10 Roommate Gift Ideas That Wont Blow Your Budget

Even though you sometimes know more about your roommate than anyone else on campus, finding the perfect gift can still be challenging. Fortunately, with a little creative thinking, you can get your male or female roommate the perfect holiday, birthday, or farewell gift without blowing your budget. Something Only  You Know They Need You may see your roommate struggling with something that has been well-loved for a little too long. It could be a new hair dryer, a new towel set, a new shower caddy, or generally anything they use frequently. Something of Yours That Theyre Always Borrowing Your rain boots, favorite shirt, jeans, cute black pumps, or basketball may technically be yours, but seem to have been adopted by your roommate lately. Give them a new, similar product of their own so they can enjoy it without worrying—and without having to check with you first. A Gift Certificate to Their Favorite Restaurant On or Off Campus Does your roommate always walk around with a Starbucks coffee, Jamba Juice smoothie, or burger from the place across the street? Consider getting a small gift certificate to a place you know they already love. A Gift From the Campus Bookstore Because honestly, who minds having another t-shirt, sweatshirt, or pair of comfy pants with your school logo on them? A Small Gift Every Day of Their Birthday  Week This is a great option if youre a little short on cash. You can surprise your roommate with something fun every day of their birthday week: their favorite candy bar placed on their computer keyboard one day, a box of their favorite cereal the next. A New Laptop Bag/Backpack/Gym Bag/Purse/etc College students are notoriously rough on their bags. And, given that you share living quarters, youve probably seen the worst of the worst when it comes to how your roommate treats their backpack, gym bag, etc. Consider getting them a replacement or even just an extra one for when things get really ugly. Some of Their Favorite Personal Products Does your roommate have a favorite perfume? Cologne? Brand of flip-flops theyre always wearing? Grab an extra one, throw it in a gift bag, and ... voila! Instant personal roommate gift. A Book by Their Favorite Author or on Their Favorite Topic Chances are, your roommate has some passions and interests that they dont get the chance to read about just for pleasure. Surprise them with something theyll enjoy without having to worry about writing a paper on later. A Simple Electronic Device to Make Life Easier You can never have too many thumb drives, phone chargers, or earphones. These inexpensive electronics make for great, inexpensive gifts. A Gift Certificate to Their Favorite Website Does your roommate love iTunes? An online game? Consider getting them a gift certificate that they can use electronically. Added bonus: These make great last-minute gifts since theyre often delivered instantly.

