This 1984 UNH Rap is the Greatest thing ever.

I need to hear this at every party I attend for the rest of my life. I need to hear if these guys have more recordings. Amazing. FEEL THE FUNK! ... also, apparently UNH hasn't changed. There was no parking in 1984 either.

You're welcome.

EDIT:
I'm putting my research skills to good use. I will update as I see fit. Found this image:

Things just got personal...

Here I am, minding my own business working on a major research project for one of my graduate classes and I ran into a little obstacle. I'm searching for some full text articles via the library databases and I click a link to one of the articles...

BAM.

Ouch government. Things just got real. I hope you're happy with yourselves.

I have a confession to make...

I could not honestly name one song by Kendrick Lamar. Maybe I would recognize one, but I have no idea who he is or what he has done. In the past, I have taken SCOPE's side and this isn't even a knock on them. I think it simply shows how out of touch I am. And that is all I have to say about that.

Like I said in my comeback post I am old and I don't know what is cool.

But I do know one thing.

Hockey starts soonish, so who is giving me tickets? Because even though grad students have to pay a some student activity and athletic fees and all that shit, I don't get hockey tickets or discounted concert tickets. So fuck this and fuck that.

Stay Classy, not UMassy.

Twitter talks about UNH Wifi

Grad school is insane. I've had nothing to blog. I read and write papers all week and then drink till I forget it all on the weekends. UNH's wifi was down a bunch today, so let's see what Twitter had to say...

Fucking need my Drake! #jews

Breaking: New Hampshirite not dead. Just old and bitter.

If there are still some people out there who care, I'm making a comeback bitches. Even with my past antics and horrible grammar, UNH has decided to allow me to return as a grad student. Getting my Master's motherfuckers. I doubt I'll be blogging much, it seems weird as a grad student, but who knows really. My twitter will definitely be more active once the year begins.

I'm so excited to return to celebrating the almighty thirsty Thursdays. If I can figure out this new blogger format, the year doesn't prove too difficult and nonsensical happenings occur, the blog may see some activity... I really missed out on some good material last year. I didn't follow that whole thing with SCOPE or the logo-gate too closely, so feel free to  fill me in on those or anything else about UNH that I've missed.

I have so many questions.

Are baggy pants in or out? I feel like I've been away for so long. I'm old and confused. I'm tired. It's past my bedtime I think. GET OFF MY LAWN.

I feel like it's my freshman year all over again. Except this time I have an idea how college works. I don't think I'll resort to starting a blog again this time around. So cool with the ladies. This guy.

Is anyone reading this? Or did all my followers all graduate too? Can grad students get free hockey tickets, or am I gonna have to trade bottles of vodka to freshman for them?

Is "that's what she said" still a thing? Do these new collegians get that reference or is it too old? Can I make Zoolander jokes? Spinal Tap? Monty Python and the Holy Grail? I didn't see the Hangover 3 so shut up!

What musician is in right now? Who do I complain about SCOPE not getting this year...

I feel like I need a pop culture and college life orientation. But one aimed for people who already did college and took a year off. I'm gonna be that old guy in class. And yes. I probably am checking you out.

Stay classy, not UMassy,
The New Hampshirite

I'm not dead yet...

Well it's been almost a month since graduation and I think I'm starting to get accustomed to this whole "post-college real world thing." A few minor adjustments to my living style have changed and I'm learning as I go. For example, I've learned that my parents aren't as cool as my roommates were with me waking up passed out next to the fire pit with a empty fifth of Jack Honey in my hand, but other than that the past month as "The Living in my Parent's Basement-ite" has gone swimmingly. Literally. They were none to pleased when I fell out of my kayak either. According to them, no, the fishies do not want a sip of my gin and tonic.

Anyways, this blog is not dead... yet. I have one more final post in the works, but until then, I give you some of my personal favorite posts/moments in the history of the University of Nonsensical Happenings. Picking these was a lot harder than I expected and I'm sure I missed some, but it was nice looking back over the last few years. In no particular order, let's take a gander, shall we?

The events last fall surrounding the Gables and Woodsides quiet hours being restored. I had a handful of posts on this and, not to toot my own horn, I think it's safe to say my column in TNH, which caught the attention of housing and my subsequent meeting with them got the ball rolling. Soon after my meeting housing reissued a new survey and quickly restored the original quite hours.

