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This very well could be the most excited Student Activities has ever been for a Movie Night. Join us on Saturday, April 16 on the lawn outside the Vines Center starting at 9 PM (or “the darkside” of the day) for a one-time-only showing of STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS.

In one sense, you have to be at least 39 years old to truly say that you grew up with Star Wars. A New Hope was released in May, 1977, and presumably not many infants were there to see it, so you probably need to be a little older than that. Since Star Wars was an instant and massive success, its lasting influence was nearly guaranteed, especially compared to some of the other successful sci-fi movies that were around in the late 70’s. Planet of the Apes’ sequels, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Logan’s Run were all pretty big at about the same time Star Wars was released. But which of these did your older siblings or parents anxiously wait to watch with you, becoming not so much a fun movie night as much as a rite of passage? Which of these movies, or any other movies for that matter, continue to grip audiences the way Star Wars has since the very beginning?

This is why anyone who loves Star Wars, regardless of the generation, feels like they grew up with it. Despite nearly 40 years of distance since the original release, despite all of the weird, George Lucas, “Special Edition” edits to the original movies, and even despite Jar Jar Binks, there is something about Star Wars that captures a viewer’s attention and imagination from the moment the words “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” appear on the screen and the John Williams theme blasts into space.

The Force Awakens builds a near-perfect bridge from the original trilogy to what will eventually be Episodes 7, 8, and 9. As one critic described it, J.J. Abrams’ touch on Star Wars is perfectly depicted in the scene with Finn & Rey as they escape Jakku in the Millennium Falcon: with his new cast flying away from TIE fighters through the wreckage of star destroyers on a Tatooine-like desert planet, it is as though J.J. Abrams is joyriding through the amazing history of the Star Wars universe. The Force Awakens is both familiar and novel, with Abrams adding all of the obligatory throwbacks that long-time fans would want while simultaneously making the movie his own and setting everything up for Episodes 8 and 9. It was the movie event of 2015, and it further reinforces Star Wars as the premier, cross-generational movie franchise. As critic Matt Zoller Seitz said of it, “These films are a part of American history, cinema history, and our personal history, all at once.”

As usual, our Movie Night is free to attend, we provide free popcorn, and other concessions are available for purchase. Please contact us with any questions or concerns, and be sure to check out our website for more information about our upcoming Movie Nights and other events.

On Friday, April 15, Student Activities is proud to present Matt Maher, with special guestsJohn Tibbs and Clay Finnesand. Join us in the LaHaye Event Space starting at 8 p.m.for a night of uplifting and encouraging worship. General admission tickets are just $10 in advance for students ($15 for general public) and are on sale now on our website.

A lot of emphasis is placed on awards, especially when it comes to music, and Matt Maher has certainly received his fair share of them. When you see Matt perform on April 15, you will be looking at a Grammy Award nominee and Unity, Covenant, and Dove Award winner, which covers just about every significant award a worship artist can win in North America. Though he has been nominated for Dove Awards in the past, winning in 2010 for his work on the compilation albumGlory Revealed IIand sharing that award with Kari Jobe, 2015 was somewhat of a culmination for him as an award-winning artist, as he took home Dove Awards for Song of the Year and Songwriter of the Year. Honors like that might easily be seen as icing on the cake, especially since Matt was selected to perform in front of the Pope not once but twice, most recently in 2013 at World Youth Day in Rio De Janeiro where his Song of the Year work “Because He Lives (Amen)” was heard by an estimated 3 million people.

However, as is almost always the case when an individual wins an award, Matt Maher pointed to others. In his acceptance speech for Song of the Year at the 2015 Dove Awards, Matt suggested that he needed to make 8 more of those awards to give to the others who contributed to the song. Additionally, he drew attention to the significance of an individual’s talents as they impact “the church”, acknowledging both that it is church folk who allow his and other Christian artists’ careers to flourish and that the true value of those careers is in God’s use of them in service to the church.

This is why Matt Maher is a welcome addition to the top of the CCM charts. He is a talented musician, trained in jazz and holding a degree in music from Arizona State. As such, he capably carries on the tradition of many great worship artists of the past like Keith Green and Michael W. Smith, but also regularly shows the breadth of his musical influences on such songs as his hit “All the People Said Amen”, or the tracks “Sons and Daughters” and the beautiful “Rest” from his latest album Saints and Sinners. But more than this, he has a broader vision for his music, aware of the immediate impact of what he is making, and yet, able to fix his gaze on the horizon. He has a long perspective that, regardless of award and accolade, reveals he understands he is an instrument to be used for God’s glory, the most significant contribution of which is his desire to impact the unity of the body of Christ.

