Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

You Only Remember Your Tragedies, Anonymous

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I am tired. I am tired of going to class and listening to my professor’s ignore my history. I am tired of going to office hours and them telling me that I am too biased to conduct research on the genocide of the country my family is from. I am tired of the way people give me these looks of pity whenever I tell them what happened to my family. I am tired of not being able to talk to anyone about this because I just feel like I’m spewing absolute nonsense because it feels like no one believes me. …

Cheating The Textbook System, Hana Huskic

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The price of my German textbook is equal to three months of rent with utilities back home. My books for Introduction to Cultural Anthropology equal the cost of feeding my family for a whole month. But these aren’t news. American Enterprise Institute reports that the college textbook prices “are 812 percent higher than they were a little more than three decades ago.”

Some students came to Gettysburg aware of costs, so they moved into first year dorms armed with Amazon Prime memberships and accounts on sites for renting textbooks. Some looked for classes that offer cheaper (or no) textbooks in …

The Rapid Evolution Of Queer Language, Elijah Cormier

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**This essay contains terminology that may be considered offensive to some. Names have been changed to protect identities.

“You remember Kayla?”

“Kayla Riddle?”

“Yeah. You know she’s a boy now?”

“Oh no shit! Not surprised, kinda saw that one coming.”

As I sit with a high school friend on back porch of her trailer, I quickly realize that most of my middle-class, leftist/liberal friends would jump on how we phrase Kai’s coming out. But sitting here, helping Amber figure out how much dope she’d need to sling to make rent this month, calling out mildly transphobic language isn’t a priority. …

My Mother's Body, Anika N. Jensen

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On Friday, April 20, 2018, Gettysburg College students organized a campus-wide walkout to protest all forms of gun violence as part of Gettysburg College’s first annual Peace and Justice Week. Over the next several days, SURGE published the poems and personal testimonies of the student speakers who participated in the event.

Begin in sukhasa–easy pose–with your legs crossed the way children used to sit during show and tell before they had to worry about what position gives them enough time to stand and scramble toward the door when the shooting starts. [excerpt]

Pacifism Against The Alt-Right, Anonymous

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In 1944, Dr. Ancel Keys took 36 volunteers and used them as subjects for what would become known as the Minnesota Starvation Experiment. These men were all conscientious objectors to war who wanted to find a nonviolent way to help those affected by the Nazi regime. One solution was to participate in Dr. Key’s study to evaluate systematic rehabilitation of those who had been starved, such as the victims in Stalingrad—and later in Hitler’s concentration camps—had been. They contributed a great deal to the allied powers, and to those the study was designed to help, while not fighting Nazis …

This Is What It Means To Be A Daca Recipient, E. R. P., M. P.

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Since 2012, over 800,000 DREAMers, like ourselves, have been given the legal right to work, apply for a driver’s license, and, most importantly, live without the fear of deportation. We complete background checks and pay $495 in fees every two years to maintain our DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) status. [excerpt]

I Hope, Mai Trinh

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As I have gotten older, I have learned that no matter how hard I try, I am never going to be able to repay my mother for everything that she did for me. The blood, sweat, and tears she put into nurturing the sick and troublesome, five-year-old me, the rebellious and lazy fifteen-year-old me, and the clumsy, and sometimes lost me now, are insurmountable. I know she had more trouble raising me than she was supposed to. I know her first five years of being a mother did not include taking me to the park, sitting down on a park …

Fearless Friday: Yasmine Perry, Yasmine Perry

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This Friday, we are celebrating the work of Yasmine Perry ’17. Yasmine, who is originally from Orange, New Jersey, is a senior at Gettysburg College and is majoring in English and minoring in Math. Currently, she is involved with the Black Student Union (BSU) and the Social Entrepreneurship Initiative (SEI), which is a year-long program at Gettysburg College that aims to enable students to impact positive change in their communities, countries, and around the world through social entrepreneurship. Yasmine is also a program coordinator with the Center for Public Service (CPS), working specifically with the LIU Migrant Education program. This …

Fearless Friday: Vanessa Martinez, Vanessa Martinez

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In this week’s edition of Fearless Friday, Surge is pleased to honor the work of Vanessa Martinez ’19.

