Design to Give Me Focus by Brian Fogel

Alone. At last? Or still?

The rush of Freon frozen air contracts my skin and pulls me closer to the point of aggravation.

The manufactured tree sap of tires crumbles the gravel, penetrating the rice paper thin and permeable windows. That fiendish fridge keeps on ticking, or buzzing, or digesting the left overs that I forgot weeks ago...

Sure the side of the room inhabited by another creature of this so-called academic land isn't there, but these contraptions of capitalism and convenience drive me along a winding path that has yet to be paved.

Bumpy, loud and unpleasant. I want to work in a place that is quiet by design not by happenstance or occasion. The longer I'm distracted from my work, longer my eye sockets dry like the Kalahari from these damned pixels.

Study Break by Caleb Ternent, Lauren Flum, and Lauren Fisher

Crisp, autumn air dances across your skin. The arousal invites a tensing of microscopic muscles, a long useless adaptation which stands your hairs on end. You spasm, a shiver, as the creeping coolness suddenly pounces, hijacking involuntary responses.
You lose your breath. Inhale.
Is that a skunk? You shift your head as muddled words make their presence known. They are as unclear as their meaning, the conversation's distance eats away at enunciation. No skunk at all!
Inhale again; your nostrils dive deeper into the cornucopia aromas that embrace you. Ragweed pollen floods your nose and violently leaves in one short burst.
Your sneeze accompanies the symphony of crickets. Quickly, the stillness consumes you, as you recline further onto the cool, damp grass. Feel the camaraderie with nature as you are enveloped.
Become one with its tranquility. Join its peace.

From the Front of the Room

Allison Cook, Rebekah Markovitz and Eli Shively

JFresh7 Reporters

I’ve just released the young bodies sitting before me. I feel my lips come to a tight close. I glance over the room. After a few moments, I quietly walk over to my chair. My feet are silent on the carpet and the chair creaks only slightly as I sit in it. I sit behind the table at the front of the room. It’s a smooth and shiny light brown surface. It’s cool to touch, just as the room was when I first entered. I remember shivering and now, with thirty bodies crowding in the tiny desks, the air is sticky and tense. I look over the room again. All faces are glowing against the white papers they stare at. I hear the smooth scratching of their pencils on paper. Brum Ching. Brum Ching. A pencil begins tapping towards the back of the room. The bodies begin to shift in the chairs. I look at my watch. Yes, ten minutes have passed.

Ohio University Homecoming

As I made my way out of the car and on to the red bricks, like all of those who came before me, the Convocation Center and Peden Stadium looked upon me. I bounced my way toward Baker University Center as the warm, early autumn breeze swirled around me. 

As the doors opened I was carried through the building  as if someone had released my helium-filled being into the sky. The crowds converged and I was separated from my friends. I emerged from the building and was blown over to Jeff Hill. 

Some students braved the climb, while others took the short cut through Glidden Hall. I could not stop my ascent, but I was not dismayed because the view of the rolling hills and greens below me was breathtaking. It was hOUme.

By: Mal Golski, Max McDulin, and Kate Ansel

A Secret Location

Step, step, step, right, left, step, step, step…sit. The wind ruffles the trees until their leaves gently fall to the bricks. Its sound does not overshadow a child’s counting. “1, 2, 3, ahhh you found me!” Through the windows’ reflections, I see her hiding behind an unusually large rock. It is quite an interesting thing, this building. Two circles, five rectangles and two semi-cylinders are all ready to mirror the lawn’s latest activities. As if on cue, a bell tolls and people begin to gather in a semicircle. Sorority girls appear suddenly laughing. A couple crosses through holding hands, while others decide to take a seat. Through my nose alone, I can tell the quintessential college students have arrived: Chipotle, Ginger, and Avalanche. My nose argumentatively claims this is not a tobacco free campus. With each moment I spend wondering for what everyone is congregated, the sun continues to set farther and farther west, behind the Panhellenic house. 

By Alyssa Murtagh 

I am in a group with Miki and Hannah!