When I was a kid, my mom would take me and my big sister to the Turlock public library once a week where we’d walk out with a stack of bedtime stories so big she could barely carry it to the car, and I didn’t help because I was two. Three days later we’d have read through the entire stack and then spend the next four days vehemently demanding that our parents reread our favorites.

Thank God for patient parents.

I’ve been pro-library for all of my remembered life (as I’d wager to guess most people reading this post are), but I’ve been a library advocate for the last four years. I’ve also been attending college for the last four years. Coincidence? I think not!

The rise in College tuitions disproportionate to the rate of inflation is a real issue, one that merits someone more educated and better researched on the topic to talk about it than I. But, from a student’s perspective, I can at the very least attest to my growing respect for any medium designed to share knowledge for free.

Your local library, whether it be part of the Stanislaus County System, or something grander like the New York or Los Angeles public systems, has been and will continue to fight to keep up with the times and present you with as much convenient access to as much knowledge as is feasible.

And they’re happy to help you personally too!

You should use them!

They will love you!

You should also use your university library.

While my lifelong heart clearly lies with the public libraries and librarians across the world, when it comes to bare bones facts and knowledge, it’s University libraries that win out.

The Vasche Library, Stanislaus’s own building, feels massive. In its pre-renovation state, walking in the first-floor tutoring center and realizing that there were three whole floors to the building was like opening a wardrobe and realizing that there was an entire Narnia out there waiting for you.

The first true realization of, like, my mental mortality, was walking into the Vasche Library and realizing that if I spent the rest of my life trying to read and understand every book in that building, I would die before I even got halfway through the collection.

Which is why I opened up my laptop in the study section and played Minecraft instead.

(My Minecraft Library)

No that’s not a joke, yes it is still funny. A University library has this awesome energy to it, of holding some of greatest collections of human knowledge over the course of all of history, so much so that that we have to choose and use our time carefully within it, which sometimes means researching gender norms in early Amerindian civilizations, and sometimes means playing Minecraft.

Both are valid in their own time!

But most importantly, and what really gives college libraries the edge over public ones is that coveted coveted access to thousands of scholarly articles from hundreds of different peer-reviewed journals that are otherwise hidden behind a superfluous paywall the journals have (one that rarely pays the actual authors/researchers, by the way) and opens the door to you learning about the most recent, cutting-edge research about anything.

The university library lets students bypass the paywalls and obstacles put up to make the access of knowledge difficult. Libraries make it easy. They are the key that opens the lock to the questions about the universe you’ve had burning in your mind since you could first ask “why?”

That is what made me realize that college was special. Not the smart and approachable professors, not the beautiful campus, no not even the friendly cats.

It was the library, and its website.

There are times to sit down and work on that sweet grind mining for diamonds, and then there are times when you can do yourself a favor by literally expanding your horizons and knowledge of the world by surfing the library website. It may sound melodramatic (and we all know I have a tendency for that too) but it’s true!

Your university library is awesome!

Take full advantage of it!

On January 10th 2020 adrenaline coursed through me making me toss and turn without a wink of sleep, because within 24 hours, I would have done my first solo trip ever, resulting in me being picked up at an airport and taken to Heredia Costa Rica by a family that only spoke Spanish and I had only exchanged a couple emails with. It was the start of the most memorable and influential two months of my life.

When I was graduating high school I had lots of preconceived notions about what University life would be like. There’s an ideal to it all, of broadening your horizons, learning more about yourself and the world, and preparing you for career life post-college.

When I got to college, I realized that while all those positive notions were true, there was also a lot of pesky studying and test-taking that I had to do to actually get to the “broadening horizons” portion of college. Who would’ve thunk?

Study Abroad, however, is one of those little nuggets of college that I discovered to be as much “broadening horizons” and as little “peskiness” as possible, and it’s one of the most concrete examples I can point to of how college changed my life and made me into a better person.

I want to emphasize that I give studying abroad the most glowing review I possibly can. For two and a half months (a semester-long venture cut short by the now-infamous, then a rumorous whisper, Coronavirus) I developed more self-confidence, more language skills, and more world-wisdom than I have in any other period of my life.

And Brittany Fentress, the Stan State Study Abroad Director, works harder and is more enthusiastic about giving students that experience than anyone I’ve ever met.

I could go on for literal days about my Costa Rica experience, talking about how I made such fast and strong friendships, how I went from an academic to a working understanding of Spanish, or how living with a Tico family gave me a different perspective to view the world. But in the hope of maintaining some sort of focus to this post, I want to emphasize: Studying Abroad is way more doable than you think it is.

Brittany is for real some sort of secret Super Heroine of Stan State.

For me, it was a flyer taped onto a telephone pole. “Want to see the world? Attend a STUDY ABROAD information session!” Others have reportedly gotten the word through professorial endorsements, some through the Warrior Weekly emails, some through Instagram, some through the Study Abroad fair held in the quad.