Vanessa is an Anthropology major with a Peace and Justice Studies minor from Los Angeles, California. Though she is only a sophomore, Vanessa is already heavily involved in Gettysburg’s campus. She is the secretary of the Latin American Student Association , handles public relations for the Asian Student Alliance, and is a member of the Black Student Union. Vanessa works for the Center for Public Service as a program coordinator for the bilingual after-school program at VIDA Charter School. During Spring Break …

Fearless Friday: Laila Mufty, Laila M. Mufty

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In today’s Fearless Friday, Surge would like to honor the work of Laila Mufty ‘18. Laila is a sophomore from the Bay Area in California and is majoring in Environmental Studies. Currently, she is one of the CPS Program Coordinators with Big Brothers Big Sisters and is the Immersion Project Leader for the New Orleans trip in May focused on the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast. In addition to her work with CPS, Laila participates in multiple cultural organizations on campus and has volunteered with El Centro, Painted Turtle Farm and Casa de la Cultura. Laila has also written and …

Fearless Friday: Senait Weldemariam, Senait S. Weldemariam

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Senait Weldemariam ’16 is today’s Fearless Leader! Senait, originally from the Bronx, NY, is currently a senior at Gettysburg College who is majoring in History and minoring in Educational Studies. During her time here, she has been involved with the Black Student Union (BSU), the Gospel Choir, and the Latin American Student Association (LASA). Specifically, Senait has been involved with the BSU since her freshman year. [excerpt]

Whose Story? His-Story., Meghan E. O'Donnell

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The essay instructions finally landed in front of me. I passed the extra sheets on and quickly glanced over the page, hoping that the prompt would be inspiring. There were two open-ended options from which to choose: military and social/political aspects of the war. My eyes first fell upon the social option and I pondered using this opportunity to shed light on the experiences of women during the war. I’d done this before – used assignments to explore history’s untold stories – and found it interesting. Then, in a fit of frustration that erupted out of nowhere, I thought to …

Q&A: The N-Word, Anonymous

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Question: What is the best way to approach someone who uses blatantly disrespectful language such as the n word and argues that if it is said in the presence of only white people it is not offensive? [excerpt]

Fearless Friday: Chentese Stewart-Gartner, Christina L. Bassler

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This week, SURGE is proud to showcase the wonderful work of Chentese Stewart-Garner!

Chentese is a sociology major with a minor in education. She’s a sophomore and originally hails from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Currently, Chentese is the program coordinator for the Black Student Union, serves as the public relations liaison for the African Student Association, is a Diversity Peer Educator on campus, and works hard as a Career Outreach Assistant for the Center for Career Development. [excerpt]

The Price I Didn't Know I'D Pay, Anonymous

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$255 textbook. $52 clicker. $150 fleece at Rosemont 310. $1000+ dues to a sorority. These are as much
a part of Gettysburg life as Servo Thanksgiving, chicken finger Friday, and Springfest.

Fitting into this lifestyle has been a daily struggle for the last four years. [excerpt]

Border X-Ing, Alicia A. Castro

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The sun out-stretched its bright arms in an embrace with the mesquite trees that beckoned upwards. The wind greeted the clothes drying upon delicate wire while my mother meticulously placed white towels in the light and the jeans under the shade of the Arizona Ash. The washboard sits upright in the bucket full of suds and other assorted laundry. Inside the shed there is both a working dryer and washer only a few years old, but she has chosen to do this chore outside. Here she can close her eyes and be back in Mexico with the dry heat and …

Fearless Friday: Kirsten Crear, Kirsten Crear

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Even in her last semester here at Gettysburg, Kirsten Crear ’14 is fearlessly working to make changes for the future of the campus community. This semester, Kirsten introduced a STEMinists club on campus that will give female students who are STEM (an acronym for Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics) majors the opportunity to come together and create a community, share and discuss the difficulties they face as women in their fields of study, and support and mentor each other as they prepare to enter their fields.

