Leaning against my register, I watched customers scurry throughout the store violently tossing items into their shopping carts. As their carts filled with useless products, I was filled with disgust.

I became accustomed to having to work on holidays and didn’t think there was reason to complain when I was making time and a half, but this Fourth of July, I realized how amiss it was for me to be working a meaningless cashier job on one of the most important days of the year for our country.

I never thought twice about giving up my holiday because I was distracted by the thought of a bigger paycheck. I was disappointed that I had allowed myself to fall into the materialistic abyss consuming America. On a larger scale, I was disappointed in America.

Holidays are becoming less remarkable as materialism once again gets in the way. As days of the year put aside for celebration with loved ones, we disrespect the true meaning of holidays when we ditch the festivities to do last minute grocery shopping or to hunt for deals often associated with these special occasions.

Instead of allotting holiday time for family matters, many of us waste our time shopping, when stores shouldn’t be open in the first place. Workers are forced to come in on these days and nobody should have to give up a holiday to work.

Throughout the years, every time I’d announce that I was scheduled to work on a holiday, my parents would make the same sentimental comment every time about how when they were young, stores were never open on holidays. I would just roll my eyes, annoyed by the repetition of their words, but I now realize how ridiculous it is to keep places open. It should be national law to keep stores closed on holidays to respect the meaning of the holiday itself and to also respect the workers that are typically stuck working away from their loved ones.

They had the right idea in my parents’ era. Now, we whine and moan if a store isn’t open on a holiday. We expect every grocery store and clothing store to open for at least a part of the day and even worse, we hope they give us good holiday deals.

Thanksgiving is cut short as we head out to do some Black Friday shopping. Most people don’t even know what Memorial Day is; all they know is it is accompanied by great deals. Most recently, we were all looking out for those good old Fourth of July sales. The meaning behind these holidays is constantly undermined by our obsession with acquiring new possessions. We should spend our Thanksgivings eating good food with good family and friends and not crowding into the local mall packed like sardines to save a few bucks. We should spend our Memorial Day honoring those who died serving for us and not use the weekend as an excuse to fill our closets. And our Fourth of July should have been spent celebrating America’s independence; not celebrating the good deals we found.

We use any excuse we can to shop. Even if we choose not to celebrate or don’t believe in a certain holiday, it’s not fair to expect workers who do enjoy that particular holiday to spend their time working. Although we need certain types of workers like doctors to give up their holidays, grocery stores, restaurants, clothing stores and other department stores should all close on holidays and deals can be offered on other days of the year.

Let’s prioritize holidays how they used to be instead of prioritizing the deals associated with them. These special days only come once a year, while deals pop up time and again. In addition to giving meaning back to holidays, we need to give the holiday back to the worker. Keep holidays special; stay in for the day.

The post Holidays: mind over materialism appeared first on The Triangle.

These past few months, there has been a fixation on voting as the prime mode of civic engagement, but voting isn’t the only activity that generates our civic pathway. Voting is considered the most important form of participation, but getting involved directly through volunteering is far more beneficial and leads to more change than simply pressing a button inside of a curtained booth. With thousands of organizations on and surrounding Drexel’s campus, students should prioritize this mode of engagement.

When I tell Philadelphia locals that I go to Drexel, they always roll their eyes and assert that Drexel students live in a bubble and are afraid to venture out from the safety of the campus into the rest of Philadelphia. In the past, when I would get this response, I’d immediately get defensive about it and argue that my peers and I were in fact sensitive to the larger community beyond the confines of the campus.

Of recent, it has dawned on me that many students are in fact trapped in a bubble. In this bustling city of over 1.5 million people, most students at our school do in fact stay confined to the 77 acres of campus.

Drexel encourages students to become civically engaged and forces freshmen to take a dreaded Civic 101 class. I took that class last quarter and adored it, but heard nothing but complaints about it. “Being forced to volunteer ruins the whole point,” I’d hear spiteful classmates endlessly grumble.

But why do we have to be “forced” to volunteer to begin with? We shouldn’t have to set aside a course to remind us to do something we should already be doing.

Living in the city, we are surrounded by endless opportunities and it is time we get involved with the many civic engagement programs that operate in the city. Food drives, city clean-ups, gardening, planting trees – the list goes on and on, almost as long as my peers’ complaints about volunteering.

Though Drexel represents a wealthy population, we share our city with many people who are less fortunate than we are. If you want to be a true citizen of Philadelphia, break away from the campus and get to know your neighbors.

Everyone, even the busiest students with 20 credits and a job can make time to volunteer. It is simple to remove something nominal from your schedule to make time for service. That sweaty frat party or greasy trip to Shake Shack can easily be given up. Spending an hour helping people is far more rewarding than sloppy dancing or an upset stomach.

Not all places seek big commitments and can greatly benefit from just an hour or two of your time a month. What is wrong with a big commitment anyway? Find something you’re passionate about and make a difference; that is what life is all about. Whether it’s animals or kids or nature or helping the homeless, there is truly a cause for each unique individual.

In the end, it’s a win-win situation for all. You are happy, the organization is happy, and the people helped by the organization are happy.

So why do we still view volunteering as a negative thing? Why do we moan and sigh every time we hear about service? Volunteering isn’t a chore, and if it is to you, then you haven’t found the right place to volunteer at yet. Break out of the bubble.

Youtube: ARMdevices.net

The post Break out of the campus bubble appeared first on The Triangle.

Edward Sharpe played an intimate show at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia April 2.

Los Angeles-based Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros brought distinctive indie folk to Philadelphia April 2 at the renowned World Cafe Live. Frontman Alex Ebert filled the club with unbounded passion, generating a profoundly emotional night.

