Riley's blog

Unbelievable: My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History, is a book written by NBC journalist Katy Tur. Tur works for both NBC and MSNBC, and she spent the 2016 election cycle on the road with President Trump. The book is a recount of her time on the campaign and the unbelievable rise of Donald Trump.

It begins like all award winning books or movies have. Tur is at the Trump celebration on election night and watching as the supporters go from excitement to absolute jubilance. The title comes from the feeling of the rest of the world that was watching, and finding the realization of a President Trump, Unbelievable.Everyone except Tur found it unbelievable. With that prologue she explains that she called the election for Trump when all the analysts believed it to be an easy win for Hillary Clinton. The first chapter begins with Tur getting her first assignment in the Trump Campaign. She happened to be working in New York at the time, she was supposed to be a NBC Foreign Correspondent in England. From their she moves to the first time she met Trump. It is described as anger and intensity from the Presidential hopeful. Though we can all see that now, she was the first to actually realize Trump’s disdain for the media.

Trump’s disdain for the media, and his intense first meeting with Tur, sets up the story that follows. The book covers the excitement of Trump rallies, while Tur explains the fear that she felt as the candidate unintentionally put her in the crosshairs of his supporters. He called her “Little Katy.” Once again, like all the great stories, Tur jumps back and forth between different events and election day. Each chapter begins at one of the focal points of the campaign, say the debates or scandals (“Grab them by the pussy”). The chapter features points of view from the reporters hearing this for the first time, and the campaign staff members, often in scramble mode because of Trump’s latest antics. And then, as if it were a flashback, each chapter ends on election day, as the world gets closer to the unbelievable moment where Donald Trump is called to be the 45^thPresident of the United States. And along the way, you will see how Katy predicted the ending of this unbelievable campaign.

Throughout the book, especially for those of us that watch NBC, you will run into the characters that you know and are familiar with. Some of those people include, Lester Holt, Andrea Mitchell, Chuck Todd, and a slew of other NBC/MSNBC correspondents. This is an interesting inclusion for the story, as it adds another layer to the narrative. Katy Tur is a very experienced, and award winning journalist. She had been with the NBC team for several years at the time and had covered several national stories, however she had no experience on how to deal with Donald Trump. Now, at the time, no one did, but the inclusion of Tur’s more experienced, politically savvy colleagues presented a more informed look at the campaign. Though they also served as key contributors in building up Tur’s self esteem when times were darkest.

The book is interesting enough, especially for a politically fascinated person such as I. While the rest of the world became sick of the Trump antics by November of 2016, I found it fascinating that this guy was actually doing it. Now, it was almost as if I was reliving those moments. Though, I will say, I was a little discouraged by some of the book. It was not a straight telling of the campaign. The book serves as a narrative for how Tur became a stronger person in the face of the adversity thrown at her by the Trump campaign. Though there are places where she stops to explain the hardships of being on the road, such as how experienced one gets at putting on makeup in the car. This stuff could’ve been left out, but it also made the story a little more personal.

I will say that this story serves a purpose. It is unlike any of dozens of books that have been released in the last two years, all explaining the rise of President Trump. Her book is a first hand account of the things that went on during the campaign, and her first hand view of the election, as the campaign unfolded. This now gives the story an interesting purpose, to show the world how it happened. These recent releases that focus on campaign can only look back with hindsight, and say “We should have seen this coming.” Tur’s book and point of view clearly state; “I saw this coming.”

Looking at the story from the narrative point of view, one might assume that Tur has a negative view of President Trump. You could not fault her for this, given the things she experienced during some interviews, and Trump Rallies. And, for a moment, this deters the book. It gives a sense that what she is reporting, or retelling, may be one sided. However, there is very little in this book that public did not already know, and there is nothing worse than what we already know. So, whether you are a Trump supporter or not, this book will not change your mind on the President. It does nothing more than serve it’s purpose.

There are some things that should be brought into question when reading this book. My biggest question is: how reliable is the information? Though it was written almost immediately following the election, one must wonder if Tur can precisely remember everything that she felt or experienced at the time. Or is she re-experiencing it with the benefit of hindsight? Once again, these questions didn’t deter me for too long, especially after I learned that Katy Tur would win the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in journalism in 2017; due in no small part for her work on the Trump campaign. In fact, I found it unbelievable how frequently I wanted to continue reading this book, considering I know how it ends. It is a compelling read, and fascinating for political aficionados. And journalists may learn a few new things as well. Overall Unbelievableis a compelling story that explains how the unbelievable actually came true.

