QuickBIC Admin – Page 6

Sleep is for the Weak vs. Sleep for a Week

QuickBIC Admin on November 3, 2015

College students are often associated with the stigma of extensive caffeine intake, mastering the art of memorization instead of learning, and a significant lack of sleep. Well let me set the record straight on behalf of all my fellow college kids: the stigmas are true. Although course load varies from major to major, almost any student can relate to the constant desire for naps. Sleep deprivation is either the result of long nights of cramming or Netflix binging – regardless, it is more than prevalent on campus.

What is the harm in a couple sleepless nights? Students, especially in the BIC, often believe an A on the World Cultures test or Rhetoric Speech to Actuate is worth a little exhaustion the next day. We have the mindset that studying and succeeding in the classroom can substitute for the mindless act of sleeping.

Well, science proves otherwise.

According to David Dinges, a professor of psychology and the director of the Unit for Experimental Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, sleep is pretty darn important.

“When people get sleep-deprived, they don’t show positive emotion in their faces,” Dinges said. A sleep-deprived person may be happy, but their facial expression will stay neutral and unchanged. Positive emotions are difficult for sleep-deprived people to recognize in others and display themselves. The tolerance of disappointment is very low for people who do not achieve sufficient sleep.

Moreover, have you ever caught yourself staring into space after a long night of studying? Those are called “microsleeps.” Microsleeps are mini-snooze sessions that can last up 30 seconds – your eyes are open but they are essentially blind and your brain goes into a sleep state rapidly and uncontrollably. This is can be detrimental during lecture, but lethal if behind the wheel.

The amount of sleep we achieve every night does not only affect us academically, but also impacts our social interactions, our health, and our safety.

Now I think we can all relate to this next side effect of sleep deprivation: delirium. Delirium is the state where we become “loopy” after a minimal amount of sleep – more familiarly known as the stage that comes after grogginess, extended yawns, and teary eyes. It is the surge of energy we feel when overtly exhausted that causes disorientation and confusion. It is a false sense of hyperactivity that eventually results in the final collapse of our physical being.

Okay, so yes, students do not sleep enough, especially BICers, but so what?

Sleep will always be more beneficial to us than we will ever understand. According to Harvard Medical School, “the quantity and quality of sleep have a profound impact on learning and memory.” Research suggests that a sleep-deprived person cannot focus adequately and therefore cannot retain any new knowledge. Additionally, sleep itself has a role in the unification of memory – a valued attribute for learning new information.

I can continue to list every Google search answer for the benefits of sleep and hindrances for a lack of it, but that is the Internet’s job. Instead, I am going to explore why sleep has become a compromising factor rather than a priority.

Do we sacrifice sleep because we believe it is a waste of time compared to finishing a New York Times assignment? Or do we do it because why sleep when you can learn everything you ever need to know about anything for World Cultures?

We do it because we want to achieve. Yes, we would rather lose sleep over Netflix binges, but the fact of the matter is that we do it because we want to excel. We pride ourselves on being the best, which is why we are BICers. We want to be the best versions of ourselves that we can be because, in the long run, we are the only determinants of our futures.

Plot twist: We can only be the best versions of ourselves if we sleep. Sleep, ladies and gentlemen, and watch the world become a much happier, memory-worthy, wide-eyed place for all of us.

Think about it the way Albert Camus did, “Some people talk in their sleep. Lecturers talk while other people sleep.”

Let us all be the former in this situation.

Kassie Hsu is a freshman BIC student majoring in neuroscience.

References:

http://www.msn.com/en-us/health/wellness/the-spooky-effects-of-sleep-deprivation/ar-BBmDJq0?li=AAa0dzB

http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/matters/benefits-of-sleep/learning-memory

The Base of the BIC: The Students

QuickBIC Admin on November 2, 2015

We’ve talked about the professors; this one’s for the students.

The BIC would not be what it is without the BIC students, you guys.

My freshman friends have some unique BICers in their lives, their peer instructors and mentors.

These people have been where you are and navigated through it all successfully. What’s more, they’ve chosen to come back and help you.

