What is my life? An 800-word recap of what has happened since I last blogged.

Hey readers! Or lack thereof, considering my year-long gap. It seems as if I’ve failed my plan to blog at least once a month, but at least I’ve gone back to it!

I guess I should give a detailed explanation of what I’ve been doing since I last left off. It’s been a busy busy year, that’s fer sure. I accepted my dream internship, studied abroad in Sweden, made buttloads of new friends, came back and began working for my college newspaper and started immersing myself into improv classes.

And even though I didn’t keep my promise of writing every month, I did manage to make a video out of my 19th year, which can be seen here:

Alrighty, first things first: Internship.

I accepted a last-minute Dow Jones Editing Internship and my heart was pounding every second. I was sent to Naples, which was an interesting soul-searching experience. Like a Zimbardo-esque experiment, I learned what happened to me psychologically when I didn’t have anyone my age to talk to for three months. I didn’t talk to my roommates, I didn’t make any new friends, I didn’t really chat with any of the other interns. I began my obsession with Big Brother and the live feeds. If the cameras were turned on me and my lifestyle last summer, I would be canceled after the first week. But at least I thoroughly enjoyed my work, which kept me from going completely insane!

I honestly learned so much and wouldn’t trade the experience for anything else, except maybe for a town where there are more things to do than shop in an outlet mall…

At the end of the internship, in a stress-filled 36-hour turnover, I was in Sweden. Best decision ever. I don’t know how else to explain it. I grew up, went wild (I was awarded the “white-girl wasted” role at the end of the semester), had my first fling, was pick-pocketed in France (vivre le rêve 😍), hiked a glacier, saw the Northern lights, learned the beauty of wearing black, partied like a true Swede, enjoyed real cheese, was caught in my first snowfall after my short film premiere, visited Christiania in Copenhagan, attended four Halloween parties and tried Absinthe from the bottle.

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Excuse me while I fan my tear ducts. Hopefully I’ll be able to see everyone soon, whether it be in a few months or a few years!

After exhausting my bank accounts, I returned in January to my old life, which I absolutely detested. But I soon made new friends who were into the same things that I was, like an overwhelming infatuation with John Mulaney and his wife and dog, and soon enough life didn’t suck like it used to. Plus, I started volunteering at SAK, the local improv theater. The spring semester was the perfect tempo to ease me back into the world of non-exercise and trans fats. I took a break, caught back up with my friends and still got out of the house enough to keep me from going insane.

In summer I came to the brick wall I had been trying to avoid for all of college. I had a portfolio due in a few months and I still hadn’t written enough to graduate. So I applied for a Digital Producer position at the Central Florida Future and learned what it’s like to be on the other side of the newsroom. And I have to say, I like it a lot more. Sure, it still has the gray cubicle walls and stress of making deadline, but I’m with a group of my peers who I get to talk to and plus, I get to leave every now and then.

Writing is challenging, but I’ve taken step to overcome my anxiety over talking to sources who don’t really want to talk to you back. And what’s a journalist without getting to experience hate-tweets from the church of Satan to put on her resume? (It’s an opinion piece for a college newspaper, I mean, can we not?)

FINALLY, I start taking level 2 improv classes on Sunday and I’m so so thrilled to be taking it alongside some of the best from my level 1 class.But let’s be real, I adore everyone who’s involved at SAK, much to their knowledge. After eight weeks I can already tell the difference between where I started and where I am now, and how exciting is that?

OKAY audience of seven, I’m trying to write more, and I even have a list of pitches I’d like to accomplish. This has been a fun year. And fun post. Good talk. Bye.

The Boomerang Generation at UCF

In the past couple of years, more and more young adults are turning around and moving back in with their parents in order to save on cash.

“No more are the days when the only people who lived at home were the anti-social men who lived in their parents’ basement,” said Elizabeth Mustaine, professor of Sociology at UCF.

It has become such a widespread trend that these young adults have become known as “the boomerang generation,” since many of them spring back to their family houses after living on their own for a while.

