OPINION

The Temple News THE ESSAYIST

PAGE 7

Embracing my identity by accepting my diagnosis

A student describes learning to accept ASD after letting it define him for years. BY JOSEPH LAWLER For The Temple News

When I was younger, I never felt like I fit in with other kids. I always thought I was different, that there was something stopping me from being just like everybody else.

Most people feel this way at some point, but the thoughts tend to fade when they grow up and build more confidence. However, feelings of not fitting in lasted for me because I knew there was evidence that made them true, like my diagnosis.

When I was 2 years old, a doctor told my parents they discovered the reason I acted differently: I have autism spectrum disorder.

ASD contributes to my heightened self-consciousness. I doubted and convinced myself that my friends and people I know don’t want to be around me; they were just pretending to like me for the sake of politeness. I felt I couldn’t act like myself, as someone with autism, because it would expose me as a freak to my peers.

To avoid being perceived negatively, I shut myself off. I didn’t participate in school activities or interact with my friends outside of school. In my mind, there was a voice telling me to hide.

“Sit back and be quiet,” it said. “Don’t tell too much about yourself. You can’t let them find out you’re different.”

This voice was constant and forced me to live in fear of a piece of my identity being discovered.

I thought if I didn’t tell anyone that I have ASD, it might go away so I could finally become “normal.” I was hurting myself, slowly closing off from the world and punishing myself for a condition I had no control over.

I always envied my friends who participated in various activities, like honors society, sports and clubs, because I wanted to feel like I belonged, but I didn’t feel like I could because of my autism.

By the time I was preparing for college this past summer, I was exhausted with hating myself and the fact I hid my true personality for so long.

I realized college was my opportunity to reinvent myself, to stop living the way the voice in my head told me too. While Temple is only a half-hour drive from my home, being in a city is a completely different environment full of new experiences, people and a chance for a new way to live my life.

I pushed myself to try to change how I lived my life in college by getting involved in activities I never would’ve considered when my anxiety held me back. I joined Temple Model United Nations to pursue an interest in politics, and Active Minds to focus on mental health, which is an important issue to me. I also finally explored my passion for writing by freelance writing for The Temple News.

I don’t just go to the clubs; I participate in them when I would’ve stayed silent before.

More importantly, I stopped focusing so much on what other people thought of me. I let myself be who I am, not the version of me that I thought would be accepted.

The person I tried to be — the one without ASD — doesn’t exist. I’m finally ready to leave behind the scared child with autism who hated who he was and the voice in my head reinforcing those feelings.

Now, a new voice is telling me to embrace myself and try new things.

This journey isn’t over for me yet; I still need to work on myself more. The pain I forced on myself as a child didn’t magically disappear. However, for the first time in my life, I’m starting to let myself live my life the way I want to.

My brain works a little bit differently than everyone else’s, but it’s not a bad thing. I’m learning how to accept myself — the real me — not the mask I put on around other people. While autism is a part of who I am, it isn’t my identity. I’m finally living my life on my own terms without hiding.

ALLYSON THARP / THE TEMPLE NEWS

joseph.lawler@temple.edu

PAGE 8

OPINION

The Temple News

THE ESSAYIST How I overcame fears of sharing my written work

A student describes her fears of criticism and how she is working to overcome it.

BY ALEXIS BRAY For The Temple News

I’ve been a writer with dreams of being an author for almost all of my life, but I had one obstacle blocking me — I was terrified of sharing the stories I’d written. Until four or five months ago, I hadn’t shared my creative and academic writing with my friends.

Writing was so key to who I was that the possibility of someone telling me my work wasn’t good enough meant that I wasn’t good enough as a person.

I faced my fear for the first time in my AP Language Composition class. I was mortified when my teacher informed the class that we’d be doing in-person workshops on our essays. The workshops would be a place for students to either praise each other’s work or make them regret ever signing up for the class.

