This is a video documentary featuring highlights of my final semester in the United States.
This has been an amazing year and the clips in this video are just a tiny speck of everything I’ve been so lucky to see and do since August.
It was a dream to study here, and watching this makes me reflect and realise the dream really did come true.
My first appearance on WSIN Radio discussing my column in Southern News, “Race Outcome Is Evident;” my background with U.S. politics and some other fun topics.
Tonight Gabrielle Giffords’ husband Mark Kelly visited SCSU to discuss his life and the last 16 months since the shooting of his wife.
SCSU secured Kelly to be part of the Mary and Louis Fusco Distinguished Lecture Series, with previous speakers such as Colin Powell, Walter Cronkite and Whoopi Goldberg.
The night began with an introduction by Dr Mary Papzian, the president of SCSU, who touched on the relevance of the decade-long lecture series before Kelly took the stage.
Kelly shared intimate tales from his early teenage years including his Mother working multiple jobs and first developing his dream of being the first human to walk on Mars.
One of the many fascinating stories told by Kelly of his teenage years was when he worked as an ambulance driver at 17 years old.
He arrived at the scene of an accident to see a boy shot seven times, once in the head. An image that came back to him when he first heard of Giffords’ shooting.
One of the most touching stories of the night was when he discovered CNN and Fox News reported Giffords’ had died. At the time he was on a flight to Tucson with his children - it was the first time his children had seen him cry, he recalled.
But other tales included in the hour were him narrowly avoiding surface to air missiles flying an A-6 jet in the Gulf War; his struggles as a Naval aviator, and nearly being shot down by the U.S. navy flying over Iran due to a lack of communication.
And communication was a subject he came back to throughout the lecture; difficulties in communicating with Giffords immediately after her shooting and how to make the decision of continuing to lead the Space Shuttle Endeavour without his wife’s input — a mission he had been training to lead for two years.
A humourous revelation he told towards to end of the night was how Giffords keeps the part of her skull which was extracted during her surgery in their freezer at home and insists on showing visitors.
That, and other uplifting twists this family have found in the midst of such tragedy is a testament to Kelly, Giffords and their whole family.
Shepard Smith. Yes.
Yes, I made it. This is the final week of classes, and while I am upset I have a surprising sense of calm too.
This whole experience has been a dream come true; for years I hoped I would get to study in the U.S. and it happened. I don’t regret a single thing about this whole endevour.
In fact, I’m pleased I struggled so much in the beginning; it makes getting this far even sweeter. I was reading one of my first blog posts titled “American Dream (Nightmare)” from September and I can now answer myself.
I believe I have a chance of coming out of this extremely proud that I got through it. However, that will be defined by my grades at the end. That’s what matters to me. In my mind, as crazy as it sounds, a low B or C is a fail to me. And I’m doing a class I’ve never had any academic experience in, and it’s a third tier class.
The grades part of that post really stands out, because if I go off what I measured as I fail, I didn’t fail. Which is unbelievable when I think back to how much I struggled to grasp the American school system at the beginning of the fall ‘11 semester.
I’ve grown as a person, and improved so much as a journalist thanks to this experience. It’s truly been priceless. This semester I feel I truly grasped the teaching style, so much so I was able to write for Southern News (school newspaper) as well as everything else. I now even have hopes to come back to the U.S. for my masters degree.
For now though, the rest of my time here will be spent working as hard as I can to leave SCSU with the best grades possible; enjoy the beautiful surroundings; drink as much Dunkin’ Donuts coffee has physically possible, and; be blessed when I sneeze by everybody around (Americans really do that a lot!).
It’s been amazing, Southern Connecticut State University.
Thank you.
I only have one spring break in America, so I was going to make the most of it. Not content with just travelling to Disney World, Florida, two concerts at the end of the week were on my schedule.
Moving Mountains live in Danbury, CT.
Gotye live in New York City.
Saturday:
@movmou I am guys. I can’t express how freaking pumped I am for this!!!
— Chris McBriarty (@Chris_McB) March 24, 2012
Moving Mountains have been one of my favourite bands for over a year now, and their latest album was my #1 album of 2011. So naturally, I was very excited.
I was planning to record songs to use in this post but I ended up being too into the show to record. I did a quick YouTube search and thankfully found my favourite song of theirs recorded from the show in Danbury.
Sunday:
Just boarded a train set for NYC. Tonight’s agenda: Gotye concert! #winning
— Chris McBriarty (@Chris_McB) March 25, 2012
I was blown away by this show.
Kimbra, the lady whose vocals appear on Somebody That I Used To Know was supporting. I had listened to a few of her songs prior to the show, and they didn’t really resonate with me.
Live, however, that wasn’t the case: She was fantastic. She has a huge stage presence and was vocally on-point throughout.
Gotye was a lot better than what I was anticipating. I wondered how the songs would transfer to a live atmosphere, but they all became even better than on the album.
I left the show feeling as though it was the best overall concert I’ve ever been to. Kimbra and Gotye both being fantastic.
