A Feeling of Euphoria

By Chris Kerrigan

Fear of the unknown

Three nights a week, every week, studio two at the Recreation and Activity Center here at Georgia Southern University comes alive with loud beats, quick steps and the laughter of Euphoria dance club. This group of African-American students is GSU’s number one, and only real Hip-Hop dance club and crew, and I had the privilege to get to know them on a personal level. Although I thought I was a respectable dancer, this group of athletic, synchronized, furious, explosive dance machines was able to change my thoughts immediately.

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League of Extraordinary Geeks?

The Nest

The bed is unmade, simply a twisted mass of blankets and pillows. Packaging from processed foods litters the floor and mostly empty drinks dot every flat surface. Clutter is in every corner gathering dust by the day. Bits of this and that make up the kind of musty environment that is present today. The dingy, undecorated off-white walls are faintly lit from the glow of a 42-inch HD television streaming the image of the popular Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game(MMORPG) League of Legends from a desktop computer.

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Rise of the Resistance: A Tale of Extreme Tag

“We’re never truly safe, and since we’re not safe, let’s have fun.”

• Chris Weed, creator of Humans versus Zombies

Adrenaline, fear, and that wonderful high a person gets from having dangerous fun, exhilaration or euphoria you suppose, courses through your veins, giving speed to your pounding feet. You are running for your life, or at least that is what it feels like, being chased by a member of the mobile deceased. Yes, a Zombie. A nerf blaster beats against your back to the rhythm of your tennis shoes smacking the ground and a cool breeze chills the tiny bead of sweat that had started running down your face. You are very nearly tunnel–visioned on the path before you, on escape, on the patter of feet behind you; are they speeding up? However, you still hear the toll of the bells from the library, really just a projection from a speaker system, but it’s nice to pretend there are real bells, right? The chimes indicate that it just turned seven- p.m. that is; only thirty minutes until cease–fire, then you’ll be safe. A smile crosses your face; you can make it, they will not catch you today.

History and Rules

This scene would be a typical occurrence for a member of the massively popular game, Humans versus Zombies. This intricate game of tag, often shortened to HvZ, was first invented at Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland in 2005, but has spread to every continent (excluding Antarctica of course) thanks to their wonderful website, Humansversuszombies.com. According to this website, Humans versus Zombies is played at over 650 colleges/universities around the world, including our very own Georgia Southern University. Not only is this game played at colleges, but also high schools, military bases, and in very special cases, public libraries.

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Reading Between the Lines of the Teaching Profession

Me with Reidsville teacher Ms. Parker

Elementary class at Reidsville School

Reidsville Elementary

To Teach or Not To Teach?

Ever since I was a small child, I have wanted to follow in my mom’s footsteps and become a teacher. As a child, I loved going to her classroom after school and hearing her stories about her students. Through watching her enjoyment of teaching, I began to realize that teaching was something I might would like to pursue. During my senior year of high school, I worked as a teacher’s apprentice at Reidsville Elementary School. Seeing ABC’s and math facts covering the walls, hearing the little giggles of children, and watching the satisfied expressions on children’s faces when they completed tasks were some of the many things that I loved about working in an elementary school classroom. I thoroughly loved my job, and the experience helped me to look more towards becoming a teacher. Teaching is something that seems to come naturally to me. I have always enjoyed spending time with children, and when I am in the classroom I do not feel like I am working because I love being there. I especially like watching the children grow and become excited about learning new things. I am strongly considering becoming a teacher; I want to motivate my students as my mom has done.

I struggle with the decision as to whether or not to become a teacher because even though the pay is low, the enjoyment is worthwhile. Teachers receive love from their students, the satisfaction of seeing growth in their students’ academics, and making a positive impact in a child’s life. I think one of the most important things with any career is that you enjoy what you do.

My goal in researching a local elementary school is to make sure that I want to become a teacher. I want to view the teachers’ workload and their enjoyment of their job. They are the experts in the profession, and I want to take advice and knowledge from their many years in the field. I am curious to know if they had known the demanding pressures and requirements of becoming a teacher, if they would still choose teaching as their profession. I want to know their personal pros and cons of being teachers while I observe them in their classroom.

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I really enjoyed coming to California, and became a multilingual person. I speak three Chinese dialects, English and a bit of French. When I first came here, I was homesick due to not understanding the language. ABC [American-Born Chinese] kids were racist against me, but I was used to it since Chinese teachers were racist against me too. Even when I was in elementary school, my English level was that of the level of a two year-old. But I told myself that I would learn the language, and I would be proud of myself.

So I spent that was twice as hard and set goals to learn English. Then, they treated me with such respect, because they were surprised how good my English is. Later I had more friends, because my English is so much improved. I can finally be treated with more respect. I like the teachers here, for one thing they never made fun of me, or put me in the spotlight for not being academically challenged enough.

I realized even people who were born here need my help on their English essays, which made me feel very worthy. I love to help anyone whose English is not so great. I also understand homesickness and learning a new language is not easy for Asian international students- it’s never easy. But I’m very happy to help them out, because I can relate to them. It’s especially not easy for them to leave their parents, and live with others or live as a university student by themselves. Asian students learned how to be independent, instead of interdependent. Right now I teach Mandarin, I always told my students not to give up on learning a new language. Being bilingual is very fun.

The Funeral

NOW

We all knew it was coming; we’d been waiting for it for over two years. Weekly visits to the hospital or down the dirt roads that lead to his old, musty recliner could suddenly be canceled. Sundays could once again belong to naps and lazy afternoon reading instead of guarded conversations and whispered judgments. These were the plusses, the silver linings that came after the storm, after the tears, and after the realization that Papa was really gone this time.

I had always wondered how they would tell me. Would it happen when I was home one weekend and we’d all rush to the hospital together, our good-byes stuck to the tips of our tongues and our fingers reaching out for each other’s? Or would I get a phone call early one Tuesday morning, too close to sleep to comprehend the news and too far away to make it back in time for my tears to matter? In the end, neither scenario came to pass, and the reality of such a loss hit harder than any morbid daydream ever could.

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