Most of the essays required us to open up about our lives and feelings, but I knew that some classmates would see this as an opportunity to insult each other in the form of critiques and comments. One essay I wrote centered around the topic of identity, which was personal for me because I was 16 and extremely unsure of myself.

One by one, students shared their critiques: one positive comment, one place for improvement and one grammatical fix. A girl in my class decided to be condescending about how I’d chosen to write about my identity by saying it was uninteresting and boring. My face turned red in front of the class and hearing her criticism made me question a lot about my ability and myself.

I wanted to give up because my fears of sharing my work were reinforced through that interaction alone. However, my parents advised me to continue writing because I’d been doing it for so long and I loved it. With their encouragement, I chose a major I thought to be a perfect balance between my love for writing and my desire to remain emotionally closed off: journalism.

I thought that journalism was only reporting on the news, which made me feel like no one would judge my personal writing. In reality, it was so much broader than I could’ve imagined. It could be writing about sports, art or entertainment, all things that I loved.

I’d written for The Temple News’ News section for a couple of months before my friend Amna recommended I write for Opinion, as I’d been wanting more creative freedom in my stories. When I started freelancing for the Opinion section, I wasn’t sure of what I was getting into. I told myself that being afraid wouldn’t get me any further in my career, let alone my life.

I had an ultimate showdown with myself when it came to one of my first essays. It was about what womanhood meant to me, and as a queer person, I saw this as an opportunity to discuss how my queerness impacted my experience as a woman growing up, but it required me to out myself to my family.

I remember calling my best friend and asking her what I should do about the article. I wanted to publish it because I was so tired of living two separate lives at home and at school. She told me that not everyone is going to like what I write about, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t good at writing.

She helped me realize almost all my doubts about my writing were self-induced; I was my biggest critic. Sharing my work scared me, but not accomplishing my dreams or getting older knowing that I never even tried scared me more.

I still consider my work to be incredibly reflective of who I am and what I feel. Now when I share what I write, I no longer worry about the worst-case scenarios. Instead, I see it as an opportunity to connect with people who relate to what I write, and a chance to learn about others if they don’t relate to the material.

ALLYSON THARP / THE TEMPLE NEWS

alexis.bray@temple.edu

The Temple News

OPINION

PAGE 9

STUDENT LIFE

Students, sign up for flu shots at Temple’s clinics

Two students urge their peers to get flu shots as this year’s flu season may be severe.

BY SARAH FRASCA AND DARA ROGERS For The Temple News

The flu is making its comeback after two years of low infection rates. Now the virus raises concern of more severe impacts and a “twindemic,” where rates of the flu and COVID-19 could both surge simultaneously for the first time.

Students should routinely get yearly influenza vaccines but protecting themselves from the flu is especially important this year because it’s the first flu season since COVID-19 mitigations have been significantly relaxed. It could pose an increased risk of illness following a gap in immunity that occurred the past two years due to masking and social distancing, Healthline reported.

To help combat the flu’s spread on campus, Temple University Student Health Services offers free seasonal flu shots to all students and employees in vaccination clinics for the past 18 years. This year, they’ll be available at Morgan North Room D301 and the Health Sciences Campus until Oct. 26.

Students should take advantage of SHS flu shot clinics to protect themselves and their peers against the flu amid expectations of a potentially bad flu season.

Everyone six months and older should get vaccinated for the flu, with rare exceptions, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, Temple SHS only administered approximately 3,300 flu shots last flu season, as COVID-19 vaccinations overshadowed flu shot efforts, said Mark Denys, senior director of health services.

During the 2019-20 flu season at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, an estimated 390,000 people were hospitalized nationwide, a significant decrease from the 2017-18 season in which 710,000 people were hospitalized, according to the CDC.

College students are particularly at risk of catching the flu because their general living and social habits can lead to increased exposure and decreased immunity, according to MedlinePlus, a database of health information in the National Library of Medicine.

“College students live in very close quarters,” Denys said. “They tend to go out and they travel in packs, and a lot of times they may not be getting the sleep they need because they’re studying and doing other things.”