My post on the hazing incident with CommUNHiversity. What I loved about this was how a reader/tipster stepped up and helped me get the PDF of the file report and it led to some intersting comments.This also showed how hazing (no matter the level of it) isn't just restricted to Greek Life.

My Surviving UNH tab. I spent some time one summer to put this together by combining past posts and columns and well as original content. I think it was around 14 pages in word when I first posted it. I've revised parts of it several times and I think it is my most useful work on this blog.

Remember when that Womyn's group wanted to hold a porn burning? That was amazing and so were the comments that it led too...

I don't think I have ever written something this great, but finding it on Craigslist was amazing.

UNH Media Relations Carlos Mencia-ing me with the "Paul Thompson for Hobey Baker" video.

Because forts are awesome. Not so much about the post, but the epic times that we had in this. Kinda more of an insider for my roommates and close friends.

And who can forget all my encounters with dining, the interesting Stephenson Billings and also my recent Q&As with some hockey players were also quite interesting.

Until next time - one last time-

Stay Classy, not UMassy.
(I will have one more post eventually!)

So, I just graduated...

 My view from one of the COLA sections.

Well Nonsensical Nation, I have finally graduated. It was hard at times, it was stupidly easy at times, it was fun, it was stressful, it was educational, but most of all it was memorable.

I just got back to my apartment from commencement and wanted to share a few thoughts. While I thought some of speeches dragged on a bit, and others just seemed plain awkward, I really enjoy the Key Note speaker Ron Noble. Some people felt he only talked about himself, but I was fascinated by his story. It really shows that you can achieve great things you never expected... but I'm sure going to Stanford helped. (Calm down WSBE grads...) Maybe the message from Ronald Noble was saying "Experience it for yourself." Also, his moment of silence for Greenland police chief Michael Maloney was very nice. I'm happy there were any idiotic shouts during it (No matter what, that seems to always happen). It may have been the quietest moment of silence I've ever heard, which says a lot about UNH and our graduating class. And even if you didn't like him you have to admit, those snipers and security force was pretty badass.

I was lucky to have a decent group of people around me, but it only takes one or two people to take the enjoyment out of a great ceremony. During the entire second half of commencement this one kid kept blaming UNH (and just about every speak) for his COLA degree being worthless. Hey buddy, you got to pick your own major. It's your fault. Also, no degree is worthless if it is something you truly care about. Money isn't everything, but finding your passion in life is. I'm sorry your not mature enough to keep your mouth shut and let the people around you enjoy themselves. I'm sure that will really help you during the whole job search.

I am now officially a UNH alum and this blog is on it's final legs. I'm planning a few more posts to wrap things up over the next week or so, so don't check out just yet. 

Stay classy, not UMassy.

Thoughts on Graduation

I'm a few hours away from my last ever final. My final, final. Unless I end up in graduate school down the road. That being said, all year I have been terrified of graduation. I love it here and UNH has meant so much to me. I've learned a lot, about the world, politics, history and other various things I took courses in. But perhaps most importantly, I learned a lot about myself.

As graduation has rapidly approached over these last few months I had thought that I would become increasingly anxious. And surprisingly, I haven't.

It's May 16th and I haven't had a mental breakdown, an anxiety attack or anything like I thought might happen last August. Recently, I've even become more and more positive about graduation.

They way I look at it, the past four years, and really my entire academic career, I have been doing meaningless work. Other than bettering my own intellectual mind, the work that I have accomplished up until this point in my life is pretty bland. I'm just one person. My senior colloquium, exams and final papers that I have tried to do well one my whole career really mean nothing. Especially once I have my diploma.

But all of that changes on Saturday. On Saturday I, and the rest of the UNH graduating class, will no longer be students. We will no longer be charged with completing meaningless work under the concept that an "A" is good, a "C" is average and an "F" is a failure. But we will become active, contributing members of society.

Now whether that means we will be school teachers, accountants, lawyers or doctors down the road, lab workers, journalists, laborers, a cubical monkey or work in social services among the dozens of other options, we will no longer only be working for ourselves. Even the most greedy CEO does work that benefits others (even if it is just the people right below him). The point is, we are no longer working just for ourselves, our own personal grades. Even if we are just working for money, to get rich, we will still be contributing in many more ways than we do now.

Of course, first we must find jobs. That scary "J" word. There are jobs out there, I believe in them. It is not a myth. Sure, we will probably have to start at the bottom and work shitty entry level positions, but we all have to start somewhere.

