Break is over, midterm grades are about to be posted, it’s still cold in Oswego State, but most importantly it’s great to come back. Sure some of us prefer to be home, but there’s nothing like being back in college since we aren’t here forever. As a sophomore, I cannot yet begin to fathom how it is like for a senior to see that their college experience is nearing an end and their career life is so near. Having to think about paying off all your student loans over time and wondering if you will have the money and time to spend on yourself sufficiently enough to satisfy your own individual needs. Things like these is what makes me think that we should all feel that much more welcome to come back to the university that makes all of what seems like the impossible become possible. Compared to those who either drop out of college or couldn’t even complete high school, having to surpass all your peers who gave up, gives us that feeling to be more ambitious with our studies in the long run.

Even though I am a sophomore, I do still miss my high school. Therefore, I can only imagine how it’s like when you graduate from a university. The ties are probably much stronger between your friends, too. So I hope you simply don’t forget about us if you are graduating this semester! Visit, remember, repeat, and attend graduate school. Have fun because for now, Oswego State University welcomes us all for the opportunity to strive for success.

My roommate is actually graduating next semester, and he certainly had memorable moments in Oswego that he doesn’t want to let go of. We make lifelong friends here and learn to manage our time for when adulthood after college hits. Good luck to everyone, I’ll miss some of the seniors I’ve gotten to know. Spend a great time outside of college, but most importantly, spend all the time you can to make good memories while you’re still here!

As some of you know, the Oswego D Bus made trips from the Regional Transportation Center in Syracuse to the SUNY Oswego campus for a low price of $10. This was really nice of them to do and I’m really thankful for their service. They helped make the commute from our homes to the campus much easier. When considering waiting 5 hours for the next Centro bus to arrive or chip in $10 for occasional D buses to arrive, I’d take the latter. We appreciate it very much. We know you didn’t have to do this so we can’t express how lucky we are to have your service working with us.

I was planning to make it just in time for the Centro bus until one of the Greyhound buses heading to Syracuse took an hour and a half to start boarding. So as I made it to Syracuse, I arrived at 1:40, just about the time the second of only 2 buses was already filled. I noticed there was a D Bus leaving alongside it as well, and was just hoping another Centro bus would arrive. After waiting an hour, I saw another D Bus arriving, and there I had to expect the next Centro bus really won’t be coming back around until 7 p.m.. Therefore, I got aboard, paid $10, and enjoyed the quick trip to campus. Once again, thank you, and if I could expect the D Bus to do this over every break, I’d feel a little better commuting by bus than depending on carpooling.

Spring Break is almost here and to all those New York City folk: I share my struggle with you! The trip from Oswego to New York City is one of the most talked about topic among us. Those who are from there know the 5 hour bus ride, the 1 hour Centro bus ride, and the expected half hour subway commute home. Taking a plane is too expensive when considering it over paying to stay over the break. Taking a train is a viable option, but we mostly take a bus, so good luck to all who plan that trip! To those taking part in carpooling to the city; you guys are so lucky!

Make sure to spend that valuable time with your family if you’re a freshman. I know that back when I was a freshman, I loved it more to go to Oswego. It was until sophomore year hit me where I figured out there’s nothing better than being at home with the family. The amazing homemade food, the amazing internet, and hugging your pets!

If any of you guys are traveling, make sure to be safe, explore, expand, and most importantly: make memories. There’s no better way of traveling than studying abroad. Consider traveling now and go for studying abroad over a semester somewhere else; it’s an amazing experience told by many of my friends. Take the break to even play more games if you’d like. Don’t forget about any papers or upcoming exams you may possibly have after the vacation though. We all understand the struggle of an exam after break or a paper due shortly after classes resume.

I hope everyone enjoys the break and make it home to Oswego again safely! Chances are the temperature will not be as cold as Oswego wherever you plan to travel. Unless you plan to travel to a city above the latitude of Oswego, good luck and stay warm. Overall, people who reside in New York City or Long Island, etc…, will have quite a long and painfully annoying travel if going by bus. We know the rush to board the first bus; either Centro or Greyhound/Megabus.

