October 2019

REPORTER OCTOBER 2019 reporter.rit.edu

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The hotel features outdoor living space with fire pit, boat docks, complimentary full breakfast buffet, and evening social Mondays through Wednesdays.

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REPORTER EDITOR IN CHIEF Cayla Keiser PRINT MANAGING EDITOR Kasey Mathews ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR Victoria Sebastian COPY EDITOR Mimi Lee NEWS EDITOR Marilyn Wolbert TECHNOLOGY EDITOR Karina Le LEISURE EDITOR Anika Talia Griffiths FEATURES EDITOR Morgan LaMere WELLNESS EDITOR Tyler English VIEWS EDITOR Ali Johnston WRITERS Catherine Rafferty, Abby Bratton, Tyler English, Morgan LaMere, Victoria Sebastian, Kasey Mathews, Karina Le, Jess Sides, Anika Talia Griffiths, Cayla Keiser

ART ART DIRECTOR Lily Garnaat ONLINE ART DIRECTOR Monica Nguyen-Vo SENIOR DESIGNER Cassy Smithies DESIGNERS Jiayi Zheng, Ella Mathewson, Rachel Tiano, Deena Feldmann, Cassy Smithies, Nicholas Bober ILLUSTRATORS Unique Fair-Smith, Elizabeth Dettman, Sara Calhoun, Monica Nguyen-Vo, Maggie Dybas, Michael Smith, Juho Choi

EDITOR’S NOTE “I only got five hours of sleep last night.”

“You think that’s bad? I only got two!”

Almost daily, I overhear conversations like this where people are glorifying a lack of sleep. They are competing with each other to see who is the most stressed and who has the most unhealthy behavior.

This used to be me in my freshman year. I would stay up until 1 or 2 a.m. and then have to wake up for an 8 a.m. class. I, along with everyone else, thought it was “cool.”

But I also struggled to stay awake in class and felt very low energy all of the time.

It’s become the norm to pull all-nighters during midterms and finals, and only get three to four hours of sleep the rest of the time.

But when and why did it become okay to glorify habits that are actually hurting us?

Why aren’t we encouraging one another to take better care of ourselves and treat our minds and bodies right?

I decided early on my first year that I needed to change my habits to be healthier. One of my main goals was to get on a sleep schedule. Of course, these changes didn’t happen overnight — going to bed at the same time and waking up at the same time everyday was tricky at first. Eventually, I found the bed times and morning alarms that worked best for me and allowed me to go through my day feeling energized and motivated.

Of course, everyone functions at their own sleeping hours. For some people, five hours is plenty to get through the day with, whereas others might need closer to 10. Some people live on a sleep schedule, and others thrive off of random bedtimes.

Regardless of where you fall, it’s important to encourage one another to treat our bodies right. Instead of fighting the sleepiness when it hits, try taking a 15-minute power nap or hitting the hay a little earlier that night. Instead of competing with your friends and classmates to see who got the least amount of sleep, start a challenge to see who can maintain the healthiest sleep habits for a week.

Let’s try to stop this unhealthy, destructive sleep behavior and start emphasizing the importance of being well-rested. We shouldn’t be proud of getting less sleep than our peers. Rather, we should find ways to work healthy habits into our everyday lives one night at a time.

PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTO EDITOR Catherine Rafferty PHOTOGRAPHERS Becky Reich, Jasmine Lin, Jesse Wolfe, Amelia Hamilton, Catherine Rafferty

BUSINESS BUSINESS MANAGER Ward Couillard AD / PR MANAGER Ali Johnston, Ward Couillard

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Cayla Keiser Editor in Chief Letters to the Editor should be sent to rpteic@rit.edu. No letters will be printed unless signed. All letters received become the property of REPORTER.

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October 3

TA B L E O F cover and TOC photography by Catherine Rafferty cover and TOC photoillustration by Monica Nguyen-Vo

NE WS 6

NEW “AG TECH” CROPPING UP ON CAMPUS RIT Dining’s got a new food source in its arsenal, but it’s not what you might think

T E CH 8

CHARTING THE UNCANNY VALLEY An exploration of the uncanny valley phenomenon and its applications in art, game design and horror

LEISURE 10

12

14

@reportermag 4 October

SHIFT TO THRIFT Learn how thrift shopping can help fight fast fashion

THE HEARTBEAT OF A COMMUNITY If you’re looking for something to do, try these theater locations in Rochester

AYL: HORROR-SCOPES How would your zodiac sign fare in a horror movie?

CONTENTS FE AT URES 16

20

22

THE COMFORT OF DIVINATION A peek into the more popular forms of divination

A WILLINGNESS TO WELCOME International students have a unique experience, but all student experiences share commonalities

THE SPOOKS JUST AIN’T WHAT THEY USED TO BE Explore the changes in celebrating Halloween as we get older. What can we do to celebrate as college students?

WELLNESS 24

HOW THE LOCALLY GROWN GROWS LOCALS Buying locally grown produce does more than better your health — it grows your community

VIEWS 26

28

30

POP YOUR COMFORT BUBBLE Change is a good thing, so give it a shot

WORD ON THE STREET What’s your biggest irrational fear?

RINGS RIT’s digital confessional +1 (585) 672-4840

reporter.rit.edu October 5

RIT’s hydroponic farm on Aug. 22, 2019 in Henrietta, N.Y. The plants are lit by LEDs emitting only the red and blue light spectra, the most beneficial for optimizing plant growth.

Leaf lettuce grows in vertical containers in RIT’s hydroponic farm on Aug. 22, 2019 in Henrietta, N.Y.

NEW “AG TECH” Cropping Up on Campus

by Catherine Rafferty photography by Becky Reich design by Jiayi Zheng

R

IT recently hired its first ever farmer, David Brault. Brault, a native of Irondequoit, New York and a University of Vermont graduate in Horticulture, is now taking care of leafy greens and herbs grown on site in RIT’s new hydroponic container farm. The farm is located in a 40-by-8-by-9.5-foot up-cycled shipping container just behind the Campus Center.

6 News

“Alright, close your eyes and picture a farm. You’ll see a field, maybe someone on a tractor and there’s dirt and all that,” Brault described. “Then you go a step removed, and you put in a greenhouse. And then you take a step farther and now you’ve got a hydroponic greenhouse. And you remove the greenhouse and you’ve got hydroponics inside this container. So it’s different.”

The farm was installed on June 10, 2019.

Kory Samuels, executive director of RIT Dining Services, said the project made sense with the recent renovation of Gracie’s as just another way to “up our game” in the quality of food on campus. RIT is just one of two universities in the state to have a hydroponic farm on campus, the other being Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, N.Y.

an important part of the college experience, and food is just one aspect of that. Brault thinks that students’ expectations are setting the bar high.

“I look at the farm as a way to connect our department and students in just another way.”

David Brault, farm manager, plants lettuce seedlings into vertical containers in RIT’s hydroponic farm on Aug. 22, 2019 in Henrietta, N.Y.

How Does It Work?

Hydroponics is defined as growing plants with nutrients and water, but without soil.

The plants are rooted either in water or an artificial medium which can include substances like sand, gravel, perlite, peat moss, sawdust, coir or rockwool.

Some crops are better to grow hydroponically than others. Brault said he started by growing lettuce and herbs because of their size and quick turnover rate.

