A close friend of mine has been on a pretty strict diet for several months now. A while back, his typically remarkable resolve was shaken by an unbearable desire for Culver’s cheese curds, and he called me for moral support. It was the worst possible decision he could have made. I have a general dislike […]

I vividly remember standing in my sunlit kitchen one morning when I was six years old and listening to my parents talk about “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.”  I was barely old enough to distinguish Star Wars from Star Trek, and I don’t remember specifics of the conversation other than something about trade […]

When I was younger, I was terrified of thunderstorms. If clouds on the horizon looked even a little dark, I’d be seized with gut-wrenching terror. I remember my parents giving me a read-along book and cassette tape —“I Can Read About Thunder and Lightning!”— which I would often pull out and read to my favorite […]

Sometimes I really can’t tell if I’m depressed or just a college student. The majority of the time, it’s either my pathological fear of failure or my small bladder that coaxes me out of bed in the morning. Other times it’s at least 45 minutes of scrolling through the puppies tag on Instagram before I […]

As a writer reliant on sarcasm and snark to embellish tales of my college experience, I’ve run into quite an unfortunate problem. I have nothing to complain about. This time two years ago, I was a scared first-year student in a new town 500 miles from home. Because I’m an only child (and also a […]

In the never-ending battle between men and women, there is never a clear winner. In this special issue, the Verve section takes a look at the clear-cut differences between men and women in everything from their morning routines to their favorite pastimes.     A woman’s morning routine 7 a.m. – Alarm goes off. I […]

“What now?” is something I ask myself almost every day. I’m done with classes for the day, so what now? I can’t sleep, so what now? Usually, the answers are pretty simple. I do homework. I count sheep. Other times, the simple question of “What now?” has a not-so-simple answer. Two weeks ago, I wrote […]

If college has taught me anything, it’s that growing up is a difficult process. There isn’t always someone there to give you a hug when something is wrong, there are a lot of people expecting a lot from you and there are very real consequences if and when you drop the ball somewhere along the […]