Boys and Girls Club Party

By: Jessica Bush

October 23^rd was not an abnormal morning by any stretch of the imagination;

That was until the Boys and Girls Club arrived and there was a fiendish celebration.

There were tiny cats, a Jedi too,

A Jamaican Harry Potter (formerly Mr.Lou),

Frankenstein’s daughter, skeletons and witches who

Served graham crackers and served up a witchy brew.

These goblins and ghouls ran around,

their spooky laughter an uplifting sound.

In the graveyard there were goblin guts, cemetery mash,

And eyeballs and intestines to smash.

There was a castle guarded by a geisha who

Smiled and took these spooky kids pictures too.

The Cookie Monster helped decorate some devilishly delicious cookies

Much to the delight of the little ones’ tummies.

In the other room a gypsy let them win

By putting the tail on a spooky cat with merely a pin.

Slithering snakes were made with googly eyes and glittery glue,

Later to be used to hold a place in a book or two.

Right next to this serpentine station,

a table of creepy coloring creation.

There was a corn hole game

With a prize of petrifying pencils and freaky fangs.

Snow White and a Jedi sat in the back

Their balloon making skills they certainly did not lack.

From station to station these little ones were sent

Gathering candy and treats as they went.

They sparred with swords of balloon

Until the clock chimed noon.

Then the spell was broken and they had to go

And went out the door like ducks in a row.

The amazing volunteers stayed near

And helped gather and clear

By one the rooms were spotless and bare

As if the small goblins and monsters had never been there.

Freshmen View "First Day"

By Yerik Perez Serrano


I am writing a simple story about my first day of college ever simply due to the fact we all have a first day. We may all experience it differently, go to different classes, or do different things, but I write this in hopes that while you read, a smile on your face will form and it will bring you back to your first day of college.

It was the day before my first day of college and I felt I had conquered a huge hurdle. I had my bag packed with 30 lbs of school items that I would probably never use. I had printed out a map that I had put my own strange markings on. This map was my safety vest, for it’s how I would survive my first day. Along with those two dear possessions, I had also fought a two-headed hydra, known as the Alcohol Education and Financial Aid online courses, so that I could get to my classes. It was hard and lasted forever as I answered the same questions in thirty different renditions, but I slayed both of them and was granted entrance to the new found land of college. I went to sleep with my alarm ready to wake me up 3 hours before my first class.

I had shown up early to my classes, every single one of them. I didn’t show up twenty minutes before it began, but rather anywhere from 30-45 minutes early. My fear of going to the wrong class was of higher importance than looking like an idiot standing in front of a door for forty-five minutes. The good thing was that when I had shown up, there were other freshmen doing the freshman stumble and exchanging the same banter every single time.

“Hey.”

“Hello.”
“Is this the class for so and so?”
“Yes.”
“Phew, I made it.”

Navigation to these classes so I could experience this banter was another thing. I don’t know how I looked to other people when I was walking around with a map glued to my face, but I believe it was probably much more ridiculous than any tourist. I’d always try and deduce where I was but the three letter codes (that I believed were part of a secret language) would throw me off track and I’d become a deer in front of headlights. I had to go up to another college student and ask them where the building was. All they saw was a little kid with a wrinkled map shaking in his hand. The great part was that the experienced college students were able to point me to the building (which was right behind me).

The last thing to talk about is the classes themselves. I did not know what to expect when I entered the classes. Every single classroom I entered had some different layout that did not harbor the high school code of each room being an exact replica. I am taking these classes in rooms that range from a small broom closet type, where everyone is squeezed like sardines, to an auditorium type, where there are 200 other people staring at one man at the bottom.

My first day was pretty awkward as I tried to survive it, but when I look back at, I smile. It was fun to experience college when high school was always the same. I met people who were twice my age and were taking the same class as me. It felt as if I had walked 1000 miles since the campus was so big and I had no bike to make my way across. It felt like being in a small city because everyone seemed like the nice next door neighbor when you’d talk to them for advice or help. I can definitely say one thing; the first day of college was the intro to the rest of my life.

Summer Reading Contest Winner

The Honors College presents a summer reading assignment every year for the incoming freshmen. This year's book was Frankenstein by Mary Shelly. Congratulations to Dina Soliman for her winning essay!


