7 things I'm glad I did at Stonehill

I was giving a tour last weekend, and in the middle of it, just thinking to myself, I realized how much I've done in my time at Stonehill. With plenty of time left, there may still be more work to do, but at this point, I feel as though I've done a ton of stuff. Stuff I can be really proud of, and can get all excited about when talking to others about it. Here are seven of those things.

1. Peer Mentor Team. Sure, every college has an Orientation Program, but no one does it like we do. Being a Peer Mentor is fantastic on so many different levels and across so many different aspects of college life. But more on this eventually. This just needed to be first, because of how incredible the program is, has been to me, and hopes to be in my third and final year as a PM.

2. Broadcast sports for 91.3fm WSHL. I've been broadcasting since freshman year, which is one of the few things I will have done for all four years here. Being a radio broadcaster for our men's and women's basketball teams, as well as our baseball team in the spring, is one of the most fun things I do. Nothing beats college basketball, so being able to talk about it to anyone who wants to listen is awesome. I think that it's made me a bigger fan of Stonehill athletics, which is super awesome, because the one thing I knew I wouldn't get at Stonehill was something like this.

3. Student Ambassador. I mean, it's pretty awesome to be able to actually get people to want to come to Stonehill. Sure, as Peer Mentors, we get first-years super excited for their freshman year, but to actually start that interest as someone who gives a tour to prospective students is also very cool. I'm hoping to work in Admissions over the summer, giving tours and doing other work in the offices, and I think it'll be really cool to see what kinds of things are going on to make Stonehill even more appealing than it is.

4. SPES and Baseball Statistics. I probably should have blogged about this before we got four weeks into the program, but if you're far behind on the times, students are teaching classes at Stonehill to other students, and I'm one of them. I'm teaching Baseball Statistics to seven students (including two suitemates and three people in our fantasy baseball league) who are just as interested in what's going on in the game of baseball as I am. The program itself is about changing how we learn, and how we think about our learning, and to challenge the conventions that are in our fields of expertise. It's awesome to be able to actually facilitate discussions about baseball, to see other people who are just as passionate about it as I am, and to actually have some concrete results that may change how the game is played, coached, managed, and thought of.

5. Double majored with Psychology. Granted, I submitted my form to double major with Math and Psych about three days ago, but I plan on getting two degrees when I get out of here. Which is one more than I thought I would get as a freshman, so that's pretty cool. Psychology has just kind of happened for me, and the opportunities I've gotten through the major have been pretty cool - sitting in at KinderCare for 15 hours over the course of a semester for Developmental Psych, conducting an experiment as part of my Learning Community, doing further research directly stemming from said LC...psychology has always been really fascinating, and I'm glad I'm going farther with it than I thought I would.

6. NOT studied abroad. No knock on studying abroad here; I'm pretty sure that if I went, I would have the time of my life, have incredible experiences, blah blah. I just never felt like it, I still don't feel like it, and even if I did, at this point, I'd be leaving too much behind here. Not just with academics...Stonehill has become a second home for me (sorry, Mom), and I'm not the kind of person to start parsing out something like that to other continents. Just not yet.

7. SURE Program. I always forget that I did the SURE Program...spending the summer at Stonehill was awesome, especially with such a flexible (and possibly non-existent) schedule to do my research. Turns out that pure math research isn't my thing, but that was the whole point of this. And then there was the whole San Diego thing...can't really complain about that.

Alright, so I originally planned to have ten things here, as I do with these sorts of things, but only came up with seven. Which is still a lot, I think, and I definitely left some stuff out - intramural sports, Math Lab...hell, I even considered that living in New Hall could warrant a spot. But these seven things are in a tier above most of the other stuff I do on campus, so here they are. With about a year and a half left, maybe I'll make it to ten (graduating?), but for now, I think this is a pretty damn good list.

Through the looking glass

I just wanted to share this really fascinating article with anyone who has a little bit of time to spare. A cultural anthropologist professor went undercover as a student at her university, and compiled all sorts of data about the students in higher education, what their role meant as a student, what professors' roles meant as such, and more. It's a really cool read, and kept making me wonder how I could do something like this.

How could we, though? Seriously...I know that metacognition exists (thinking about thinking), and I've talked about metablogging before (blogging about blogging), so something like this definitely seems plausible. I dunno. I didn't mean for this to be a lengthy post by any means; I just wanted to share the article, and I had the phrase "through the looking glass" in mind for the title from the moment I read it in the article. It's always good to look in the mirror and really see what's going on, but at times, it's important to do that in ways we might not think conventional.

