Week 5: Everything Will Be Okay

Initial Thoughts

This past week was relatively low key.  Not much happened.  There were no wild party stories, no crazy hard exams, and no intense drama.  Pittsburgh, as a city, is still in mourning.  Like I wrote in my previous article, we are strong, but we must rebuild.  The tragedy has opened an interesting rhetoric to discuss among students and teachers alike.  These conversations are opening up an understanding, and a community among students that we could have never imagined would have been possible before.  Through all this, friends have come together, and hearts have grown closer.   

 New Friends 

This week showed me that, finally, I am not alone.  Living in a single dorm on a floor that is not particularly close is hard.  While most students find their first friends on their floor, my floor was seemingly dead set on not communicating with each other.  There isn’t really any hostility, just not much community.   

That is why I am so thankful for Tower B Floor 7:  my adopted family.  One of my class friends introduced me to her floor and within such a short amount of time, they welcomed me with open arms.  It feels great knowing, for sure, that I have more than one friend.  These girls are so incredibly fun and easy to talk to. 

  On Monday night a couple of us went to watch the engineering program’s production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  The show was fantastic and the actors were nothing if not dedicated to their craft.  It takes a confident person to bare it all in that show.  The fact that it was the school’s engineers made it even better.  The water guns to simulate rain and the party material allowed for one of a kind audience participation.  That being said, I wish some of the audience would have taken a chill pill.  I know you’re supposed to shout out random things at different points in the show, but every 10 seconds in unnecessary.  For that fact, my friends and I were completely taken out of the experience.   

Wednesday night and Saturday night were similarly chill.  Our Halloween consisted of traveling to the nearest CVS and picking up discounted candy.  Afterwards, we chilled out in one of their rooms and talked school, southern life, and other miscellaneous things.  The night ended in belting out country songs we barely knew, and hardly liked.  Saturday was left over candy and movie night.  Cheaper by the Dozen 2 played in the background of lively conversation (though admittedly, we should not have talked throughout the movie so much).  We ate candy till we were sick and called it a night.  

I've been re-watching the 90's classic "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" and let me tell you, I have never related more to Salem the cat until I came to college.  

Walking on Sunshine 

I noted in my anxiety article how nice daily walks have been.  They really help me center myself after either long or uneventful days.  At home, I think I neglected how nice fresh air really could be, because it was everywhere.  The city can feel a bit trapped sometimes, so walking through the local park or the suburbs is so therapeutic.  This past weekend, I allowed myself to get lost on a new path than I usually take.  The fall weather is finally showing in Pittsburgh and the cold air provided the perfect atmosphere for a relaxing time.  I walked up through Carnegie Mellon's campus and almost to Squirrel Hill.  I plugged in my earbuds, talked to my friend Karina for an hour, and enjoyed a coffee.  It was probably one of the best walks I have had in a while.   

However, there is something so inexplicably intimidating about walking on CMU’s campus.  Everything there just seems so. . . rich.  They seem so smart.  Like, I know Pitt is smart (it has one of the top 20 medical programs in the country), but overall everyone here is pretty chill.  It’s wild what a different name and a higher tuition price can do, I guess.  No shade to Carnegie students, I know you worked hard to get there and you’re going to do great things, just please stop scaring me.   

Pittsburgh Strong  

Today over a thousand students, faculty, alumni, and community members came to Pitt’s Stronger Than Hate gathering on the Cathedral of Learning’s lawn.  We heard from those heavily involved in the Jewish community within the university and around the city.  One of the a capella groups came and sang a couple of moving songs, and the mayor even showed up to add his thoughts.   

The entire event was solemn yet moving.  There is something about seeing a large portion of your school come together in solidarity that causes emotions to run high.  Everyone there exuded a type of pride and love that is unmatched.  We were there for each other, and it showed.  This event was not about us as singulars, but us as a whole.   

Photo credit to Facebook

Speaking of coming together for a common purpose, tomorrow is the 2018 midterms.  I voted early when I went home in October, and it was my first-time voting.  Honestly, had my brother not dragged me to the courthouse, I may have neglected my civic duties.   However, after I voted, I had such a sense of accomplishment, like I was doing something to help my community.  That, I believe, is why everyone should vote.  Not only do you feel good about yourself, you help better your community how you see fit.   

Without putting my relatively partisan thoughts here for people to judge, I will just say this:  Vote for humanity.  Vote to better peoples’ lives, regardless of skin tone, or language, or income.  Vote to help your neighbors, not just yourself.  Vote because America needs to remain the country of opportunity for all, not just the lucky few.  Vote to move America into a safer, more diverse future.  Our greatest strengths lie in our diversity.  Keep this in mind as you vote your mind.  You owe it to yourself and your country.  Remember, voting is a privilege and a right many have risked their lives to achieve.  Do not make their efforts go in vain.  Vote.   

Much love,  

Sam Rose