A Thirst for Knowledge: A Monster Within Us?
By Dina Soliman

With the passing of each day, something new is discovered to benefit human society. While the search for knowledge results in good – medicine to cure illness and technology to make our quality of life better – it can also intrude into territory in which humans should not meddle, similar to Victor Frankenstein own search in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. While we are responsible for our actions, we are also responsible for our knowledge: the methods we take to learn, and the courses of action we take after gaining this new knowledge. For Frankenstein, his obsessive quest leads to his creation of a living being, and his abandonment of his creation leads to the death of his loved ones. As one of the basic components of human nature, obsession also has the potential to wreak havoc on our minds and bodies. As an obsession, beauty is truly within the eye of the beholder. Neither Frankenstein nor the other humans that encounter the monster can tolerate his appearance. Frankenstein’s hatred for his creation brings about the monster’s revenge, and his own obsessions – knowledge and beauty – blind him so much that he becomes ill with guilt for his lack of responsibility. Ultimately, the dangers of misused knowledge, yielding to obsessions, and abandoning one’s responsibilities for what one introduces into the world all contribute to the tragic ends of Frankenstein and his creation.

Just as our actions have consequences, the misuse of knowledge also has consequences. During Frankenstein’s search for knowledge, his desire for succeeding at his task hinders his judgment. As he recounts to Walton, “I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body… I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart” (67). Frankenstein takes a step into forbidden territory, and consequently, his horror and guilt increasingly overwhelm him as he learns of his creation’s vengeance. Despairingly warning Walton, Frankenstein says: “Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow” (60).

Despite the dangers of the quest of knowledge, the world as we know it continues to advance into the future. Despite public outcry against the nature of abortions for unwanted children, for instance, there are doctors who still perform the operation on pregnant mothers who find themselves unable to take care of their unborn child. The oil spill that occurred in recent months in the Gulf of Mexico, for instance, happened due to an oil drilling accident, and the toxic oil leaked into the ocean ecosystem, harming animals and the hearts and wallets of hundreds of people. Nonetheless, we use oil for gasoline and fuel, which are both essential for the mobile world in which we live. So, if knowledge is so dangerous, is ignorance really bliss? As Frankenstein seems to imply, should we remain content in learning what we are taught from our surroundings and other people, instead of venturing forth to learn the mysteries of the world for ourselves? And is the latter not the ultimate goal of Romanticism – to learn, on our own, unaided by cold science?

Furthermore, Frankenstein is also responsible for the being that he introduced into the world. Prior to the conclusion of his task, Frankenstein refers to what would be his creation as his “child;” (62) however, his actions later in the novel reflect completely opposite sentiments. Instead of taking responsibility for his creation, he abandons him, treats him harshly, and refuses to have anything to do with him. With his refusal to banish his creation’s feelings of loneliness and misery by creating a companion for him, Frankenstein fails to take responsibility for his creation’s actions, and seals his fate in the end of the novel.
Although man-made technology is not as vulnerable as living beings, are we not held accountable for the consequences that our technology produces? Despite Romanticism’s encouragement of mental “flights of fancy” to boost problem-solving, is there still a limit to the imagination? For instance, the scientists who design nuclear weapons capable of complete annihilation have powerful knowledge at their disposal, as well as huge responsibility for this knowledge. Are they insane for designing such devices, despite their unlimited imaginations?

Ultimately, Shelley’s Frankenstein seems to bring into question our tendency to desire ultimate perfection and success. Victor Frankenstein fails in his Romantic quest of creating a perfect human, showing that we must shoulder the responsibilities for the imperfections of our creations.

Works Cited
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. 3rd ed. New York: Random House, Inc., 1999.

Sustainability at USF: Creating Compost Bins

By: Anastasia Groshev

I have to say, I was a little skeptical at first about the idea of having a red worm compost bin in a kitchen, but this was only my first impression. Later, I discovered that, if done properly, a compost bin does not smell, does not impose any health hazards, and worms do not climb out. In fact, a compost bin is very easy to make and maintain, but at the same time helps the environment and is a source of very rich soil.

