My Room. My Rules.

No Specific Roommate Request 

"I hate my roommate!!! She is the worse!!" My friend back at home told me on the phone. "How is your roommate?" She asks. "My roommate is awesome! I love him like a brother!"

Going in to Penn State, I didn't know anyone. Because of this, when it was time to request a specific roommate, I had to go in random. This was so scary for me because it could either work two ways for me: I could either hate the way how the person lives or we could work amazing well. For me, I am a handful.

My Roommate

I listen to loud music, stay up late at night, party every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, sometimes I get junky, always have company, and the list continues. Because of this, I know it could work or could fail depending on the characteristics my roommate has.

But it was absolutely a match made in heaven. I am able to do everything I want without no restrictions nor do I have to worry about infuriating my roommate since we get along so well. We literally breakfast, lunch, and diner together, we party together, and watch Netflix together.

So when I here people tell me that they are having roommate problems, it makes me so grateful that I have a roommate that's exactly analogous to me. But it makes you wonder: what happens if I had a roommate that's completely antithesis of me? Would I hate Penn State because of me having horrible experiences with my roommate since I wouldn't be able to express myself? Would I have different friends that I have now and wouldn't nearly meet the people that I became so close with today? Would I have to call my mom everyday trying to find solutions to fix our problems if we did has some?

It puts everything in such a different perspective. It really is amazing how everything happens for a reason. Especially since your morale affects the way how you view things. So, if you are having a bad day, then you are more likely to view things more negatively than usual. Therefore, a person can absolutely hate Penn State if they are having mini problems like roommate problems.

Imaging the inverse. Instead of you hating the way how your roommate lives, imagine if your roommate hates you! Imagine your roommate telling you constantly to turn down your music or you can't have company at certain times of the day or you got to go to sleep earlier since they got morning class. It can be completely horrible not only for you, but your roommate as well.

People on my floor and my RA

Or even better, you have the perfect roommate but the people on your floor are completely annoying. Imagine having neighbors that tells you to keep your music down or say that you are too loud. They are people that literally goes through these problems but not for me. I have the perfect floor, perfect room, perfect RA and perfect building, which is Sproul Hall. Everyone is so considerate and understanding of ones personal life and is always there for one another whenever there is a problem. I'm so happy how everything turned out. I hope you guys don't have problems either!

Being a Black at Penn State

"Apply to a historically black college" my uncles always told me. "You will feel more at home since you are surrounded with those that are just like you."

HBC

So, when I made my college decision, I already acknowledge the fact that I am going to be at a school where there are not too many people of my color. It is mainly going to be caucasians, which is weird for me because I grew up in a neighborhood predominately African Americans and Hispanics.

Old Racist signs in the Past

Racism still exists. Some people believe the opposite since it is not common for people to be straightforward with their beliefs or be extremely aggressive with their ideologies as it was in the past. There are not, for what I know of,  people running around calling Mexicans spics or calling African Americans niggers or calling whites crackers and so on due to the fact that there will be harsh criticisms or judgements amongst the people that do so.

Instead, it is very subtle. I love being a student at Penn State. I love the students, teachers, the environment, and everything about it. However, there are scenarios where me being a minority plays a huge factor on the way how I am viewed.

My friends and I in front of the We Are Statue

For example, when I am at parties, some males and females expect me to be automatically amazing at dancing. Well, I heard people tell me I am a good dancer, but to make the assumption that I know how to "dab", a specific dance that is created by minorities, is kinda offensive.

"Dabbing"

Or my favorite, are you on the football team? Don't get me wrong, I would love to be on the football team. However, I am not. Some football players literally made it to Penn State due to the fact that they are extremely athletic. It is to a point where their grades our ignored since Penn State needs stellar athletes to represent our school. So, the connotation behind it can be seen as some what offensive if I am linked to this reason on how I made it to Penn State.

But the thin line that really distinguish if something can be considered racist or not is based off a person's judgement. Someone can literally read this blog post, and wonder how do these examples make someone seem racist? On the other hand, other people can agree and realize that not all black people are amazing dancers or all because I am a big black person, that does not mean that I play football. Why can't I be a big soccer player? Or why not a lacrosse defender? Why football? The main point of this blog is to emphasize that of course, being a minority has its perks and weaknesses, but for those minorities that pulls the race card every time, sometimes the situation is not always racist. However, sometimes it is. It is not a thing we can surpass since some people's ignorance is not intentional, they just simply do not know better. But you got to learn how to cope and adapt.

Not every minority can fit in a predominately white school like Penn State, but I can. I love the people here at Penn State. Of course I notice color, but it is not going to make me want to stop talking to you because your race is different from mine. However, being a minority can be hard so I just want everyone to not show affirmative action towards us, but to be respectful and more understanding of us. That's all. Its hard being in an environment where there are not too many people of color, so it is hard to relate or get us because of this. But there is a certain way how to show respect. It is not what you say, it is about how you say it.

Do you want a Drink?

When I got accepted to Penn State in February, I literally cried. It wasn't tear of depression, it was tears of joy. I felt like all of my hard work  spent on homework assignments, quizzes, and exams I took in high school was finally worth it. People from my city was proud of me, and I couldn't wait to go to college.

Now, before I went to college, I was always in an environment where smoking marijuana was always condone. Of course, some people drank Hennessy and Cîroc, but it was nothing too extreme that will make me scared for my friends' liver.  However, as soon as I came to Penn State, that all changed.

Before I continue, I never tried drinking any type of liquor or smoked any substance. I been straight edge for 18 years straight, and expect to continue so. However, living at Penn State, it is extremely hard continuing this path because underage drinking is a norm here. I never seen so much people that are enamored with drinking beer and liquor. Liquor is at parties, dorm rooms, and even disguised in the form of Gatorade( this is called a chaser). There is no escaping from it. I guess you can say that it is justifiable since we work hard during the week days so it is fair that we drink on the weekends, but still.

One of my closest friends named Kyle has the worst bladder due to all of the drinking he has done. He literally has to go to the bathroom every 5 minutes since the alcohol already did damage to his liver. Kyle is not the only one that had severe affects done to his body. Other people are nearly addicted to alcohol and literally can not stop even if they tried. Nothing is wrong with an occasional drink here and there, but chugging 12 Natty lights at a party and pre game before is literally destroying your body.

Beer chug

When I am at parties, people wonder how am I dancing sober and enjoying everything that goes on without alcohol consumption. Don't get me wrong, there are temptations that make me want to fall in this peer pressure since EVERYONE is literally drinking, but I am still determined to continue being straight edge. But the question I always think of at night is: who gets more respect? Those that never tried drinking before or those that can chug a beer keg non stop?

Why not just try it? Technically, everything we eat destroys our body in some type of fashion. Technically getting drunk is classified as "living life". What's the harm? Those that took a sip of alcohol yesterday are still walking today? Of course there might be that annoying hangover, but isn't it worth the legendary night you had before? I don't know... I just feel like I don't have to drink due to the fact that this is what makes me stand out from the rest. I like the fact that I don't fall into peer pressure, that I can have a good time being sober, that I still got the same confidence I have now to talk to a female at a party. People tell me that they drink due to the fact that they become more sociable instead of reclusive. Some people tell me that they literally hate the taste of beer, but they continue to do it because they feel better when they are more "lose". But I am not like those people. I don't need alcohol to have those characteristics because I exemplify that on a daily basis. I am Khalil Dunham-Carson. I'm not you. But I never judge those that do drink since that's your own decision, but all because everyone else is doing it, that doesn't mean I have too.