More Steps On the Journey

It's almost the end of my first year at Jones, so I figured I'd better update what's been going on since my last post. You know that Opinions article I posted not long ago? It turns out there will be plenty more where that came from, since I'm going to be the Opinions editor for the Radionian next semester! That's right, ladies and gentlemen, it's another step on my journey to becoming a professional writer. I've already come up with a few ideas for some articles, and whatever I consider my best work, or deem not quite right for the newspaper, will get posted on this site. You are very welcome. To be honest, I got kind of scared thinking about all the responsibilities I will have to shoulder as an editor, but I'm plunging in head-first anyway. That's the only way I'll be able to do this. If I try to wait until I think I'm ready, I'll never do it. I'm thinking about going ahead and writing some of the articles this summer, just so I'll have less to do when the work starts piling on in the fall. On top of being an editor, I might also have a service project, if Dr. Taylor decides to give us one next semester. I'm hoping that we'll just spend fall planning out the project we'll be leading in the spring, but you never know.
This year has gone by so quickly. When I think that I only have three more years of college, it seems like I'm already graduating. Of course, I will be graduating next year, since Jones is only a two-year college. My plans are to go to Southern Miss after Jones, but that's subject to change. My mother doesn't really like the idea, because there aren't many Christian influences there. I understand how she feels, but it's pretty much going to be that way wherever I go, unless I decide to go to a private Christian university like Mississippi College. But if I went there, I'd probably have to borrow money, not to mention move into the dorms, which would make things even more expensive. Any other Christian college is out of the question, since most of them don't even have newspapers. I'm also interested in working on a radio station, since I've been told for a long time that I have a "radio voice." I'll be studying journalism anyway, so it would be a shame not to at least give radio a shot. Who knows, I may even try television news.
From now on for this blog, I'll try to divide the posts up into three different categories.
First: Ideas. These posts will contain some of the random thoughts that fly through my head on a daily basis. These posts will also probably become the building blocks for some of my opinions articles.
Second: Steps. These posts will be about the events of my everday life, as well as those that take me closer to my goal of becoming a professional writer.
Third: Works. These will be the articles or essays that I consider to be my best, as well as any blog-exclusive pieces I write.
I think that this system will help to better organize my posts so that you, my readers, can have a general idea of what's in them before you even read them. Also, if there's one section that you particularly like, you can read similar posts just by clicking on the label. Until next time, readers.

Becoming Faust

This is the article I wrote for the last edition of our newspaper this semester. I think it's one of my best yet. Please tell me what you think.

We live in a unique generation. Never before have so many people had so much access to entertainment and information. For the first time in history, almost anyone can learn about current global and local events, as well as other information on any topic imaginable. While the benefits of such power are vast and undeniable, there are also drawbacks which are far harder to recognize at first glance.

For those who are unfamiliar with Faust, he is the main character of an old story that tells about a man who sold his soul to the devil. In exchange, he received 24 years of unlimited knowledge and the service of a demon with magical abilities called Mephistopheles. As one might expect, Faust gained the power to experience all the pleasures the world had to offer. Usually, this was at the expense of someone else's wellbeing. However, at the end of the play, the devil showed up just as promised and dragged Faust to hell.

The first thing that popped into my head when I heard the story of Faust was, "That guy was not very bright. Who would sell their soul to burn in hell for a measly 24 years of pleasure?" Then I remembered an assignment I needed to work on, but I decided to check Facebook instead. I knew I would regret it later, but I tried not to think about that as I traded away valuable study time for nothing more than temporary enjoyment.

Education is becoming increasingly important in today's world. A college degree is expected of anyone who does not plan on becoming a manual laborer, and sometimes even for those who do. Fortunately, a college education is easier to attain now than it has ever been. Unfortunately, the college drop-out rate is also higher than it has ever been. A 2010 estimate stated that only 56% of college students will earn a bachelor's degree.

