United States of America
The way a person passes through a glass door says a lot about them. There are those who leave unafraid handprints as they go, touching the glass as often as their hair or cell phone. There are others who are more hesitant--they avoid leaving their mark. And finally, there are the people who watch these people and have to write about them.
Former copy-editor, opinion columnist, editor and newspaper delivery girl at the Daily Nebraskan. Currently writing my way through the Chicago Tribune.
Harry Potter fans respect attention to detail. Know the name of Nicholas Flamel's wife? Good. Know all the names of Mrs. Figg's cats? Better. With previews of "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" at the Palace Theater in London this week, the role of Hermione Granger seems like no minor detail.
We learn prepositions in Arabic, but Dr. Abla Hasan makes sure we also know the words for our dreams. For 50 minutes every day, our Syrian professor's upward inflecting voice coaxes out throaty Arabic letters with no English equivalent.
As scores lay injured in Florida hospitals after the Orlando shooting, potential donors inundated blood banks, offering what they could. For some, however, the hourslong wait ended in disappointment. The U.S.
Before I moved to Nebraska, I never thought about farms. They were the foreground of suburban Illinois memory, long stretches of land to ignore on car trips and the nostalgic center of county fairs. But they're impossible to ignore when you go to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, especially if you venture to East Campus.
"Americans are peaches, and Chinese are apples." This is how a friend of mine explained the difference between making friends with domestic and international students. It means that Americans are easy to read, easy to reach. On the other hand, Chinese remain firm, requiring rigorous effort to penetrate to their core.
It's hunting season, but no need to wear camouflage. Instead, rustle up some letters of recommendation and a resume; UNL scholarships are due. The average need-based scholarship at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln awards are about $7,000, and almost half of undergraduates receive some sort of need-based financial aid.
Every semester, I walk past the same tree near Henzlik Hall. Some days, even when August winds have whipped the branches into cherry flower poufs, I see it out of the corner of my eye and think it's dead. That's how I know depression is hitting again.
As a nation, we seem to have a selective memory unless it threatens our wallets. While in Brazil, my friends and I were walking home from a party when four teenage boys mugged us, tearing jewelry off of necks and ripping purses from shoulders. They were unarmed.
To the uninitiated, it looks like a grown-up version of trick or treat. To the incoming women who choose to rush, it's everything. I never completed recruitment. So, I can't say from firsthand experience what being in a sorority means. I have doubts that school-sponsored cliques are ideal, or even necessary for university life.
The first time I took a vacation with my best friend's family, we went to a bookstore and bought books to read for the long ride home. Right after, we stopped for lunch. I cheerfully pulled out my book and started to read while we waited for our meal to arrive.
Theoretically, I should be focused on the Super Bowl. Instead, my eyes are screwed onto the cascade of hands reaching tortilla chips into a community bowl of salsa. Again, and again. The same chip, covered in someone's personal biological drippings, lovingly scrapes in leaving little pieces of itself embedded for the next lucky dipper.
Like most kids of my generation, I grew up thinking J.K. Rowling's word was tantamount to law. So when Dumbledore said some deep, poignant shit, you remembered it. I wasn't like Harry (besides my perfectly round glasses), but when Dumbledore told him that "those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it," it resonated with my tiny, adolescent heart.
"I just don't understand why they don't try to speak English" This was a hot topic at holiday festivities when my relatives and friends learned that I worked as a Legal Services/Immigration intern for a non-profit this summer. Let's start with who "they" are. People who don't speak English.
Let's get something straight: Nobody outside of the state of Nebraska likes Ndamukong Suh. That crowd on TV's not "Suh-ing"; it's booing. And that drink you mix with ice cream to make floats? Root beer, not rut. I think it's easy for people in the Midwest to just assume their perspectives are "the norm" and shouldn't be questioned.
When did charity become, well, so selfish? 5K runs for charity. Texting #nomakeup selfies for cancer patients. Jumping into lakes. In practice, it can do a lot of good, but at times it just seems like an excuse to pat oneself on the back.