Much can be said for what one might expect when first coming to college. I know I was often told that college was supposed to be fun. Literally almost every person I talked to about college said that I was going to have so much fun and that these four years would be the best of my life.

If only they could have warned me that the best moments were limited, if only, by your own obligation.

Take for instance my social life. My social life has decreased to an almost zero since coming here. Which is hilarious since I can vividly recall being told that I will meet some of my closest friends here. Friends? Who has time for those anymore? College consists of three components: schoolwork, sleep and a social life. The amount of hours in the day only grant you time for two of the three. You can manage to get all your schoolwork done and have an amazing social life, but no sleep. You can disregard schoolwork and maintain an active social life while still getting a balanced sleep schedule, or you get all your schoolwork done, sleep and kiss goodbye whatever chance you had at being social.

Unfortunately for me, I chose the latter. Which was only debatably a smart choice. It seems that I always have something to do. At least in high school, I could breathe. Nowadays it feels as though I’ve had the breath sucked out of me. Counting the hours till deadlines rather than days, and months until the end of the semester rather than weeks until the end of the term. And even after an assignment has been finished and submitted, it’s never over. I find myself placed on a level of stress that’s too high to get down from.

It’s almost as if the idea of college has been highly romanticized within media and film, and therefore, falsely advertised to high school students… I’m sorry did I say almost? I meant college has been highly romanticized and it’s all a lie, people.

Another change has been how terribly difficult it is to get a job. Granted I don’t have a lot of experience, but I do have some good qualities. Besides, isn’t it true that we all have to start somewhere? Even despite that, I never expected job hunting to be what it is: the freaking Hunger Games. I went to career fair after career fair looking for positions who wouldn’t necessarily toss me aside at first look, looked through list after list of hiring businesses, filled out applications until my hand could no longer move and was falsely led to believe that an interview went well enough for me to get hired. There was always someone better, and always a lovely email saying how I was a great candidate, but not quite what they were looking for.

On top of all that, there’s the whole “big world, little me” thing going on here. Being in a lecture full of 500 students can really put a drag on the whole, teacher-student relationship thing. Coming from a small town, I got used to people knowing my name. Now all I can hope is that when I approach my professor after class that he’ll at least realize that I’m in it. High schoolers can say good-bye to friendly conversations outside of class.

Don’t get me wrong, the whole experience has been great, new and exciting. People were telling the truth when they said that I would make so many new friends; I swear I shook so many hands that the action lost meaning, heard so many names I stopped remembering who each one belonged to and gazed upon so many different faces that nowadays, I often find myself randomly staring at the person across the street with a puzzled look on my face, trying to figure out where I know them from. So, if you ever happen to notice that one weird girl who won’t stop staring, I apologize, I’m just 98% sure I remember you from somewhere.

Ballet has been around since the late 15th century where it first originated in Italy. From there, the art form took off and found its way around the world through different cultures. The beauty of ballet transfixes people every day and manages to excite largely diverse populations. However ballet is not simply stagnant and classic. Approaches to ballet are always progressing and changing, never quite staying in the same rigid form that many might assume.

Take The Rite of Spring from 1913. This particular production sent an uproar among critics due to its utter lack of traditionalism. Vaslar Nijinsky’s contemporary approach to the beloved art form shocked audiences at the time. His unique choreography is something of a wonder, but not unusual in current contemporary ballets. Watching this style of ballet is educational towards the constant innovation of the art form and manipulation of the “rules” of ballet.

Brad Garner, an associate professor of dance at the University of Oregon, mentioned his first introduction to such teachings. He had taken a class with Zvi Gotheiner in New York City.

“It was very non-traditional – contemporary, and it really inspired me,” Garner said.

Within Garner’s classroom there are multiple non-traditional approaches to teaching the art form. Garner uses techniques such as spine articulation, truly exploring the weight of the limbs and extreme tempo changes in order to instill a greater understanding of the movement within his students.

