It’s great being someone else. Everyone is themself all the time, and while it’s good to be assured in your own mind, sometimes you want to put all of your daily struggles, exhausting interactions and menial tasks to the back of your mind. So why not be someone else? There’s a few ways one can do this, but roleplaying games are an ever growing way of finding a way of escaping the trudge of regular life.
Roleplaying games take many different forms, but most people have heard of a few popular ones such as the classic Dungeons and Dragons. However, they come in many different flavors from video games to board games and even to games that just require a paper, a pencil and a creative imagination are enough to get any story going. No matter how you choose to enjoy them they all will have the same goal, to get the player of the game into the mind and role of a character that is typically completely made-up. Your character could be anything depending on the story you find yourself in, from a crafty thief, to a lofty magician, as long as you feel comfortable and have fun playing it out. Not too far from acting, the purpose is to separate yourself and play the game through the mind of a completely different person, acting as they would act rather than letting your own experience make your choices. For example, a lone adventurer may have a tragic backstory that makes them distrusting of your companions, even if you yourself might be best friends with them. Perhaps your strong knight is dumb as a box of rocks and thinks that the angry spirit just needs a nice meal to get it to calm back down. The potential and stories are as boundless as each person’s imagination.
Approaching the idea might seem a bit daunting or even just difficult to find friends to play with, but usually neither of these are as difficult as it might seem. There are many different ways to play out the roleplay, giving people flexibility in how they want to try it. Some prefer to meet up in person and play out all their roles, even playing out the absurdity that their characters may get themselves into. Others prefer to play by text, where you don’t need to be gathered up to do it, instead connecting over the internet and playing through creative writing. No matter your preference, you can easily find groups online that would be more than willing to have more players for their events, stories and games, you simply have to find the right group that you can let loose with. Game shops frequently hold their own nights for roleplaying games as well, usually allowing people to pay a small fee to play for the night, rather than having to buy the full game without knowing if you’d enjoy it.
Once you decide to play, you’ll find there’s several options for you to choose from, which can be daunting without understanding them. Players gravitate towards different genres just like they would for a television show, some major ones being fantasy or sci-fi for example. For the fans of fantasy, the easiest and most prevalent example would be Dungeons and Dragons. When you mention “D&D” as it’s commonly referred to, most people will generally understand what you’re talking about. It’s perhaps the easiest to get into and allows the players a wide diversity of characters and personalities. For newer players, it’s probably best to start here to get the feel of playing someone other than yourself. Once you get comfortable, your options become expansive. For sci-fi, we have Warhammer 40k, for massive, wild space battles and conflicts, or perhaps the more horror-themed Call of Cthulhu for a mind breaking journey of investigation and even the supernatural themed Vampire: The Masquerade for dark intrigue and manipulation. The choice is yours at the end of the day and you can hop between them all based on your mood at the time of playing.
Next time you find yourself numbed by everyday chores and the working grind, it might help to look into roleplaying games as a way to get away from it all. There’s plenty of groups and friends to be made through playing it, and it’s always satisfying to be the hero of a grandiose adventure, or even the villain of a diabolical plot. If you find yourself at the Webster Geneva campus, you can even contact the Board Games Club and join in on their weekly Friday games as well! If you need any more information on how to get involved, just send an email to zmedina54@gmail.com.
Seeing your family after spending a term abroad can be overshadowed by anxiety, also known as aerophobia: a fear of flying by plane. Holiday trips planned in advance suddenly seem less attractive than staying at home away from the airport. That was exactly my case for six years in Switzerland. The fear of flying appeared out of nowhere and has made my life more challenging, so I decided to understand what causes aerophobia and how to eliminate the fear.
Most likely, having aerophobia means being scared of crashing, but can be an outcome of claustrophobia: the fear of being trapped in the closed space for some time with no possibility of getting out. People are often scared of having a panic attack in the air. Some cannot even explain what it is they fear exactly, and the anxiety just takes over.
A majority of people may not have an instant fear of flying; however, it can develop overtime. The fact of suddenly being afraid with a history of traveling by plane can confuse flyers.
A bad flight might be a starting point for aerophobia. For example: experiencing strong turbulence or change in plans due to some technical or organizational issues, making people feel as if they had just escaped a dangerous situation.
