What is Wrong with the Browns? By Isaiah Gundani

Where do I even start? After years of being a Browns fan, suffering through losing season after losing season, I finally got a glimpse of hope as Baker Mayfield and Jarvis Landry led the Browns to win seven games last year. One cold night in March, this hope grew even more. I remember exactly where I was when I found out the Browns traded for Odell Beckham Jr. I was in the middle of playing basketball, and I took a break to get some water. I then decided to check my phone and I was shocked by the first thing I saw as I opened Instagram. I read the words, “Odell Beckham Jr. has been traded to the Cleveland Browns for Jabrill Peppers and first and third round draft picks.” I thought this was some sort of joke, but I realized that the account who posted this was SportsCenter. I didn’t play much more basketball that night as I rushed home to turn on the TV. The news was on every sports channel and I listened to various sports analysts, all predicting the Browns to finally make the playoffs. My hopes for a winning Browns season soon turned to an expectation that the curse would finally be over.

This leads me to today, three games into the NFL season. The Browns? Well, they aren’t doing so good. In week 1 all of Cleveland was expecting an easy win for the Browns against the Titans. Instead they got blown out 43-13. This crushing defeat didn’t affect the Browns too much as they bounced back in week 2, beating the Jets 20-3. This was a sign that the hype might be real. In week 3, I stayed up all Sunday night hoping the Browns would come out with a win against the Rams, one of the best teams in the league. This would solidify my hopes that the Browns were the real deal. The score was 20-13. The browns were only five yards away from scoring a touchdown, and they had four downs to do it. First down: incomplete pass. Second down: another incomplete pass. Third down: you guessed it…a third incomplete pass. The last chance for the browns, fourth down: INTERCEPTION. The Browns lose a heartbreaker and my hopes for a better year are starting to dwindle. Image result for browns vs rams

In week 4, the Browns play the Baltimore Ravens, one of the best teams in the league so far this season. This is yet another chance for the Browns to prove themselves as a legitimate team; assuring me, and all the other Cleveland sports fans out there, that our constant support of the team isn’t for nothing. Only time will tell if the Browns step up to this challenge.

 

A Cursor on an Empty Page by Tomasina DeLong

Here I am, staring at a blank document. Well, it is actually multiple blank pages because it is college essay writing season. I am applying to about 9 schools, and at this point, I have at least seven supplemental essays toImage result for college essay writing write, each different:

  • 650 words: What are your career goals? 
  • 200 words: Why do you want to go to this school? 
  • 350 words: In what ways will you bring individuality to our campus? 
  • 400 words: What fictional character do you most relate to? 
  • 700 words: Why will you be successful in med-school and how do we know you are ready to administer patient care? 

These are not easy questions, and the pressure of my college admittance being dependent on them does not relieve my anxiety. How will I be able to tell the colleges concisely and articulately if I can barely answer them myself? There is so much stress and illness associated with writing these essays that it seems easier to avoid them altogether than actually write them. This is a perpetual cycle because the longer I avoid it, the less time I will have to write it which will, in turn, make me even more stressed. My point being, that this black curser appearing and disappearing is daunting but I must get started. Writing is a process and I just need to begin. 

 

 

Will I Ever Get Onto Broadway? No. by Victoria Helmick

Being a musical theatre fan can be a lot of work. New music is constantly released, or there are rising musicals that are not given enough exposure yet and you want to be the first to tell your friends about it. Yet, you cannot sing the right tune to Happy Birthday without sounding like a dying cat. 

My love for Broadway is indescribable, and I listen to soundtracks any moment I can. I always fantasize about being on Broadway, performing live on stage, or even winning a Tony award. But of course, a reality check is inputted, and I am reminded that my sister took all of the singing genes from my mother, and did not share any with me. 

My first encounter with musical theatre was when my stepdad, at the time my mother’s soon-to-be husband, took my mom, sister, and me to see a tour production of Wicked. I was extremely excited to see a live performance for the first time in my life. At the time I was about 8 years old, so my expectations were not very high. When we arrived at the theatre we ushered our way to our seats. We sat down and immediately the entire room went dark and the show began. The musical was enlightening the entire 2 hours and 45 minutes. My 8-year-old self had no idea that soon my obsession with Broadway would begin. 

Today, if you were to ask me what my favorite musical of all time is, it would sadly not be Wicked. The musical that I go to sleep to every day would be Hadestown. This musical is one of my biggest obsessions and I am exceptionally excited to see it this Thanksgiving in New York. Set during the Great Depression, Hadestown centers on the two mythological love tales of Orpheus and Eurydice, and Hades and Persphone. Hadestown is an original story of how far people will go to save the ones they love. My passion for musical theatre will never die out, and every night I will sit in my room to new Broadway tunes, imagining that I am walking up to the stage of the Radio City Music Hall.