The Courier - May 10, 2017

COURIER

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THE

C O L L E G E O F D U PA G E S T U D E N T N E W S PA P E R / / 1 0 M A Y 2 0 1 7 / / V O L U M E 5 1 – I S S U E 2 7

FEATURES

Zlatka Burtis: turning news into art pages 6-7

NEWS

Honey Bees: Pollinating a better future for COD p4

OPINION

The disconnect between educator and student has never been greater p12

SPORTS

Is the Western Conference overrated? p15

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COURIER

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Editor-in-Chief Lucas Koprowski News Editor Kitt Fresa Features Editor Caroline Broderick Graphics Editor Joseph Molino Reporter Vandy Manyeh

INDEX NEWS

OPINION

4 Pollinating a better future for COD

12 The disconnect between educator and student

FEATURES

6-7 Zlatka Burtis: turning the old into new

Photo Editor David Jura

SPORTS

15 Point-Counter Point: NBA Western Confrence

Sports Editor Carlos Peterson Social Media Manager Alizay Rizvi

Newsroom 630-942-2683 Adviser Jim Fuller fullerj103@cod.edu The Courier is published every Wednesday when classes are in session during the fall and spring semester, except for the first and last Wednesday of each semester and the week of spring break as a public forum with content chosen by student editors. One copy free, additional copies available upon request.

The Courier does not knowingly accept advertisement that discriminate on the basis of sex, creed, religion, color, handicapped status, veteran or sexual orientation, nor does it knowingly print ads that violate any local, state or federal laws.

Deliver all correspondence to SSC 1220 between regular office hours or mail to the Courier, College of DuPage, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn, IL. 60137.

ON THE COVER

Artwork and photography by Zlatka Burtis

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NEWS Honey bees: Pollinating a better future for COD Kitt Fresa · News Editor

Remic Ensweiler walking through the COD prarie.

After being awarded a grant from The Honeybee Conservancy, College of DuPage will soon implement its very own honey bee population on campus in hopes of educating students, supporting the local ecosystem and harvesting and selling honey.

The man who will be care for the bee is Remic Ensweiler. He is in charge of about 40 acres of natural area where he is in the process of restoring to it’s

historical ecology. Ensweiler utilizes prescribed burns in the spring and the fall in an effort to restore the natural area and has already burned around 20 acres since he’s started.

In order to control weeds, Ensweiler also conducts selective mowing, spraying pesticides (only when he has to), pulling weeds, and planting native plants in problem areas to minimize weeds.

The Honeybee Con-

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COD Newsroom

servancy will be giving COD a queen and a colony of honey bees. Honey bees pollinate a lot of the things that we eat as well as COD’s own wildflowers, trees and other plants around campus. Out of all the 500 species of bees in the world, honey bees are the one species of bee that produces honey.

“We’re hoping that if the colony survives and thrives, that we’ll be able to harvest honey here and hopefully expand the operation and potentially either sell the honey or give it to the hotel, The Waterleaf on campus. We want the colony to survive first before we can start thinking big plans for long term,” said Ensweiler, the Outdoor lab/prairie manager at COD. Ensweiler sees the honey bees as both being an interesting attraction for visitors and a learning opportunity for students as well. “What’s most exciting about it being here at COD is it's not like we’re going for the most amount of honey, or we’re not try-

ing to have this crazy honey operation,” Ensweiler said. “We want to be able to teach people at this college and involve students at this college in the process of beekeeping, the importance of beekeeping, the importance of keeping alive the pollinators. We have all this farmland going away, all this habitat of theirs being destroyed, that, yeah, I want to involve students as much as possible so that they can learn and teach others about the benefits of bee keeping.”

Once the operation is up and running,students can get a hands-on perspective of beekeeping by wearing the proper protection and helping with the operation.

The protective gear is more of a precaution than a guard against any imminent danger, Ensweiler said “People think bees and they think, ‘I’m going to get stung.’ Honey bees are especially docile, they’re especially relaxed bees. The only way that they're going

to sting you is if you go up to the box (the bee hive) and start scratching at it, and bothering them. We’ve also built about a five-foot barrier around the box so that you can come up to it but not totally to it so that you couldn't trip and mistakenly get stung.”

For those who are still jittery about bees coming to campus, Ensweiler said there are as many as 30 species already present, which proves people and bees can co-exist without any mutual fear. "(Honey bees) are just another species of bees that isn't going to be harmful to people.”

In the future Ensweiler wants classes to be involved with the bees at COD. One professor even expressed an interest in teaching a beekeeping class. Ensweiler mentioned three important goals for the future of the bee program at COD. One goal involves expanding the population of the bee colony in order to have the best survival rate, the healthier the colony the larger it can grow to be. COD’s incom-

ing bee population will include the queen bee along with roughly 500-1000 bees. The second goal is to expand the honey operation.

“We’d love to be able to represent COD through local honey. Local honey has a lot of benefits the main one being if people have allergies, they get exposed to the things they have allergies from, because the bees go to these flowering things and pollinate them and then they use that to construct their honey. So when you eat the honey, you're essentially getting vaccinated to what you could potentially be allergic to.” The third goal is an effort to be a leader in the region for learning in the beekeeping process.

“That involves professors teaching it, and workshops, tours, and all that.”

Ensweiler said.

Follow the bee program at COD @codnaturalareas on Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date on the bees and COD’s other natural areas activities.

The Office of Student Life extends our sincere thanks to all our student leaders and advisors who have gone above and beyond in their dedication to the College of DuPage community.

Our learning environment is enriched and inspired by your work and mission.

Dawn Yackley

GOLD Club Excellence Achievers

Outstanding Club Officer

BioTech Club Chinese Student Club Environmental Club Lambda Epsilon Chi (LEX) Paralegal Club Sci-Fi/Fantasy & Gaming Club

Torree Thunberg

SILVER Club Excellence Achievers

Volunteer Coordinator, Environmental Club Benjamin P. Hyink Student Leader of the Year

Alyssa Smith

President, Sci-Fi/Fantasy & Gaming Club

President, Autismerica Outstanding Club Officer

Autismerica Pride Alliance

Karen Persky

BRONZE Club Excellence Achievers

Advisor, BioTech Club Advisor of the Year

Indian Student Association Seoul of COD (Korean Club)

10 May 2017 // codcourier.org // 5

F E AT U R E S Zlatka Burtis: turning the old into new Caroline Broderick · Features Editor

Zlatka Burtis came to the U.S. from the Czech Republic on a whim when she was 20 with a six-month visa. She knew nobody. She knew no English. She took to the College of DuPage for her education, and 17 years later, she owes it to the college for teaching her the language, and now, helping her develop her skills as an artist.

