Holiday festivities are right around the corner and that means it’s the season of family, celebration, and lots of food. It can be hard to resist our favorite holiday recipes that adorn Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas like pecan pie, latkes, and sampling everything on the buffet table. But consuming 200 extra calories a day can strain the waistline causing you to gain two to three pounds over a five-to-six week period. Below are some simple tips to help you enjoy the holidays so you don’t have to deprive yourself the delicious holiday favorites.
1. Eat before you go. Excessive hunger promotes overeating.
2. Drink lots of water. Drinking water before a meal can help increase your feeling of fullness.
3. Don’t put everything on your plate. Start by taking a walk around the buffet table to look at all the options.
4. Add color to your plate. Include bright colored fruits and vegetables on your plate. Make it your goal to fill half of your plate with these bright and vibrant colors.
5. Before getting seconds, wait 10 minutes. It takes 10 minutes for your stomach to signal to your brain that you are full.
6. Pull out your walking shoes. Take a walk before eating or between dinner and dessert.
7. Don’t stand next to the buffet or appetizer table to prevent mindless eating.
Absolutely anything is possible. There is not a single thing you cannot achieve. Wake up early, eat a healthy breakfast, make sure you attend all of your classes and get a workout in. Make sure you complete all of your assignments to the best of your ability, your room is clean, your bed is made and your laundry is done. Make sure you practice a multi-step skincare routine after you shower, achieve your step goal, meditate, journal, plan your papers in advance, study hard, attend every meeting. Make sure to make the extra effort to call home every day, keep in touch with old friendships, socialize with current ones and attempt to form new ones. Make sure you look good for the day, your hair is done, your outfit is comfortable, but simultaneously stylish. Make sure you smile often, stand up straight and above all, never let anyone see the one lonesome tear strolling down your face because you have simply had enough; but anything is possible, right?
Perfection is a concept unfairly driven into the minds of children at a young age. We are taught that there is a standard that we must meet in order to be good enough, that there is this “realistic” expectation held. And as we see other people meet this expectation, it becomes a sort of protocol, routine. There is this assumption that we must be able to reach this now standardized goal or else we fall short and fail. Inadvertently, one forces themself to try that much harder to fulfill this expectation in fear of falling short, the fear of messing up forever imprinted into the minds of those who will not stop pushing themselves until they break. Yet the reality is, anything is not possible, for this vast category of “anything” includes the notion of perfection, and what is realistic is that there is no such thing.
Perfect denotes zero mistakes, the absolute best one can be 100% of the time, however, to do this is to be merely inhuman. Robots are programmed to be perfect, not people, and oftentimes even robots make mistakes. Have you ever had a computer glitch, or something go wrong on your phone that was not caused by user error? Even what is intended and designed to be perfect cannot fully fulfill this definition, so why would you, a human, ever think it to be possible?
The fact you cannot ever be entirely perfect does not mean you should not try your best to be the best YOU can be, but it does mean it is not worth it to run yourself into the ground trying. A balance between discipline and cutting yourself slack is imperative to a positive wellbeing. As much as you might need to study a little harder for an exam or work late one night on a paper, you also need to watch a movie or take a nap. As someone who struggles with finding this balance, feeling immense amounts of guilt when I do ease back on myself, denying myself the credit I deserve for the hard work I do, I understand the difficulty in being simultaneously motivated and relaxed. However, it is necessary to strive for progress, not perfection.
Get up early, eat a healthy breakfast and go to your classes, but it is okay if you are not able to get a workout in. Do your work and make sure you do your skincare after you shower, but if that means you cannot do your laundry, so be it. You deserve to be in a neat space, so get that room cleaned up, but if you only have energy to make your bed, that is okay too. Maybe in order to call your parents you had to stay up late writing a paper; reward yourself with sleeping in the next morning.
Even if all of this is not enough to lighten the load of what feels like the entire world on your shoulders, it is always okay to let that tear trickle down your face, for you are not that “perfect” robot, but a human. A human who is loved, important, valued, and above all, perfectly imperfect. As hard a pill as it is to swallow, know perfection is unattainable, therefore, you will forever be chasing a goal that cannot be reached, falling short every time. For this exact reason it is important to not strive for perfection, rather progress. And know too, at the very least, I will be beyond proud of you for this progress.