The new metal and glass phone made by Samsung is finally here. After taking consideration about a personal upgrade from the Galaxy S3 to the S6, I am looking forward to it. The Galaxy S4 and S5 are great phones and those who own them probably won’t need to upgrade just yet. Samsung seems to have made a similar marketing move as Apple when it comes to revealing the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge; relating to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. My personal plan would be to get the Galaxy S6 when it’s more affordable of course.

Unfortunately, there are some cons to the new Galaxy phone. Two of which are the built in battery and the exception of an SD card. Many people feel different about their expectations of what the S6 would be like. I believe they fixed what isn’t broken in this case. This will definitely apply to Samsung as a definite fix for the development of the Galaxy S7; unless they had a reason for the exclusion that they haven’t told us yet.

There are some exciting pros to the new Galaxy S6 that should keep Samsung customers enticed. According to the Samsung website, they created a slogan for the phone: “Six Appeal”. This is probably done to create some humor and build a good marketing move in promotion in order to promote more attention and discussion about the phone. “Perfect Pictures Every Time” and ” Less Boundaries, More Space” are two subtitles within the Samsung Galaxy S6 webpage describing all the amazing specs the phone has to offer.

Make sure if you plan to purchase this beauty of a phone that you keep it protected from falling! Unless you have a warranty, you should be fine, but it’s best to hope the screen doesn’t crack as much as iPhones do. I personally can’t wait to buy the new Galaxy S6 or even S7 since it can’t be any worse than my Galaxy S3 phone. Just hope Boost Mobile would start selling it earlier rather than a whole year later.

We made it a little over one month into the semester with these cold temperatures and it finally started reaching the near 30s! Over the month of February, we experienced two days of classes being called off due to weather. One due to a big snow storm, which made it difficult for commuters from Syracuse to reach Oswego. Another date was cancelled due to the wind chill being -30. It has definitely been noticeably cold and anyone living here can wholeheartedly agree.
It’s been so cold even, that a temperature of 20 feels that much better to walk out in. I remember when I first attended Oswego State where I would feel like 20 degrees is just ridiculously cold since I had come from New York City. Temperatures don’t tend to fall under zero half the time just roughly 200 miles down south. Not to mention the amount of snow comparison between these two locations. Looking at the level of snow piled up at the Quad in front of Lanigan Hall surprises me. Even looking outside my window, seeing the snow level all the way up to nearly half the height of a tree.

Overall life here in Oswego has been pretty cold nonetheless, but still a pretty sight if you’re looking at the snow falling from indoors. With almost every other day containing lake effect snow, we still go to classes and love studying here. It has almost been the same as last year when it comes to class cancellations due to weather. The weather here has continuously been bipolar, especially when the weather gets warmer and you see alternating times of rain and sunshine during a day. Good news is it’s finally getting warmer, but stay warm and wear boots; sneakers are terrible with all this snow!

There are refugees that escaped North Korea looking to find a better place to live. Many refugees are our age or even younger, and they all want to avoid being caught and deported back to North Korea where they could face death. The refugees all have different stories about how they lived/ are living before some being saved by LiNK. “We need everyone to stand and face this problem together” You can check up on the video here and help donate to fund a rescue! Give what you can to help. I find this something we can all relate to because we have international students here who get the chance to experience college, so why cant these refugees can? We need to give them the chance to be free and safe from North Korea. Check out the website to LiNK as well.

Let’s go Lakers

                It’s been one of my many times watching a hockey game up close. These last 2 home games have been rather fun and enjoyable to be a fan for. From the aggressive game play to the crowd’s creative chants, I would never find myself in the midst of boredom during these games. The game looked really intense and I guess I always looked forward to the music being played after we score a goal and blame the opponent goalie.

The game against Cortland was pretty hilarious, but we won. This being my second game, it was funny to me how dirty the Cortland team was playing. This game had the crowd laughing and chanting “You can’t do that!” and we once said “He’s a freshman!” finally ever since last semester a freshman scored. I’m glad to be a part of such a supportive crowd. As a recent Laker fan and a sophomore, I had too much fun watching this game. This game seemed to be a really good one and I had fun watching seeing that we went 9-1.