Descriptive Essay - Original Writing - 1141 Words

Snaking its way through the dense underbrush, the long procession of horsemen ducked and weaved through drooping limbs and protruding branches. Dathon grew increasingly frustrated as the infernal woods went on and on, stretching east for miles in clumps so dense he lost sight of almost everyone around him. But much to his amazement and relief the woods now thinned out, replaced by dry brush covered hillocks that heralded the beginning the Jagged Lands, a series of knife-like limestone ridges that ran for miles from north to south. The late afternoon shadows played upon the ridges deepening their hollows and crevasses, making the land look like the furrows of a giant’s brow. â€Å"This is madness,† Dathon mused to no one. A harebrained attempt†¦show more content†¦But what to do about the stranger from Cazidor? Brecc agreed that Gall had been useful – but also that he needed to be eliminated. The only question was when. Ideally, they should act after the Nagun had been brought to heel, but before Gall to interfere more than he already had. He glanced at the horsemen struggling through the underbrush. The Delegate had provided the opportunity for his own demise. The fog of war would provide the necessary cover for a restoration of the status quo – all a matter of time and opportunity. As the evening sun slipped down the western side of the mountains, long shadows poured forth to fill the rapidly diminishing gap between the horsemen of Bretagne and the destination for the day – the vast expanse of the Shadow Marsh. True to its name, the marsh appeared indistinct, a wild sea of reeds and rushes, fetid pools of stagnant water, over which a veil of mist hung, like some monstrous tapestry. Dathon shook his head in wonderment. There is no way we are making camp here. On the hazy periphery, the column hesitated, but Gall continued, undeterred. Slowly he entered the mist, then stopped, turned and waved over the King. With trepidation, Brecc rode on, trailed by Dathon and Piers. Fog surrounded all four men, their horses pawing at the wet ground. â€Å"This is where we stop for the night,† Gall stated. â€Å"What? Certainly not here – in the middle of a swamp,† Brecc protested. â€Å"No,† Gall answered, then raising an armShow MoreRelatedDescriptive Essay - Original Writing1110 Words   |  5 PagesI don’t know how I got to where I am, but I’m here now, and I have to win if I want to live. I am in a game, and in order to live, I have to escape. That’s the thing, though: I don’t know how to escape. I was running for my life around this old house that looked like it came straight out of a horror movie. I doubled over and held my head in pain as I saw the static, which meant it was coming. I was being chased by what looked like a person but in no way acted like one. Just as it was about to appearRead MoreDescriptive Essay - Original Writing1102 Words   |  5 PagesIt is on days like this when we stop to think about our life. Small drops of rain begin to dapple the cobblestone pavement as people whip out their umbrellas for cover. I continue sauntering down the busy street, relishing the feeling of a light shower. Moving wi th the mass of pedestrians, I stop at a crosswalk where I wait for the stoplight to turn green. A flower shop employee across the street scurries to bring in the numerous bouquets and close the doors as rain starts rolling down the displayRead MoreDescriptive Essay - Original Writing914 Words   |  4 PagesDreamy I thought. Standing on the corner is a young guy with a smile. I see him here almost every day, so I linger for a while. He tells me his name, and I tell him mine. I m Ester, what s your name? I enquired. My names David .,He replied. We end up talking for a while and I asked him if he had ever left this city. He tells me of all these stories of the places where he s been, the distant lakes and mountains, and in valleys oh so green. I can see it in his eyes, he really has beenRead MoreDescriptive Essay - Original Writing974 Words   |  4 Pages I was used to moving round, having a mother who liked to travel more than making roots was something I had gotten used to. Still, I had never gotten used to the loneliness of an empty house when she was out exploring, or the feeling of leaving behind someone who could have meant something to me. Our most recent move was Oregon. It was pretty, and I didn’t mind it, but it was much different than Florida. Not only was it opposite sides of the country, it felt as if it were opposite worlds. InRead MoreDescriptive Essay - Original Writing1012 Words   |  5 Pageshave plenty of time in the next month to think about my feeling in regards to Kendrick. I needed to finish up the article and get it off to my editor. 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You presume that I’m a close friendRead MoreDescriptive Essay - Original Writing1387 Words   |  6 PagesI was wearing a beautiful blue dress with sapphire gems all around the chest area as I entered the ball with Ciel and Sebastian. I took a good look around here, the hallway was lined with gold. There was a servant ready to escort us to the ball room. Hello, come this way. He said, walking forward. Wow, this place is so fancy! I exclaimed, looking around. It s fake gold. Ciel bluntly replied, bringing my hopes down. I sighed. Ciel sounded like he wasn t in a very good mood. Ciel, lightenRead MoreDescriptive Essay - Original Writing1287 Words   |  6 Pages In the morning, Caireann woke me up. She stood above my bed, shaking my shoulder. I opened my eyes, looking at her. Then I looked across the room to her empty bed. Andy s empty bed sat in the corner. I swallowed, climbing out of bed. Sleep well? Caireann asked me, starting out the door. Yeah, I said, going over to our small dresser. I had the bottom two drawers. Andy had the middle two, and Caireann had the top. I pulled open the drawers, pulling on a colorful tank top and a grayRead MoreDescriptive Essay - Original Writing1345 Words   |  6 PagesLater that night, I was behind the wheel of my G-Wagon with Melissa in the passenger seat. She didn’t feel like driving since she was on the road all day and I understood so I didn’t mind when she asked me to. I had been tight-lipped. She kept eyeballing me as if she detected that something was bothering me but I just kept singing to my India Arie as if I was carefree. â€Å"So are you going to tell me what’s going on or no† Melissa said disrupting my own personal concert. I stopped singing and tookRead MoreDescriptive Essay - Original Writing1085 Words   |  5 PagesI WAS SITTING IN a taxi, wondering if I had overdressed for the evening, when I looked out the window and saw Mom rooting through a Dumpster. It was just after dark. A blustery March wind whipped the steam coming out of the manholes, and people hurried along the sidewalks with their collars turned up. I was stuck in traffic two blocks from the party where I was heading. Mom stood fifteen feet away. She had tied rags around her shoulders to keep out the spring chill and was picking through the trash

