Ada Zuba

Music can speak louder than words. We all know it is true. There are many genres of music out there for everyone from classical to rap from country to heavy metal. I do not think there is anyone in the world who has said: "I don't like music". There are many amazing artists out there that I have looked up to including Beyonce, Ed Sheeran, and Coldplay. However, at one point in my life I could no longer stand pop music, it was starting to get very repetitive and artists were taking original songs such as "Numa Numa" and then turning it into "Live your Life" by Rihanna and T.I. I was getting sick of the lack of creativity in artists. This was when I was still in high school. So, I was I think sixteen or fifteen around the time. I wanted something to fill the void of new songs. My oldest sister had started dating this guy and his music taste was as she at the time claimed as "kinda weird". Then, one Christmas her now-husband (at the time boyfriend) gave her a large box and my sister kept unwrapping it, he put a box within a box within a box and within a box, I think there were more boxes, but anyway and she came to the gift which was an iPod nano I can't remember what generation it was, but it was all touch screen and tiny. He had put all of his favorite songs on it, so she could listen to it. One day, after my sister came back from hanging out with him, she introduced me to a song titled "Bambi" by a band, which I had never heard of at the time that was and is to this day called Tokyo Police Club. As soon as she started playing it on the iPod speakers something amazing happened. I heard odd noises starting out, which then started to grow into a rhythm and the drum kit entered the scene of the music. The lyrics were unique and original "I want to tell you there's a really good reason why I came home wasted in the middle of the night, a tiny kingdom at the bottom of the trees where I was always a winner and usually right" were the first lyrics that came to my ears. I have never heard of any lyrics like it and then the chorus was uplifting. Ever since hearing those lyrics and that raw sound I could not stop listening to the song. I played in circles for days at a time, I then downloaded it onto my own iPod and I would blast my eardrums as I walked down the halls of my high school. Then, I took a risk and started listening to Tokyo Police Club's other songs such as "Your English is Good" and I found the song fun and upbeat, which then led me to find more of their other songs and I was liking every single one, by the end of high school I knew all their lyrics by heart. I started discovering more artists of the same genre and discovered that indie rock was my favorite genre of all time. nearly ten years later and I am still listening to Tokyo Police Club and I still note it as one of my favorite bands. I do not know what it is but I can't seem to get sick of them. This song "Bambi" by Tokyo Police Club has changed my life, it did not give me any life-altering decision or anything to make a light from heaven to pour down on me with angles singing, but it changed the way I listen to music. Since then I have discovered many other bands such as Ottawa the band, Arcade Fire, Passion Pit, and Foster the People. I have expanded my horizons in music thanks to that one song that changed my perspective. I now know that I do not have to be tied down to one genre, I have learned to love punk rock bands such as Sum 41 or My Chemical Romance. I'm glad that my oldest sister had introduced me to the song and I am glad that I found other songs thanks to her. Take a listen to it below:

One of the video games that I enjoy is the fire emblem games and that includes the very first one that came out on Nintendo. Since before even getting my own switch I have been dying to try out the fire emblem game titled "Three Houses". The game play is very different than any other fire emblem I have played. I have to admit that the best one I had played was Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadow of Valentia I liked how there was places for your characters to explore and how you as the gamer got to play as two characters and explore different sides of the story. The story line was one of the best fire emblems I have played. It was also very challenging as you would expect fire emblem to be.

Journaling has always been a part of my life. It started at a very young age for me, I was probably 11 when I started, but reading back at those entries it makes me want to laugh at myself. It was all about the cute boys in school and the annoying things my older sisters had done to me that day. I found that reading these entries I had matured throughout the years. I see spelling mistakes, which would probably kill me, if I wrote them at this age. My family members were always more interested in science and since Polish was my parents first language English was one of those subjects where teachers would expect me to not do well in. Through my journaling I got much better in English. I understand where my mistakes are being made and it makes me a better writer for it. Every person that wanted to be writers but never achieved it had told me one thing: "Always keep writing". One of my professors told me this on our last day and for some reason it really stuck with me and as i made new friends in my English degree everyone kept telling me "you have to keep writing, even after you graduate". Now, I was not the best student. I rarely received A's but all my courses were always around B's because you know what they say:"B's get degrees". But, I never stopped writing and I do not plan on stopping. I enjoy it as a pass time and since discovering Vocal it has helped me expand my mind and do research about topics, which I thought would never interest me. Now you know how it has helped me, let's go over on how it can help you.

I love the summer. I love the hot weather, I love the smell of freshly cut grass and the smell of sunscreen, those are the small things that I love about it. The thing that I love most is how I feel during the summer months; I feel happy and ready to go anywhere and do anything as long as it is outside and I am enjoying the warm weather. Then winter comes. The snow covers the trees and grass is no longer visible. It gets cold and warming up by the fire with a mug filled with hot chocolate and marshmallows. Christmas comes and everyone strings there houses with lights that fill me with joy. However, most days I do not feel like going anywhere or doing anything. I just want to curl up in a blanket and not see anyone for weeks or just read my book, play a video game and be left alone. This is what is called seasonal affective disorder, you only feel down during the winter days. However, some of you may wonder what is seasonal affective disorder? well, let me summarize it. "It is a type of depression that is related to the seasons". It happens mostly because of the lack of vitamin D that a person is taking in. For people who love skiing and doing snow sports, it does not happen very often because they are outside getting that vitamin D and enjoying a fun activity. Since the city I live in is known for the sunny weather many people are diagnosed with the seasonal depression. However, the seasonal depression can also take place during summer, but that happens in very rare cases.

