When I was a kid, my mom would take me to the library once a week, usually after soccer practice or early on a Saturday morning. If you asked the 10-year-old me, I always had a love/hate relationship with the library and my trip there always depended on my mood. What kind of kid wants to go to the library after soccer practice when he’s sweaty and hungry or go at the crack of dawn on a Saturday? I usually couldn’t find enough books that I was thrilled and excited to read, but if I did, I didn’t always have time to finish all of them. As I got older, I began to read less and less. I slowly grew to dislike reading in its entirety because of all the time I had to spend reading when I was younger. But over the last few months, I have started to pick up books again, and it has been very exciting to become obsessed once again with reading.

I wish I had stuck with reading and figured out a way for it to fit into my life how I would’ve expected. I think there was a lot of growing opportunities I missed out on from dismissing reading books. So, now you ask, why is it so valuable to read books?

To start, books are a great source of entertainment. We all know those people who watch a movie that was recreated from a book and says, “the book was WAYYY better.” Well, turns out they were actually right. The Pew Research Center published an article about this and cited a study which consisted of 800 books and their movie adaptations and the ratings for each on Goodreads and IMDB. In the study, they found that in 74% of these book/movie adaptations that the book rated better by at least a whole point. In 22.1%, the book and movies were similarly rated, and in only 4% of the cases, the movie was rated better than the book. There could be many reasons for this, but one of the biggest reasons is the creative space a book gives compared to a movie. Movies are usually confined to a 2-hour time period. Meanwhile, a book can contain hundreds of pages narrating the story the exact way the author intended, but a movie has to try and take this exact fit and translate and condense the book to fit into the time and visual effects of a movie. Also, people can read a book and let their imagination create the scenes in their head. This makes it difficult for filmmakers as they are tasked with taking everyone’s imagination and trying to create the perfect scene to satisfy a million different people. so overall, books are proven to be better than the movie adaptations.

The other reason everyone should try and read books is the physical and mental benefits. Reading helps keep a person growing even when they don’t realize it. The first way reading helps is through mental stimulation. Reading is like mental exercising for the brain. It engages cognitive skills and development of the brain through very little actual work done on our end. Reading books has also been linked to helping reduce depression, anxiety, and stress. It lets people engage in a great story and give their mind a break from the stresses of the world around them. There are also plenty of academic benefits to trying to read some of a book every day, and the best part is that it doesn’t require us studying a bunch or spending a lot of boring time looking at only a textbook. Reading books can increase one’s vocabulary and improve one’s writing skills. As most of you know, both of these would be extremely beneficial to any college student. This one also just makes logical sense – the more you are exposing yourself to new vocabulary and writing styles, the more you will be able to use this new vocab and these new writing styles. The best part of reading books is that there are plenty of different mental, physical, and academic benefits, and they don’t require us to do much more than just enjoy a good book.

If it’s been awhile since you last read a book, and you don’t know where to begin. I would suggest first going to friends and asking them for recommendations. Just like music and movies, everyone will have their own preferences, and I have my own picky preferences. But if you are pretty open-minded, I would recommend The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. This is one of my all-time favorite books. It takes a look at how habits are at the core of everything we do and how habits play a part in our personal life, business, and society as a whole. I have read this book multiple times, and I think that anyone could benefit from reading it. No matter what book you choose to pick up next, I hope you get out there and try reading something you’ll enjoy!

Sources

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

https://www.healthline.com/health/benefits-of-reading-books

https://www.inc.com/christina-desmarais/why-reading-books-should-be-your-priority-according-to-science.html

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/09/26/who-doesnt-read-books-in-america/

We had another Student Concert this past Thursday performed by Scout Powell on IGTV. You can see her set below!

Oftentimes, people find themselves with a desire to get fit and healthy through exercise, but yet they seem to lose their motivation when they get caught up in the idea that you have to have a gym in order to achieve these goals. “About 35 percent say that the 9-5 schedule is just too much to include a workout in and that work commitments demotivate them the most when it comes to exercise (AlenD 2016).”  However, this does not have to be the case. There are so many ways to workout at home with literally no equipment, and all it requires is yourself, a set plan, and a little bit of dedication.