Another reason could be hearing about unfortunate flights in the news. Plane crushes often get huge media coverage, which makes flying seem dangerous. A lot of people got aerophobia after the events of 09/11. However, plane crashes are rare, that’s why they get so much attention.
These suggestions have worked for me personally and helped me to get over my aerophobia. Try them and, hopefully, you will be able to order a tomato juice in a calm voice during a strong turbulence, just as I did during my recent trip home.
I started learning martial arts when I was five years old. At the time I was also in a ballet class and, thankfully, I continued karate until I was 15. I don’t regret this as karate taught me so many things over the span of 10 years. However, I had to stop training in the second dojo as my family and I moved to Geneva.
When I first started, it was difficult to see any benefits or practical application of the skills I was taught in the dojo. It was just more rules to learn and abide by, on top of the ones in school. In my case it was also weird because of the change in training grounds, I started out in my first one with karate, and the instructor changed martial arts styles, to kick-boxing, which was more violent than karate. I stayed there until sixth grade and then changed dojos. I practiced at the second one for about three years, the instructor taught karate, and it was also where I got my black belt.
Looking back, I learned a lot in these 15 years, but here are the main three lessons that have stayed with me over the years.
First, I learned that when you’re learning something new, even small improvements are a success. There is no need to rush yourself to learn something at the same pace that others do. Taking a longer time to understand something and gradually improving yourself is vastly better than rushing to learn or understand something in a very short time span and being so-so at it.
Secondly, mental strength and focus are vital to help you overcome difficulties in the learning process as well as in other situations. You will do much better if you take the time, to calmly analyze the situation and develop your strategy than if you for instance think of a solution to your dilemma/problem in five minutes and then call it a day.
Lastly, the most important lesson I learned was not a lesson in itself; it is a fact. One does not need to learn and improve only by observing the teacher, one can learn and vastly improve by observing and practicing with fellow students. Practicing for hours with others gives you an idea, a way to do things that the teacher doesn’t “teach” you to. You compare your advantages and drawbacks with the other students through friendly competition, and occasionally not so friendly. In summary, learning is a life-long process and you can learn at your own pace.
Not only are martial arts in general good to learn for any person of any age, gender or skill level because of the improvement of their physical condition, but they are also good for the improvement of your mental fortitude. Martial arts teach people different mental skills such as patience, endurance, focus and perseverance, as well as physical skills like control, flexibility and coordination. Personally, karate practice was also a stress relief activity for me, especially during the time just before finals week.
I highly recommend to everyone of any age or skill level to start learning martial arts because of all the physical and mental advantages that they can get through practicing them. No one is too young or too old to learn how to protect themselves or to kick some ass when it is needed.
Between September 27th and December 20th, 2018, an exhibition of one hundred portraits of women who changed the world was installed in the Student Lounge and several office spaces on campus.
The portraits were painted by Norwegian artist Sema Jönsson, who set herself the goal of painting one portrait every day until she reached 400 paintings. Jönsson hopes that the stories of the women she has portrayed will encourage viewers towards their voyage of self-discovery. To read more about Jönsson’s project, please visit artsema.com.
Commissioned by Dr. Clementina Acedo, the exhibition was the first of a year-long sequence of events celebrating the university’s 40th year in Geneva. Dr. Julianna Sandholm-Bark curated it with the help of undergraduate students Saba Ghezili, Grisha Loginov, Pierre-Antoine Belin, Martina Castiglioni and the students of First Year Seminar, who helped select portraits for the Student Lounge. The show was installed with the assistance of Francesco Arese Visconti and students Elisa Honegger, Puja Schroth, Fernanda Faria Zagato, and Claire Vasiloglou. Dr. Claude Chaudet generated QR codes for the portraits. Ron Banks, Will McDonald, and Tim Young helped promote the event. Celia Joachim, Kristina Shimkus, and Jose Lima provided invaluable support.
The photo essay below documents a side project involving a few of these portraits, which were particularly inspirational to members of the Webster community. Each portrait appears with the person who chose it.
