Author: felicias (page 2 of 4)

“The Art of Patience” by Alex Stone

Crouched down, with my shoes in the mud, I hold the camera up to my eye and squint through the little square opening to see my subject. I adjust the focus and the aperture trying to find the best setting to take the picture. Then, all of a sudden, the sun passes behind the clouds. With my finger just hovering over the button, I pause and wait. On the other side of my lens, the small white flower with its delicate petals peeking out of the dead leaves and dirt remains there, untouched and unaware of my presence, and unaware of how long I wait until I can capture its photograph. Time ticks by and eventually the sun comes back out, and I can take the photo. Once I do, I look down at the camera and look through the dozens of photos I have already taken of the same flower. I find that only two or three out of the dozens of photos I had taken turned out the way I had hoped. 

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TBT: “Resisting Passiveness” by Avery Beer

April is National Poetry Month, and in celebration, 186 South College is posting all things poetry! This Tuesday’s post is a throwback from Avery Beer about being bold in life, with a quote from Dylan Thomas’ poem “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.”

I wouldn’t call myself the adventurous type. I can definitely be impulsive and I am certainly passionate, but I don’t always act on my instincts. Whenever I think about college, I think of it as a time to build ourselves outside of our comfort zones. I think of being bold and being active. Freshman year for me was a refreshing transition: I finally felt the air in my lungs again. I had my moments where I really loved high school, but I struggled with a lot of anxiety as well. Thinking about it now, and knowing how much I’ve grown, I am proud of myself. I am proud of myself for not staying passive, but rather fighting it and truly defining what it means to live my life.

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“Returning to My Kitchen” by Felicia Seybold

One of my favorite parts of living in the University of Delaware Courtyard apartments is that I get to live on campus with my own personal kitchen. I didn’t know how good my roommate and I had it until disaster struck at the end of the first week of class. I came home after a long week on a Friday, and my entire room was flooded. A pipe had burst right above my closet. Long story short, we were moved to temporary housing in Independence Hall, and our entire side of the apartment complex had to be renovated. In the meantime, since we no longer had a kitchen, we were given points to eat at dining locations on campus. It was nice to experience Pencader and the P.O.D. As a senior who also completed part of my degree through the pandemic, I never had the chance to try Pencader before. It was fun to order pizzas and burgers from the grill, and they had great donuts first thing in the morning. But honestly, nothing could replace cooking for myself. Once our apartment was renovated, I swore to never take my kitchen for granted ever again. The whole experience has made me reflect on why I enjoy cooking for myself, and also how it blends (pun intended) with my life as a senior Honors student.

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TBT: “Minding your Mind” by Sarah Blum

For this Throwback Tuesday, let’s revisit some sage advice from Sarah Blum about meditation and mindfulness, written in 2019.

I cannot remember a time when starting a new year of school or a new semester did not stress me out. There is actually a picture of me on my first day of kindergarten SOBBING because I was so scared to go to class. I would love to go back and tell that kindergarten me that she had it good, but I digress. School has always been synonymous with stress for me. I was determined to challenge that idea before spring semester started, and now that we’re a few weeks in, I have to say – things feel different. I don’t look at my calendar and see a bunch of daunting due dates staring back at me or toss and turn all night thinking about how much work I have to do the next day. I wish I could tell you that I flipped a switch and suddenly I wasn’t stressed, but unfortunately, it’s a little more complicated than that. There were no switches or magic spells, and I don’t think there will ever be a time when I can say I’m not stressed at all. But, I have learned that stress can be managed by being a little more mindful.

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“Espressos and Surgeries: A Study Abroad Trip to Italy” by Alex Stone

It is Monday morning. I am on the bus, overhearing conversations in Italian. I am holding onto the overhead bar for dear life as the bus speedily whips around the sharp corner up the hill. We pass small cars, historic buildings, and apartments with laundry hanging from the balcony. I am still groggy from the lack of sleep since my body hasn’t adjusted to the new time zone yet. But at the same time, I am jittery and excited; the espresso I drank that morning along with adrenaline are coursing through my veins. I can see light just peeking up over the horizon as we approach our stop. When I step off the bus, my jaw drops at what I see. The sun is rising up over the water and the cliff-side homes, casting the entire city in a warm yellow and pink glow. I hear the sounds of waves crashing against the rocks below and scooters zooming by as people are headed off to work. Everyone in my group pulls out their phones to take pictures. Our site manager is finally able to draw our attention away from the spectacular view to tell us to turn around. As we do, we see towering stained-glass windows covering the front of the building and palm trees lining the path that goes up towards the top of the hill beyond the front gates. We were staring at the hospital we would be commuting to every morning for three weeks. This was how my mornings went while I studied abroad in Genoa, Italy this past winter.

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