This network of support has grown since my BIC beginning. When I was a freshman, three years ago, we had peer instructors in our World Cultures classes. Look at us now! World Cultures Peer Instructors, Rhetoric Peer Instructors, and BIC Mentors in your Examined Life classes. All of these people are reaching out to you. Take advantage of these people who have given their time to go to your classes. They have more to offer than academic help. They are invested in the BIC community and are ready to help you in this first semester in whatever way they can.

Beyond these lovely BICers, there are all of the other BIC students! One of the neat things about being in a program where we take classes over the years with a cohort is that we are all going through the same academic rigors at the same time. Are you stressing out about that next New York Times assignment? Chances are one of your BIC friends is feeling the same way. You will encounter obstacles in the BIC, but you will also have a community of people who understand what you are facing and will help you along the way.

One form that help comes in is study groups. Taking the same classes means having a built-in study group. All you have to do is find one group of BICers you work well with, and you can study for multiple classes, over the course of many years. Studying for exams may not be the most fun you have ever had, but when you do it with a group of people you know and perhaps grow to love, it becomes much more enjoyable.

After your freshman and sophomore years, massive BIC study groups become less essential, but by this time, you’ve found another benefit of your BIC friends. After all of those classes and late nights together, these people have become some of your close friends. You no longer need a common class to bring you together, you make the time to meet up with these students.

I met some of my closest friends in the BIC. Out of this group, I am the only one who is not a science major, which means that my friends and I do not randomly cross paths. (Nobody wanders from the BSB to Carroll Science, much less knows where Carroll Science is.) Yet after our years together in BIC classes and outside of them, these are the people who I find myself turning to when graduate school applications become just a little too overwhelming or when I want to plan a fun gathering.

That’s the beauty of the BIC. The people you meet along the way will stay with you long after you each fulfill your BIC requirements.

Kara Blomquist is a senior BIC student majoring in linguistics

Op-ed Review “Not Interested? Then don’t give him your digits”

QuickBIC Admin on October 23, 2015

On October 20, the Baylor Lariat posted an opinion piece entitled “Not Interested? Then don’t give him your digits” by Thomas Mott, the Lariat’s assistant broadcast news producer.

In this article, Mr. Mott encourages women “of our society today” to refrain from giving their numbers to men if they are not interested in dating those men.

According to Mr. Mott, “This is exactly the problem with our society today. Girls are too nice and do not know how to say that they are not interested. Why can’t girls just say no to a guy they clearly have no interest in instead of giving him their number and then not replying to his texts?”

Mr. Mott goes on to posit that women purposefully lead men on by giving them their phone numbers just to completely ignore these men later, or to further lead them on by offering such excuses as, “I’ve been busy.”

In his final call to all the women “of our society today,” Mr. Mott states,

“So ladies, next time a guy asks for your number, and you don’t want to give it to him, or he’s been talking to you for a while, just straight up tell him you’re not interested. Do not lead him on with facade that would make him think you are actually interested. He deserves an explanation. Yes, we will be upset at your bluntness at first, but we’d rather this than have you lead us on.”

If Baylor University had a tornado-siren-esque sexism warning system, red and white lights would be flashing, sirens would be blaring, and we would all be hiding under our desks with our hands above our heads, hoping these misogynistic ideals do not somehow worm their way into our brains.

The statement “he deserves an explanation” is, in itself, absolutely appalling. While Mott is completely correct in stating that it takes a lot of guts for a guy to go up to a girl he finds attractive and ask her for her contact information, by no means does this amassed gusto warrant an explanation from the woman in question if she turns the guy down.

Sorry dude, maybe she is just not that into you. Maybe she has heard your answers to questions in class and she is not impressed. Maybe she is already in a relationship or maybe she just is not looking for anything right now. Moral of the story: it is none of your business! By no means does she have to explain her decision to you.

Do you want to know why some women, or “girls” as you call them in your article, are “nice” to the extent that they will give their numbers to guys in whom they are not interested?