Crops like corn are a less practical option because of the lower yields and space needed to grow it. The container is lit by LEDs that use special bulbs emitting only red and blue light spectra, the most beneficial lighting for optimizing plant growth.

RIT’s farm is a vertical farming system created by Freight Farms, which has provided shipping container farms to many other college campuses. The container is insulated so crops can be grown year-round. Brault can control lighting, temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide levels, concentration of fertilizer and pH levels in the farm all from his smartphone.

It operates as a closed system, meaning the water used to feed the plants is recycled for the next crops.

Why Hydro?

Samuels first saw a shipping container farm at a National Association for College and University Food Service conference back in 2016. Samuels had noticed an interest in seasonal menus and locally sourced produce at other universities. RIT doesn’t have an agriculture school, so Samuels saw the hydroponic farm as the perfect solution for RIT’s tech-oriented community.

“It was an idea that was kind of put on our roadmap that it’d be cool to eventually get to the point where we are not just sourcing our food as local as possible, but potentially actually being a part of the food system” Samuels said.

In terms of food safety, it’s safer for RIT Dining to produce their own product because they can control everything, including the cleanliness of the space, the fertilizer they grow with, the water they use and who touches the product.

In terms of sustainability, Brault explained, you don’t have to worry about fertilizer runoff — a major concern in conventional agriculture. It’s also hyperlocal, so any emissions that would have been produced in processing and transporting the product are eliminated. “This requires capital investment, but once it’s operational, it is lower maintenance. Also you get more yield, so you can grow a lot more in a smaller space and you can grow crops faster and you get a better quality and quantity of crop — and you can do it all year,” Brault stated.

“This is an offering that I think distinguishes us versus other campus dining programs.”

The farm is also an appealing addition to RIT’s dining resume. RIT Dining can make decisions about its offerings since it’s all in-house owned and operated. Samuels and Brault see this program as a new way to draw in prospective students. Campus life is

“They [students] are starting to expect a different level of experience in dining.

This is an offering that I think distinguishes us versus other campus dining programs,” Brault said.

Impact The first container is just a small seed in a larger plan for RIT Dining and its farm.

Both Brault and Samuels would like to see the program expand, in growing more crops and potentially adding more containers to campus. They also see the farm becoming a teaching tool for students. Samuels suggested farming could become a new wellness or sustainability course offering in the future for students to learn more about the agriculture industry.

Brault was hired to jump-start the program, but there’s talk of bringing in student employees to assist with planting and harvesting. There’s the potential for co-op and research opportunities collaborating with programs in the academic departments or Student Affairs. Collaboration could also extend out into the greater Rochester community through programs like FoodLink and Recover Rochester, said Samuels.

Overall, Samuels wants students to use the farm to connect and gain a new perspective.

“I look at the farm as a way to connect our department and students in just another way,” he said.

RIT Dining will not be able to provide all the food on campus solely from the farm as they serve over 14,000 meals per day between all of their dining locations, concessions and catering. However, the farm will produce 10-15 percent of the produce on campus.

The farm is currently growing bibb lettuce, salanova lettuce, basil, cilantro, parsley, kale, swiss chard, tatsoi, mizuna and arugula. Next time you are at an RIT-catered event and you see some salad, know that it’s freshly grown — right from the container.

News 7

CHARTING THE

UN

CANNY VALLEY

by Abby Bratton | photography by Jasmine Lin | illustration by Unique Fair-Smith | design by Ella Mathewson

A

sense of vague unease crawls through your mind as you notice that the reflection in your mirror doesn’t match your own face, or when a puppet keeps waltzing even after its strings have been cut.

Then there’s the android that smiles while its eyes stare unblinking into your own. These images of horror story fodder don’t rely on fear of the unknown, but of the almost known.

Objects that evoke this reaction are said to fall into the “uncanny valley.”

8 Technology

The Valley Defined

Chip Sheffield, a professor of the College of Art and Design and faculty affiliate with the School of Individualized Study who created the course “Art and Technology: From the Machine Aesthetic to the Cyborg Age,” explained the origins of this term. According to Sheffield, the concept of the uncanny valley is credited to the Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori.

“It really has to do with how we would respond to, say, a robot that had human-like attributes or human-like qualities, and the human-likeness of any given entity, and how humans respond to that entity. [Mori] proposes graphing this on an x- and y-axis,” Sheffield said.

Mori’s graph shows that human familiarity or comfort with something increases as it becomes more human-like, until the object reaches approximately 80 percent similarity to a human. At this point, there is a sharp

“We so rarely question, when we’re looking at another human face, whether that face is human or not.”

drop-off in familiarity which rises up again as the entity approaches 100 percent human-like characteristics. The resulting shape is a valley.

David Simkins, an associate professor with the School of Interactive Games and Media, explained that the uncanny valley is a statistical average rather than an exact reaction experienced by all humans.

“Whenever you’re talking about the uncanny valley ... you’re talking about what people see and how it affects them,” Simkins said.

Because people react to perception in different ways, Simkins explained, there’s some variation in how the uncanny valley affects individuals. However, the phenomenon usually evokes similar emotions.

“When we perceive something to be humanlike or human, if something is just a little bit off about it, [then] we start to become really uncomfortable interacting with the thing, or being around the thing even,” Simkins said.

“It’s eerily not right, and that sense of it not being right creates anxiety.”

One factor that differentiates this phenomenon from other fear reactions is that its source is not always clear.

“The interaction with the uncanny valley happens before people are aware usually of what’s wrong. So they can identify that they don’t like the face or don’t like the thing, but they can’t necessarily tell you exactly what it is about it that torques them off. It’s deep in their perception,” Simkins said.

This inability to pin down exactly what is “wrong” heightens the sense of unease people experience when confronted with the uncanny. At times, they may not even think to look for the source of their anxiety.

As Sheffield put it, “we so rarely question, when we’re looking at another human face, whether that face is human or not.”

Applied Horror

Once this phenomenon is understood, it can be intentionally avoided — or invoked.

“Good artists know how to use, and not unintentionally use, the uncanny valley,” Simkins said.

The ways that artists explore the uncanny valley phenomenon go beyond physical designs, he explained. While the uncanny valley has its roots in visual perception, the same idea of “uncanniness” can be manipulated in music, mood, story and character movement.

Sheffield also spoke about artistic examination of the uncanny, in addition to pointing out that awareness of the uncanny is critical in the fields of prosthetics and facial recognition.

One of the most popular areas for application of this concept is in the game industry — specifically in horror games. “[Horror games] are a great place to use eeriness,” Simkins continued. “You want to make your player feel something is eerie, feel anxious, feel a little out of control and if you can ... trigger some of that anxiety before they even know why they’re anxious. That’s a great tool to use to try and get somebody in the mood to be frightened. That’s much of the trick of a horror game, is getting the player to get on board with being willing to be horrified.”

While many uncanny games have been created over the years, Simkins recommends “The Sinking City” and the “Silent Hill” series as particularly good examples of this phenomenon.

“That’s a great tool to use to try and get somebody in the mood to be frightened.”

Cultural Relativity

“It is always important to realize that [the uncanny valley] is a sociobiological phenomenon, not just a biological phenomenon,” Simkins said.