The advertisements, nay, the invitations, are everywhere. And they’re inviting you.

I went to an information session, and was one of maybe four or five people who sat down with a student assistant, someone who had actually studied abroad themselves, had a nice PowerPoint explaining to us the process, and then some of her own stories.

It was so cool to not just hear the enthusiasm from someone who had actually gone through the experience we were all thinking of, but hearing the other reassurances that:

You can Study Abroad and still graduate in four years.

Studying Abroad can help you get a job.

You don’t have to break the bank to Study Abroad.

After the info session, we were handed a couple little forms that we filled out based on why we were thinking about studying abroad. Questions about what we were most worried about, how much institutional support we wanted, if we wanted to live with a homestay family or in dorms, and all the like.

I then sent that form to none other than the Study Abroad Director herself, who scheduled a personal one-on-one meeting with me. I walked into Brittany’s office, she was kind and formal, sat me down, and said: “Okay, so Costa Rica is perfect for you.”

“What?” I hadn’t even considered the country as an option.

“Well, you want to work on your Spanish, right?” She said. “You want to have a homestay, and you want a program with a strong support network. I’ve got a couple contacts with Heredia, and they have one of the most involved programs. They’ll take you on tours, field trips, museums, and they even have a Panama trip over Spring Break if you want to sign up for it.”

As the conversation progressed, Brittany’s official position melted away bit by bit as her enthusiasm for study abroad took over. I later realized that she did this for everyone.

Every single student at Stanislaus who studies abroad, gets a personal meeting with Brittany where she takes into account your exact worries, wants, and needs, and gives you advice on the program that is best suited for you, injecting some of her enthusiasm into you as well.

Readers, friends, if you want to see the world, there are people at Stanislaus with official jobs and a literal life passion to get you to do just that.

If my pictures seem really cool to you, if you’ve ever looked at a globe and daydreamt of trotting it, if you’ve ever wanted to get out of Turlock without getting out of Stanislaus, I beg of you, check out one of the Study Abroad information sessions. It might just change your life.

And if you’re not convinced by me (who can only fit so many words into one blog post!) check out some of these resources that are already out there. Follow @stanstatestudyabroad on Instagram for personal experiences and advertisements, read up on the official webpage: https://eie.csustan.edu/office-international-education-study-abroad , or even check out the brand new podcast that the department is starting, which I get to be a guest host on in their episode coming out in April!

You too, with a little bit of gumption, can become a Warrior Abroad!

So, I’ve been struggling lately. Have you?

I hope that you’re doing okay. How have you been coping?

Oh, me? I’ve been coping the same way I always do.

The choreography I’m performing in that gif is from Just Dance 3‘s cover of Boogie Wonderland by the way. Good song. High energy. There’s even four different parts to it in case you get bored.

It would be nice if I were joking, but unfortunately, I am not.

College is REWARDING but DIFFICULT.

My fellow Stan Student blogger Aliyah made a post just before Thanksgiving encouraging all of us to take time out over the break to focus on rejuvenation and mental wellness. I read her post and enthusiastically agreed to it, thinking it a good and proper thing to do.

I then spent a good portion of Thanksgiving week working anyways. Partly because I needed to, let’s be honest, but also partly because I can be a foolish lad who thinks himself incapable of burnout due to my insatiable hubris.

NaNoWriMo (which went splendidly! I ended November with 52k words written!) in addition to regular assignments, Thanksgiving meal prep, quarantining for family’s sake, preparing for life post-graduation, midterms, final papers, and research assignments all ended up being a lot!

College is intended to be rigorous. It’s supposed to be a succession of years where you put your nose to the grindstone and learn, better yourself, and prepare for a launch into the rest of your life. Those are all good and worthy things, but they’re also a lot! And any student, college or high schooler, can tell you about the end-of-the-semester pileup of assignments.

In the week of this posting, I will be working on four separate papers in addition to an exam.

So you know what I’m doing?

I’m DANCING.

I mean, I’m studying too, but hear me out.

While studying abroad in Costa Rica, I discovered that the most important class I took wasn’t actually any of my Spanish grammar or conversation classes, it was “Dances of Latin America” where we learned how to bachata, merengue, chachacha, salsa and cumbia. It wasn’t the most important in an academic sense, but it was a pallet cleanser from the rigorous Spanish tracks.

Each Wednesday evening we’d go out to our dance class in the park, learn some new spinning and topsy-turvy move involving incredibly flexible hips and elbows, and then on Thursdays we’d go out dancing after class to practice our newly acquired moves. It was fantastic, fun, and freeing, and I found myself better able to handle my assignments the next day because of it.