Students can make an appointment to receive their flu shot on the Patient Heath Portal by clicking the “Appts” tab and choosing “Flu Shots” as the appointment type. Then, students can choose a time from one of the clinic dates that works best for them. If a student’s schedule doesn’t align with any available slots, they can also schedule an individual appointment with SHS.

It’s important that students make appointments to get vaccinated sooner than later, as it’s best to get a flu shot before the end of October for optimal protection from the peak of flu season, Healthline reported. Waiting too long could be especially dangerous this year because more serious infection rates are expected to start in October instead of between December and February if the virus follows trends in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Southern Hemisphere, which has already experienced severe infection rates, typically reflects what is to come in the Northern Hemisphere because it experiences winter, and therefore flu season, six months ahead of the Northern Hemisphere. Experts use those trends to predict the type of flu season the United States will have before it hits, NPR reported.

The flu hit historically low rates in the past two years, now people have weakened immunity against the virus because less people have been recently exposed.

“There’s just potentially less immunity in the population and so getting vaccinated is a direct way to boost your immunity toward the flu, especially if you didn’t get that vaccine previously,” said Kirsten Wiens, an epidemiology and biostatistics professor who specializes in infectious diseases.

The unusually bad flu season could be worse when combined with COVID-19. Omicron variants of the COVID-19 virus are currently mild, but if they persist as the flu begins to spread rapidly, the combination of both viruses could put a lot of pressure on the country’s healthcare system, NPR reported.

“I hope that the experiences of the pandemic and the lessons we’ve learned from it have shown people the importance of vaccines, and how lucky we are to have vaccines that protect us from things like the flu,” said Natalie Kimmerlein, a senior public health major. “I’m hopeful that people have a better appreciation for preventative measures for infectious diseases.”

The flu could prove devastating this year, especially combined with COVID-19, if proper precautions aren’t taken. Luckily, Temple students can prepare by taking advantage of free vaccine clinics that will protect themselves and others from this year’s flu season.

KATELYN XAVIER / THE TEMPLE NEWS

sarah.frasca@temple.edu @sarahhfrasca daraerodgers@temple.edu @dara_rogers_

The Temple News

STUDENT LIFE

Practice safe sex amid surge in STI transmission

A student argues their peers should test for STIs and have conversations with parters. BY MOLLY FISKE

Assistant Opinion Editor

Temple University has a reputation for being the most sexually active college campus in the country, but the risk of contracting a sexually transmitted infection is becoming more likely as transmission rates increase nationally and locally.

Philadelphia has the fourth highest STI transmission rates in the United States as of the beginning of this year. STI rates are also rising nationwide, including a 26 percent increase in syphilis, a potential result of increased sexual activity after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, CBS News reported.

One in four college students has an STI and they are particularly at risk of transmitting and receiving an STI, according to HealthNewsHub. College-age students are more sexually active and may be less experienced with using protection while having sex, said Thomas Trojian, assistant clinical director for student health operations at Student Health Services.

Chlamydia, herpes and HPV are the three most common STIs among Temple’s student body, according to Student Health Services.

As STI rates reach heights unseen in decades in the U.S. due to COVID-19 restrictions being lifted, it’s important for sexually active students to communicate with their partners about using protection and testing regularly for STIs to help prevent transmission. Normalizing these conversations can encourage safe sex practices and reduce the stigma that considers someone, with an STI or who has tested for an STI, to be “unclean” or “impure.”

Temple students can register for STI testing on the Patient Health Portal as a precautionary measure or if they know they’ve been exposed.

Students do not need health insurance to receive an STI test at Student Health Services. All testing is available on a sliding scale, meaning if a student doesn’t have insurance, Student Health will charge based on the person’s income, said Michelle Scarpulla, a social and behavioral sciences professor and former employee of Answer, a national organization that provides sexual education.

Organizations near Main Campus like the Mazzoni Center, an LGBTQ-focused health and wellness establishment, offer STI and HIV testing at 1348 Bainbridge Street. Planned Parenthood also offers STI testing at the Elizabeth Blackwell Health Center at 1144 Locust Street. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation also has an STI testing location at 1211 Chestnut Street, Suite 405.