This social aspect means that the uncanny valley relies heavily on cultural norms.

Sheffield also emphasized this point, saying that the divide in eastern and western cultural approaches to robotics results in different levels of associated uncanniness.

Not only does the uncanny valley shift between different societies, but it can shift over time, both on an individual and cultural level.

“There’s some pushback on the uncanny valley because it’s not the only thing operating. For one thing, our perception is all socially based,” Simkins explained. “So when someone gets used to something, it no longer has that uncanny valley response to it.”

In terms of more widespread changes, Simkins gave the example of how technological advancements in computer graphics led to an uncanny valley shift.

Images and designs that were an accepted standard in the late 20th century are now often considered uncanny because most people are accustomed to a higher degree of realism. Simkins suspects that this trend may continue as art becomes increasingly “cinema-realistic.” He predicts the valley will broaden over time as society grows uncomfortable with designs that aren’t either highly realistic or intentionally abstract.

Because of its cultural and individual relativity, the uncanny valley is a nebulous concept. Perhaps the best way to understand it is to experience it firsthand. If horror games and robotic realism interest you, maybe it’s time to take the metaphorical plunge down the slopes of the valley. The comforts of the familiar world will be waiting when you climb back out.

Technology 9

by Tyler English | illustration by Elizabeth Dettman | design by Rachel Tiano

T

hrift stores bring to mind that alltoo-familiar smell of textiles and forgotten memories. The secondhand oversized band tees, out-of-style shoes and strange housewares come together to form a magical place where people can easily lose a few hours. The endless choices can be scary to someone who isn’t well-versed in the thrifting scene, which makes going to the thrift store a daunting and often underrated shopping option.

Sari Oister, a third year Photography major, is an avid thrifter with an eye for fashion.

“Thrift stores are like my happy place, I just go in and have no thoughts,” Oister said.

While some find the variety of choices in a thrift store to be intimidating, Oister sees an endless combination of outfits waiting to be put together.

COMBAT CONSUMERISM A main reason why Oister shops exclusively at thrift stores is to help fight the fast fashion industry. Fast

fashion refers to the rapidly produced, sold and replaced clothing in chain stores such as Forever 21, H&M and Urban Outfitters.

“Depending on the sources that you are looking at, fast fashion is either the second or third greatest contributor to pollution right now,” Oister said.

Thrifting helps to remove clothes from the waste cycle, reducing the fabrics in landfills that add a large amount of microplastics to water and soil supplies, according to EcoWarrior.

Jaime Huynh, a third year Advertising Photography major, also shops at thrift stores to help combat fast fashion.

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” Huynh said. “So many companies that I used to shop at just pump out millions and millions of garments that don’t even get bought all the time and it just gets trashed.”

Huynh and Oister are not entirely removed from fast fashion, though. Instead of shopping at chain stores, they go to thrift stores to recreate runway looks and current fashion

trends at a reasonable price — all this while helping to reduce textile waste in landfills.

Lauren Avilla, a third year Game Design and Development major, thrifts to not only combat fast fashion but to benefit the environment.

“Denim takes a lot of water [to make] and, being from California, I am very water conscious,” Avilla said. “It is nice to know I am lowering my carbon footprint.”

So, not only are the clothes creating waste themselves, but the process by which textiles are created intensifies the destructive nature of fast fashion.

FRACTIONAL FASHION Thrift stores have a reputation of only having strange shirts, bizarre patterns and outlandish pieces of clothing. While you may get a good laugh trying on these wacky pieces with a group of friends, some of them — when paired with staple wardrobe pieces — can be as fashionable as runway looks.

According to Oister, outfits are about balance. One piece that may be a bit “out

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

10 Leisure

there,” such as a leopard print jacket or a brightly patterned shirt, can be countered by classic fashion pieces. Thrift stores give clothes that may not be seen as fashionable the chance to be turned into something new.

Sometimes it takes a strong sense of self and identity to find these pieces.

“Being comfortable wearing something that may be conventionally ugly and then making it my own is part of the experience,” Oister said.

Huynh, alongside finding fun and flashy pieces to make an outfit pop, keeps tabs on fashion trends. She even has a little notebook where she keeps notes on what is popular.

“I take inspiration from fast fashion pieces and the trends that are coming out, and I apply that when I go sifting through a thrift store,” Huynh said.

Taking ideas from what is in fashion and what you can make fashionable, then using that at the thrift store allows you to recreate trends for a fraction of the cost.

Avilla takes a similar approach when she goes thrifting.

Holding onto her dream of someday owning a sewing machine, Avilla asks herself what she can do to the pieces she finds to

are also watching out for our planet.

“Thrift stores are like my happy place, I just go in and have no thoughts.”

SECONDHAND SOLUTIONS A downside to thrift stores is that despite having a variety of clothing to choose from, they typically only have one of each item. So, there are no extra sizes in the back ready and waiting. However, with the right eye and skill set, you can turn an extralarge shirt into a cute summer crop top.

Oister and Huynh share a similar dilemma with clothes shopping — clothes are not always made to fit their body types properly.

“I do a lot of altering after the fact because I have a weird body type to fit clothes to, very straight up and down,” Oister said.

Take time in the dressing room to pinch the clothes to your body and line up seams where they are supposed to rest and you’ll find that a dress or jacket can be given a second life with a little tender love and care.

create a second life for clothes, they are thrifters through and through.

Knowing how to thrift is one thing, but you also have to know where to thrift.

They recommend checking out the three big thrift stores in Southtown Plaza — Amvets, Goodwill and Salvation Army.

Whether all, half or just one or two pieces of your wardrobe is thrifted, when you thrift, you are not only saving your wallet — you

make them hers. She weighs whether or not she needs to run her garments through a sewing machine to add a new hem or if she can hand sew the alterations.

The satisfaction of recreating a runway piece from thrifted clothing is something that Huynh, Oister and Avilla all share. With the eye for fashion and the imagination to

Leisure 11

The Heartbeat of a Community

by Morgan LaMere | photography by Jesse Wolfe | design by Jiayi Zheng

I

magine sitting in a room, sharing a unique experience with hundreds of people from your community — there is nothing quite like it.

Theater is an exchange between actors and their live audience wherein, over the course of hours, a bond forms between the two groups. The shared excitement builds up until your heartbeat syncs with the crowd’s. Christopher Mannelli, the executive director for the Geva Theater, described this connection. “[There’s nothing like it] where you sit in a room with 500 people you don’t know, and you do a thing together, and you share that experience,” Mannelli said. “Having that shared experience is a really powerful way to connect to where you are — especially if you come from someplace else ­— to have your college experience.”

Geva Theater Center The Geva Theater is going on their 47th year of showings, led by Mannelli and Communications Manager Dawn Kellogg.

Founded as a lunchtime theater and international company with actors from the UK, Geva evolved into more classic theater fare.

“In the last ten years, we’ve shifted toward new works creating and commissioning for American theater in Rochester,“ Mannelli explained.

The Geva Theater hosts 11 major productions beginning in September and running until June, such as the popular Christmas show — a Rochester holiday tradition, according to Mannelli. Geva is the most attended theater in Rochester and the largest not-for-profit theater in western New York, along with being one of the top 15 theaters in the country for attendance, Mannelli mentioned.

