A column that never really became a column

As young children, my mom never wanted us to use the word “hate,” because of its strong and negative meaning that, as youngsters, we probably wouldn’t fully understand. So my siblings and I learned to say that we “didn’t like” something instead. That worked for a little bit, until I realized there were things that I could truly hate.

One of those things is casseroles. I absolutely hate casseroles.

When we were growing up, my parents had this philosophy where each of us kids had to try everything set before us—twice. Yes, not one bite, but two. This mild form of torture was supposed to ensure that we weren’t letting our mind say we didn’t like something before our taste buds told our brain it really was okay. That was probably a good rule to establish, and I’m not a picky eater today thanks to this philosophy, but everyone in my family knows when it comes to casseroles, I really struggle to get my fork up to my mouth.

My mom is one amazing and talented cook, so thankfully, casseroles do not make it onto our dinner table very often. Most of my experiences with casseroles have been either at potlucks or friends’ houses.

It’s always amusing to see the variety of casseroles—chicken and rice casserole, chicken and pasta casserole, green bean casserole, tuna casserole, broccoli and cheese casserole—the list could go on and on about all these one-dish-mix-it-all-together-mystery-meals.

You may be wondering exactly what types of casseroles I hate. Basically, any combination of creamed soup, meat, veggies, cheese or bread crumbs that is then assembled into a Pyrex pan and left to bake itself to death in the oven, or “until the top is golden brown and the cheese is melted.”

I never understood why one would concoct such a meal. I’ve heard it’s a good way to use up all those leftovers from the week. In my family, we still eat leftovers, but never in the form of casseroles. I’ve also heard it’s economical. Well, I’ll leave that up to you to decide, but I think there are plenty of other food choices that would be just as appealing to the checkbook as they are to the palate. And then finally, I’ve heard it’s quick. However, zapping something in the microwave for a minute sounds much quicker to me than waiting for a casserole to bake an hour at 350 degrees.

But before you conclude that I’m simply and ungratefully rambling on about food I don’t like, believe me when I say that I’m thankful for all the food that is set before me—I’m just trying to find a way to be thankful for something that I hate so much. 





Kalyn Kinomoto
Column
Spring 2009

I've figured it out!

Two things I've always enjoyed in life are 1) being creative and 2) helping people. With the realization that I really am graduating from college soon (as in five months soon), I backtracked in my mind a bit and found that my course of study is a perfect fit for those two things I love. Good thing, because after coming this far I'm not changing my major again!

Why journalism? Why public relations? How do these two aspects of my major correlate to being creative and helping people? Simply stated: everything!

In journalism, it's my job to inform people, to bring topics of interest within reach for them. It also requires a large amount of creativity. I'm not only informing people, I'm trying to get them engaged and interested in the news topic at hand. This cannot happen without some degree of creativity. In public relations, my entire job is (or should be) devoted to helping people. Whether I'm on the outside looking in or on the inside looking out, it is crucial to be helping those in my organization and/or "public." Tackling this responsibility (among others) also requires a great deal of creativity.

It's exciting for me to have finally figured out that this major was for me. Sure, when I was an FCS major and later a piano major I could've been creative and helped people, but not quite to this degree. I absolutely love what I'm learning and can't wait to use it all in the world outside of academics in a few short months from now.

My only question to myself: Why did it take me this long to figure it all out?!

I made the big switch

to a Mac! This change, however, didn't come without its problems--or complications. I have to agree with a friend who wrote this column about her new Mac experience a few months ago, that switching from a PC to a Mac is different, but I don't regret it.

Although my switch was a bit complicated. You see, there was this sale and I'm Asian, and I love sales. So I waited patiently for this student promotion (buy a Mac get an iPod) to begin. The day after I buy my new Mac, I read in the Seattle Times of a newer Mac that had been released that day. Yep, the this always happens. Right after I fork over (or more like swipe the plastic in this case) the money and hope I won't regret my big purchase, something bigger and better comes out. I know the marketing strategy behind that, but seriously, the DAY after? Come on!

Well it's no big deal that there's a new Mac, right? Not exactly. This newer one is faster. And has an illuminated keyboard. And has a battery with the potential 7-hour charge. And is not only a Macbook but a Macbook Pro. And lastly, but most importantly, it was CHEAPER. What? How could this be? I could save more money? What was I going to do now?

I look at my receipt and find that I can return my opened Mac, but I would be charged $120 because it was already opened. Hmm . . . was it worth the trouble? We would soon find out. Skeptical of my ability to return and re-buy, I went to the Apple Store and talked to their "specialist." Sure enough, I could return my open Mac and purchase the newer Mac. Believe it or not, even with the 10% restocking fee, I would still get money back--for a better computer!