Why is everyone cuddling? It’s late at night, you’re at a friend’s house, or you’re in the dorms, and you and you’re “other” are cuddling. You’re whispering sweet nothings to each other, while the other one giggles along. It’s cute, but it’s in the middle of the movie. In short, you’re pissing people off, and you probably have been for a long time.

They say College is the time for knowledge and exploration, and it’s where you will forge relationships that will last a lifetime. I feel as if I’ve done that, but some people have taken this to the extreme. They’ve fallen in love. Whippy for them. The rest of us, are just trying to get by.

Everyone has the right to be in love, don’t get me wrong, but why now? And why in front of everyone else? And, as fast as they are going, how could they actually be in love? Two of my friends exchanged “I love you” by the third date. The. Third. Date. Well, thanks for giving someone else a chance. To coincide with that, half of the RA’s on the Morningside Campus have fallen in love or gotten engaged within the last two years. Am I the only single person at the party?

The answer is no. In fact, I would believe that the grand majority of people are single, and if they are dating, they haven’t found their “soul mate” yet. We’re the real Silent Majority. We go about our days without needing to be surgically removed from someone. We go to class, we work, we shower, we eat, we sleep, repeat. We do not yet have the luxury of spilling all of our tiny inconveniences on someone that actually cares. We have all the things that bother us flowing through our brain at a million miles an hour, and anyone we spill this to, couldn’t actually care less, because they dealing with the same problems.

In the midst of it all, one can feel anger at the overabundance of love that surrounds us. But, angry as I am that all the good people are quickly taken before I even get my shot in (thanks again, buddy), I can’t help but be filled with happiness when I am around these people.

We could think of ourselves as the Silent Majority, the sad saps that love hasn’t seemed to find yet, or we could realize that we are the Lucky Few. We have friends that are in love. Surely our friends’ happiness should make us happy. And, there is the added benefit that we watched it all happen. It’s like a romantic comedy playing out right in front of us. We witnessed the “meet-cute,” all the adorable and emotional moments, and now, three years later, our closest friends are engaged. Now, if that isn’t enough for the average person, there is more just below the surface.

As we go on with our happy lives, we will most likely find that we are friends with a person. Very rarely will we run into situations where we like both people in a coupling. Husbands are friends with husbands, and wives are friends with wives. But, in College, we have the special ability of befriending both sides of the couple. We go to class with the boyfriend, and we go to class with the girlfriend. They are a part of the group. And before you know it, you care about strangers that are in love. Or, better yet, your two friends are strangers that fall in love. How amazing is that?

What makes this such an interesting dynamic is the gender politics that we must play. As we get older and our tempers decrease, or we get a better understanding for one another, gender politics becomes a virtual non issue. It’s a world of pros. But in College, it’s a messy business. It’s like Game of Thrones mixed with House of Cards, and I’m Chandler from Friends. Little do you know that there are benefits to being Chandler, the funny guy, or person outside the mess. For the “perfect couple” cannot stay perfect forever. No, everyone must fight. And, at first, there is an idea of betrayal. We can play the Game; we can live in the House. Now is the chance. We can steal our dream; she belongs with us anyway. Or, you hold the man you’ve pined for, these long years. It’s only clever tactic away. But, this idea disappears as quickly as it manifests. We realize that we don’t want the person, we want their friendship. But, now the “perfect couple,” our best friends, are fighting. So, the outsider goes to work, and we roll up our sleeves and dive in head first.

We offer perspective. Same genders understand each other. A man understands a man, and he can make him feel like he isn’t crazy. Like he still has friends in the world. We understand each other because we are men. Then, we go to the woman. She sits there in tears, or maybe stewing with anger boiling just below the surface. So, you sit down. You put your arm around her, and you give her the one thing that all her female friends can never give, perspective. You understand how men think. You know why your friend acted like such a dumbass. And you become the conduit for these two people loving each other once again.

The same applies for women. This is not a male thing. All people can understand each other. Sometimes, it just takes someone from the outside to look in and sort the mess out. And, while everyone else around us falls in love, we forge these friendships that will last a lifetime. We build both academic knowledge that will carry us to great careers and human understanding that will give us happier lives.