Women may be afraid of the backlash, physical or emotional, that they could potentially receive by rejecting the advances of these oh-so-gusty men! Why wouldn’t they be – with guys saying that they “deserve an explanation” – that this woman, who he does not know, somehow owes him something. In fact, Mr. Mott states, “We will be upset at first,” as if this anger is somehow warranted. As a man who occasionally asks for digits, I do not appreciate being lumped into this “we will be angry” nonsense. This attitude is a problem with “society today,” not the women who refuse to bruise fragile egos in observance of their own safety.

Is it not more appalling that the Lariat Staff edited and approved this opinion piece? Is it not more appalling that this blatant act of sexism was published on a Baylor-sanctioned news source? To me, as a feminist but even more so as a person with a conscience, I am horrified.

Women of Baylor and the world, I would advise that if someone asks you for your “digits,” whether it be woman or man, if you are not interested, you handle the situation however you please. You do not owe anything to anyone.

To read the article that will set off your sexism-alert for a whole month, click the link below:

http://baylorlariat.com/2015/10/20/tell-him-the-truth/

Lee Shaw is a sophomore BIC student majoring in professional writing and is the current editor of the QuickBIC.

Syria and Iberia

QuickBIC Admin on October 22, 2015

As the Syrian War unfolds before the world, as anarchy, disarray, and unrestrained violence becomes ever more commonplace on Syrian soil, we must ask ourselves, “How could this have happened?” It is undoubtedly difficult to even consider the fact that this horrible series of conflicts, broadcasted constantly on our TVs and becoming ever clearer from the cockpits of American bombers, is not the first of its kind. Unfortunately, if modern nations do not take a hint from the empires of old, it will not be the last.

“The Syrian War” is a term used to describe the current conflict in Syria, which has come to involve a complicated variety of engagements and the combined forces of over twelve nations. The Syrian War began as the Syrian Civil War, in which rebel forces rose up against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over four years ago.

The United States has since allied itself with the rebel forces, offering air support, supplies, and military training in an effort to topple the Assad regime. The military forces of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and other Arab states have similarly joined the rebel cause. The Syrian government under Assad is not without allies, however. Assad has enlisted the support of Russia, Iran, Hezbollah militants, and local loyalist militias. This war has raged for over four years and has resulted in thousands of casualties.

This conflict would be enough on its own, yet with the Islamic State (ISIS) added into the mix, the situation becomes as complicated as it is deadly.

The American-backed rebels have no interest in combating the ever-advancing Islamic State, who have ravaged the Syrian countryside, but are focused on bringing down the Assad regime. Meanwhile, the United States is openly assaulting ISIS positions while supplying its rebel allies. Kurdish militants have also been coordinating attacks with the United States against the Islamic State, but this has only increased tensions between the United States and Turkey, which has fought deadly war upon deadly war against Kurdish separatists. The tensions do not stop there, however, as Saudi-Arabian-backed militant forces have squared off against Iran and Hezbollah-backed loyalist troops, thus increasing the already apparent
turmoil in the Middle East.

The situation only worsened once Russia began launching airstrikes in Syria as of September of this year. Russian cruise missiles are targeting not only ISIS positions but also American-backed rebel groups battling the Assad regime. Accordingly, this has increased tensions between the United States and Russia; they have only recently signed a shaky pact as of October 20 regulating both nations’ airstrikes within Syrian territory.

As of January 2015, the United Nations estimated that over 220,000 people had died over the course of the Syrian War. Unfortunately, this death toll has only increased, and exponentially so.

With a death toll exceeding 220,000 people, it may be hard to believe that the world has ever seen such a complicated and deadly conflict, especially the ancient world.

Yet the first-ever Syrian War began in Saguntum, an ancient Iberian settlement that is now the small town of Sagunto on the southeastern coast of modern day Spain. It was the siege and consequent destruction of this settlement that brought about the Second Punic War, the conflict which would establish Rome as an international superpower.
Following the First Punic War between the Carthaginian Empire, based out of modern-day Tunisia, and the Roman Empire, based out of, well, Rome, these two powers held an uneasy peace. While Rome and its allies had the Italian peninsula firmly under their heel (get it, Italy looks like a boot), as well as the island of Sicily to the South, Carthage commanded firm control of the African coast, a large portion of the southeastern portion of Iberia (modern-day Spain), and the Balearic Isles.

