Magazine Spread
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A WORD FROM THE EDITOR As a recent college graduate (woo hoo!), I’d like to think that I understand the value of higher education – even though I feel as though I will be paying off my student loans for all of eternity. A co-worker once quoted one of his professors to me: “The value of your education is such that the monthly cost of your student loans will feel only like a mosquito bite.” My co-worker begged to differ, saying that his monthly student loan repayment feels more like a slap in the face, one that he can’t reciprocate. While I have a little more time before I will be forced to succumb to this monthly blow, and I realize that my enslavement to these payments will be far longer than I’d prefer, it’s also easy for me to recognize the intrinsic (and monetary) value of the experience I received in college. What’s more, I probably learned as much, or more, from interactions outside the physical bounds of my university’s classrooms. One of those valuable lessons began before I even set foot on campus. Usually, when you’re figuring out housing for your first year of college, it doesn’t get more complicated than checking a box that indicates in which dorm you want to live. Then you’re assigned a random roommate who, if you’re lucky, won’t blare rap music at three in the morning or have her boyfriend practically move into the 10-feet by 10-feet room you share. I chose to make the process more complicated by requesting a specific roommate. My dad and my proposed roommate Rachael’s dad had gone to college together and thought that setting up their daughters as roommates would be a great idea. At first, I wasn’t convinced. I thought I wanted a “real” freshman experience, complete with unpredictability and chance – would my roommate shower regularly? Would she have an unquenchable passion for Pokémon cards? But, against what I thought was my better judgment, I begrudgingly agreed to request Rachael as my roommate. Luckily for me, my dad has better taste in friends than he does in clothes, and Rachael and I hit it off. We bonded over the fact that neither of us was thoroughly pumped about having to move away from home, and we hated that the first week of college life felt like summer camp. Our bond grew stronger as her dad, who had been diagnosed with cancer the previous year, grew sicker. I tried to be there for her as she balanced the intensity of classes and transitions with the pull to be at home with her parents and three younger siblings. I listened when she needed to vent about the profound level of stress she constantly felt. And I cried with her when the doctors gave her dad less than a week to live. Even though I was supposed to be the calm, rational one who provided words of wisdom and insight into why such a horrible thing was happening, I learned more from Rachael than I ever taught her. She embodies what it means to be selfless, and her emotional strength surpasses anyone her age. I count myself blessed to call her my friend. She’s got moxie. In this issue, we’re featuring many women of moxie, women who’ve learned invaluable lessons in all arenas of life, from classrooms and family members, to hard life circumstances and those with more life experience. We’ll offer stories of women pushing to see their passions spread in “Ladies of Literature” and “Dreaming of (and Working for) a Cure.” We’re even giving you a chance to learn a little about graphic design in, “Illustrate Your Life,” and providing you some tips on how to turn your hula hoop into an exercise machine (check out “Wanna Hoop?”). As I watch my younger siblings and many of Alive’s interns prepare themselves for the demands of another school year, I both envy and pity them. I know my pool of knowledge would be greatly diminished without the experiences I have had in classrooms in middle school, high school and college, but I also know that I’ve begun to learn things in a very different way as I slog through the messiness of life after traditional education. So treasure the education you receive every day, whether it be through interacting with the older and wiser, picking up a book that will broaden your perspectives or listening to a lecture in what sometimes feels like a confined classroom. In the end, knowledge really is infinite, and the value of the traditional and nontraditional education you receive is one on which you truly can’t put a price tag. I PROBABLY LEARNED AS MUCH, OR MORE, FROM INTERACTIONS OUTSIDE THE PHYSICAL BOUNDS OF MY UNIVERSITY’S CLASS I ALSO KNOW THAT I’VE BEGUN TO LEARN THINGS IN A VERY DIFFERENT WAY AS I PLOD THROUGH THE MESSINESS OF LIFE AFTER TRADITIONAL EDUCATION. I THOUGHT I WANTED A ‘REAL’ FRESHMAN EXPERIENCE, COMPLETE WITH UNPREDICTABILITY AND CHANCE – WOULD MY ROOMMATE SHOWER REGULARLY? WOULD SHE HAVE AN UNQUENCHABLE PASSION FOR POKÉMON CARDS? Chock Full of Moxie Chock Full of Moxie 2 3
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Transcript of Magazine Spread
A WORD FROM THE EDITOR
As a recent college graduate (woo hoo!), I’d like to think that I understand the value of higher education – even though I feel as though I will be paying off my student loans for all of eternity. A co-worker once quoted one of his professors to me: “The value of your education is such that the monthly cost of your student loans will feel only like a mosquito bite.” My co-worker begged to differ, saying that his monthly student loan repayment feels more like a slap in the face, one that he can’t reciprocate.
