CREATIVE CORNER

Submitted by Amelia Collins, University of Georgia

CREATIVE CORNER

Submitted by Annie Davis, University of Illinois

Moral Braveness

"Moral Braveness is not what it might seem

It’s not easy nor is it simple 

It’s not something in between

It’s not a natural born quality

That is a common theme

It’s comes from the braveness of your heart

Something that you dream

It’s something that you stand up for 

And maybe make a scene

But you speak about it anyway

Even if it isn’t mainstream

“Well most folks seem to think they’re right and you’re wrong. . .”

but that’s the moral cowardice coming through them like a beam."

CREATIVE CORNER

Submitted by Olivia Obringer, Michigan State University

"When I was in high school, I spent 2 years researching and writing my first novel. It’s about the 1900 Galveston, Texas, hurricane through the eyes of my fictional character Emelise Carson. I self-published this novel, and it is available on Amazon!"

Shortly after the Carson family moves to the bustling town of Galveston, Texas, Emelise discovers her oldest brother is planning to run away and return to their former home in Arkansas. Emelise attempts to tell her parents when he is leaving, but before she has the chance to do so, they depart for the night, leaving Emelise in charge of her three siblings during a thunderstorm. However, little do the citizens of Galveston know, that thunderstorm quickly turns into one of the worst US Historical Disasters—The Galveston Hurricane. Trapped in their house as the water rises, Emelise and her brothers struggle to survive. Through the pages of her diary, Emelise describes how she desperately tries to keep her brothers alive while searching for her missing parents, all the while bearing the pain and sorrow of being surrounded by death and destruction.

Ode to My Dumb Dog

Check out this hilarious poem by Madison Gohlke from Auburn University! Very relatable!

The summer’s getting hotter now
Though it sure ought to be fall
You’re lying on the A/C vent
And snoring through it all

Your smelly ears and big old paws
Have now my bedspread seized
(Though I swore I wouldn’t be the type
To let you nap where you pleased)

I let you out at lunch to bark
And drive the neighbors mad
While I drag back to school and sit
To learn the bovine gonad

To Bac-T lab and cardio
Off I gaily trot
But complain through pharmacology
(A druggie, I am not)

And longingly, through coffee-haze
I wish that you were near
To rest your head upon my lap
And remind me why I’m here

For your goofy eyes and laughing mouth
I peruse with dexterous care
And I must admit, your crazy heart
Did give me quite a scare.

It turns out you are “off,” a bit
And speed up when you inhale
But Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia
Doesn’t mean your heart will fail!

And I’m so glad that it doesn’t, dear,
For without you, I’d be at sea
You keep me sound and teach me how
Two best pals can agree.

Inca Trail

Entry, Creative Corner
David Kim, UC Davis

I was stumbling down the Inca Trail when I first saw the ass.  It was brown with tufts of unkempt hair that seemed to randomly sprout all over its body.  In my delirium, I thought Armando had sent it up to get me because I was taking too long to descend.  It walked towards me, stopping 20 feet away, and turned around, beckoning me to get on.  I stood there confused because I thought we were renting a horse.  Perhaps the place he had mentioned had no more for the day.  It seemed plausible since it was already late in the afternoon, only a few hours before dark.  But if it was sent up, how did it know to find me?  Did Armando tell it to look for a chinito?  As I tried to rationalize the situation, I realized I was starting to lose it and walked on.  Within a few minutes, I spotted Armando resting on the stone steps of a lone house.  Seeing me, he grinned and said, “Do you want a horse or do you want a donkey, so you can ride into town like Jesus Christ?”  He cackled uncontrollably, and I managed a weak smile as I praised the Peruvian gods that soon I’d be on a horse despite the fact that I had no idea how to ride one.

            Three days before, my sister and I landed in Cusco to hike to Machu Picchu for a much needed vacation.  I had worked all throughout summer and made the mistake of not taking a break for myself, and I was burnt out before fall quarter had even started.  We ended up choosing Peru based on the stories we had heard from my uncle, who had done several hiking treks there.  It seemed an ideal time to hike to Machu Picchu as the rainy season meant fewer tourists, and we were able to get a permit to hike the Inca Trail, booking it only 1.5 months in advance. 

            We stayed in Cusco two days to properly acclimate before the hike.  The city is 11,200 feet above sea, and shortly after landing, I started to feel the effects of soroche ie altitude sickness.  Luckily, the Peruvians have a magical plant called erythroxylum coca, which is available in a variety of forms from the dried leaf to tea to even hard candies.  Within a day, I felt much better.  Contrary to what some people may believe, ingesting coca is not like doing cocaine as the humble plant contains less than 1% of the alkaloid.  Its effects were smooth and soothing yet had a very clean buzz without the jittery effects of caffeine.  While on the trail, I was continually amazed by the porters, who seemed to be fueled solely by coca, zipping up the hills in their sandals or beat up tennis shoes.  Initially, I was unsure how to chew them, and a fellow hiker advised me to roll a bunch of leaves into a plug and chew it.  When Issac, one of our guides, heard this, he scoffed, saying that was the fancy way invented by the Spanish.  Issac was Quecha, part of the indigenous people of the Andes, and he had been an avid coca chewer since he was six.  Taking a big wad, he told me to put on the side of my mouth, chomping on it from time to time to let the material leech out.  When the mouth got numb and the leaves started to break apart, that was when to spit it out although I did have the option of swallowing it as the leaf provided fiber and other nutrients.

            The first day of the hike was challenging, but the views were amazing. 

Click to read more ...