Yet beyond their personal territorial holdings, both Rome and Carthage had a variety of allies across the Iberian Peninsula. For instance, Carthage held the Iberian tribes of the Oretani, Turdetani, and Illervacones as client states. Carthage also held some uneasy relationships with the major Iberian tribes of the Lusitani and Arevaci. Hannibal Barca, the general who spearheaded the Second Punic War, regularly bolstered his forces with Lusitanian and Arevacian troops.

Rome similarly had no shortage of allies. The Greek city states of Massilia (modern Marseilles) and Emporion (near modern Catalonia) on the Iberian coast were dedicated military allies of Rome. Many small Iberian tribes were also loyal to Rome, as they sought the lucrative trade agreements that came with such alliances. One such Iberian tribe were the Sagunti, who occupied the city of Saguntum.

Much like Syria, ancient Iberia was a powder keg of complicated hostilities and alliances just waiting for a spark. That spark was embodied in Hannibal Barca, the leader of the Carthaginian cause. After the Roman-backed Sagunti were accused of conducting raiding parties against the Carthaginian-backed Oretani, Hannibal took the situation into his own hands and captured the city of Saguntum, plunging the entirety of Iberia, Africa, and Spain into war.

This war would last for nearly twenty years, resulting in an estimated 650,000 militant deaths alone, not including civilian casualties.

Once again, history has shown itself to be cyclical. In modern Syria, we see a bloody mix of varying intentions and internationally-backed militant groups, just as we did in ancient Iberia. While we do not know how the Syrian conflict will end, we can be certain that the same formula resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths in the ancient world.

I will leave you with the thought-provoking notions of American literary theoretician Henry W. Said and his notion of imperialism,

“Every empire, however, tells itself and the world that it is unlike all other empires, that its mission is not to plunder and control but to educate and liberate.”

Lee Shaw is a sophomore BIC student majoring in professional writing and the current editor of the QuickBIC.

Further reading on Iberia in the Second Punic War:

http://www.forumromanum.org/history/morey15.html

Perceiving Life

QuickBIC Admin on October 20, 2015October 20, 2015

Life – a four-letter word that holds a magnitude greater than any compilation of words in the English language. Every individual has a life full of trials and tribulations, triumphs and victories, as well as valleys and peaks. There are 7 billion people on this giant sphere we call Earth, and every life has a story. What signifies one from another?

The answer is attitude. Life does not regard our feelings or our circumstances, because at the end of the day, there are 7 billion people on this planet and each and every one of us will be tested. Whether it is financially, emotionally, spiritually, academically or physically, life will test us.

With that being said, we cannot dodge life forever, but we can alter the way we perceive this whirlwind of trials we all experience.

Last Monday, five days before her daughter’s fairy tale wedding, Kari Duane received a call from her 27-year-old bride-to-be daughter saying that the ceremony was off. Her fiancé had been having doubts about the wedding and the couple ultimately decided to call it quits before saying “I Do.”

To top it all off, this matrimonial ceremony cost the couple’s parents close to $35,000. The majority of this grand price had already been paid off when the couple decided to cancel the big day.

Mondays are rough, but this Monday was especially rough for this almost newlywed family.

Most of us regard Mondays with starting another week of classes, lectures, and quizzes. The thought of a nonrefundable $35,000 payment and a cancelled engagement never crosses our minds. For this Californian mom, this ordeal that looks like a catastrophe on the surface became an opportunity to service those with concerns that far surpassed her own.

Instead of cancelling the reception, Duane and her daughter decided to invite Sacramento’s homeless for a meal of a lifetime. On Saturday, October 17, Sacramento’s homeless community gathered at the Citizen Hotel, one of the city’s most elegant venues.

The paid reception was catered to serve 120 guests, but on Saturday night, it served 90 homeless single people, grandparents, and whole families with newborns. The meal consisted of courses ranging from appetizers and salads to gnocchi, salmon, and tri-tip.