“If you’re having multiple sexual partners, especially something on a college campus, that’s your moral responsibility to tell other kids if you have symptoms,” said Liana Hoffman, a junior health professions major.

However, many STIs appear asymptomatic. If someone rarely engages in sexual activity or has sex once or twice a year, they should test annually, while people with multiple partners should test as often as possible. New couples should get tested before having unprotected sex, according to the National Coalition for Sexual Health.

Although some Temple students may use a form of birth control to help prevent pregnancy, most contraceptives do not stop the spread of STIs. Condoms are the only contraceptive that can assist in reducing the risk of both pregnancy and infection.

Free condoms are available at Temple’s Wellness Resource Center, Student Health Services and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health wellness centers located at1930 South Broad Street and 1900 North 20th Street.

Condoms are more than 90 percent effective in preventing STIs, yet only 62 percent of college students usually or always use condoms, according to CollegeStats, a database of college-related research.

However, condoms are not 100 percent effective at preventing the spread of STIs, so every sexual experience could pose risk of transmission. To practice lower-risk safe sex, students should have open, nonjudgmental conversations about sexual health with their partner and ask when their last STI test was, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It’s better to discuss sexual health in a neutral location that isn’t the bedroom where both parties feel comfortable and are unable to be interrupted, Scarpulla said. Students should have these conversations before they get intimate.

“Honest health communication is the best that we can do,” said Anne Frankel, a social and behavioral sciences professor. “The only way we’re going to de-stigmatize this issue is by discussing it.”

Having an active sex life in college is normal, but students must have honest and open conversations with a partner prior to sex. If anyone is sexually active, it is important to utilize risk reduction strategies like frequent testing and using protection.

“If you say yes to sex, say yes to testing,” Trojian said.

ALLYSON THARP / THE TEMPLE NEWS

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LIVE in Philly

EARL KUFEN / THE TEMPLE NEWS

DJs entertain guests at the Center City District Parks’ Harvest Weekend. Fall Festival calls for music, food and fun

Philadelphia’s parks department host an event with activities for adults and children.

BY EARL KUFEN Photo Editor

Center City District Parks hosted their annual Harvest Weekend featuring different activities for both children and adults. The event included hay mazes and more than 60 vendors ranging from homemade jewelry to alcoholic juice. People gathered around to listen to DJs and local bands while enjoying the festivities with their friends and family.

The Philly Tarot Deck sold printed tarot cards celebrating Philadelphia by replacing the original images with famous Philadelphians. For example, the Temperance card, which represents bringing calmness and moderation, had Philadelphia 76ers player Joel Embiid printed on it.

Vanessa Banks and Paige Melin from Buffalo, New York, who are visiting Philadelphia, were shopping and sightseeing different city landmarks like the Liberty Bell and Reading Terminal Market, when they found themselves at the event.

Although they didn’t buy anything, Banks and Melin spent their time people watching and enjoying the pumpkin ale sold by the local vendors.

Valerie Pollak, an out-of-town attendee from Pittsburgh owns and operates The Painted Carrot, a small business that sells watercolor prints and painted pots. She started a small business before the pandemic to help raise money for her mom, who needed money for ALS treatment.

While her company is based in Pittsburgh, she drove nearly five hours to Dilworth Park to sell painted pots, coloring books and watercolor prints. “The coloring books I made these when she was sick to raise money for her home care and the rest the of the money went to The ALS Association,” Pollack said, in reference to her mother. Dixon O’Banion, a student visiting from New York University, came to the event to explore the local Halloween scene with his girlfriend, Caylee Honda, a nurse who works at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The two enjoyed waffle fries and pumpkin beers from the stand, but mostly the presence of each other.

terry.kufen@temple.edu

MOVING CLOCKWISE FROM THE TOP

EARL KUFEN / THE TEMPLE NEWS

Employee serves apple cider to a visitor at the Center City District Parks’ Harvest Weekend.