“Newspaper Dolls” is Burtis’ latest project, a new art form she discovered in the 2014 Fall semester during an independent study. The project consists of all handmade dresses, skirts and accessories created from newspaper. Then Burtis stages photoshoots

for the pieces on models where she uses a film camera to capture the pieces.

The last step is developing the negatives and hand painting them to provide a contemporary, borderline pop art appearance.

Burtis was asked to present three dresses in the upcoming fashion show, one of them to be made from Courier newspapers, and has had a newspaper gown on display in the President of the college’s office. Currently, one of her handpainted “newspaper doll” prints is hung in the Cleve Carney gallery.

Fashion was not what Burtis focused on at first.

Drawing, though she admits she doesn’t consider

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herself a talented drawer, was her first artistic love.

That grew into painting.

Then photography became her favorite medium.

“I wouldn’t call myself a photographer,” said Burtis.

“I don’t like to be labeled. I rather choose artist. General. That’s what I like to do: create. And I use the camera to create art.”

Fashion was always something she loved but oftentimes never got to explore in her younger years in the Czech Republic.

“In Czech, I grew up in a communist country,” explained Burtis. “There wasn’t much fashion back then. My mom made our clothes. She made our winter coats, my dresses,

that’s how I grew up.

“At that time, I didn’t appreciate it,” she continued.

“Now looking back when I have my kids, I understand it more. I never wanted to wear it. My friends didn’t.

Why did I have to wear it?

My mom was telling me, ‘One day, you will wish that you know how to sew.’

I said, ‘No, no.’ Now I really wish I knew.”

Because Burtis doesn’t know how to sew, using newspaper is the perfect in-between for her to design and create fashion in her own way. She could take classes to learn, but she would much rather focus her time on designing the pieces rather than creating them. Newspaper

gives her the opportunity to be hands on in ways she couldn’t otherwise.

Burtis always had the mind of an artist. I could easily see her artistic mind when entering her home, looking at her studio filled with various newspapers in different folds. A huge canvas facing the open windows that filled the room with rays of light, displaying the beginnings of a watercolor portrait.

Her desk, covered in various ideas, facing a beautiful, lush outdoor garden.

But back when Burtis was 20 and graduated, she began working for a woman in a flower shop in Prague.

But it wasn’t enough for her young and free, artistic

spirit.

“I started working there and was like, ‘I guess that’s what life’s about, right?

Going to work and that’s it,’” said Burtis. “I felt like, ‘No. I don’t want to live like that. I want to travel.’”

Burtis applied for a sixmonth visa when a friend who decided to sell his house in Darien, Ill. and asked Burtis if she’d want to come back and visit for two weeks before they left.

She never even hesitated to agree when asked. One visa turned into another six-month visa, which then turned into winning a green card lottery, turning the U.S. into Burtis’ new home.

Winning a green card

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY ZLATKA BURTIS

F E AT U R E S

was life-changing for Burtis. “I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I got the papers and thought, ‘OK. This means something.’”

When Burtis made the decision to stay the full six months, she wanted to educate herself, get a job, and support herself in any way she could. For three years she took English as a second language courses at the College of DuPage.

Once she became confident in her abilities, she began taking science and math courses. Though she successfully passed, she quickly learned they were not the types of classes she wanted.

Instead, she began taking art classes. The very first one was a photogra-

phy class, though she was initially reluctant. She thought she knew her film camera, and didn’t need somebody to teach her, but after the first class she wanted to take more and more.

“I think I’ll be a student for all my life at COD,” said Burtis. “There’s still so many classes I want to take. I actually love COD. I love the art department, the photo department. Every instructor there, every professor there, I feel like I’m at home. It’s family-like.”

In a portrait class, when given the subject “fashion,” Burtis kept dreaming of designing her own pieces. Over time, Burtis has developed the “newspaper

doll” project into a lifelong project. Initially it began as attempts with wrapping paper, but something about the images, the words, and the structure of a newspaper was everything she was looking for. She has begun to master each detail, each fold, to turn the vision in her mind into the paper.

Her mind is eternally running with ideas. She admits she doesn’t look anywhere for inspiration besides her own work, or instead looks for inspiration to help her create her visions.

“I walk away from it, but my mind is still processing, still creating a vision of the dress,” said Burtis. “It’s like I walk away, but it’s still in my head. I’m still thinking.

Then I go back to the mannequin. I start placing paper, and many times I end up doing something totally different. It just works in a different way, and I find a new way of doing it, and I’m excited. If I don’t want to use it for that dress, I write it down in my journal for next time, or I take photos of folds I want to use for next time.”

The model, to Burtis, is just as important as the work. When showing me a large wire hoop handmade and wrapped with ribbons, sharing how she’s wanted to create a huge, layered skirt, I question why she hasn’t attempted something she’s been itching to do for two years.

“I haven’t found a mod-

el,” she replies.

For Burtis’ first piece, a skirt, it was the look on her model’s face when she first put on the skirt that drove Burtis to continue.

Burtis admits to being extremely detail-oriented and a perfectionist. She looks for everything that will help create the perfect vision, especially the model. Her models range from her daughters to women she has seen in passing, but when she sees somebody to fit the perfect piece, she must photograph them.

“There are days I go through my photos. I go through my negatives, and sometimes I feel, ‘This is all garbage. I see nothing in it. Everyone can do that,’” said Burtis. “I call them

‘dark days.’ They come to me. They haunt me sometimes. But then the next day I think, ‘You can do it!

Of course you can do it.’

It’s hard to be an artist, but I still want to be an artist.”

Burtis’ days continue to be filled with cutting and folding papers, hand painting photographs, developing negatives, and caring for her two young daughters. She is, above all, an artist who is able to give thanks especially to her COD professors, Frank Jackowiak, Terry Vitacco and Glenn Hansen.

More of Burtis’ work can be found at www. zlatkamburtis.com

10 May 2017 // codcourier.org // 7

F E AT U R E S

“Emma Goes to School” celebrates differences

Adjunct professor begins crowdfunding children’s book Caroline Broderick · Features Editor

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY EMMAGOESTOSCHOOL.COM

Kristin Pack (left), Emma Nelson (middle) and Sage Steiner (right).