Lakers vs. Nazareth? Yeah, OK. We won with such a lead and my friends all had fun watching this game go. These 3 games were all fun in general and I grew to like the sport of hockey, at least in Oswego. We were so into the game as a crowd and that’s something I really didn’t expect. The interaction of the crowd wow’d me because I’m only used to going to Baseball games in Yankee Stadium. Overall, I’m thankful with all the fun time I had and will be enjoying from Oswego.

Thanksgiving Break

                Hello all, I’m here to write about how excited I am to head back home and have a great time with the family. I’ve lately been having a little homesickness recently. I haven’t felt too much of it when I first arrived to SUNY Oswego, but now I can’t wait to go home for a while then come back of course! The friends I made here are awesome so I wouldn’t want to stay home forever. You have to be lucky to be in such a university and I’ll never take that for granted. Everyone who has a welcoming family at home should have an amazing time going home. It’s a great thing, too. You will be seeing them again so soon in the middle of December!

To those who don’t have a welcoming family at home, I really hope you have a great thanksgiving break whichever way you plan to spend it. I would totally spend that time with friends at least. Always keep in mind that your college friends will most likely be your lifelong friends. Friendship is also a thing I would never take for granted, it’s awesome to be social even though I myself can be awkward, and I have some pretty chill friends to support having me around. I’m sure everyone has one or two friends that will support them if you’re seeing a not-so-enjoyable Thanksgiving break. Overall, this Thanksgiving break should be fun and enjoyable for everyone and I hope you all have safe travels.

During this IST approved presentation, Lissette presented to us about modern Spanish cooking with examples of popular dishes eaten within many Hispanic households. These dishes ranging from alcapurrias to pastels; there was also flan that was prepared for us to try out.  She explained how the cooking was done and how it tastes much better with sofrito, a sauce of tomatoes, onion, peppers, garlic, and herbs, as preparation to start cooking many Latin American dishes.

This program relates to current events where people now are cooking in this style. The preparation and the use of seasoning products like Adobo, an enhancing flavor used on steak or chicken, is very popular in the United States now. This is because the Spanish Language is becoming more spoken as well as its culture’s growth.  Many people share their recipes and how they prepare their cooking, making food taste better as more people discover new ways to find better tastes. Lissette’s presentation relates the food to both street food and home food around the world when she brought up examples of alcapurrias and pasteles. Alcapurrias are street food when going to or from work, and pasteles are mostly eaten at home with the family for holidays or a get together.

This event relates to my personal experience by a large amount seeing that I come from a Latino family.  When Lissette mentioned every example of food and cooking preparations used in a Latin family home, I could relate to it very much. My mother and grandmother have always prepared their cooking with sofrito and adobo seasoning for steak and chicken every other day. I even remember going walking home after class in middle school where my mother would buy me an alcapurria if I was ever hungry. The presentation was a summary of most of the food I’ve eaten in my childhood. There were many instances where I even wanted to learn how to make pasteles every time I see my mom make them and sell them.

This game is just loads of fun when you can just message your friends who are zombies as well within the game. You guys can meet up in the middle of campus and look for blue headbands. We sometimes have misinterpreted people thinking they were playing. For example, some people would be wearing blue headbands for design to hold up their hair or have their hair dyed in blue. As zombies we had to think up of strategies on how to tag a human. It is estimated that it takes two zombies working together in order to tag one human. However, we had some poor communication, seeing as most of my friends are playing this game as their first time. Many humans outsmarted us, even one human was able to stun four zombies, so I suggest giving that man an award. Another human even posted on YikYak, a mobile app where you can post messages anonymously to people nearby your location. He posted, telling every zombie to meet him in the quad and for everyone to watch the show. He took on so many of us, roughly seven or eight zombies until two zombies distracted him to have one run by and tag him from the back.

