steps forward and then leap any hurdles along the way. If I was burned out before co-op, I am now rekindled. The excitement of the first day of freshman year is back, but even more so because I know what to expect and can be ready for it.

Photo courtesy of Drexel University

Drexel University is so much like the city around it. It’s hectic, rushed and full of endless opportunities to get involved. Coming to college, you will be encouraged by so many people to join a variety of different clubs to become a part of something bigger. You absolutely should.

And you shouldn’t.

I always tell people that college means freedom for essentially the first time in your life. Even if your parents were the most hands-off parents of all time, there are still so many small openings to take advantage of. You should take this opportunity to learn about yourself as a person.

This doesn’t mean you should overcommit though. Just because you have the opportunity to try something does not mean you have the obligation. It is too easy for the multitude of student organizations to take over your life.

So many times I have witnessed my friends pull an all-nighter because a club they are in took up their entire day. This is acceptable maybe once a month, but if it’s happening twice a week that means you need to reevaluate some things.

I have friends who constantly book themselves solid to the point where it begins to affect their academic performance. I can’t seem to connect with them or even find the time to grab coffee because their world of extracurricular activities has swallowed them whole. Everytime I see them, they have dark circles under their eyes and “can’t talk” because they have a meeting.

This mindset ties back into how students are taught that they should live to work. It is almost a given that every single hour of every single day can be filled with things to do. Having free time is looked down upon as many make it a competition to see how much less they sleep than their peers. Most people look at this lack of sleep as validation that they are working hard. More and more I am realizing that it is them improperly budgeting time.

When your work begins to become your life and take over your identity, it is time to take a step back. Don’t let the clubs you’re in completely define how you manage your time here at college. They are only fun when they remain a healthy diversion. They shouldn’t mean weeks of detrimental effects.

Dividing all of your time between a ton of different places is not even helpful in the long run. Your attention is so split between all of the different activities that most of the time all you can give is lip service. Making promises you can’t keep is not a good habit to get into.

Instead of joining every club or trying to be a part of every activity, focus on a few important ones. The one’s you care about the most, not those that just build your resume. As long as they don’t take up every waking hour of your time, these few will help you discover more about who you are and what you want to do.

It is important to find yourself — but you shouldn’t have to lose yourself in extracurriculars along the way.

Matt Cornock: Flickr

Let’s face it, co-op is the reason  we are all here.

You can’t beat job experience where you can learn hands-on secrets from people who have been in the industry for 10 years. We students at Drexel University naturally have a leg up on all the other college students because self-directed internships cannot even come close to the connections that Drexel students spend years accumulating.

But socially, co-op can have an adverse effect on us and our relationships.

Some students elect to stay on campus, but for others it is not a choice. Their co-ops are only offered in select areas throughout the country or perhaps outside of it. Students must pack up, secure their own housing, and leave behind their life and all their friends for six months.

This separation happens at one of the most difficult points in life. Students are just starting to branch out and find out who they really are outside of their parents and family. There is so much freedom and discovery that must be cut off. Sure, we are getting vital experience in how to be an adult, but we are skipping the crucial transition period.

For those lucky enough to get a co-op on campus, there is the constant dilemma of feeling like other people are at a different point in their lives. No homework means that you are constantly free after work even if no one else is. Instead of being able to commiserate during finals week, you feel like an outsider looking in.

The quarter system just serves to exacerbate the situation. Constant class followed by constant work. Many do not even get a break in between as some co-ops begin the Monday after finals week ends. If you are unlucky enough to be fall/winter, you miss an entire month of winter break because you have to work. I know that Drexel students are happy to be making money to offset some of the costs of education here, but it drives home the point that you aren’t a kid anymore.

The co-op process can be extremely stressful and time-consuming as well. We have to arrange transportation to various areas and arrive in a timely manner for interviews all while still attending class. There is no set time that Drexel sets aside for people to go to these interviews, so students are left to desperately try to find times that work. The constant barrage of midterms makes this demanding task that much harder.

Furthermore, getting the living situation covered is almost impossible with all the ambiguity that comes from co-op. You could be two hours away from campus or right on it and you won’t know early enough to sign a lease unless you are lucky enough to get a decent offer in A Round.