It took two years for Emma Nelson to be diagnosed with Schaaf-Yang syndrome, and she became one of the 90 children in the world to be found with it. Adjunct COD professor, Kristin Pack, also the Nelsons’ nanny, and heard the diagnosis along with Emma’s older brother and parents.

Before discovering Emma’s diagnosis, her hands were a very apparent physical difference, but nobody could not discover its reason. Her fingers crossed over one another, and this physical difference immediately created a desire in Pack to find a way to show Emma that her difference did not define her.

This began Pack’s journey with her children’s

book, “Emma Goes to School.” The journey began nearly three years ago when Emma was born, but her condition continued to confuse doctors and it would be years before Schaaf-Yang was introduced to the Nelsons and Pack. In that time, Pack had put the book away, but jumped back into the process after Emma’s diagnosis.

“At first, when I wrote it, I was thinking about what Emma’s life would be like if she never got a diagnosis, and if she went to school and everybody asked, ‘Why do your hands look like that?’” said Pack.

“The only thing we knew were the physical things.

I thought, ‘What would her life be like if she didn’t

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have a way to describe why, except that’s how she was born?’”

The book was on Pack’s mind far before SchaafYang was on the doctor’s radar. Initially, doctors falsely informed the Nelsons that Emma had a condition where a majority of children did not live to see their first birthday.

Pack remembers when the family heard the news while in the natal intensive care unit, and the tense, dark feelings that filled the room.

Physically, Emma’s hands weren’t the only difference. At around one week old, Emma had to undergo surgery that installed a feeding tube into her stomach. The family still uses this to assist Emma with eating and drinking today.

It took over two years of endless tests, scans, MRIs and x-rays on Emma to diagnose her. The whole time, her family had no name to their daughter’s condition.

In 2016, Emma was diagnosed with Schaaf-Yang syndrome, and only a few months ago she was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

“Instead of down syndrome, where there’s an

extra chromosome, this is a deletion from a very specific part of the chromosome,” explained Pack.

“Each kid can have a different number of deletions, which will impact what the disorder will look like for them. There’s only one other kid Dr. Schaaf knows of that has the exact number of deletions as Emma.”

In Pack’s book, the characters are in a fictional monster world where they live in Monstoria and are all around the age of 4.

Each character is representative of a different aspect of those with Schaaf-Yang and on the autism spectrum.

“Once she got her diagnosis and [I started] researching that more, I began tailoring it a lot more to Schaaf-Yang. Especially because a lot of the symptoms overlap with a lot of other disorders. It’s not like a lot of people wouldn’t be able to understand, or it wouldn’t appeal.”

The character Emma has a specific claw shape, eluding to Emma’s own hands.

There’s Jesse, a character named after Pack’s friend’s son who is on the autism spectrum. He is illustrated with colorful puzzle pieces,

representing autism awareness. There’s another character with a lightbulb on their head who only communicated using shadow puppets. This monster is to represent those who can only communicate nonverbally, just like Emma.

Each monster eats through straws through their stomachs, exactly like Emma’s feeding tube.

“The characters themselves don’t have special needs,” explained Pack.

“They’re just unique in their own way.”

These fictional characters come to life by the hand of 13-year-old Sage Steiner. Pack came across Steiner’s work through a random social media connection. Though only 12 at the time, after Pack received Steiner’s sketches, she found that her work stood out amongst the others. Steiner uses watercolors to turn Pack’s requests into life.

Pack especially loves seeing Steiner’s art grow through the entire process and hopes that the book ends up being a worthwhile experience.

Pack is currently fundraising the self-publishment of “Emma Goes to School” through Kickstart-

er. After a week of raising, the book has gained 49 backers and over $2,800 out of the $10,000 goal.

Soon, Emma will be evaluated and the family will see if she can begin school herself. This has motivated Pack, who hopes to publish the book by the fall when Emma would be attending school for the first time.

When asked what her reaction will be once Emma reaches an age where she’s able to understand her inspiration behind the book, Pack responded, “I’m sure I’ll probably cry like a baby.

That’s what the book was for. I can’t wait for that day.

Even if I only did this for her.”

“The main focus of this is I want kids to be able to not only understand and accept differences, but to be able to celebrate that fact,” said Pack.

“We should all celebrate our differences. I feel like there’s a shame and stigma around a diagnosis. If everybody knew and everyone was aware, or even thought, ‘Oh, she’s different; it doesn’t matter.’”

To learn more, go to www.emmagoesto school.com

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10 May 2017 // codcourier.org // 9

F E AT U R E S

A Comprehensive Guide to Fil Most Elusive Genre, Film N

Kitt Fresa · N

Film Noir is as mysterious as it is attractive. Many film critics and enthusiasts often argue over whether it's even a genre or a style, a time, or a theme. The truth about Noir is that there is no truth, only interpretation, which is exactly what makes it all so exciting.

Noir’s classic period lasted from 1941 to 1958, including films like Double Indemnity, The Maltese Falcon, Sunset Boulevard and Kiss Me Deadly. However Noir seemingly has never ended, movies like Chinatown, Blade Runner, and Memento are all movies that fit into what classic Noir has always been, but with an updated presence, thus creating Neo-Noir.

To understand Noir fully though one must start at the beginning with, The Maltese Falcon. Coming out in 1941, The Maltese Falcon starred Humphrey Bogart in one of his break out roles, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet. Directed and

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written by John Huston, he takes the audience for a legendary ride of lies, deceit, and intriguing crime. Often pushing a sense of inescapability from the characters.

This vital sense of no escape is critical to what made Noir what it was in the 40’s, 50’s and up to today with Neo-Noir. Noir not only in The Maltese Falcon but also in films like Sunset Boulevard also are heavily set around the main protagonist who also often feels a lot of that inescapability. The protagonist’s situation continues to grow worse and worse until a climax is reached. A Neo-Noir to compare this to would be a movie like Taxi Driver.

One of the best parts of Noir is it’s pure beauty. Most of Noir was filmed in classic black and white, always concentrating the focus on the lines, context, lighting and especially shadows. Much of Noir consisted of violent crime which often occurred at

night. The setting is practically begging cinematographers to exploit the beauty of black and white film at night and the use of its shadows.

In the film I Wake Up Screaming, towards the end the use of shadows at night is marvelous to watch. We see the shadows of the exterior railings and lattice metal bars of elevators projected onto the walls and over a man’s face.