So, now I'm the owner of a newer Macbook Pro. And I saved money. That's what I call a deal!

It's been too long!

So I am realizing it's been a while since my last post. So sorry, my life has been (according to several reliable sources) a train wreck the last couple of weeks!

I'm in the middle of training for my new position as copy editor for The Collegian. It has been going well, but I have to say, there is so much information to try and remember! Yikes! Thankfully I have some background knowledge of the inner workings of InDesign, so that isn't completely new territory for me.

This is the last week of production with the current editors (each of whom I love!) before Molly and I take over the last issue of the semester. Yep, you read that correctly . . . Molly and I will be in charge of issue 26! As exciting as that is, it is a scary thought.

I am also a bit behind on getting the latest editorial for The Collegian written. Oops. I just can't think clearly right now. I have my topic set, but I am having a hard time getting past that.

In midst of all this craziness, there are tons of high schoolers on the campus right now. It's the annual national competition for Christian high schools that is always held at BJU. One word: insane!

Well, the countdown has started. Today marks 24 days until I board the plane and get myself back home!! Yeah, baby!

So busy, but having so much fun

I think this is the first semester that I'm admitting to having a lot of fun at school! For crying out loud, it's about time . . . I am almost finished with school, and now I'm having lots of fun?!

Part of it is that I am really enjoying my course of study. I love journalism. I love public relations. And combining the two is just like, well, amazing.

Another part of it is I love my teachers -- most of them!

Yet another part is The Collegian. I am loving this opportunity to write for the campus paper. It is so time consuming, but I love it. It's so rewarding to see the paper in stages; from getting my assignment on Tuesday and having no clue how to approach it, to scheduling and executing interviews throughout the week, to actually sitting down and writing, to submitting and re-submitting my articles, to staying up late while the rest of campus is in deep slumber, to finally seeing the product come out every Friday. I love this.

And what would life be without friends? I have met so many new people this semester, partly from The Collegian, but also from classes, and new girls on my hall, etc. I have a little group of close friends, and they have been amazing.

The semester has been great so far, and I really hope it will continue.

I'm back

So it's been quite a while since I've posted on here . . . but I am still alive!!

School has been really busy. My classes aren't too bad this semester, but they do keep me pretty busy. In addition to my classes, I am writing for The Collegian and am a member of the Handbell Ensemble. So I don't really have free time this semester, but it's been good.

Tomorrow is the big and exciting day!! The first issue of the semester of The Collegian comes out! I am pretty excited to see it. It's weird to be on the other side of the paper this semester; I am used to being on the reader side, but now that I'm on the writing side, it's fun to see all the hard work and brainstorming come into production. Check it out at www.collegianonline.com

Anyway, I need to get going. Just wanted to say I'm still alive on here!!

Done for the semester except for . . . .

Finals!

I am so excited that I am almost done for the semester. Today I turned in my last assignment for the semester. It was a feature article that I wrote for my News Writing class. My topic was "Putting Frugal on Your Christmas List." It was a fun article to write.

So I am home free right now, but I need to buckle down and study for finals. I have two finals on Monday, two on Wednesday and one on Thursday.

Right now, I am sitting in Starbucks. It has been a frequent happening this semester, but with their new Wi-Fi program, it makes it worth it . . . especially when I have giftcards from people!

I will be home in a week!!

The Collegian

I'm so excited to say that I am now officially a Staff Writer for The Collegian! The Collegian is our weekly newspaper at school.

I start next semester, but I am so excited. I went to my first staff meeting this past week, and I think I'm gonna love it.

Quite a few of my fellow journalism friends/classmates are the other writers, so that among other things will keep it fun and interesting, I'm sure!

For those of you not associated with BJU, you can view The Collegian online at: www.collegianonline.com Obviously, I won't have any articles up there for quite a while, but check back!

Just thought I'd share a bit of my excitement.

One more week of . . . . I better not say

I am so swamped right now. I have done nothing but homework today. From 9:30 a.m. - now . . . and it is 7:40 p.m. Okay, so I squeezed in a tiny nap (15 minutes) because my head was killing me. But then it was right back to work.

I am babysitting now, but the little boy is already sleeping, so here I am doing more homework.

This is our last week of classes! Yay! But, that means finals are the week after that. I am not worried about two of my finals, but the other three . . . umm . . . yeah. It doesn't help that one of my classes I have an 89% right now (only one percent away from an "A"). I have a big verse test on Monday, which if I do well on it, will bring that grade up, but I am really paranoid about the final for that class.

All this, and two classes have big papers/articles/projects . . .

I love writing, but I am having a heck of a hard time coming up with the thoughts to organize my stories/letters/projects. I have my interviews done, but it's just not coming to me.

Oh well. 11 more days and I will be home. Thank goodness.