At the end of the day, though, co-op is a great opportunity for a lot of things. Drexel could smooth the process over a little bit, but I suppose that they expect the rough and tumble process to build character and force us to become adults.

We want to grow up, too — I just wish it didn’t have to happen all at once. It feels like we are leaving something behind that we can never get back.

ManhattanProject: Wikimedia

Public speaking might just be the greatest thing in the entire world.

I know that the instinctual response to a statement like this is to cringe and join another conversation, but I implore you – hear me out.

Public speaking is one of the best ways to feel alive.

For most people, getting up in front of an audience to present a PowerPoint or read a speech is akin to torture. No one wants to experience that mind-numbing terror that puts even the most basic human abilities firmly out of reach.

We stutter. We shake. We sweat.

Our hearts race as the adrenaline kicks in, our stomachs clench, and it takes everything in our power not to run away and hide. Most would rather write a five-page paper than address a crowded room from a stage for 15 minutes.

But the feelings I just described are among the most sought-after in the world. People line up for hours just to get their hearts racing and experience that terror that cancels out all the problems in the world. Some roller coasters have lines that seemingly stretch for miles just so people can experience one of the most universal fears: heights. The eventual fall feels like it will pull the world apart, yet when people step off, they’re usually smiles all around.

Crowds converge on theaters when the newest horror movie comes out. People clamor to pay for the privilege of feeling fear. The films promise heart-stopping suspense, and people love them.

Why is it that the same people avoid the completely free method of terror, one that is universally accessible?

If it is fear you want, simply stand up in a room and talk to people. Tired in a class? Ask a question that the entire room will hear and judge you for. It is a natural way to trip your fight-or-flight response.

Public speaking is even better than anything that man has contrived to play on our fears because it lacks a certain isolation. Roller coasters are comforting by comparison because you know that it will work the same whether you are on it or not. Horror movies will be the same no matter what you do, so they, too, lack the impetus to force you to perform.

Being the center of attention strips away any sense of anonymity. People see and judge you for every word that comes out of your mouth. You are branded by the first impressions of every person in the room. It is possibly the most vulnerable a person can be.

Such a big risk can only guarantee a bigger reward.

Nothing else in this world can hold a candle to the art of public speaking. Connecting to an audience is never easy, but in a world where our lives are defined by our trials, anything less feels empty.

Flickr: Rich Girard

With the fallout from this year’s election sprawled out on magazine after magazine, it is useful to look past what has happened and into the why. There are so many possibilities and reasons that the election went as it did, so it can be helpful to focus on one aspect at a time.

The problem began almost immediately when Donald Trump announced his intention to campaign. It almost seemed like a joke at the time, a publicity stunt. He had no political experience and was arguably not qualified for the job. But in an attempt to lend some interest to the dry debates, the media overstepped its bounds. They gave him hours of free coverage, coverage that would undoubtedly save him billions of dollars in advertising. CNN aired many of his speeches and rallies in their entirely instead of cutting around certain comments like they would normally. America was given its new obsession.

He had no political experience and was arguably not qualified for the job. But in an attempt to lend some interest to the dry debates, the media overstepped its bounds. They gave him hours of free coverage, coverage that would undoubtedly save him billions of dollars in advertising. CNN aired many of his speeches and rallies in their entirely instead of cutting around certain comments like they would normally. America was given its new obsession.

CNN aired many of his speeches and rallies in their entirely instead of cutting around certain comments like they would normally. America was given its new obsession.

It is fairly well-known that these mercurial trends normally fade after a brief window. Nobody cares any longer about the lady the proudly exclaimed “ain’t nobody got time for that” just as no one will care why Daniel constantly wore his white Vans. But given that type of entertainment opportunity to a reality star was too much. Giving Donald Trump media coverage was like giving Morgan Freeman a microphone; everyone is going to stop and listen. Hate him or love him, you listen.

But given that type of entertainment opportunity to a reality star was too much. Giving Donald Trump media coverage was like giving Morgan Freeman a microphone; everyone is going to stop and listen. Hate him or love him, you listen.

Hillary Clinton with all her experience was poised to take over on her record alone. But then the election was transformed from politics into reality television.