So, UNH class of 2012, let's take these last few days we have here to celebrate our memories. But the way I look at it, our freedom isn't ending. It's only just beginning.

Stay classy, not UMassy.

The Final, Final Countdown

Welp, here we are. I'm a few days away from graduating and I still can't believe how fast these last four years went. Three (and a couple months) I spent sharing with you all on this blog. It's been a major part of my college experience and really my life. A lot of effort went into this, probably more than most of you realize (not to brag) but it is a lot more than just a few minutes here and there. Most of my posts are new and original. I'm not just posting the latest music video or whatever and writing three sentences about it. When I created this blog I wanted it to mean something, to provide people with news, opinions and stories on the undergrad life at UNH. I wanted it to be unique to UNH, unique to my experiences and unique to our time here and I think I accomplished that, for the most part at least.

A lot of you have asked about what will happen to this blog after graduation and the answer is that nothing will happen. Here is my reasoning.

This may sound a little selfish, but it is what I want. This blog has been my creation, my work and it took a lot of my own personal time. I'm leaving it as my own personal mark on UNH and really my own personal college memoir. I don't want to give it away, because quite frankly, even if I found someone better, I would never be happy with it. Someone else will create their own form of blog or twitter account to fill the void left by me and my fellow UNH social media personalities who are also graduating.

This blog has been filled with my personal stories, opinions and rants. It's been completely my own creation and done with my own style. Even the guest writers I've had never really seemed to fit in 100%. Don't get me wrong, they had some great posts, but they all seemed to fade away after a few posts (or due to graduation). Other people will make their own mark and leave their own path. I don't think it would be right for me to hand it on, not because I don't think it can be done, but simply because of how personal this blog is to me and what it means to me.

There is a reason I kept this blog mostly anonymous, although if you look in the right places you can figure a few things out. But at the same time for certain job applications this blog could actually be quite useful. (I'll be making my own personal twitter account and linking to it from my UNHBlog one when I do if you really care that much.) Also, there might be a little more "public" announcement come graduation...

Stay classy, not UMassy.
PS: I plan to have a couple more posts up over these next few days. I'm not done yet!

SBP elect Rob Wilson continues to ruffle feathers

Not too long ago UNH held it's annual student body elections. Rob Wilson was the victorious candidate for the position as the new Student Body President for the next school year. Sadly, it appears that Mr. Wilson has been anything but the graceful winner. You know the old saying "act like you've been there before"? Due to recent actions, this can not be said for Wilson.

Following his victory Wilson refused to do an interview with TNH because they had written an editorial supporting another candidate. Real mature Mr. Wilson. I don't know what your future plans are, but politicians have to deal with critics everyday of their lives. Unless, of course, you don't plan on being a politician and you just wanted to be elected to pad your resume. Which would be totally acceptable because the student body president (and entire senate) is basically a sugar pill provided by the administration so that they can say that we have a voice. Let's face it, the student senate would never get anything done that the administration wasn't okay with.

Anyways, to get back on track. Wilson finally did agree to an interview with TNH, but only if it was with a reporter he knew. Because, of course, rejecting an interview with the one publication that most students read is the true sign of a leader. Along with that article,  TNH also published a second editorial saying:
 
But what was especially noteworthy from my short conversation with Wilson was his continued exaggeration and illusion of what he had accomplished at student senate. He still maintains that he has more experience than his counterparts, which is true if you don’t discount the semesters and meetings that he did not participate in.  


As 2010-2011 president Richard Peyser said of Wilson one year ago in this newspaper, “Wilson seemingly held his participation in the billiards club to be more pressing than representing his constituents; he frequently left and failed to show up at student senate meetings to attend his billiards club. That, however, is not the core concern I have. I take great offense to his statement that he has been working on medical amnesty since ‘it’s inception,’ when in fact he has not contributed to that pilot program in any capacity whatsoever.”

Clearly Wilson has tried to take credit for other students work, lied about his past, and blown off interviews and meetings. Actually, he sounds more and more like a real politician the more I think of it.

I wasn't planning on getting involved with this issue (because the student body president position is absolutely meaningless) but I was leaked more information about Wilson today that only continues to show his poor decision making and egotistical personality.