For more information about Matt Maher’s concert, other upcoming concerts on our calendar, or any other event offerings, check out our website or follow us on Twitter for the most up-to-date information.

Bill Hader and Fred Armisen are back at it again with a crafty series that they have co-written entitled Documentary Now! The series aired on August 20, 2015 on IFC and has recently made its way over to Netflix, where it is becoming more noticed and picking up steam.

Documentary Now! consists of seven episodes that are only twenty minutes long. The series covers a variety of topics, and with an almost “Portlandia-n” feel Bill Hader and Fred Armisen act as different characters in each one. The premise of the show is that the season that is currently airing is the 50th. Helen Mirren hosts the show by giving an overview of the mini-documentary at the beginning of each episode.

As a major fan of the work of Hader and Armisen in the past, this show has quickly become one of my favorites in my Netflix queue. Separately, these two actors/writers are hilarious and important, but together they achieve a new level of strange humor that begs the question “What is happening on my screen right now?” through tears of laughter.

This show is definitely not one that everyone would find to be worth laughing at. When encouraging my Director Steph to watch it, my friend Jordan and I had to tell her that the show is funny, but not every sense of humor would find this to be the case. If I had to make a recipe for an episode of Documentary Now!, the ingredients would consist of a third of an episode of Portlandia (because of the changing characters and outlandish scenarios), a third of an episode of The Office (the dry humor that we all have learned to love), and a third of Blackfish (because it’s a documentary, kinda).

Although the show is a bit out there, it is well worth your time. Give it a watch this week!

Student Activities is proud to present Coffeehouse: The Legends on Saturday, April 9. Join us in the Vines Center starting at 11:30 p.m. for a night of great performances by you, the students of Liberty University, honoring some of the greatest artists and musicians of all time.

As you’ll hear from the opening moments of the show, this semester’s Coffeehouse is all about answering the question “What makes a legend?” Seems like a simple enough question, until you realize 1.) there is no such thing as objectivity, especially with questions like this, and 2.) people have short memories and/or think history only goes back to approximately 1998.

Leave it to Chris Rock to make one of the most helpful clarifications for this discussion. On an episode of Kevin Hart’s show Real Husbands of Hollywood, Chris explains the difference between himself and Kevin:

“I’m big, you’re hot. I’m like Prince, you’re like Trey Songz.”

This is the heart of the matter. Think of all the hottest, new-ish stars out there: Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, Bradley Cooper, Nicki Minaj, Jennifer Lawrence, even (gasp) Rihanna, to name just a few. Hot right now? Yes, very, all of them. Giant stars? Sure, absolutely. Legends?? No, or at least not yet.

Are you still talking about Robert Pattinson? Aaliyah? Alicia Silverstone? The guy that was in that last Superman reboot, not the new guy, but the one before that? Exactly. Supposedly big stars, or the next big stars, come and go. Yes, Aaliyah’s death was tragic, and the others are flash-in-the-pan examples compared to stars like T-Swift, Rih Rih, and J-Law. Will they be legends someday? It sure looks like it. But until that day, we want to give credit where credit is due.

What makes a legend? Three main things: popularity, influence, and time. The true test of a legend is an artist or group’s ability to reach a wide audience, with the ability to inspire others to create, or more likely imitate. Most of the all-time greats do this over a long career, though as we’ll see at Coffeehouse: The Legends, some artists were able to make massive impact in only a short time, cementing their name and legacy among the greatest in their profession.

So as you sit there in the audience during Coffeehouse this weekend, try to refrain from thinking about all the great stars who are absent from the show, or the many people you think should be there. Instead, try to focus on the quality of the performances, the massive stars who stand the test of time and bring you the amazing works that will likely be enjoyed for years to come.

Tickets for Coffeehouse: The Legends are on sale for just $5, but will go up to $7 the night of the show. To purchase them, or for more information about anything Student Activities has to offer, visit our website.

Atlantic recording group NEEDTOBREATHE has announced early details of their forthcoming new album. “H A R D L O V E” arrives everywhere on July 15th.