Firstly, you need to establish a plan that best fits your schedule. Workouts can vary in length of time as well as how many days a week you do them. Schedules can become very hectic and busy, so having a set plan that will not be overwhelming is key. There are many different options to choose from, and multiple different sources that can help in this decision-making process. In their article “Work Out Without Weights: Dynamic Tension Revised,” Bodybuilding.com talks about so many different ways to workout, and how to organize them using just simply your body weight. Another great source that I personally follow is Athlean-X’s Jeff Cavaliere, who has a great video on at-home workouts which can be found on Youtube as well as on Men’s Health’s article “You Can Do This Full Body Workout at Home With Zero Equipment.” Each of these sources as well as many others give great examples of at-home exercises, and they all give you an opportunity to see in detail how long they may take, how often a week you should be doing them, as well as what exactly they are doing for your body.

Next you are going to decide on which workouts you will do. It is likely that any sort of home workout routine you find online will be focusing on body weight exercises. However, you also need to focus on some sort of cardio such as jumping jacks, burpees, or even just running outside, as it is huge to maintain cardiovascular health. Squats, lunges, sit ups, and pushups are all practical; full-body workouts that are functional and should be implemented into any of the chosen workout programs. Body weight training can improve coordination, flexibility, and even power without any requirement of extra resistance from cables or other weight equipment. As a matter of fact, workouts with gym equipment can cause people to become more reliant on the machine rather than their actual body, while these body weight exercises are 100% based on your own body’s ability. One of these at-home workouts for your chest, triceps and core could be:

Chest/Tris/Core

• Standard Pushups – 5 set x 10 reps
• Decline Pushups (Feet on a chair, couch, or some elevated surface) – 4×10
• Diamond Pushups – 3×10
• Kickbacks (Grab maybe a gallon of water or something with a comfortable weight to hold onto) – 4×10 each arm
  • While standing and leaning over, extend your arm backwards to work the triceps

While laying on a yoga mat or carpet:

• Bicycle Kicks – 20 total
• Standard Sit Ups – 20 total
• Russian Twist – 20 total
  • Repeat this process 3 times, with no more than 1 minute rest between each

Do not let your mind tell you that you can’t get or even stay fit without some sort of gym equipment, because that is far from the truth. Keep in mind that it definitely requires dedication, but there are so many ways to keep yourself in there! You can workout with others, set up a reward system, and even get creative in your exercises to make them more enjoyable! Working out at home can be just as effective as working out in a gym with the right mindset and hard work. Good luck!

 Sources

www.theactivetimes.com/fitness/your-first-time/expensive-gym-membership-and-other-excuses-people-find-not-exercise

www.menshealth.com/fitness/a31698453/athlean-x-home-workout-total-bodyweight-video/

www.bodybuilding.com/content/building-the-perfect-body-at-home.html

Ask a pastor what people seek counsel in the most and they will likely tell you that people are always curious and invested in what the will of God is for their lives. People want to know what God has planned for them and they fear committing to a decision that it is not part of the will of God. If I were a pastor and someone were to ask me that question I would simply walk over to my bookshelf and grab “Just Do Something” by Kevin DeYoung. Easily readable in one or two sessions, the tiny book packs a wallop of biblical guidance in a way that is easy to understand and theologically rich.

For starters, DeYoung has to explain the three different “wills” the Bible is referring to or that people talk are seeking. There’s the will of decree, which is “what God has ordained. Everything that comes to pass us according to God’s sovereign decree. And all that HE decrees will ultimately come to pass… In other words, what God wills, will happen, and what happens is according to God’s will.” Yes, all the world’s suffering, the sun setting, Jesus dying on the cross, His resurrection, and eventual return, it is part of the will of decree. This is the will that Ephesians 1:11 refers to when it says “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,”

Next he introduces the concept of God’s will of desire, which “refers to what God has commanded – what He desires from His creatures. If the will of decree is how things are, the will of desire is how things ought to be.” God may decree that a person is to get married, but His desire is for us to be faithful within that, knowing that we can either be faithful or not.

