O.M.G my bff Jill..well actually It's Amanda.

Pictured below is my best friend Amanda, a close friend from back home. I've known this girl since I was about ten years old, or however old I was in fifth or sixth grade. We've lived on the same street since around that time and hung out pretty much all the time with our other neighbor friends. We've been there for each other through a whole bunch of stuff. She helped me with the pettiest of problems I had when I was in school (relationship issues mostly if we are to be honest) we were there for each other when we were getting grief from family members or the infamous EVIL STEP-PARENT (who we nicknamed The Beast). As our friendship grew we eventually became protective of one another, especially when Amanda lost her father. Not only myself, but countless others flocked to her side to make sure she had all the support she could possibly want, even if she didn't want it at the time. 

Amanda and I now, of course, go to different schools but our friendship still holds strong. We catch up every now and again, talking about different kinds of music we are listening too, and the occasional life chat. When it comes to expressing emotion, I'm pretty low-key about that sort of thing. So when I started the blog assignment for this week it was might've come out a little awkward and that part of the conversation didn't last that long.

It went something like this: Me: Hey, so for my superheroes class, I have to talk about my appreciation for a friend and then reflect on it, or something like that. Her: Okay.... Me: Well, you know, you've had my back for a long time and you know I have yours. I just appreciate your friendship and everything you've done for me over the years. You know? Her: I appreciate you too dude!

That was it, that was the majority of that part of the conversation. I didn't feel too different after letting her know my appreciation for our friendship and she didn't seem to have much of a reaction other than appreciation for me telling her, and the rest of our catching up conversation carried on as normal so there was no major change. 

My friend Amanda and I playing a serious game of Air Hockey

Just another misunderstood mutant and Nostalgia

The following is an interview with Professor Charles Xaiver, founder of Xaiver School for Gifted Youngsters, meeting with Jake McLean who has just been dropped off at his facility.

Professor Xaiver: Hello, young man. What can I do for you?
Jake: I was told you can help me.
Professor X: That depends, do you want to be helped?
Jake: I don't understand what you mean. I'm here, doesn't that make it obvious I do.
X: Not necessarily. You could have been forced to come here or you came here on your own volition. Which is it?
Jake: I was dropped off. Abandoned. No one from back home can even look me in the eye without remembering what I had done. They're scared.
X: Come in and let's talk.
[Later]
X: Tell me Jake, what is it exactly that happened?
Jake: Last year was rough. It seems like it could have very well been the most stressful year ever. I don't just mean to say that it was my first year at college and I had a tough time adjusting, I mean that I found out I have superpowers. I'm a freak, or at least so I thought. It all started like this...It was finals week and the pressure was on to get the best grades I could. My dad wanted me to get straight A's (apparently he's never gone through discrete mathematics), my mom just wanted me to not become depressed, and it seemed that everyone else felt the need to constantly give me things to worry about. I went into the library to finish some computer science homework. I started getting frustrated, i started sweating a lot, I was getting uncomfortable and decided to leave. I started to run out of there and then it happened.
X:What happened?
Jake: I took the doors with me. Just ripped them off their hinges and kept moving, it didn't even slow me down in the slightest.
X:I think you'll fit in just right with some of our students here. We will teach you how to manage your temper, and use your powers. Would you be willing to meet a special team of mine?
Jake: I think I would love that.
X: Welcome to the team.

Nostalgia is something I have felt a lot since leaving home to come here for school. There's that saying that goes "You don't know what you have until it's gone." Though the things I have aren't necessarily gone, they have certainly changed significantly. I use to have a core group of friends that did everything together we watched one of our favorite tv shows together, and had other types of different traditions. It was a great time. As we went through high school and plans for college were coming to fruition, I found out I was the only one going off to college that would leave the group and since being here I fell out of contact with most of the friends I had back home. Of course I still have a few friends back there, but we have different arrival and departure dates from when we come home or go back to school. Whenever I go home I'm reminded that I have a group of friends I may never reconnect with and miss the heck out of them every time i'm home.

Reflection #3

Open topics always scare me, because I never know what I want to write about. Luckily through different publications around campus and discussions we've had through our class time, I think I have a solid subject to write about. In talking about identities of superheroes whether it'd be secret or not we talked about how an identity or costume defines the superhero. If you have picked up the most recent issue of the Monmouth College Courier, you should have seen the cover story "Taking the Liberal Arts Out of MC?" The article discusses how the admissions department seeks to remove the phrase liberal arts out of publications or marketing campaigns for the college. This may not seem relevant to the class, but think with me if you will, wouldn't taking the liberal arts part of the Monmouth name take away from our identity as students/staff?

The article says that liberal arts would still be an important part of the college, but would no longer be advertised to perspective students. I truly believe that this takes away from the experience that we share together as staff/faculty/students and really takes away from the previously mentioned Identity. This makes me think about what would happen if you took away identities of superheroes. What would our favorite superheroes do without key characteristics that make up their identity?