Kirsten is passionate, driven, and determined, taking the initiative to bring this group of women together on campus …

Fearless Friday: Elena Perez-Zetune, Elena Perez-Zetune

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Consistently involved in programs and initiatives addressing social issues related to children, migrant communities, and education, Elena Perez-Zetune ’14 fearlessly allows her assumptions to be challenged, her time given in service, and her energy spent on encouraging younger generations.

Elena has served with several different programs on campus run by the Center for Public Service, such as El Centro, Immersion Projects, Heston Internships, Casa de la Cultura, and the LIU Migrant Education Program. Growing up in Gettysburg, Elena has had the unique opportunity to run and organize some of the same programs she participated in as a …

Bootstrap Blues, Hannah M. Frantz

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Meet David*. In mid-January, he came to the small town Iowa elementary school where I work. David has attended more schools in the two years since he started school than I have in my lifetime. In fact, the school he just moved from only has four days of attendance listed on his record. David moves so often because he’s homeless. His situation is not what we may stereotypically think of as “homeless”—you wouldn’t see him on the streets or even in soup kitchens. Instead, David stays with his mother, and they couch surf from one home to another from week …

Fearless (Saturday): Michael Hannum, Michael W. Hannum

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In celebration of Alumni Homecoming Weekend and Hispanic Heritage Week, we proudly feature Michael Hannum, member of the Class of 2011, for his fearless commitment to fighting for social justice issues and his continued involvement in serving the Adams County community. Currently working with the Lincoln Intermediate Unit’s Migrant Education Program as a Recruitment Coordinator, Michael began finding his passion for helping identify families in the migrant community who need extra educational support when he was a first-year student just looking for something to do. [excerpt]

Fearless: Raksmeymony Yin, Raksmeymony Yin

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This summer, Raksmeymony Yin ’14, otherwise known as Rex, fearlessly taught from his own lesson plans, graded students’ papers, and organized brand new curriculums as one of twelve interns at the Breakthrough Collaborative in Philadelphia. During the nine-week program, Rex worked long hours in and outside of the classroom, effecting change by investing in the education of dozens of middle school students.

I Don't Want To Save Your Children, Katherine M. Patterson

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A few weeks ago, the moment that I’ve been dreaming of for almost half of a year finally arrived. I started the Heston Summer Experience as an intern in Gettysburg. An embarrassing amount of my winter break was devoted to writing and rewriting my applications. After receiving an invitation for an interview, I convened my roommates to help me choose an outfit and ask me practice questions, which is not something I do…ever. Getting my acceptance letter in the mail was the ultimate highlight of a long and difficult year. When I was home for the first few weeks of …

Brown Eyes, Brown Mind: What We Learn From What We See, Mauricio E. Novoa

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My summer days aren’t spent in a house on the beach or travelling to different states or countries with my family or friends, forgetting about the worries of the rest of the year and wondering what could be better than life under the sun. They are spent in a school building, the first place my younger self would have been eager to escape during off time. This is the second summer I am working at the LIU Migrant Education Summer School of Excellence. Unlike normal summer school, which usually consists of remedial classes for students who can’t seem to …

An Open Letter To The Class Of 2013, Center For Public Service

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Upon graduation I will have received no honors. After four years of college, thirty-seven courses, ten labs, two sets of major requirements and several almost complete minors, I have won the ultimate consolation prize: a diploma. I know that not everyone has the privilege of going to college and I also know that those who start college do not always make it to the end, some not even through the first week. However, in the world of academia, students are pushed to strive for the best grades. Even at Gettysburg College where global awareness, critical thinking and an integration of …