Murder, we wrote

Yeah, Ray Lewis killed a guy. Two of them, actually, after Super Bowl XXXIV, also won by the Baltimore Ravens. Yeah, that's probably not a good thing for someone to do. Google "Ray Lewis murder" and you can read for yourself what happened that night. And while everyone is on the Ray Lewis bashing bandwagon, many people forget about Torrey Smith, who lost his younger brother to a motorcycle accident in the beginning of the season. Certainly something incredibly difficult for anyone to handle, let alone a professional athlete standing hours before a huge game. Smith would play in that game, a 31-30 victory against the New England Patriots. The same Patriots that would lose to the Ravens in the AFC Championship Game, where all anyone could talk about was Ray Lewis, his career, and the murder in 2000. So I not only bring this up, the fact that all we seem to talk about is the murder story instead of the player coming back from his brother's death, but I ask why? Is Torrey Smith not as juicy a story as Ray Lewis? Is it not as heartwarming a story as Ray Lewis' story is cold? Think about those feel-good stories. Talk about those stories more than the ones about the murderer.

Things I'm scared of

Sure, people are scared of spiders, and heights, and fear itself, but what I realized is that there's something a lot worse than that - an idea. Think about it...

"We are told to remember the idea, not the man, because a man can fail. He can be caught, he can be killed and forgotten, but 400 years later, an idea can still change the world."
-V for Vendetta

At the end of the 1960's, elementary school teacher Jane Elliott told her classroom that people with blue eyes were better than people with brown eyes. She established the implications of this truth, reinforced her parameters, and eventually, the children internalized the rules, and acted according to what they believed. But what they believed was just one thing, spoken from one authority figure. Elliott could have said that brown-eyed people were superior, and the same thing would have happened. Just watch the first few minutes of this video and see how easily people can conform to a belief system on someone else's terms.

Around the same time this was going on, another idea was being exploited; this time, in a high school. Watch from 13:00 to 16:10 in this next video. Ron Jones got his entire classroom to act in ways similar to the Hitler Youth movements. With one person perpetuating propaganda and ideas into the malleable minds of others, a similar turn of events happened.

Although what worries me the most is that watching this, I know exactly where these students are coming from. I know the power of authority figures, obedience, reinforcement, punishments, and the like. I know that people are susceptible to confess to a crime they did not commit because of the pressures of social influence. There's no profile for what kinds of people fit into these categories, because it can happen to any of us under the right circumstances. And the fact that people can be persuaded by socialization to believe something that they never thought they would, scares me.

Consider this your serenade

So I used to have this really cool ability to talk about something without actually talking about it. Which seems paradoxical at first, which is exactly the thing. There was a period of time when I was all about contradictions in writing, and playing off the interaction between the opposites to truly get to the bottom of what the hell I was talking about. That is, of course, without actually talking about it. And that ability has seemed to escape me, and this is my first shot at getting it back in quite some time. And I don't suppose I'll know how well I've done until I look back at this post in a few months, and can tell (or perhaps not) exactly what I was thinking about at the time. Sure, I know now, but I mean, I'm writing it...if I don't know what I'm talking about right now, I shouldn't be writing.

Way back when, I talked about how one stanza in a song kind of jumps out at you, and seems to have much more meaning than the entire rest of the song. I'm going to play off that a little bit, on a little less semantic note. You ever go driving around, maybe on the highway, maybe through your city or town, at nighttime? There are the songs that are absolutely made for this, of which a few come right to the top of my head. And some are there because of the entire song, but others are there because of that one stanza, or even phrase or measure where you just belt it out at the top of your lungs. And you can't help but tilt your head back a little bit and smile as you try and hit the high notes, always seeming to come close, yet never minding. It's a damn good feeling.

On to the next one

Gah, I haven't blogged in far too long. Nice to see you, everyone. I don't really know what the hell I want to even blog about, despite the fact that I've come up with several topics in the past week. Namely, Red Sox greats during our time, Duke's losses to N.C. State and Miami, the beginning of the Bruins season, and sending in my application for the final time to be a Peer Mentor. But while I want to blog about all of these things at once, I kinda don't really wanna blog about any of them right now. I get in an anti-feverish mood whenever Duke loses, where suddenly, I just don't feel like doing anything anymore. Which is exactly what this blog post is. By which I mean, not really anything. But you know what? Screw it. I've come to the realization, for a few months now, that I've had fewer, yet seemingly more meaningful posts. And don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the deeper, Values Game-esque blog posts. I think they're some of my favorite to write, and I think that people seem to enjoy reading those the most. And it's because there are some great conversations to be had with those kinds of topics. But for now, I chalk up this blog post in the loss column. Sure, you want to see a win at the end of the day instead of a loss, but there are still some things to be learned from a loss. I won't go into those things too much now, but it's always on to the next one. Even after a win, there's another game to be played, another blog post to think about. This one may not be as stellar as some other posts, but it's also better than some posts, too. So, you go back, look at the film, and it's on to the next one. Soon enough, there will be a much stronger blog post than this, so until then...