I arrived to a decision to start my own bin while working on a campaign to promote composting on the USF Tampa campus. It was formed when Susana Alvarado, Alan Guagliardo, Michelle Gersten, and I gathered information and launched an awareness campaign with the aim of educating the USF community about composting. We felt like we needed something that spoke loudly to students, so we decided to host an actual composting workshop. Guagliardo started a bin and took care of the compost worms for a few weeks.

We came up with the idea under the guidance of Dr.Wells, instructor of the Honors course IDH 3600: Applied Ethics on Global Sustainability, who explored the history and progression of sustainability in the classroom. In essence, sustainability is the “living green” philosophy that has redefined our perception of the color green. Now, the first thing that comes to mind when “green” is mentioned is recycling, fluorescent light bulbs, and reusable shopping bags … but really, all of this entails sustainability as a way of life.

Enlightened by the readings in the class and the valuable input of Dr. Wells, we were all ready to put our knowledge into practice. So we left the classroom in order to help our campus to become more sustainable. To find out more about the project, check out the video documentary and join the vision - compost!

Match Day: As Told by USF Medical Student, Trey Penton

Courtesy of Penton's blog, The Culprit Life

Okay, so the thing about Match Day is that what you perceive it to be and what it really is are two different things. At least for me.

Here are the facts: 4th year medical students gather with family and friends and the staff of the medical college to open envelopes one by one that will tell them where they are going to spend the next three, five, or six years of their lives. Many have an idea of where they will be going; many don’t. Here is a place where hopes and dreams and visions of the future are either realized, moderately diminished or completely crushed. For over 100 medical students. In front of hundreds of other people.

Sounds like a great set up for an episode of some primetime basic cable drama right?

Wrong.

While all those things above are true, in reality, Match Day is less like an epic televised mini-series and more like a big family barbeque with chicken wings, beer, a lot of infants being carried around, and the occasional rowdy uncle. The dramatically broad spectrum of emotion being felt is not overtly apparent to the casual observer. The fantastic, anxiety driven adventure you expect to find is in fact hidden in the hearts and minds of the students around which the event is centered and perhaps in those of their spouses and close family. On the surface it remains chicken wings and beer.

This is not to diminish the magnitude of the event or its effect on the participants in any way. It is simply an observation. A recognition of the disconnect between expectations and actual atmospheric conditions.

There is no song and dance at Match Day. The show, the only show, is comprised of our associate dean of student affairs calling out names, students coming down, opening envelopes and announcing what city and program they are headed to. Then everyone claps. It’s straight forward really.

The uniqueness of the event lies in its emotional peculiarity. Each student that opens an envelope is opening themselves up to the entire audience (which, thanks to live internet streaming, included people from all over the world). Whether they get exactly what they wanted, their very last choice or something in between, it all comes out in their face and tone of voice when they read that piece of paper. And everyone knows right then and there if you will be charging forward with your lifelong dream in the way (and place) you thought or whether you’ll spend the next five years of your existence in a city you never even wanted to visit. The day before, I pondered to myself, and out loud to my friends in the communications department, if this was the right way to do things. Should we really be placing people in a public arena when such a life changing piece of information is revealed to them? Especially when the content of that information is mostly a result of how well they performed in their primary focus (medical school) over the past four years. In what other profession is this done in? What right do we have to be spectators in a moment where someone could either emerge triumphant as after a tremendous battle or burn like Joan of Arc at the stake of their own calling?

This internal conflict I foresaw myself having on the day before was put mostly to rest by the associate dean’s simple disclosure at the start of the event that some students had opted to find out about their residency privately. So they are not forced to discover their fate in this public manner. They have a choice. But there is peer pressure. What will your fellow classmates think if you decide to open your envelope privately? Will that choice be made out of shame? Out of fear of possible embarrassment? Out of the feeling that you just weren’t good enough to get to where you wanted or needed to go?

I don’t know.
I am only in my first year.
But my guess is that a lot of these things come into play; that there is something much deeper to appreciate about this event then what is seen on the surface.

I’m not saying I agree or disagree with how match day works; I’m just saying it is something that should provoke conversation and a more profound examination of the emotional state of medical students. So I guess in that context, Match Day is a very good thing.

My thanks and my heart goes out to the dozens of students, triumphant and disappointed, who, for a moment in time, allowed me and hundreds of others to be the spectators in their Coliseum.

