My E-Portfolio

Learning never stops. It is not confined to the four walls of a classroom or the institution of four-year university. Although, those are places where learning does occur. Learning, however, happens every hour of every day as we encounter new things, experience new experiences. In the same way that we take what we learn in the classroom out into the world and put it to use, we take what we learn out in the world and use it in the classroom.

My name is Emma Delorm. I am a student at the Pennsylvania State University majoring in broadcast journalism and minoring in political science.

I am also a student of the world.

My first three years in college were by no means easy, but they taught me a great deal about myself and the person I hope to become. When I began my collegiate studies, I enrolled at Elon University in North Carolina. My major frequently changed. I began as a psychology major, then moved to business administration, and then switched yet again to marketing. Yet, for the two and a half years and three majors I spent exploring there, I was never fulfilled - never satisfied. Finally, I decided it was time to make a change, and not just a change in major.

That is how I ended up where I am now - in a student community about 34,000 students larger than where I began, in a major I have found myself to be unsuspectingly passionate about. This semester, as the icing on the cake of my previous college years, has been a time of tremendous academic and personal growth, both in and out of the classroom.

I have found that my academic efforts, interest and success have a direct correlation to my happiness. Because I finally took a step back and took the initiative to change my circumstances and my life path to end up here, at Penn State, I have rediscovered my passion to learn. I have been more engaged in my academic classes and have simultaneously learned a lot from the world around me.

I hope the entries that I include in this portfolio will be a window into my mind and that they will exemplify the ways in which what I have learned in the classroom and what I have learned simply by living are intrinsically intertwined.

Visit My E-Porfolio Here!

Success or Pleasure?

I'll be honest, last Sunday night at around 6:30p.m. I had yet to start my 5-7 page paper that was due the next morning at 11:15. Crap. I knew at that moment that it was about to be the kind of night that every college kid likes to avoid - the all-nighter.

I settled in on the couch with my laptop and a snack and stared at a blank word document. Where to begin? Fifteen minutes passed as I sat there with the same blank stare and then my phone rang. It was my boyfriend, so as most girls do, I quickly reached to answer. He was calling to ask if I wanted to go down to the State Theatre to see the Banff Mountain Film Festival at 7:00. After a little bit of thought, I decided that I would go. I knew full well that this was asking for my all-nighter to be an allllllllllll-nighter. And boy, was I right. The film festival didn't even get out until about 10:30p.m. and THEN I had to buckle down and get to work.

Needless to say, I was exhausted getting up the next day.

Still, I regretted nothing. As I sat and debated whether or not I should go to the film festival, it all came down to one deciding factor that I think will apply to a lot of things for the rest of my life: my academics are absolutely important to me, but I wasn't going to let life experiences pass me by just to maintain an unrealistically high GPA. I would rather see the world (even if it is through independent films) than have my nose in a book all day and never see anything.

That's the double-edged sword of higher education and the work force isn't it? It's success... or pleasure... and rarely ever both.

Society has so convinced us that we're not successful enough or doing good enough if we haven't made the Dean's List or been a top-ranked employee or student. When did C become the new F-------? When did our worth become a quantifiable number, or letter at that?

Don't get me wrong... I'm equally guilty of getting upset over getting a B instead of an A, or that my GPA sat at 3.4 instead of the coveted 3.5 that would have my efforts acknowledged. Because let's face it, you could have a 3.49 and no one cares, but the second you hit that 3.5 mark you're on a whole new level of success.  The fact that I'm as guilty of these self-deprecations as the next student is why I can say this to everyone, and myself: it's not FAIR to be convinced that those types of grades determine what you're going to do with your life.

So, here's my take: society and my professors can keep whatever judgment they may have to themselves. Yes, individually, the workload from each class seems reasonable... but take each professor's reasonable and multiply it by 6 classes and you get a whole lot of unreasonable and a whole lot of not living.