Programming as an Art free essay sample

Throughout my public school career, teachers taught me to memorize formulas and apply them to specific types of problems. In math class, I learned trigonometric proofs and how to apply them to my homework problems, and in English, I relearned how to write a five paragraph essay every year. Looking back on my experiences, I feel that the public schools cheated me in one vital area: critical thinking. If a unique problem appeared in math class, it would take me a while to complete it, or I might just give up before I started, and the essays I wrote had become so generic, they were all basically the same. My ability to apply my knowledge, to critically think, had never been encouraged, and as a result, I suffered. My boring problems all changed to interesting ones when my friend introduced me to programming. Scott was a genius; he could write a program to solve any problem on a Texas Instruments calculator. We will write a custom essay sample on Programming as an Art or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He taught slowly, deliberately, but his teachings were unparalleled. After his lessons, programming on my calculator became my siren. It would call to me in math class, in English class, in any class. I could not escape it, and I did not want to. Everywhere I went, I brought a calculator with me just to get my fix. Eventually I moved on to bigger and better languages such as C++, a programming language used in computers. As I became more competent, I started to solve my own issues. I needed a program to play tic tac toe? No problem. What about compute some data using an algorithm? Easy. With my dive into programming, my critical thinking skills drastically improved. Instead of quitting when faced with a unique problem, I started to think about the basic principles that needed to be applied and could then easily solve it. I easily applied this skill set to the rest of my schooling, resulting in improved math grades and more varied essays. Everything seemed to benefit from my choice t o learn programming. As I came to find out, programming did not just help with school, it helped improve other parts of my life as well, namely connecting with others through empathy. Music class always seemed to occupy my life since the fifth grade, and when I discovered programming I realized the two were quite similar. Consider what happens when you perform music: you look over a set of notes and then interpret them for the audience. Simple in concept but difficult in reality. It is up to the performer to add a little nuance here or a pause there, making the piece of music their own. Programming requires this same creativity. When presented with a problem, you have to figure out how you will go about solving it. The programmer can choose to add in a certain function or optimize one that already exists. How you choose to structure your program to solve a problem is just like interpreting a piece of music. The interpretation of notes changes a piece of music into art. Similarly, the way the developer goes about solving a problem, interpreting the problem, changes his program into art. But what is art? Art is unique expression that creates empathy with the audience. With a piece of music, you can portray feeling and thought through the structure of the music, sharing with the audience how you feel, your art. A program can do the same. Think about applications on mobile phones today. What problems developers choose to solve and how they present their solutions expresses how the developer feels and think about a certain problem. By taking the time to provide a solution, the developer shares his thoughts and ideals, his art. Whenever artists share their art, they establish empathy between people. By viewing the art of someone else, you are almost compelled to imagine the situation the artist lives in, and through this imagining, some understanding of the artist is gained and connections form. Just as a sad movement of music can bring an audience to tears because of the connection made with the performer, a connection between the developer and the user can form through using his progr am. It’s odd to think about. How would using someone’s program create empathy? It does not just come from using someone’s program. Empathy comes from the curiosity created when you use the program. From my experience and knowledge of programming stems a curiosity to figure out why a program exists and how it works. By trying to understand the developer’s motivations, I can empathize with him and understand him. Take the famous game: Cut the Rope; I love this game and with every new release of levels I proceed to play through them all. As I do, I wonder about why the game seems fun, and how the developer designed the game to achieve such entertainment. I contemplate how they would have solved issues that immediately arise in my mind like the implementation of gravity or how to effectively integrate a trampoline into the gameplay. Through the developers art and my curiosity, empathy arises, giving me an appreciation and understanding of their art. However, what turns his program into art is my curiosity, and that mainly exists because of my background with programming. In my opinion, most people do not ever attempt to program and as a result take all of the technology around them for granted. For this reason, I feel programming should be taught regularly in public schools, or at the very least highly promoted as an important class. Some might argue, why is this necessary? Other vocational and fine arts provide the same benefits: an expression of oneself and an ability to share art and empathize with people. It could even be argued that such classes also teach critical thinking. However, I think programming is more worthwhile than any other class because of its growing prevalence in our culture. As I witnessed in my high school, the number of people actually interested in learning about programming has been a minority compared to the number of people who will take band and then forgo performing once they get out of high school. But take a look at computer usage in the world over the past ten years: computer processing power has increased exponentially and the number of people with smart phones has surpassed the number with â€Å"dumb† phones. With the advent of increased smart phone adoption, the prevalence of applications and the amount of usage they see has greatly increased over the past few years whereas the usefulness of reading music has dwindled. Even most upper level schooling depends upon software to make the school work as efficiently as possible. With such prevalence of software in our daily lives, I think the basic principles behind the software should be taught in schools, and with this will come all of the other benefits. The art expressed through progr amming will be available to a larger audience than before, connections created through empathy will increase between developers and users, and above all, critical thinking skills will easily improve in students who miss this vital part of education from their other subjects. With the way the public school system currently operates, I feel the addition of programming to the curriculum would greatly improve people’s understanding and appreciation of software and computers. The connections made between people through programming’s art form will increase because of the curiosity created. Last, critical thinking skills, which are vital to be a productive member of society, will greatly improve.