One day, we will find Mr./Mrs. Right. We’re just too busy keeping up with crowd to notice each other. And in the middle of all that, it can seem like the most infuriating thing in the world. Everyone smooching, and cuddling, and reciting Shakespeare (No, just the Theatre kids? Okay). It’s slightly gross, and it is obnoxious if we’re trying to listen to important plot points, but to stand back and look as an outsider, we become happy with others’ happiness.

This is we are the Lucky Few in the College world. Once we move in to the “real world.” The opportunity for this to happen occurs less and less. Not only do we have time on our hands, but we have friends on both ends of the relationship spectrum. But that time is quickly running out. So, we must take in all we can while we have the chance. All we must do is sit back and listen.

Albert Einstein once said time is irrelevant. Now, over 75 years later, I am beginning to question his credentials. For Einstein could not have gone to college if he believed this to be true, or maybe it’s that German colleges are set up different than American colleges. Either way, for the 21^stCentury college student, time is very relevant.

The days are filled with class, work, and homework. However, homework is the only time in the students’ lives that does not have a designated time period. In fact, one may only be able to do homework when they are busy. Does that make sense? It may not, but that is how college life seems to work itself out. In this grand expanse of time, each portion of the day is scheduled out. However, the tasks become so close that eventually all 24 hours of the day are taken up. The only available time to work on said assignments is during the most menial of tasks.

Laundry is the easiest of these menial tasks. Put clothes in. Add soap. Wait one hour, and repeat. This is one task that allows time to complete others that would otherwise mess up the perfectly laid schedules. But laundry is only once a week at best. You can’t read and vacuum, nor can you commute and write a paper, and hopefully none have tried. To sum up, the college student is not only forced to deal with college issues, but the time consumed in menial, everyday tasks. The college life is simply time consuming.

Now, one generally wakes up between an hour or a half hour before class. If the latter is true, the average student does not allow themselves time to eat, which is most often the case. In the professional or “adult” world, people give themselves three times a day to eat. College students eat whatever they can in the time that their schedule has allowed.

The average class is one hour long, however, half the time, they can go up to 90 minutes. This is generally followed by another class ten minutes later. The student has the ability to pick and choose their classes as they wish, but the necessity for some classes is unavoidable, and the ability to make the college change the scheduled class time is nothing but a mere wish that only Freshman still have.

Now the ever growing amount of homework and class schedules cannot be blamed directly on the college. Though it is simpler to believe. The biggest problem lies in the need for balance. Professors have conflicting schedules that must be carefully ironed out. So, morning and afternoon classes are built not only on the Professor’s schedule, but also the need to balance certain classes in specific semesters. In all reality, that seems oddly fair, but one must realize that the Professors have graduated, and then returned to this Hell. The place after Purgatory, but before burnt out Christmas lights. This is where they’ve chosen to return, so can we shift some blame to them? Probably not, but I digress.

As we move on with the day, there is the realization that it’s noon, you just haven’t noticed because you’ve slept half the morning away, whether you’re in class or not. Now you may eat. But it can’t be that simple. Can it? In fact, it’s not. Clubs and organizations use this time to meet. If God is on your side, you have time to run to the cafeteria and grab food to go. In there you will most likely see the College President laughing the lunch hour away. What right does he have to be so relaxed? At least he tries to relate to his students. But if he isn’t losing half his meal while trying to shove the rest in his mouth before darting off to the next activity, will he ever relate?

As the average day progresses, afternoons get weird, and it seems this is where schedules begin to vary. As a member of the Mass Communications Department, I have personally viewed the KMSC DJ schedule. The schedule is picked over by the students as the only time that they are available. You probably aren’t surprised to learn the majority of DJ shifts happen in the afternoon. However, the 95% of student DJs do not take up more than one hour on the air. Because, who has the time?

While some are busy doing extra curriculars such as these, others are now moving forward with their afternoon classes. And, no college student wants to work in the morning, and very few do so during the week. So, in some cases, the remainder of the afternoon is spent working. Now, because Sioux City effectively closes down at 10:00 P.M, students will often work from late afternoon until 9:00 or 10:00 at night.

“I have both an on campus job and an off campus job,” says Morningside Senior Madison Schueth. “Most weeks I work ten hours or more, but this week I am working around twenty.”