As the doors to the Citizen Hotel opened for Sacramento’s less fortunate, Duane said, “Even though my husband and I were feeling very sad for our daughter, it was heartwarming to see so many people be there and enjoy a meal.”

Among the many who received a portion of Duane’s generosity was Erika Craycraft – a wife and mother of five. Craycaft said, “To lose out on something so important to yourself and then give it to someone else is really giving, really kind.”

Here at Baylor, and especially the BIC, we constantly feel bogged down by the course load and the responsibilities that we take on as BICers. We all face tribulations as college students, whether it is doing our own laundry for the first time or cramming to save our GPAs before finals season.

Rather than thinking about college as a stressor or a burden, we should perceive college as an opportunity to attain an education and shape a future that can potentially change a life. The opportunities we have as students today are not only blessings, but also an open door for us to explore the world and find our callings. There is no instruction manual to help us maneuver through college or life in general. The only thing we can do is change the way we perceive our circumstances.

Duane and her daughter could have easily sat in the reception hall of Citizen Hotel and pondered on the nonrefundable $35,000. Instead, they took their unfortunate circumstance to make a memorable impact on those who are struggling with feats of a completely different magnitude.

Attitude and perception is everything – whether it is a cancelled wedding or a final exam. We cannot avoid the trials of life, but we can trust in our own ability to change our outlook. We should take on our heavily-filled planners and deadlines as motivations to find ourselves and forge a path of pursuit towards the future.

The world is not going to change for us, we have to change the way we see the world for ourselves.

Kassie Hsu is a freshman BIC student majoring in neuroscience.

References:

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/canceled-california-wedding-leads-to-feast-for-homeless/ar-AAfBshB

Residence Halls: More than just a Place to Stay

QuickBIC Admin on October 19, 2015

Photo courtesy of the Honors Residential College

Fall Break fast approaching means one thing, the chance to spend a little time away from your dorm room.

Complaining about the residence halls is another one of those experiences that draws younger students together, but I want to caution you. Your living situation may be sweeter than you realize.

Sure, depending on which building you call home, your room may be a little old and a little small, but if you can look past the minor inconveniences, you may just find a reason to stay.

Residence halls house a lot of people. This means you have a lot of potential friends who live just down the hall. Odds are you will not get along with everyone, but those you do click with are just a few steps away. Instead of driving from one apartment complex to another to gather a group of friends, you simply have to step outside your room, take a few steps, and knock on some doors.

I have spent the majority of my college career on campus. After spending two years in a residence hall (Memorial), I moved to on-campus apartments (the Arbors) before finally moving off campus this year. It wasn’t until this year began that I realized the concept of ‘neighbor’ is different depending on where you live. When I lived in the residence halls, neighbors were people you saw almost every day (and if you were lucky, they could also be people you studied with, people you ate meals with, and people you considered friends). In the on-campus apartments, my neighbors and I weren’t as close as in the residence hall. We each had a little more space and less of a need to interact, but we still knew each other and greeted each other when we met outside our doors. Off-campus, the people I live next to are less neighbors and more humans who I run into occasionally. Of course, this is just one person’s experience, but I think the on-campus atmosphere helps create a sense of community that doesn’t exist in the same way off campus.

The on-campus community has something else going for it—Community Leaders. Their job is to look out for you and foster a sense of community. They plan activities and spend a lot of their time thinking of ways to help you feel at home and a part of the group. Once you enter into the world beyond Baylor, building community will be entirely up to you. You will be the one planning movie nights or finding food to bring your group together, but for right now, these people who care about you are willing to do that part for you. So enjoy the time you have with these people who work so hard for your sake.

I know. Living in a dorm room is not always fun. Everyone has aspects of the experience they wish they could change. But before you know it, you will be living somewhere else. Take a moment today to appreciate the beauty of your unique living situation.

Kara Blomquist is a senior BIC student majoring in linguistics.

Africa and Athens: Modern and Ancient Stigma for Mental Illness

QuickBIC Admin on October 15, 2015October 16, 2015

No great genius has ever existed without a strain of madness.