“Agitators,” a show produced two years ago, is about Fredrick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony, made specifically for the Rochester community by Geva.

“As a regional theater, we create all of our own shows,” Mannelli said. “We choose from

12 Leisure

a wider palette of smaller shows, more local to Rochester.”

Geva brings in directors from all over, along with those they have on staff, producing originally created shows and modifying purchased show rights.

Frequently, shows made in house tour around the country. “[We have a] costume shop on site and build every part of the production,” Kellog said.

“

Students are really welcome, it’s not just a place for parents and grandparents.

With stages that sit between 180-500 patrons as well as 52 full-time staff, support staff and artisans, Geva is always busy. So, the quality of the shows is an important factor.

“One of our guiding factors is [that] we create shows of the highest quality, baked into our mission,” Mannelli said about their mission statement. “You can’t go anywhere in the nation better than Geva.”

The theater prides itself on its hosting of Oscar and Tony nominees and suggests that students don’t have to go to New York City to see a great show.

“Students are really welcome, it’s not just a place for parents and grandparents,” Mannelli said. “The work that we’re doing on our stage speaks to young people even more strongly than it does to our older audience.”

According to Mannelli, the topic, messages and themes are very current and connect in a powerful way. To Kellogg, nothing provides a community connection like a live theater.

“We do have sign-interpreted performances, open-captioned performances,” Kellog said. “[We are] wheelchair accessible, [and provide] hearing loops.”

Rochester offers many other theaters, each with a unique history and contribution to the community.

The Avenue Blackbox Reenah Golden, artistic director and founder of the Avenue Blackbox, began serving the community when she founded the No Drama Club.

“This is the second theater I’ve built. The first was in a church school … so that we could have it be a part of the education and curriculum, but also so it could be a part of the community,” Golden said.

The majority of the performers at the Avenue are youth, many of whom have been with Golden since her first theater’s construction. Her original and continued goal is to be a space for young people to immediately engage and become a part of the theater.

To Bishop Kaerney, a 13-year-old who has worked with Golden for four years, the Avenue more than fulfilled its goal. According to her, the theater made her who she is today.

“Over the years of working with Golden, being in this space is enough to brighten someone’s day,” Kaerney said. “You can connect with people here; you can have that good communication.”

While engaging the youth and providing education is one goal, serving communities of color is another. The Avenue regularly works with various community partners, such as Multi-use Community Cultural Center, the San Kofa festival and the Bronze Collective.

“These are all theater companies of color, and that’s our focus here, is artists of color and communities of color,” Golden explained.

“If I like a show … and it makes sense for this community, has really strong content, I like to pull shows that are for social justice.”

Golden picks shows that speak on issues pertinent to the community she is

serving. In total, the Avenue hosts five to six productions, encores and youth showings made up of a mix of musicals and plays. “[Our] show’s focus is on curating an audience that can have the experience, not a large audience,” Golden said. “Some shows have a lot of people, 50 to 60 depending on the show.”

Golden tries to create a flexible space for outside artists, professors and teachers to collaborate and for students to perform.

On Fridays, the Avenue hosts “Black AF,” where artists can showcase their talent. They also host “Let’s Create,” a one-day event free for the community where RIT Master of Fine Arts students run stations teaching their specialties.

To Golden, this was a place for students who want to get off campus and impact the world. She offers a safe and bold space for

“

the LGBTQ+ and ALANA communities that is always welcoming volunteers and viewers.

Being in this space is enough to brighten someone’s day.

As an RIT student, it can be easy confine yourself to campus due to work, stress or sheer distance from Rochester. Should you make the time, however, there are many reasons to go out and enjoy the city. While your first tendency might be to attend the movies, bars or shopping centers, many local theaters offer fresh, lively shows constantly adapting to fit the community they serve.

Leisure 13

by Victoria Sebastian illustration by Sara Calhoun design by Deena Feldmann - Sept.

22 VIRGO VIRGO Aug. Aug 2323 - Sept 22

You are the pure virgin who is used as a symbol of godly perfection perfection … … but but everyone everyone wants to sacrifice you because you keep things creepily clean (we all know you’re just covering up a murder).

- Oct. LIBRA Sept 2323 - Oct 22 22 LIBRA Sept.

You are the flirt of the group and are withwith every love andassociated are associated every interest in movie the movie because guy in the because you you decide which has a can’tcan’t decide which one one has a better better chance chance of of saving saving you. you.

- Nov. SCORPIO SCORPIO Oct. Oct 2222 - Nov 21 21

You are the hormonal character used for sex appeal. You’re murdered during a sex scene in the the first first 30 30 minutes. minutes.

AQUARIUS Jan. - Feb. AQUARIUS Jan 2020 - Feb 18 18

You are the weird and quirky one who knows every fact about everything. Thank god you learned how to read that random ancient language — it actually turned out to be useful.

- April PISCES March 2121 - April 19 19 PISCES March

You are the tortured artist that is either crying too loudly or a bit too drunk to notice the person guy with with the knife behind the knife right right behind you. you.

ARIES ARIES March - April 19 March 21 21 - April 19

April - May 20 TAURUS Apr 20 - 20 May 20

You get several severe injuries that should result in your death … but somehow your stubbornness is enough to make you perfectly fine a scene later.

- June GEMINI GEMINI May May 2121 - Jun 20 20

You’re the one who got everyone stuck in this mess in the first place because you were just so excited to bond and party with w your friends … in…the middle of ith your friends in the middle nowhere … in oldold cabin …… of nowhere … an in an cabin with ghosts.

You are the fearless hero when the villain is first introduced and you gear up to fight.

Unfortunately, you don’t stand a chance and are slaughtered like a piece of meat.

CANCER June July 22 CANCER Jun 21 21 - Jul- 22

You are the loner in the group with emotional issues. You end up being one of the only survivors because your intense anxiety turns out to be a pretty good survival skill.

LEO July - Aug. 22 LEO Jul 23 23 - Aug 22

You are the popular jock that’s good at everything. You’re probably the one in the sex scene with the Scorpio and are devastated when they die because under all that hotness is aisbig heart. a big heart.

SAGITTARIUS - Dec. SAGITTARIUS Nov. Nov 2222 - Dec 21 21 You are the leader of the group because because you you spout spout inspirational inspirational and philosophical monologues and somehow know how to solve every single problem.

CAPRICORN - Jan. CAPRICORN Dec. Dec 2222 - Jan 19 19

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The

Comfort of Divination

by Karina Le | illustration by Monica Nguyen-Vo | design by Cassy Smithies

16 Features

It just gave me hope

that I’d find other people someday.

D

ivination, regardless of whether you believe in it or not, comes in many different forms. Currently, there is a rising trend of various forms of divination — such as astrology and tarot reading — that people have been turning to for comfort.

“Astrology offers those in crisis the comfort of imagining a better future,” wrote Julie Beck, writer of “The New Age of Astrology,” while describing this rising trend.

It is undeniable that the more uncertain our environment is, whether it be politically or economically, people are finding comfort in having a sliver of knowledge of what could be.

ASTROLOGY

Arguably, one of the most popular forms of divination in the modern age is astrology.

It’s also generally one of the first forms of divination people encounter nowadays.