On Nov. 15, 2022, the La Salle Explorers were able to edge out Division II Queen’s University North Carolina to punch their ticket to the Jersey Mike’s Jamaica Classic tournament. The La Salle Men’s basketball team then traveled to Jamaica on November 16, 2022, for a week full of practices and, if they were lucky, numerous different games. The Explorers failed once again to live up to their potential, being relegated to the consolation bracket after losing in the first round to Wake Forest. The Explorers then played Georgetown University for the loser’s bracket championship, where they managed to show why they were in the loser’s bracket, losing 69-62.
The first overseas game the Explorers (2-1) played was against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (3-0). The Explorers came into the game full of energy, as was evident with their 10-2 lead six minutes into the half, a lead that they achieved thanks to three-pointers coming from Senior Guard Josh Nickleberry and Senior transfer forward Hassan Drame. However, this lead was short lived, as the Demon Deacons were able to go on a 13-5 run against the Explorers, tying the game at 15 a piece. The Deacons and Explorers continued to trade point after point with one another, with the Deacons going on a 17-11 run to give them the lead. Despite this apparent setback, the Explorers were able to go on a 7-0 run against the Demons with only 1:30 left to play in the half. The Explorers were helped out by three pointers coming from Nickleberry and Sophomore Guard Khalil Brantley. The Deacons refused to go down without a fight however, and after a layup and a freethrow, were able to take the lead back from the Explorers at 35-33 heading into half time. The Explorers came out of half time with half the energy as the first, which showed in their game play. The Explorers managed to take the lead back 3 separate times during the second half, but were ultimately outscored 40-30 to finish the game at a 75-63 defeat. The Explorers shot an absolutely horrific 21-53 (39.6%) from field goals but somehow managed to make an impressive 11-26 (42.3%) of their three-pointers. It seems like the wonderful warm weather of Jamaica affected the men’s ability to play, as they played perfectly fine in the cold weather of Philadelphia.
The Men’s team was then relegated to the loser’s tournament bracket after their loss to Wake Forest, where they would face off against the Georgetown Hoyas for the consolation game of the Jersey Mike’s Jamaica Classic tournament. The first half of play has to be single handedly the worst basketball I have seen from the Explorers in my short three years of being an Explorer. The Explorers were outscored 21-41 in the half, and the Hoyas carried all of the momentum. The Hoyas were running circles around the Men’s team, and looked like the vastly superior team all throughout the half. The Explorers however, refused to go down without a fight. The Explorers came out of half time full of the energy and motivation that they lacked in the first half, and were determined to bring themselves back into the game. The Explorers were able to go on an 11-4 run within the first 3:14 of the half. Junior Guard Jhamir Brickus was responsible for 9 out of 11 of those points, and was a pivotal part of the Explorer’s offense in the second half. The Hoyas tried to maintain control of the game, but the Explorers momentum was simply too much for them to handle. The Explorers went on a 28-8 run to tie the game at 62 all, with only 2:14 left in the game. The Hoyas however, were able to stop the Explorers charge, putting themselves up 64-62. After an Explorer defensive foul, the Deacons were able to sink both free throws, putting them up 66-62. The Explorers tried to bring themselves back into the game, but the point deficit they allowed in the first half was too much to handle, ultimately causing the Explorers to lose 69-62.
These two losses for the Explorers have to be detrimental to the team’s morale, especially after the small momentum they had gained after their back to back wins. The Explorers now sit at 2-3 in the season, with no conference games being played yet. The Explorers will face off against Binghamton at home, where the athletic department will do a trading card giveaway, an issue I will talk about in future articles. For now, the entire school is disappointed by the men’s basketball team and how much money the school is giving them, rather than literally anything else at this school.