My personal favorite technique that Garner uses is breaking in and out of alignment. Dancers are enlightened to the relationship between the two; rather than having a simple proper-improper technical relationship, dancers develop a proper-transitional-improper relationship. Traditionally there is a right and a wrong way, but there is also the experimental way that doesn’t quite fit classic structure, and isn’t wrong either. I find this important because knowing the body and its artistic capabilities is invaluable for a dancer.

Of course there are common beliefs about ballet nowadays, one being that ballet was made for and only accepts certain body types. However this “dancer’s body” trend has only recently been followed.

Iconic choreographer George Balanchine brought the trend to life during his career due to his idealistic vision of what a ballerina’s body should look like. This phenomenon does not define ballet and of course should not discourage or exclude body types.

“Ballet is for everybody, not just certain bodies,” Garner said.

Limitations are only of the physical kind when it comes to dance. How your body was made – the structure of your pelvis, the flexibility of particular muscles and natural proportions are all important in understanding one’s personal limitations. What someone’s body looks like can only add to the art, rather than detract from it. Embracing a dancer’s body is embracing the art form.

One cannot ignore the classicism that is ballet. Most mean well when saying that ballet is a traditional or classical art form, but somehow these terms have led others astray in their understanding of what ballet is. Ballet – as old as it is – is constantly changing. It is being taught and learned in artistic, unique ways. Keeping up the tradition should not limit dancers and choreographers.

“You have to realize that when [ballet] emerged, it was contemporary,” Garner said. “Even though now it is classical, the people who started it were breaking ground. I don’t see why we can’t continue that.”

Art of any kind should not be limited by what has been done, but only limited by the imagination of what could be and is yet to be done.

In Garner’s classes he is constantly telling students to smile and relax, to allow the dancers to enjoy what their bodies are capable of. There should be a degree of happiness when dancing, the dancers are literally the art that makes dance. No matter how traditional or contemporary the choreography might be, ballet has the capability to be both and should not be limited to one in the eyes if those enjoying it.

Everyone had that one friend in grade school that they lost over something silly. Whether it was stealing your best friend, cheating in four square or snitching on you to the teacher, we have all dealt with the struggle of forgiving someone from an early age. Now dealing with new friendships in college, I realize it hasn’t gotten any less complicated.

People seem unable to let things go and move on. After being treated wrongfully or unfairly, it is easy to hold onto a grudge.

We tend to hold grudges because negative experiences stick in our memory more so than positive ones. When someone has wronged you, what they did to you for the rest of the day. Holding grudges often seems simpler than forgiving, but it can cost us.

Having a grudge against a particular brand, store or product may cause someone to go out of their way to avoid buying from them, even if it means spending more money. The grudge may have been a result of a small insult, but people are willing to pay those costs in order to prove a point. Grudges can take a lot of energy and close off opportunities for however long someone is willing to hold onto them.

When it comes to personal interactions, maintaining a grudge is avoiding interaction with the person who wronged you.

“We hold a grudge from a distance,” said psychology professor Dr. Sara Hodges. “Coordinating with someone makes it difficult to maintain a grudge as there are other tasks to focus on.”

When the opportunity presents itself to allow a person to disassociate from the offender, grudges can be held for an endless amount of time. Ever heard of those crazy people that haven’t let go of their grudges for years on end? Many of them have probably never given the person their holding a grudge against a chance to redeem themselves.

A main reason that grudges are held for such a long period of time is because grudges are a way of defining ourselves. If we uphold certain values, holding grudges against those who don’t have the same values would theoretically present us as highly dedicated to them. Unfortunately, all that that’s done for people is gotten them called out for being close-minded.

“A strong motivating factor [for grudges] is group identity. We want to present ourselves in the best light possible, a grudge can be based on supporting the in-group,” said Dr. Hodges.

For the average person, social reputation is important. Once the grudge is made public, you are held to consistency in order to maintain the image. Breaking from your stated values can cause others to view you as hypocritical and discredit whatever authority you’ve obtained within the group. However, the most effective way to prove your loyalty to certain beliefs would probably be to lead by example.