Julianna Sandholm-Bark on Irena Sendler:
I first learned about Irena Sendler during a recent visit to the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, the city where I was born 40 years ago. Sendler was head of the children’s bureau of “Zegota,” an underground organization set up to save Jews after the Nazis invaded Poland in September 1939. She rescued about 2,500 Jewish children by smuggling them out of the Warsaw ghetto, which had been created by the Nazis soon after their invasion of Poland. Sender’s portrait is a powerful tribute to the human capacity for moral courage, and also to the scarred legacy of the city of my birth.
Ron Banks on Twiggy:
For me, Twiggy represents what was happening at the time – the changes in music, the mod style, the hipness and the subtle rebellion of the youth. She was only three years older than I, and what impressed me was how she became an icon and a trendsetter at such a young age as a model. She gave confidence to many young people to be different. Thank you, Lesley Hornby-Lawson.
Francesco Arese Visconti on Elisabeth Windsor, Queen of England:
Queen Elizabeth turned 93 last April. She has lived almost a century. She is an icon and has fully experienced the 20th century, one of the most controversial and diverse centuries in the history of humanity.
When I think about the Queen, I cannot avoid thinking about portraits of queens and kings and how artists have created them with different styles. The final goal was always to represent their aura. When I saw her name on the list, I immediately recalled her photographic portrait taken by Annie Leibovitz. Portraiture is part of my identity as a researcher and as an artist, and photographic portraiture is a key element in the PhD I am working on at the University of Westminster.
Lastly, I just realized she was born in 1926… It might seem to be by chance – though nothing happens by chance – but Fiorentina was founded in 1926 in Florence. (This happens to be Francesco’s favorite football club)
Claude Chaudet on Grace Hopper
Women in computer science have always been under-represented, even if this line is slowly changing. Grace Hopper (born Murray) is therefore a particularly notable person since she was a mathematician, a woman in the military (US navy) and a visionary for computer science. She defended in the 1950s the idea of a high-level programming language, easier to understand that machine language, paving the way for modern computer programming.
Vlad Glaveanu on Frida Khalo:
Frida is an inspiration for many reasons but what inspires me most from her story is her resilience and the way in which she managed to turn suffering into creativity. Her unique style is, at once, deeply embedded into culture and her life experience and, at the same time, deeply unique. This, for me, is one of the main lessons of creativity: that it connects us to our world in the most personal and unique ways!
Oreste Foppiani on Nadine Gordimer:
I chose Nadine Gordimer’s portrait because she is a multifaceted Anglophone writer, and Nobel Prize winner for literature. She is both a key figure in South African literature and a political activist who played a major role in her fight against apartheid.
Kristina Shimkus on Helena Rubinstein:
There are so few female role models from Eastern Europe who have accomplished as much as Helena. Known for her global cosmetic empire, Helena was also a savvy entrepreneur, arts patron and philanthropist who supported women in science.
On a more personal note, I remember discovering Helena Rubinstein’s beauty products as a teenager in my mom’s beauty cabinet. My wonderful mom, who is now is in her 70s, still believes in the importance of beautiful skin, hair and nails and has been a true inspiration for me.
Celia Joachim on Billie Holiday:
Choosing Billie Holiday’s portrait to be in my office was an easy choice. I grew up in a house where Jazz music was always playing. From Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong to Nina Simone, John Coltrane and many more, Billie Holiday is an artist that I’ve listen to for years. She has a delicate yet powerful voice, a dramatic intensity that makes each and every of her songs more meaningful. Billie had no formal vocal training but a natural talent and ability to move anyone who would listen to her.
Sharon Hitchcock on Amelia Earhart:
I chose the portrait of Amelia Earhart (1897-1937?) to hang in my office. She was an intrepid aviator who dared to break records in the new field of aviation at a time when women had little access to any jobs. Already a role model, her disappearance from the skies and supposed death by accident – or possibly as a war prisoner – made her story sad and unforgettable. An example of her lasting impression is contained in the song lyrics by Joni Mitchell, a musician I admire.
Teny Pirri-Simonian on Zainab Salbi.
Zainab Salbi gives hope. Out of her compassion for Bosnian women used as weapons of war, at 23, and newly married, she founded the organization Women For Women International, a worldwide network that aids women who have survived war. I feel especially close to her because, although we have never met and are a generation apart, we are from the same geographic region and are working on the same issues. Her 20 years of untiring work for women in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Colombia, Rwanda, Sudan, and beyond are inspiring.
