My Experience in the Dorms

As I conclude second year at East Carolina University, I will be finishing up my two year tenure living on campus. I must say that I have enjoyed the experience to some extent, but there are also some things I will not miss.

I have enjoyed being around all of my friends. In the dorms, your friends are right around the corner! One o’clock in the morning? Bored? No problem, just go see your buddy next door who is likely up as well. I have made a lot of friends by living in the dorm. This was especially true this year, as I have met a band of brothers who I've spent the majority of my time with.

I have enjoyed being close to classes and the benefits of campus. My freshman year, I would wake up at 7:30 a.m. for my 8:00 a.m. class. This year I got into the habit of waking up earlier (7:30 for my 9:00 class) so I could shower and study, but I still saved time by living on campus. The conveniences of the dining hall have been there to save time. Having my dorm close to classes also provided a place to sleep between classes. I haven't had to worry about traffic or paying for gas. Visiting professors and setting up times for meetings have been convenient since I am always on campus.

There have been the drawbacks of living in the dorms as well.

The dorms are disgusting. It is safe to say about 80 percent of male residents in freshman dorms are idiots. My freshman year, assholes decided to shave their pubes onto the toilet seats, jerk-off on the toilet seats, puke in the showers and damage the halls to the point that all of the residents were punished. During my sophomore year, I have had to deal with holes being punched and busted in the walls to the point where all of the residents have been threatened to be fined, residents shitting on the walls and writing racial slurs, and leaving facial and body hair in the sinks and on the floor. This is behavior typical of people with the mental capacity of a ten-year old.

Not every resident that I have met has been pleasant. One asshole who lives next to me bitched me out for pressing a button on the elevator. The same resident is loud and annoying, insisting on slamming his door to let everyone on the hall know what a bad ass he is. Cheers buddy; you've officially won the douche bag of the year award. Another resident on the hall is annoying and insists on being around even though nobody cares for his company. My other neighbors insisted on playing their shitty music for Thomas and I to hear. I also get to enjoy the occasional fight between him and his girlfriend.

Overall, I am glad that I lived in the dorms at East Carolina University for two years. I have made friends that I will know for the rest of my life, I have had a damn good roommate (Thomas Briley), I have learned how to maximize my space and become organized, and learned much about myself. While I am glad that I was able to experience the dorms, I am happy that I am moving on to a new experience by living in an apartment.

Forest Gump: A Tragedy?

I watched Forest Gump tonight, and after seeing the movie many times, I wondered: How exactly does this movie end? Is this movie a tragedy?

At first glance, this movie ends happily. Forest Gump has taken life by the balls, achieved much, overcome many obstacles, marries the woman he loves, and has a child to start the entire cycle over. This is a very happy ending looking at it from this stand point.

However, there is another way of looking at this. Forest, throughout all of his experiences and travels, constantly thinks about Jenny. There is nothing more prominent in his life than his love for Jenny. In Vietnam, while running, and in college, Forest thinks about Jenny.

Forest does end up with Jenny at the end. However, throughout Gump's entire life, Jenny repeatedly grows close to him, and then detaches herself immediately. Forest experiences much hurt and confusion from Jenny's struggles and confusions with herself. Any ordinary man would have become fed up with these antics, and moved on from the turmoil which Jenny provided. Forest is different, because of his dedication and his passion for the girl who first talked to him on the bus.

Jenny is no ordinary woman. Jenny was abused by her father as a child. Abusive fathers can often lead children to have attachment disorders (http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/wood.html). Jenny goes on a rough journey through life trying to find herself and overcome her past. Some methods of doing this are letting men abuse her and by experimenting with drugs. As she grows closer to Forest, the attachment disorder causes her to split away. Just as Jenny and Forest grow close, Jenny breaks away and tries to find herself again.

Forest almost plays out a tragedy, by seeking a woman he may never be able to truly have. Forest is eventually rewarded with a son through Jenny and by becoming married to her. But does she truly love him then?

Jenny admits that she has become ill. She doesn't talk to Forest for many years (even after she has his child), but only seeks contact with Forest after she realizes she is ill, and probably decides that she needs to introduce the child to the father so the child will have somewhere to live. Does this sound like someone who actually loves someone, or someone who is operating off of cost-benefit rewards?

So, does Jenny love Forest? It is anyone's guess, but I would say yes. She decides to marry him and she spends her last days with him. After a lifetime of turmoil, Jenny finally decides that her heart belongs to her soul mate. If Jenny didn't love Forest, she could have continued searching up until her day of death. Maybe Jenny didn't love Forest completely (due to a possible attachment disorder), but she loved him nonetheless.

But is this movie a tragedy? If the viewer believes that the movie is focused entirely on Forest's quest for Jenny, then the viewer could view the movie as a tragedy or a happy movie. If the viewer believes life is a journey, then the viewer could look at this as a tragedy. Forest spends the entire movie longing for Jenny, only to finally be with her and have her die. The journey (of longing for Jenny, not the side events in Forest's life) is a tough one for Forest, leaving him often heart-broken and lost. If the viewer believes life is a destination, they could possibly view the movie as a happy one because Forest arrives at the destination of being with Jenny. Forest does lose Jenny through death, but he feels as if he is always with her in the end.

Hello!

Hello all. I am not sure why I decided to create one of these. Maybe to share my deep, Freudian feelings? Probably not. I have recently switched my major to English, and I feel that the best way to go about improving my writing is to...write!

"But Jeff, why are you an English major? Didn't you suck at writing and English in high school?"

Yes, this is very true. I think my grades in English classes were C, B, C, C in chronological order. Come to think of it, my grades in all of my classes (except for weight training) were usually B-C average, with the exception of maybe one or two A's. At New Bern, I did not take education seriously and was more concerned about playing football and leaving New Bern. My goals changed when I came to school.

When I came to East Carolina, education became a serious priority. I started out as a Sports Studies major, then switched to Physical Education. After two semesters of desiring to be a PE teacher, I realized I was boxing myself into one job, one career, with limited amounts of opportunity regarding money or self-fulfillment. I decided that I wanted to go beyond my boxed in world, and obtain a true liberal-arts education. I switched to Psychology because I enjoy the subject, and wanted to arm myself with knowledge about the people around me. After one semester in Psychology, I realized that I missed my English classes that I was in all three previous semesters.

"You missed your English classes?" Yes. Thanks to Dr. Schlobin, I have become more than able to write in formal prose and do research. Thanks to Dr. Montgomery, I have gained skills to read and understand what is going on in literature. This semester, I have missed being in those classes and partaking in the critical analysis and learning that their classes provided me.

Even thought I have learned to read critically and write well, I have a long way to go to be where I want to. I hope with a few more years of school and personal study, I will get closer to my goal.

"What are you going to do with an English degree?" Good question. I do not specifically know. I understand English majors obtain jobs in fields such as publishing, editing, teaching, writing, law, and business. I believe earning a degree in English will arm me for more than one career (on average, people have between 4-6 different jobs before they retire).

Well, for those of you who do not know me, this is a little bit about me. For those of you who do know me, this is an update on my life.

I hope to have more posts up about something interesting, maybe even controversial. :)