My favourite song of the night was one that never hit me on Gotye’s album, Making Mirrors, at all. It was the groovy-as-heck number named State Of The Art:
To sum up: I want to see them live again, ASAP.
——
The full Gotye album, Making Mirrors, can be listened to/watched here:
This week I got to experience the quintessential American college experience: Spring break in Florida.
We choose to stay at the Walt Disney resort, and managed to visit almost everything we had planned to see/do.
I took a few snaps along the way which can viewed below.
Recently I took a trip up to Okemo Mountain Resort in Vermont for a day of snowboarding.
Bearing in mind I haven’t snowboarded in over ten years, I was extremely surprised at how well I did. I threw together this video of a run I did.
Snowboarding run @ Okemo from Chris on Vimeo.
Music: Crime In Stereo - Queue Moderns
What was I thinking?
Spring 2012 semester starts today and I am so thankful to be doing it here in America.
Let’s do it!
America, to me, in one photo: Dunkin’ Donuts and red cup.
#1 - Moving Mountains - Waves
#2 - J. Cole - Cole World: The Sideline Story
#3 - The Vaccines - What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?
#4 - Big Sean - Finally Famous
#5 - Arctic Monkeys - Suck It And See
#6 - Bad Meets Evil - Hell: The Sequel
#7 - M83 - Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
#8 - Kendrick Lamar - Section.80
#9 - The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar
#10 - Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch The Throne
*Click image to hear a song from that album
I cannot believe this is it; I leave tomorrow.
My whole life has changed since the day I lifted off from home. I’ve changed, situations have changed, friends have changed; it’s really overwhelming to think about.
I have accomplished a lot in my four months here and it’s really gone perfectly when it comes to accomplishments. And even though everything didn’t go how I had imagined, I’m actually very happy with how it turned out.
When I think back to times like flying to Atlanta to visit the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation, winning the football (soccer) tournament; even just being at an American college — all dreams of mine I’ve had for over tens years. So I’m leaving for home with no complaints and some great memories.
International Peeps: soccer tournament winners
And so, yes, I am coming back for another semester. That was not the plan, but thankfully it has worked out that I am indeed returning. It was a very tough decision, and it was last-minute; but definitely a decision I am extremely happy with.
I was entertaining the idea for a few weeks and after I talked to the international office it started to become more feasible. I handed in the paperwork but the following day woke up regretting it; then it was almost taken away from me. The international office e-mailed me saying I had until 5pm to make my decision otherwise they would cancel my application to extend, but they e-mailed while I was in class. I returned from class at 4:56, checked my e-mails and felt sick. I thought I had missed my chance because I e-mailed back at 5pm exactly. I didn’t get a response until the following day, which meant that night my mind was racing.
It had me reflecting on how crazy everything has been, but made me realise that staying here is truly what I want.
One of the many reasons I’m returning: amazing friends
The decision was so tough because I was excited to get back to my home university, see my friends there, get back to the school newspaper, and once again help out with Support Our Shops — all mean so much to me. But I just felt like my time here was not done and I needed to stay. I still need to visit Washington D.C., go snowboarding and skiing; and most importantly: continue to be afraid.
The challenges this university set scare me. Though sometimes when I’m in it I don’t enjoy it, afterwards I appreciate how that fear helped me to learn. There are some truly amazing professors here that even though I may have not appreciated in the beginning, now I can see they are helping me to better myself tremendously.
So yes, my Escapades in the United States will continue on for another semester. I’m very much looking forward to it.
Merry Christmas.
Certainly no complaints to be reported in this post. A road trip, show, amazing company and happiness.
The week began with the end of the Movember cause that I organised. I believe our club raised over $100 which I’m extremely happy about. I was even happier that I could get rid of that hideous moustache!
Then Monday evening into Tuesday morning around 5am I was writing a 2000 word paper. I realised that night if I was to go on the road trip I needed to complete the paper in case I wasn’t back on the deadline day. I still have no idea how I managed to get it done; I’ve never done that much research in such a short space of time. But it was definitely worth it because the road trip was amazing.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was the destination for my friend and I. It was a very long road trip, just over eight hours it ended up being, but it was very fun. I was astounded by the amount of religious billboards I saw on the way. I’m not sure, it just seemed a little odd — but it is America.
Pittsburgh is a beautiful city, and so quiet. I believe both of us were shocked at how quiet it was Downtown in the middle of the day. But that was actually a welcome change after the previous weekend in New York City. We had a show lined up in the evening to see a band we love called The Joy Formidable, but before it we wanted to eat and were recommended the Mallorca Restaurant. If you’re ever in Pittsburgh, you must go here. The food, the service, the atmosphere; all were outstanding. Our waiter was indeed a character; we asked for the specials and got a performance I only wish I could have recorded. If anyone reading this does indeed go, ask to be told the specials and hope wild boar is on it. Hilarity will ensue.
The Joy Formidable were amazing live, as always. There’s a big part of me that wants to go into a review-style paragraph of the show, but instead I’ll just sum it up as: adjective, adjective, Joy Formidable, adjective! No, all kidding aside it was very good, and if you haven’t listened to them yet: you need to!