What people are commonly referring to is the will of direction. People want to know where God wants them to go and who to go with. They want to know the answers before they even get to the question. DeYoung spends the rest of the book guiding us through sound decision making, showing us biblically how to make a decision and then insists that we don’t rely on the subjective feelings we have but rather rely on the wisdom outlined in Scripture.

“Read and Renew, Huddle Up, and then Act” – essentially that’s what DeYoung advises. We renew our minds by reading God’s word, we seek wise counsel, and we evaluate the situation and then act according to the Scripture. We can pray for clear eyes and pure motivations, but really the decision is up to us. If someone offers us a spot on their bank robbing team, then obviously that isn’t the will of God because the will of God isn’t for us to sin. But if we’re offered a job in Cleveland and we’re not sure if we are to take it, we can just seek wise counsel, look to Scripture, trust God in our decision, and be faithful no matter what we decide.

People spend lifetimes wondering what the will of God is for them, but DeYoung simply advises us in these situations to act in accordance with the Scriptures and sound logic and live in whatever situation we end up in faithfully. Young people seem to be constantly going through an identity crisis in trying to figure out what to do with their lives and I honestly believe that DeYoung’s short but powerful book is just the thing they need to ease their nerves.

Do you ever have trouble staying motivated to reach your goals? If you’re like most people, the answer is probably yes. Every day we are bombarded daily with various productivity, health and fitness, or career “tips and tricks”. Some are better than others, but in general, any new practice you attempt to integrate into your life is only as effective as your ability to sustain it. A key aspect in reaching your goals is finding strategies to sustain behavior changes over the long term. Here are a few principles and key practices I have learned to apply over the years that have helped me stay motivated and on track to meeting the goals in my life.

Types of Motivation

First, we need to talk through what it looks like to be motivated. After all, without this, we will have no drive to stay on track to meeting goals. Motivation is the reason you have for behaving or acting the way you do. Identifying the type of motivation you have for each of your goals is helpful in ensuring you are set up for success. For the purpose of this topic, there are five different types of motivation:

1. Intrinsic Motivation: Someone who has intrinsic motivation will engage in a behavior purely because they love that activity. This is the type of motivation that is the most sustainable and most likely to lead to long term success. It can be helpful to find a path to your goals that you truly enjoy (i.e. if you hate running, don’t let that be your means of exercise; try an activity you enjoy like hiking).
2. Integrated Motivation: This person believes that the activity or choice they engage in is a part of their identity. This type of motivation also often leads to long term success, but can be difficult to manufacture early on.
3. Identified Motivation: Identified motivation is the idea that the behavior will help the individual reach a meaningful goal. This type of motivation can lead to long term success, provided you are able to take note of improvements on a fairly consistent basis.
4. Introjected Motivation: This person only engages in a behavior because they think it is the right or correct thing to do. This type of motivation rarely leads to long term success. If you find yourself in this category, you may find yourself feeling a lot of internal pressure, often feeling guilty for not taking the steps you feel you “should” take.
5. External Motivation: Someone with this type of motivation only engages in a behavior to gain a reward or avoid punishment. This type of motivation rarely leads to long term success. In this category a person usually does not sustain the action or activity once the external motivator is not available. You see this in action after weight loss challenges or competitions.

If your type of motivation isn’t the most likely to lead you to long term success, take heart!

There are many strategies you can use to harness more effective motivation styles. If you have an external motivator that is leading you to action right now, try to take the time to find a behavior you really enjoy in the process to become more intrinsically motivated. If you find yourself using a lot of “should” statements and feeling a lot of internal pressure, try to make a solid list of the reasons why you want to accomplish your goal and why it’s important to you so that you can tap into identified motivation.

