I evoke waking up every 5 minutes checking my blue IPod to see the time. Every time I woke up I would look outside my gelid, frosted window and see the sky darken to a faint violent. As the sky lightens, I would awaken even more. Just as the clock hit 7:30 A.M. sharp my alarm went off, “beep, beep, beep” desiring that I had gotten more sleep. I had opened my eyes like I had 50 cups of coffee, and jumping out of bed like a deer running from its predator.…
I lay there, panting and sitting straight up. I couldn’t seem to calm down so I decided to focus on my roommates still sleeping like logs. I watch as the silver moonlight filters through a window at their sleeping figures, simply inhaling and exhaling gently. I watch them like a creep for a few minutes until I hear a creak and a small thud followed by someone groaning “Ouch.”…
This stage is also called paradoxical sleep. During a dream, the dreamer experiences an incredibly lifelike ordeal, and the shutting down of the self-awareness causes them to encounter the dream in a first person point of view, generally without the knowledge of who they are and being unable to control the circumstances, and is also almost never aware that they are even dreaming. Dreams can last from five minutes…
Have you found paradise beyond these discolored clouds? I close my journal and wrap my arms around my long legs. It seems that they can’t help but getting longer while I will them to shrink. A monster like me should not take up more space than I should. As I cower in the corner I hear a knock on the door and my lunch slides through the opening.…
I walked through the dust and dirt to the familiar nondescript building I had come to know and love: Merek South in Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. Trumpet case in hand, I pushed open the teal double doors and was met with a wall of sound. I felt the corners of my mouth rise and give birth to an excited grin as I walked past the percussion equipment and other trumpet players to the only open seat, which stood out in sharp contrast against the sea of blue polo shirts and navy blue pants--the required uniform of the camp. I had attended Blue Lake before, but now I was about to embark on their international exchange program, which would bring me to France, Germany, and Holland for five weeks during the Summer. “Are you Patrick from Maryland,” asked a girl in the middle of the section who I later learned was Julia.…
A hot summer afternoon it was. Julia, my host at Innisfree HawalBagh (Uttarakhand), showed me the walk way to Kosi river. Walking down was comfortable under the shade of deodar trees on a sunny blue sky day. As soon as I reached the river, I could not resist myself from a swim. I saw few ladies from the nearby village, filling water.…
Everyone is influenced, as a part of his or her upbringing, by traditions and customs that are handed down from generation to generation. The act of becoming aware of the biases caused by these influences is referred to as Consciousness Raising. When tending to their patients, health care providers must always strive to be cognizant of traditions and customs of the patients for whom they are caring. There are three ways in which I would facilitate Consciousness Raising within the health care setting. First by recognizing bias within my personal sphere of influence, next by educating patients how to recognize the biases that they perceive to be true, and lastly by collaborating with the entire health care team to educate each other and prevent…
The immediate brightness of the lights jolt my body to a level of consciousness that I was unaware was possible at this hour. It was only seven o’clock, but my drowsiness can be accounted for because of the night before. (We had been out setting and checking…
I can smell the excitement in the air. The crimson and white colors on everyone, and some people have even painted their bodies. It is football season, finally. Tuscaloosa has been referred to as “The City Of Champions” because of The University Of Alabama’s sports teams--mainly football. In Tuscaloosa, we brag about the Southeastern Conference and the number of BCS National Championship titles the university holds.…
Waking up then becomes more difficult, and larger brain waves begin to form. Once stages one and two passes by, the sleeper falls into the next stage known as “deep sleep”. Heavy sleep begins in NREM stage three while slow delta waves take place after thirty-five to forty minutes since the person fell asleep. Electroencephalograms, a system to measure brain activity, show that brain waves slow down more and become significantly larger. The dreamer sleeps through the noise and disruptions without any physical response.…
The battle ready dad I never had Everyday I try to be the best man I can be. I attribute that to the most inspirational person I can think of, Jeff Jury. He helped show me what its means to be a man with sports by instilling values, goals, and motivation in me. So on the days when I feel as if I have survived a skirmish with life itself, I use the same characteristics as in football to draw strength and perseverance enabling me to get out of bed and carry on with my life. Each morning as I drift back to consciousness and one by one my senses return.…
Conquering Hell I remember everything that day. The gas, the smell of the dead bodies, and the constant rain. But the thing I remember the most was the regret and rush of my first kill. I was in the trenches that day, on the front line.…
Honest Horror I am eager to witness the horrors within “America’s scariest” that the masses raved about. Not having a reservation, I am forced to sneak around the attentive guard. The charcoal black suit with legs intimidates all who enter. Luckily, the bouncer stares mindlessly at the black cellular device within his tight grasp as if he guarded that rather than the entrance.…
Imagine you are outside lost in what seems to be a never ending forest, with ungodly creatures and mass amounts of stars, plus a slight breeze of the never forgiving woods. You are trying to sleep in a green army tent with a friend right across the tent, with each of us on separate cots. That slight breeze that you thought wouldn't bother you sends a chilling sensation down your spine. You are trying to go to bed but the breeze is not going to stop. So you try harder but you can’t fall asleep.…
I wake up suffocated by darkness, heart pounding, I gasp for breath that won't come. I don’t know what time it is and for a moment I don’t know where I am. I’m still trapped in whatever hellscape I was in. It takes me a minute to calm my racing heart and to stop hyperventilating. Deep breath in… deep breath out, in and out, in and out, over and over again until I’ve calmed down.…