The film goes from just being about the story to being about the mysterious ambiance established in the room as well.

The use of black and white not only focuses the film on it’s own appearance but also focuses back on the story. Audience members aren't distracted by wild and vivid colors or even dim ones, instead the film turns into something incredibly simple, yet incredibly beautiful all while keeping the focus on the story as well. Black and white turns the vision of the film into an objective purpose, like a scope

F E AT U R E S

lm’s Noir

News Editor

on a rifle, it has it’s own set function.

Noir is also in many ways the beginning of female empowerment roles. The classic Femme Fatale that is vital to many classic Noir films, shows dominance no longer with a man, but with a woman. For the time this was kind of unheard of. Women through Noir put the cracks in film’s unspoken rules on what roles women could play. No longer would women purely be limited to damsels in distress and simple love interests, they played major roles in changing what was to be expected from the role.

Before the modern day rating system we have today, there was a system of censorship in which filmmakers would send in the script of the film before ever making it. The people who rated movies would rate it based on what they read, not on what they saw. Noir’s strongest topics like violence, sex and crime pushed these

limitations that were set upon them by the censors. As Noir stretched film’s limits more audiences found an interest and more producers turned a blind eye to subtle hints of sex and violence. Noir’s limits fell, and filmmakers explored new entry ways in storytelling. All of this was happening during Noir’s classic period from 1941-1958.

However Noir’s very existence wasn't realized until around 1946. Because of WWII, the french hadn't received any films to review until around 1945 when the war ended. French film critics caught up on watching the films of the previous years and realized a pattern between them. The classic themes found between all of those certain films were put together as a group and labeled “Noir” meaning, “black film” in french by french film critics. Filmmakers later on to go back to the themes and styles of classic Noir but with

a modern update, thus creating Neo-Noir.

Neo-Noir took a lot of the same themes from classic Noir and updated them with their own styles. Films like Chinatown, Bladerunner, and Body Heat all went back to similar styles of Noir but created something new at the same time. These trends have not ended however and has spawned something of another Noir, Neo-Neo-Noir. Films like Hell or High Water, Drive and even The Dark Knight all sort fall under this constant evolution of Film Noir.

Noir is elusive, there’s no getting it down, nor will there ever be. Noir is constantly being explored and changed but always staying true to it’s regular themes and styles. Noir will likely never die because there's always something that hasn't been discovered about it. Noir is like a black hole, there's no telling what’s on the other side until you jump through.

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY IMDb 10 May 2017 // codcourier.org // 11

OPINION EDITORIAL

FAILED VISIONS

The disconnect between educator and student No matter where you go to school, whether it’s a four-year university or your local public high school, there will always be teachers who have a glass-shattering disconnect with their students.

At the College of DuPage alone, if this newspaper staff combines the salaries of all the bad teachers we have accidentally enrolled with while attending this school, we could easily donate over a million dollars to breast cancer research and save more lives than each teacher bores to death in the classroom.

This disconnect plants a seed of hatred into whatever subject the bad educator may have waddled themselves into, and digs its roots into our minds as we become increasingly disdained with the class.

No one wants to point out the bad professor to anyone higher up than our fellow student colleagues who also found themselves on the dark side of the moon due to an innate fear that it would cause turmoil with their grade.

This fear becomes anger and mental anguish when-

ever we leave the classroom, as well dead brain cells from the extreme amount of boredom while stagnant in class. If the subject doesn’t pertain to our hobbies or respective majors, most of the time we tend to push the experience and all we “learned” to the back of our minds and hope it doesn’t surface.

While we could go on about all the bad teachers we’ve experienced, it doesn’t solve anything.

Complaining about this has become synonymous with yelling at a brick wall. No one cares about what you’ve experienced, because we’ve all seen how powerless we all are towards fixing the issue.

We all know that it won’t cure the disease spreading across the U.S. education system.

Here at the paper, we tend to recommend teachers to each other. Whether it’s finding a STEM professor who doesn’t have a thicker accent than the density of the Brazilian Rain Forest or having a literature teacher who projects passion into the air, we watch out for each other as

EDITORIAL BOARD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF LUCAS KOPROWSKI FEATURES EDITOR CAROLINE BRODERICK GRAPHICS EDITOR JOSEPH MOLINO PHOTOGRAPHER DAVID JURA REPORTER VANDY MANYEH REPORTER CARLOS PETERSON SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER ALIZAY RIZVI

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best to our ability.

Professor Thomas Tipton has been one of the top recommendations around the office, and has had almost half of our current staff in any one of his classrooms. His approach to education, with his ability to kindle his deep passion for literature into digestible lessons that resonate with how we absorb information, is what has gravitated ourselves into his classroom.

After being asked by our Editor-In-Chief Lucas Koprowski to have a chat about his ideas on the disconnect with students, he thought about how disconnected he feels from his pupils now that he’s in the second half of his career.

“I’m the poster child of disconnect,” Tipton said.

“I don’t watch TV. I don’t watch movies unless my kids drag me to a movie. I know nothing about professional sports. My engagement with the internet is almost exclusively to read news or to find stuff for class. I am so completely out of the loop in terms of pop culture. I’m very

aware of how disconnected I am, and I want to make sure to have some way to connect with students.”

His approach to teaching is a personal journey.

He connects his lessons with stories of his life, from his wife’s battle with breast cancer to his cat Lunchbox massacring a chipmunk in his backyard.

His respect towards students and his willingness to become vulnerable is at the core of his ethos. He doesn’t back down from hard stories in his life, yet understands where to draw the line towards giving too much information “I don’t want to be professor TMI,” said Tipton.

“My daughters will come home from high school and tell stories about how their teacher was divulging personal detail that were maybe a little too much.

At the same time, I recall a conversation with my good friend and suitemate Tom Faye. This was when my wife was going through her battle with breast cancer, and I was struggling with what to share with my classes. Tom said to me at that point that students

appreciate it when you make yourself vulnerable.”

“I couldn’t ignore that struggle my wife was going through because that was all of my time outside of class,” Tipton continued. “I was busy in terms of caretaking, and making appointments; that sort of thing. I was grateful for the way the students responded when I explained to them why I was going to have a difficult term. I want to say that they really stepped up their game as students. By my sharing my vulnerability, you think it would be the opposite, but they really wanted to do their best work in response to my sharing of my vulnerabilities.”