"Done, I'm done, and I'm on to the next one."
"All My Life," Foo Fighters

The wrong kind of moneyball

"They told us we didn't have any marketable players. We need some sexy guys...it was the farthest thing removed from what we set out to be." -Theo Epstein, former GM of the Boston Red Sox

Let's talk about that. First off, I completely agree with this. When Epstein was GM, the Red Sox were all about Moneyball, sabermetrics, Bill James, OBP, and the like. We had a farm system that was developed and became the core of two World Series-winning teams. All of this was coupled by key acquisitions. This quote, in reference to after the 2010 season, perfectly explains the kind of organization that Red Sox ownership wanted to put together. And frankly, it's not about baseball anymore. I talked about something like this after a month of the 2012 season, and I think that rang true throughout the year. Now, it's about looking good, and about being a brand name that you want people to buy into. Which I understand as a corporation, an organization, and a professional sports franchise, but I think that the ownership is going about it the completely wrong way. It's not about looking good, it's about being good. Frankly, I could care less if the Red Sox have sexy players - I care if they have ones that increase the total in the win column. Just look at the San Antonio Spurs, often referred to as the NBA's most boring team. The Spurs are perennial contenders for the NBA Championship, because they have a talented core who knows who their identity is as a basketball team. The Red Sox have fallen away from that, and it's happened with guys like John Lackey, Bobby Valentine, and Carl Crawford. Perhaps the pinnacle of this is Josh Beckett, who is more or less a microcosm of all of this. Back when we had the Beckett that was kicking ass, he just kept his mouth shut, pitched his game, and did his thing. But as the team went haywire, so did he, becoming a problem in the clubhouse, with the media, and ultimately, on the mound, leading to his trade to the Dodgers. The Red Sox are trying to do things the wrong way, and it doesn't look like things are going to change anytime soon. I've been saying it for a while now, but the Red Sox need a change of ownership. I gave them one year after the Francona/2011 collapse happened, and that one year consisted of the first losing record since 1997 and the fire of Valentine after one season. Things have to change on Yawkey Way, or else the downfall of the Boston Red Sox will become the norm, which is something that no one wants.

The life of a San Die-gon

I love the feeling of knowing I want to blog and knowing exactly what I want to blog about. Here are a few things I've had on my mind today:

"Wash." by Bon Iver is one of their most underrated songs. There's a video someone made to "The Only Moment We Were Alone" of the side of the road as you drive, and I think this song would also fit perfectly. Of the few times I've been on the Stonehill shuttle as of late, I've always loved to just stare out the windows at the world passing by, listening to moderately melancholy music. The sky is dark, but I can still make out the trees along the highway, all the houses along the side of the road. It's a great song for that imagery, I think, and could be the beginning of a playlist of similar songs. Quiet, still, melancholic, but carrying some greater, silent power with it.

Totally changing gears, I totally know what I want to do with my life now. Not that I ever really had any doubt about it, but it's totally official now, after having lived in Pure Math Land for a few days. Coincidentally enough, it's actually not pure math. It's sports and stats. Which, as I said, it more or less has always been. Ideally, I sit behind a computer, think about baseball, and go on the Internet to resolve my thoughts. Which is exactly what I'll be explaining in a second. I just also want to mention that I'd be a freelance psychologist...some kind of independent research who just runs experiments on whatever the hell I feel like. No field, no specialty...just finding out stuff about us. That is the perfect lifestyle for me.

Alright, so this whole baseball/stats/Internet thing. Allow this to be the official plug for SPES and Statistics in Baseball. For anyone who doesn't yet know about it, there's this awesome program at Stonehill where students will be teaching classes to other students, about whatever we damn well please. There are classes about the chemistry of cupcakes, stereotypes at Stonehill, designing for the iPad, and my completely unbiased favorite, statistics in baseball. I sarcastically say unbiased because I'm teaching said class. What we get to do for 12 weeks this semester is go on places like FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference and answer whatever questions I (or we) can think of during the semester. Seriously, I get to do this. HOW COOL. I seriously want to do this stuff for a living and get paid and get to watch baseball games for free and support a team just because I work for them, even if they suck.