Change Starts in the Mind

“Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become a reality.” -Earl Nightingale

Your mindset is an important factor in your ability to achieve your goals. Self-efficacy is the belief in your own ability to achieve a specific goal. The difference between self-esteem and self-efficacy, is that self-esteem is how you view yourself as a whole, while self-efficacy is very situation specific. For example, you may feel very confident in your ability to succeed at work, while lacking confidence in your ability to maintain a healthy eating plan. How much faith do you have that your dreams will become a reality? Do you say to yourself “I would really love to run a half-marathon, but I just don’t have the discipline” or do you say “I know it will take planning and effort to complete my training plan, and I am fully capable.” What you believe about your ability to achieve the goal says a lot about whether or not you will accomplish it.

Self-efficacy is based on two things: past experiences and self-talk.  There is absolutely nothing you can do about past experiences. Past failures and successes inevitably influence your belief in your ability in the future. However, self-talk is more in your control than you might think.

Self-talk consists of the thoughts, both conscious and subconscious, that every person has regarding about themselves. If you had a print out at the end of the day of all the thoughts you had about yourself, what would it say? If your thoughts about yourself are not a healthy balance of both positive and constructive criticism, you may be inadvertently sabotaging your self-efficacy. Eventually you will begin to believe what you continually say to yourself, so it’s important to make sure you are speaking God’s truth about yourself to yourself.

The first step to controlling your self-talk is to become aware of it. Take a mental note any time you have thoughts about yourself and your ability to achieve a meaningful goal in your life. If the thought is not encouraging, take the time to respond to it in a way that reframes it into a learning experience. For example, if you think “I’m so stupid, I forgot to bring my running clothes to work and now I can’t exercise. I’m never going to get in shape.” Respond to that thought immediately and say “well, that’s a shame that I didn’t bring a change of clothes. Next time I’m going to set a reminder on my phone, but today I’ll do a workout at home.” Change in perspective leads to overall change.

Setting Goals

You may have a general sense of what you want to do, but until you clarify and define your goal, you may have trouble succeeding.  SMART Goal Setting is a method used to do that and contains five essential elements:

1. Specific: Goals should be straightforward and should emphasize what you want to happen. What are you looking to do and accomplish? Use action words such as run, develop, build etc. Ex: Instead of setting a goal to “get in shape”, set a specific goal to be able to run 5 miles in 45 minutes.
2. Measureable: If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Choose goals with measurable progress, so you can see the change occur. There are usually several short-term or small measurements that can be built into the goal. Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set.  Instead of indicating you would like to eat healthier, say you want to eat at least 2 servings of vegetables at dinner or limit eating out to 2x/week.
3. Actionable: A goal needs to be actionable.  You should be the greatest determinate of if you achieve your goal or not. If your goal relies heavily on the actions of others, you may be frustrated by the results.  Ex: Instead of setting a goal to place in a 5k, set a time goal that does not involve how the other runners perform.
4. Realistic: Realistic is not a synonym for “easy.” It simply means “do-able.” A goal should push the skills, knowledge and ability of the people working on it but it shouldn’t break them. The goal needs to be realistic for you and where you are at the moment.  You shouldn’t set a goal to run a 3:30 marathon if you haven’t been exercising, but you also shouldn’t set a goal to do 20 push-ups if you can already do 19.  Your goal should be realistic, but still stretch you.
5. Timely: Set a timeframe for the goal. Putting an end point on your goal gives you a clear target to work towards. If you don’t set a time, the commitment is too vague.  The time must be realistic. If you have a goal to run a half marathon, but you never have any deadline, it’s easy to have the same goal for years.

Create a Plan of Action 

When you identify goals that are most important to you, and create them in the S.M.A.R.T. goal lay out, you can then begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You can develop the attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them.

Now it’s your turn! Motivation, positive self-talk, and even a great goal is meaningless unless it is followed by action.  What will it take to accomplish your S.M.A.R.T goal? Now that you have a strong foundation for your goal, create three manageable tasks that will lead you closer to achieving it. Celebrate your milestones to keep the motivation high and you will be well on your way to achieving the goals that matter the most to you!

