So I just got back from off-roading for the the first time. It was pretty freaking awesome.

I went off-roading with two of my friends, Mitch and Matt. Mitch had mentioned they were going off-roading last night and invited me to come along.

Driving down the highway with the roof off.

We started the trip with the roof down. This lasted a good 10 minutes before we realized it was freezing and was about to rain. But, I was able to get a good Snapchat of us crossing the Narrows bridge before we put the roof back up.

Eventually, we got to the trailhead. It was absolutely beautiful. It was so green with a classic Washington overcast. And we were about go roaring through it in Mitch’s Wrangler.

A sign at the trailhead

Mitch’s Jeep Wrangler

We spent a good amount of time traversing the woods, hitting every single bump along the way. Mitch commented “This feels a lot like Tacoma roads, just prettier.” I mean, he wasn’t wrong.

Probably should not have been standing here as the car was going down a slope…

After some time in the woods, we came across a massive muddy area to drive around in. Mitch drove through a couple puddles before allowing me to take the driver’s seat. Mitch encouraged me to drive through the biggest puddle in the area, while Matt was just fearing for his life. Mitch just instructed me to floor it so we wouldn’t get stuck.

Well as it turns out, that puddle was pretty deep. It was deep enough that the water almost came up over the hood. I basically almost turned Mitch’s Jeep into a boat. We were all freaking out. Thankfully, I never took my foot off of the gas, so we managed to make it out.

When we emerged from the water, steam vented from the engine, while streams of water flowed down the sides of the car. For a couple of minutes, we couldn’t stop talking about how awesome that was. Mitch, then let me drive around some more while he took some awesome slo-mo videos.

TREES

After some more driving, we parked on the side of a hill and dropped the roof. We climbed on top of the roll cage and just took in the sight before us. It was green as far as the eye could see. Just rows and rows of the most beautiful trees I’ve ever seen. We all sat there for a while, listening to music and enjoying the forest around us. I can’t even begin to describe how perfect it was. All I can say is that we all agreed it was one of the top 5 moments of our lives.

Friends, music, nature and a Jeep. Absolute perfection.

Trees as far as the eye could see.

Then the rain started to come down. After some struggling to get the roof back up, we all climbed into the car. Then we realized we didn’t know where we were.

In what remain trying times for many people in our nation, it is important that we take a moment to step back and remember all the things we still have. In light of this, I hereby present some selections from the list of things I am thankful for:

1: Clean Drinking Water

I know it’s easy to take this for granted, but it pays to remember how long it took us to get to this point. How many people still don’t have access to water that won’t kill them. I was at a seminar earlier this year that talked about water collection in rural Kenya, and the statistics presented were sobering. There are women out there spending half their waking lives collecting water while we can just flip on a tap.

2: The C-Store

It’s so much more convenient to just wander into the C-Store at night to grab something than it is to walk half a mile or however far it is to Safeway.

3: Math

Can you imagine living without math? It would be so hard to keep track of anything at all. Also, engineering modern technology would be substantially more difficult. I know not all of you like studying math, but it really deserves some credit here.

4: Thanksgiving Break

Anyone who tells me they aren’t thankful for it is either lying or cursed with a terrible family.

5: Language

Point. Grunt. Point. Wave. Gesture at mouth. Gesture at ear. Shrug. Snort. Grunt. Point at nose. Grunt. Snort. Point at eyes. Touch mouth. Touch ear. Touch head. Grunt. Snort. Flail arms. Stomp. Grunt.

I hope this list made you reflect on something you’re thankful for and experience a positive emotion. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get ready to watch an appropriate seasonal movie.

Caryln Sampson from Rebuilding Hope! Sexual Assault Center of Pierce County (SACPC) came to visit my fraternity, Beta Theta Pi, at our chapter meeting today. For those that don’t know, SACPC “offers support toward healing through advocacy and therapy for those affected by sexual assault and abuse” in the Pierce County area. Alongside supporting victims, SACPC also offers intensive trainings to police, medical professionals and other people interested in becoming advocates for victims. SACPC is Beta’s philanthropy and Carlyn is our primary contact with the organization.

Personally, I support SACPC, and sexual assault prevention in general, because I think that sexual assault is totally unacceptable (as any logical person should). Beta choosing SACPC as its philanthropy just aligns with my core values.

Carlyn came to introduce herself to us and lead a discussion on sexual assault and the role that SACPC plays in it. And holy shit it was refreshing.

In my experience, sexual assault prevention trainings and workshops tend to just make me feel terrible. Men are almost always portrayed as the perpetrators and women as victims. There is always this accusatory tone towards the male gender. As a male, this obviously doesn’t make me feel too good. While I am passionate about the topic, the feeling makes me apprehensive to participate in discussions. I’m made to feel that as a male, I have nothing to and should not contribute.

But Carlyn wasn’t like that. Carlyn was incredibly informative, spouting knowledge of every step of the sexual assault reporting process and the different resources that SACPC offers, just to name a few of the topics she discussed. She even mentioned the program she started last year that supported victims of sex trafficking in Pierce County.