-Aristotle

If I were to tell you that at one time people with mental illnesses were literally chained to trees, given no treatment other than prayers, forced to live in their own feces, and deprived of the known medical treatments of the time, you would probably think that I am talking about some ancient civilization, some backwoods area thirty miles northwest of Athens proper.

Unfortunately, however, people with mental illnesses have been experiencing this horrible treatment in Western Africa for years – and there seems to be no end in sight.

The so-called “treatment” that these people are receiving is nowhere near as forward-thinking or scientifically-supported as the treatments that physicians administered in ancient Greece, over 2,500 years ago – and that is saying something.

“Jesus is the Solution” Prayer Camps have arisen all over Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, and Benin in the past several years. At these camps, people with mental illness are chained to trees, where they are forced to eat in the same place that they defecate, and are prayed over until the head religious official of the camp deems that a “patient” has “recovered.” Patients at such prayer camps never receive actual diagnoses or medication, however, so an individual’s healing process is solely evaluated by criteria provided by the head religious official.

According to one such official, “If I pray for someone and he finds a cure, he himself will ask to be bathed. But as long as he is not healed, if we tell him that he has to go and wash, he will say no.”

Any patient, whether suffering from depression and anxiety or schizophrenia, will show that he or she is healed when he or she asks for a bath, according to this official. As such, many patients can end up “living” in such camps for years.

Yet you might be wondering, “How are people ending up in these terrible camps?”

More often than not, families bring their relatives to such camps. The stigma of mental illness is horribly pervasive in West Africa, leading many citizens to believe that individuals who suffer from mental illness are possessed by demons. Families often bring their relatives to traditional healers, who fail to provide any form of solution. As a final last-ditch effort, individuals are often brought to prayer camps by their families, who have run out of options. This “service” is free, except for the chain which will bind the suffering individual, which the family must purchase.

How does modern West Africa’s treatment of individuals suffering from mental illness compare to the ancient Grecian understanding of mental illness?

Spoiler alert: Even the most ignorant toga-wearing Grecian doctor would not support the current treatment of mental patients in West Africa.

Although a prevalent stigma towards mental illness was present in ancient Greece, Greek physicians and culture worked hand-in-hand to combat this stigma. For instance, if a person was suffering from depression, he would first go to a “Physician-Hero” (Hear that pre-med kids, you are all heroes!) where he would offer wine and honey to a deity in order that he or she assist him with his distress. If this did not work (for some reason), this man would then travel to a large city such as Athens, where he would meet with a physician (of the non-hero variety). This ancient psychiatrist would ask a variety of questions, evaluating (to the best of his ability) the man’s physical and mental state. They would discuss the man’s wine consumption, exercise habits, and dreams.

If everything else was in order, the physician might diagnose the man with melancholia, a state of sadness caused by an excess of “black bile,” a substance the Greeks believed to be found in certain foods and accumulated through certain lifestyles. In turn, the doctor would prescribe “medications” which would result in a purging of the body (to remove the black bile) as well as a particular diet and exercise regimen.

The physician would then refer the man to a Korybantes, a group of women who would perform ritualistic purification ceremonies. If none of these treatments worked, members of the man’s community, including oracles, priests, and public officials would often come to him in an attempt to make him feel better.

There were even mental illness support groups in which distressed individuals and their families could talk with other such families in an attempt to achieve a better understanding of their respective conditions.

What does this mean for those suffering from mental illness in West Africa? Progress is being stifled and, in turn, people are suffering needlessly – chained to trees and deprived of medication. Prayer certainly has its place in healing, but so does medicine. As intelligent and educated individuals, we must ensure that our faith is not blind.

I will leave you with the words of Gregoire Ahongbonon, the founder of Saint-Camille-De-Lellis, an organization that provides West African mental patients with actual medical treatment,

“As long as there is one man left in chains, it is humanity that is chained. When I see a man tied to wood or in chains, I see my own image. And it is the image of each and every one of us.”

Lee Shaw is a sophomore BIC student majoring in professional writing and the current editor of the QuickBIC.