Amanda Callendrier on Tarana Burke:
I chose Tarana Burke as my portrait in support of the #metoo movement of 2017. I confess that I didn’t know her face, and I chose from the list of names. I tried to learn a little more about her, since she would be living with me at work for a while. I found out that her “me too” movement started over a decade before Alyssa Milano made it popular again, and I learned of her civil rights activism, her Bronx upbringing, her time spent in Alabama. I think I most liked the fact that people who visited my office wouldn’t necessarily recognize her from the portrait, and many not even by name. I liked that I would have to explain it and that it meant that the beliefs were on display as much as the person. I could say that Tarana Burke was one of the “silence breakers,”” with her watching over me.
Peter Carson on Zaha Hadid:
I first became aware of Zaha Hadid and her work in 2003. She designed a new building for the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, where I was living, and it was a very big deal. Not only was she a famous, edgy and hip, but her building was sublime. I spent many happy hours there admiring the building, as well as the art. It was her first project in the United States and she, of course, went on to design bridges, opera houses and dozens of major buildings all over the world before her untimely death in 2016. She was a giant.
Axel Dormans on Hedy Lamarr:
The first time I discovered the face of Hedy in the list of the 100 Women who Inspire from S.J. I knew that I would choose her representation to be sitting in my office for the next coming months.
Along with her incredible beauty, she brings a sophisticated mix of serenity and assertiveness that brings the certainty that she is a great woman.
A lot of passion is coming through the depth of her intense blue eyes and it leaves me at once puzzled and dreamy.
In fact she inspires me a lot … and I will miss her energy when she returns back to S.J.
Beatrice von Mach on Marie Curie:
The first woman to win a Nobel Prize, to date the sole winner of two Nobel Prizes in two different disciplines (physics and chemistry), Marie Curie embodies genius, courage and selflessness, working tirelessly in the face of sexism.
One of her most inspiring stories must be her dedication to x-ray thousands of WW1 wounded soldiers at the battlefront using the small mobile X-ray units she had developed.
Her work caused her to be exposed to high levels of radiation which led to her early death. Her ashes were enshrined in the Pantheon in 1996.
Will McDonald on Josephine Baker:
I was proud to have my photo with the portrait of Josephine Baker, whom I knew as an entertainer and an outspoken civil rights activist. Originally a world-renowned jazz and dance icon based in Paris, France, she was a supporter of the French Resistance in WWII, and eventually became a vocal civil rights activist against segregation in America (and even renounced her American citizenship in defiance). Her impact was partly because she left her native country and could raise a voice more freely abroad. Her controversial advocacy during the Civil Rights movement in the U.S. continued from afar—yet she was invited to make an official speech at the March on Washington.
Because of her successful entertainment career, she engaged among the highest circles of European society. She apparently once said about her activism, “I have walked into the palaces of kings and queens and into the houses of presidents. And much more. But I could not walk into a hotel in America and get a cup of coffee, and that made me mad.”
I wanted to more about her, after seeing this portrait, and I discovered two additional and uncanny connections, besides the common link that we’re both Americans who chose a francophone city as our home: she was originally born under the name Josephine McDonald (my own last name, but no direct relation as far as I know) and she was from St. Louis, Missouri–our home campus of Webster University)!
Elizabeth Gebre Michael on Oprah Winfrey:
Oprah is very inspiring to me because the obstacles she faced early in her career did not stop her from pursuing her dreams. She is also a great philanthropist who is generous in both her willingness to share her life experiences and her ability to feel empathy for others.
Elisa Honegger on J.K. Rowling:
I chose J.K. Rowling because she inspired me to read. As a child, I could not stand reading, I did not see the point, and my parents were worried… rightfully so. But then, one day, my mother was reading the latest Harry Potter book, and I was bored, so I was reading over her shoulder. I asked my mother what was going on and she would not tell me. All she said was to read the book. So, I picked up her copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and I started reading. I could not stop. Once I was finished, I had to read the next, but it hadn’t come out yet, so I had to go back and read the previous five. As I got older, I would read these books when I was dealing with a lot of stress. Her books helped me escape for a while, and I would be able to relax. I am pretty sure that I am not the only person who she inspired and that is why I chose her.