According to a 2011 Pew Research study about young adults who live with parents, almost 22 percent of 25-34 year olds have moved back home, a nearly 6 percent increase since the start of the millennium. The percentages are even higher for those aged 18-24, at 40 percent.

For the 18-24 year olds who only recently entered adulthood and the workforce, the vast majority has never moved out, according to the survey. This differs from the 25-34 year olds who are more likely to have moved out and return later due to economic troubles.

One of the main reasons for this turnaround is financially based. Since the economy’s decline in 2008, budget cuts have sliced wages and benefits and left many Americans without jobs. In turn, this has made it more difficult for new members of the workforce to establish the means to live on their own.

“It’s basically all financial,” said Naveed Chippa, a pre-med sophomore. “I can’t afford to live out [by UCF,] and if I could, I would be here in a jiffy.”

However, life at home isn’t necessarily a cheap alternative to independence. Chippa works to pay for some family bills, in addition to paying for his own food and car expenses.

While cohabitating with parents may give a young adult’s bank account a sigh of relief, family relationships may also be affected. In the Pew Research study, 25 percent of young adults felt their relationship with their parents had worsened, 24 percent felt it got better, while 48 percent saw no difference at all.

“I don’t fight with my parents anymore because I am not home as often,” said Paris Volk, a forensic science major. “But I don’t see them as much, so I’m not as close with them anymore.”

Danielle Myers, a freshman majoring in event management, agrees.

“I actually feel less stressed than I did in high school because I’m not home as often. I get frustrated sometimes because I still live with [my parents,] but it’s not really that stressful,” said Myers.

Having a good rapport with parents might still have increasing effects on the boomerang trend, said Mustaine. “Helicopter parents” is the name give to parents who watch endlessly over their kids’ actions, growth and development.

Mustaine explains that these helicopter parents may start to make all of their children’s decisions. Eventually, the children will be extremely limited in the skills they gained and have to rely on the parent for survival.

“These kids may end up living at home even in a good economy, simply because their parents will continue to take care of them,“ said Mustaine.

Still, with that as a backup plan, young adults are still optimistic about their financial future and general success. Chippa has been saving money in order to move out either next year or before med school.

Volk also has prospects of moving out after graduation, but knows if she starts to have more financial problems, there’s always a place she can go.

“I don’t think they want me to, but they said their house is always open for me to come back if it’s necessary,” said Volk.

Gluten-free students at UCF have difficulties finding food

UCF may have dining establishments covering almost every ethnicity, type and price, but one particular group still has difficulties finding one they feel safe in.

The gluten-free lifestyle is not any easy one to maintain. Gluten appears in many staples of the American diet, such as wheat, pasta and several kinds of flour. About one in 133 Americans suffer from celiac disease, according to National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. These individuals have difficulties digesting the amino acids in gluten, which in turn damages the small intestine and blocks the absorption of important nutrients. However, not everyone who partakes in the gluten-free diet has celiac disease. Some may only have a mild allergy while others simply prefer the way of life.

Heather Ann Fox, a senior political science major, found out she had gluten intolerance two and a half years ago. Her symptoms included dizziness, cloudy vision, confusion and headaches, among other things.

“The thing that was most prevalent was that I had a full body rash,” said Fox. “It got really bad. My skin would get to the point of looking like raw meat.

Since October 2013, Fox has fully committed to being gluten-free.  Fox pointed out that people with gluten intolerance have to modify their diet to exclude harmful things beyond food. Gluten can be found in certain brands of makeup and hair products and trigger an allergic reaction from exposure to the skin.

Students like Fox have to be careful when choosing foods from campus.

This commitment takes plenty of perseverance to uphold. Fox rarely eats on campus or out with her friends and instead cooks many of her own meals, so as not to take any chances with her health.

“The only thing I’ll eat here are salads and sushi. But I don’t risk it with anything else,” said Fox.

Although she does not think UCF is the friendliest place for people with a gluten-free diet, she occasionally treats herself to places such as Chipotle, Applebee’s or Mellow Mushroom.