So, yep. That's that. Now I just have to make all of these things happen. Got a little over 24 hours left in San Diego; gonna try and get one blog post out tomorrow about the whole thing, head back to the East Coast, and then get ready to go back to Stonehill for another great semester. I feel good right now. Maybe it's the Foo Fighters playing out of my laptop, but I just feel ready to take the world on. It's a good feeling.

The world is ending in ten minutes

So, I wrote this post last night before I left this morning for San Diego. The end.

Alright, alright, I can't sleep until I do this. I'm listening to The Only Moment We Were Alone in bed, preparing to wake up at 4:00am to get ready to go to San Diego. For whatever reason, tonight, I prayed. This isn't the first time I've prayed - I do it in bed every once in a while. Not even to talk to God or whatever...it's very simple, really. In whatever position I'm at in bed, I'll find a way to interlock my fingers and just "talk" to God in my head. I capitalize God here because that's how I learned to pray, when my mom would tuck me and my sister in our rooms when we were younger. "Dear Lord, thank you for the beautiful day, and for all the wonderful things we did..." always starts my prayer. Then I'll thank God for some stuff, and ask for different things - sometimes, to not be angry, sometimes, to protect my family and keep everyone healthy, but tonight, I asked to please let me keep the love I have for everyone with me, in my heart, wherever I am. And I thought about that, about keeping love with you. And how, in that moment, I couldn't think of anything more beautiful than knowing everyone who you want to love you, knows that you love them. All bullshit aside, no matter what, those people know you love them. And for whatever reason, I thought about the only Values Game question I have any real difficulty answering: "If the world were ending in ten minutes, what would you do?" I've always said that I would cry until I knew what to do next, which has always been truthful, but for a lack of any real idea of what I would do if the world were ending in ten minutes. But thinking about that love, that I have for the people I love, and that they have for me, knowing that such a love exists is all I need for the end of the world. I thought further, and concluded that, yeah, I do have that love. Sometimes it's not always apparent or obvious, but deep down, I love everyone who loves me. I love everyone who has had an impact on my life, in any way. I wouldn't be right here, in bed, 43 minutes after when I wanted to fall asleep, without this chain of events. And if the last ten minutes of my life are spent knowing the world will end, well, I'll be a happy man. I'll listen to First Breath After Coma, time it so the ending happens at the same time as the world ending, and think about this love.

Alright, I've been typing on my phone for eleven minutes now, so here's a recap of what just happened -- this started out as some semblance of a diary entry for myself (not that I have one (not that this blog wouldn't count, I just don't have an explicit diary)), turned into this exposition of a grand realization, and now comes the part where you get to play along and think about your own life and your place in this universe. I ask you what has burdened me for a couple of years now: the world is ending in ten minutes. What do you do?

Valley of the shadow of death

I'm going to die.

I mean, eventually, hopefully a long, long time from right now, but yes, I'm going to die. Such is the nature of life, that the only way we are not to die is if we are never born. And as I type this, and as you read this, we're too late for that. Every fragment of a millisecond of our existence pushes us closer to death. It's not even some discrete measure of units closer to death, it's just always happening. A continuous flow of nearing death.

So what, then, if we are to always walk through the valley of the shadow of death, per the 23rd Psalm? According to the Bible, it is the Lord that shepherds us, restores our soul, leads us to righteousness, and bring goodness and mercy to our lives. And that's cool and everything, but I'm not exactly the most religious person. (Although I will concede that the Bible is home to some pretty awesome quotes.) So what am I supposed to do in the valley of the shadow of death?

Why can't I just do all those things in Psalm 23, but give myself the credit? What's stopping me from being righteous, soulful, good, and merciful on my own peril? What's stopping any of us from doing that on our own accord? Not that I'm knocking the Lord or anything, but if I can't give Him the credit, who does it go to? I think it's kinda bitchin' how we get to be all awesome and everything to spite death for our entire life in the universe. And once we die, well, either we'll go into the house of the Lord forever, or nothing. Maybe nothing will happen, and in that case, I guess no one can really look back on their life. Which means all we have to go from is what we're doing right now, in the universe, and to know that no matter what, we kicked as much ass as possible. We didn't hold back, we did what we wanted, and lived the kind of life we wanted. Why let something like the valley of the shadow of death stop you from that? Either way, you're going to die. Why go through life afraid of that, when you can embrace this inevitability and live life as best you possibly can?