Katie's Blog

  Image Courtesy of Bettmann/CORBIS Steven Schillinger is a Vietnam war veteran. He was born in Hollywood, California where shortly after his time in the military he went to Sonoma State university and earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology. During his time in the military he worked as a Combat Cameraman and saw things the average American doesn’t. Some for better, some for worse. I sat down with him to learn more about his experience and how it still affects him to this day. Did you join or were you drafted? Well, I was there from 1968 to 1969. I was 21 or 22, something like that. I joined but I was going to be drafted anyway. I had already had my draft physical done and I wasn't sure what I was going to do. Then I heard about this program in the Navy where you could get in for two years active and it was basically just pushing planes around an aircraft carrier. They gave the training to the guys lined up for a career, but I ended up doing technical things instead. What was your ...

My brother and I curiously exploring one of Universals many decorations. My eyes slowly opened with a light knock on my door. As I glanced out the window, I noticed the sun had yet to rise. And the door opened. “Get dressed, we’re leaving in 30 minutes,” my mom said as she flipped on my bedroom lights. I hopped out of bed in my Hello Kitty onesie and began to change. After getting dressed I grabbed my backpack, stuffed bunny and ran down the stairs. My parents rustled through their bags, double-checked their packing list, and started to bring our luggage to our gray 2001 minivan. I grabbed Eggo waffles out of the toaster and glanced at the microwave clock. It read 4:30 a.m. Driving from Oakridge, Oregon to Los Angeles, California adds up to a 12-and-a-half hour road trip. Luckily for me I had grown out of my carsick phase. Well, for the most part. Any nauseous moments I would face on this trip were worth it. I was on my way to my favorite place in the world -- Universal Studios Hollywo...

What makes a good podcast? Interesting or relatable topics? Easy to love hosts? Scramble all of that together and you’ll have Garrett Watts and Andrew Siwicki recording in a tiny house talking about their dating life and the meaning of life. “ Sweet Boys ” podcast creates a chaotic yet charming atmosphere for listeners to get lost in for an hour. In the ever expanding Sweet Boys universe, you’re thrown deep into tangled trains of thoughts that slowly hit a satisfying ending by the end of each episode. Great life advice or just hilariously specific observations made by the hosts is what keeps me listening each week. “I’m getting off track here, but what the hell is a track anyway?” said Watts during one of their conversations. The title of episode one “ We Have No Idea What We’re doing ,” released on Nov. 18, summarizes the podcast perfectly. A podcast thought up as a way to pass time during the nationwide pandemic became a reality in mid-November of 2020. Each episode is an improvemen...

Pens click, chalk scrapes and voices murmur. Seventh grade holds a feeling I’ll never forget, no matter how much I’d like to. Anxiety that you can't place, and an itch you can't scratch, all while surrounded by strangers you’re sentenced to live with for six more years.  Sitting in the corner with my short brown hair and oversized clothes, it was obvious to anyone that I was the new kid. Out of place. Holding my bright green hand-me-down iPhone with a crack in the screen that made it borderline unusable. This wasn’t unusual in this school. Ten kids to a classroom deep in the woods, 20 minutes from any other town. A new fishing rod was in higher status than the newest iPhone. It was only a few months before that I had a strong support system filled with, what seemed like now, an overabundance of friends. My family was a nomadic type. Moving from hatchery to hatchery around the state to pay the bills. Switching schools never bothered me.  I considered myself quite adaptable and ...

Dear Blog, It’s getting a little stuffy in here, isn’t it? It’s been almost over a year since I’ve been on this blog. Though truth be told, I do visit it every once in a while to reminisce.  Now I don’t want to be too depressing or nostalgic, but I’d like to fill you in on my past year.  When the Coronavirus shook the world a year ago, I like everyone else was selfishly upset. My first year of college had abruptly ended. Friends I’d grown close to drifted and opportunities I’d faced faded. It was shocking and a setback in my life. I was on a high for most of my first year of college and was then put through withdrawal. Symptoms included self confidence plummeting, anxiety heightening, and the feeling of the world crumbling around me. Around this same time my papa was diagnosed with brain cancer with 6 months to live. He passed on August 29, 2020. Then my granny with Alzheimer's moved in with my family and then my brother, my best friend,  joined The Navy. After that my gr...

Just Mercy is a 2019 movie based on a true story that took place in the late 80s and through the 90s in Alabama. Just Mercy stood out to me this week because it amplifies the black voices and experiences that are being shared throughout the world today and within the last few weeks during the black lives matter movement. I’ve had this movie recommended to me recently at protests and on Amazon Prime in their black history, hardship, and hope section available on their homepage.  Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, Just Mercy shares the emotional, hopeful, and inspiring story of Bryan Stevenson, a Harvard civil rights law student graduate, fighting in defense of those wrongly convicted in Alabama and put onto death row. One of his first cases is that of Walter Mcmillian, a father of three and husband, is sentenced to die in 1987 for the murder of an 18-year-old-girl, despite a lack of evidence supporting this. Stevenson, originally from Delaware, quickly runs into racism and...