“H A R D L O V E” is now available for pre-order, with all purchases accompanied by instant grat downloads of the lead single, “HAPPINESS” as well as the album track “MONEY & FAME.” Exclusive album pre-order bundles that also include limited-edition merchandise will be available at the band’s Official Online Store (store.NEEDTOBREATHE.com).  “HAPPINESS” – available on all streaming services and DSPs along with “MONEY & FAME” – impacts Hot AC radio outlets in early May.

“Up until now, I think we made people climb in through the window to really get into our band, but this record is about leaving the front door wide open.  It’s very different and adventurous for us, but I can’t wait for the fans to hear it,” explains lead singer Bear Rinehart.

NEEDTOBREATHE will celebrate “H A R D L O V E” with “TOUR DE COMPADRES 2016,” an epic US headline run kicking off August 17th at Raleigh, NC’s Red Hat Amphitheater and then traveling through a November 12th finale at Lynchburg, VA’s Liberty University (see attached itinerary). The second annual “TOUR DE COMPADRES” sees NEEDTOBREATHE bringing along some of their closest musical friends as support, including special guests Mat Kearney, John Mark McMillan (Leg 1 only), Parachute (Leg 2 only), and Welshly Arms. Highlights include a massive hometown concert at Charleston, SC’s 10,000+ capacity Volvo Car Stadium on August 19th as well as performances at such legendary venues as Los Angeles’ Greek Theatre (September 10th), Morrison, CO’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre (September 15th), Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom (October 30th), and New York City’s Beacon Theatre (November 2nd). Presale ticketing for “The Insiders” – the official NEEDTOBREATHE fan club – begins April 4th followed by an additional presale for mailing list members and Facebook Event followers on April 11th; all remaining tickets will then be released to the general public on April 15th. For complete details and ticket information, please visit www.tourdecompadres.com.

Co-produced by NEEDTOBREATHE and recorded at their very own Plantation Studios in Charleston, SC, “H A R D L O V E” follows the band’s blockbuster album “Rivers In the Wasteland,” which made a stunning chart debut upon its 2014 release, topping Billboard’s “Top Rock Albums” and “Top Alternative Albums” charts while also entering the overall SoundScan/Billboard 200 at #3. What’s more, the album’s stunning “Multiplied” earned NEEDTOBREATHE their first ever GRAMMY® Award nomination.

The album’s breakout single, “Brother (Feat. Gavin DeGraw),” proved to be the highest charting single of their career. The RIAA-certified Gold hit song became a Top 10 rock smash, Top 20 CHR/Hot AC favorite, as well as NEEDTOBREATHE’s first-ever entry on Billboard’s “Hot 100.” The track’s companion video – directed by independent filmmaker Jared Hogan – has drawn close to 10 million views at NEEDTOBREATHE’s official YouTube channel. In addition, NEEDTOBREATHE and DeGraw rocked New York City’s Times Square with an unforgettable performance of “Brother,” live on ABC’s Good Morning America.

NEEDTOBREATHE premiered “TOUR DE COMPADRES” in summer 2015, visiting over 40 US markets accompanied by special guests Switchfoot, Ben Rector, Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors, and Colony House. The aptly named tour was a massive popular and commercial success, with highlights including a sold out date at Colorado’s legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre, captured exclusively by TIDAL in the just-released mini-documentary, “NEEDTOBREATHE The Road to the Red Rocks.”

Is rock & roll alive or is it dead?

“Of course rock’s not dead! Just look at how awesome Dave Grohl is! And even though album sales in general have been steadily decreasing since 2008, rock album sales remained the highest of all genres even in 2014 with an impressive 85.25 million albums sold.”

“Grohl Shmohl. Plus, who still buys albums? People who don’t know what BitTorrent is and rich people who can afford vinyl, that’s who. Besides, streaming music is all that matters, and no one streams rock. Rock is DEFINITELY dead. Just look at the ‘charts’. How often is a rock band anywhere near the top 50, let alone top 10? Maybe twenty one pilots. Sometimes Coldplay. Does DNCE count? No, they don’t. And who cares anyway. Rock is dead.”

A conversation like this takes place every day in the hearts of music lovers everywhere. But regardless of what you think, and regardless of your current listening habits, we think rock & roll is alive & well, and in fact is quite good right now. So whenever you get sick of throwaway pop, whenever you just can’t take any more of The Weeknd and Drake, and the Jesus Culture songs you need to wash off The Weeknd and Drake, here are three pure rock suggestions* to cleanse your palate.