Another band called Switchfoot were playing, and even though I had heard of them I’d never listened to their music. Thankfully my friend had and she put my mind at ease, and ya’know, they were very good. By the end of their set I was glad I hadn’t heard anything of their’s because I’m now looking forward to going through their albums.
The next day was the day for sight-seeing and detouring to Ohio before heading back to Connecticut. Downtown Pittsburgh has some beautiful castle-like buildings, and amongst them is an outdoor ice-rink with a beautiful Christmas tree in the middle. So, of course, we went ice-skating and then window shopped before heading to Ohio.
Ohio’s a beautiful state, and a state I’ve jokingly said I would never go to thanks to some of the shocking stories I’ve read out of it. But it was really great to be there even for an hour or two before heading back to Connecticut.
The week was wrapped up with all the international students getting together with the staff that have helped us out this semester for a meal. It was really quite odd to be there and realise it’s the end of the semester. The first day when we all met for the introductory breakfast just seemed like yesterday, not nearly four months ago.
Times change, and perhaps there’s still more change for me yet before heading home.
Three weeks ago I was in the rut. You know the rut; waking up late and doing nothing with your day. I went weeks waking up around 1pm, rushing to shower and skim-read what I was suppose to read for class starting at 2pm. I don’t know how I managed to just accept that and make it the norm for so long.
One night though I was up around 2am and suddenly my favourite Will Smith quote came to me.
“The only thing I see that is distinctly different about me is: I’m not afraid to die on a treadmill. You might have more talent than me, you might me smarter than me; but if we get on a treadmill together there are two things: you’re getting off first, or I’m going to die. It’s really that simple.”
I really see myself how Will Smith describes there, which is why it’s my favourite quote of his. I watched it on YouTube that night and that’s when I found the video that lifted me out of the rut I was in.
“When you want to succeed, as bad as you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful.”
“Most of you don’t want success as much as you want to sleep…some of you love sleep more than you love success!”
“Don’t try to quit, you’re already in pain, you’re already hurt; get a reward from it.”
The quote there about not wanting success as bad as you want to sleep, that is exactly what I have running through my mind every morning. When that alarm rings across the room at 6:30am, I don’t dare get back into bed because that voice is there repeating the quote over and over. I even downloaded the audio of that video and I listen to it every morning on my way to the gym.
This morning though was the closest I came to ignoring that voice and getting back into bed. Today was my first test. I made all the excuses in the world: ‘my legs are hurting’, ‘I’m tired’, ‘the blisters mean I won’t be able to run’ — and many more. But I didn’t. That voice motivated me to press on regardless.
I use it in all cases of my life now; it’s become a metaphor for all aspects, and not just wanting to hit the gym every morning. I know it’ll spur me on when I have doubts about my career, life and many other issues. It has inspired me with my school work already.
Little steps, everyday; little inroads towards my goal every-single-day will guarantee that I will get there one day.
This week has been the best in America so far. It can be labelled as such thanks to a whole host of things, but mainly thanks to my mind finally being at ease.
I woke up at the beginning of the week and everything changed. I’ve returned to the Chris I was before I came here. A lot of my problems have all centred around the feeling of being alone. It definitely drove me insane and the way I was acting I now look back and think: “Wow”. Travelling alone is absolutely no joke; getting into a hotel, walking around, going to a show — doing those alone can drive you insane. Luckily when I’ve been at school I’ve had a lot of friends, but just recently they’ve become real friends. I believe that’s why this week my mind was eased.
I travelled to Boston at the beginning of the week for a couple of days and it was really a time for reflection and thought. I sat in Harvard Square and you can’t avoid all the homeless people; it had me thinking about the life they lead. One of them walked past me and said “Good day, sir” and just carried on walking. My immediate thought was, “weirdo”; and then I realised he’s probably lonely and that aided him in some way. I acted weird when I felt alone, so perhaps he was just as normal as myself or anybody else. I dare anybody to get on a plane, train, bus and just be alone in a random city and see how it challenges you. At first it’s easy enough to handle, but then as time goes you’ll see it’s a real mental challenge. You can have as many people with you as you want, but if you don’t have friends or loved ones you may as well have nobody around.
It was amazing to be back in that beautiful city. The second I got onto the T platform at South Station it set my senses to nostalgia mode. The voice of the platform announcer; the smell of the station; the T map. It had definitely been too long. The photo above is where I went to first: Boston Common. To walk around there again and just enjoy a beautiful Fall day was really special. In the evening I had plans to go to a show, and it was a killer show. After which I met up with friends and the night turned into this:
Post-Boston and back to reality my 6:30am wake-up calls for the gym have been continuing which I am extremely happy about — I feel so motivated to keep that going. I was hoping this would happen; I would end up loving it here, getting settled into a routine and then having the finish line in sight.
This coming week is thanksgiving and I have some great plans lined up for it. This thanksgiving I have a lot to be thankful for.