Sources

Green, D. J. (2013). ACE Health Coach Manual. American Council on Exercise.

Cole Loomis performed an online concert for Student Activities this past Thursday on IGTV. You can check out his set below!

On three separate occasions, I have had the opportunity to watch Jordy Searcy in concert. At each intimate concert, I got to see not only his audience grow but his stage presence flourish as well. Most likely traveling in a van to his next house show, Jordy lives a life marked by passion for music and people, remaining committed to meeting fans after his shows, often barefoot. An overall cool guy who seems to genuinely enjoy life. On my third concert experience with Jordy he played a mix of old originals, covers of songs such as “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor, and songs from his upcoming album. There wasn’t a lot of theatrics, no crazy light show, no fireworks, just good music and fun people, which left me eager for Jordy to release the album. Nearly five months later, Jordy’s Valentine’s Day release “Love? Songs” was released and showed his songwriting growth, his down to earth perspective, and provided fans with eight new songs to fall in love with.

Searcy starts off with “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” which vocalizes the frustrations of things getting weird between a girl and a guy, ruining the friendship. From Jordy’s perspective, if there can’t be a relationship that comes from him knowing a particular girl, at least a friendship could still be there, but as any young love bird would know, sometimes things don’t work out and people often respond by distancing emotionally, making things awkward.

From that upbeat number, Jordy moves on to “Better” where he wrestles with the realization that by liking some people, he is revealing that he actually does not love himself. “I love you cause I don’t love me, I don’t think I deserve better” shows how we put ourselves through torture over someone when that person wasn’t even good for us in the first place. Different vocally and instrumentally than the rest of the album, this song sheds light on the pain of love rather than the pleasure of it.

From those two wrestling ballads, the album moves on to vibey numbers and songs to dance to. “Fire” utilizes Jordy’s seasoned falsetto to articulate how it feels to be all-in on someone, while “RICH” takes the time to tell Jordy’s special someone that he may not ever be wealthy, but he will be rich in love so long as he has her – he would rather be rich in time spent with her than rich monetarily. “Friendship?” looks at the dynamic tension between two people who have feelings for each other but don’t want to risk it considering their friendship. This song acts as the prequel to “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” where we see risking the friendship for a relationship did not work out, but putting “friendship?” over halfway through the album shows that in love there is loss sometimes, but Jordy does believe in getting back up on his feet and trying again in love.

Changing up the pace and theme is a live version of the song “Jealousy” where Jordy reflects on how most of the time, when he badmouths someone, it is really because he wants to be them. This realization that he is often judgmental and a bad friend or brother seeps into several storylines, concluding with an honest approach to the reason why he wrote a song about jealousy: “I wrote this song to make you think that I am self-aware. That I am humble but also wise and I’ve got it all together. But if you wanna know a secret, if you really want the truth, sometimes the reason I write songs is ’cause I want you to be jealous of me too.” There is a level of vulnerability with this number that makes you see every situation from multiple mindsets and agendas. During his concert, Jordy sang this one out in the crowd and it stands out as being a magical number.

Arguably the best song on the album is the whimsical sing-along “All Night” which hosts a memorable chorus that will stick in your head but in the very best way and easygoing melody which talks about the long nights of fun you spend with a person. Concluding the album is the song “favorite days” which remembers the simpler times with the people Jordy loves most all set to a beautiful tune on piano.

Overall, the album shows how polished Jordy has become as a songwriter and musician. As a hopeless romantic myself, Jordy’s whimsical love songs articulate the excitement and anticipation but also the realistic nature of heartbreak and awkwardness post-break up. Were we to get a new Jordy Searcy album every two years, the musical world would not complain. As of right now, Jordy leads the fight in supporting out-of-work artists, clinging to the roots of making music in his van. You can see these Instagram livestreamed concerts every Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. CST. I hope you join in on a show and be on the lookout for more great, authentic, and down-to-earth music like what we see throughout “Love? Songs” from Jordy.