Tipton knows enough about literature to fill an entire collection of Encyclopedia Britannica, but his inner commitment to making himself as open to his students as appropriately and respectfully as possible drives his pupils to actually want to learn. For teachers to open themselves up and become as vulnerable as Tipton is equivalent to taking the first step towards recon-

necting the disjointed American classroom. This simple yet powerful leap will help educators across subjects, classrooms, colleges and this nation’s entire education system to become a more fluid community.

With the understanding that his career has entered its closing half, Tipton’s passion for his students leaves him with a calming sense of clarity and focus.

He knows what he leaves behind are the memories from within his classroom, and with that knowledge he sets his sight to be human above all else.

This is the most important aspect to teaching. It’s not about forcing us to read a book, or teaching the class in coordination with the department’s standardized final. It’s about sowing seeds of passion into your students.

“When it comes down to it, my legacy is going to be my children and my students,” said Tipton. “That’s what I’m going to leave behind, so I want to make sure I do those right.”

Views expressed in The Courier represent opinions of majority of editorial board. The Courier encourages all students, faculty, staff, administrators and community members to voice their opinions on all the topics concerning them both in and out of school. We encourage readers to submit a “Letter to the Editor” voicing their opinions on topics discussed in the editorial.

OPINION

Emmanuel Macron won because he said things that made sense Vandy Manyeh · Reporter

Nov. 13, 2015, was the night that changed politics in France, a European nation with one of the most stringent foreign policies in the world. French President Francois Hollande was inside the packed Stade de France for a soccer game between France and Germany when coordinated attacks resulted in the deaths of 120

persons across Paris.

Since then, France has faced serious security threats from the rise of terrorism to homemade terror attackers who can be blamed for a list of stabbings and vehicle rammings.

Faced with this mystery in a country and city that attract millions of tourists every year, the 2017 French elections w a s a pivotal

CREATIVE COMMONS

crossroad as to how France is going to handle the surge of terrorism it has faced in recent years.

Emmanuel Macron (En Marche) defeated his rival Marine Le Pen (National Front) in a runoff election that was keenly watched from not only the Kremlin in Russia and from 10 Downing Street but thousands of miles away in Washington D.C. This was an aberration given Macron and Le Pen do not come from the usual political establishments that have controlled France for years. But why did he win? Amid perilous times, he simply said things that made sense.

His rival Le Pen planned to tweak the citizen-by-birth law that has existed in France for ages. Unlike many European countries, France is one of those places with a unique demography. France

is a country with a huge Islamic population despite the prominence of the secularist left and right that trends to follow the Catholic faith.

Many citizens of France are immigrants and have been granted a nationality by birth privilege. From the legendary Zinedine Zidane who was born in Marseille but from Algerian Kabyle descent, and many high-profile athletes, France and immigration have been intertwined. The French weren’t ready for a roll back on policies that were exponentially going to upend existing immigration rules.

Also, Macron had a clear and sound perspective that spoke to the hearts of people across both spectrums.

He wants to limit the burden on government by significantly reducing a growing dormant workforce in the public sector to have more people involved with industries and production activities that steer an

economy.

On trade, he plans to maintain existing agreements with Canada but hasn’t ruled out a plan to have better economic agreements with trade partners.

When Le Pen is unstable about her position with Russia, a country that has been justifiably sanctioned from among some of the world’s leading organizations, Macron has maintained his stance on distancing himself from a regime that has done nothing to stop human rights abuses and ill-fated political meddling in crises around the world.

Now, let us see how far his (En Chante) Let us move movement goes. As France faces some serious challenges, with immigration been a key factor that could measure his success, it remains unclear how he is going to handle it.

The French who are enamored by success now have a guy to look up to.

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SPORTS Mitch Trubisky: Manifestation of Bears Dysfunction Carlos Peterson · Sports Editor

In absolute Bears fashion, they selected North Carolina Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, whose rise has been somewhat surprising but intriguing considering his physical skill set. Standing a modest 6 foot 2 inches, Trubisky passes the eye test with an athletic physique and lively arm. However, this only tells half the story. Trubisky spent three years in Chapel Hill and was a starter for only one of them. He would end up starting a total of 13 games in total through his college career and show flashes of a star, but is this enough to warrant a trade to the No. 2 pick in the draft? Many say no.

I am always in full support of going to get “THE guy” if you believe that is

your franchise quarterback. However, when more information came to light following the pick, it became clear the Bears were doing what they do best - displaying to the world just how dysfunctional they are. It was reported that Head Coach John Fox was not informed the Bears would even be taking Trubisky until hours before the draft. The first alarm goes off. Just imagine having your boss undermine the plan that’s been discussed for months to improve the current business for an intern who doesn’t bring immediate value. Spoiler alert: you wouldn’t like it.

Add all that to the fact General Manager Ryan Pace kept his infatuation with Trubisky so secretive

it was a shock to the rest of the league when the selection was made. Trubisky himself didn’t know he was being picked until Commissioner Roger Goodell said his name. While the Bears fans reacted in complete disbelief, the pick shouldn’t be a total shock considering the Bears’ recent history of shocking picks in the NFL Draft.

Shea McClellin, selected in 2012 by the Bears, was considered at the time to be a reach at pick 19.

McClellin is currently on New England. Kyle Long, a perennial Pro Bowler at guard for the Bears, was selected 20th overall and was a head scratcher for many as he had a second round grade throughout the draft process.

Ryan Pace has made his

vision very clear. He wants to see a leader of the team in his quarterback, and he believes he has that in Trubisky. While the reviews for Trubisky as a young man have been glowing to say the least, history has not been kind to college quarterbacks who have started less than 20 college games. The most notable example being Mark Sanchez, who was a one-year starter at USC, leading them to the Rose Bowl.

Another example is Cam Newton, who’s had an upand-down career with the Carolina Panthers, highlighted by a Super Bowl run that seems like an outlier in his career. While the book still has to be written on Trubisky, his lack of command for a room and little playing experience

had to have been red flags for the Bears.

The Bears have not had a Pro Bowl quarterback since Jim McMahon in 1985. They have not had a star at quarterback since Sid Luckman in the 1940’s.

Concern among Bear fans is warranted. While Ryan Pace hasn’t done enough to warrant distrust, hitting on several key players in the draft, this appears to be his way of putting his tenure in Chicago on the line. Getting the quarterback right seems to be few and far between for many NFL franchises. However, Ryan Pace found his man to lead a historic franchise and perhaps someone to overcome dysfunction.

son output. As an elite point guard revered for his assists, he went for 11.7 through 72 games, matching his 2011-12 record assists season with a team that is in worse shape than the Bulls - the Sacramento Kings. Rondo went for 6.7 assists through 69 games during his freshman stint for the Bulls.