#1 – FOALS (2,357,581 monthly listeners)

Albums – What Went Down (2015), Holy Fire (2013), Total Life Forever (2010), Antidotes (2008)

Why, look at whose name is on the headliner lists of Coachella, Glastonbury, and Lollapalooza this year! It’s Foals, arguably the finest modern rockers Oxford, England has produced since the great Supergrass. You know they deserve main stage treatment when you encounter the driving power and energy of their studio albums, an energy they carry to their live shows, which earned them a Q Award and 2 NME Award nominations for Best Live Performance. For a good, first listen, you cannot go wrong with their latest album What Went Down, with their 2013 release Holy Fire right up there in terms of completeness and accessibility. Like all good bands, the further back you go, the more raw it gets, but Foals have had such a great musical head on their shoulders from the beginning, combining the excellent technical skill of their prog/math rock backgrounds with gorgeous melodies and rich, electronic/synth textures.

#2 – DUSTIN KENSRUE (266,119 monthly listeners)

Albums – Thoughts That Float on a Different Blood (2016), Carry the Fire (2015), Please Come Home (2007)

Though it was pathetically few of you, some of you lucky students got to see Dustin Kensrue perform live in the LaHaye Event Space in September. The Thrice lead singer just released an album of cover songs, recorded at a live show in Santa Ana, CA in December, some of which he performed at the Event Space show, such as his versions of Lorde’s Buzzcut Season, Miley Cyrus’ Wrecking Ball, and Down There By the Train by Tom Waits. Other songs on the album include Bruce Springsteen’s road anthem State Trooper, Radiohead’s classic Creep (clean version), and the haunting and beautiful song Jesus Christ by Brand New. Even if you’re unfamiliar with the artists or tracks on the album, it’s a perfect introduction to the thematic depth and artistry of the musicians Dustin covers, but performed in his style and with his incredible, heavy growl. Perhaps more importantly, it’s the respect paid by one artist to another, but with a Christian eye towards the message of each song, newly appropriated, sanctified even, making the listening experience far more than just hearing another, live performance.

#3 – THE BRIGHT LIGHT SOCIAL HOUR (73,175 monthly listeners)

Albums – Space Is Still the Place (2015), Self-titled (2010)

It’s never bad to get in on a band early. The Bright Light Social Hour out of Austin, Texas made their first mark at SXSW in 2011, winning a whole bunch of awards including Band of the Year. You’ll see them described as “psychedelic rock”, and you definitely get plenty of that with spacey guitar tones and funky bass lines throughout their two albums. You also get a distinct, Southern alt-rock flavor along the lines of My Morning Jacket or early Allman Brothers; the lead track on their most recent album, Sweet Madelene, even has a lyrical nod to the Allman’s great track Whipping Post. They move towards the progressive rock side of psychedelia with the unbridled soloing they’re capable of. In fact, pause right here and go play the song Rhubarb Jam from their first album. Like all excellent, classic rock groups, they move seamlessly between jam and groove, never out of place in any tempo, with the groovier aspects of their songs helped along by subtle, capable electronic/dance elements. Theirs is the kind of music that hearing the studio album makes you want to hear it live, the hallmark of any great and lasting band.

Rock is dead. Long live rock and roll.

*Suggestion parameters: Three artists, classified as “rock” (alt, modern, indie, math, or otherwise), with at least 2 albums, each one based on Spotify average monthly listeners – one artist of 1 million+, one artist of 100,000-500,000, and one of less than 50,000.

On Friday, April 1, Student Activities is proud to present theAs Family We Go Tour featuring the return ofRend Collective, with special guestsUrban Rescue. Join us in theVines Center starting at8 p.m.for one of the most enjoyable nights that pop worship can offer. General admission tickets are just $10 in advance for students ($15 for general public), floor seats are just $18 in advance, and all of them are on sale now on our website.