Throughout her talk, the tone she took was evenhanded and just generally not accusatory at all. For once, I didn’t feel like a terrible person. Carlyn even mentioned that the idea of men becoming uncontrollable cavemen around women was an archaic and just ridiculous idea. She said that she wanted to help us fight that stigma against males (particularly fraternities) in conversations about sexual assault. All of our members agreed that they thought that the discussion was refreshing and just plain amazing.

Carlyn is expected to visit us again next semester and looking into the possibility of getting us at least part of the same training that SACPC offers to law enforcement and medical professionals and requires of their volunteers and staff.

I can’t wait!

Well it happened. It actually fucking happened. What started as a joke a few years ago resulted in one of the worst possible outcomes. This doesn’t even feel like reality.

We’re all feeling different things, anger, sadness, fear, uncertainty. But whatever you’re feeling, don’t forget to practice self-care. In times like now, the least we can do is maintain our well being.

The main thing is to not bury any of your feelings and thoughts. Burying and pushing them away will only cause them to bubble back up in the future. Don’t be afraid to express yourself in whatever way you feel comfortable. To some, that’s sharing their thoughts on Facebook. To others, that’s writing in their private journal. The list doesn’t end there. Working out, making art, playing video games, watching cat videos, cooking, there is no wrong thing to do. Just do anything that makes you feel better.

And please don’t forget to take care of your physical well-being. Eat food, drink water, get some fresh air. You’d be surprised at how much better you’ll feel after getting some air.

We’re all going to be coping with this in our own ways. One of the best things we can do for one another is respect each other’s coping strategies. Everyone deals with issues in their own way and we cannot create a toxic environment of harshness and criticism like this shit show has been for the last few years.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go kill space terrorists in Call of Duty until I feel better.

I’m sorry if this seems incoherent, my brain is just fried after the past day.

Well, I think we can all agree that that was a rollercoaster of an election cycle. Hopefully we can also agree that it will have very interesting implications for national and international politics. On this campus at least, all eyes were and are on the election. I cannot name a single person I know here who has told me that they chose not to vote.

Long before the election, booths to notify people about voter registration were replaced by carpools to make sure everyone could make it to the office. Soon after that, we started screening the debates at a number of locations on campus. Dozens of students showed up (though maybe some of them just wanted the free pizza) and uncounted others were watching from dorm rooms, study areas, and even club meetings. This election had its share of circuses, but we made sure there was bread as well.

On Election Day yesterday, the whole campus was abuzz. The students at the front desk in Wheelock Student Center were constantly checking the election results. I could hear cries and cheers rising from the Rotunda as the votes rolled in. When I peeked through open dorm room doors, I saw groups of students huddled around screens waiting for their fate. A man I knew clutched an American flag tight around his shoulders like a cape as he flitted about the dining hall. The grand screen showing CNN’s forecasts shone its light upon a tangle of people – some studying, some eating, some just waiting.

Now, this purgatorial state has been broken. For better or for worse, the United States of America has a new president. The campus is deathly quiet this morning, but I wouldn’t read too much into that. I wrote this at 8 AM and the campus is always quiet then. As always, life goes on.

Dear reader, I am pleased to report to you that last night, our first Psychology Research Night of the semester, was a resounding success. The ravenous Psychology 101 students have been appeased. Armed with their newly-won Psychology Participation Credits, they are now substantially closer to meeting the requirements for passing their classes. Apparently we also provided data to some researchers. At least that’s what it looked like was happening. I could be wrong.

I myself was involved in three psychology studies last night, all of which I was excited to tell you about. However, before I even set fingers to keyboard a pair of very intimidating women approached me. They were dressed in jet black labcoats, safety sunglasses, and carried strange metal devices that I could not identify. As it turns out, they were there to inform me that I was not allowed to disclose the methods or goals of the studies. Because the studies were still being conducted, speaking about them so openly could compromise their results. The women then handed me a censored copy of my own thoughts and vanished.

In light of this experience, I present to you the Research Night Report: Censored Edition.

Study 1: [———————————————]

I was brought into a room containing [—-] and [—–]. [———] I noticed that [——-] fortunately, it was not a horrifying monster, but rather [———] A chill went up my spine. [——–] The study ended slightly ahead of schedule.

Study 2: [————————-]

[————————————–] Surely they could have afforded [———] Suddenly I understood that [———] I was growing tired. [———–] a blazing light from [—————–] I put the pen down once more [—————————-] enough for everyone [—————————] I said my thanks and exited the room, tucking my prize into my vest.

Study 3: [———————-]

[——–] Only five of us were allowed to enter. [———————–] which is, incidentally, closely related to the flow of blood through the human body. [———-] My skills in that area were rusted, as I hadn’t [————————-] the restraint was removed, replaced by no restraint at all [——————————–] I was held up briefly while exiting, but then the researchers noticed [——————] and were appeased.

I am pleased to report that I survived Research Night. I am even more pleased to report that everyone else did as well. The experiments were designed to be safe for the participants and researchers, so I would be rather shocked if that were not the case. Preparations have already begun for the next Research Night next Monday, where I am sure that our Psychology researchers will continue to be humane and ethical.

Please direct any allegations that my uncensored draft might have been overdramatic to the Department of [————————–].