This could be the reason the Bulls’ front office decided on a trade that brought in Cameron Payne, a lackluster shooter but somehow decent with assists.

For Butler, it was his best scoring season with 23.9 points per game, with a .367 three-point shooting percentage through 76 games. On the sad note,

his name made headlines during the trade period when the Bulls were losing left and right to division rivals.

Here we have a big three that is made out of players that weren’t at the peak of their careers, and a young, promising and talented player, like Butler. There is a 100 percent likelihood that nothing is going to change since the Bulls have not decided on building team with Butler as the key player. Let us see what the organization will come up to concerning Rondo’s guarantee contract, and what Wade is going to do about his player option.

Now, let me get to the crux of the problem.

The Bulls went for depth

with an avalanche of point guards. The Bulls can’t move forward with a depleted roster. If you want to boast about young players who are ready to play basketball, look at Giannis Antetokounmpo and his Milwaukee Bucks team.

The Bulls’ young players are way too bad to think they can perform better next season. Paxson and Forman want us to believe a young team with a young coach is the way to go.

A pessimistic as I may sound, it is my hope that the Bulls can make the necessary changes before the start of the 2017-18 season.

What’s next for the Bulls?

Vandy Manyeh · Reporter

Season three of a distasteful movie titled “Fred and the boys are bound to fail” starring John Paxson, executive vice president basketball operations, and Gar Forman, general manager.

Coach Fred Hoiberg has shown in two unsuccessful seasons that he is unqualified to coach a team like the Chicago Bulls. Currently on a five-year, $25 million contract, as a rookie head coach, he coached a team that missed the playoffs for the first time in eight years and then performed miserably in the first round of the 2017 NBA-playoffs despite taking a 2-0 lead against the Boston Celtics.

Paxson and Forman last

week gave their unflinching support to Hoiberg, a coach they think needs time to develop. Ironically though, Hoiberg was hired after the Bulls sacked former Tom Thibodeau after a decent 50-32 regular season as head coach.

The organization is misguided, confused and clueless.

Season one of the movie started with missing the playoffs for one of the Eastern Conference’s most successful organizations.

Season two was a semblance of a fight between a cat and a dog.

At the onset of the just-ended regular season, it was clear that Rajon Rondo, Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler were

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the Bulls’ choice for a big three combination in the starting five. This resulted in confusion on and off the court, evident by Rondo’s telling Instagram post about Hoiberg’s inability to provide stability and his preferential treatment that favored Wade and Butler.

Career wise, it was Wade’s worst scoring season averaging 18.3 points through his 60 games, and his lowest field goal percentage with .434, a percentage that is worse than the .465 he was able to get during his rookie season in Miami.

Rondo, too, had some deteriorating stats. He was able to score just 7.8 points per game, 1.8 points shy of his lowest regular sea-

The NBA Western Conference is not overrated Without further ado, simply put, the western conference is not overrated.

From teams being the “gold standard for sustained excellence” to players setting their own records, the athleticism that exists in the western conference is unmatched to that of the eastern conference.

The San Antonio Spurs have won 50-plus games for 20 seasons in a row; credits to the Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker trio. For 31 times, the Los Angeles Lakers have been to the NBA Finals, the most in NBA history. Of recent, the Golden State Warriors finished 73-9 at the end of the 2015-16 regular season; the most wins by a team, surpassing 1995-96 Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls.

For a moment, let me allow history to defend my arguments.

Teams in the western conference have had a winning record during the regular season for 16 times in 17 years. As frivolous as it may sound, this winning record matches with the number of championships western conference teams have won over the years. It is easy to argue that eastern conference teams are 38-32 in NBA finals, but it can also be said that 33 of the last 70 championships was a seemingly even matchup between the Boston Celtics and the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers.

Now, in the all-star games, games that have decided the fate of the conference with better players, the eastern conference leads the western conference 3729. But if “overrated” is a word that would be used to besmear the image of the western conference’s athleticism, then look at the West 12-6 record since the start of the 21st century.

It is a record. I won’t be one of those sports pundits to be cajoled into the thinking that the all-star games are all about an exhibition.

> <

It is a contest, and players take it seriously, although we think it is all about offense during these games.

Let me put the current trend in the NBA into perspective to dispel the notion that the western conference is “overrated.”

In the top three performance categories – points, assists, and rebounds, western conference players lead in two of the three categories. Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook led the league in points, James Harden of the Houston Rockets lead the league in assists, while Hassan Whiteside of the Miami Heat led the league with an impressive 14.1 rebounds per game.

In other menial categories, four of the top five players in made three-point are from the western conference. This is also true when it comes to field goal efficiency.

DeAndre Jordan (Los Angeles Clippers), Rudy Gobert (Utah Jazz) and Clint Capela (Houston Rockets), are the top three efficient players, while Dwight Howard (Atlanta Hawks) and Marcin Gortat (Washington Wizards) sit at the 4th and 5th spots.

The west is stockpiled with players who are creating the hype in an evolving NBA league. We are all a fan of Chris Paul’s lob passes instinct. The splash brothers in Oakland are fun to watch, and the completeness of Kawhi Leonard is just incomparable with anyone in the NBA. It will be hypocritical to be blindfolded by these stats and think the eastern conference is complete trash. Vaunted as one of the greatest to ever play basketball, LeBron James plays in the east. If you are looking for a promising talent, Giannis Antetokounmpo plays in the eastern conference.

On the contrary, their individual talents cannot match the great backcourt combinations and offensive duos we see in the western conference. Definitely, the western conference is not overrated.

THE WEST IS THE BEST

NBA WEST

CONFERENCE

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NEWS REPORTER

POINT POINT

COUNTER

>

VANDY MANYEH

THE WEST IS TOO HYPED UP

CARLOS PETERSON SPORTS REPORTER

Jordan. Ewing. Bird. The list can go on for some time when talking about the greatness of the Eastern Conference. A half of the league that historically has been known for its physical style of basketball, was a complete contrast to the up-tempo flash of the Western teams like the Showtime Lakers or the Phoenix Suns of the mid-90’s. Perhaps, over time, fans have come to value the offensive approach of the Western teams as opposed to the grit of the East, and in that way the Western Conference has been overstated due to a cultural shift.