Astrology is basically the correlation between the position of planets and stars, and how it relates to an individual in terms of what time they were born and where. In short, astrology is a way for us — human beings uncertain about the universe — to find meaning in our relationship to the world around us. It’s a way to find comfort that there is meaning to one’s existence and meaning in how people connect with others. Generally, you can see its usage in horoscopes online or even in the newspaper.

Donna Casey, a second year Electrical Engineering major, advocated for the usefulness of astrology in terms of the comfort it brought to her.

“I fit Aquarius very perfectly, and so that kind of gave me the idea that there’s something to [astrology]. If it can describe me so well, it’s more likely than not to be more than chance,” she said.

Granted, there are and always will be more people skeptical of astrology than believing in it, as it’s not technically a science. In fact, there’s really not a lot of scientific basis on astrology. Rather, the information that astrology builds itself on in organizing people in its various groups is on the basis of the common correlations of people born in the same month.

Shaina Thayer, a third year Physics major, is one of these skeptics. She provided an explanation to her reasoning, however.

“I don’t have anything against astrology,” she first explained, “ ... [but] there’s just too much to it.”

Thayer further explained that to understand astrology, there’s a lot to read up on. Generally, most people know their astrological sign through their date of birth.

However, that is only a small percentage of how deep astrology goes into nowadays.

Astrology can go further into explaining the meaning of someone’s personality and how they connect with others by also having a person’s time of birth and the location of their birth.

For example, the astrological sign that people categorize themselves as by using their date of birth is their “sun” sign. By having the time and location, one can find their “moon” and “Mars” sign, respectively, as one can be able to find the placement of the moon and the planet Mars given this information. There are more signs to be found in one’s natal chart (a map of all the planets’ locations when you were

born) that gives a more defined examination of one’s character. But the most important signs are the sun, moon, and Mars (also known as rising) signs because those are the signs that center around the individual.

The sun sign centers on how an individual tries to project themselves onto the world, the moon sign describes a person’s inner self and how they see themselves and the Mars sign signifies how people around an individual see their projection.

So, there’s more to astrology than what meets the eye. Of course, it could all very much be correlation without causation; but the fact remains that astrology brings about a comfort that makes people feel secure in themselves and gives a possible glimpse into the very scary, very unknown future.

There are a variety of reasons why people may go deeper into the subject, but Casey described it simply as a need to connect with others.

“Some of [astrology] you have to take with a grain of salt,” Casey said. “But to be able to read in a book and be like, ‘Hey, this is normal’ ... it just gave me hope that I’d find other people someday.”

TAROT

Tarot is one of the more niche forms of divination that has been quickly gaining popularity alongside astrology. However, tarot has been around for a long time — going as far back as the 15th century, according to tarotologist Keith Jones.

“These cards were [initially] used to educate children in moral instruction,” Jones said.

“Now, with just a little nudge, that turns into telling the future.”

Jones noted that although it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact time and reason that the use of these cards shifted to foreseeing the future, tarot has inarguably become a staple of the realm of divination ever since.

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Anything I say to you today is something that

you can change

Tarot can be used in a variety of ways, such as telling one’s fortune. But even telling someone’s fortune may differ depending on who’s reading the tarot, to the decks they use, to how the person reading tarot prefers to conduct the reading.

Rauncie Ryan, chaplain to RIT Pagans, explained her process on reading tarot as a way for people to open up, so to speak.

“When I am doing a card reading for someone, I feel a real connection with someone,” Ryan explained. “I think of tarot reading as a way for people to open up about what they’re going through.”

For some, tarot is a way for people to take a glimpse at their future, and have comfort in knowing that their current situation is only temporary.

However, there are a lot of misconceptions about what tarot reading entails — especially by how mainstream media portrays it.

Sometimes, tarot readers are represented as

18 Features

mystics who have a great show of pizzazz to their readings; sometimes, they are portrayed as scammers who have darker intentions.

Jones, who has been researching the origin of tarot for a long time, brought some light to what tarot reading really entails.

“In all my years of studying tarot, I have yet to meet a fraud,” Jones said.

Depending on the format of the reading, it could focus on a certain aspect of one’s life, such as love or one’s financial future.

However, for Ryan’s readings, she prefers to use the “Celtic Cross” format, where she places cards in a cross and four other cards to the side. The cross usually lays the foundation of the client, and their present or past difficulties that have occurred in their life.

Then, the rest of the cards are meant to be used as a possible way they may deal with the situation. Depending on the reading, the tarot reader may encourage their client to either explain their situation as to receive counsel on it or forewarn of obstacles in their path.

Nonetheless, tarot can bring a sense of comfort and certainty to a concept as abstract as the future.

Of course, there are as many skeptics as believers when it comes to tarot, if not more.

Some people may even be afraid of tarot because they believe that if they learn about their future, their fortune will be their only path in life. Ryan asserted that this wasn’t the case.

“When I do this reading for you, this is shadow of what could happen,” Ryan said. “But what I want to say to you is that anything I say to you today is something that you can change.”

Life isn’t always constant. People aren’t the same as they were months ago, and months from now, they won’t be the same person anymore. People are always changing, and— for people who use divination in general — they are searching for ways to change.

COMFORT AND DISCOMFORT

Of course, there will always be skeptics everywhere, especially when it comes to non-scientific subjects such as divination.

Even those who believe in certain forms of divination will point out its rather paradoxical nature. However, despite the vagueness of divination overall, to completely make yourself ignorant of anything will only lead to further misunderstandings.

Ryan made a connection between the discomfort of divination and the discomfort of people in terms of paganism. She described how people grow to fear paganism and anyone who practices it because all they know of paganism its negative connotation.

However, paganism is more about community and cultivation of self-love and self-care, just as most other religions are.

“Things remain in the dark if we don’t put [them] to light,” Ryan said.

Divination, despite its lack of scientific foundation, is something that can bring immense comfort to people who may have anxiety about what the future may hold, and there really is no harm in that.

“It’s like you can contact someone who’s looking out for you,” Trayer said, regarding the comfort of divination, whether it be tarot, astrology or otherwise.

Life can get difficult, and to have a sense of confidence that everything that will come out alright is something that attracts many people toward divination in the first place.

Regardless of whether or not you are a believer in divination, there’s certainly something to be found after connecting with someone, no matter their way of life.

Divination, in a sense, is all about connecting with yourself, and thereby helping you connect with others. This may come by having similar astrological signs, or by having your tarot read and having an honest conversation about yourself and your struggles with another real human being.

Although magic — in the way it’s portrayed in movies — may not be real in our world, the real magic in divination is about the experience of expanding one’s horizons and thinking more deeply in the introspection of self, and the way we handle our lives.

It’s like you can

contact someone who’s looking out for you.

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A Willingness to Welcome

by Kasey Mathews | illustration by Catherine Rafferty | design by Rachel Tiano

O

n the grand scale, college life for a student in the mainstream eye can be pretty standard, even stereotypical.

However, for international students there is a belief that their experiences and lives are dramatically different. Yet, that’s largely not the case. All students share commonalities to their experiences — the differences lie primarily in their extent.

IT STARTS WITH ARRIVAL “New students — domestic students — are scared coming to universities,” fourth year Computer Science student Varnit Tewari, explained. “But, international people are even more scared [because they’re] coming from a different country, from a different world.”