Further reading on the Ancient Grecian Psychiatry:

https://books.google.com/books?id=gmCxeAw7-Z4C&pg=PA29&lpg=PA29&dq=mental+illness+in+ancient+carthage&source=bl&ots=3lEOGw6dc9&sig=DhFWajfsxELwirm082VDoCzU4mQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAWoVChMIstmIurO7yAIVyYoNCh1LRA-V#v=onepage&q=mental%20illness%20in%20ancient%20carthage&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=eka0BgAAQBAJ&pg=PT74&lpg=PT74&dq=aristotle+disturbances+in+bile&source=bl&ots=hkq8RkHUjv&sig=yJj2huIGsBrMFS8ZwGPyHI_MZ4k&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAWoVChMIwLPK8rq7yAIVzuKACh2S8Qlf#v=onepage&q=aristotle%20disturbances%20in%20bile&f=false

Further reading on West African Prayer Camps:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/12/health/the-chains-of-mental-illness-in-west-africa.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

http://www.amis-st-camille.org/index.php

The Stress of Self-Doubt

QuickBIC Admin on October 13, 2015

College in a nutshell: study, eat, try to sleep, study, call your mom, football, study, shower, Netflix, study, attempt to workout, study, have a social life, and just keep on studying.

It seems like college is a never-ending cycle of stress and exhaustion, but it is also supposed to be the best time of your life, right?

College is hard. Anyone who tells you differently is probably just trying to make you feel better. We are expected to “find ourselves” and maintain a more than decent GPA while staying plugged in to campus social life. Oh and for my fellow freshmen out there, we are trying to defy the “Freshman 15.”

Now stay with me here, there will be days of doubt and days of discouragement. There will be nights where our brains feel like exploding and weekends filled with reading. At the end of the day though, we think to ourselves,

Why am I putting myself through this?

There are responsibilities piled on top of responsibilities, and sometimes we question what our purpose is here. Are we sacrificing various nights of sleep because we want an A on our World Culture exams? Are we going through the rigor of the BIC to improve our applications for future opportunities? Are we doing everything we need to be doing for our futures?

The answer to all of those questions is probably yes. There is also nothing wrong with the answer being “yes.” We are all here to succeed and we are all here for our futures.

The only issue here is that we are so busy chasing the future that we often forget about the now. Yes, college requires us to endure coursework for specific majors plus the BIC requirements, and that is inevitable. What is not inevitable is the way we perceive our lives as college students.

Instead of thinking about college as this trek through Aristotle’s On Rhetoric, we should embrace the opportunity to thrive in a community that encourages us to grow academically, emotionally, and spiritually. This community is the BIC.

We are students, and we are all on our individual journeys. Some of us are pre-med students while others are pursuing an English major or even a business degree. We all have goals and we all have priorities, but sometimes our priorities get lost in the jumble that is college.

We are here for each other. We are here to achieve our own goals and our own dreams. Now although there are parameters that surround every goal, whether it is a certain GPA or an extensive list of credentials, we are all capable of overcoming the obstacles lying before us.

We must not lose motivation, because we are pursuing the future. Those futures will change the world. As we strive to be doctors, lawyers, businessmen, professional writers, and a million other professions, we are all working toward our futures to make an impact in this world. At the end of the day, the hardships we are going through now will serve as a blessing and a benefit down the road.

The next time you sit in a BIC large group, or any class at Baylor for that matter, look around you. Every thought coursing through your head is probably running through your neighbor’s as well. Whether it is the next New York Times assignment or the next biology test, everyone on campus is riding the same wave.

This wave that I’m talking about is not a wave of frustration or stress, although that is a part of the ride, it is a wave of world changers. It is a wave that will bring a global impact, from doctors working in impoverished countries to businessmen heading the next big empire. There is potential everywhere around us, and we cannot let our stress cloud the pathways to our future.

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present.”

Kassie Hsu is a freshman BIC student majoring in neuroscience.

Answer Not Required: Accepting Variability in Our Journeys

QuickBIC Admin on October 12, 2015

My underclassmen friends, right now I speak to you.

This is one of the most beautiful times of your life.

Because you still have your youth? Because your classes have not yet escalated to the ‘research-paper-around-every-corner’ level? Because you have more than half of your Baylor experience ahead of you?