Aside from dropping the “Experiment” from their name, Rend Collective haven’t changed all that much since the earliest part of their career. This might be taken as an insult when it comes to other bands, since change and progress are often seen as synonymous. But with Rend Collective, it is not so much unchanging as it is a very intentional commitment to their musical style. It is ingrained like DNA, as bandleader & percussionist Gareth Gilkeson might say. He elaborates: “We would far rather be defined by joy, fun, freedom and laughter than anygenre title or pop-culture label.” Joy, fun, freedom, laughter – if these are Rend Collective’s goals, they are certainly successful. The continuity of their sound revolves around major key tonalities, driven by upbeat melodies, and powered by the energy flowing out of the surging success of folk rock that has been going on since roughly 2008. “Foot-stomping” is a commonly used adjective when it comes to their music; in many ways, they function as a CCM version of the first two Mumford & Sons albums. And though they dropped the “Experiment” from their name, it doesn’t mean they avoid the experimental. They are not afraid to play any sound making thing, whether hurdy gurdies or the so-called “Jingling Johnny” wielded by Gareth, not to mention the likely hundreds of gallons of bubble solution they have gone through at their concerts. All of this flows out of the virtues they named and that they want to define them. In short, they make celebration music, because what other reaction should we have in the face of God’s grace?

This remains true for their most recent release for which the current tour is named:As Family We Go. Gareth breaks the four word title into two parts to explain the idea behind the album. “As family” is the reminder of our place before God the Father as sons and daughters and therefore our unity with one another in collective purpose. “We go” is the reminder to be active, moving past either fear or comfort towards God’s purpose for our lives. Interestingly, none of the songs on the album have much to do with the actual going part of this. Thematically, the songs have more to do with the steadfastness and faithfulness of God in our lives, which makes the album more of a soundtrack to the going. The songs generally fit the aforementioned foot-stomping style that fans are accustomed to, with a few moments of variation, such as “Never Walk Alone” or the outstanding “Your Royal Blood”, a variation on the great hymn “Nothing but the Blood.” Regardless, the true draw of Rend Collective is the live performance of these songs, so the catches of the album will be in the joy, fun, and laughter brought on by the first three tracks of the album: “Celebrate”, “Free as a Bird”, and “You Will Never Run.”As Family We Gomay not be breaking any new, musical ground for Rend Collective, but it is very much to the high standard already set by the band with their earlier works. It maintains all of the energy and excitement that defines them to this point, and we are excited to see that translate to the stage on April 1.

Be sure to keep up with our concert calendar (and other event offerings) on our website, or follow us on Twitter to the most up-to-date information about upcoming concerts in the Vines Center or the LaHaye Event Space.

In my honest opinion (or IMHO as some say), Netflix has started something really important for our time.

Of course, there are many different outlets for watching and keeping up with movies and shows (Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc.) Yet, Netflix has changed the game for everyone and everything, and as I sit here and think about it, I wonder why.

Then I come up with this idea – Netflix is very much about togetherness. It provides a selection of movies that is suitable and versatile for any group of people and their individual tastes. It houses thousands of episodes of shows that are important to people – shows that are part of who we are. It has a wide selection of documentaries about real life issues and situations that other streaming portals have not made available.

And if that’s not enough, Netflix is bringing back things that are nostalgic to us. For example, Full House is a part of my childhood that is unforgettable to me. I used to feel pretty validated in the fact that I’ve seen every episode of the show. All of a sudden, Netflix has brought it back to me in the form of “Fuller House”. Even if the cast is not necessarily filled with good acting and funny punch lines (as I used to think Full House was), I still appreciate that they are bringing me and my friends and anyone else together who used to watch the show. Now, we all have something that we experienced separately to reminisce about and participate in together.

Netflix has become so common that it is now used as a verb. Oftentimes, when asking someone what they did over the weekend, they reply “rested, Netflixed, etc…” With having entire series of shows and no commercial breaks, it is difficult to not become engrossed in shows, thus becoming a part of the show’s community.

As a millennial who loves Netflix, I examined what I enjoy about it so much so that I can see where else it fits into my life. And this is what I’ve come up with – Netflix is mostly meaningful because it involves us in something that other people are involved in, and from there we can all be a community. Taking this to my job and my life in general, I see how vital it is to life to be involved in communities. With community comes a feeling of belonging, and that’s what we all seem to be searching for when it comes down to it.

I applaud you Netflix, and thanks for all the movie nights you have supplied me with.

Unfortunately, in the Christian sphere, rap music gets a bad wrap.

I’m not really sure when this “rap is bad” stigma began in the church, but I do know that if you Google “first rap song”, Rapper’s Delight by The Sugarhill Gang (1979) pops up. Google (aka Wikipedia, aka a very trustworthy person) tells us this about Rapper’s Delight: “While it was not the first single to feature rapping, it is generally considered to be the song that first popularized hip hop in the United States and around the world.”

