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My Life as Media

A poem

Jena Groshek

Nov 07, 2016

Kalamazoo College

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i was manufactured : : my time here hasn’t been worth while yet : : they pinch my waist to perfect hourglass figure with computers : : my little sisters buy waist trainers to look like me : : they paint my face like canvases : : i don’t recognize my reflection : : my best friends spend hours watching YouTube makeup tutorials to look like me : : school isn’t most important anyway : : if you’re pretty you’ll probably get somewhere in life : : you look like Emma Watson : : maybe you should try to be a model or an actress : : i walk on straight pins : : calves molded to perfection : : ignoring as i fall just as i get backstage : : rolled my ankle but i should still walk : : do it for the show : : strings attached to my wrists and ankles : : they think this is me

Author's Note: This poem was inspired by Evie Shockley's work and is my personal take on what the media has done to how women are perceived versus how we actually are.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.

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My Life as Media

A poem

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No one best represents the struggle like our favorite 90s squad.

1. When course schedules are released and you have a conflict between two required classes.

2. When there is only one section of a popular course.

3. Receiving the 18,000 emails reminding you to register ASAP.

4. When you need to see an advisor, but they are too busy/unresponsive.

5. Trying not to dress like a bum for your appointments with your advisors/department heads.

6. When you have a perfectly planned out schedule, and one class ruins it.

7. Carefully moving things around to accommodate a different class/section.

8. Waking up at 6:00 a.m. for your enrollment time.

9. Concocting a new schedule at your enrollment time after your original plan gets changed.

10. Getting into a class and filling the last available seat.

11. When all of your classes finally go through.

12. Realizing that you forgot a class that was a pre-requisite for everything else.

When your capability of "adulting" is put to the test

Nobody deserves to be living in poverty.

"Nobody living in one of the most influential nations in the world should be worried about making ends meet."

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What are the benefits of raising the minimum wage?

What are the states that have set a $15/hour minimum wage?

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Because who understands your bitterness better than April?

1. When you have to provide an "interesting fact" for your first day ice-breaker.

2. When your professor is babbling on and on in his lecture.

3. When you edit your friend's paper and they get an A.

4. When it's 2 AM and you remember you have a test tomorrow.

5. When you finish taking the test and you're pretty sure you failed...

6. ...but then you get the test back and somehow passed.

7. When you've been up for 12 hours straight writing a paper.

8. And then you manage to stay awake in class the next day.

9. When you have to butter up your professor for an extra credit opportunity.

10. When you're assigned a group project.

11. And your group-mates are trying to chat about life instead of the assignment.

12. When it's your last class of the day and you're about to go home.

13. But then you remember rent is due tonight and the anger comes back.

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