According to a medically reviewed Healthline article by Sara Lindberg, the benefits of dancing include challenging your brain, boosting cognitive performance, and boosting your mood. When I’m feeling swamped with life and schoolwork, those are three things I desperately need.

And while I’m no scientist, my experience with my classes in Costa Rica really seemed to imply that dancing really was just as healthy as Lindberg’s article describes.

Today clubs are closed, but honestly? Dancing is just as fun when you’re alone in your room, or with your cat. If you can’t tell, I’ve been drinking deeply from the fount of Just Dance. But I’ve also sometimes just thrown on Spotify, turned the lights off, and felt the vibes. Even if dancing isn’t your thing (which I totally understand if it isn’t!) just listening to some of your favorite music and nodding to the beat can help.

Will dancing write my papers for me? No. Will it make me into someone that’s capable of writing the papers? Yes.

My first long-time real-person “I’m-an-adult-now” job during my time at Stan State was a part-time custodial position at a local Turlockian church. I quite liked the job actually, and worked it for the first two years of my Undergrad. It was nice and made it much easier to pay the bills or go out to Main Street with friends on the weekends, and I’m very glad that I got the experience from it!

Yet, among the more interesting things that happened thanks to my transformation into the Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart of part-time janitors, was the unexpected side-effect that I spent a great deal of time thinking about toilets.

Therefore, as a former custodian, I feel that I’m qualified to present to you my professional opinion on what I believe to be the top three bathrooms of Stanislaus State University:

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3. Naraghi Hall of Science Bathrooms (second floor)

You learn things being a custodian. Things such as what the most important aspects of a good bathroom are. While the second-floor Naraghi Hall of Science restrooms may not have one aspect in particular that they excel at, they are a perfectly comfortable blend of all the most vital aspects.

These bathrooms are centrally located on campus, across the way from the old bookstore, a hop skip and a jump from the quad, and near to just about every second language class, math class, or science class that will be held for undergraduate students.

Not only do these bathrooms have a rigorous cleaning schedule and modern stylings, but the second floor bathrooms in particular have an excellent view of the first floor after you exit or while you wait outside for the staff to finish their cleaning. Sometimes, the best thing one can ask for in a bathroom, is simply that nothing is left wanting. These restrooms leave nothing to be desired.

10 out of 10. Bathrooms check every requirement.

2. University Art Gallery Restrooms (Theatre building lobby)

One of the aspects of good bathrooms, and one that is actually a little bit of an industry secret (don’t let anyone know that I’m the one who told you) is that the atmosphere and aura of a bathroom can be just as pivotal to its success as other more obvious aspects.

Can one truly claim to be a student of Stanislaus without having used the Theatre ground floor restrooms? I’m not sure if one can. I’ve previously advocated for the duality of Stanislaus in having the vibes of both a small town and a big-city school, and the restrooms across the lobby hall from the University Art Gallery are the pinnacle examples of big-city school atmosphere.

What better feeling can you have than the experience felt after exiting a restroom and walking straight into an art gallery? You will feel not just the wonderful solidarity that accompanies appreciating and supporting the artistry of your peers, but also as if you are the fanciest of all peoples. “Yes yes,” you will say, “I don’t ever feel as if I’ve fully relieved myself unless I’m able to conveniently appreciate artwork by walking less than fifteen paces away from my porrrrcelain thrrrone” (you will roll your r’s after using these facilities, they’re that fancy).

10 out of 10. Bathrooms create the perfect vogue aesthetic.

1. Al-Brenda all-weather track Restrooms (behind the bleachers)

But naturally, as you likely have already guessed, the number one important aspect to a bathroom’s excellence is its pure unadulterated utility. And unlike other Stan State bathrooms that have earned their placement on this prestigious list, the Al-Brenda restrooms earn its placement and it’s sweeping first prize by utility and utility alone.

Dear readers, if you have ever finished running your fastest mile time in your life on the Al-Brenda track, you will find the sweat on your forehead hot to the touch, your lungs will be so full and expanded that you empathize with balloons, and your vision will be spotty with bright lights from exertion.

It is in this moment of great need that you will fall on your knees and thank the Al-Brenda bathrooms simply for existing. The two exterior drinking fountains alone are a life saver, and if it’s not enough refreshment for you there then you can stumble into the bathrooms themselves, forgetting to turn the lights on due to your single-minded exhaustion, and stick your head into the sink and get dangerously close to water-boarding yourself as you splash the cool refreshing life-giving water onto your face and half of your shirt.

10 out of 10. Bathroom (hyperbolically) saved my life.

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And thus, Nathan’s long pined for secret of the top 3 Stan State bathrooms is finally revealed. Use this information wisely. With great power comes great responsibility, after all.

But Remember! No bathroom would be given any accords without an excellent custodial staff! So if you ever find yourself walking around Stanislaus campus, be sure to be friendly and thank your facility workers!