And my advice? If you have the choice of seeing the world in a textbook or seeing a world in a film festival, a community event, a night out with your friends -- whatever makes you feel ALIVE -- pick that film festival. When you look back years from now, you'll remember the amazing images you saw, not the words you wrote on that paper.

Success is living life while you have the chance.

Here's the trailer for one of the videos from the film festival. They only showed an 11 minute clip of the one and a half hour video and I was so impressed I bought the full-length film on i-Tunes.

Good Old Fashioned Manners

Ever since I can remember, my parents have always emphasized the importance of having good manners everywhere I go. Any time they took my brother and me to a restaurant and I'd inevitably blurt out to the waiter, "Can I have chicken fingers and french fries?" My parents would stop me in my tracks and give me a stare that silently meant "Where are your manners?" and I would almost immediately blurt out "PLEASE" in an overly enthusiastic and aggressive way, I'm sure.

It always used to annoy me to no end. I just wanted my damn fries! But now I could not be more thankful for every "please" and "thank you" my parents forced out of me. Today, I say please and thank you all the time, some might say it's to the point of excess. I say it to my waiters and the people who clear the table every time they do something, to the CATA bus drivers as I hop off... hell, I say thank you as my teacher hands me a test I'm dreading. But, honestly, I think everyone should!

It seems to me that manners are becoming more and more of a rarity. I see it everyday... people who don't realize that the small things people do for us are not luxuries, but niceties.

I heard a person on the CATA bus the other day complaining about how much of "a bitch" the driver was. But, I'd probably be a bitch too if I was toting around thousands upon thousands of college kids a day and only a small percentage of them even acknowledged my mere existence as they walk directly by me.

I'm realizing pretty quickly that this is turning into a bit of a rant, but poor manners just really irk me!

Here's what I'm trying to get at:

Having good manners, and I don't just mean saying your please and thank you's - but wishing someone a good day, welcoming a newcomer with open arms, flashing someone you don't even know those pearly whites - those simple manners would really make the world a better place if everyone took the time to use them. It makes me feel good when I use them, and it makes me happy when people use them with me! I would imagine it would have the same effect on everyone else.

So... thanks for reading! Have a good one :)

"We Are!" But Do You Know Why?

As a Penn State student, it's inevitable that you hear "WE ARE... PENN STATE!" somewhere around campus on a daily basis. Truthfully, I never thought it to be much more than a showing of school spirit that dated back to who knows when. I was surprised this week, however, to learn that the origins of this chant were in fact much more than that.

In November of 1946, the Nittany Lions were lined up to play the University of Miami in Florida. However, U of M told Penn State that they would not allow our players to take the field if they brought along their two African American players, Wally Triplett and Dennie Hoggard. The team at the time voted unanimously to cancel the game.

Two years later, Triplett was the only African American player left on the team when it was heard that SMU wanted to have a discussion with PSU requesting that they leave Triplett at home. Penn State again refused and guard Steve Suhey is said to have stated that they wouldn't do it because "we are Penn State."

(For a more elaborated story see http://www.pennlive.com/editorials/index.ssf/2012/01/we_are_penn_state_a_story_to_h.html)

Anyway, back to the rhetoric of it all. Up until the day I learned about this origin of the infamous Penn State chant, I hadn't put a second thought as to where it may have started or why. However, now knowing the story behind it, I am even more proud of the university that I represent and that represents me.

"We are" holds so much more meaning once you know the story, doesn't it? It allows you to carry just that much more pride when you participate in the chant. It becomes more than words... it becomes something to stand for.

In a day when accepting everyone was far from accepted, Penn State chose to step outside of the norm and choose the moral high ground - to follow a path that may not have been accepted, but a path that was right. This is a story that Penn State should highlight and emphasize to its students. Today, when no one wants to admit that that kind of discrimination still exists (yes, even here in State College), it is quintessentially important that the students on this campus know what this school has stood for. It is a shining moment in Penn State history that everyone can be proud of.

