What do you think?

            Recently, I went to see a play at the Pavilion Theatre. It was called We Are? “A Student Perspective of the Sandusky Scandal”. When I heard the title, I immediately wanted to go check it out. My family is huge Penn State fans and my brother is a senior here, so even before I came here, I knew a lot about the scandal. I was interested to see what other students thought about it, so I grabbed one of my friends and took her with me to see it. I wasn’t quite sure what I was expecting. I thought it would possibly just be students acting out all the events of the past year. I was not exactly expecting what I saw. The cast was made up of all students and instead of actually acting out what had happened, they told the story through personal accounts of all of the events. People were talking about how they felt when the story broke, at the riots, football games, and how they feel about it now. It was really interesting to hear how each story was different, but also had the same underlying emotions. Everyone was hurt, scared, or angry. As a freshman, I heard about all of these events but was not a part of them. It was really cool to hear people telling their stories of the riots and the entire atmosphere of Penn State at the time. In a way, I was glad that I was at home where the story didn’t hit me quite as hard. I was not an actual part of Penn State yet, and I was from New Jersey, so although it was big news, not many people cared as much as if I lived around here. On the other hand, I wish I could have been here for it. I wish I could have been part of this community in a time of turmoil. I wish I could have seen how passionate people were about their school and how willing they were to fight for it. I wish I could have been at the candlelight vigil for Joe Paterno. But in all reality, I wish none of this had ever happened.

            As we were leaving the play, my friend and I started to discuss the scandal and how we felt about it. We have had this discussion many times before, but we felt like it needed to happen again after seeing that. Some people may focus on the legal aspects such as who was to blame, if enough was done to stop it, or if it was a cover-up. However, I focus on the unfair treatment that the students got throughout this. Headlines in the media bashed all of Penn State calling it the “Penn State Scandal”. I will never in my life call it that; I will always refer to it as the “Sandusky Scandal”, because it was not by the fault of anyone at Penn State. The administrators are the only ones to blame with affiliation to Penn State, not the students. The students were looked at as a bunch of disgusting, barbaric, in-bred, child rapists, who were obsessed with football. In reality, they were just young adults who were proud of their school, and especially proud of a great man: Joe Paterno. They didn’t deserve to get the bad name that they did. All of the students who are here now receiving the punishments were not even here when the events occurred. The NCAA is punishing the wrong people. We had nothing to do with the scandal so we should not have to endure the consequences associated with it.

I was choosing what college to come to as these events were unfolding. I could say that they did not cross my mind when picking my school, but they did. My thoughts were that I wanted to prove people wrong. I wanted to show people that no matter what happened, I would be going to this school because it was a great academic opportunity for me. I decided to come here because no matter what, I still loved Penn State football and couldn’t imagine myself at any other school. When people asked me what college I would be going to in the fall, I proudly said, “Penn State”. I got the same looks and responses from everyone: “Oh, not such a good school anymore” or “You still want to go there after everything that happened?” And every time, I looked them straight in the eyes and said “Yes, I still want to go there, and actually it is still a very good school.”  Everything that happened only made me want to come here more. I saw the way the school came together as one big family and I wanted more than anything to be a part of that. I didn’t care what people said to me or what they thought of me. I bleed blue and white. I am a Nittany Lion. I am a Penn Stater and I will be for the rest of my life.

My Time in English 15

            I think the most important thing I learned this semester in English 15 is how to work with people who I have never met before. Before college, I was used to being in a class with all people who I have known for years. My high school was not tiny but it wasn’t huge and by senior year, I had friends in every single one of my classes. Even if I wasn’t friends with the other people in my class I still knew them pretty well. This means that in class, it wasn’t as big of a deal when I had to talk in front of the class or contribute to class discussions. When we had to work in groups, I wasn’t too worried because I knew most of the people in my class. All that changed when I got here and entered a class without a single person who I knew. At first, I was worried about contributing in class discussions and answering questions. I thought if I said something stupid or gave the wrong answer everyone would judge me. After a while I realized that everyone was in the same boat. They were probably all worried too and after I got to know people a little bit I realized that everyone was actually really nice and wouldn’t judge me. Also, when I heard that we would be doing a group project, I was worried because I wasn’t sure how well I would be able to work with three other people I have never met before. I have no idea what I was worried about because it all worked out well. My group was really nice and we worked really well together. I learned that I could work well with other people who I didn’t know in a group situation. I think this is a really important skill to have for the future because most jobs will have situations like this and it is important that I can succeed in them.

            Of course I learned many useful things for my writing. The most memorable lesson in this class is when we did the concision exercises. So many of the examples are things that I have said multiple times or heard other people saying. I never realized that they were grammatically incorrect or redundant. It made me really conscious of correcting this when I speak and write. I went back and looked at my writing to make sure I didn’t use any of those phrases. It was interesting to learn about this because it was something different to learn. In English classes we always learn how to write a thesis statement and where to use commas and how to write a quote. However, this was never taught to me and it is something really important that I think everyone should be aware of.

