I think it represents the duality that I like to wrestle with in my life.

During a particular free-writing session, with the goal of creating a character web about myself, I thought about networks.

I love cereal, but how cereal and I have a tricky relationship. I could tell volumes of accounts of my favorite cereals, meaningless from an outside perspective. I could ramble on about phases that I went through, cereals that I used to like that I don’t like anymore, cereals that I like now that I didn’t before. I could bore you with how I felt during the period of life when I ate Frosted Flakes everyday or what eating Raisin Bran (with TWO scoops of raisins) reminds me of. The truth is that over time, they all lose their charm (especially Lucky Charms which just don’t taste as mind-bendingly delicious as they did in 2004). They all begin to taste the same after the first few bites. What I’m really concerned with here is what makes cereal CEREAL, the second of cereal’s two ingredients. It’s what makes the sugary, shredded up wheat and corn flakes into a transcendent and beloved American breakfast meal. I’m talking about milk.

The “college freshman version” of the shower takes us to a whole other level of weakness. A freshman is at the mercy of an alien environment with strange puddles of tainted water in the corner and showermates he’s known for only a few months

You enter dirty, cover yourself in gels and crèmes made of chemicals you’ve never heard of, rinse with that life-giving water, and leave feeling as fresh as the day you were born.

I can understand that there are things that I can’t understand. The shower holds no judgment. It only holds me for as long as I wish. The shower proves to me that nothing is simple; everything that seems simple has multiple layers to it. Something as simple as water, the basis for any form of life, has a molecular level (H2O), a practical level (drinking, cleansing), and it also takes on many different forms (liquid and vapor are the ones present in the shower). This troubles me because the simplest answer is generally accepted as the best.

When I feel a cool drip hit the top of my head I know it’s from a different source. That tear from the ceiling may have been forming for hours, maybe since my last shower. This reminds me of truths about life. Something so inconsequential as a drop of water, so miniscule that by itself it cannot quench any thirst or clean a person, can make me consider the cyclical nature of life. That single drop has always been around and always will be around in some form or another, and I will have to take a shower again tomorrow.

I find vulnerability such a crucial element to being human because it reveals us to ourselves. It allows me to look at myself from a third person view.

Ever since I was a little child, I have always had people, whether it be my parents or teachers, preparing me for certain situations.

Yet, I wore an eerily large grin the moment my parents left me at my dorm for the semester.

Boston College (BC) is a private, Jesuit, liberal arts university located in Boston, MA.

I lost it all when I came to college.

After I sat down in the passenger seat and exchanged greetings with the driver

The woman at the front desk told us to wait in the chairs for the nurse to come out. Patiently, we waited. And we waited.

Additionally, we make decisions on what we post on Facebook based on the different types of friends we have.  Our self-presentation on Facebook is based on trying to appeal to all of our friends rather than saying what we truly think.

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was a smart, creative and effective way to raise money and awareness for ALS research, even though many of its participants were accused of slacktivism.

Justin Bieber has been nothing short of a dominant figure in the world of pop culture since his rise to fame in 2008 with the success of his first single  “One Time”.

Going to classes, homework, meetings, and writing essays are no longer menial annoyances, but have a greater significance in the trajectory of my college career.

The rare times when I have the room to myself,

Either way you probably would have believed what I said.

“hard-core young urban black guys”

Wallace further develops his likable persona as an author, but with an element of honest communication between the author and reader that almost imperceptibly grounds his underlying argument for communication that compromises, but is fully honest.