It's funny how words can become so much more than just words. How they can shift and reshape to carry messages of importance and tolerance, even in a simple 4 word chant.

So, now you know why we are. You can't tell me it doesn't mean more to you than it ever has!

Only As Good As Your Last Act?

I'm sure we are all aware of the movement that took the college world by storm, KONY 2012. It seems the activism that it spurred has come and gone. It also appears that since the organization's creator, Jason Russell, had his public meltdown that people have forgotten about the charity and instead focused on the fallout.

You're only remembered for the last memorable thing you did, I suppose.

It's a sad fact really. Sure, on the surface it seems funny that a man who successfully got a large portion of a generation to rally around a cause ended up crumbling and getting arrested for none-other than masterbating in public. But is that all we're going to talk about from here on out? Unfortunately, the answer is probably yes.

That seems to be the way we work. Joe Paterno is being remembered for the scandal not his accomplishments, for example. It's almost as if, as a society, we enjoy watching heroes fall. We like to point out that they are only as human as we are and then negate their accomplishments.

Don't get me wrong, I'm neither supporting or objecting to Russell's charity... simply pointing out what seems to be a universal truth.

I'm merely suggesting that perhaps we need to stop defining people such as Jason Russell by their latest action and instead look at them as the person they are and the things they've accomplished as a whole. As a society we need to stop sensationalizing mistakes to sell papers and magazines and instead focus on the real issues at hand.

The issue at hand here is not that Russell apparently had a mental breakdown, it's that he brought attention to an issue that is deserving of attention.

Our attention is misdirected. When will we stop wasting our energy on time cutting people down to size?

WAY Too Little, WAY Too Late

This week we received an e-mail from the Penn State Board of Trustees regarding, once again, their reasoning for firing Coach Paterno... and to be honest, I can't even put into words how put off I was by it.

First of all, thank you BoT, but you're about four months too late and the damage has been done. As Penn State has collectively been wrestling with the events of the past few months, it had finally reached a point that the campus had quieted down a bit. People began coming to terms with what happened and were ready to move forward remembering simply what JoePa did for all of the students at Penn State. The BoT effectively just re-ruffled the feathers of the people who have long been critical of their decision. They need to stop trying to get the approval of the community for their actions. It's been made quite clear that they're not going to get it. We understand that you stand behind your decision... that doesn't mean we have to.

Additionally, they once again have flip-flopped back and forth from supporting and honoring JoePa to dragging his name through the dirt. Prior to his death they were accusing him of a lack of moral fiber. Once he passed he was once again a legend to the community in their eyes. Now in this e-mail alone they have flip-flopped once again. They state that they "especially honor the the great legacy of Coach Paterno" and his emphasis on academic performance, yet a mere seven, short paragraphs later accuse him once again of "a failure of leadership."

They go on to attempt to justify their firing of Paterno via telephone and essentially blame him for hanging up before they were able to lift his spirits by telling him they would get all the benefits of a tenured employee! Note the sarcasm in my typing tone. I'm sorry, but if you fire me on the phone after 60+ years of dedication, you're getting the *click* of a dead phone line from me, too! If you could have an employee walk up to his front door, knock, and tell him to call so he could be told he was fired... you could have had an employee walk up to his front door, knock, sit down inside and give the family the respect they deserved. They're cowards, bottom line.

I give the Paternos so much respect for biting their tongues for so long and not speaking ill of the Board for so long. This time, however, the BoT took it too far and I couldn't be happier that the Paternos finally gave them a good tongue-lashing. (Check that out here: http://onwardstate.com/2012/03/12/paterno-family-responds-to-board-of-trustees-statement/ ... couldn't have said it better.)

Overall, the BoT's statement is way too little and way too late. They need to stop releasing their criticisms of a man who is no longer here to defend himself. They need to stop releasing their criticisms of a man who dedicated his life to this school, and in turn, to them... Not that they deserved it, anyway.

It's Spring Break... Take a BREAK!

