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WHAT ELSE: What inspires Rutgers students
The people and events that motivate and entertain people at New Jersey's largest state university - what makes the campus tick
RU student seeks to carve her own niche
Adao vies for journalism, not nursing
By AMANDA LITCHKOWSKI
STAFF WRITER

As she begins her sophomore year at Rutgers University, Hanna Adao continues to prove that she is unlike her family.

The majority of Adao’s relatives are nurses and her parents want her to follow a similar, mundane path, Adao said.

Adao, however, refuses to subscribe to her family’s career goals by majoring in Journalism and Media Studies.

Although her family has known for a while that she does not want to be a nurse, Adao said her parents are now trying to pressure her sister into studying business.

“[My family] has always expected a little too much of me,” she said. “I find it irritating that they keep focusing on the money rather than the enjoyment factor when it comes to a career."

Adao said she could make a good living, “but I think having fun is more important than falling into a mundane life like my parents.”

Contrary to her parents’ mentality, Adao does not aspire to enter a career solely based on money. Adao wants to go into journalism because she has a passion for the field and specifically for magazine

production.

After working on her school’s yearbook staff, Adao developed an interest in the production side of publishing. The only staff member with proficiency in Adobe programs such as Photoshop, Adao was an intregral contributor.

In high school Adao also worked on producing a literary magazine.

“I like the aspect of having to put together something visually appealing,” she said.

She drew inspiration from history, and what happened to the daughter of a family friend.

The daughter attempted to pursue a teaching career, her personal choice of profession, yet dropped out of school and is now a secretary.

“It happened to her,” Adao said, “but that doesn’t mean it’ll happen to me.”

Most students in her high school had a similar attitude as her parents, and only went to college to find a money-making job while few want to learn new things, she said.

She remembers conversations in which her friends would say making money was their main career goal.

“I think it’s sad when people don't think about whether or not they'll be happy with their career years from now,” she said. “I think about my mother who hates her job as a nurse and has fallen under

Hanna Adao

such a routine life. It bothers me that a lot of people wouldn’t mind that just because of money.”

Her view on education is another way in which Adao differs from her community. Having been surrounded by people of the same ethnic background as herself for her entire life, Adao, an immigrant from the Phillipines, has noticed that she does not fit the mold to which her peers conform.

Along with not sharing her community’s obsession with high grades in school, Adao was never as religious as her family or her Filipino friends.

They are also more family-oriented than Adao, who describes herself as not very close to any of her family members.

“I don’t want my parents to expect perfection,” Adao said. “I don’t want perfection from myself. Perfection is for robots.”

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Young actor excels, chases dreams at RU
Cebrian wants to make it on the screen
By AYESHA GOUGEOUEHI
STAFF WRITER

Virgil Cebrian is an aspiring actor at Rutgers University who plans on following his childhood dream of making it on the big screen.

Cebrian's enrollment at The N.J. Dramatic School of Arts in Bloomfield is a prime example of how he is taking his dream seriously.

Though he took the current semester off, he may go back there and live his dream. Cebrian understands the importance of education. He plans on getting his degree in journalism but plans on acting afterwards.

“Part of me wants to drop out, move to L.A and do the damn thing… but I also understand how important education is and how having a degree is key to a lot of jobs,” he said.

Cebrian wanted to be an actor for as long as he can remember. Since he was younger he can remember saying that he wanted to turn his hobby into his career.

"My dream is to be an actor," he said. "I don't care if it's just on the CW in Gossip Girl. I want to be a working actor in Hollywood."

Cebrian is aware of the difference between a childhood dream and a dream of an adult. "I've had the dream since I was a kid, but have been taking it more seriously as I've gotten older,” he said.

How he plans to reach his dream is what’s most important, he said. He has done some acting and is already familiar with the stage, the lights, the audience and the feeling of being watched.

"From a young age, I've always had this knack for performing in front of people,” he said. “Whether it was singing or acting, I wanted to perform in front of audience."

Cebrian found something not only that he was good at, but something he enjoyed. When asked why he likes acting, Cebrian said, "My ultimate goal is to be an entertainer. I want to make people laugh, cry, think, believe... I think that's a great gift."

Aside from his passion of entertaining people, Cebrian is also touched by his acing and his

Virgil Cebrian

performances. He said acting makes him feel free.

"I feel like a different person when I step into different characters," he said. "It feels liberating."

Inspiration often fuels the craft. Cebrian named Robert DeNiro, Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson as actors who inspire him. Other than the actors he named, Cebrian says he can draw inspiration from many people.

“Anyone who goes after their dream is an inspiration for me,” he said.

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Is the bus system safe or sorry?
Service can provide more chills than thrills
By JANIECE JOHNSON
STAFF WRITER

A Rutgers student darted through the Rutgers’ A bus doors with inches to spare last Wednesday.

He looked around in mbarrassment at the other students on the swerving bus.  He cursed, and then tried to keep his balance as he found a seat.

“Whoa, that was close,” the man whispered to his friend as they both found safety in a seat.  They had survived. 

The Rutgers bus system is a modern bus system, where students can get online up-to-the- minute times on bus arrivals and departures. However, Rutgers’ students are exhausted with the perils that come with it.

“I hate that jerk when the bus pulls off,” says Canon Christine, an incoming senior at Rutgers. She is about 5 foot and barely 100 pounds.

