The Difficult Questions

“What’s your passion? What makes you angry? What do you want to change?” my photography professor asked me several days ago, claiming (correctly) that I am too comfortable with certain modes of thought. Yet, as a generally upbeat, docile person, I am rarely angered by anything. When offended by events or people, I am incredibly more likely to be hurt or sad than I am to ...
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Some Tips to Ease the Discomfort that Comes with Schedule Building (A Freshman’s Experience)

Enrolling in classes: something that I think most of us look forward to, but also kind of dread at the same time. There's just something so exciting about seeing what your options are for the next semester, yet so nerve-wracking because the beautiful schedule that you spent all of this semester building in your mind might actually not be possible to accomplish. After the course...
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Sophomore Slump?

Yesterday at dinner, my friends and I were discussing sophomore slump. According to Wikipedia, it "refers to an instance in which a second, or sophomore, effort fails to live up to the standards of the first effort. It is commonly used to refer to the apathy of students (second year of high school, college or university)." It's true--this year doesn't have all the exciting, ...
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On the Merits of Licking Rocks

Contrary to popular belief, not all rocks are the same; in fact, they have a diverse set of origins, compositions, structures, and properties, all of which can be related back to their mineral make. This of course renders mineralogy, which is exactly what it sounds like, an important component of any geologist's set of mental tools for conducting field work and research. Now th...
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Organisms Inhabiting My Room

1. Air plants Air plants are absolutely fascinating creatures. As you can see, they literally live in the air. In nature, they absorb the water in the air with their leaves. Being indoors, they only need to be soaked in water for an hour once a week, or sprayed with water twice a week. They not only flourish but also bloom with so few resources. These are the most inspiratio...
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Home (Fall Break 2013)

I know that most people don't go home for Fall Break (mostly because only being home for 4 days isn't worth the money it costs), but when all I could see was nostalgic flashbacks of Miami and all of my favorite places there, I knew that it was the perfect time to use the Emergency Trip Home fund I'd been saving up for over the summer. I'd had the trip perfectly planned out w...
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Where Do You Like to Study?

But before we start on optimal study-spaces, please allow me one moment to aggressively repress this strange urge to post photos I took over fall break. Rainbow displays on Rodeo, lens flares over the Santa Monica Pier, plates upon plates of SUSHI? No. Focus. Okay. I can do this. How about a rain-check? Okay, I think we can agree that it would be more productive for me to move ...
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Fall Break (again)

As I wrote a post on Fall Break last week, I won't repeat myself. Instead I'll just summarize my break and put up some pictures! On Saturday, we headed for the hot springs. Unfortunately, we managed to get ourselves into a pretty interesting situation in which our little Subaru got lost and ended up barreling down a bumpy dirt road intended for Jeeps, dirt bikes, and ATVs. A...
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Breaking Away – Paleontology on Fall Break

The soft mud crumbled beneath our feet as we meandered across the barren terrain. Here and there, flat blades of gypsum caught our eye, shimmering in the light. All around us lay bits and pieces of petrified wood, brilliant fusions of magenta and crimson, emerald and azure. A lizard skittered away from us and into the safety of a small dessicated shrub. Above our heads, a plump...
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Fall Break, LA-Style

This past weekend, we 5C students were treated to our first break of the year. It was a blissful chance to avoid two days of school, Monday and Tuesday, and for many students an opportunity to get out of the routine of the Claremont bubble. A number of students live close enough to campus to return home on long weekends. I'm from Florida, though; going home wasn't an option....
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