College End of the Year Impressions: Freshman Year

Freshman year.... what can I say? It has been a year filled with many unforgettable experiences, from the melding of friendships, to the winter snow storm; it has truly been quite the year. Looking back from the beginning of freshman year, it's amazing to see just how much I have grown as an individual. In the first week, I was extremely anxious as I did not know what to expect from college nor did I know who I would be hanging out with or what I'd being doing a year from then. The biggest transition for me as I noted earlier (See College Week 1 First Impressions, link is below) was the environment. At home I was use to a controlled environment, in which I was much more familiar with. However, in college there are so many other factors that come into play, which include: friends wanting to go out and do various activities, living with other people and having on campus commitments to various clubs and organizations. You will quickly adapt to your environment and eventually learn to work around it and get your studying done when you need to. I've personally found going into the silent study area of the library or into the common room works best for me when it came to studying or doing homework.

One of the first clubs I got involved with this year was SEE( Student Entertainment and Events) and it has been by far one of the best parts of my freshman year. From my Eagle Scout project I learned that I enjoyed event planning and this club gave me the perfect opportunity to enhance my skills. What really resonated with me in particular was when we set up for Girl Code which was when we brought in a MTV actress from the show onto campus. We set up the stage, the lights, the audio and everything in between. I never really knew how much work went into the behind the scenes of making shows like that a success. From this experience I got a whole new level of appreciation for the people who do that every day. I also enjoyed helping run our various other activities on campus, in particular this past spring weekend was a blast. It started out with Mr. Curry, a male beauty pageant which we had spent weeks planning for. I got to work on spotlight and I was glad to see that the show was a success, with very few errors. Then on Saturday I worked at the photo lab, where we took pictures of people in cut outs. I did not realize it would be so popular. Many people walked away smiling and laughing which made me glad to have been a part of the weekend.

Another club I am apart of was Student Ambassadors, we helped out admissions on various Open Houses, Explore Curry Days and Accepted Students Days. I have a passion and a belief in Curry College and I wanted to share my Curry College experience with prospective students. I use to be in their shoes, so I remember what it was like touring colleges, waiting on acceptance to schools and etc...I also really enjoyed hosting individual prospective students and taking them to my classes.

I owe the most credit and gratification to my public relations Professor Kirk Hazlett. Before coming to Curry, I had a pretty good sense that I wanted to pursue public relations, although I was not a hundred percent. A part of me was leaning towards pursing an English degree and becoming a teacher, however, after the first few weeks of school, Professor Hazlett had persuaded me to focus on public relations. His ecstatic personality and love for public relations was contagious.

As for what I want to do in public relations, I am still trying to figure that out. Currently I am interested in the creative side of public relations, like for example blogging or other various forms of social media campaigning. I also wouldn't mind doing a little bit of marketing somewhere down the line. I still have time to figure that out and I am excited to see what the future may hold.   

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http://crooldogg5.blogspot.com/2014/09/college-week-1-first-imperissons.html

The Diver

The diver was my first kiss.
I remember the afternoon like it was yesterday.
It was my thirteenth birthday, upon a Ferris wheel and it was raining softly.
I could hear the pitter patter of the rain echoing off the pavement.
My heart was beating at the speed of lighting.
The palms of my hands were extremely clammy.
The diver leaned in and I hesitantly leaned in closer.
I looked into the diver's eyes and was mystified.
I thought about drawing away but the diver pressed their lips up against mine and I was taken away.
I closed my eyes and embraced the moment.
It was as if fireworks were going off on my mind.
For in this moment everything else in my mind stopped and I could think about was the diver.
Then the diver pulled away and the moment was over.
A chill then went down my spine as I sat their looking at them, dumbfounded by what had just happened.

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The Lost Note

A thousand boys and girls play instruments for all to hear.
It was a cacophony of noise that rang throughout all the years.
They play their song amongst the clouds and louder their song gets as it echoes off mountain tops. But then much like how a river changes direction, so did their song.
It became a beautiful melody of sort.
Yet no one could hear it.
The melody was lost in the world, much like a lost traveler trying to navigate his way home.
The song had lost its sense of direction and as a result it sounded more like a cacophony of noise than a song.
The song became like white noise and no one paid any attention to it.
Yet had people given the song a chance, maybe then they would hear it for the beautiful melody that it is today

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"Je Suis Charlie"

 

               Freedom of speech has been an intangible right that many Western democracies have embraced, including France’s satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo. The events of the January 7, 2015 attack and onward, were a testament to free speeches limits and influences. Charlie Hebdo is a magazine that makes fun of all religions in the forum of a comic strip. This magazine has come under criticism over the years. There have been various attempts on restricting the content, as it has been perceived as extremely offensive to the Muslim community, The New York Times reports. One such example was when Charlie Hebdo reprinted an offensive image of the Prophet Muhamad that drew much criticism when a Danish newspaper originally printed it (Yu). It is evident that Charlie Hebdo has had a positive influential impact on society, however did they go too far? 

