Unlike many of my OSU best friends and classmates, I unfortunately took the boring route and went back to frigid Cleveland, OH for my “spring” break.  I tried my hardest to convince myself that the week would be a much-needed hiatus from my stressful college life. To my surprise, I realized that free time and I don’t really work out, I had absolutely no idea what to do with myself. Naturally, I turned to Netflix. 

After the end of Breaking Bad, I’ve been in quite a slump trying to find a new show to watch. I started a few but was never able to stick with them. I heard a lot of hype about the show House of Cards, so I decided to give it a try. It took a few episodes but I can definitely say that I am hooked on a new show again. After spending two whole days binge watching the show, which has a storyline focused on politics, I started thinking about my own knowledge of politics. Embarrassingly enough, I found that my political awareness is practically nonexistent. Obviously I know the basics, the general stuff you learn throughout middle school and high school in “social studies,” but when I came to the realization that I don’t know whom our House Majority Whip is (the main character of House of Cards starts off with this position in the House of Representatives) or for that matter, really anyone in congress, I was actually very disappointed in myself. I absorb so much random, useless information from sources and programs like Buzz Feed and E News everyday. As interesting as it is to me that I can tell you which 2000’s rapper I am, or all about the kissing drama between Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus, I unfortunately don’t think that that information will help me out very much in my classes or looking down the road for future job interviews (although I don’t really understand why, who wouldn’t want to know which 2000’s rapper they are?!?) So, I decided to challenge myself to start taking initiative to better myself as a United States citizen (I know that sounded really lame, but stay with me.) My goal is to learn a new “life applicable” fact each week. I started myself off easy with learning the name of our Majority House Whip. If you’re like me and don’t know, his name is Kevin McCarthy and he’s a republican. So I challenge anyone reading to learn his or her own weekly “life applicable” fact and maybe we won’t all feel as bad about the amount of Netflix binge watching we do or the amount of time we spend taking Buzz Feed quizzes. Perhaps I’m being ambitious, while not completely back into the full swing of classes, quizzes, papers, and exams, but it’s worth a try. Maybe a few months from now I will be able to carry on a more intelligent conversation than why Katy Perry denied Miley Cyrus of a make-out, but don’t worry I’ll let them know the answer to that question after I share my useful facts. Good luck and don’t forget to watch House of Cards, or whatever Netflix show that will provoke your own irrationally intelligent thoughts.