The biggest struggle she comes in contact with regarding food is traveling. Fox is a part of UCF’s Habitat for Humanity, which calls for a week of traveling by bus every semester.

“There’s just nothing I can get, so I’m stuck eating salads for a week. When it’s strenuous house-building work, it gets to be a problem,” said Fox.

Julie Cidela-Mathis, a junior majoring in management, also underwent the process of enforcing a strict diet in December. Her 10-year-old stepdaughter, Alexis, was diagnosed with having digestive issues of dairy and gluten products.

“We have spent much more time in the grocery stores reading labels than ever before,” said Cidela-Mathis.

She finds it is easier to eat out in a restaurant that adheres to her stepdaughter’s dietary restrictions. Because she has a large family, it takes less time than cooking one meal that everyone can agree on.

Vidal Balkaran, an interpersonal communications junior, also maintains a gluten-free lifestyle, but by choice.

After researching the benefits of living gluten-free when he was much younger, he decided to make the switch alongside his sister. The 20-year-old is also a vegetarian, which further restricts his food choices.

“I think it’s just a lifestyle. The way you eat impacts your health and how you interact with other objects and people. It affects your attitude,” said Balkaran.

Balkaran never eats on campus and makes every meal at his home in Minneola, Fla. He doesn’t regard UCF as having the best resources for gluten-free students.

“I think most of the food [at UCF] is fast food,” said Balkaran. “They don’t really have much of the green products here. You’d have to actually buy food at a store or bring it from home.”

Nearby restaurants like Chipotle offer meals that adhere to the gluten-free lifestyle.

Both Balkaran and Fox have felt the consequences of cheating on their food plans. Once a person stops eating gluten, trying to incorporate it back into their diet causes intense stomach pains.

“It’s pretty much a lifelong commitment that I have from now on,” said Fox.

When Racism Awareness Goes Wrong

I started writing a little bit about this topic on Tumblr, but since I’ve been thinking about it all day and it’s been bugging me ever since, I’ve decided to make my grand re-entrance to my blog about the whole Suey Park/Huffington Post debacle. If you happen to read both, which is highly improbable given my follower number to be about the same as a public school 5th grade classroom, you’ll see many parallels. Hopefully the ones here will be more effective at getting my view across.

Oohhkay. Let me preface this post with a (very) short sumpin’ sumpin’ ’bout myself. I’m half-Chinese and half-(for all intents and purposes) white. Therefore I feel like I have the power to talk about this and feel fairly balanced in my opinion. However, because I still have whiteness in me, Suey might feel like I can only half relate to her situation, if at all. Even so, I don’t really think that fact matters a whole gosh darn diddly much.

I have added the video to this post, and if you can watch the whole thing in one go and stay in one comfortable position, I applaud you. I will say that I can see where she’s coming from, since I do think some people think Asians are primo joke material. Let’s face it, all of those “herro” and “flied lice” and “open your eyes” jokes got old years ago, but people still tend to milk it for all it’s worth. Trust me on this, they’re just as bad as the “get back in the kitchen and make me a sammich” jokes that are targeted at women. (Please stop, you’ll save yourself so much regret.)

That being said, I am appalled at the amount of people who are 100% supporting Suey’s argument. I think she was being incredibly hypocritical and racist. Not to mention that it seems like she doesn’t fully understand the concept of satire, but we’ll save that for another day. In her biting remarks about “white liberals” and “white men” who feel they are privileged enough to make jokes about other races, isn’t she doing the same? Reverse racism is still racism, hence the “racism” part that makes up 50% of the phrase reverse racism.

Park pretty much explicitly told Zepp that since he is a white man, he can’t put himself into a minority’s shoes. As if growing up in all of his white man-ness has propelled an orb of ignorance around him like Jake Gyllenhaal in “Bubble Boy”. No, as a white man, he can only understand complete privilege and live in a world where every opportunity lands at his feet. White man only live in world of white. Brain cannot compute empathy. Not enough data for understanding others. Must join forces with every single white man in world and cleanse world of impurities.