This struggle is real for many Morningside students. What’s more deceiving is the work schedule itself. Living on campus, and hitting every red light, it could take as long as twenty minutes to get to the main shopping district of Sioux City. Now, combining the time it takes for a student to walk from their residence to their car could take five to ten minutes. This can be said from the movement from car to business. If we double this, as one does follow the same path home as they did earlier in the evening, we would get nearly an hour of time wasted in commute.

When they arrive at their homes or dorms, they are immediately confronted with the realization of homework. The college professor will usually demand twenty pages be read by the next class period. This isn’t unreasonable. However, twenty pages times four classes in two days equals ridiculous. Madison, for example, works on a Sunday night. She is also a double major in Psychology and Theatre. That being said, when she gets home, she is confronted with a mountain of homework. When we spoke on a Monday night, she had “legitimately, not slept” in nearly 36 hours.

The average student does not have these issues, however, many students are double majored, or have minors. This runs the possibility of having five, or God forbid, six, classes in a semester. There is also a high amount of students that are involved in sports. Sporting events and practices then take up two to four hours of the students’ day.

Now, the grand majority students are in clubs. This includes athletes, the simpletons with only a single major and minor, or emphasis, and the vast amount of students with double majors Even these people find time to be in two or three different campus organizations. Madison Schueth, is the Vice President of both Alpha Psi Omega and Alpha Omicron Pi. Others, have even more organizations to deal with.

“I spend five hours with one group, three and a half hours with another group, and another two hours for a third group,” comments Morningside Senior Brock Bourek. Brock is a double major in Theatre and Art Administration with a minor in Religious Studies. He participates in Alpha Si Omega, Phi Mu Alpha, Sinfonia, and College Choir. Not only is he a part of these groups, and a couple more, but he is an officer in nearly each organization. Did I mention that he works as well?  This is truly getting exhausting at this point.

When the student, unless you are like Madison, sleeps they must begin with a ritual. This is the time before you finally crawl into bed and close your eyes. This time is used to decompress from the day, for, if you do not, you may spend hours tossing and turning. Now, if you are one of those people who can fall asleep right when your head hits the pillow, please know that you are hated.

Finally, there is the weekend. But, wait… there’s more. Saturday is one of two days where the average college student has no classes to attend. However, this is the day of the weekend that the largest number of businesses are open. So, the chances are high that you will work this day away because you need to pay the college to take all of your time. Consider Madison and Brock in this category as well.

Saturday night is the night to make things happen. You can’t do homework now, not when you are at the only time in this God forsaken week that you don’t have to wake up before the sun. I’m not suggesting throwing party, though they could be fun, but one must do something out of the everyday world to keep their sanity. So, Saturday night is usually spent in front of a TV.

Finally, it is Sunday. This day is spent on homework, unless of course you have light classes or did your homework on Saturday night (Please note that you too, are hated). And so the day drifts by, under the stress of homework, or more likely, the anxiety of procrastination. Then, on Sunday night, you finally see your bed. Let all the stress drift away for eight more hours. First of course there is the terrible realization that you have no social life because of the time sucking vortex that is the college life. Then there is the overwhelming fear of what lies ahead.

Then there is calm. You realize that you do have friends and a social life, because they are just as exhausted as you. So, you can all be exhausted together. And of course there is the realization that this time consuming monstrosity will lead you to an, overall, happy and successful life. So, you begin to embrace the week to come, for it will be like the week that passed, which you finished with flying colors.

With the fear disappearing, you surrender to the sweet release of sleep. But before you finally nod off, you go over what tomorrow will be, and what you should wear to combat the ever-changing Iowa weather. And you open your eyes in the realization that you still need to do laundry. Fuck.

Albert Einstein once said that time is irrelevant. Now, over 75 years later, I am beginning to question his credentials. For Einstein could not have been a collegiate if he believed this to be true, or maybe it’s that German colleges are set up different than American colleges. Either way, for the 21^stCentury college student, time is very relevant.

Our days are filled with class, work, and homework. Though, because we are not given a specific time for homework, it seems that the only time that I have to work on it, is when I’m busy. Does that make sense? It may not, but that is how college life seems to work itself out. In this grand expanse of time, we schedule each portion of the day. However, the tasks become so close that eventually all 24 hours of the day are taken up. The only time we have to work on some assignments is while we’re waiting for other tasks to near their completion.