What caused this incredible increase in failure? Ask the students who spend almost 24 hours a month on Facebook. According to the site’s own statistics, that is how much time the average person spends on their website. Remember, that is only the average. That is taking into account all those people who made a profile but never use it. Take those people out of the equation, and the numbers you get could be astronomical. The statistics for YouTube viewing are hardly any better. The average person spends almost two hours a week watching YouTube videos. Think about these numbers for a minute. This is the amount of time some people spend working part-time jobs.

So what does all this have to do with that Faust guy I mentioned earlier? Much more than one might think. Today’s students have made a deal with the devil. Unlike Faust, however, we do not get a magic demon to cater to our every whim or unlimited knowledge. What we get is mind-numbing oblivion in the form of Facebook games, YouTube videos, and other online distractions that serve no purpose beyond providing a temporary diversion from unpleasant tasks like essays or studying for a test. Just like Faust, many students will meet with tragic consequences. Of course, I am not saying that Facebook and YouTube are responsible for the 44% college dropout rate, but I would not doubt that they are a contributing factor.

We live in the entertainment age. Our lives are centered on our own enjoyment. While students from countries such as China and India are making incredible strides toward advancement and progress, we barely even know what our class assignments are. The bad news is that our contract with the devil will not last forever. One day, the amount of time we lost to cyberspace will catch up with us. If we are not careful, we could find ourselves out of college with no degree and a bleak-looking future.

So what can we do? Repent. It is time we chose the hard road of doing what we need to do. Try setting a weekly limit to your Facebook visits. Try to limit yourself to one or two YouTube videos a week. Whatever your time-consuming pitfall is, put some type of limit on it. Remember, this is your future we are talking about. It is about time we started ripping up the devil’s contracts.

Book Ideas 1

Sorry about the delay, dear readers. Fortunately, I have not been idle during this time. I've been writing like a madman these past weeks, which is the main reason I haven't been able to spend much time here lately. For this post, I decided to make good on something I said I might do in one of my previous posts. I said before that I might talk about some of the books I plan on writing, and now is as good a time as any to do it. The first book idea that popped into my head was sort of what got the whole thing rolling. It started when I was in a car travelling with one of my best friends to spend a night on a retired Navy battleship, the U.S.S. Alabama. We were playing 20 questions out of boredom, and my friend had been coming up with mythical creatures for me to guess, which actually didn't work out very well, since I was pretty knowledgable about those kinds of things. Anyway, once, when I was having a hard time figuring out one of his creatures, his dad asked, "Now this isn't one of those creatures you made up for your little world and that only you know about now, is it?" That comment moved us away from the game and toward a discussion of his "world." I had just finished reading all of the Lord of The Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia books, so I was very impressed that my friend had undertaken the endeavor of creating a fictional world. I had given it some thought myself, but the amount of detail that had been present in the books I had read, especially Lord of The Rings, had intimidated me. I figured there was no way I could do something as involved as imagining every detail of a different world. However, once I listened to my friend tell me about his ideas, I began to think, "If he can do it, then I can too." Soon after that, I began to think about what kind of mythical creatures I would have in my world. It took until the end of the vacation, but finally I managed to come up with one that I was satisfied with. When we pulled into my driveway, my friend was asleep, but I tried to tell him about my ideas anyway. He gave an approving mumble and fell back asleep. From then on for long time I was constantly thinking about all the different stories that might take place in a different world, other creatures that might live there, and so forth and so on. Finally, I was confident enough in the level of detail that I started to write a book, and I'm still writing it today. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten very far, since I went through a long period of inactivity because of other things. But I hope to pick up the pace again soon and get more written. That's the first book idea I had, and I'll tell you about some others another time. If someone requests it, I might even post some chapters I've completed and you could tell me what you think. The next post will come very soon, as soon as the campus newspaper is out, which will be on April 20. I can't release it now because my editor asked me not to. Something about usage rights or some other such nonsense. Until then.