Grudges are simply best left in your rear view mirror. There are too many things to worry about in our lives than whether someone wronged you.

Although forgiveness is ideal in the end, simply letting go those feelings of resentment is the easiest way to start burying a grudge. Try to approach the person you’ve so well avoided. People change over time, they learn and they grow and they treat people differently.

If it turns out you still don’t like the person – no one ever said you had to be friends, but allowing yourself to stop feeling resentful towards someone else is beneficial to you, not them. Having a grudge affects the person holding it, not the person it’s held against.

Although no one enjoys being wrong, it is important to be able to admit it to yourself because you’re the one person who truly matters.

Burying a grudge is going to be difficult, but it’s a process that must take place in order to heal. Moving on isn’t going to change your identity or your character. You can still be the person you see yourself as, without resenting someone else in order to do so.

I recently encountered a story on KOIN 6 news that stated that an article about an earthquake had created a frenzy on social media. The article talked of an “event” in the Cascadia Subduction Zone and, after getting thousands of retweets and shares, caused people to panic that a big earthquake had struck in the Pacific Ocean.

The article turned out to be false and there was nothing to worry about for the time being, but many people took this article as fact and shared it without giving it a second thought. Instances like this happen all the time on the Internet when anyone with a computer can post anything and call it the truth.

When I checked out the false article by SuperStation95, immediately upon loading there were ads all over the page and it was constantly prompting me to refresh. This would have been my first signal that it was clearly a not a reliable source.

As I continued to read, I could tell how this website had sent tons of people into a fear-craze. The article claimed that there had been a recent drop in sea level off the Oregon coast, and that this meant that the Juan de Fuca fault line had slipped underneath the North American fault line which in turn, would bring about an earthquake.

Although there were no authoritative sources, the information along with maps and other graphics looked pretty legit, but all it took was a quick fact check to clarify what was being said. Looking back through KOIN 6 news, one could see they had interviewed a Portland meteorologist and received a statement from that National Weather Service. Both sources claimed that drops like these were normal fluctuations that happen multiple times a day.

Clearly, you can’t believe everything you hear, see or read. Of course there are always ways to sniff out the reliable sources from the unreliable ones. Many Internet users are either just too lazy to do any real research or don’t know how to clarify what kind of sites are trustworthy.

This was not the first time this kind of thing had happened. Several reports are made every year about things that supposedly happened, but just turned out to be completely false. Esquire posted a list of the worst Internet hoaxes of 2015 and the Washington Post shows the worst from 2014. Some of these rumors were simply fueled by false reports on social media, but others were started by fake news sites.

While there are many fake news sites, it is important to know which sites are meant to be satirical and which are just trying to get views by being misleading. Some of the more popular satirical sites that you can count as unreliable are The Onion, Private Eye, The Daily Currant, CAP News and The National Report.

These websites are credited as reliable sources everyday by diverse groups of people, but they are known satirical news sites. Constantly people fall victim to their lack of fact checking and believe false news.

When checking the credibility of a news website, you have to first ensure who the speaker is. Make sure there is credit given to some sort of author and not just to the entire “newsroom.” Any real newsroom producing accurate content will have the author, or authors, specified for accountability.

Make sure that the “facts” aren’t just being thrown around. When reading articles you should be able to see where the facts are coming. Direct quotes from authoritative sources and links to outside research are good signs of reliability.

In this age, anything can essentially be placed on the internet whether it be true or false, but that doesn’t mean that you have to fall into any traps or internet schemes. If you surf online as a fully-armed fact finder, sniffing out true information won’t be so hard.

I’d never given much thought to what it takes to feel at home. Truly, I’d never really been the kind of person who was into interior decoration. Even my room at my parent’s house has very little on the walls: a couple small posters and a few plaques are all the personality that decorates my room.

When I came to college, I didn’t bring anything to decorate my walls because there didn’t seem to be any point. I wasn’t about to forget my interests, my friends or family, and I wasn’t about to take the time to make my own wall attachments when really the most important thing to me here was my education. I left my wall blank. For months I had absolutely no problem with it, until my sister finally gifted me a large poster and some lights and told me, “You’re putting them up!” So I did as I was told and I have to say, I really like it.

