Shannon McDonald
Archive for September 2007
Respect the city and it will respect you back
By Shannon McDonald | Sept. 25, 2007 | The Temple News
Philadelphia goes by many nicknames, some more pleasant than others. City of Neighborhoods, City of Brotherly Love, Filth-adelphia. As a life-long Philly citizen, I’ve heard them all, and even used a few on occasion. Call it what you want, but keep in mind that a person’s attitude toward the city is directly related to what that person gets back from the city.
Philadelphia has been slowly but surely building itself up over the years. Though it may not be as well known as New York, and not quite as glamorous as L.A., Philly has plenty to offer, as long as residents, visitors and tourists keep an open mind.
Much like any other bond, a person’s relationship with a city needs to be treated with care. Simply being in the city is not enough to warrant a good experience. Tourists seem to realize this, but Philadelphians often fail to consider this point.
The third-year divide
By Shannon McDonald | Sept. 4, 2007 | The Temple News
Ah, college. Parties, procrastination and 2 a.m. bowls of Ramen noodles. A place where going to bed at 5 a.m. and waking for class three hours later makes perfect sense. Then there’s the second half of college.
Like most, I spent my first two years of college enduring the days of seemingly endless classes and making plans to do whatever unscholarly activities
I could find at night. After long days of crunching numbers, observing rocks and writing until my hand fell off, the best way to unwind usually involved pajamas and a TV. Throw in some friends and a smörgåsbord of cheap food and I was set.
After just a week into the first semester of my third year, the second half of college is proving to be very different than the first. The classes aren’t harder, but the workload has my schoolbag bursting at the seams. Literally.
The amount of money I spent on books is twice what I’ve spent in previous semesters. Most of this year will be spent looking for internships. Forget movie marathons in pajamas, the only downtime I get is the short break between my classes. Before the semester started I didn’t even consider the possibility of this year being any different from my past experience. If anything, I thought it could only get easier. Continue reading