Apparently Wilson changed the door code to the Student Body President, locking out current President AJ Coukos who should have the office for the remainder of the semester. Reports say that Coukos "looked pissed" upon noticing he was locked out. Coukos' name was also removed from the door. Is Mr. Wilson looking to move in early? Renovate it? Or am I simply making nothing out of something because it's raining out and I don't feel like working on my final paper right now? 

All I know is that this (meaningless) victory for Mr. Wilson has clearly gotten to his head and he has only furthered to strain his relations with his own student body and student senate.

Stay classy, not UMassy.
 

Like a Pro: Books, beer cans and everything in between

UNH, it’s been a wild ride. Four years jam-packed with all-nighters, cram sessions, essays galore and, of course, weekend parties. It’s been three years of me writing these columns every Sunday night or Monday morning. According to my count, this right here is my 76^th, and final, “Like a Pro” column. Oh, and by the way I don’t call them “Like a Pro” because I’m full of myself; it’s an inside joke and maybe we’ll get to that explanation later on (cough hint hint cough).

My fellow 2012 classmates, thank you for everything. I am proud to call you my classmates, and even a few of you my friends. We will all do great things in the future and like our commencement speaker will probably say, “It’s our turn to go out in the world and make a positive difference.” It might be very cliché, but it is also very true.

I have made many great friends over the past four years and it is sad that our time here has come to an end. I am very appreciative of my education, but my new friends and the memories we’ve shared together, from our first days in Williamson up through graduation, is what I will really cherish down the road.

To be fair, college has not been all great memories, fun times and drunken shenanigans. There will definitely be a handful of things I will never miss. Scantron exams. Those stupid little bubbles just staring back at you almost like they know you skipped the last two weeks of classes because it is just a useless general education course. 

Blue books. I’ve filled out page after page of Blue Books for the last four years, and after my last final next week, I will never have to write in one again. Thinking about being done with Blue Books makes graduation slightly better. 

Essays. These are even worse than Blue Books because you actually have to put more than an hour or so into this form of BS. I’m actually multi-tasking this column and my last college essay ever, and it is rather bittersweet. Bitter because I have enjoyed writing a few papers, and sweet because I’ve despised writing way more than those few I actually enjoyed. And it’s my last one. Unless I end up in grad school. Crap. 

Living with other college students. Don’t get me wrong, I love my roommates. They’re my best friends and we have had tons of great memories. But college students are dirty, messy, smelly, and they may or may not have on the same pair of underwear for the fourth straight day. This is totally acceptable for most kids during college. Not having to put up with smelly, drunk people (including myself) might be nice.

Okay, so there are only a small handful of things I will actually miss about college, and that last one doesn’t really count. All of the best moments, my greatest memories and fun times far outweigh all of the exams, essays and dirty dishes. 

Personally, college has been an amazing experience. Reality has set in and I’m ready for the next chapter of my life. Or I could apply to graduate school, but I really like the idea of being done with schoolwork forever. Victories from in the classroom to the Beirut table and everything in between will be some of my greatest college memories. Over four years ago I was applying to college, and hopefully, four years from now, I’ll look back and feel just as accomplished as I do now. Something about this paragraph seems "telling." Try figuring it out and maybe you’ll be pleasantly surprised (cough another hint here...)

One more thing to you all: Thank you. Thank you all for reading my rants and ramblings. This column and my blog have allowed my college experience to be so much more than just books and beer cans. Without readers, whether you love or hate my work, you all made this possible for me. I’d like to think that my writing impacted a few people, maybe even made a difference on this campus, but if it didn’t, at least I know that it definitely helped me along the way.

Good luck out there my fellow graduates. Cheers to you all. To the non-graduates here, keep doing your thing and keep UNH awesome. And lastly, one final time, say it with me: 

Stay classy, not UMassy.

Why give?

For the past few weeks, @PrezHuddleston, @GTK18 (of college freshman fame) and I have been helping promote the senior gift. Why? Because we thought it would be nice to use our "fame" to give back to the university that has done so much for us.

The thing that I hear the most from other seniors is: "Why would I give them anymore money? I already pay a tuition that is probably too high and I'm graduating so I won't even benefit."

First of all, nice attitude, asshole.

Secondly, how many of you (yes, you the 18-22 year old student) actually pays the full cost of tuition without any help? No help from your parents, grants, loans or scholarships? Maybe one or two of you? How many pay the full price with some help, maybe a few thousand in loans or a wealthy and kind aunt or grandparent? Gee, that's awful nice of them. Helping to pay for your education where they wouldn't benefit.

