KME|Contents

Premiere Addition!

04 Letter From the Editor

05 Writers
31 Image Credits

33 Ad Placement Information

Perspective
17 We Are Linked by Humanity
Discover how all groups of people are affected by current events

21 Call It How You See It

Learn how personal perspective can influece your satisfaction

23 Through Another’s Eyes

Take a look at life from aother person’s perspective

29 Colorblind
Discover how cultural difference effect society views
 Awareness
13 Normal is Just a Setting on the Dryer
Find out how societal norms influence everyday life

15 Religion’s Effect on Society

Discover how religion has impacted today’s society

19 Who’s that Stranger

Discover the evolution of suspicion in society

Life
07 How To Be Alone
Ways to survive the loneliest times in life

09 Mellow Out Dawg...

Reasons to avoid pointless anger

11 The Roadmap to Finding Yourself

Methods to discover who you are

25 The Power of a Helping Hand

Ways to use the skills you have to help others

27 The Best of Whats Around

Find out new ways to entertain yourself
 It’s a Resolution

03
 Letter from the Editor
Dear Reader,
First I would like to introduce myself, my name is
Lexie Mantlo and I am the founder and editor of Kiss
My Elbow Magazine. I cannot express to you how
excited I am about our new project. I believe that this
magazine is the first step in inciting real change in
the world. It may seem a bit idealistic but I believe that
by inspiring even just one individual to change then
we have forever changed the world for the better and,
therefore, we have met our goal.

Kiss My Elbow is more than a magazine. It’s a way

of life. It’s making a commitment to work towards
making the world a better place. The basis of this maga-
zine is not a profound concept. If you manage to live the best life you can then you can focus
on making the world a better place. You have to focus on helping yourself before you can
effectively help others. And once you get your life in check then making the world a bet-
ter place is as simple as showing people you care about them by performing random acts of
kindness. All too often people are too often bogged down by the troubles in life but if they
are reminded that they aren’t alone by a random act of kindness then they will begin to live
a better life and spread the love. This magazine is not so much a revolution as a resolution to
the problems of the world.

The stories in this magazine will help you reflect on who you are as a person and the way
you choose to live. They will also provide you with ideas to help the people around you. I
hope that your life will be enriched by the stories featured in this magazine. In this intro-
ductory issue the authors will introduce themselves and their views on the world. They will
explain what they will be writing about in upcoming issues and what they hope you get from
their articles. I hope that you get inspired to change your life for the better and lives of the
people around you. Everyone at Kiss My Elbow truly appreciates your readership. I want to
wish you the best of luck in your quest to make the world a better place.

Welcome to the resolution,

Lexie Mantlo
Editor in Chief

04
 The Writers

Alyssa Welles Caitlin Kincaid Namita Agrawal

Dan Hugar Corinne Busemeyer Sandhya Dammu

05
Sarah Tuttle Stephen Sehr

Kate Buckalew Brian Hartel Brian Palmere

06
 How to be Alone
By Brian Palmere
My name is Brian Michael Palmere and I was born August 1,
1989 just outside of Chicago, Illinois. I am currently an Aerospace
Engineer at Purdue University. My goal in that area is to end up
working for a private defense company that works with the armed
forces. My ultimate goal in life is to be surrounded by a family who
loves me. It’s my number one focus in my life and all of my ac-
tions are steps toward that goal. I follow no strict belief system, but
instead have developed my own code to live by based on events I
have either witnessed or been involved in. I have received a lot of
criticism for this through the years, but I find the only person I have to
live with is myself and if I don’t like who I am what is the point? Two
instances in my life have truly shaped who I am inside. The first is
being a member of the Boy Scouts of America. I achieved my Eagle
Scout award, the highest honor, The hard work and dedication this
entailed gave me the foundation in which to build myself upon. The
second instance is not a happy one. In the summer of 2005 I lost
someone very dear to me. He was someone who I grew up with as a
friend, and looked up to as a brother. His death influences everything
I do. He was a very loyal person to me, even though I was four years
younger in school, and always had advice to give. To honor him, and
remind myself, I wear a chain with an engraving of his picture.
My article for the most part will be filled with ideas on how to be
alone. In a way it will give you ideas on how to escape the stresses
of everyday life. Nobody wants to truly be alone in life, yet there are
times when you don’t want anyone around or people can’t be around.
My articles will throw in ideas to make the best of those times. The
ideas will range from something new, something easy, something
hard, or just plain stories to put a smile on your face. The times when
stress overwhelms your life is when it is hardest to be alone. You fo-
cus in on what is wrong in your life instead of what is good. The goal
of my articles is to keep you from dwelling on things you can’t change
or things that have caused pain in your life and hopefully allow you
time to relax and enjoy the person that you are.
The main reason I am writing this article is because of the friend I
lost and how it affected me. I turned myself inward and didn’t let any-
body in. That combined with the extra stress of junior year and my
sport being swimming and highly individual, I was alone a lot. It took
me awhile to pull myself out, and it didn’t come without help. This
article will hope to keep you, along with myself going on those days
where you are stuck inside your own head and there seems to be no
way out.