A large portion of the population out there loves coffee. Most of you get up in the morning and cannot function until your mug is emptied. However, some of us cannot drink it because we will feel ill or get the jitters. I happen to be one of those people. My family and I love our tea. There has never been a time where a tea pot stood empty, at least that I can remember. Now, black tea has caffeine in it and I know for a fact that if I have a cup of tea before noon I will get the shakes. Before I knew this fact I would drink my cup of tea and go to my room to write in my journal or work on a short story and my hands would fly all over the place and the amount of typos written were astronomical. So, I experimented and it was the caffeine causing the shakes. Most people after dinner can enjoy a cup of coffee or some black tea and I sadly cannot have either after seven otherwise I will not be able to sleep. I have had friends tell me, “You are so lucky you don’t need coffee”. This is true because I save a lot of money but I have a weakness to Starbucks and their Frappuccino; this is what I call “fake coffee” because it is mostly sugar in there. At one o’ clock in the afternoon I will enjoy a Frappuccino and then I am bouncing off the walls like a child in the years that parents call “the terrible twos.” My mind races and I cannot sit still for the life of me. After the caffeine wears off I fall into a state of zoning out by staring outside of my window and thinking about anything, then when anyone asks me something my mind is somewhere else. Now, I can’t drink straight up coffee, I have tried a sip from a friend once. I felt like I had to puke, it was so bitter and gross that I couldn’t believe people willingly drink this liquid swill to survive through the day. I pity you coffee drinkers. I am writing this article at the late time of 11:24 PM and it is because I had enjoyed a Dr. Pepper at 8 o’clock. Yes, that is how much energy I have and Dr. Pepper contains a caffeine amount of 68 milligrams. A cup of coffee contains 70-140 milligrams of caffeine, which would give me the shakes right now. As a reader you may be wondering, what are these “shakes” she keeps referring to? Well, dear readers, have you ever had gone to the gym and your muscles are shaking from the workout you have just finished? Imagine that feeling and then add the feeling like you need to eat, not the faint feeling but the “hangry” feeling, then add the extreme happiness from when you are drunk or laughing your face off with your friends. That’s what that “shakes” are, it is this uncontrollable shaking and you just can’t stop because if you do stop the whole body will burst into an eruption of flames and ash.

Disney+ is probably the best thing since Netflix. I was most excited about the Disney+ shows that were coming out with the streaming service. The show that was on my top list was to watch The Mandalorian. My fiancé had been hyped up about this show due to his obsession with Star Wars and I confess I became a fan myself. There are many things that I like about it. Only two episodes have been out and we still don't know any of the characters' names, yet attachment to the show does not lessen. It adds a bit of suspense since we have no idea what name these characters want to go by. Since the day that Disney+ came with The Mandalorian every Star Wars fan has been posted pictures of "baby Yoda;" however, we know that it cannot be possibly the real Yoda since he had passed on in Episode VI — The Return of the Jedi. The show supposedly takes place before the seventh Star Wars and after the sixth, so the empire no longer exists and we see this evidence near the beginning of The Mandalorian where the bounty hunter is offered a very generous reward for his work. He is surrounded by the stormtroopers, but their armor is rusty and lacking the white color in some spots. The bounty hunter sets off on a journey to find this thing that he is supposed to kill, but it takes an unlikely turn as the 50-year-old creature is a small baby and the hire wants him or her or it back alive. The force flows deep within the creature and we know that the bounty hunter is also young because when he witnesses the use of the "force" for the first time, he does not recognize it as the "force." The voice of the bounty hunter is also young, yet he is well-skilled since he is one of the best bounty hunters in the galaxy. While watching The Mandalorian, it felt like watching every other Star Wars movie because of the familiar aliens and the atmosphere that is created by none other than Jon Favreau and his vision is what Star Wars is. Now, I have read other reviews and the mixed feelings do exist, but honestly, I love the series and I wish that Disney was releasing more than they had. There are some moments that made me laugh at loud such as when the bounty hunter comes back to his ship and the small devils known as "jawas" were stripping his ship apart. They did a fast job at it too, because when the bounty hunter got back, his whole ship was basically in ruins and unable to fly or work. The situation gets comedic when the jawas start throwing whatever they can to get the bounty hunter off their ship and then the orb that holds baby "Yoda" is just floating directly behind him keeping up and just watching as this happens. That was too funny. Then, we have a bit of suspense where the bounty hunter runs into a creature and is nearly beaten. When baby "Yoda" steps in, our jaws drop as he beats the creature and retrieves the egg for the jawas to get his stolen ship parts back. This is a show where all ages can enjoy because of the humor and suspense that is put into the show. There have not been any scenes that were not all-ages appropriate. Yes, there is shooting and violence, but not the violence that will scar a child for the rest of their lives. Overall, I'm excited about the next few episodes.