This year's senior gift will  go to the rec center to help pay for new equipment or future expansions. Sure, it may not benefit you, but did you know the rec center used to be the hockey arena before the Whit? And the Whit was built through fundraising and donations? And not long ago the student gym was a "classroom" in the field house?

I didn't realize that we all paid future donations to help built the Whit and the rec center we have today... oh wait, no we didn't. It came from fundraising efforts and alumni donations.

Sure, students don't have a lot of money to give. Believe me, I'll be happy if I can still afford a 40 or two the night of graduation, but I still gave my $5. I gave my five dollars because UNH has done so much for me. I gave my five dollars because I'm not paying for my tuition all on my own, someone (my parents) are helping out quite a lot. I gave my five dollars because UNH students before me donated and that's why I've been able to enjoy my time at UNH so much. Five dollars is not a lot, but it still felt right to give.

If you're a super competitive type, 153 UNH seniors have already donated verses 143 at UMass and they have a much bigger student body than us. Let's kick their ass one final time.

Donate very easily right here. 
(You do not have to be a senior to give. So non-graduates you can see improvements for the gym while you're still here!)

Stay classy, not UMassy.

Survey Results

A few weeks ago I created a short survey (it's still open) about this blog to get a sense of what people like and don't like about this site. I thought it would be a nice way to better understand my readers and hopefully give me ideas and feedback for future writing projects. I thought it would be nice to share and respond to some of the results. This may seem long, but it should actually be entertaining and a quick read.

Out of the 68 people who took the survey:

• 42 were female
• 50 were current students
• 9 were alumni
• 9 were faculty staff (and another was a "staff spouse")
• Ages varied from 18 to 52 (core 19-22)
• Most people check it "a few times a week" (which means the amount people who read it is higher than my daily page views)

Here are some responses to the question: "What is your favorite part of UNH Blog?" (With my responses italicized)

• You posts are generally entertaining, and I feel like the news is more 'honest' than may be portrayed in TNH
• Your sarcasm towards certain UNH services (cough cough Dining) I also follow you on Twitter and find out a lot of what is going on through you (Wait, someone gets that I use sarcasm?!)
• Tirades that remind me of my youth. Very important to you at a moment in time, not so much in the big picture. It's a lot of fun to read. (Wait, drinking cheap liquor and acting like a fool isn't important?!)
• I love the New Hampshirite's insights into the workings of UNH and some of the different aspects that he comments on (dining, police, hockey, greek life, etc). I almost always laugh when I read this blog and I think it's a very funny, accurate portrayal of college life here at UNH and I'm actually really sad you're graduating. (It's just allergies, I'm not crying I swear).
• articles for the TNH (The TNH...)
• you are. I want to meet you. Im in love with you. Even if youre straight. I just want you so bad. want a bj? (No, thank you...?)
• I think it's a great way to find out what's going on around school without having to rely on tnh. i feel like the blog has more about what the students actually care about. And with twitter, information is passed along pretty much instantly so we know what's going on, on campus. It's how I've gotten a great deal of information over the past couple of year
• The hilarious posts about stuff like Cabinet Kid's shenanigans (Those posts write themselves, but sadly he's toned it down this year...)
• Other general comments: Funny, honesty, realistic, represents student life well etc.

Here are some responses to "what is your least favorite part of UNHblog.com?"

• references to over the top excessive drinking (Thanks, mom.)
• It's not a pill that makes me bigger, stronger & faster. Also, I have a feeling it's not bear-proof... (I'm working on this one...)
• Low frequency of posting, but I know you're busy (Second semester senior... senioritus is more than just school work... also, I feel like this semester has been pretty uneventful UNH news wise.)
• That it exists. (Thanks for reading. Douche.)
• dreaming about you fucking me after I read you, daily. (Apparently, I have not used this blog to its full potential.)
• Not to be completely naive, because I know a lot of students do, but not every student drinks or drinks heavily (You're right. Only the cools ones do...)
• the union leader rants are getting a little old. not saying i don't agree... but i get, you don't like it. (Ahem: Fuck the Union Leader.)
• Complaints about UNH dining. Once you get into the real world, you'll miss the dining hall. (Yeah, I'm really gonna miss diarrhea, soggy sandwiches, and not being able to find salt.)
• Ads. (Fucking anti-corporate liberal bastard!)
• Other general complaints: Not updated enough, didn't like any guest writers, want more guest writers, should get a female blogger, didn't like the female blogger you had, I miss the female blogger, that you're graduating... (A lot of favorites/least favorites cancelled each other out like drinking stories and guest writers. Guess that means it is actually balanced).