Spring Break. It’s the week that every college student looks forward to all year long. Students plan for months to go to Mexico, Panama City, or just about anywhere tropical. When it ends and we all return to real life we’re overwhelmed by the exchange of spring break stories, each trying to one up the previous and then immediately discussing what’s in store for next year.

I have to say my freshman year of college I was just as thrilled by the idea of a wild spring break filled with drinking, partying, and all things “spring break.” So, I booked a flight with my friends and embarked on a trip down to Panama City.

That was the last time I was interested in a wild spring break.

While I understand the appeal of going out and going crazy, I think a lot of students really undervalue just taking the time to relax and regroup. We’re so caught up in the idea of what spring break should be that we don’t really take advantage of the time we’re given to take a break… To let our bodies slow down from the constant motion of school and weekend partying that wears us down for a majority of the year.

Yes, I came back from Panama City with a few outrageous stories, but I also came back from Panama City completely exhausted.

Instead, last spring break, as well as this one, I chose to go home and see my family and friends and take a break. For a week, I have permission to sit on my couch and do absolutely nothing. I’m definitely going to take advantage of that. I’m taking the time to catch up on the sleep I don’t get when I’m spending endless nights in the library. I’m catching up with my family and friends that I don’t see nearly enough. I’m not looking for any crazy story to tell… but rather to go back to school and feel refreshed and ready to take on the rest of the semester.

What are you doing for spring break?

Brighten Every Journey

 This is the promo video for THON 2012, featuring footage from THON 2011.

Over 15,000 student volunteers. A 46-hour dance marathon. Singing for a cure. Dancing for a cure. Celebrating for a cure. Fighting for a cure.

The final countdown: 10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Everyone holds his or her breath. You could hear a pin drop in the packed Bryce Jordan Center for that brief moment and the numbers began to go up. The moment of truth…

$10,686,924.83.

You read that right - 10.69 MILLION DOLLARS raised by a single university… by the single largest student-run philanthropy in the world, in less than one year.

The BJC erupts in cheers and tears of joy… of pride… suddenly re-energized after an exhilarating, exhausting weekend.

In the previous 46 hours leading up to the final reveal I had never been more moved by anything in my life. I watched my university come together and rally around a cause. I witnessed my university of some 40,000 students show the world who we really are - a family. A family who, in spite of the negativity and shadow forced upon us due to the events that occurred just a semester prior, was showing the world what we really stand for.

For those that are unfamiliar, THON is a 46-hour annual dance marathon run by the students of Penn State University. According to the THON website (www.thon.org), the mission of the PSU Dance Marathon “is to conquer pediatric cancer by providing outstanding emotional and financial support to children, families, researchers, and staff of The Four Diamonds Fund.”

The Four Diamonds Fund is there to offset the cost of treatment that insurance does not cover and is part of Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital. It is the sole beneficiary of THON’s fundraising. Since THON’s beginning in 1973, Penn State has contributed over $78 million to the Fund (www.thon.org).

This past weekend I was moved to tears listening to the stories of the families that benefit from the Fund, the outpouring of support and dedication my school had for these families, and the strength my school had to stay focused on what Penn State really stands for in light of overwhelming scrutiny.
There were lessons to be learned this weekend in the BJC.

I saw the beauty of the human spirit. This weekend opened my eyes to the positive impact a group of people can have on the lives of others - be it on a large scale such as THON, or a smaller personal scale. I witnessed the beauty of compassion and of the human soul - the warmth that can grow within you simply by bringing warmth to the lives of others who are fighting a harder battle.

I saw the perseverance of the human spirit - in the children and the families being uplifted, in the students supporting them, and in the Penn State family that did nothing short of dispelling people’s misinformed perceptions of what we stand for.

For 46 hours, children and family who have been long battling deadly illnesses were free of worries. They danced, smiled, and participated in activities with the knowledge that all of it was being done for them… because people cared about them and believed in their strength to carry on. What a feeling that must be. It was an unbelievable display of living life to the fullest… of cherishing every moment.