On January 7, 2015 12 people were killed at the headquarters of Charlie Hebdo. The following timeline of the Charlie Hebdo attack as reported by John Levs, a CNN reporter is as follows.  According to Levs, on Wednesday mid-day, two gunmen killed the security guard at the office of Charlie Hebdo. An employee who was exiting the building was forced to lead the two gun men to the conference room where a lunchtime editorial meeting was being held, Lev’s states. The two gunmen separated men and women calling out specific names of people they were killing. The gunmen proclaimed that they were avenging the Prophet Muhamad. The two gunmen escaped the building and as they were fleeing the scene, killed a police officer. Later that night thousands of Parisians gathered together to hold a vigil for the slain victims. It was on this night that the phase “Je Suis Charlie” became a slogan for the movement. In English it means I am Charlie, or in other words, I believe in freedom of speech (Levs).  Lizze Deardon of the Telegraph, reported that at the vigil in Paris and around the world, thousands of people held up pens, while journalist held up their press cards, in show of solidarity for the right of freedom of speech (Deardon).

Levs reports that overnight an ongoing manhunt went under way. It was later released that the two gunmen suspects were Cherif Kouachi and Said Kouachi. Friday morning reports came in that the two brothers were held up in a warehouse (Levs). Lin Jenkins, a journalist from the Guardian highlights a time line of the events that took place in the warehouse. The Kouachi brothers entered the printing warehouse with assault rifles. Michelle Catantlo, quickly told his employees to go and hide. The two brothers held Cantantlo and some of the employee’s hostage. Cantantlo offered the brothers a drink of coffee. However, matters got complicated when his supplier showed up around 9 p.m. He told his supplier to leave, and sensing something was wrong in the way Cantantlo spoke the supplier left. Meanwhile one employee, Lilian Lepere a graphic designer, hid in a card board box under a sink in the bathroom. He communicated with police via text and gave them information about the brother’s location and what he could hear them saying (Jenkins).  In report given by ITele a French television station, French parliament said the brothers wanted to die as martyrs (Levs).  

 Later that day in a separated incident, a gun man held up hostages in a kosher grocery store with accordance to the NY Daily Times. During the hold up the gunman Amedy Coulibaly, called BFM-TV a French News station and told them that he and the Kouachi brothers were affiliated with Al Qaeda, and that they were carrying out orders.  Later on the police stormed in and killed the gunman Amedy Coulibaly, as he was partaking in evening prayers. Four hostages were killed and 15 other hostages survived. Four of which were hiding downstairs in a walk in refrigerator, one of which was an infant.  A few police officers were injured during the assault. It was later discovered in the Kouchai’s car that they had flags that represented Al Qaeda. A member of Al Qaeda claimed that they had given the order to attack the Charlie Hebdo headquarters (Power).  Hayatt Boudeminne, Amedy Coulibaly expected accomplice escaped the kosher grocery store and is now on the run ( Levs).  She is now expected to be hiding somewhere in Syria.

The following week, on Jan.9 President François Hollande, addressed the nation. On the Embassy of France in Washington D.C website, they posted the transcript of the President Hollande address to Paris. In his address he admired the work of law enforcement, thanking them for keeping France safe: “I want to pay tribute to the courage, bravery and effectiveness of the gendarmes, the police officers, and all those who took part in these operations. I would like to tell them that we are proud; we are proud of them because when the order was given, they launched the attack simultaneously, and achieved the same result. They did so to save the lives of the hostages. They did so to neutralize the terrorists, those who had committed murders (Embassy of France in Washington D.C).”  He then went on to praise France’s resilience and vigilance to overcome such adversity over the past few days. He concludes by stating that France is a free country, and will not allow a single solidary to hold them back. Instead remain strong even through the worst of times.