She knew how to talk to ambassadors and how to come off well to visiting heads of state, but all of these duties were not aired for more than a handful of minutes. She was not used to playing to an audience that actually had a vested interest and an attention span of any meaningful length of time. Her job was not interesting but she was good at it.

Contrasted against a man who can play with the spotlight as easily as with a deck of cards, Hillary stood very little chance of beating him out with charisma. Her knowledge of policy and vision for this country was sound, but she did not appeal to the voters the way that Trump did.

Many of you reading will think that I am saying a direct, “I knew this would happen,” but that could not be farther from the truth. Hindsight is not always 20/20 and we will be looking at this election for decades. It is impossible to deny that Trump has charisma, even if it did not appeal to you in the slightest.

The outcome was too close to call previous to the vote. Both candidates had their own strengths and weaknesses. The media placing Donald Trump center stage to perform his stand-up comedy routine succeeded in only giving him a pulpit from which to preach. The Oval Office is a much higher pinnacle, let us just hope that the solemnity of the position prevents any more grabs for popularity.

Photo courtesy American Campus Communities

College students, at our lowest moments, are uniquely exploitable. Every day there is another confusing lecture, another exam, another lab report that pushes us to our breaking points and beyond. If we have already put ourselves to the absolute limit of our endurance, it only takes the slightest of nudges to push us over the edge. A nudge that the housing organizations of Philadelphia are quite adept at giving.

Yes, the differing organizations that compete to house students are perhaps the worst perpetrators of this injustice. It has already started with this “priority leasing” period that looks like the only thing it gives priority to is cashing my checks. They make people fear that they will be left on the street somewhere, just so they can sign a couple more rooms. Any interaction with the American Campus Communities seems more like an attack than anything. They can rest assured though, Drexel backs them 100 percent with their policy that all sophomores live in campus approved housing.

This problem of over-advertising isn’t new; it has been around as long as I have gone here. My roommates and I originally signed our leases because there were “only four spots left” and we wanted to secure our housing. A couple months later, after we had taken these last few, the advertisement hadn’t changed. The lease increases also push people to make their decision out of desperation. We were told that all of the cheaper options were already taken but just a few months ago, I saw them being advertised again. Same sign, same deal..

That all being said, I am happy with where I live now in University Crossings. Having my own space in such a cluttered city is very much a blessing. There are so many convenient aspects that should be advertised, rather than to continue this guerrilla marketing scheme. If they were half as focused on improving the policies and facilities as they were on compelling people to sign up, the building would be packed.

I want to live in a place where everyone actually wants to be there. I love the location, I love the perks and I love that I can roll out of bed two minutes before an exam and still make it on time. I love living in a place where my friends are on the floors around me, able to hang out whenever we have time. Stop shoving your buildings down my throat, I’ve made my decision.

In college, the thing that students need most is someone to be there for them. We are constantly being taken advantage of through unavoidable textbook costs and the impossibly high cost of attendance. We are mugged for money that isn’t ours by companies that see us as only a target. The bottom line has become the bible that everyone worships. Even then, the recruitment rate probably looks as good on paper as the retention rate looks bad. If you want to truly appeal to our demographic, try being our friend ACC. Surprise us.

Wikimedia

“Vote, vote, vote” announces every politician, news channel and history professor.

Since deciding the leader of one of the most powerful democracies in the free world sounded pretty important, I decided to do just that. It wouldn’t be that hard; I would go home that Monday night and come back on Tuesday morning after casting my ballot. It seemed fairly simple to do even with the SEPTA strike on top of the usual train delays. Unless, of course, your professor decided to schedule a midterm at 8 a.m. on Election Day. Fine, no sweat — I’ll just get an absentee ballot.

Except for the fact that the whole absentee ballot system is about as transparent as a brick wall. Looking at all of the people that qualify for an absentee ballot necessitates going through a massive list of things that don’t concern you. It would be easier to say the people that do not need an absentee ballot. The whole process is much more difficult than just voting for your candidate in a booth, making it almost impossible for those that need one but do not have much time on their hands. Shockingly enough, the largest contributors to this group are college students and people in the military. You know, our future innovators and those that literally defend the very nation that propagates this inane system.