Community, Art Harmonize at Coffeehouse Night

By: Theresa Woods

It is not often enough, it seems, that campus variety events deliver all of the talent, entertainment and, well, variety that they promise. Usually they fall short with lackluster acts or performances that all seem to be the same. The Honors College’s Coffeehouses night certainly did not conform to that stereotype.

The mood of the evening was set by the soft lighting that gave the cavernous classroom an intimate feel. A sign hung behind the stage area welcoming students to the event. Artwork was displayed along several tables, and as students entered they were immediately drawn to imaginative scenes of desserts, fruit, and the Beatles, with the black and white pieces of Jessica Maservey garnering special attention.
      
Over the course of the evening, around a hundred students were treated to all different kinds of music from instrumental classical pieces performed by Janine Kiray and Talia Quartetti, to Taylor Swift’s “Today Was A Fairytale” sung by JenniferThai, Kristin Pearce & Kyle Goodrich. Susana Alvarado-Tricoche brought an international influence to the evening with the Abraham Velazquez song “Amandote.” Jamie Hodes performed twice -- once solo with “Miserable At Best,” originally fro Mayday Parade and again with Brandon Oakes with Death Cab for Cutie’s “I Will Follow You Into the Dark.”
      
Some students, however, chose to share their own words. Catherine Lim surprised many with the beautiful and honest lyrics to her original song “Melt,” and DeDe Khan performed the only poem of the evening, her own “I Want You Back” that ended with the powerful message that “ignorance will always be bliss.” Homer Alibutode and Jose Manzo performed their own song “Reaching Into The Dark,” and Kristen Pearce performed her untitled song that was so well-written and well-played that she left many in the audience wondering where it had come from.
      
Several performers brought so much charisma and undeniable stage presence to the event that the audience couldn’t help but give back. William Crowley and Kyle Goodrich had onlookers clapping in time with “Secret Agent Man,” and one of the final performers, Trey, had many singing along as he danced and played both the guitar and the harmonica. Standout performers Izzy Morejon and Matt Roberts, who sang and played guitar respectively, amazed the audience with their version of the Cat Stevens song “Don’t Be Shy” before improvising a blues song and taking suggestions from the audience.
      
All in all, the event was a well-orchestrated success, and there was a tangible sense of community amongst the students as they cheered on their classmates and caught up with their friends. If there was anything at all to be learned from the evening, it was that Honors Students aren’t just brilliant in the classroom – they’re talented too!

Another Success with The Boys and Girls Club

By: Sarah Monson

On February 13, Marshall Center Ballroom C was filled with 33 eager children from the Boys and Girls Club waiting to celebrate Valentine's Day. In an event hosted by the Volunteer Council, 13 students took time out of their Saturday to treat the children to a day of games and fun with activities like Twister, beanbag tossing, balloon animals, dancing, cookie decorating, and cards to keep them smiling.

This event brought back old faces from last semester's Boys and Girls Club Halloween party. Certain children even recognized volunteers from the Halloween event and shared their excitement with the students they remembered.

"More kids are getting involved," Janine Kiray, co-chair of Volunteer Council said. "We're building relationships with them."

Monique Konstantinovic, the other Volunteer Council co-chair, shared similar enthusiasm that Kiray did. The pair has already reserved a room for the Halloween Party in October.



Left: Boys and Girls Club members dancing/Right: A volunteer helps make balloon animals

New Semester, New Meeting Times for Council

Hello everyone, and welcome to a new semester of Honors Council. As the new president of the Honors College Student Council, I want to update everyone on when and where our meetings will be from here on out. Please come see what we're about and get involved with improving USF's community of Honors students!

Our first general meeting will be Monday, January 25th at 4:30pm in the Marshall Center in room 3704. The other committee times have been set as follows:

General Meeting: Mondays @ 4:30 in MSC 3704
Events Committee: Mondays @ 2pm in Honors Lounge
Student Development Committee: Wednedays @ 1pm in Magnolia Lounge
Advertising Committee: Wednesdays @ 3pm in SVC 1037
Volunteer Committee: Thursdays @ 12:45pm in Honors Lounge

If you have any questions feel free to contact me, or find us on
Facebook, Twitter, or the Honors Student Council website.



We're looking forward to a great new semester!
Sarah Brady
slbrady@mail.usf.edu