And if Park was white and saying that to an Asian Zepp? Better break out your big, red RACIST stamp. Let’s not forget that she believes every single white man in the world “definitely” feels this way, not just Colbert and his band of white liberal cronies.

Furthermore, Park feels like she can relate to the plight of the modern-day Native American? More than any white person could POSSIBLY relate to a person of color? It sounds like she’s actually widening the gap between races instead of bringing them closer together.

Finally, as Zepp described her on Twitter, she’s a “professional umbrage-taker.” Instead of raising more awareness for the problem the tweet was referring to, she gets offended and calls for the destruction of the outlet that was originally raising awareness (but like, put some context into your tweets next time, @ColbertReport.) I don’t know if she fully recognizes satire (I mean, she says she’s a writer, so ah-bviously she gets it,) or not, but I get the feeling she took the tweet out of context and dug herself into a really deep hole where she has to continue this persona lest people think of her as a human who makes mistakes. The writer of the tweet doesn’t think poorly of Asians. The writer is trying to show the ridiculousness of the situation in terms that he or she thinks is more relatable and common to Americans.

I guess in shorter terms, I’m really sick and annoyed by all of these “social justice warriors” who think they can end racism by spewing hatred towards another race. I read a tumblr caption saying something along the lines of “God, I really hate white men”. I’m just really dumbfounded. I think Suey has very valid points regarding Asian identity in America; she just didn’t translate them very well and that really takes a toll on your credibility.

I don’t really know what to expect when it comes to feedback for this post, all I ask is to just be conscientious and courteous and to remember that this is an opinion.

ICYMI: Late Night TV Love

UCF’s Crescendudes member balances art with science

College might be a trying time for students who enjoy exercising both sides of their brains. Many of these students have to settle with choosing one subject to dedicate most of their time to. While Cole Curtis, an Orlando native, is majoring in mechanical engineering, he divides his studying time with singing. He makes time to perform with the University of Central Florida’s all-male a capella group, The Crescendudes.

Curtis is learning about mechanical engineering in his classes, with plans to study bioengineering in the future. He hopes to use this training to fulfill his career goals of working with a hospital or a private company to increase the working lifespan of equipment used to help patients. In particular, he is interested in researching how to make artificial heart valves last more than a few years. Although he has always been drawn towards math and science, he credits his devotion to cardiovascular studies to his grandfather, who underwent 14 bypass surgeries in his lifetime.

Curtis said bioengineering incorporates many of his passions and it’s one of the things he’d like to see himself make a difference in.

While the 18-year-old enjoys the sciences, he also has a penchant for the arts, namely music. Curtis started singing in his church choir around the age of six, and joined a school chorus in 8^th grade. His first brush with a capella came during a rendition of the Barenaked Ladies’ “McDonald’s Girl” by the local high school’s all-male group, Naughty Scotty and the Octapella.

After spending the next three years auditioning for a spot in that same group, Curtis finally made it during his senior year. His passion drove him to audition for UCF’s Crescendudes, where he made the cut as a Tenor 1 during the first semester of his freshman year.

                                                       Curtis, left, practicing with The Crescendudes. Photo: Crescendudes-Facebook

He was trained to sing classically, where he feels he prevails in. However, he fully enjoys the recognition he receives from the audience when he sings Top 40 hits. Joseph Puccio Ball, a member of the Crescendudes, said the two became friends during callbacks, even though they were competing against each other for the spot.

“Cole is the only other Tenor 1 in the group and I rely on him as he relies on me,” he said.

As for the future, Curtis thinks there is a possibility he will want to take a year before graduate school to see the world. His most anticipated destinations include China and Australia. He also hopes to continue singing either semi-professionally or in a local choir.

“It’s a passion I don’t want to see die,” said Curtis.