Tewari is now on co-op and plans to pursue graduate school after finishing up his degree.

However, he still remembers the feeling of coming to RIT as a new student. It was his first time traveling internationally and his only exposure to America was through popular culture.

Being from a smaller city in northern India, he did not know as many fellow international students from his region. But through International Student Orientation, he was

able to meet many people from across the globe. Despite the jet lag, he stayed up until midnight chatting with new friends.

For Ph.D. student Anjali Jogeshwar, much of her anxiety was put at ease with one simple word.

When she first arrived in 2016, Uber and Lyft had yet to make their way to Rochester. Jogeshwar landed without any clear transportation to campus and no one to contact for help. Fortunately, Global Union was hosting a shuttle service between the airport and campus for international students at the time. Unbeknownst to Jogeshwar, it was a service students were supposed to sign up for in advance. But she approached the table anyway and asked if there was space on the shuttle to take her to campus. The student volunteer at the table said “yes.”

“That one yes was a huge deal for me then because I didn’t know anyone in Rochester,” Jogeshwar said. “I didn’t know who to go to and that guy was like, ‘Yeah, we’ll drop you off.’”

It was that willingness to welcome and accommodate that drove Jogeshwar to get involved with Global Union and with International Student Orientation.

“I wanted to give back that ‘yes’ to someone else someday,” she said.

HOMESICKNESS HITS HARD Everyone wants to visit home as often as possible. As a domestic student, this can be difficult for a number of reasons, such as distance, scheduling or finances.

International students experience these same strains, though often to an augmented degree.

For students like Jogeshwar and her roommate Nuzhet Ahamed, a Ph.D. student in the Microsystems Engineering program, it can be difficult to visit home often. They each attempt to visit once per year, though neither have been able to hold up to this perfectly.

For other students, such as third year Management major Gloria Berakah, time away has been a little longer. Originally from Cameroon, she and her family have lived in the United States for 12 years.

While she can visit her immediate family three hours away, her extended family and childhood friends are more difficult to see.

Berakah hasn’t been back to Cameroon since she left at eight years old.

“My parents tried [to visit Cameroon] when I was in high school sophomore year,

“I wanted to give back that ‘yes’ to someone else someday.”

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“RIT feels like home away from home.” but the plans didn’t go well,” Berakah said.

“Something was happening in Cameroon and we weren’t financially prepared, so we decided to postpone it and it never happened.”

This has led Berakah to a feeling of separation from her home. She noted that she has to check in with others when people add her on Facebook as she can no longer remember the faces of her close friends.

In fact, Facebook is also how she keeps in contact with most people from her childhood.

She met her baby cousins through Facebook and learned their faces through photos posted to the website.

BUT LIFE GOES ON As with any student, one cannot restrict themselves to classwork and nothing more.

Soumya Dayal, a second year Computer Science student, spends most of her time on the weekends reading.

“Even though I’m an extroverted person, most of the weekend I’m too lazy to get out of the house and I just keep reading,” Dayal laughed. “Not particularly books, but blogs or something [too].”

Tewari, meanwhile, came to college with a list of things to learn. In his time here,

he’s learned how to play soccer and play the guitar. Now, his next goals are to learn to beatbox (he has a friend teaching him) and how to dance. He also spends his time teaching others.

“I have a squad of my [friends] and I’m the only international student in that squad,” Tewari said. “They come with me to Royal of India, I’ve cooked Indian food with them.

They’re actually learning Hindi with me — I’m teaching Hindi to them every Tuesday.”

Eventually, these students will graduate and their plans are just as wildly diverse as any group of students you could imagine.

Ahamed, for example, wants to first learn the ins and outs of her industry. But that’s not her end goal.

“I personally want my final destination to be in academia,” she explained. “[I want to] be a professor or a researcher ... and interact with young minds [to] inspire them to do something great.”

Until then, Ahamed and others are still at RIT earning their degrees alongside their peers.

PROUD OF THEIR INTERNATIONALITY “RIT feels like home away from home,” Jogeshwar said.

Each of the international students spoken to have stated that domestic students have been welcoming and open-minded, which came as a relief to them and their friends.

At RIT, a unique conglomerate culture has developed that shares the various aspects of many other individual cultures. This shared culture of acceptance and welcoming can lead to lasting friendships and fulfilling lessons.

As Berakah stated, “Don’t be afraid to try new things ... and step out of your comfort zone because you never know what you’ll see or who you’ll meet.”

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by Jess Sides photos by Amelia Hamilton design by Deena Feldmann

H

alloween is one of the most popular Geoffrey Moss is a second year Computer festivals celebrated in America.

Science major. Moss frequently went trickThere are a multitude of ways to or-treating as a child. celebrate, but the most common way of “We planned it for a while, had our route celebration is trick-or-treating. all planned out and our costumes were Max Robbins is a second year Physics chosen in August,” Moss said. major who celebrated Halloween a lot as a kid.

Browne celebrated a little differently. “[Halloween is about] trick-or“I’d pick my favorite superhero at the treating, being with family and eating time and dress up as them. I would go to snacks,” Robbins said. school in costume, and then I’d go to Of course, some people have different friends’ Halloween parties,” he explained. ideas about how to celebrate. Patrick “I wasn’t big on trick-or-treating, but I got Browne is a third year Management lots of candy anyway.”

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friends and community now, but before it was about getting

Celebration as a High Schooler

Celebration as a Child

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snacks and

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candy.”

into you during high school, and dressing up might also be. If college students dress up, it’s often a homemade costume with little effort involved.

“I didn’t celebrate last year, I was busy,” Robbins said. “I might go to classes dressed up this year. Lots of people did it last year, it’s not weird, it’s fun.”

Moss admitted that he didn’t get invited to parties in high school, and he still doesn’t. But given the chance, he’d love to go and express his creative energies. Meanwhile, Browne has changed his celebration tactics now that he is in college.

“Now I just go out to the nearest club.

People try to look like celebrities and people they look up to, like Drake,” Browne said.

The Stigma Behind Trick-or-Treating

“The [kids] in my neighborhood were my age — so, [after we grew up], parents stopped participating. My neighborhood went dark,” Robbins said. “I dressed up as a teacher or something funny in the years after, but no real celebrating, no trick-or-treating.”

Moss stopped trick-or-treating his freshman year of high school. He’d reasoned that it was his “first step into being an adult,” which made sense at the time.

“I was a teenage boy and I didn’t want to do things that weren’t cool,” Moss said. “I thought dressing up was stupid and I wanted to get away from childish things.”

Browne still attended parties through his high school career; though, he admitted to a big change in costume.

“Only the girls dressed up. For guys, it was more about having a scary mask and being adult rated. Guys didn’t dress up as much,” Browne explained.

Celebration as a College Student

As college students, we are incredibly busy and, unless you’re particularly big on Halloween, celebrating it might slip your mind each year. Trick-or-treating is a distant memory due to the stigma instilled

The stigma surrounding trick-ortreating once you’re older is evident. You get disapproving looks from parents, and everyone in school tells you it’s not cool.

Why does the stigma exist though? Where did it come from? Why don’t we see adults in costumes trick-or-treating every year? “[Trick-or-treating is] seen as a little kid thing to do because you’re collecting candy.