Maybe this is why other nations have such a larger voter turnout compared to the United States. It is so much more than that though. The lack of respect and understanding that the presidential election gets ensures that many who would otherwise cast a vote are unable to. It is a rare business that allows its employees even one hour to go cast their vote every two years. Not only do they usually not allow it, many will make you feel bad for even asking for it. The constant “live to work” culture that runs rampant in the United States is absolutely ridiculous, but that is a story for another day.

All of this is enough to make everyone wish that there was just a simple, painless solution that would make the problem go away. Fortunately for America, the rest of the world solved this long before the first modern democracy had even realized it was a problem. They just made it a public holiday or held it on a weekend and moved on. The fact that Columbus, a man who perpetrated a genocide, has his own holiday and Election Day doesn’t seems a little backwards.

With a day set aside, everyone would have nothing better to do than take a few minutes to cast their vote. Or, even better than that, just move the date to the weekend. Then no additional days off have been added and people still have the time to make their voices heard.

Are we so set in our ways that Election Day cannot be changed for the betterment of our future?

It seems that after every election, millions lament the low turnout and are quick to throw the blame around. No one ever really does anything about it though. This ambivalence in effecting real change speaks to the American character as surely as the low numbers do every election. If only 60 percent of the country care who runs it, then it would appear that we collectively fail as a nation.

Pet peeves are something that so many people make a big deal about even though they are, by definition, very small issues. Most are not something that someone should think twice about, but for a select few, I can jump on the bandwagon of mass hate. Most of the time, I try not to tell people that they are wrong for believing a certain thing, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but some people seem determined to be annoyed by the smallest things.

First off, I hate to break it to you girls, but guys who leave the toilet seat up aren’t as misguided as the members of the flat earth society. I don’t understand the concept behind this one (the toilet seat, not flat earth). Isn’t it just as inconvenient for us when you leave the seat down? Why not just agree to close the whole contraption so that everyone has to move it equally? Crisis averted. Feel free to discuss the real issues behind your failing relationship.

Some people get annoyed when others start their sentences with the word “again”, like they are somehow being demeaned. Again, word choice is just that: a choice. Try not to get upset at my use of the English language and relax. I am not being condescending to you, perhaps you should have paid attention the first time I told you.

Small spelling mistakes in text messages are another thing that people shouldn’t get so worked up about. We all try to type like we are grown adults, but sometimes our fingers have other ideas. Between autocorrect and user error, there should be some level of understanding out there. I know that my grammar isn’t perfect, but if you take the time to remind me of that with an entire text message, then perhaps we are better off as distant acquaintances. Come to think of it, having an adverse reaction to grammar Nazis is an absolutely justifiable pet peeve (shout out to copy editing).

This brings me to what pet peeves are acceptable to have a long, hard talk with someone about. I don’t care if you play your music out loud while walking or biking somewhere, but when you take public transportation, have some human decency. There are other people on this train who perhaps don’t agree with you playing death metal or whatever underground bands that you’ve “discovered”. It doesn’t help that it is on your terrible phone speakers, but even if that was some concert level quality and acoustics, put your headphones in. You are the reason that they were created.

But, more important than anything said so far, is to not allow these small issues ruin otherwise good relationships. Even those things that you feel so strongly about should not be so constantly in the way that they prevent you from living your life. I may hate the fact that my roommate sometimes talks on the phone in our bedroom when I am trying to sleep, but that doesn’t create a seed of resentment that will eventually result in me moving out. I know this just as I know that he gets equally annoyed with me at times. My alarm in the morning is literally an air raid siren. If that annoying quirk sits in the front of your mind and stops you from seeing the mountains of good inside a person, then you have a lot more issues to address.

Wikimedia: Tc terencec

Moving into my new apartment in University Crossings was a blessing. I felt about as excited as Harry Potter moving from his bed in the stairwell to his new room — except for the fact that Harry undoubtedly had a bigger place to start with than Millennium. The bedroom in University Crossings is massive and the living room is so big that we have absolutely no idea what to do with the extra space. The full kitchen is a nice touch, too. It has refrigerator so large no college student would ever hope to be able to stock it fully. I felt good for my first week there.