This past week in Omaha, Nebraska, a major deal was offered that could determine consumer spending for the foreseeable future. This deal was offered to railroad engineers that saw an offer of a 24% raise to conductor salaries that was ultimately rejected. The rejection of the offer has raised many concerns regarding whether the dispute will be settled before next month’s deadline. Before Monday three of the smaller unions had already rejected the offer with a split vote on Monday between the two largest unions which led to the result of the offer. However, seven smaller unions were able to accept and approve a deal with the terms of a 24% raise with an additional $5,000 in bonuses. The unions will go back to the drawing board and will renegotiate the terms of the agreement. This time they will look at adding paid sick time to their contracts. Much to the disliking of the railroads resulting in the negotiations going into deadlock between the two parties. All 12 of the unions need to approve of the offer to prevent a strike. This is where this issue would really hurt the general economy and the American consumer. It would further tighten the supply chains and as I mentioned before, increase stress in a post pandemic economy both in the US and globally. If this were to continue it is likely that Congress would step in at some point in order to impose a contract between the railroads and the unions assuming they cannot come to an agreement. The main problem that workers have with the railroads is the lack of consideration for quality-of-life. Many feel as if the demanding schedules hinder their ability to live life away from the rails, something that is supposed to be improved in the negotiations. So, why does this matter to the typical consumer? Because we will experience supply chain issues like those seen during the pandemic due to 30% of the nation’s freight being moved via the railroad. Gas prices could again increase as a result of oil refineries having trouble producing the current gas volumes they are. Recently harvested crops took longer to move and fertilizers for upcoming plants will not reach their destination in time. Finally, consumer goods will be impacted due to the inability to import goods. This comes at the worst time of the year with the holiday season upon us. Consumers may see a severe shortage in their favorite goods resulting in the prices to increase. As the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays come closer, it will be interesting to see how this dispute ends. Hopefully for consumers both in the US and globally they settle, and people can move forward without having to worry about higher costs during the biggest spending period of the year.
One of the finest perks of being an AMC Stubs Premiere member is that I can see up to three movies each week for only $20 a month. When I’m in a theater there and the lights begin to dim, I just have this indescribable feeling that I am about to go somewhere I’ve never been before. Somewhere our heroes feel like the best parts of all of us. A place where somehow heartbreak feels almost good. As an AMC Stubs member, I had the chance to see a number of stories that felt perfect and powerful—just because they were seen in an AMC theater. Without further ado, here are my reviews of “Pearl,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
The long-awaited sequel to Marvel’s 2018 megahit classic “Black Panther” finally arrived in theaters last week and offered a heartfelt tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman. This film had been building up hype and anticipation for months as many wanted to see how director Ryan Coogler and Kevin Feige would handle Boseman’s untimely passing and follow up this prior Best Picture nominee. “Wakanda Forever’s” hype is well-deserved. The movie is really long, but all its elements and each plot feel necessary. The movie serves as a touching tribute to its late lead actor yet still tells a story with interesting themes and messages. It effectively explores the effects of grief on an individual while also offering interesting commentaries on the exploitation of the global South and the in-fighting between exploited nations. Angela Bassett’s Queen Ramonda is one stand-out of the film as she delivers a great performance. Also, Tenoch Huerta’s Namor might be one of the MCU’s best-written characters in years and transcends many complaints about Marvel antagonists. As someone who was a longtime Marvel fan, I had been feeling a lot of fatigue with these movies lately, but “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” felt like a breath of fresh air.
“Pearl”
Ti West follows up on this year’s “X” with a prequel-sequel that offers the origin of Pearl, the killer and villain of the first film. This director also teams up again with Mia Goth who had played both this titular protagonist and the character of Maxine. Speaking of Mia Goth, she puts on a clinic in this film and offers a fantastic performance of a completely unhinged character. There is an incredible monologue late in the film that lasts what feels like almost ten minutes, and Goth easily delivers it, showing off her skill and acting prowess. The performance should likely be in the conversation for a Best Lead Actress Oscar, but nevertheless it comes from a genre almost always overlooked by the Academy. The opening score is remarkable and reminds one of the grand scores of old Hollywood from that bygone era of cinema. Also, the end credits are truly unsettling, but I will not say anymore in the interest of not disclosing spoilers.
“The Banshees of Inisherin”
Martin McDonagh’s newest film features an “In Bruges” reunion with Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson and depicts the story of two friends on the fictional Irish island of Inisherin in 2022. This story shows the end of their friendship as Gleeson’s character Colm wishes to no longer speak to or spend time with Farrell’s character Pádraic. This sudden falling out is only one-sided and motivated by Colm’s despair and existential depression due to his mortality. Knowing that he will one day die, Colm cannot bother to spend any more of his precious time with dim-witted Padraic. This predicament soon grows dire for the two of them as the stakes of their fight continue to intensify. McDonagh’s screenplay stands out as a major achievement for this film as it carefully blends dry humor, existential angst and tragedy all together. The script does all this while also making you feel like you are watching a dark Irish folk tale. Coming off his prior cinematic success with “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” McDonagh has captured lightning in a bottle again and will likely receive award buzz for this film. One final note: Barry Keoghan gives one of my favorite performances of this year in this movie. Every time he was on screen, I could not personally stop laughing at his line delivery. I dearly hope he gets a Best Supporting Actor nomination for this role. He is going to be huge in Hollywood in the next few years.