Day 3, Wednesday: Today started out on a funny note when I went to go eat lunch with friends and we sat alongside another group of people playing the game and they had blue headbands on. I noticed this, put my red headband on, and greeted them. It was funny how jokingly ironic that moment was: a zombie and human eating lunch on the same table. After lunch, I went to go play billiards with friends and I saw a friend walking by us, placing her headband on, then she saw mine. She then mentioned how she thinks it would be a better idea if she drove to class, which she did. However after she left after 2 seconds, I remembered the parking lot is still a considerable distance from Hart, so we ran until she reached the parking lot. I actually stopped running when I saw another zombie run passed me already trying to get her. That was probably the reason why she decided to switch paths from heading straight through campus center. I was upset we couldn’t tag her at the time since she didn’t have her NERF gun. Later on when the mission began, zombies had more of an advantage in both numbers and the fact that we had a super zombie in our team for the mission. This super zombie uses the swimming pool noodles to tag a human, however it only stuns the human for 5 seconds, thus giving the zombies a chance to tag that human. Also zombies had a shortened time period of being stunned, which was 60 seconds. The chances of humans winning were small, but possible and record breaking. The mission started with roughly 40 humans and 40 zombies and ended as too many humans abandoned and ran away due to many of them getting tagged. There were at least 10 humans left of the ones who participated. Zombies won the mission and thankfully I get to stay in the game because when zombies when, they don’t have to feed on humans the next day. The requirement was for humans to sign in at the campus center in order for them not to “starve” and zombies have to feed on a human every 48 hours so they don’t starve.

Day 4, Thursday: Oh my it’s been a year since the last time I got tagged walking out of campus center walking to a Shineman class. Time flies and so does this game when you’re having so much fun. Today is the day the humans have to sign in at campus center in order to stay alive. As a zombie, me and friend would hang around the center of campus by the field and spot humans after our classes end up until the next one starts. There was a point in the day when we found a human hiding at a corner and a couple of zombies were just surrounding her rather than just going in to try and tag her. I told them that the least she could do is stun you all, but me and about 5 other zombies came as backup. The human at the corner jokingly said “don’t underestimate me!” which was pretty hilarious to all of us seeing as some of us were by the wall, ready to run at her. It’s must be very scary to be a human in that situation to defend yourself with only socks and a NERF gun. That’s why you travel in groups! After that situation, we found some humans getting ready to leave Hart Hall by the side entrance and we just surrounded the area. They couldn’t stun us and we couldn’t go run at them since they were within 5 feet from the door. So we stalled and had them use up their darts until one of us walked up to be next to them at the door. When one of the humans suggested the other to go get the dart on the floor, he went to get it, stepping outside the 5 foot limit, and the zombie ran up behind to tag him! Oh he was very upset, but it was too funny. They eventually had backup and we zombies had split. The “mission” that night was perfect and imperfect. During the 5 minute briefing of the details of the mission, humans were told they have a mission as usual. When that was done, zombies were to follow a moderator, who then told us that in reality, there is no actual mission tonight and that an ambush is planned behind the campus center. We were excited and couldn’t wait to surprise attack them. However, the moderators had miscommunicated the location of the ambush. And so, once we spotted the humans, we ran up to them and caught them by surprise, but the original plan was to surround them, rather than having them run back the way they traveled. We still managed to tag VIP humans during that fake mission.

Day 5, Friday: The final day! Sadly to say, not many humans were really tagged on this day before the game officially ended. However there was a for fun mission at 6 p.m. where anyone can choose to be a human or zombie if they wanted to. Therefore, I chose to be a human! My zombie friends certainly hated me for it, but it was role play and I had the pleasure of stunning many of them with socks. In the end, many humans were turned, and eventually we came to a death match where humans can finally kill zombies due to the mission objective being that there’s a “bomb exploding” within the mission. So in the end, humans fell more and more, while I kept dodging and hitting zombies when I could. We were left with 4 humans and down to 1 zombie. Humans eventually chased down the zombie and credit goes to Xavier! A human who was tagged on Wednesday’s mission and received an “antidote” by random selection due to the mission being slightly in the zombies favor, thus becoming human again. Those who survived the 6 p.m. mark before the mission are the real winners of the game.

In conclusion, this game was awesome to participate in for charity to Child’s Play. It is $2 to sign up and the game comes by annually, once a year by Halloween week. I’m definitely playing next year as human. I will most likely have a NERF gun for the game in order to push zombies away. I highly recommend every student here at SUNY Oswego to try to participate in this game at least once in their four years here.