Laundry day hit without any big incidents in the new apartment (besides a noticeable lack of hot water, but that’s another story). For those who are unfamiliar with the University Crossings building, there are several laundry machines per floor with several dryers next to them. Oh yeah, and laundry is $1.75 per load. And then it’s $1.75 to dry. That’s a lot of money to spend week after week, so it is no surprise that I put it off to the point of desperation. After lugging my overstuffed basket down the hall and loading everything into a washer, I swiped my card and was met with beeping and the word “BAD”.  After several more swipes and a few more judgements on my life, the machine finally beeped in confirmation and displays “Conn”. I hit start. Nothing happened. Trying another only yielded the same result, and much to my frustration (and that of the two other people that share my plight) I could not seem to find out how to start it.

I called the number on the machine hoping for an answer, but after ten minutes of the most soul-shattering waiting music, the lady on the other end informed me that she didn’t know what “Conn” meant. Let that sink in. A company whose one, single job in this world is to rent out washing machines does not inform their workers of basic error messages. Apparently, a “technician” could come out and service the machine later that week. Fine.

My friends were no help. It seems that I am the only college student in this building who doesn’t have enough clothes to go three weeks without doing laundry. Other buildings that are run by the same company and have the same laundry system are both cheaper and working. Where did we go wrong? Finally, one hero informed me that the fifth floor machines work without a problem. For the first time this term, I did not have to plan my wardrobe around what was clean. Words cannot describe how satisfying it is to put on a clean pair of socks after days of using dress socks and soccer socks to offset my lack.

Words also cannot describe how infuriating it is to come back from doing laundry only to realize that I was charged $7.00 for a single load. Sighing, I picked up the phone again.

So University Crossings, if you are so committed squeezing out more money from college-kids, can you at least make sure your system works? Running a pyramid scheme is deplorable, but a non-functioning one is just sad.

Roberta Espinoza, associate professor of sociology, with students in the outdoor classroom south of the Grove House.

“Get involved” is probably the most common advice given to those who are college-bound. Unfortunately, like the advice “go to class,” this guidance is generally ignored and then forgotten. People intend to branch out and really find themselves, but by the end of week three, old habits rear their ugly head. They generally regress and go back to the familiar, using difficult classes and increased workload to excuse their apathetic attitudes. My recommendation to you then, to avoid this rut that has become your life, is simply “stay involved.”

If you have ever been part of a club for a long period of time, you know that the first meeting’s turnout is unreasonably high. Thirty people show up crowing for jobs and ideas, intermingling with the members. The next week, it will be a little less, until by the fourth meeting only four people are left. Trust me, you want to be those people. The perks are incredible.

Currently, because of my association with certain clubs, I can: get into One Drexel Plaza at any hour by scanning my ID; get free dinner about three nights a week; have access to a machine shop for engineering projects and miscellaneous ideas; and get as many free cups, notebooks and t-shirts as my heart desires. All of this because I turn out like clockwork and put in a few hours a week.

Having a support structure made up of club members is another invaluable aspect. Many will be upperclassmen who know everything there is to know about their respective majors and are willing to impart some of this wisdom for the cost of an hour’s time. Friends with apartments also make it easy to crash on a couch while on co-op or whenever you happen to be visiting the city. More people means more perspectives means more ideas. You can meet friends of all different majors and backgrounds, networking even as you build your resume to a previously unattainable level.

The experience that you get while being thrown into things is another perk. As a result of writing regularly for this newspaper, I can whip up a six-page engineering design brief in three hours flat. Not a half-done paragraph with more errors than you can imagine; I’m talking “A” material. I have learned more about cars in college than I had ever learned anywhere else thanks to the Formula teams here on campus. And these are just two such clubs; Drexel has hundreds to choose from that are just as good.

So make a commitment and more importantly, follow up with it. The world doesn’t need more quitters, and you don’t want to fall into that category. Once you get through this first year you will get to experience the best feeling in the world: no longer being the new guy. Next year, with the influx of freshmen once again, you can sit back with your friends and generally feel a bit superior. You get to be the role model now.