Tenars Psychic Growth Essays - Analytical Psychology, Earthsea

Tenar's Psychic Growth ?For most people the years of youth are characterized by a state of gradual awakening in which the individual slowly becomes aware of the world and of him or herself,? states Carl Jung in Man and his Symbols (pg. 168). This is usually accomplished through dreams or real events that foresees the future in a symbolic form. Tenar, later named Arha, was a little girl when she was taken to Atuan to become the new High Priestess. There she was taught the ways of the High Priestess, as she was to become one when she grows older. In Atuan, young Arha journeys through her mind and progresses through her psychic growth in order to leave her childhood. Along this road she encounters many characters that guide and mislead her as she grows. As one reads Tombs of Atuan, one may recognize that the story of Arha and her passage from darkness of her childhood world to the light of her mature world is structured around Carl Jung's dream theories. When Tenar became the ?Chosen One? for the High Priestess in Atuan, she was compelled to adjust to this new life and new surrounding. She was brought up in the Kargish lands with her family of many siblings and a mother and a father, but Atuan was a whole new place with mostly women training to be priestesses. As Jung puts it, ?When a child reaches school age, the phase of building up the ego and of adapting to the outer world begin.? (pg. 168). As Tenar was to become the next High Priestess she was led to live in loneliness as she was different from the rest of the priestesses in Atuan. She was made to live in her own dwelling, the Small House where no one else was to sleep in. Jung describes this phase of the building up of the ego, as the time when children feel different from their contemporaries, and this feeling of uniqueness brings sadness, that is part of the loneliness of children. During Tenar's first years in Atuan she wanted to discover herself by contradicting the rules of becoming a High Priestess. Tenar and her counterpart, Penthe, decided to evade their chores of weaving in the Big House and slipped out to the outer walls of Atuan, but their attempts to have fun were foiled by the High Priestess of the Twin Brothers, Kossil. Arha desired to figure out why she was there, and what her purpose was in Atuan. This process of self realization or coming to terms with one's inner self is known as individuation, which begins with a wounding of the personality and suffering (pg 189). This wounding of the personality is caused by something external, and thus the ego, being obstructed from its growing, denounces God or someone of authoritative figure, and in Tenar's case it would be Kossil. Tenar suffered a personality shock when Thar says, ?It is not fitting that you are seen climbing and running with other girls. You are Arha.? Implying that Tenar is not to associ ate with the other girls of Atuan. She is supposed to stay in solitude. Jung describes this as a time when everything is all right, but underneath the surface [Tenar] is suffering from boredom that makes everything seem meaningless and useless. What was all this teaching for? Why did Arha, or Tenar, undergo something that seemed so endless and meaningless. It wasn't until Arha was introduced to the ?Ring of Keys? that things changed. Arha was acquainted with something new from her personality that she didn't know was part of the High Priestess's duty. Le Guin correlates this part to Jung's idea that: ?Through dreams one becomes acquainted with aspects of one's own personality that one has preferred not to look at too closely.? This was his idea of the ?realization of the shadow?. Arha never looked into the idea that she would actually be able to have the keys to the Undertomb which would later lead to the Labyrinth. These keys unlocked the entrance to the shadow, the Labyrinth, surrounding her young, small ego. The Labyrinth exemplified her shadow, the unconscious and unknown personal attributes of oneself. As soon