On top of all of his activities, the freshman still finds time to relax by camping, hanging out with friends and playing computer games such as Stanley Parable and Outlast. In addition, Curtis makes sure to have fun by enjoying the UCF social scene. One of his oldest friends, Zach Cronin-Hurley, said they’ve known each other since birth.

“He’ s a really funny and enthusiastic guy who has a very good social radar, so he will always know how to navigate a social situation,” said Cronin-Hurley.

10 Things to Do While I’m 19

I am 18 going on 19, so I obviously have more common sense than Rolf from The Sound of Music. Therefore, I am compiling this list to keep myself motivated. As you’ll notice, joining the Nazi regime is not one of them.

1. Shoot a one-second video every day for a year. I was inspired by Brooks Wheelan’s video that he released a few days ago about his 2013. I have really bad memory and resort to describing any childhood event as taking part “when I was like, 12.”

2. Stop keeping Liz Lemon on a pedestal and GET HEALTHY GURL. I know she has your ideal life because she writes for an NBC sitcom and eats processed cheeses all day, but if you really want to live forever, you gotta stop being such a Lemon and start being more of a Traeger.

3. Go to a concert of an artist I really like. Already booked it. Avett Brothers, I’m comin’ for you next month. Also, if Johnny Gallagher plays a concert in LA and I feel spontaneous and it’s for all ages, haaaayyyy.

4. Finish all the books you’ve started and forgotten about. I’ve started Lolita twice already, Brave New World, A Confederacy of Dunces, Matt & Ben (which means you have to watch Good Will Hunting), A Game of Thrones, etc.

5. DAMMIT FINISH YOUR NETFLIX QUEUE. I know Gilmore Girls is hell to watch, since there are so many seasons. BUT YOU NEED TO FIGURE OUT HOW RORY WENT TO YALE INSTEAD OF HARVARD.

6. Go hiking more. One of the crosses you have to bear is living in Florida. However, this fall semester in Sweden is a chance for you to live out your lumberjack fantasies and change your altitude.

7. Paaaahhssibly get a tattoo. A secret one. A small one. Tiny something. Yes.

8. Kiss more boys but not enough to get herpes.

9. Keep up with your New Years Resolution of putting your happiest memories in a jar. I’ve been good so far, which is longer than any resolution ever made before.

10. Get toned. I’m gonna be a hot 20-year-old. My life is too bleak right now to not have this goal. I’m not going to be hot 20 years down the line, so I need to take advantage of my age.

I will say that this list was originally going to be 19 things, but as you can see the content dwindled in appeal. C’est la vie.

An ode to Flappy Bird

Well, I guess I’ve peaked at 34. I know I should be thankful, as many others are not so fortunate to have made it past six. I’ve seen countless bird injuries, gone completely red with rage, yelled at the top of my lungs and cried over lost effort and time.

I want to personally give kudos to your audio engineer for giving me the knowledge of what sound will eventually trigger my mental breakdown. How scary it is to know my sanity rests in the fate of the sound a bird makes when he runs into a Mario Bros. tube.

I still remember that fateful day when I hit 34. I was standing in line at IKEA with a bag of frozen meatballs and a poster about spaghetti in my cart. My eyes were focused and the outside world became a blur as I became Flappy Bird. I could feel every jump, every swerve and I was in my own personal Nirvana. Like Jack Dawson, I was the king of the world. Now look at me, I’m sitting in a dark room, my fingers are shaking, my blood pressure is through the roof and I need a crowbar to unhinge this lockjaw.

You must forgive me for all of the names I’ve called you over the past two weeks. I’m sorry I called you the “Nemo of the ornithological society” over Twitter. It’s not your fault that you’re an airborne bird who can’t fly. Although it is highly suspicious.

I wish for you to get wherever you’re headed. I will continue to try and get you there, but as you can see, I’ve done more harm than good. Bon voyage, Flappy. Maybe think about investing in a plane ticket.