This weekend was a reaffirmation that in a world of pain and strife, internal beauty and compassion remain. In a world where it is far easier to “sweat the small stuff” and be consumed by personal obstacles, people still see the bigger picture - even if it just for a weekend. In a world where too many are too quick to turn a blind eye, some 15,000 students rallied together to make a difference. The only reward they would reap from their efforts was the smile on the Four Diamonds children’s faces and the solemn knowledge that they were contributing to something bigger than them.

According to the THON website, it costs $800 to spend one day in the lab in search of a cure. That means that this year Penn State has provided roughly 13,359 days of research.

When we say, “We Are,” this is what we mean. We dance to brighten every journey.

One day we will dance in celebration, but until then we dance for a cure… And together we will find one.

We are Penn State… and we are THON.

For The Kids.

A Gesture

As I pushed through my first week working at The Daily Collegian, a particular article assignment caught my attention and struck a cord deep within me. The article was to be about Penn State students who would be shaving their heads in honor of children with cancer. While that gesture would have been enough to move me on its own, it took me back for a particular reason. It brought me back to a personal experience that I think my mind had been trying so hard to block out.

My sophomore and junior years of high school I witnessed my mom's battle with breast cancer. I remember vividly well the day my mom decided she was tired of watching her hair fall out little by little. It was time to shave it and be done with it. I accompanied my mom to the wig shop where her head would be shaved that day sure that I would be a strong support in her time of need. Little did I know that I would be the one to break down at the sight of my mom, so strong and so beautiful, accepting a loss that seemed so detrimental at the time.

I turned my face away as I began to cry, ashamed that she was the one suffering and I was the one crying. We had originally intended to go get lunch together afterward, but I was in no shape to be in public by the end of the process.

When we got home my dad was there to meet us at the door. He hugged us both and ran his hand over my mom's freshly shaven head. I still remember his chuckle as he commented on what a mediocre job the woman at the wig shop had done. He quickly grabbed my mom's hand and led her up to their bathroom where he took out his electric razor and proceeded to even out her baldness as I looked on, still uneasy. And as he and my mom continued to giggle and find the humor in this sad situation, my dad turned the razor on himself and spontaneously shaved his head clean. I all of a sudden had two equally bald parents. For the first time all day, I cracked a smile.

That day there were no words that could have made me feel better. But as my dad shaved off patches of the hair he was so proud of still having, I realized the importance of a gesture. No one can always have the right things to say or the remedy to all problems, but sometimes a gesture as small as this can tell a person you are there without having to say a word.

That day my parents were both beautiful in my eyes, despite their physical alterations. That day I learned what it meant to say everything that needed to be said without ever speaking a word.

Hatred and Healing

Earlier this week my brother posted and article on his facebook. It's a lengthy read, but so sickening and so saddening that I couldn't stop reading. The article, "One Town's War on Gay Teens" from the Rolling Stones magazine, chronicles the bullying of LGBT youth in Anoka, Minnesota and the subsequent rash of teen suicides throughout the school districts.

The article essentially brought me to tears. It's a sad world when students don't feel safe in school, where adults are intended to be there to teach and to protect. I think it has become all too common to turn a blind eye to bullying, to teach hatred, and to choose to pretend that there aren't real issues at hand. It's near impossible in today world for a child to go to school and not feel the pressure of peer acceptance and the constant search for ones identity. This is certainly difficult enough without the added hatred that was spewed at these teens by peers and adults alike.

In the article it says, "I ask for a show of hands: How many of you feel safe at school? Of the 19 kids assembled, two raise their hands." That statement really hit home with me. Roughly 10 percent of all of the kids asked this question felt safe in school. School should be a place of learning and safety, not a place that imposes fear on those who attend it.