I won’t ever personally admit it to my sister, but it got me thinking about how the lack of personalization in both of my rooms has affected me without my realizing. To personalize your room is to place yourself in a position others can easily read from; it takes a certain amount of confidence and self-security to place not only your personality, but your attitude and interests on a wall for everyone to see. For many people that can be done without a second thought, for others it’s a bit more difficult. To those who tread a bit more careful than the rest, I say this: Your room is one of the most private spaces that you have, and you should certainly be able to say what you want in it without worry.

I have neglected to decorate my room for too many years, but putting up my new decorations gave me a different perspective on the whole idea. Myself being a very expressive person (meaning I have multiple outlets through which to express myself), I was super excited to have something on my wall that completely nailed a large part of who I was. It was a way of telling people something without having to say it. While this concept probably seems obvious, it still took putting a poster up to make me understand.

Yes, I have a freak flag, it’s purple and I don’t care if people see it. I think that everyone should be able to feel this way. We shouldn’t have to hide who we are in our own rooms, that’s where we should be the most free! Walking into my room you can see that I love kids, because I have a poster of first graders who wrote, “Thank you Miss Malyssa” on it.

I can only imagine, that after hearing me prattle on about it, you must be thinking about your own room. What does it look like? I can’t help but encourage you to consider personalizing it – if you haven’t already. It can make you feel more comfortable and at ease when your personal space is a place of expression. Your room should be an extension of your personality where you can show off whatever you want and be whoever you want. So be yourself when you’re there, even if it’s the only place you can be you. And remember, nobody really has to like your room except you, that’s the beauty of it.

Ah, the glorified winter break is here. The one time in the school year that everyone looks forward to, simply because the stress would kill us without it. There can’t be anything more reviving than being able to stay home, especially if you happen to live in the dorms like I do. Without the added work of school to go along with it, there are many things about home that happen to be beautifully complimentary. I mean even though family members can get on your last nerve you sometimes they can still light up your day just by being around. The family time and festivities are fun, but the best thing about being on break is being able to sleep in my own bed.

My bed in college has summed up to be a back breaker in the making. Honestly the amount of back issues that have come up since my going to school is unreal. So in theory, being able to come home and cozy up in my bigger, softer bed should help my spine, but in reality it has solved other previous problems as well.

The fact that it’s actually quiet when I go to bed, and that the hallway lights can be turned off is miraculous. Sleeping in my own bed has turned out to be something close to a holiday miracle, the greatest gift of them all. In fact when my mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I told her I wanted Excedrin Migraine. That didn’t exactly blow over well. Long story short, she ended up buying me the Excedrin and tricking a list out of me anyway.

Many may say that the best thing about a holiday break from school is the lack of stress, but if you ask me, the holidays are actually one of the most stressful times of the year. Especially if you’re someone like me and you find random things to stress about for the benefit of no one. On top of keeping up with usual responsibilities there are so many factors during the holidays that can make anyone’s stress levels rise. Many people have to run around giving rides to relatives that are visiting, make sure everything at the house is set up for said relatives to stay and go to the grocery store for something almost everyday.

At this point it doesn’t matter that I have been out of school for almost a whole month, I have still been stressing because unfortunately there will always be things to stress about. Being able to lay down in my own bed after a hard day of life has been extremely gratifying these last few weeks.

Now I won’t lie, the close second to having my own bed would be the food. Being able to eat home-cooked meals again is simply amazing. When I’m at school and I miss home, I tell myself it’s because I miss the food, which makes things easier since then I don’t have to cope with the fact that I’m avrually homesick. I can just focus on simply one aspect: the food. Then, of course, I come home and eat as many home-cooked meals as I possibly can, many of which are promptly followed by a food coma in the best spot in the house: my bed.

When it comes to visiting home for the holidays, it just so happens that, the best thing that could possibly happen to me is having the chance to sleep in my comfortable bed.