Long ago in the semester, a friend of ours, Andrew Plunkett, suggested a bagel place that he frequented over the summer due to his work commitments in the city. He told us that we just HAD to try it, and that we wouldn’t regret it. Having taken his advice, Claire and I, along with a large group of friends, made our way down to Rittenhouse Square where one of a few locations of Spread Bagelry exist within city limits. The other two are on South Street and in University City.
The first thing we noticed about this place on the frigid Saturday morning was just how bustling it was. Other places we had been to have been busy, but none quite like this. When we arrived, there were only a few types of bagels left from the menu, with everything, sesame, and blueberry lemon being the only that had survived the busy morning. Sad news! Claire couldn’t get her poppy seed bagel this week. Not to worry. She ordered a sausage egg and cheese on a sesame bagel, while I ordered a sesame bagel with maple bacon cream cheese.
The amount of cream cheese on this bagel was delectable. I really enjoyed it. The seeding of the bagel was also quite nice, with enough seeds for everyone to be satisfied. Claire really enjoyed her bagel sandwich this week. Stealing a bite, I could see why. The eggs were perfectly fluffy, even though they were scrambled, the sausage was delicious, and the cheese was melted just right. The coolest thing about this bagel place was its exposed wood fire oven, where we saw the bagels being made in front of our eyes in real time.
This is unlike any place we had been to before, and really elevated its whole vibe for us. Overall, between the ratings, we would give it a 3.5/5. Some things it could improve on were the bagel selection (not entirely their fault, Saturdays are the busiest day) and in making slightly larger bagels. We did really enjoy it and thank you to Andrew Plunkett for the recommendation!
This week, Explorers from all over are leaving campus to spend some time with their loved ones, whether it be biological families or chosen families depending on how far away home is for some. I know personally, I love being at school and usually am sad to go home, but right now, there is one thing on my mind: food that isn’t from Treetops.
No vegetables doused in grease, no stir fry swimming in the sauce of my choosing. Just a nice home cooked meal. Arguably the nicest of all home cooked meals, Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on what we are thankful for, and nothing will do that for me like not having to walk a mile uphill both ways to Trops in the freezing cold. Instead, I can sit next to my family and loved ones and eat mashed potatoes that aren’t completely bland and tasteless, turkey that isn’t covered in barbeque sauce, and green beans that are covered in every piece of black pepper ever.
No hate to Trops, but hate to Trops. But more importantly, thankfulness to my home for letting me not have to see Trops for a whole five days. And oh, what a blissful five days that will be! So, when the time comes to go around the table and express your gratitudes, make sure not to exclude the lack of dining hall food this Thursday.
On Nov. 15, 28 refugees from El Paso, TX arrived at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. La Salle Alum and Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney explained that the City of Brotherly Love will accept these migrants with open arms. He explained, “we’ve welcomed tens of thousands of Afghans, and Ukrainians, and if you go back into our city’s history, every ethnic group that is here came as refugees for the most part, and these folks are no different…we have human dignity, decency, and the responsibility to make their transition as smooth as possible, that’s what this country is all about.” When these migrants arrived at 30th Street they were greeted with a SEPTA bus, food, water and healthcare if necessary.
On Monday, Nov. 20, more migrants arrived in Philadelphia. This time, 46 people seeking asylum arrived after their 40-hour journey. Advocates explain that these migrants who got off the bus are in the asylum process and not breaking any rules regarding immigration/refugee procedures.
Although various organizations and advocacy groups are committed to helping migrants arriving in Philadelphia, this sentiment extends to the classroom here at La Salle University in a Communication and Culture class which focuses on the reciprocal link between communication and culture by examining how communication practices create, reflect, and maintain cultures, as well as how culture influences communication practice. Recently, Katie Dunleavy, Ph.D. ‘s Communication and Culture class completed an assignment that entailed writing a letter to an elected official on behalf of a micro-culture about a certain issue. These micro-cultures ranged from various groups like homelessness, people with disabilities and refugees. Many students decided to write on behalf of refugees in various cities. This assignment entailed both a written letter to an elected official and a presentation. In this presentation, students took various approaches to explain the importance of the issue. Some explained the data regarding how sanctuary cities help the arriving migrants, while others related to the issue on a more personal level by explaining similar situations either they went through or family members experienced. After the assignments were complete, Dunleavy provided feedback to students and encouraged them to send their advocacy letters to the elected officials they wrote to. Overall, both the City of Philadelphia and La Salle University students are in tune with supporting arriving refugees.