The show sold out quickly and it is clear why the group is so adored. Though Jade Castrinos, singer and ex-girlfriend of Ebert, recently left the band, the current members delivered a strong show without her. Ebert was backed by nine other talented musicians, complete with a tambourine, tuba, trumpet, double bass and a beautifully executed piano.

The revolving membership of the band, inspired by the hippie movement, classifies the band as widely eccentric and incomparable to other folk shows. The evening highlighted the originality of the group from the beginning, as two of the members invited local talent onto the stage as the opener. Asking for anyone with musical ability, they summoned five volunteers to the platform. The result was incredible.

Though the first act ended up not performing, the four other local musicians left the audience speechless. From a country-inspired songwriter and guitarist to a poignant piano performance, the amount of talent before the audience was astonishing. Only Edward Sharpe would divert from a typical opener to create something far more outstanding.

Ebert impressed the crowd further with many new songs that will be featured on the band’s upcoming album. Though the crowd hoped for familiar tunes like the infamous “Home” and “I Don’t Want to Pray,” the band surprised the audience with almost all new songs, though it is understandable because the former member Castrinos was showcased in all of the popular hits.

The band played a few fan-favorites like “Free Stuff” and “Hot Coals,” but some songs were so new that Ebert needed to read the lyrics off a tattered sheet of paper. The most memorable song of the night brought tears to Ebert as it recounted a love story, possibly about Castrinos. Although the setlist for the night was slightly disappointing, Ebert made up for it through this single song and his stage presence in general.

Less than a foot away from fans, Ebert spent most of the night sitting on speakers directly in front of the stage. With a glass of wine in his hand and a trench coat that flowed to the stage floor, he casually connected with his fans, constantly telling them how much he loved them. He dashed across the front throughout the show, grabbing the hands of screaming admirers. At one point, he pulled a girl on stage and let her dance wildly through an entire song.

During informal chatter, Ebert casually sipped his wine and continuously slicked back his wild mane, showing off the flowered bracelet on his wrist that he explained was from a fan from his last show.

Although the show was executed casually as if no thought went into it, the performance was flawless. Fitting the ten members onto the petite stage appeared unorganized, but they were incredibly coordinated throughout the night. Exchanging sustained smiles and laughs, the band had almost as much fun performing as the crowd had watching.

Unfortunately, the show ended rather quickly with no encore, lasting only a little over an hour.

It has been difficult for the band to adapt without Castrinos, and Ebert has clearly been left heartbroken, but their separation has strengthened Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, leaving Ebert with even more to say through his beautifully written songs. The level of emotion in the venue was high and it left the audience with a night they will never forget.

The post Edward Sharpe plays sold out show at World Cafe Live appeared first on The Triangle.

Flickr: Roger H. Goun (Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic)

Growing up, I constantly stressed about finding a career path. What could I see myself doing for the rest of my life? What would make me the happiest? My uneasiness was always soothed by my parents and teachers who would mutter the typical, “Oh, just follow your heart! Do what you love!” So, that’s what I did.

My whole life, I dreamt of being an investigative journalist, so naturally, I majored in communication. Yet, the whole “do what you love” slogan comes back to haunt me as I deal with criticism regarding my major on a daily basis.

I’m always nervous to strike up a conversation with someone for the first time, dreading that moment where I confidently announce my plan in life only to be crushed by the old, “Why aren’t you an engineer? Isn’t that what Drexel is for?” Trying to come up with cool things to say to impress the person, I rattle off jobs I could get with the broadness of my major and the experience I am currently getting, only to be presented with something along the lines of, “So like, are you just okay with the fact that you’re not going to make money?”

I still remember my seventh grade teacher in my “Futures” Class — the class where your 13-year old self had to pinpoint career opportunities you could envision yourself spending the rest of your life doing. I proudly declared I would love to be a journalist, only to hear my teacher respond with giggles, urging me to choose a job where I would “actually make money.” Stunned, I told her I couldn’t think of anything else that would make me happy.

Family members advised me to go into the medical profession. Teachers encouraged me to attend law school. Customers at work would tell me it was clearly logical to become an engineer. There’s one thing that all of these jobs had in common: presumably high salaries. I guess what I should have been told is “follow the dollar signs.”

I spent all of high school trying to unveil some superlative career I could spend the rest of my life doing, but after thorough research and extensive over-thinking, each time I would realize that it wasn’t for me. The only thing that was ‘for me’ was doing what I loved: writing.

Words move me. There’s no better way for me to express myself than allowing my thoughts to flow from my head onto paper like paint onto a canvas. I adore adventure. People. Communicating. Uncovering scandal. So why would I toss these passions away to pick up a stethoscope or a pair of pliers? A worn-down pencil and a notebook are the only tools I’ll ever need.  

I am told day after day that journalists are “weak” and that I am representing a dying art. If this art is so dead then how are we so aware of the world around us? Until there are no more scandals in society and until world peace occurs, journalism will not be dead. It will live on, just as truth and integrity will.

Constantly being told that I made the wrong decision only fuels me to try harder to prove that I have absolutely, completely, entirely made the right decision to major in communication. The more I am doubted, the more motivated I become. The more blank looks I get when I tell people my major, the more I want to write. My heart still stops every time somebody laughs at my decision, but every time, the words sting a little less. I laugh back and tell them to look for me in the New York Times in a few years. Even if I can’t get that far, I’ll still be happy doing what I love for the rest of my life. It’s more important for me to do something I love wholeheartedly and be tight on money than to take on a career I hate to have things that I don’t need.

Money isn’t what I am after — I am searching for happiness. I dream of a world where it’s cool to say you are studying communications, but for now, my goal is to show people how cool it is. Don’t follow the money, follow your dreams.

The post Success isn’t measured in dollar signs appeared first on The Triangle.