Glass shop offers a discount on glass decorative pumpkins and strawberries.

Family looks at a selection of jewelry.

Attendee views a selection of coats.

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The Temple News

FASHION

FEATURES

PAGE 15

Student’s small business creates college apparel

Rewritten Apparel is a studentrun business targeted toward students and sports fans.

BY MARIYUM RIZWAN Features Editor

Emily Koch was sitting on the kitchen counter in her apartment one night, scrolling through tabs of inventory to order for her sweatshirt business, Rewritten Apparel. While tabulating the costs for the shirts and hoodies for her first pop-up shop, she found that she could not afford to invest the $1,000 needed for the merchandise.

“I sort of knew that there’s always a risk that you lose all of it or some of it or you don’t make all of it back,” said Koch, a senior political science major. “And I just decided I just have to trust myself to just do it. And if things don’t sell, they don’t sell. And hopefully, I’ll sell them eventually.”

But the financial risk was worth it when Koch sold all the readymade garments at the pop-up shop at The Nest.

At first, Rewritten only offered Temple University apparel and Philadelphia “birds” memorabilia but now the company is ready to reach a larger audience by extending its collection to other universities and sports teams outside of Philadelphia. Koch receives an average of 28 to 29 orders per month and sells her items on Etsy, at pop-up shops and through Instagram.

“I love my primary audience being Temple and Philly because that’s my home and community, but it’s so amazing that someone across the country or in Florida has a sweatshirt of mine,” Koch said.

Koch started her small business during her senior year at Towson High School near Baltimore because she enjoyed thrifting and repurposing her old clothes. However, it wasn’t until her friends began looking for college apparel after they committed to college that she realized there was a market for university-themed clothing.

“As I got closer to going to school, and I realized that other people are getting closer to going into school, everybody sort of wanted original college apparel, tailgate apparel, things like that,” Koch said.

The business started in 2019, but Koch took a two-year hiatus to focus on her mental health. It was difficult for her to find a work-life balance when juggling college, financial expenses and the loneliness of quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic.

When she returned to her business in 2021, Koch wanted her company to provide a more personal experience for customers as opposed to when they buy from large companies, like Amazon.

“As much as it is I’m just delivering a product to people, I want people to know that there’s a person behind those products, and I come up with every single one of my designs,” Koch said.

Koch’s roommate, Mia Iannucci, a senior advertising major, has helped in the design, production and execution of sales and pop-up shops. She has seen their living room turn into a factory with designs, boxes and materials scattered across their floors.

“Watching Rewritten grow on campus and social media from a few designs and few followers to thousands has been truly amazing,” Iannucci said.

Jaymi Torjman, a junior psychology major, was one of Koch’s first customers at Temple. She purchased one of Rewritten’s most popular designs, a hoodie with vinyl lettering on the back that reads “Text me when you get to Temple.”

“I had been wanting to buy from her before, but she was always super busy and it never worked out, so when she launched a website, I was so excited to buy from her,” Torjman said.

Hannah Seewald, a senior communication and social influence major, met Koch through Temple’s chapter of Ignite, a women’s political advocacy organization.

She has supported Koch throughout her business endeavors by helping her draw clothing designs and model the apparel on Rewritten’s Instagram account.

“Emily is an artist and loves doing what she does,” Seewald said. “She’s always making news designs, and she truly cares about the quality of her work and creating a relationship with everyone who buys from her.”

While Koch studies abroad in London for the remainder of the Fall semester, she plans to continue selling through her Etsy store and working with another manufacturer to help her print more tailgate designs. After graduation, she wants to continue working for herself and creating more designs.

“I’m a very big believer in just letting things happen and things happen how they’re supposed to,” Koch said. “So, if it doesn’t work out, I always have my degree and I can always fall back on it and get a nine to five but we’re going to try and push that off for as long as I can.”

COURTESY / EMILY KOCH

mariyum.rizwan@temple.edu