Responses to "ways to improve the blog":

• Include a campus map which shows all of the social area where people party. (You're doing it wrong.)
• get deep and personal, spill your soul all over my screen. (Stalker level: 99)
• Your tagline is Stay Classy, Not UMassy -which I really like. but many of your comments and behavior around alcohol are not too classy. I am not at all opposed to having fun on the weekends, but you seem to have no perspective on your attitude around drinking. (Do people not realize the tagline is part of the joke?)
• don't let us graduate (I wish...)
• General feedback here: More pictures, posts, videos, interviews etc...

Responses to "other general feedback, suggestions, comments or questions?"

• get laid more and write about that (Go read Barstool)
• Your awesome! PARTY WITH SLUTS! (Not having herpes is going really well for me right now.)
• Fuck me. (I'm sensing a theme here...)
• i feel like i'd like you as a person, good job (I probably wouldn't like you.... just kidding).
• Other general feedback: good job, keep it going, find a successor, don't give it to a dumb kid...

 Overall, I just want to say thank you to everyone who took the survey (despite what I posted above, I got a lot of great feedback.) I feel sorry to say this, but I will not be passing the blog on. I'll explain this in full detail in another post, but it has to do with personal issues. Also I think someone will come along and create their own work for future UNH generations.

Stay classy, not UMassy.

Some advice to the lucky ones who aren't graduating...

In less than one month I will be graduating, but most of you reading this will have at least another year or more here at UNH. I have experienced a lot of different things during my time here and I think it would be only fair to use one of my last columns to share some helpful advice with you all.

I know what you might be thinking, “Why would we want to take advice from a buffoon of a student who may or may not drink too much.” Well first of all, it is not a drinking problem until you graduate, so the joke is on you. Secondly, and if you have not figured this out by now you may need some language comprehension classes, but a lot of what I have written over the years is in character, sarcastic and satire. Well, other than the whole drinking stuff. That part is real. Anyways, here is some of what I think is the best advice I have to offer.

If a professor ever tells you, “This is not a paper/assignment/project that you can complete the night before it’s due” they are wrong. Just about any assignment can be completed in “A” fashion the night and/or early morning before it is due. Just do not make a habit of it or you may develop insomnia. I cannot tell you how many times I turned in a paper literally still warm from being freshly printed.

Try something new. Scratch that; try as many news things as you possibly can. I never expected to write a blog or a newspaper column, and I think that this turned out pretty well for me. Do not limit yourself to your comfort zone. I know a lot of people will say this about college, but I feel so many students still never step outside their regular routines.

Try to dedicate one night or weekend a year to become your personal ultimate college story. Everyone needs to graduate with his or her one go-to story to share to close friends for the future. This does not need to be a party or drinking story, rather it should be something that would be unusual for your lifestyle.

Study abroad for a semester. Even doing one of the shorter summer or J-term trips would be worth the experience and it is much cheaper than traveling on your own. Not studying abroad for a semester is probably my biggest regret about college. I have many friends who took advantage of the opportunity and I know they are happy that they did. However, I would not recommend doing it second semester senior year because you are going to want to be in Durham with all of your closest friends for your last few months of college.

Similar to the last one, another regret of mine is that I never took a big road trip with a group of friends for spring break, winter break or the summer. Sure, I took weekend trips to other colleges, but I would have loved to take some type of road trip with my roommates.

Try to pile up at least one or two minors. I will be graduating with three unfinished minors, in political science, English writing and communications because I could never make up my mind or commit to anything. I took more classes for my major than I needed, but part of that was that there were so many interesting ones, I could not resist.

This one comes directly from personal experience, but I think it is something everyone should do. Write on your own, outside of classes. I do not mean to keep a journal or diary or to write personal essays or poems. Just write. Keep track of funny things that happen to you or things you see, write down ideas, thoughts or future goals. It will help you stay organized, clear your mind and actually help reduce stress. Take 10 or 15 minutes just to write, think and clear your mind. It will pay off when it comes to studying or writing an essay because it will help you focus on the task at hand.

