Category: Stories (Page 2 of 2)

“That’s a hard one. I’m not sure,” Shelby Stratton said. She looked down to her knees that were crisscrossed and squinted her eyes. As she was deep in thought, her blonde ponytail slipped over her shoulder and covered her eyes. “I just want to make a difference in their lives.”

The air was tense. Looking at Stratton and the lines drawn in her face, it was easy to see that she was thinking. What did she want to accomplish in nursing?

It was an open-ended question of opinion, but that didn’t make it easier. Nurses are what make the medical world-go-round, as they say. They provide joy and comfort to families.

“My favorite part is helping people and seeing how much they appreciate you,” Stratton continued. “The studying hasn’t really cost me anything, but it does make me busy. Really busy.”

Busy seems to be the common word around the nurses.

“Outside the hospital, {nursing} has really killed my social life. I have to spend so much time studying, and when I’m not studying I’m at the hospital,” Haley Mathes also commented, “I don’t really have time for my friends anymore. My friends back home, we’re not really friends, and my friends here I don’t really see that much.”

Though studying hasn’t really hurt Stratton at all, Mathes believes it has hurt her friendships, as well as her relationships.

“My boyfriend hates it,” she said with a chuckle, “I’m never really home and when I am I’m usually studying.”

Bailey Powers also stated that studying has hurt her relationships as well.

“It gets very difficult, time consumption wise. When school started I actually had a breakdown. I didn’t know how to incorporate the social aspects with the whole nursing piece.”

“It actually almost broke one of my friendships here. Luckily, that friendship was strong enough that we just sat down and we talked about that we had been pulling apart and it wasn’t just because of soccer or anything but also because I had been studying.”

Both Powers and Mathes want to pursue work in the NICU. They believe that their struggles will be worth it, though all three of them have thought about quitting at some time or another.

“Oh, everyday. Seriously, I think about choosing something different everyday,” Stratton laughed, “But I’m glad I’m doing it.”

Free Food. We all like the sound of “free” attached to other words, but “free food” tends to interest college students quite a bit. In this case, it was free cookies.

We were given a box of 12 packs of cookies. Plain and simple. Our mission: to give out free cookies where no one had before. But seriously, our goal was to give out free cookies. I ripped open the box of Scooby Snacks and headed over to the activities fair.

It was pouring pretty heavily outside and the number of students walking on campus was pretty small. I hid my box close to my body so that it wouldn’t get soaked, but there wasn’t a soul around to offer cookies to.

After reaching the student center, which is off of Peters Ave, I headed inside to the Yockey room. It was furnished with tables in a U-shape along three walls, with more tables in the center. There were people at the tables talking about their organizations. I set my opened box next to our Alpha Lamba Delta sign and sat in the plastic maroon chair.

There were few people milling about, but Professor John Helms approached my table. I said,

“Good morning Professor Helms. Or afternoon, I guess. I don’t know anymore. do you want some cookies or a glow stick?” He looked at me like I was crazy, then shrugged and said,

“I’m walking around and collecting lunch right now, so I guess I’ll take some cookies.” He picked up one of the purple pouches and dropped it into a plastic cup he was holding. He smiled as he did so, looking up from the cup that now held his cookies. He didn’t look at me like I was crazy anymore but as a normal student.

We’re all crazy though, I guess.

The rain outside stopped a lot of students from coming in, so my box sat untouched for a while. Finally, one student was beyond excited to be offered cookies.

“I’ll just take one…box!” He said as he grabbed the whole thing. His black hair fell in front of his eyes and covered his darker skin as he laughed.

“No, um please just take one,” I stated.

“I know that they are basically our childhood, but don’t take them all. That’s rude,” Grace Russman said. She was laughing a bit too as she sat next to me but made sure he knew that he could only take one. He did, but he looked back at the box as he walked away.

Few people told me no outright, some said yes but then changed their mind when they say the cookie type, and I even had people like Tony Michalski who got way too into the whole “free” idea. Michalski took two during class and threw one at a kid and yelled “Baldy Award!” Not too sure what that means, but he sure enjoyed the free aspect.

All in all, free cookies are easy to give away. They are welcome in the “free food” community around college students and the questions of “do you want some free cookies?” was nearly always met with

“Heck yeah! I love free cookies.”

The Shaggs, in this story, are three young females that formed a band in the late 60’s. They sang together, even though so many of their acquaintances believed that their music was awful. They are described as melancholy looking characters from the 1969 album cover picture they posed for. The girls, managed by their father, lived in Fremont, New Hampshire, a town known for its dull and boring demeanor. They were forced to find a way to claw their way out of the dark, lonely depression of the town.

Later in the story, the Wiggin’s girls are characterized again. Years after their father died and they were finally free to move away and live their lives, they were interviewed. Susan Orlean explains that they are still living close to where their childhood home was, though Betty is described as not having time to care about appearances. They work hard, though the youngest sister Helen still suffers from depression.

The characters in this story are written closer to that of a news story. They are introduced through common names and titles, and the narrative is lacking a dialogue. It does detail the story of how the girls began singing, the fear that their father placed in them if they even thought about quitting, and how they started from nothing and were jeered senselessly. later, the dialogue between Orleans and the sisters becomes more common and begins after the beginning anecdote. The narrative story begins with the story about the characters and their father and then continues into the interview and the after story.

This story tells of a trio that was forced to participate in something they hated because of a father that they feared. That begs the theme of fear itself, and the prison that it can place people in. Fear is a true strength and a weakness, as it is a theme throughout this story. Destiny is another theme within this story, stemming from Austin Wiggins Jr’s belief that the band was his destiny and what he was supposed to do.

This story returns to the beginning. It states that Dot still tries to approach her father’s dream and still participates in music performances, just not with the Shaggs. Orleans concludes her story by stating that the song the girls could never perform to their father’s satisfaction also stated that “you can never please/anybody/in this world.”

1. Nursing career on the lives of the actual nurses
   1. Tell the story from their point of view, and how it affects their lives.

According to the Article “New U.S. Sexual Misconduct Rules Bolster Rights of Accused and Protect Colleges” from the New York Times, rights of accused sexual predators are being increased and colleges are being released of some of their responsibility to the victims. Sexual misconduct, especially on college campuses, has become a widespread issue in today’s society. There are so many directions that this story could go, from an emotion pull on the heartstrings to completely factual and objective.

1. Story on the different attitudes men and women have about campus sexual assault.
   1. Is it a problem? Rights for the accused are being raised, so an emotion/opinion piece on that perspective.
2. Story on (if willing to share) the process of reporting sexual assault.
   1. It is not easy to reach out, and now that accusers rights are being increased it may be more difficult.
3. How do you feel about narrowing what is considered sexual assault? A female opinion piece.
4. Why is sexual assault an issue, especially on college campuses?
5. Is bolstering rights a way to stop sexual assault at colleges?

Stories are a part of life from childhood through death. They are told from rocking chairs, read in cars, and travel over thousands of miles, but what makes them important?

A story is the telling of events, true or fiction, in order to provide entertainment. They are designed to entertain the reader and are usually used for more than just education. Stories are meant to enlighten.

Stories are important because they provide hope and happiness, as well as offering lessons, morals, and understanding. They are meant to describe the world and average people, and made-up universes and unique characters.

They are universal. No matter race, ethnicity, culture, age, gender, or any other defining factor, stories are read and retold. They can be applied to virtually anyone.

Stories are important because they connect people. They can entwine in everyone’s life, and can be retold for years. Stories connect the human race.