What is the first thing that pops into your head when you think of the holiday season? Do you think of tinsel and lights? Maybe a menorah or a big family meal. The holidays are often full of happiness and celebration, but for those that struggle with mental illness, or have experienced damaging loss or trauma, this time of year can be an especially difficult experience. Even for those that don’t regularly battle a mental illness, the holidays are a stressful time of year that may cause new and unexpected symptoms to come seemingly out of the blue.
Holiday celebrations are typically a time where loved ones gather and reconnect, but there is a dark cloud looming overhead for many. Loss and grief are often triggered at this time because this is a time where you would be with loved ones, but when you can not do so at this special time of year, mental health may decline drastically, even if at any other time of the year you cope well. Simply put, you start to miss people more when you know you would be with them anyway, but now you can’t. Even outside of the triggers of past traumas, the holidays are simply a very stressful and hectic time for everyone, and sometimes that stress can just build up and build up until it can become seemingly too much to handle for many people. All these negative feelings can culminate for anyone, and those that struggle daily with previously existing mental illnesses can have exasperated symptoms.
There is little that can be done to prevent these symptoms from occurring at all, but there are measures that can be taken to minimize the debilitating effects that they have on daily function. Validating and accepting your own feelings is an important first step. When you acknowledge that your feelings are valid, and there is nothing wrong with you, you are practicing a form of self-care that is very important to help get you through any difficult time. You’re not crazy; you’re human and you’re hurting, it’s natural. Not agreeing to everything everyone asks of you is also important. If you don’t want to do something, don’t do it; a good person will understand and won’t take it personally. Keeping your physical body healthy is imperative as well as physical and mental health are directly related. Reach out to your loved ones and support system. There are people that love you and will listen to you and are here to help you in a time of need. If you find that friends and family aren’t enough, or you don’t feel comfortable sharing with them, don’t be afraid to seek professional help if need be. There is no shame in needing additional professional support if need be.
After two years, La Salle University’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) is back up and running.
Like manyany sports and clubs, PRSSA was negatively affected by COVID-19. Starting with a year of online school and another year of safety restrictions, there weren’t enough students to get the club going. On Sept. 22, the group met for the second time to select the new board members best fit to help rebuild.
After a long break, the communication students of La Salle are getting back together with hopes to rebuild the chapter back to what it used to be, giving students even more opportunities to succeed. PRSSA Vice President Madeline Geyer said, “COVID-19 took away the opportunity to really congregate as a team last year, it was also difficult to spark student interest.” Then the first year back on campus, students found that they “couldn’t really establish [themselves] in such limiting circumstances,” Geyer said.
Before the pandemic hit in 2020, Geyer said “Previous La Salle PRSSA chapters were highly successful and feigned a lot of interest with students and took on nationals multiple times, we hope to be just like that.”
PRSSA, established by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), is a society of over 9,000 college students nationwide who are provided with professional development opportunities to help them in their career path. PRSSA is designed to help communication students connect with others in their field of interest for a wide variety of learning and career opportunities.
The group is working hard to become a well-established chapter once again in the national organization. Geyer said that they’re excited to welcome their new Chapter Advisor, former PRSSA President Ryan Wall. With his help Geyer said they “plan on getting involved with lots of off-campus events to help students gain as much experience as possible.”
Now that the plan is in motion, PRSSA Director of Publicity Keri Marable said she plans to expand the club by “reestablishing ourselves as an official chapter in good standing with PRSA to take part in their various awards and competitions by gaining new members, building a repertoire of chapter newsletters and social media campaigns, and creating new programming on and off campus.”
Geyer said the group “plans on recruiting new members through word of mouth, and visual flyers from our Director of Publicity.”
The club’s main student goals are to enhance education on the subject of public relations, expand networks with like-minded professionals, and develop skills to help students become a leader in the field of public relations or communication. In other words, PRSSA’s focus is to help communication majors learn, connect and grow.
Along with knowledge and connections, PRSSA offers students desired benefits like scholarships, access to internships, becoming a leader, planning events and meetings, and finding jobs after graduation.
Now that COVID-19 restrictions are easing up, Geyer and Marable agree that the PRSSA chapter is ready to start recruiting even more new members from the communication department and rebuild its reputation in the world of public relations.
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The La Salle Collegian 