Basically, Google is telling us that rap began in 1979. “Christian rap/hip hop”, after researching, began in the 1980’s. Stephen Wiley released the first full-length Christian hip hop album Bible Break in 1985. With the words “Praise the Lord for goodness’ sake, we’re all about to take a bible break!” the Christian rap game began, as well as a lot of controversy.

I haven’t really been around long enough to know the progression of how rap in general got a bad stigma in the church, but I think it’s a major bummer.

This is a bummer to me because I feel as though rap is important, and it is important because it has shaped a culture. There are more recent rappers such as Kanye, Drake, and Kendrick Lamar, who are known not only for their music, but for who they are as individuals, what they wear, what their music videos are like, etc. Their music has progressed a movement that rappers throughout the past few decades were the catalysts for (i.e. Snoop Dogg, Tupac, Notorious B.I.G.). Because of past artists, more recent artists have shoulders to stand on, therefore all of the aforementioned artists have had some sort of influence on what our culture is today.

When discussing recent important rappers, the Christian artist Lecrae cannot go unmentioned. Over the past decade he has won two Grammys and seven Dove awards. Along with those, he is the first hip hop artist to win the Grammy for Best Gospel Album and the first rapper to win the BET award for Best Gospel Artist. With these awards, Lecrae bridges a gap between the often negative Christian perspective on rap and the possibility that rap in all realms is not only relevant, but vital to our culture’s growth.

And this is where my mindset has to be challenged. As a “young person” and especially as a Christ follower, I cannot ignore the fact that the rap industry is influential. I don’t necessarily have to love it or believe in it, but I do have to try to understand it rather than shy away from it because it may be a little out of the church’s comfort zone. By listening to it and engaging in any kind of rap from time to time, we (believers or non-believers) have the ability to see its influence on anyone.

The whole point of this blog post is to say that rap music does not have to be seen as “bad”, but instead, it should be understood. Rap is not all sex, drugs and money – the genre is filled with lyrics about social issues and life in general. Rap may not be your cup of tea, but it is not something to look down upon either. It’s important. It’s a part of our lives.

That’s a wrap.

R.I.P. Tupac (but we know you’re still out there).

“If my childhood, teens, and twenties were about wanting people to like me, now I want people to know me. So, this is a start.”

So ends the introduction to Why Not Me?, the 2nd book by author Mindy Kaling. It foreshadows her book that is not only filled with hilarious anecdotes, but also openness and honesty throughout each chapter.

When Kaling’s first book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) was published in 2013, the response to the book was not entirely positive. Some readers found the book to be a bit much when it comes to blunt, straightforward advice, but this is why I believe Kaling thrives as a writer in television and her autobiographies. Kaling is not always polite in the way that she gets her point across, but this is something that many readers appreciate as well. It is nice to read a book written by an author who has no reservations in her writing.

Again, in Why Not Me?, Kaling shows no hesitancy in sharing her thoughts, as crass as they may be. In this book, Kaling writes about her life as a sorority girl in college, some halfway romantic stories, and her job as a writer and producer of The Mindy Project, which is the Fox and Hulu sitcom she created. Kaling masters the art of coming off as real, honest and open, while also still leaving a mystery that causes the reader to close her book and think, “How does she do it?”

As a female writer and entertainer, Kaling is one of the most important of our time. Not only was Kaling an executive producer, director and writer for The Office, she also was the voice of Disgust in the 2015 film Inside Out. For Why Not Me?, she won the Reader’s Choice Award for Best Humor Book in 2015. This may be because she is a hilarious writer, but it also probably has to do with her humility as well. With chapter titles such as “(Minor) Fame Has Changed Me”, “Unlikely Leading Lady”, and “How to Get Your Own TV Show (and Nearly Die of Anxiety)”, it is easy to see that Kaling is humble about her experiences and her place in life.

I would argue that Kaling’s voice should be heard by many. She is down to earth in her writing style, causing many of her readers to say “I want to be her best friend!” I cannot disagree with this, as reading her works have made me feel inspired to not only be like her, but also to set goals and reach them as a writer. If you haven’t read Kaling’s books yet, I would recommend that you grab both of them and find a comfy seat, because once you start reading her works you will not be able to stop yourself.