While I have a little more time before I will be forced to succumb to this monthly blow, and I realize that my enslavement to these payments will be far longer than I’d prefer, it’s also easy for me to recognize the intrinsic (and monetary) value of the experience I received in college. What’s more, I probably learned as much, or more, from interactions outside the physical bounds of my university’s classrooms.
One of those valuable lessons began before I even set foot on campus. Usually, when you’re fi guring out housing for your fi rst year of college, it doesn’t get more complicated than checking a box that indicates in which dorm you want to live. Then you’re assigned a random roommate who, if you’re lucky, won’t blare rap music at three in the morning or have her boyfriend practically move into the 10-feet by 10-feet room you share.
I chose to make the process more complicated by requesting a specifi c roommate. My dad and my proposed roommate Rachael’s dad had gone to college together and thought that setting up their daughters as roommates would be a great idea.
At fi rst, I wasn’t convinced. I thought I wanted a “real” freshman experience, complete with unpredictability and chance – would my roommate shower regularly? Would she have an unquenchable passion for Pokémon cards? But, against what I thought was my better judgment, I begrudgingly agreed to request Rachael as my roommate.
Luckily for me, my dad has better taste in friends than he does in clothes, and Rachael and I hit it off. We bonded over the fact that neither of us was thoroughly pumped about having to move away from home, and we hated that the fi rst week of college life felt like summer camp.
Our bond grew stronger as her dad, who had been diagnosed with cancer the previous year, grew sicker. I tried to be there for her as she balanced the intensity of classes and transitions with the pull to be at home with her parents and three younger siblings. I listened when she needed to vent about the profound level of stress she constantly felt. And I cried with her when the doctors gave her dad less than a week to live.
Even though I was supposed to be the calm, rational one who provided words of wisdom and insight into why such a horrible thing was happening, I learned more from Rachael than I ever taught her. She embodies what it means to be selfl ess, and her emotional strength surpasses anyone her age. I count myself blessed to call her my friend. She’s got moxie.
In this issue, we’re featuring many women of moxie, women who’ve learned invaluable lessons in all arenas of life, from classrooms and family members, to hard life circumstances and those with more lifeexperience. We’ll offer stories of women pushing to see their passions spread in “Ladies of Literature” and “Dreaming of (and Working for) a Cure.” We’re even giving you a chance to learn a little about graphic design in, “Illustrate Your Life,” and providing you some tips on how to turn your hula hoop into an exercise machine (check out “Wanna Hoop?”).
As I watch my younger siblings and many of Alive’s interns prepare themselves for the demands of another school year, I both envy and pity them. I know my pool of knowledge would be greatly diminished without the experiences I have had in classrooms in middle school, high school and college, but I also know that I’ve begun to learn things in a very different way as I slog through the messiness of life after traditional education.
So treasure the education you receive every day, whether it be through interacting with the older and wiser, picking up a book that will broaden your perspectives or listening to a lecture in what sometimes feels like a confi ned classroom. In the end, knowledge really is infi nite, and the value of the traditional and nontraditional education you receive is one on which you truly can’t put a price tag.
Even though I was supposed to be the calm, rational one who provided words of wisdom and insight into why such a horrible thing was happening, I learned more from Rachael than I ever taught her. She embodies what it means to be selfl ess, and her emotional strength surpasses anyone her age. I count myself blessed to call
NICOLLE WESTLUNDMANAGING EDITORMANAGING EDITOR
I PROBABLY LEARNED AS MUCH, OR MORE, FROM INTERACTIONS OUTSIDE THE PHYSICAL BOUNDS OF MY UNIVERSITY’S CLASS
I ALSO KNOW THAT I’VE BEGUN TO LEARN THINGS IN A VERY DIFFERENT WAY AS I PLOD THROUGH THE MESSINESS OF LIFE AFTER TRADITIONAL EDUCATION.
I THOUGHT I WANTED A ‘REAL’ FRESHMAN EXPERIENCE, COMPLETE WITH UNPREDICTABILITY AND CHANCE – WOULD MY ROOMMATE SHOWER REGULARLY? WOULD SHE HAVE AN UNQUENCHABLEPASSION FOR POKÉMON CARDS?
Chock Full of Moxie
Chock Full of Moxie
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