Day 4:
You’re back for more! Oh goodie! Check out some of the HC~culture~
Kait: Normally TV is muh layfe, but this school semester has been insanely hectic for me, so there have only been two shows in 2019 I’ve made it a point to keep up with every week: RuPaul’s Drag Race (which I always have time for, let’s be real) and a Comedy Central show called The Other Two. It’s written by Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider, two really funny former Saturday Night Live writers who wrote sketches like the instant classic music video “Do It On My Twin Bed.” It’s a super funny send-up of YouTube-driven GenZ celebrity culture with really endearing characters. (A good starter is this music video, in which a teen star named ChaseDreams outs his brother. It’s really cringey and I die laughing.)
Lauren: As much as I hate to admit it, I’m a sucker for social media. Yes I know, our society’s culture surrounding social media has a lot of negative tags on it, but if you know where to look it can be really enlightening and inspiring. I owe a lot of my newfound fitness journey and body positivity to Instagram, believe it or not. I’m not talking about the obviously photoshopped models with their missing bellybuttons, extra fingers, etc. I follow many body-positivity influencers on Instagram, as well as models that the fashion industry typically “won’t accept because they aren’t a size 2.” Being as tall as I am, I’m proportionally wider at the hips and shoulders. Imagine taking a picture on Microsoft Word and dragging it out diagonally, that’s how my body is. However, the modern fashion industry doesn’t recognize that fact for tall girls like me, and assumes all tall girls are automatically size 4s, and I have to move to the plus-size section just to find something that’ll fit my hips. The body positivity culture on instagram that’s present with models such as Ashley Graham, Laura Brioschi, and Stephanie Blommensteijn have really encouraged me to accept the fact that my body just isn’t made for size 4, it never will be made for size 4, and to accept and love the body that I’m in, which is an admittedly long journey that I’ve been taking. Therefore, I’m a huge lover of the body positivity culture that some social media can provide.
Rebecca: As a second semester senior, I am shockingly close to the ever-terrifying, ever-present “real world,” and one of my biggest revelations of late is that no one ever has any idea what they’re doing. I’m serious. Whether intern, young professional, or seasoned manager, we’re ALL making it up as we go – it’s not just a symptom of being a student or a young person. Once I realized that I don’t need to have it all figured out (and no one actually has it all figured out), it felt like I was finally able to let go a breath I’d been holding in for a long time. Of course, we all come in with some knowledge from school and experience, but so much of life is actually just trying to make it through, one challenge at a time. It’s like my sister told me a few weeks ago: you’ll just keep treading water, until one day you’ll look up and realize you made it across the pool.
So keep on making sh*t up as you go along. Everyone else is, too.
Grace: The past few years I’ve been on my grind, prioritizing school and doing things that are beneficial for me in the long run. I feel like I’m part of the hustle culture already at the age of 21. I’m focused on my goals and getting where I need to be in my programs rather than going out partying and attending all the social events I can (I’m not condemning people that do that but I’m just not in that place anymore). Sometimes it’s difficult because I see how much fun people are having but I remind myself all my hard work will pay off in the future, if I just focus on getting things done now. This could be seen in saying no to plans, early mornings and late nights studying at my bedside table, and cutting off anybody who’s not healthy for me, because I don’t have time for that negativity. Being part of the hustle culture is the ultimate grind, but I know it’ll all be worth it one day.
Rae: Because of who I am as a person, my favorite bit of culture right now is that stupid cheese throwing meme. I don’t know why but I think it’s the absolute funniest shit in the world. The noise it makes when all of its artificial chemicals hit your sleeping roommate’s face at 2am, man there’s nothing like it. That and when people do it to their dogs and the dogs get either really excited and try to eat the cheese at all costs or just look like they want to die. I’m calling it the kraft singles slap. I know it has a name but the #cheesechallenge sounds just so inferior to the #singlesslap which know that I’m thinking about it, could have many other meanings, but fr now, it’s just throwing cheese at your friends.