On the following Sunday, France invited world leaders to a March in a show of solidarity. Time magazine says, amongst the attendees were Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minster David Cameron, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. However, America’s presence was lacking as they only sent the French Ambassador Jane Harely. The white house has been under much criticism for not sending a more high ranking official. Time Magazine mentions that Earnest, a speaker for the White House said that had there been more time, they would’ve sent a more high ranking official. But because this all happened within a 36 hour period, and the fact that it’s outdoors, it imposes a high security risk for any high ranking U.S official. (Miller)

After the attack, Charlie Hebdo is slowly coming back together. Amongst some controversy that has risen was their new cover issue, shortly following the attack, USA Today reports. The cover depicts the Prophet Muhammad holding a sign that says “Je Suis Charlie” and above the Prophet it reads “Tout est pardonne”, which translates into all is forgiven. On Jan. 13 the remaining staff at Charlie Hebdo announced their plans to release 3 million copies of this latest issue, which reflects the ongoing growing support of the cause. Before the attack USA Today says that the staff had only planned to release 1 million copies (Welch). Another image that has went viral was the “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” which depicts a pencil, a broken pencil and then a broken pencil lined up with a new pencil.  As CNN reports, the image was originally tweeted out by a French artist Bansky. A representative of Bansky later retracted his statement and gave credit to French illustrator Lucille Clerc (Respers).

Ultimately the Kouchai brother’s goal was to restrict freedom of speech. Instead they unified a nation to come out and show resilience. It goes to show the power that freedom of speech has, and how one act of terror will not stop a nation for observing their tangible right.  

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Resources:

"Charlie Hebdo - Statements by President Hollande." France in the United States / Embassy of France in Washington, D.C. Francein the United States, 8 Jan. 2015. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.

Dearden, Liz. "Charlie Hebdo Attack: Thousands Join Vigils in London, Pars, Berlin and around the World." The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 7 Jan. 2015. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.

Jenkins, Lin. "France Terror Attacks: Graphic Designer Hid in Cardboard Box." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited, 10 Jan. 2

Levs, Josh, and Ed Payne. "A Timeline of the Charlie Hebdo Terror Attack - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 9 Jan. 2015. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.015. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.

Miller, Zeke. "White House Says It Should Have Sent a More Senior Official to Paris." Time. Time, 12 Jan. 2015. Web. 13 Mar. 2015

Power, Virgina, Meg Wagner, and Sasha Goldstein. "French Police Kill Brothers Wanted in Charlie Hebdo Massacre." NY Daily News. 9 Jan. 2015. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.

Respers, Lisa. "That Banksy Charlie Hebdo Tribute You're Sharing Isn't His - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 8 Jan. 2015. Web. 13 Mar. 2015.

Sayare, Scott, and Nicola Clark. "French Magazine Runs Cartoons That Mock Muhammad." The New York Times. The New York Times, 19 Sept. 2012. Web. 4 Mar. 2. 2015.

Welch, William, and Kim Hjelmgaard. "New 'Charlie Hebdo' Cover Released." USA Today. Gannett, 13 Jan. 2015. Web. 13 Mar. 2015

Yu, Roger. "'Charlie Hebdo' Satirical Journalism Drew Fans, Critics." USA Today. Gannett, 7 Jan. 2015. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.

A Day at the Beach

With the sand beneath my toes and the waves tickling my heels, I walked out towards the rocks.
Sea shells are everywhere, scattered across the beach like a jigsaw puzzle.
Every sea shell has its own design, with each design telling its own story.
Seaweed lines the shore, drifting in and out with the tide and each time it brings something new.
For seaweed is like a chain, as it entangles whatever it finds.
Seagulls surround the area flying every which way.
I look to the sea and see them diving aggressively underwater.
In the whistles of the wind I can hear the seagulls call, loud and distinct, much like a child's cry.
In front of me there is a boy, valiantly defending his sandcastle from the waves.
No matter how big the waves were, he was determined to make his castle last as long as it could, I  admired his resilience.
Even when but a pile of wet unusable sand remained, he kept trying to rebuild his castle, until eventually his mother told him it was time to leave.
I could tell from his expression he was extremely disappointed and did not want to leave, but listened to his mother.
I continued on my walk towards the rocks, and each step I took my feet sunk deeper into the sand.
I looked out to the sea and saw the surfers riding the waves, creating their own individual patterns in the waves.
Some patterns were more interknit then others, but none the less, each pattern was a reflection of their own artistic personality.
I looked up the beach and saw the lifeguards surveying the sea, much like how a sailors looks out into the far away distance.
I could see families and friends alike relaxing and taking in sea breeze.
Children were playing with Frisbees and footballs, and parents were busy reading books.
All was calm and peaceful along this sandy shore.
I could see children in the distance fishing for hermit crabs, eagerly waiting until they could catch one and bring it back to shore.
Before I knew it I had reached the rocks I had set out for.
I looked out to the beach and it was empty.
All that remained were impressions in the sand were people use to be, but with time these impressions went away.
The sun was setting and I could feel its warmth casting itself over the horizon for one last moment, until the light of day faded away.

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