My speech for Epsilon Delta's first Senior Showcase on April 21, honoring graduating seniors and allowing them to impart a few words of farewell: For those who were around for my original Philosophy of Life speech, they might remember what brought me to Phi Sigma Pi. I lost one of my close friends from high …
Easter Sunday.
Four years ago, I spent Easter morning watching the sunrise on the east coast of Florida. I had spent the night with some of my best friends and we had caravanned to Cocoa Beach because it also happened to be my 18th birthday. We waded in the water, drawing our names in the sand and …
I want to write about you.
It has been a long time since I sat down and really wrote. I mean, I write everyday…I write news stories and class notes. I write emails and tweets and Facebook posts. I write texts. Yet today I was inspired, I wanted to write. Today I met someone who is extraordinary and inspiring. Today I …
USF – I’m going to make this place your home.
Working on a college campus during the summer is an interesting experience. Students disappear and parking lots are empty and it is easy to get used to being able to whip around campus and make it to work on time. Move-In Day was yesterday here at USF and classes start Monday so students have began …
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You are.
You are grass. You are lying in the grass, rolling onto your back. You are the sun shining through the window, like laughter on a rainy day. You are a welcome mat. Always in the doorway, observing silently, stoic – but always there nonetheless. Like a beacon in the night, you are arms thrown open, …
Listening is an act of love and stories are gifts.
I had heard of Storycorps, even watched a few of the animated shorts they feature on their website, but I didn’t know much about the project so I asked for "Listening is an Act of Love" for my birthday. It sat on the shelf for a couple of months, while the semester ended and life …
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We are so young – reactions to Marina Keegan’s life & death
Recently I read this article written by Marina Keegan, a recent Yale graduate and student journalist who had been hired by The New Yorker. Keegan wrote about her feelings, “the opposite of loneliness” at Yale and encouraged her peers to remember that "we’re so young. We’re so young. We’re twenty-two years old. We have so …
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Senior citizens brighten my day at prom
Every year since 2003, the University of South Florida’s Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement has held a Senior Citizen Prom. This year’s ninth annual prom was held on Wednesday, Feb. 8. Local senior citizens, many from St. Joseph’s John Knox, a retirement home, were transported to campus to attend the prom. I did not …
Jamaica, yah mon
When I think of Jamaica, I think of a tiny tourist town off the southern coast and it’s beautiful, open residents. I think of a little blonde woman with the patience of a saint and the drive to do anything. I think of a loving woman’s jerk chicken and rice, of an entertaining bus driver …
Meghan Mangrum 