The hatred and ignorance shown by the faculty and many of the students in this particular area is certainly disheartening. At this day in age one would hope that people have learned from the mistakes in the past and want to avoid the tragedies that stem from such ignorance. Whether you agree with someone's lifestyle or not, they are still human. They still feel. They still deserve to live a life of comfort, not fear.

After multiple suicides and reforms, the school district established their first Gay-Straight Alliance. The Alliance is still a topic of controversy in the area, but the kids have had enough. They are tired of seeing their peers, friends, and siblings driven into such despair that they feel the desire to die is stronger than the desire to live. They know that words hurt.

As one student said, "I joined the GSA 'cause . . . I wanted to be nice and - loved." This story reaches beyond the realm of bullying over a teen's sexuality. It sheds a light on bullying of all kinds and the impact that words can have on a person's spirit. You should never take away someone's hope... it may be all they have.

Westboro Baptist Church: Rhetorically Clueless or Rhetorically Genius?

image from: http://commonamericanjournal.com/?p=21882

Hate them or... hate them, it's still an obsession.

The Westboro Baptist Church is infamous for their hateful pickets against LGBT rights, American servicemen and women, Judaism, and well... just about anything. They are constantly met at picket sites with strong opposition and sometimes assaulted for attempting to spread their poisonous messages. The mere mentioning of the church is enough to send anyone into a fury. So, clearly their message isn't being accepted. Clearly, they are making no progress is convincing the world that their version of God's word is the accurate version. So, why don't they just give it up?

When it comes down to it, the rest of the world considers the members of this so-called church to be hate-spewing, uncompassionate, crazy people. And those words are far more tame than anything I would like to call them. It's blatantly obvious that their use of rhetoric is ineffective in proving their point. Rather than logically making their arguments or stating their beliefs, they choose to throw heinous signs and chants in the faces of the public. They lack any appeal to logos. After all, in what alternate universe is it logical to think the Bible literally states that "God hates fags" or that we should be thankful for dead soldiers and believe they are a divine punishment. I'm sorry but I have a very difficult time finding and logic in that. Find me a direct quote or get God on the phone... then maybe I'll see a little more logic in those arguments. They also lack any appeal to ethos. Their actions make it beyond impossible to respect them or their opinions and beyond that, they can hardly call themselves a church. The majority of their members seem to be people, within the Phelps family, who have been brainwashed from birth to spread their hateful messages. It's difficult to find any credibility in a group of people who can hardly attract a single new member unless they were born directly into the church. In fact, the only thing they appeal to is pathos, and if anything, they're only persuading people's emotions to develop more hatred towards them.

Doesn't sound like they know much about rhetoric to me.

However, on the other end of the spectrum, these people have made millions - and I mean millions - off of the lawsuits they have filed against the people who have physically assaulted them after being so offended by their messages over the years. So, what if that's their goal? To continue to fund their lives by getting such a rise out of people that they make a living simply by raising a sign and, for lack of better working, pissing people off. To some extent, I hope this is the case. The idea that they're using rhetoric to intentionally make money, despite how despicable it is, is more appealing than thinking they actually believe in such heinous values - in a sick way, albeit.

Either way, the people are sick. The only emotion they appeal to in my mind is absolute disgust and I'd love to take a swing at them as much as the next guy. But, how about we stop throwing punches and get a conclusive answer: are they rhetorically clueless and just THAT crazy? Or, are the rhetorically genius and funding their comfortable lives by getting a rise out of the rest of us?

Something tells me it's a little bit of both.

This I Believe - Beauty From Pain

The Rhetoric of Tragedy

            The passing of Joe Paterno this week has exposed the complexity in the rhetoric of tragedy. While there are still undertones of anger and disapproval surrounding the end of Joe’s career, this week focused more on the sadness of his departure from this life, and the joy he created in the lives of so many others. From the thousands upon thousands of students, alumni, and fans that paid their respects in the last few days at the vigil, viewing, and the funeral procession through state college, it’s become apparent that JoePa was much more than a football coach to so many.