Finally, when you are in my position and preparing to graduate, make sure that you have as little regrets as possible. Make your own personal college bucket list because you will be able to do things in college that you will never be able to experience again. This may seem pretty cliché, but it is true. Enjoy your time here, because it really does go by faster than you expect.

Stay classy, not UMassy.

Senior Gift

I had the pleasure of working with UNH video services, @PrezHuddleston, Griffin (Meme Guy @GTK18 on twitter) and the wonderful folks from the alumni association in brainstorming the idea for this video. I kinda took a back seat throughout the process and was really involved to help promote the senior gift, but it was really neat to see how UNH video services works from start to finish. Please help out with the senior gift. It really is a great way to give back and make UNH better for future students. Donate your $5 (or whatever you want) today, I already did and it is super easy.

Vote! Everybody Vote!

Yesterday just got the following reader email:

Saw UNH's Tweet about student elections, and on a lark decided to see if my old account is still active. I graduated 3 years ago, but I can still get into Blackboard (not my UNH email though).
Turns out that even though I'm not a current student. I can still vote. Screen shots added. 
Don't worry, I didn't vote for any of the real candidates. Just my favorite perpetual write-ins.

Well it appears as though at least semi-recent alumni are still able to vote in the student body elections. Maybe UNH did this on purpose to help get more than just a few hundred votes. Last year I endorsed myself at the last minute as a small form of protest because the student body president has never really accomplished anything noteworthy during my time here. TNH endorsed a candidate, but I think a few votes for good ole' New Hampshirite could really do this campus some good. Who knows, with enough votes cast my way, maybe I'll stick around next year...

Zombies at UNH

There is one thing I have noticed during my time at UNH that many college students seem to be addicted to, and no, it is not alcohol. It is not drugs, partying or studying, either. It is zombies. Now before you get on my back, yes I know zombies aren’t for everyone. Not everyone likes zombies, so I don’t want to give you all a bad name.

Others may think that zombies are a thing of the past and vampires are the new zombies. First of all, if you think that, I don’t want to live on this planet anymore. Zombies are, always have been and always will be, the greatest Sci-Fi monsters of all time. (Unless you considered the velociraptors depicted in Jurassic Park, even though they weren’t accurately portrayed, but that is neither here nor there.) Vampires have been tarnished by the book and movie series that shall not be named.

But with the huge success of the TV series “The Walking Dead,” zombies have been restored to their rightful place among the most terrifying, awesome and even comical monsters. A good zombie story has everything you need: a widespread pandemic, gore, hero characters, characters you want to see suffer and usually a comical death or zombie killing sequence. (Think “Shaun of the Dead” for that one.)

Anyways, this got me thinking: if the zombie apocalypse actually does happen, what would be the best chance to survive here at UNH? Let’s say in a hypothetical situation that the breakout began in one of the science buildings (how about Gregg Hall, because no one knows what actually goes on there) and UNH was barricaded from the rest of the world so no one could get out.

Option one: Barricade yourself inside your dorm room. Sure you’ll be safe for a short while, but soon the isolation will set in. Maybe you are lucky enough that your roommate is there or you can stay in contact with your neighbors, but then you run out of food. Game over.

Option two: Barricade yourself inside the DUMP like in Stephen King’s “The Mist.” You will have plenty of food to stay alive, people to stay in contact with, and beer to help pass the time. But there is always that one person who goes insane way too fast and ruins it for everyone by leaving and not locking the back door. If you’re lucky, you make it out, but where do you go from there?

Option three: Join the mass relief center put up at the Whit or Rec Center. Food, shelter and other people all seem good, but somehow the outbreak has breached the doors. Someone inside was bitten earlier and kept it a secret. This always happens.

Option four: Thompson Hall clock tower. This seems like a good idea at first, but when the zombies break in you have nowhere to run.

Option five: You decide to get adventurous and decide to explore the tunnel that runs underneath Spaulding only to find a secret lab where there is a crazy professor testing cures for the zombies. It seems safe at first, but you soon realize he is out of his mind and is a danger for other reasons. If you’re lucky, you escape to the tunnels rumored to be under Main Street. You try to follow them out of town, but they are blocked off as well.

Option six: You decide to Jeremiah-Johnson-it out in College Woods. You live off of the wildlife and build a nice fort, and it seems like you will outlast the outbreak by living off the land. But you stumble across a commune where the hippies are trying to live in peace with the zombies. They’re all dead in a few days.