Saba Ghezili on Malala Yousafzai:
I admire Malala’s efforts and accomplishments and consider her a true role model for my generation. As the youngest Nobel Prize laureate and an activist for female education, she has faced many difficulties in her path to remind the world of the significance of education as a fundamental human right. It is thanks to people like her, who stand with exemplary courage and devotion, that this world will become a better place.
Martina Castiglioni on Valentina Vezzali:
Valentina Vezzali is one of the most celebrated Italian athletes in the world; with six Olympic gold medals and over twenty wins in the World and European Fencing Championships. Valentina is not only an icon in the history of foil fencing, but also a symbol of determination, passion, and commitment.
What I find particularly inspiring about this woman is her natural ability to engage in sport, family life and social work with equal dedication and positive energy. She is also involved in several UN initiatives, tackling climate change and food scarcity, which proves that she is not only a role model because of her career achievements, but also as an active global citizen.
Valentina Churina on Natalia Vodianova:
Born in my home country, Russia, Natalia Vodianova always inspired me with her philanthropic work. The Naked Heart Foundation, founded in 2004, has achieved immense success. It built more than 100 playgrounds all over Russia to allow as many children as possible to play outside. The foundation also made 18 support centers for children suffering from autism and illnesses such as cerebral palsy.
The “100 Portraits of Women Who Inspire” exhibition was connected to the Meet the Artist Lecture Series, a platform for discussing the visual arts and reaching out to the local community. The series was created to enhance the potential of students to think in critical, creative, and cross-disciplinary ways. Presentations serve an essential co-curricular function where course topics, such as creativity, human rights, and sustainability, are explored through the lens of art. The series forms an integral part of courses such as First Year Seminar, Art Appreciation, Introduction to Sustainability, and Current Art, amongst other courses.
Artists who are invited this season will be speaking about the use of digital technology in their work, covering computer graphics, electronics, time-based media and holography, a new generation of smart objects for home spaces, and virtual reality technology. This series of lectures is hosted by Webster University’s Global Citizenship Program in collaboration with the Media Communications Department and the Webster Center of Creativity and Innovation (WCCI).
The program of the upcoming Meet the Artist Lecture Series can be found at wcci.webster.ch/events/meet_the_artist/.
It is something commonly said that “humans are social animals.” And the proof is more than ample. From our beginnings as tribes of hunter-gatherers who depended on each other to survive, the hustling and bustling hives of gathered humanity that are the cities of today. Even the very existence and near-omnipresence of the aptly named social media.
Thus, it is probably no great surprise that, to such a social animal, one of the most unpleasant and miserable fates, is that of being alone. So why is it that this same social media, that helps bring people together from the four corners of the world, is causing people to feel more alone than ever?
To be clear, this is not to say that if people choose to be alone, and is legitimately content with it, that they are in any way broken, deficient or insane. All norms have exceptions after all, and more to the point, trying to then force these outliers to be more social just because you thinks that’s how it should be is surely the worst possible course of action of all.
But if this loneliness is the result of involuntary isolation, unnatural circumstances, or simply not being the kind of person who knows how to easily make friends, then it can be crushing.
There are many components towards how this sensation occurs. There is naturally the psychological aspect, where lack of significant and meaningful interaction with others can drive people to depression and madness.
It can even be said that we are built to be social creatures, as the sensation of another person’s skin against one’s own, results in the release of a very specific hormone called oxytocin, a feel good hormone. Thus genuine, physical human contact is an inimitable and wholly worthwhile thing that, while not necessarily vital, the absence of which can cause a very real and very stinging feeling of lacking and unhappiness compared to other people.
And therein lies one of the major contributing factors to social media’s paradoxically anti-social effects.
Another is how it creates this sort of disconnect between the very people that it is meant to bring together. Yes, it allows for the contact between people who may very well be separated by distance, environment or even time zones. A wife in New York can stay fully in touch with her husband on a business trip in Paris, even partake in the sights alongside him via Facetime and Instagram. In this day and age, someone who lives in Switzerland can make friends with people who live in New-Zealand.
But it’s all done through texts, photographs, videos; all through an interface. And while in the case of people who already know each other simply trying to keep in touch can be seen as a merely a more practical evolution of a phone call or email, but for others, it is a phenomenon that is slowly drawing in more and more people into itself, and away from traditional human contact. This may sound like the typical argument of your usual old has-been with a chip on their shoulder against modern technology. But it is a valid observation.
