Wednesday, January 28, 2015 // The Statement 3B

All the Pretty Things: The Power of Choice

Throughout my life, I have 

encountered many choices that 
are no different from the ones 
facing every other person on this 
earth. Each day I encounter deci-
sions that must be made: choices 
concerning minor things, such 
as what to eat for lunch, to major 
decisions, such as what I wish to 
do with my life and my education. 
Each choice affects others, wheth-
er we see it now or not. And each 

choice I encounter has a time limit 
on it, a due date to make.

What college will I attend: Due 

April 30th, 2014.

What will I do with my summer: 

Due sometime before the school 
year ends.

What will I do this weekend: 

(Let’s be real) 9 p.m., Friday.

I have seen deadlines for all 

of these choices, except for one 
choice in my life I have yet to 

make. I was born to 
two amazing parents, 
both supportive, both 
my rock, one Polish, 
the other Black. In my 
eyes, they are no dif-
ferent. They are my 
parents, they love me. 
Who cares what they 
look like and, in exten-
sion, what I look like?

Questions 
from 

strangers and friends 
alike have come my 
way more and more 
often as I have grown 
older, asking, “What 
are you?” or “Why 

don’t you act black?”

Standardized tests in elemen-

tary school stared up at me with 
their blank bubbles, asking me 
to choose what I see myself as. I 
have encountered others who have 
attempted to decide the answer 
to this question for me (“You look 
black, so therefore you are”) and 
others that have decided, without 
even expressing it, through their 
treatment of me. This choice I 
have been asked to make has been 
a question that I still cannot confi-
dently answer.

I take pride in both sides of 

myself. I take pride in the rich his-
tories that flow through me. Holi-
day meals range from kielbasa to 
chitlins. Family stories touch on 
the segregated United States to 
work camps in Poland. I am lucky 
to be able to take both of these 
identities as my own.

As I think more and more about 

this decision, I see that I do not 
have to choose. This is the power 
of choice. I have the option to not 
choose. That is powerful.
T H E T H O U G H T B U B B L E

“You’ve got to want it. It’s a long process, especially 
if you want to do a PhD … I’m taking a year (off) to 
try and figure it out … I’m hoping in a year that I’ll 

decide that it’s worth it.”

–LSA senior MARGARET BURNS

B Y J A C K LY N T H O M A S

ILLUSTRATION BY MAGGIE MILLER

HOME IS WHERE THE 
HEART IS

ON THE 
RECORD

“I don’t have to lay in the hospital bed all day and night 

anymore. I can get back to my life.”

–STAN LARKIN, first patient to receive a Total Artificial Heart 
from the University’s Cardiovascualar Center. Larkin now has the 
ability to wait at home for a transplant rather than in the hospital.

Famous by Association: Bulge-Gate

Well, the start of this year would 

have been undeniably boring in the 
entertainment realm if the great 
Bulge-Gate of 2015 hadn’t swooped 
in and given us something to ponder 
for a solid week.

Apart from his various noise 

complaints and speeding incidents, 
Justin Bieber has been slowly 
phased out by the likes of other teen 
sensations such as One Direction 
and 5 Seconds of Summer. So, in an 
attempt to appeal to older audienc-
es and people in general, Bieber is 
featured in a campaign for the new-
est Calvin Klein underwear line as 
a very well-endowed model — or so 
it may appear.

People called bullshit on the 

spread right away. Think about it 
— while he has been working out 
more and is older, (have you seen 
the thin mustache that took him a 
year to grow, people?) it wasn’t long 
ago that Bieber looked and sounded 
like a prepubescent girl. To add fuel 
to the already scorching fire, once 
.gifs of Bieber’s alleged “before” — 

a.k.a. un-Photoshopped — photos 
were released, the Internet went 
rampant.

Bieber’s people have been stick-

ing to the story that there was no 
Photoshop fail. Even his personal 
trainer, presumably an expert on 
these matters (okay … ), came to his 
defense. So who should we believe?

This Photoshop scandal brings to 

light the entire concept of retouch-
ing and Photoshopping models and 
celebrities in ad campaigns, movies, 
magazine covers etc. I know girls 
on my Instagram feed, regular stu-
dents like us, who clearly Photoshop 
their pictures. But why? First of all, 
it takes way too much time, and sec-
ondly, people definitely notice when 
you look like a different person on 
social media than you do in person. 
But that’s beside the point. Society 
has placed unattainable norms on 
men and women. Women are sup-
posed to be skinny but curvy, with 
perfect hair and makeup all the 
time. And men are supposed to be 
fit and muscular and well-endowed 

in the ‘bulge’ department. While 
I’m not defending Justin Bieber, 
since his scandal gave me ample 
entertainment (and something to 
write about), the high standards 
need to end and, hopefully, the Pho-
toshopping will stop with it.

In light of all this, Selena Gomez, 

Bieber’s on-again, off-again girl-
friend/flame/stalker (why?) took 
to Instagram during the scandal, 
no doubt to try and get some of the 
attention back to her. In posting 
what people deem as a “cheeky” 
photo during what looks like a 
sad yoga sesh for one in a tropical 
paradise, she has given her cryp-
tic stance on the scandal at hand … 
move on, Selena.

This is the evidence thus far. But 

will we ever know? Was it stuffed? 
Enhanced? Photoshopped? Per-
haps we will know soon; as his 
career continues to plunge, I am 
sure a miracle, in the form of a sex 
tape, is in his imminent future. 
Maybe that’s why Selena’s doing all 
that yoga?

B Y M A R I A M S H E I K H

RUBY WALLAU/DAILY

RUBY WALLAU/DAILY