Take for example the current gold standard, the Golden State Warriors, who seem to be scoring at an historic pace, have been the personification of millennial culture. Analytic driven, young, built on efficiency and team basketball - these are the characteristics, whether you love them or hate them, that have fans gravitating towards their television sets to see just what these young bucks will do next. Averaging an insane 116 points per game and an offensive efficiency rating of 113.6. This nuvo high speed style of offense is skewing the perception of the rest of the Western conference similarly to what LeBron James has done for the Western Conference.

The Eastern Conference has been looked down upon for quite sometime, most notably after the fall of the Big 3 in Boston. However, much of this is just a byproduct of the greatness of LeBron James who has reached the NBA finals in each of the last six seasons, the only non-1960’s Boston Celtic to do so. Prior to his run of six straight finals appearances, LeBron struggled to get past historically great teams such as the previously mentioned Boston Celtics and the Detroit Pistons.

LeBron, after some maturation and adding better players, was able to take down these great teams. Since then, the East has seen a bunch of talented young players, such as John Wall, Gi-

annas Antetokounmpo, and Kristaps Porzingis.

The best analogy I can give is what Starbucks coffee does to its competitors. Starbucks coffee is the gold standard of java and one of the most well-run chains in the world. While Starbucks is by far and away the best in the business, that doesn’t mean you should diminish the qualities of its competitors. Caribou, Dunkin, and Seattle’s Best, while not Starbucks, still bring their unique flavors to the table. Same goes for LeBron and the Eastern Conference. LeBron’s legendary play should not allow people to skew the perception of the East. While LeBron is often the lightning rod for polarizing discussion in the NBA, one thing cannot be disputed. He has been the lone dominant force from keeping the East from reaching its full potential and in the process has bolstered the perception of a Western Conference that has few elite teams outside of the Golden State Warriors.

The Western Conference similarly is filled with outstanding players, headlined this season by the two leading MVP candidates - Russell Westbrook and James Harden - who play great individually but evoke questions about how much of it contributes to winning games. Other players such as Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard and Chris Paul are highly talented players who don’t have great teams None of their respective teams have made it past the second round. The Western Conference, in terms of team representation, hasn’t had much variance in the past decade seeing the Lakers, Spurs, Mavericks and Warriors come out of the West.

So, while many punish the East for only having LeBron come out on top, the West has had pretty much the same teams represented in the finals.

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Easy Rider - Action Bronson Genre: Rap Similar to: Joey Bada$$, Danny Brown Easy Rider is the ultimate driving song. Bronson’s lyrics and rhymes push this song into excellence. It has a classic yet modern feel.

When Bronson finishes his tasty rhymes the sound of a motorcycle engine under a cutting guitar solo bring this song to a close.

The inescapable feeling of imagining yourself driving a motorcycle sets in and the song closes as we ride off into the sunset. —Kitt

Stuck On You - On June Genre: Dance Similar to: Can’t feel my face, The Weekend You will think the title of this song was mimicked after Lionel Richie’s “Stuck on You.” Definitely not. It is not a song with the best vocals, but a mix of organic drums and great sounds from a guitar will make you stuck on it. This is a mini love letter made for you to dance. Don’t try listening to this song while your foot is placed on the gas pedal. Summer is weeks away, why not add this to your “summertime” playlist? —Vandy

Spread Eagle Across the Block - Death Grips Genre: Experimental Rap Similar to: Danny Brown Usually, emo music couldn’t be farther from my sort of bread and butter. However, when my favorite musician, Jeff Rosenstock, preps an Australian band to play emo music, I have no other option but to give them a chance. The unusual Aussie accent on the lead man is the only aspect that makes this music anywhere near individualistic, however that one difference is the reason why I keep going back to their new album “More Scared of You Than You Are Of Me.” This single difference is an anomaly in the emopunk scene, and I love it. —Lucas

4 Your Eyez Only- J. Cole Genre: Jazz Rap, Hip-hop Similar to: Kendrick Lamar, Nas J. Cole takes a dramatic turn from his coming of age album, 2014 Forest Hill Drive (double platinum with no features), with the darker and vulnerable, 4 Your Eyez Only. This narrative of a young African American man leaving a message for his young daughter is telling in the struggle of the Black community and the many injustices they face in their lives as well as his life specifically.

A lengthy song is ended with the friend of the main character telling the man’s daughter despite all of his rough spots he was real because he loved his child. J Cole’s newest album will give you a chance to understand a different racial paradigm. ­—Carlos

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The Courier is ALIVE Kitt Fresa · News Editor JOSEPH MOLINO/COURIER

In the span of just a semester working at The Courier, it feels like I have lived a lifetime. The Courier is no doubt, a living, breathing thing that has always pulled me into its paper arms and towards some of the people who matter the most to me in my life. Let me explain.

I remember vividly the first time I went to The Courier’s office. I had printed out a few copies of my resume and carefully placed them in a folder in my backpack. I knocked on the door and waited until a scraggly bearded journalist opened the door.

“Hi!” he said with a look of surprise on his face. I could tell not a lot of new people came in by his surprise. As I introduced myself and walked in, I noticed a cute girl pop her head out from around her cubicle. I paused for a half second until I remembered that I had to focus on what I was doing. More and

more journalists popped out of their humble cubicles to see the commotion.

That scraggly journalist told me his name was Lucas, the editor-in-chief, and said he’d get back to me soon. I was confident, but a little reluctant to get the job. The idea of not getting it felt good at a distance because it would be one less thing I’d have to do. However, as soon as I got Lucas’ email that all proved to be false. I hadn't gotten the job, and I grew strangely angry. They had chosen someone else over me, and I developed a hatred for the Courier.

A few days went on.

That casual newspaper I’d occasionally skim through, I now turned my nose up to. However, not too long after that Lucas emailed me again. The person that had gotten the job could no longer participate, and now they had come crawling back to me. “No way,” I thought, “Now you want

me? Tough shit.”

But something urged me to accept. Maybe it was my mother's good manners and common sense she had instilled in me, but I truly feel like it was the future pulling me down its predetermined path. This was something life itself had planned for me that I had been rejecting. I inevitably accepted. My angered dropped into a smile, “Goddammit.” I laughed to myself. I accepted Lucas’s offer.

Only until now have I discovered that the Courier itself pulled me into it’s path. The Courier has a strange way of changing people’s lives. Everyone who has ever worked there leaves with a story or two. The more time people spend there, the more their hearts become attached.