A season of service may sound daunting or just straight up awful to some of you, but for me it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I encourage you all to consider taking a week or even a few months to serve your community or abroad. I guarantee you will learn more about yourself than you ever thought you would, and you might even end up benefiting more than the people you serve. 

Last summer, I decided to take a leap of faith and journey to Europe with Ten2 Project. Ten2 Project is inspired by Luke 10:2, which says, “He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field’”. There are many different locations you can serve on this project including: Greece, Germany, Spain, Wales, England, Romania, Macedonia, and France. The way you serve looks very different based on your location, but they are equally important and geared towards what you are gifted in. I was placed to serve in Romania so I could work in a special needs orphanage and I learned so much while I was there. Ten2 Project wants to help you “experience life in Europe as you learn the language, stay with locals and embrace the culture, and learn how to share the gospel across Europe in creative ways like art, summer camps and coffee shop outreach!” (Ten2project.org).

I think a season of service teaches you that there are more important things than yourself, that the world is bigger than the bubble you live in, and how to live out our purpose that God has set before us. Here are a few things I’ve learned:

First, you realize that the world is not there to please you. I know this can be a little bit of a rude awakening, but it is so important to learn at an early age. We live in a society that makes us believe that we belong at the center of everything because that’s what we deserve. However, when you serve and volunteer you start to actually see that the world doesn’t revolve around you. You also learn quickly that what society teaches you is opposite of what the Bible teaches us. Philippians 2:3-4 says, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others”. When you serve, you learn that we are to look out for others more than ourselves and that we should be serving others more than ourselves.

Second, you start to grasp how big the world actually is and how little your bubble is. By being in Europe this past summer I quickly learned that America’s culture is very different from Romanian culture. This may seem like a very simple realization, but it was a hard thing to get used to. Once I grasped it, I was able to see how beautiful and unique their culture was. I learned through this how naive my thinking was and how worldview reflected that. I was able to deepen my cultural awareness and my love of God’s people from every nation and tribe.

Third, when you serve, you are actively living out God’s purpose for us which is to love God, love people, and to share the great news of the gospel. We are given the opportunity to be a co-laborer for Christ, which is one of the greatest honors we could receive as Christians. Mark 10:45 states, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many”. We are made in the image of God and we are commanded to be like Christ, and this is one way to model Christ in our actions. God does not call us to live a life of comfort, but rather of adventure and faith. How exciting it is that we are able to step fully into this and serve our amazing God knowing whole-heartedly that He loves us and has His best interest in mind for us! Service trips are so important and necessary. According to IMB, “Engaging in these trips can alter perspectives and change lives, exposing believers to the unreached and personalizing the desperate need of the lost” (International Mission Board, 2018).

Overall, words cannot fully describe everything I learned from my three months of serving with Ten2 Project, but I do know how much it changed my life. I want everyone to experience what life is like serving and the joy that comes with it. If you want more information on the Ten2 Project, check out their website www.ten2project.org or their Instagram @ten2project.

Sources

Davis, G. (2018, December 13). Mission Trips Matter: Here’s Why. Retrieved from https://www.imb.org/2018/08/31/short-term-trips/

Missions in Europe. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ten2project.org/

The Holy Bible: New International Version. Zondervan, 2005.

 

Written by: Kaitlyn Skarstein

Kaitlyn loves being able to write for the SA blog because she thinks it is important to share her voice. She loves being able to express her own opinions on important subjects that are relevant for students, faculty, and many others.

Streaming services seem to be popping up every day. Netflix is still the most streamed service with over 150 million subscriptions worldwide, but others have followed in their footsteps such as Hulu, Disney Plus, and Amazon Prime. However, NBC announced that they will be joining the streaming world with the launch of “NBC Peacock.” Named after the network’s iconic logo, Peacock will be launching April 15^th for Xfinity and Flex customers only, and then July 15^th for everyone else. Regardless of the launch date, NBC Peacock will stand tall among its competitors because of the quality of the shows, their partnership with third parties, and overall name recognition.