            Lastly, I learned about all the opportunities for arts and culture that Penn State provides for us. I most likely would have never gone to In The Red and Brown Water if it weren’t for this class. However, it was an interesting play and it encouraged me to go to other plays. I even found a play that my friends would enjoy and now I am getting them involved in the arts at Penn State. The best part is that most of these opportunities that Penn State offers for the arts are free. It is a really good outlet to distract myself from studying or anything else going on in my life. In addition, it would probably have taken me a while to visit the arboretum. I am really glad that I got to see it and now I know what it is and that it is available for me if I ever want to go visit again. This class made me appreciate that there are arts all around me and that they are an important means for self-expression.

 Blog Comments:

http://theartsynittanylion.blogspot.com/2012/11/artscultural-response-bruce-springsteen.html?showComment=1354683424008#c3479580362584653246

http://carascornerthearts.blogspot.com/2012/09/my-palmer-museum-of-art-visit-featuring.html

http://takingonsociety.blogspot.com/2012/11/in-red-and-brown-water-review.html?showComment=1354684640193#c5325964108763203912

http://rebeccacommisso.blogspot.com/2012/11/extra-blog-post-2.html?showComment=1354742291182#c461150727582266980

The Most Interesting Blog Ever: In The Red and Brown Water

http://samanthamartinblogspot.blogspot.com/2012/09/palmer-museum-visit.html?showComment=1354742628667#c4514091440607334797

The He(ART) of Penn State: Old School, New Laughs

Two Truths and No Lies: Movie Madness-The Social Network

Taking On Society: In The Red and Brown Water Review

Stories From Stuart Halls: A Friday Morning Spent with the Arts

Rhetorically Speaking: A Stroll in the Park

**I completed my SRTEs, Ms. S!!

Arts/Cultural Response: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

           When it comes to music, I tend to look at myself like a 50 year old man. That is the kind of music I like. Classic rock is my thing. If it was made before the 90s I’ll probably like it. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of recent music I like too but sometimes I hear songs that come out and I just cant help but think what happened?! This is why when my brother told me that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band was coming to Penn State, I needed to go. I have never been such a huge Bruce fan, but being from New Jersey, I know a lot of his songs. In addition to that, I know A LOT of die-hard Bruce fans. I’ve heard that his concerts were awesome so there is no way I could pass up the opportunity to see him perform. 

            My mom bought my brother and I tickets (he’s a senior here at Penn State) and I couldn’t wait. I started listening to his music a lot to get myself educated on all his songs. There’s nothing I love more then belting out a song with hundreds of other people at a concert. The more and more I listened to his songs, the more I realized how much I actually loved his music! I knew most of his famous songs such as, “Born in the USA”, “Dancing in the Dark”, and “Born to Run”, but what surprised me the most was how many other really good songs he had. Listening to his music almost everyday in the week leading up to his concert got me so pumped that when the day came it was all I could think about.

            When we got to the Bryce Jordan Center, almost everyone was wearing the same attire: cut off shorts, anything with an American flag on it, and bandanas everywhere. Our seats were behind the stage, however it was a 360-degree stage and we were really close. We were in the sixth row back from the stage right in the middle, and there were only people in the two rows in front of us so we had a really good view.  When the concert started everyone was immediately on his or her feet.

My favorite part about this concert, besides the music and his performance, was that it had some meaning behind it. The concert was about a week or two after Hurricane Sandy and since Bruce was from New Jersey, he basically dedicated the concert to that. He played a lot of songs that were New Jersey based and talked about the band’s roots from the Jersey shore that was now destroyed. It was inspiring hearing him talk about how he believed it was going to be rebuilt and back to new in no time. This was especially important to me because I spend my summers at the Jersey shore and saw so many places that I had been just a few months ago now destroyed.

The atmosphere of the concert was just so much fun. There were many songs that I had heard before but didn’t know too well and even ones I had never heard before. However, since it was all such good music, I didn’t stop dancing and cheering the entire time. He is easily the best performer I have ever seen. He went into the crowd so many times, hugging, kissing, and shaking hands with fans. He pulled up little kids on stage and one of them even took the microphone and sang a solo in front of everyone. At one point, he pulled at least twenty women onto the stage and danced with each one of them. It was such a big concert, but when he came to the back of the stage and looked at us I could swear he was singing just to me. He made everyone in the building feel like they were part of the concert and I had never seen anything like that before. The E Street Band was also really impressive. They were all so talented and when they played solos I felt like I could listen to them play forever. I am so glad I got to experience this concert and it is something I will never forget. If he comes around again I would go in a heartbeat. I suggest anyone else who has an opportunity should go too. Even if you don’t know his music too well, it is still tons of fun and a really great experience.