People come for the writing, but always leave with the memories, and I am no stranger to that. I fell into a deep love for the Cou-

rier, and an equal love for the people who worked there. The Courier just has that effect on people.

It's absolutely inescapable.

But the Courier and the journalists that work there are just as dangerous as they are loving, and some people don't make it out alive. Some are swallowed by their own home and don't realize it until they're shit back out into the real world.

However, I didn't know any of that when I first got there. I went into my first meeting the last week of the fall semester and got a taste of what it was like. I quickly learned all of my preconceptions that the Courier would be a strictly business workplace were gigantically false. The meetings quickly turned from a business into something closer to a bar. This place didn't feel like work, it felt like home, and even stranger, it felt like a home I had always been a part

of. I felt everyone’s love for each other in that office. It reminded me of the love I feel with my family on Christmas morning.

Every week my friendships grew with the people I had met in that office, and every week my writing got a little bit better.

But to be totally honest, compared to the people I couldn't give a shit about the writing. The people I’ve met at the Courier mean the world to me, and I wouldn't trade the memories I’ve made through this paper for anything.

Truly, through the Courier I've experienced the best days of my life, and some of the worst. I've felt love, and I’ve felt heartbreak, but everyone I’ve met there, including the people who didn't even work there anymore, turned me into a better person. I have no doubt in my mind that the Courier has changed the very course of my life, all because of the people

and the living entity that resides in that quiet but magical office. The Courier, with its strange ways of love and hate inevitably turn weak men into strong men, and bad writers into great writers.

The Courier is something I’ll never forget. I was lucky enough that the Courier pulled me in before I could mistakenly escape. I think about the memories I’ve made every day as I forge new ones while I still can, because at the end of the semester, this will all end. Just like life does, one has to seize the moments that are best in life. It has felt like I have lived a lifetime at the Courier.

Don't be drowned in the darkness of synonymous life. Don't grow comfortable living a false life, living a dead man’s future.

Do not die already, for you have barely lived. Live now, for you will die forever.

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Lucas Koprowski ¡ Editor-in-Chief

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Joseph Molino/Courier

Crying would be a subtle and visceral way to release all the pent-up emotion I have towards leaving this newspaper after this semester’s final issue.

Since September of 2014, I’ve been a part of the College of DuPage Courier student newspaper. I’ve learned a lot about not only myself but everyone I have encountered in my reporting. From watching former COD President Robert Breuder being slammed by citizens during a three-hour-long public comment to nearly being assaulted at the Trump rally that never came to be in early 2016, I’ve gained experiences and memories that have changed my perception of the world.

However, blaring thoughts in my head drive me to hate my past self, as well as convince me to run far away from this newspaper office that I’ve turned into my home.

That sounds over-dramatic.

I live in the United States. I have a roof over my head that keeps me dry.

I’m in college, and I don’t have many bills due to living with my mom. I get paid to manage my community college’s newspaper for Christ’s sake.

I have a wonderful job.

Life is simple. It is easy in concept, and I should be thriving under the freedom I’ve been so fortunate to enjoy.

The privilege that flows perpendicular with my life should harbor success. If it doesn’t, then I’d be a fool and an abuser to take these freedoms I’ve been allotted for granted.

I shouldn’t be getting C’s in my classes, nor should I be smearing the trust of the people who have helped me attain these freedoms by dropping classes or not studying.

I’d be a loser not to be thriving.

Of course, that mindset comes with its drawbacks. I’ve certainly felt more anxious and some-

Most people cannot innately run like a machine, and when they compare themselves to “that kid” in class who doesn’t understand the first week’s material after six weeks into the semester, they believe they’re in good standing.

I’m here in this very moment writing this sob piece to make myself

The habits I built from the summer to help improve my studying completely fell flat on its face once I started compromising my routine with dating and trying new social experiences rather than studying.

With this publication, I told myself it’s OK to fail. I told myself it’s all a learning

cus on your failures as a white flag. For me, over analyzation leads to an addiction towards my deeper insecurities and pushes me towards the wrong kind of perspective. Instead, let me focus on my failures as lessons, not regrets.

My laissez-faire leadership style isn’t for everyone, and some people

what depressed under these mental conditions. They’ve cut my appetite and stumped my hunger for success.

The anxiety I, and many others in the same situation, have faced locks us into a paralyzing fear of taking the next step forward. I find myself having YouTube marathons for hours at a time in an attempt to alleviate my goose-skinned emotions.

That’s life though.

feel better about my own shortcomings this past year. I did not live up to any of the goals I put up in August for my education or this publication.

I did not get straightA’s, and I was a fool for setting that standard so high for myself when I can barely read a Stephen King novel, let alone understand why Walt Whitman is a gay-poetic revolutionary of his time.

experience. I’ve lost more friendships in a span of four months than I had organically within a half decade before starting my lead role, and I feel like I am leaving this paper stagnant of any improvement.

Regret only leads to self-loathing, so I’ll try not to bog myself down any further with ideas of wanting to go back in time. It isn’t healthy.

It isn’t healthy to fo-

ask to be micromanaged.

Although I hate being told what every step of the process is every time I need to complete a task, others need that sort of structure. I now understand that I can’t let everybody run free, even though it harbors the most creative success once their own personal groove is found.

I cannot treat everyone with the same decency

as I would with a close friend. Confrontation is a necessary evil. Deal with outliers before they influence the entire trend.

Giving people chances is one thing, but not addressing the problem through giving people more opportunity to fail is an entirely other issue.

It was a slippery slope every single time I let them fall into the trap. To all who I didn’t catch, I’m sorry.

It wasn’t that I refused to help you. I couldn’t even catch myself from falling into the same hole.

My stagnation towards not studying and postponing my work caused my limbs to become a mix of lead and iron, and I couldn’t find my own way to escape the boomerang of habit.

That single aspect of this past year has been the bane of my existence, and I couldn’t find a way around it in time to help my coworkers.

Humility is my greatest ally, with a dagger at my throat no matter where I stand. It helps me face my shadow and overcome personal groundhog days. Vulnerability is the world’s most powerful double-edged sword, and humility opens us up to the reality we fail to see.

To look at failures as a part of you rather than a weighted jacket you place upon your shoulders is to take in the full array of colors provided by life.

Rainbows become dreary in comparison to the vivid images seen between the words of your regrets.

I am a loser, though.

Take what I say with a grain of salt.

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