There are a few components that make Peacock stand out among its’ competition. First, the content of their shows will be phenomenal. NBC has produced some of the most iconic television shows, including The Office, Parks and Recreation, Friends, and now has full control over Brooklyn 99. Comedy of course is only one facet of Peacock. In addition to those shows, the service will have access to live competition-type shows such as America’s Got Talent, American Ninja Warrior, and The Voice. Sporting events will also be featured like the Summer and Winter Olympic and the Stanley Cup Finals.

Clearly, NBC has invested in itself to have high-quality shows within Peacock. However, what I believe will aid them in surpassing competition is their partnership with third-party affiliates. For example, Peacock has been rumored to have partnered with Comcast that will bring over their titles including the entire Harry Potter series. Additionally, Xfinity and Flex customers will be receiving a free subscription to the service initially. That will provide over 24 million subscribers with Peacock immediately. Because Peacock relies on ads heavily for revenue, they are counting on those 24 million subscribers to take advantage of their discount.

NBC has been one of the most recognizable stations on television. Their shows have always been strong with content, live-streamed news and sports are competitive with other stations, and their reputation has always been one of professionalism. In today’s world, streaming is the way of the future, and taking advantage of it now is more important than ever. I believe NBC Peacock will be a strong competitor regardless of their name, but having NBC as their home network will only boost their recognition.

So, if you find yourself sad that The Office and Parks and Rec will no longer be on Netflix, don’t worry! NBC Peacock is on its way and will allow you to binge your favorite shows, watch your favorite sporting events, and provide an overall great experience!

Sources

https://time.com/5767042/nbc-peacock-streaming-free/

https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/16/21068607/nbc-peacock-streaming-service-price-launch-date-ads-universal-comcast-office-harry-potter

Coffee is one of those things that teeters between a luxurious commodity and a basic necessity, and if you’re anything like me it sits far closer to the necessity side of the scale. Starting every morning with a cup of coffee and a shower is a must, otherwise those around me are prone to meeting my less amicable counterpart, Decaffeinated Clay. I can’t say I was always like this, but since about my freshman year of high school, I have been an avid coffee drinker (albeit anything I could get my hands on), and since 2017 I have been lucky enough to be somewhat involved in the coffee industry.

When I first moved to Lynchburg in 2014, I outfitted my dorm room with a little eight cup Mr. Coffee and frequented Walmart to get the goods. Having grown up in a small farming town, the extent of “quality coffee” was something blended with whipped cream on it. After a year or so of frequenting Mr. Coffee’s all hours East Campus coffeeshop, I started to get interested in more intentional coffee roasting. Getting plugged into the coffee community in Lynchburg, which I can assure you is pretty expansive for a city of Lynchburg’s size, I began to learn more about the back end of coffee production, and processing. This helped me appreciate the drink I love so much and also understand the scope of what goes on before the cup ends up in your hands.

Essentially, coffee is a tree that grows fruit. This fruit is a stone fruit, meaning it has a pit, and is basically a tropical version of a cherry. Having grown up working on cherry farms for years as a kid, this sparked my interest. The fruit is picked, processed (which I will touch on later), and then sold through importers who connect farmers with roasters around the world. I am not a scientist, and am by no means an expert so I will keep my explanation of these processes as simple as possible, but I think it is important to consider where that cup of coffee you’re drinking came from, and who worked to get it there.

Once the coffee is picked, the fruit around the bean needs to be removed to be able to make it ready to roast. This is where coffee is actually a lot more scientific than I had ever known. There are many ways the fruit can be removed (which is called cascara and has been used to make a tea like drink for thousands of years, not invented by Starbucks). The two most common would be the washed and the natural processes. The washed is exactly what it sounds like, the fruit is removed through the application of water and agitation, leaving just the bean. The natural process is done by letting the fruit dry out in the sun and then removed with a machine through a process called hulling. The differing processes have a big effect on the ending flavor of the bean as the natural process imparts a lot of fruity flavors, which is what I’m all about. Once the coffee bean has been processed, it’s ready to roast. Each roaster will have different opinions of how to roast each batch of beans they have, but essentially, the idea is to roast the coffee to get the best profile of flavors out of it.