Once you’re older you would rather party and buy candy yourself,” Moss explained.

“Adults playing dress up has a stigma.”

As college students, we are particularly low on money and may not have enough to afford the costumes we want. We are also busier and don’t have as much free time to put into homemade costumes.

“We stop caring about candy as much, and it’s a lot of effort to do costumes,” Robbins said, “If you’re buying [the costumes] versus your parents, that’s another thing to consider.”

There is also the bandwagon fallacy. If you think that everyone else has stopped trickor-treating, and you think there’s a stigma, then you won’t trick-or-treat, either. In high school, many people desperately want to fit in. If that means giving up trick-or-treating because people say it’s “weird,” most people will absolutely stop trick-or-treating.

“My transition into high school stopped me from trick-or-treating,” Moss said.

Robbins agreed, “I stopped trick-ortreating because others stopped.”

As we get older, the idea and excitement of Halloween changes.

“It’s more about friends and community now, but before it was about getting snacks and candy,” Robbins said.

How Can I Celebrate This Year?

RIT has had celebrations for Halloween in the past. There are some clubs on campus that also do Halloween celebrations. A good way to stay updated on such events is to pay attention to flyers and emails.

Moss is in special interest housing, and said they may do something this year.

“Last year we did a game night in costume,” Moss said.

Browne said that for Halloween, he hopes he’s not here.

“I plan to go to Toronto. My friends and I have been trying to go for awhile, but we never go,” Browne said. He hopes to party in Toronto, as well as sightsee.

There are many ways to celebrate, and some are easy to do. Of course, you can go to a Halloween party, or even throw one. You could also watch a scary movie with your friends, carve pumpkins, ride a hayride or go to a haunted house — or even eat a ton of candy and regret it the next day.

There is an abundance of opportunity, so don’t get discouraged by the loss of trick-ortreating — spooks can still be a blast.

“I might go to classes dressed up this year.”

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HOW THE LOCALLY GROWN GROWS LOCALS

by Anika Talia Griffiths| photography by Jesse Wolfe | design by Nick Bober

Y

ou can imagine it as a roofless Wegmans. In a setting stripped of linoleum and overhead lighting, the usual search for produce is transformed into something more intimate. Lettuce isn’t picked from a display and placed in a shopping cart; it’s handed over by the person who grew it. A week later, while making Caesar salad, one might still remember how green the farmer’s eyes were. Giving a face to your weekly purchase of avocados isn’t entirely the point — but, it is. Although brief, the in-person exchange has significant meanings.

STRAIGHT OUTTA THE SOIL Freshness is the most notable quality of locally purchased produce. Farmer’s markets shorten the distance between the soil the food was grown in and the plate it eventually ends up on. This ensures that the ingredients for your next meal are more freshly harvested.

Thomas Moss, a farmer of Moss Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, talked about the reliable freshness of produce at the farmer’s market.

“Inspectors come out to the field and make sure we’re using the right chemicals [on our crops], make sure it’s the right grade. Like after the market today, some of the things that we don’t sell today, we’ll go home and we’ll put it in the cooler and make sure it stays fresh. Tuesday when we come back, it [will be] just as good as it was today. Of course, if it’s bad, we’ll throw it away. We don’t want to sell [anything] bad to our customers,” said Moss.

“A week later, one might still remember how green the farmer’s eyes were.”

Ted Cooper of Kirby Farms highlighted that, along with regular inspections, crops are grown under “safe farming practices” to ensure that they are good for consumption.

Purchases made at a farmer’s market leave consumers with produce of equal, or sometimes better, quality compared to purchases at the grocery store. Locally grown foods can bypass the lengthy processing and transportation that imported foods in grocery stores often endure. Brenda Abu, assistant professor in the Wegmans School of Health and Nutrition, explained that such processes may lower the nutritional value of fresh produce.

“Sometimes if the foods are processed before being sold in the grocery shop — especially for fresh fruits and vegetables — you can easily lose some of the nutrients like vitamin C. [If] they are exposed to the sun, vitamin C can easily move out of the fruit or vegetable because they respond to heat ... ” said Abu. Keeping in mind how a food’s nutritional value can be affected by different processes, consumers should ensure the produce they purchase is as fresh as possible.

ROOM IN THE BUDGET Although nutrition influences foodpurchasing habits, so does cost. Grocery stores are both convenient and financially accessible, making them more popular than farmer’s markets.

24 Wellness

“The produce houses over here, they get their stuff from Canada, maybe. [The farmers] are competing with that all the time. Price-wise, they’re a lot cheaper. Canadian stuff is usually supported by the government [through] tax breaks ... ” said Cooper.

Despite having to compete with imported produce, local farmers are still able to offer amazingly low prices. Selling food close to where it is grown means that expensive overhead costs such as storage and transportation are cut out. For consumers, this means fresh foods at a cost that won’t break the budget.

With the rising cost of education, college students don’t have as much money to spend on healthy eating options or transportation to farmer’s markets. RIT occasionally offers a shuttle to the Public Market to help address this issue. Free buses into the city give students without access to transportation and students who are of lesser income the opportunity to shop for fresher, locally grown foods. In a small way, this works to address the issue of food insecurity commonly found within lower socioeconomic classes.

GETTING LOCAL On top of helping shoppers keep money in their pockets, purchasing locally grown foods gives more income to a community’s residents.

Abu highlighted that grocery stores often don’t “enrich the community” they are located in.

Local farmers, on the other hand, spend their profit in the area, boosting the local economy.

What results is a win-win situation.

Besides the economic boost for Rochester, shopping locally keeps farmers in business.

Cooper, who has been farming and selling at the Public Market for over 30 years, shared that an important reason for consumers to shop at farmer’s markets is to “support local growers.”

Moss seconded this.

“If you go to the store and buy it, it doesn’t make [any] sense for the farmers to go out and plant it. Support your local farmers. Keep the farming industry going, not just for this generation, but the next generation,” said Moss, who is a second-generation farmer. “If everyone just goes to the store and buys, there’s no reason for the tractors, no reason for the field and the corn ... ”

“Keep the farming industry going, not just for this generation, but the next generation.”

MORE THAN INGREDIENTS Purchasing fresh, locally grown foods is just one step to creating a healthy diet. Abu offered plenty of advice on methods of food preparation that are nutritious and accessible to college students.

Use the freshest vegetables to make salads — it’s quick and simple for those who have busy schedules. Once your vegetables start to become less fresh, use it to make a soup.

With fruits, making smoothies is quick and nutritious; blenders allow you to break the fruit down into a tasty drink without adding heat, which would remove necessary nutrients.

Another suggestion is to use fruits and vegetables in a stir fry. Abu elaborated on this.

“Adding oil to the stir fry is very important.

Some of the fruits and vegetables have nutrients which we call fat-soluble vitamins.

They are more soluble if there is a fat involved.

So, a stir fry will help your vitamin A become more easily absorbed by your body,” she said.

For students whose circumstances make it difficult for them to access healthier foods, Abu suggests some RIT options such as looking out for Tiger’s Choice foods and getting involved in wellness activities on campus to keep your body active. The Student Dietetics Association is also open to students who are interested in learning how to eat healthier.

It isn’t as important to know the name of the person who raised your chicken as it is to maintain a healthy diet. Knowing your farmer is just a means to knowing your food and, in a larger picture, your connection to your community.