No. This time is special because you have the freedom to not know.

No, not on exams. (Sorry about that, we all have to know some answers.) You have the freedom to not know what you want to do with your life.

You’ve just arrived to campus, and no one expects you to have it all figured out. When you respond to ‘What’s your major?’ with confusion and uncertainty, you are met with encouragement and confidence that you will soon find your calling.

As a junior, that story begins to change. You are now a seasoned college student, expected to have an idea of what the future holds. By now, you have a major, and you may even have an idea of how you want to use it beyond your college years.

Any seniors out there? It gets a little tricky here. Sure, we have our majors. Now, that is not enough.

Here is how most conversations I have had in my short time as a senior have gone:

New Acquaintance: “What are you studying?”

Me: “Linguistics.”

New Acquaintance: *confused look* “And what are you going to do with that?”

We must have a plan for our future lives. I thought I had this one in the bag. I have a plan, more or less. I want to become an immigration lawyer, so the next relevant step is to go to law school.

If I had told you that as a freshman, you would be congratulating me on my foresight and impressed at how well I knew what I wanted to do. Those words coming from the mouth of a senior are met only with more questions.

“Oh, you are going to law school? Where are you going?”

Pay no attention to the face that that it is early September, and some of the law schools have not even opened their applications for the upcoming year. You, my dear senior, must have all of the answers now.

So enjoy, my young friends, this time where not having answers about your future is socially acceptable.

To those of you who are beginning to receive those questions for which you have no answers, listen to me now. You, too, can have the freedom to not know.

Yes, as we approach our graduation dates, we should intentionally search for things which interest us and for a direction to follow in our future lives. But who is to say we will find those things according to the timeline set before us? Maybe we will find our true passion as a junior and not realize how that passion will lead us to a career until three years after we graduate.

This does not mean we sit around and wait for something to find us. It means we keep our eyes open. Whether you are a freshman or a senior or an alumnus, be open to the possibility of finding your calling. Our lives can’t fit into boxes, and they will not follow a predetermined schedule. Today, I encourage you to give yourself the freedom to find your passion at your own pace.

Kara Blomquist is a senior BIC student majoring in linguistics.

By Virtue of Warfare, a Community is Born by Clarissa Anderson

QuickBIC Admin on October 9, 2015

“How can we be grandparents if we don’t have children?!”

One of the many enigmas of The Game of Life. Amid tasteful quips about Life (which were surely more impressive than the typical sarcastic “Now I can get a life”), wondering why the fates had determined that only one player deserved children, and constantly suing archenemies, the BICLC Board Game Night raged. It was a fierce battle of survival of the fittest, with only short breaks to grab pizza, soda, and cookies. Countries engaged in warfare for total world domination (Risk). At one point, some brave soldiers uttered a loud battle cry: “I Want It That Way” (Backstreet Boys).

One BICer remarked that the Board Game Night was a relaxing time for freshman and sophomore BICers who survived World Cultures exams. According to sophomore David Espinoza, the event was designed to “unite BICers from different grade levels” and everyone had a great time, even individuals who are more introverted. He said this was because while playing board games, “[your] inner child comes out.”

Freshman Kennan Dickens enjoyed the informality of the Board Game Night, because it helped BICers, especially other freshmen, meet more people “on a different platform.” Because of the smaller group of students present at the event, games (particularly challenging ones) improved camaraderie. This was successful, as sophomore Jenn Dickey states, because students were able to become part of a community with a group of people you see every day and to get to know them further than simply sitting in Large Group lectures together. Freshman Joseph Webster further commented that the environment was easier to meet people in than, for example, Dr Pepper Hour.

Thus the BICLC Board Game Night became a team-building exercise that brought BICers together through laughter (triumphant or not) and free food. Even those who sustained heavy game losses suggest enthusiastically that BICers attend the event next year. Perhaps they have ulterior motives and are looking for someone they can be victorious over, but brave souls must venture forth to discover The Good. In the inspiring words of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore: “happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers” to attend Board Game Night.

Clarissa Anderson is a sophomore BIC student majoring in journalism.