The complexity of the emotions that stem from his passing, however, was most evident to me as I sat in my living room watching the Joe Paterno memorial in the BJC. There was the still present feeling of resentment towards the Board of Trustees. Phil Knight, co-founder of Nike, stated that “if there is a villain in this tragedy it is in the investigation, not in the response of Joe Paterno,” and continued to rhetorically ask, “Who is the real trustee at Penn State University?” After which statements, he received a standing ovation from the audience. In a similar vain, Jay Paterno told the audience “Joe Paterno left this world with a clear conscience.” Although the references to the scandal were limited, a few of the speakers still felt the need to address them; to tell the audience and the world that JoePa is not the villain the media had made him to be before his passing.

Most prevalent, of course, were the overtones of sadness and grievance for the loss of such a great man. The University has lost their idol and continues to grapple with how to move forward from such a loss. Speakers often found themselves needing to pause to breathe and regroup, the cameras frequently cut to the grieving family as they held each other, and each video montage played a song that reminded us of what we have lost. Most surprisingly, however, was the undertone of joy – joy for Joe’s life, for his contributions, for his dedication, whether direct or indirect, to every student on this campus. As one of the speakers said, “the greatness and the legacy of Joe Paterno lies within each of us.” The light in all of this is that, although he is gone physically, he lives on eternally through each and every one of us.

That’s the rhetoric of tragedy and of loss isn’t it? A confused, jumbled, rollercoaster of words and emotions. There’s no right way and no wrong way to go about grieving. But, if you ask me, the Penn State community has handled the passing of Joe Paterno with a measure of great dignity, respect, and grace in light of the disparaging eyes of the rest of the world. The rhetoric since his passing has been based on mutual support, mutual respect, mutual shock, and mutual love for JoePa and his family. As he created a team on the football field year after year, he created the team that is this great Penn State University.

Jay Paterno's final words to his father, Joe:
"Dad, you won. You did all you could do. You've done enough. We all love you; you've won. You can go home now."  - RIP Joseph Vincent Patero, 12/21/1926-1/22/2012. Legends never die.

M.F.B. (Oh sorry, that's an abbrev. for My First Blog)

Today YouTube is a household name. There is a daily influx of new videos to discover that cover a range of genres; from political recaps, to informative videos, to plain hilarity. Most recently, however, I came across a video called “Boys Will Be Girls: Night Out.” In accordance with what I usually watch on the site, it was meant to be a comedic video. But, what made it so funny was it’s obvious commentary on human interaction.

            The video, in its entirety, touches upon the stereotypes of men and women in terms of relationships, friendships, and electronic communication (namely texting). The draw of this for viewers, of course, is that these types of conversations really do happen everyday, but they don’t seem nearly as ridiculous when you’re involved in them. Take, for example, when one of the characters dramatically states that his girlfriend hasn’t texted back “for five minutes.” To which his friend responds, “What is she dead?” The humor derives from the fact that these situations really occur. In a world where everything is based on constant gratification, five minutes takes on the guise of an eternity.

            This video most blatantly takes a humorous stab at gender stereotypes. Beyond that, however, it takes a jab at the communicative breakdown caused by the lack of emotion in text-based conversations, as well as the way “abbrevs” have snuck their way into our daily lives. To be honest, this video “T.T.T.W.O.M.S.” (“totes took the wind out of my sails”) when I realized that I, too, partake in the unreasonable over analysis of the undertone of a text message. For example, the “huge difference between ‘yea’ and ‘yes,’” and the hurt felt by “hate words” such as ‘go.’

            The appeal of this particular video lies in the viewers’ ability to relate, whether they’re willing to admit it or not. With its 1.2 million views and almost 4,000 “likes,” it’s certainly striking accord with the YouTube community. While this video definitely draws a laugh – or fit of hysterics – the creators were certainly strategic in making a statement about the role of text and electronic conversations in the breakdown of effective human communication.