Com 101, Spring 2018

One topic I am extremely passionate about is animals. There are plenty of other things I enjoy doing or learning about, but by far, animals top the list. I worked at Petsmart for a year before I had to quit because I kept amassing animals that I fell in love with or felt sorry for. They mean so much to me, they give me a reason to wake up and go to work and go to class, then to come home and clean and sort out all of their vegetables and various other foods. I'd go hungry if I had to choose between feeding myself and all of them. I dedicate a lot of time every week to cage cleaning, feeding, vet visits, and grooming, and I'm happy to do it. It can be massively overwhelming when I have a bad day to have so many lives depending on me, but also it's a motivator to actually do at least one thing every day. I'd pursue a career with animals if I thought I could handle the emotional burden that comes with working with animals in a world like this, but I know I can't, so I&

This week, Wilkes University's newspaper published an article about the Rally for Gun Control that was held in downtown Wilkes Barre. Though the article doesn't really state an opinion of its own and is instead just covers the event and the views of those gathering at the event, I find myself strongly agreeing with nearly everything they're saying. It hurts me a little bit that there are children scared of going to school, and parents scared of sending their kids to school. The shootings lately have been a cause for so much debate that it's easy to forget that this is actually about children and teachers that died. So many news stations dehumanize the victims entirely, or just use them to push their own message. This article gives a voice to how frightened these school shootings make students, teachers, and parents. I find it so disheartening how many can oppose stronger gun restrictions after hearing the fear from others. Everyone should feel safe in a school. Everyone

The weather lately has honestly been giving me whiplash. The warmth the past few days has been nice, it makes me feel happier and more productive, especially compared to the horrible weather we've been having. It's a really nice middle ground between too hot and too cold, and when I'm happy to not step outside and feel like the cold went straight through all my clothes. Also though I'm a little bitter because I know it won't stay around and we're still likely in for more cold and probably more snow. So while I'm happy to enjoy it while it's here, I'm also annoyed that I have to check the temperatures every day before I pick out an outfit.

To be an underdog, for me, meant a lot for way too long of a time. To come up from the bottom and end up on top. First it was being in a family that would definitely put me in the "bottom" category- no one had ever been to college, and almost everyone was way more interested in drugs or drinking than success. I wanted so badly to become an engineer and impress everyone in my family, clawing my way up to the top. Once I was in college, I was miserable , not doing well, and shaping up to be an underdog that would never actually end up winning. I needed to redefine what success meant to me, and decided I didn't need to be at the top. I was content to be in the middle, and that's all that really mattered. My own approval is all I needed. Realizing that was, in a way, a success in itself for me.

Hi, my name is Devan. I attend a private university in northeastern PA, that I commute to from my apartment, and I'm making this blog for my communications class. My first two years of university were spent pursuing an Electrical Engineering degree, but I recently switched to Accounting. I have four guinea pigs, Dwalin, Gloin, Napoleon, and Philbert, as well as two rats, Wrex and Garrus, two snakes, Mordin and Ellie, and a cat named Corvo. I work part time at Best Buy currently, but I've also worked at Petsmart and Toys R Us. I've never blogged before, and I'm not great at talking about myself.