Nick's News

    Thursday night was a rough one, to say the least. I watched as arguably the worst team in the NFL squeezed out a win against the new worst team in the league, the Chicago Bears. Congrats guys, you lost to the Commanders; only one other team thus far shares that same accomplishment. Those who live in Seager Hall might've heard some screaming numerous times (and I do apologize), but did I really expect anything different, or anything more pathetic from a team that's sucked for years and shows hardly any signs of a transformation?     I shouldn't say the Bears have shown no signs of a transformation, because Justin Fields has been exceeding my expectations this season. He's doing what he can with an offense in shambles. The offensive line, whose job it is to protect Fields, is doing the exact opposite. The defense cuts through those gummy bears like a hot knife through butter, which in turn leaves Fields with three options; get sacked and lose yardage, throw the bal...

Whether I watch a movie, TV show, or documentary, I never really paid close attention to the cinematic elements that make up a film. After sitting down and digesting my documentary of choice for this project,  Cartel Land,  I found that devices such as sound or music greatly contribute to making a film enjoyable to watch that keeps you thinking afterwards.           I went back and rewatched a couple scenes from Cartel Land for analytical purposes with a strong focus on the filmmaker's choices of music. There were two scenes in particular in which music played an instrumental role in forming how the audience should view certain people. One scene used upbeat, triumphant music while Dr. Morales, the leader of the Autodefensas (armed citizenry) gave a speech in a town square in front of the local people. Without music during this scene, the audience would likely have had to come up with their own interpretation of Morales' character. Similarly, when ...

    It's hard to believe that I've reached the halfway point in my first semester of college! Time has been flying now that I've gotten into my routine. However, much of my time lately has been consumed with studying for midterm exams. Studying for hours at a time was wearing me out, so I began to take lengthy breaks to relieve some stress. I found that balancing my time between school and life was extremely beneficial to my wellbeing.     For the longest time as a student, I had always sat down to do homework and expected myself to get it all done in a single sitting with the reward being liberation from stress. It took me until college to realize that's not doing me any good. With that being said, I decided to change my ways. After reading an article that popped up in my recommended about creating a balanced routine, I made an attempt to channel that advice into my own life. While working on a lengthy assignment earlier this week, I got up from my desk an...