The ease and convenience afforded by this revolution in communication has resulted in newer generations nigh on divorced from the idea of actual human interaction, or at least growing farther and farther away from it. Talking face-to-face becomes something that is awkward and difficult, compared to the simplicity and impartiality of hiding behind a screen. Which creates its own problems such as the loss of tone, inflection, not being able to read body language, etc.
There are even signs that lack of proper facial interaction with another human being, particularly in children as they learn to speak talk and such, causes an actual decrease in one’s ability to emote. Further hampering the ability for proper inter-personal communication.
The proof comes to light when, even when it ceases to be a question of either necessity or convenience, social media continues to the preferred over actual social interaction. You can have neighbors who live right next door to each other and yet still prefer to simply send a text or have a voice call. You can have an entire family at a table, whether in a restaurant or at home, who rather than even just looking up and speaking to each other, are instead texting.
And this is to say nothing of those who find themselves completely outside the circle of social media. It is becoming increasingly the sad norm that, if you are not either on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or one of the many other apps whose sole purpose is to allow you to project yourself to as wide as broad a network as possible…then you are essentially invisible nobody in the eyes of broader society.
For the introverted, or even just those who do not have either the time or the wherewithal to establish and maintain such a large number of accounts, profiles and whatnot, which can very quickly show itself to be genuinely exhausting for some, it can make state of things incredibly distressing.
All of this is not to say that social media is all bad. As mentioned before, it allows for the bridging of the gap between people that before, would have been incredibly limiting. And more to the point, it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. It is merely the hope that going forward, future generations will treat social media as the tool that it is, and not some vital necessity the point where it replaces simply talking to your fellow man. That they remember to go out once in a while. Get together with their friends in person. Talk, cry, laugh face to face, hug them close in their own arms. Remember that before they were used to type texts and click apps, fingers were used to shake hands.
30.
Shiny stars of the earth.
The Earth, our home and ancestral mother, is filled to the brim with treasures and wonders of all kinds, shapes and sizes.
Some particularly polished examples, are the myriad precious and semi-precious stones that dot and fill our planet’s crust and veins. In this gallery, we’re shining a spotlight on a few of these sterling stones!
Here is one of the premier examples of the earth’s beauteous bounty, Tiger’s Eye. The light casting its hues in streaks ranging from sandy to golden, this stone empowers the owner with the fierceness of its namesake animal, strengthens their will, and serves as a protection charm. It is also said to be a good luck stone.
Tiger’s Eye can in fact be found in various different color pallets, including pink, green, black, and blue, which is also called Hawk Eye.
Tiger’s Eye.
Amethyst
As one of the most well-known and appreciated members of the quartz family, the purple stone amethyst appears in shades that go from light as lavender to dark as mauve.
As a quartz, it often forms into crystals like the ones seen here, that build up from a rocky bed. Cracking open an amethyst chunk can reveal what resembles a mouth filled with pointy, shiny purple teeth.
Amethyst
As one of the most well-known and appreciated members of the quartz family, the purple stone amethyst appears in shades that go from light as lavender to dark as mauve.
As a quartz, it often forms into crystals like the ones seen here, that build up from a rocky bed. Cracking open an amethyst chunk can reveal what resembles a mouth filled with pointy, shiny purple teeth.
Malachite
Malachite is the third most popular green stone there is, after emerald and jade, even though people often mistake it for some kind of jade. But to help clarify: malachite has patterns and striations not often found in jade or emerald, is much darker, and is not translucent.
Here we see a malachite egg rested in a nest. It may not be a golden goose-egg, but any bird capable of laying such treasures is sure to be a fine catch.
Red Agate
Agate is another stone that occurs in numerous different colors. Here we see a slice of red agate in the shape of the flaming eye of Sauron. Perhaps best not put on any rings…
Other colors and kinds of agate include blue, white, black, green, crazy lace, moss and purple.
Labradorite
No it has nothing to do with dogs, though if you want to have a piece of this iridescent stone hanging from your dog’s collar, it’d probably look quite fetching, just as it would serving as your keychain. Labradorite provides a little bit of extra pep in your step, and a reminder that, with just a bit of light, even the darkest things can be made brighter.