Option seven: You decide to take matters in your own hands by setting a trap for the zombies. You manage to lure them all underneath the stands at Cowell Stadium and by simply removing one keystone beam, the entire stadium collapses crushing all the zombies and leaving you the hero.

Plot twist! It wasn’t actually a zombie outbreak; it was just a massive walk of shame that took place on a quiet Sunday morning.

Stay classy, not UMassy

President Huddleston. I like this guy.

Earlier this morning I sent a twit pic of that cop car parked next to a "No vehicles" sign to President Huddleston. This is how he replied:

Huddleston for the win.

UNH's finest at their best...

Hat tip to Derek for finding this beauty of a picture. As well all know, the rules only apply to the students and as the emailer put it "Maybe they were just doing that so those new paint jobs with the fierce logo could scare away other cars!" You'd think with all their segways the cops on campus wouldn't have to be this lazy. Where is UNH parking services when you need them? Ticket this vehicle, this is easily worth a $75 violation. Where is the justice? Are not all men created equal and therefore we deserve to be treated the same under the law? But what if the law enforcement doesn't follow their own rules? Chaos! Anarchy!

Stay classy, not UMassy.

Will You Hire Me?

Hey you. Yeah, you there. The one reading this right now. Will you hire me? Before you answer, let me tell you a little bit about myself, the world I live in, my college career and a few things I think I think. Hey, shut up and listen, I’m the one writing this, not you.

This interview is going great.

Every time I turn on the TV to a 24-hour news channel, I basically hear the same thing: jobs, economy, jobs, jobs, economy, gas prices, jobs, unemployment, jobs, economy, OIL!, jobs, economy, jobs, jobs. I think that just about covers it.

And here I am, just over a month away from graduating college with a degree in history and a concentration in modern America, and from what I have been told, apparently there are no jobs. Absolutely nothing. Zero. No possible jobs for anyone.

One of the major issues of the current presidential election is the American economy and the different possibilities to “fix it.” In fact, it could be the deciding factor for the entire election. Will the millionaire with the Harvard degree win or the other millionaire with the Harvard degree win? Let’s face it, the contraceptive crusader does not really stand a chance.

Sorry, I got slightly off track there. Where was I? Oh right, jobs, especially the part about me not having one and having no chance at finding one. Let me present to you, my potential future employer, a brief résumé:

High school graduate? Check. College degree? Check (well, I got this pretty much locked up). Former jobs: miniature golf and ice cream cashier, camp counselor (summer and baseball), and landscaping. Other notable things: student-athlete award winner in high school, will graduate college with honors, National History Honors Society member (Phi Alpha Theta), blogger extraordinaire, three-year columnist for college paper, and I have almost 1,500 followers on Twitter. That’s impressive, right?

Okay, now let me move on to jobs that I think I might actually be qualified to perform:

History researcher. Is this an actual job? Because I am actually pretty good at that, you know, finding interesting articles about things that happened by using online databases. Hey Steven Spielberg, let me fact check your next period film. Sweet, thanks.

History teacher. I know some stuff about American history. Enough to write solid papers and earn good grades, and I’m pretty sure I can create a solid course curriculum. Although, I never did take any education courses at UNH, because I think you can pretty much get teenagers to believe anything you want if you tell them the right way.

Although, I feel like I’d be the type of teacher who would be punished because helicopter parents would complain about me teaching their son or daughter that Christopher Columbus might not have been such a good guy after all.

So, where do I go from here? I mean there really have to be some jobs out there somewhere? Right? I heard that there is a place where the jobs multiply like baby rabbits in the springtime and there are no evil hawks to eat them up. Some say that this job utopia is just a myth. Others swear to have seen it or even been there before. I’m not sure what I believe, but I do know that I will never give up.

There is the old saying, “you have to spend money to make money.” But what if I don’t have any money to spend in the first place in order to make more money back in return? This whole college thing, with the mandatory fees and textbook prices and weekend benders has kind of dried up the old bank account.

I am only 22 years old, but I am ready for the inevitable job hunt in front of me. It will not be easy; it will take blood, sweat and tears, but I will not perish without a fight. The last of the jobs have not dried up, you just have to know where to look. The American dream is still possible; it just is not the same American dream of the generations before us.

I mean come on, with self-motivation like that who wouldn’t want to hire me? So, I will ask you one more time. Will you hire me? Please? Because my parents are going to be pissed if I don’t find a job real soon.

Stay classy, not UMassy.