Wellness 25

POP

YOUR COMFORT BUBBLE

by Cayla Keiser | illustration by Maggie Dybas | design by Nick Bober

U

ntil college, I never wore colorful pants. I wouldn’t try contacts instead of glasses because I was scared of looking different. I thought if I cut my hair short, my curly hair would transform into a giant puffball on my head. I didn’t like to hike, let alone workout. I refused to try new foods, fearing they would taste bad or I’d have to live with the “I told you so!” statements from my friends and family members when the thing I thought I’d hate actually tasted good.

I was stubborn and set in my ways. I loved living in my comfort zone, or what I like to call my comfort bubble, and didn’t want to leave. I was afraid of what it would entail.

What if stepping outside my comfort bubble changed me as a person? What if people didn’t like who I became? I liked things the way they were, I liked who I was — why bother changing anything?

Change can be scary, especially when it’s associated with how people perceive who you are. It can often leave you feeling paralyzed, or like you aren’t being true to yourself because of how others might react, according to a Talkspace article. I didn’t want to add to my wardrobe of pants or change my look for fear that others would notice, and possibly react negatively. That’s what makes it so easy to stay put where we know we are accepted.

Life in our comfort bubbles is easy and predictable, according to the Huffington Post.

It’s a place where no one challenges your beliefs or assumptions, and you can do the same thing over and over knowing you’ll succeed each time. According to Dr. Nicholas DiFonzo, a professor of Psychology, this leads to a more positive self-image.

“We tend to evaluate our worth by our competencies; so we if we succeed, or if we are likely to succeed, we tend to think we are good, lovable and worthwhile,” DiFonzo said. “So when we encounter the possibility of failure or embarrassment, that disrupts our good view of ourselves and people don’t want to do that.”

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“If we never step out of our comfort zone, then we never grow.”

It wasn’t until a few months before college that I realized how living in a bubble stifled my ability to evolve as a person. I didn’t just have to succeed in the same few ways for the rest of my life — I could succeed in new areas, as well.

“If we never step out of our comfort zone, then we never grow. It keeps our muscles active — our brain muscles, our courage muscles, our virtue muscles,” DiFonzo said.

It took me years to realize that stubbornness didn’t propel me forward; rather, it held me back. When the realization hit, I brightened my wardrobe with colorful pants, switched from glasses to contacts and even made a spur of the moment decision in my freshman year at RIT to cut six inches off my hair. I went on a pre-orientation hiking trip, and fell in love with the outdoors. I also started working out a few times a week, and this semester I’m taking an Insanity workout class. I tried new foods — steak, Brussels sprouts, asparagus — and realized how I had been depriving my taste buds for so many years. All because I was scared of change.

BLOWING NEW BUBBLES Stepping outside your comfort bubble may seem scary — and that’s okay. But it can also lead to so many new possibilities and growth opportunities you wouldn’t have encountered otherwise. You don’t have to try twelve new things at once. In fact, it’s better to approach change modestly, DiFonzo advises.

“I encourage people — and myself — to [step outside their comfort zones] in a moderate way,” DiFonzo said. “You don’t want to attack everything at once, otherwise you’ll go home and eat potato chips; you’ll seek avoidance behavior to escape.”

Identify something you have always been interested in, or recently thought would be cool to test out. Maybe you want to learn the ukulele, but are afraid people will think you don’t sound good. Maybe you want to give long distance running a shot, but are afraid of tiring out a mile in. Maybe you think plaid pants are super cool, but are scared that others will look at you funny.

“It’s better to approach change modestly.”

I thought people would give me those weird looks when I stopped wearing glasses; instead, they complimented my new style. I was scared that people would judge me when I went from never exercising to going on hiking trips, but they were actually proud of me for making a choice to be more active.

It takes time to find your footing, no doubt, but you’ll never know how fulfilling new experiences can be unless you take that first step toward change.

“Some of the things that will produce these positive emotions involve a decision on a person’s part, and then you have to follow through,” DiFonzo said. “It’s sort of like playing the piano — it’s a lot of hard work for most people, and it’s not until you get somewhat good at it that you really start to get into it.”

Now, I know the whole “join a new club” and “college is a time to find yourself” spiel sounds cliche. But there’s a reason it’s stressed over and over again.

The purpose of college, yes, is to get an education. But it’s also a time for exploration. The college environments allow you to try so many new clubs, hidden passions and activities you never even knew you could like with very few consequences.

If you go to the first Fencing Club meeting of the year, but discover you really don’t have an interest in pursuing the skill, there is no pressure to return. There are endless opportunities on campus and in the Rochester area — it would be a shame to let them slip through your fingers.

I used to take pride in my stubbornness, until I realized it kept me from fully living.

Trying new things did change me as a person — but all for the best. I still get nervous before pursuing something new, but I’m even more afraid of who I’d be had I not popped my comfort bubble.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the students and do not reflect the views of REPORTER.

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What’s your biggest

IRRATIONAL FEAR?

by Becky Reich \ illustration by Michael Smith \ design by Cassy Smithies

The opinions expressed are solely those of the students and do not reflect the views of REPORTER.

“Getting run over by one of those skate boarding dudes on campus.”

“Snakes.”

Maha Khorhar Biomedical Science, Third Year

“Rejection in any way.”

Lukas Short Software Engineering, Third Year

Samuel Bassel Business Management, Fourth Year

“Being under things that can fall on you, like bridges, bunk beds, ceiling fans.”

Ariana Schuka Photojournalism, Photographic and First Imaging Year Arts, First Year

28 Views

“My fear is dying alone, with Ryan.”

Jae Yang Software Engingeering Fourth Year (Pictured Right)

(Pictured left) Ryan McMullan Environmental Sustainability Health and Saftey, Sixth Year

“Dying at an early age.”

Raquel Rojas Interior Design, Third Year

“My irrational fear is that whenever I enter a room it’s the only room that exists, and if I were to leave there would be nothing but empty space on the outside.”

Freya Diermayr Fine Arts, First Year

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compiled by Ali Johnston illustration by Juho Choi design by Ella Mathewson The opinions expressed are solely those of the students and do not reflect the views of REPORTER.

OCTOBER 2019

A Bermuda triangle of dentists June 10, 2019, 6:59 p.m.

Hit me with a brick but seductively Aug. 7, 2019, 3 p.m.

Just your typical day of choking June 7, 2019, 1 p.m.

I guess vagina humor is what makes it in Sept. 13, 2019, 11:22 a.m.

People think I’m attractive, but I’m actually just three ugly people stacked on top of each other May 19, 2019, 1:46 p.m.

(585) 672-4840 Text or call Rings: RIT’s only digital confessional 30 Views

Yeah you definitely can’t impregnate 13 people in two days Aug. 21, 2019, 11:53 p.m.

He used to be a teacher but he drank too much and became a musician Apr. 9, 2019, 5:33 p.m.

REPORTER

Our meetings are open to the RIT community. We REPORTER provide free pizza, you provide the story ideas!

Where: Campus Center A-730 When: Fridays at 5 p.m.

Our meetings are open to the RIT community. We provide free pizza, you provide the story ideas!

Where: Campus Center A-730 When: Fridays at 5 p.m.