“I can’t reach the handles and because I don’t weigh that much I end up falling on people around me,” Christine says. “I hate that.”

Rutgers’ buses are without seatbelts, and for students short like Christine, the handles provided in the middle of the buses are not helpful. 

Christine said she hates standing up on the buses because “the bus drivers don’t take into consideration that you are in fact standing up.”

“The only, I guess, safe way to

Students say they wait endlessly for buses to show up at Busch campus stops.

ride the bus is to get a seat,” says sophomore Glen Randazzo.

Students are not only complaining about the jerky motions, limited seating or inconsiderate bus drivers, but also about people who are able to get on the bus. 

The Rutgers bus system runs through both Piscataway and New Brunswick, and stops at common areas like the train station on George Street.  People who do not attend the university are able to ride the buses.

“I hate the [some people] who ride the buses,” says Patricia Witherland, a Rutgers student.  “I see a lot of them during winter, and they funk up the buses.”

“It freaks me out that that I have to sit next to [them] on my way to class,” Witherland says. “If you don’t pay for Rutgers’ services, then you shouldn’t have access to them.”

Students say some homeless peole could be a distraction to students, but they are not left with many options.

The bus system for students at the New Brunswick campus at Rutgers is their only means to getting to class and around campus.  During

peak hours, the crowdedness of the buses can become unsafe.

“Sometimes during like the afternoon, my head was literally in someone’s neck,” say Lisa Evers a freshman residing on the Livingston Campus.

“And that person’s face was plastered on the bus doors. That can’t be safe, right?” she asked.

There are hazard stickers posted throughout the bus which caution students from leaning on the doors.  However, the overpopulated buses leave the students no choice, whose only concern is making it to class on time.

“I’d rather get a ticket than deal with the Rutgers bus system,” says Mike Stilsky. “It’s just too stressful.”

Stressful is used to describe the five bus routes running from as low as five minutes apart.

“Rutgers students are spoiled,” shouts Britney Riser.  “They attend a top university with an efficient bus system.  I’ve never felt threatened on the buses.

"Rutgers students will always find some way to complain,” Riser says.

ARCHIVES: 2009: June 6, June 17, June 23, October 12

October 20, 2009
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RU student is a published poet
Litchkowski finds way to lit magazine
By HANNA ADAO
STAFF WRITER

A junior from Rutgers University has succeeded in publishing two poems in the literary magazine South Jersey Underground.

Amanda Litchkowski, 20, wrote poems – entitled “Know This” and “Bed, 221 AM” – that were published in the August/September issue.

The literary magazine runs loosely once a month, and each issue contains works of poetry, fiction and visual arts.

The publication is fairly new, with only five issues hosted on its web site. Litchkowski wrote the two poems late spring and early summer.

She sent them to various literary publications in New Jersey over the summer, she said. Within a month and a half, South Jersey Underground contacted her and said that it would publish her.

She said when she found out, “I was in my girlfriend's kitchen, about to make pancakes, probably, so she was the first person I told.”

“I screamed like a little girl and she thought I hurt myself because I'm really clumsy,” she said.

Litchkowski believes this experience helped her to realize that there are many opportunities available for young writers who want to get their work published.

She advises that writers should be confident in their work, and try to reach out to as many different outlets as possible.

“I felt extremely excited, proud, and accomplished when I found out I was going to be published,” she said.

However, she also believes it was beginner's luck because she was published by the first place she contacted. The two poems were inspired by the theme of “romanticism attributed to being young, untouchable and dangerously attracted to the beauty in all,” she said.

She believes that summer, in particular, carries these themes and emotions, especially in young adults. Her greatest influence and the subject of both pieces is her girlfriend.

“My girlfriend, Becca, is such a beautiful person,” Litchkowski said, “One of the first things I noticed about her is her inherent goodness."

"Becca is completely aware of the world...and she still chooses to be a good person. It's rare to find an intellectual who isn't a cynic,” she said.

She also drew inspiration from poet E. E. Cummings. “Although I've always had a passion for poetry, after discovering him, my interest peaked because he has a strikingly different style that plays with syntax,” she said.

Litchkowski said she always has had a love of writing. She first experimented with prose, but found she could not express all the ideas she wanted to in a single short story.

She eventually turned to poetry, which allowed her to try out variations in style, words, syntax and punctuation.

Unlike many writers though, Litchkowski does not believe in revision. “Know This” took her a total of 2 hours to complete, while “Bed, 221 AM” took only 45 minutes.

She believes that, with poetry, revising one's work detracts from the message that is originally being conveyed and interferes with one's “mental energy.”

Poetry plays a large role in Litchkowski's life. She said that sometimes she cannot concentrate on anything else if she has a poem in her head. “Know This,” for example, was written during the week of finals last semester.

Litchkowski had a 20-page paper due, but could not focus because she was struggling with a poem. After two hours of staring at the screen, she only wrote one sentence.

She decided to put the paper on hold to work on her poem. After she was done, she was able to write her paper with ease, she said. Litchkowski expresses some concerns about writing poetry over the semester.

She writes regularly, and is worried that she will not have as much time to dedicate to her craft as she would like. Even though her top priority is school, she still takes every opportunity she can to get her work published.

“I might submit to them again, but only if i cannot find any other publications to take my work,” she said.