Broad City or get out of my life

By the time I’ve started writing this, the third episode of Comedy Central’s new show Broad City has not even ended. But I can’t wait to tell anyone about it. Produced by Amy Poehler and based on the hilarious webseries of the same name created by UCB grads Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson, this show details the daily lives of “two Jewesses trying to make a buck” in New York City. The banter is a hip millennial’s wet dream and the story embodies everything I want in a modern-day NYC galpal TV show (and life).

One of the best things about this show is that even when Abbi and Ilana end up in the most asinine situations, (cleaning adult-baby Fred Armisen’s apartment while wearing their underwear,) you hardly notice it’s unusual until the screen goes black and you’re forced to think about what you just watched. The show is very natural as it progresses from everyday chores and bores to punting a rotisserie chicken in front of a warehouse for a perfectly rational reason.

NYC BFF shows are popping up everywhere like Pinterest albums called ♡ wanderlust ♡. While similar in the basics of settings, Broad City is one Xanax further than HBO’s Girls. Instead of worrying about the meaning of life or whether or not the bakery down the street is going to stop making red velvet cupcakes, BC focuses on the short term problems like how to pay for weed with store credit or how to sneak weed past a police dog or how to smoke weed in public without drawing attention to yourself.

This is the first time this year that I’ll become obsessed with a TV show this early on in the game. All in all, a very relaxing and refreshing take on the old trope.

Depression: A Newbie’s Stance

Last week I was told that I had mild depression. It didn’t really come as a surprise to me, considering a family history of illness, both physical and mental (boy genetics can really be a bitch sometimes.) Now, I definitely want to separate myself from those who suffer from heavy depression because I have never experienced that and I don’t want to pretend that I have. However, since I’m obviously already failing with my daily blog posts, I thought I’d just end up writing how practically every other blogger writes, whenever and about whatever they feel.

I guess looking back I can definitely see the difference in my mood from my freshman year of college to now. Last year I was happier, living off campus (which was great), funnier, more talkative, giddier and less worried about school. This year has been the opposite in most respects. I don’t see my friends as often as I did, which makes me quieter than normal. I’m more anxious about graduation requirements. I’m feeling sluggish, tired, unmotivated, uninspired, and most extremely apathetic (is that even possible????) I’m apathetic about everything. That is how I described myself in high school, but I’ve take it to an extreme. I’ve lost sight of who I wanted to be in terms of a career and in my general personality. I just feel like nothing is going to work out for me and I can foresee doing mundane paperwork for the rest of my life. I feel like I’ve lost some of the brain sparks that made me the delightful person I once was. 

Apparently, that’s called being depressed.

I consider myself to be decently self-aware. I can typically take a step back and see myself from another person’s perspective. I don’t use this ability as a way of necessarily changing the way I am, but more as a reasoning tool. Yet, despite my cognizance, I’m surprised and a bit amazed at how long it took me to discover this challenge. It never felt like my mindset had changed, only that my physical situation had. It’s taken me a while to try and remember that this isn’t how I have always felt.

Even despite this illness, I can still laugh and be amazed by something and have a good time with my friends and feel good emotions. There was this moment today when I couldn’t stop smiling and laughing in public and I had to try and hide it so I didn’t look psychotic. I’m still laughing about it now! Depression for me doesn’t always mean wearing gray sweatpants and staying in bed for two hours after you’ve woken up (although I do do that pretty much everyday because I’m a slave to my computer.)

Anyway, today was a particularly bad day because I found out I had to interview a stranger and write a story on him or her by next week. I started to feel kinda physically sick, which was weird because I had never had that kind of reaction to writing a story on a stranger before (although maybe it had to do with that really strong coffee and the way I practically inhaled a cup of granola for breakfast.)

As the wise Jamie Lee Curtis has said, “87 percent of this country suffers from digestive issues like occasional irregularity.”

So I suppose I’ll try to be more active and eat properly and see if that helps anything. I don’t know what kind of effect anti-depressants have on me, but it seems weak to resort to drugs at this stage and I’ve seen what they do to a person (cough, Diana Goodman in Next to Normal, cough.)