Laundry is the easiest of the time consuming tasks. Put clothes in. Add soap. Wait one hour, and repeat. This is one task that allows us time to complete others that would otherwise mess up our perfectly laid schedules. But laundry is only once a week at best. You can’t read and vacuum, nor can you commute and write a paper, and hopefully none have tried. To sum up, the college student is not only forced to deal with college issues, but the time consumed in menial, everyday tasks. The college life is simply time consuming.

Now, one generally wakes up between an hour or a half hour before class. If the latter is true, the average student does not allow themselves time to eat, which is most often the case. In the professional or “adult” world, people give themselves three times a day to eat. College students eat whatever they can in the time that their schedule has allowed.

The average class is one hour long, however, half the time, they can go up to 90 minutes. This is generally followed by another class ten minutes later. The student has the ability to pick and choose their classes as they wish, but the necessity for some classes is unavoidable, and the ability to make the college change the scheduled class time is nothing but a mere wish that only Freshman still have.

Before you know it it’s noon, you just haven’t noticed because you’ve slept half the morning away, whether you’re in class or not. Now you may eat. But it can’t be that simple. Can it? In fact, it’s not. Clubs and organizations use this time to meet. If God is on your side, you have time to run to the cafeteria and grab food to go. In there you will most likely see the College President laughing the lunch hour away. What right does he have to be so relaxed? At least he tries to be one of us. But if he isn’t losing half his meal while trying to shove the rest in his mouth before darting off to the next activity, can he ever truly be one of us?

In my case, I have a radio show that takes up the one o’clock hour. I then must drive home and change before going to work at four. When I am done at eight, I must find time to eat. I’m lucky if the average day “ends” before 9:00 P.M. And even after it “ends” I still need to do homework. That’s two classes a day, both of which seem to think that theirs is the only class I must be taking, so I must have time to read twenty-five pages, and write a three-page essay (Three pages… yea, right!).

Following all this, I need to go to bed to be sharp for the next morning. But one must decompress before going to bed, otherwise they will toss and turn for hours on end. If this is not you, however, please know that you are hated.

I consider myself to be the “average” college student. But some of you may be thinking that I am blowing this out of proportion. You are wrong. I imagine the average college student has even more to deal with. Sometimes I feel like I am the only person at Morningside College that does not have a double major or a minor. I have a emphasis and a cluster, that should be enough for you people! But I digress.

Many other students are double majored, or do have minors. This runs the possibility of having five, or God forbid, six, classes in a semester. There is also a high amount of students that are involved in sports. Sporting events and practices then take up two to four hours of the students’ day.

Now, the grand majority students are in clubs. This includes athletes, the simpletons like me, with only a single major, and the vast amount of students with double majors and minors. Even these people find time to be in two or three different campus organizations. Some of these people, myself included, are even the leaders of groups. We are now forced to work our schedules around that of the rest of the people in the group. This is truly getting exhausting at this point.

Finally, there is the weekend. But, wait… there’s more. Saturday is one of two days where the average college student has no classes to attend. However, this is the day of the weekend that the largest number of businesses are open. So, the chances are high that you will work this day away because you need to pay the college to all your time.

Saturday night is the night to make things happen. You can’t do homework now, not when you are at the only time in this God forsaken week that you don’t have to wake up before the sun. I’m not suggesting party, though they could be fun, but one must do something out of the everyday world to keep their sanity. So, Saturday is usually spent in front of a TV.

Finally, it is Sunday. This day is spent on homework, unless of course you have light classes or did your homework on Saturday night (Please note that you too, are hated). And so the day drifts by, under the stress of homework, or more likely, the anxiety of procrastination. Then, on Sunday night, you finally see your bed. Let all the stress drift away for eight more hours. First of course there is the terrible realization that you have no social life because of the time sucking vortex that is the college life. Then there is the overwhelming fear about what lies ahead.

Then there is calm. You realize that you do have friends and a social life, they are just as exhausted as you. So, you can all be exhausted together. And of course there is the realization that this time consuming monstrosity will lead you to an, overall, happy and successful life. Then you begin to embrace the week to come, for it will be like the week that passed, which you finished with flying colors.With the fear disappearing, you surrender to the sweet release of sleep.

But before you finally nod off, you go over what tomorrow will be, and what you should wear to combat the ever-changing Iowa weather. And you open your eyes in the realization that you need to do laundry. Fuck.