While I don’t expect everyone to care about coffee beyond whether or not they have a cup, I think it is important to remember that, like any business, there are people attached to the other end of our consumption. Most coffee production takes place in third-world countries and it labor intensive work. There has been a huge push in the last 15 years or so within the coffee industry to help promote good business practices in supporting the farmers that are responsible for the world’s favorite beverage. Small batch roasters and specialty roasters are able to track their coffee to a specific farm and family in most cases. Understanding the process that got coffee from the tropics and into my cup helped me have a greater appreciation for buying ethically sourced coffee that I track to a single producer. Coffee shouldn’t be pretentious or elitist, but it should be responsible.

After all these steps have been completed, which can take up to two years from being processed to roasted sometimes, you’re finally ready to brew your cup of coffee. At the end of the day, you’re supposed to enjoy the drink that you make, so if you have a system, stick with it. If you’re interested in learning some hand brew methods, I will share my two methods that I use most. The first being the V60 pour over, which I use at home and can make up to two 12 oz cups with my setup. Altogether the setup costs about $50, for a carafe, V60 cone, and filters, so kind a little investment but in my opinion, worth every penny for the quality of drink you can get out of it. My other hand brew method I use is the Aeropress, which is my work set, as it is small, quick, and makes a good cup of coffee. This will run about $30, and comes with everything you need except a cup and a grinder. While a scale, gooseneck kettle, and a burr grinder will help you get consistently good cups of coffee, they’re expensive and not necessary for making your coffee. Like I said, this is meant to be for your enjoyment.

Here are the recipes for my V60 and AeroPress that I use daily:

V60

25g coffee ground to medium coarseness

400g water (195°-205° F)

Begin by placing the filter in the cone, folding along the seam so it lays flush to the walls of the cone. Wet the filter with hot water to remove any paper flavor that might make its way into the coffee. Grind your coffee to a medium coarseness, think coarse sea salt. Put coffee in filter and slowly pour 60g of water in, making sure to get all of the coffee bed wet, let sit for 30 seconds to bloom. This allows the coffee to get saturated and release gas from the coffee particles. After 30 seconds begin slowly pouring into the center and work in smooth spiraling circles to the outside of the coffee bed and work back into center. Stop pouring at 200g as the level will have risen considerably. Once the water level has reduced by half, pour in same pattern for 50g. Continue with this process until you have 400g on the scale. If you don’t have a scale, you can use 5 tbsp of ground coffee and start with about 14 oz of water. You can fill your mug up and add a couple splashes of water to measure before heating it up to get a pretty close measurement. This should take between 2-3 min to brew. If it takes too long, grind your beans a little more coarse next time, and if it takes way less time, do the opposite.

Iced V60

25g coffee ground to medium coarseness

200g water (195°-205° F)

200g ice

Since it is beginning to warm up, and most of the coffee I drink will be on ice until September, here is a quick method for iced coffee. Using the same method as above, after wetting filter put 200g ice in carafe or mug. Brew your coffee as you would above, but using just half the water. When this meets with the ice it automatically waters is down and chills it. It’s quick, accurate, and effective.

AeroPress

17g coffee ground medium-fine

Water (195°-205° F)

Take off the perforated cap and place a filter in it. Carefully pour hot water over this to clean the filter of any particles or flavor that might make its way into your final drink. Pull the plunger all the way down to until it is almost completely removed from the tube. Pour your coffee into the tube and place AeroPress down on a flat surface on its handle. Pour water over coffee until it reaches the top. Carefully stir to make sure all the coffee is saturated. Apply the cap with filter in its place and set AeroPress on top of mug or carafe. Slowly push down on plunger until all the coffee has been pressed out. Remove cap and discard cap and enjoy!