07
08
 Mellow O

09
Out Dawg...
I was not a child who was well off.
Oh financially my family did fine, I had a
good amount of friends, I even had good
grades in a decent school. It seems to
be the opposite of not well off, however,
all was not as it seems. You know those
kids who were always at home with one
or no parents home because they had
to work? Yea I was one of those. They
are often called “Latchkey” kids in our
society and people like to call out the
parents for doing a terrible job raising
their children. I can’t blame them; how-
ever, they never stop and think why the
parents are leaving their children at home.
My father has traveled the world time and
time again. He has hit every continent (yes in-
cluding Antarctica) but not for fun. He works in
the international world, always has, and will con-
tinue to do so until the day he retires. He does
by Brian Hartel
this because he needs to provide for his family;
why else would he leave people at home to go to
God awful places like Pakistan?
Well, now that wasn’t quite paying the bills,
so Mom said, “Well then, I guess I better start
working again too.” Seeing as she wanted the
best life for me and my siblings, she strolled back
out into the firing line of the work force and start-
ed leaving us at home to fend for ourselves.
So there we are some kids at home alone,
seeing our mom only prior to her going to bed
and our dad for about a week every third week or
so. How much time do you think I got to go toss
the football around with him or watch a movie
with her, for those who can’t catch my point, it
was very little.
However I think this was a good thing. I
know, shocking right? It makes for a kind of irony
that you normally see in the movies. However,
I learned what was really important at a young
age.
So why I turned out how I did is pretty obvi-
ous. This article will be about anger, but not just
anger, pointless anger. I’m going to show you the
bright side of stuff, I’m going to show you why
you shouldn’t cry over spilled milk, and I’ll prob-
ably lower your blood pressure a couple points.
You all know you get angry about stupid things
and I’m going to point out why that’s dumb.
Often they say the glass is half full or half
empty well I’m going to toss the glass off the ta-
ble. Piss on the glass, there are more important
things than worrying about a damn glass. Hate
me, love me, I don’t care, but ill make you reflect
on stuff that we deal with on everyday basis. Why
things are usually not worth getting pissed about
and why you should just go with the flow….mel-
low out dawg…
10
 Roadmap to Finding Yourself
By Lexie Mantlo
Who are you? How many of us can actually
answer this? I’m talking about who you are be-
yond your name and what you do. I want to know
if you can answer who you on the most funda-
mental spiritual level. Basically if you striped
away all that you had, e.g. job, family, what would
remain of you? You may be confused as to what
exactly I mean. Let me explain with a story. Not
too long ago, I was at dinner with a friend who
was having trouble with a major life decision.
Everything she said to me told me that she had
already made up her mind but she still stared at
me pleading for an easy answer. I realized that my
friend was really struggling with who she was. It
is impossible to make a major life changing deci-
sion if you don’t know who you are and what you
want. I told her that generally if a person does
not know what they want then they usually don’t
know who they are. I asked her point blank “Who
are you?” She blushed and responded “What do
you mean?”, then she responded with her name.
I said “No. Not your name, I mean who are you?”
She was still confounded and asked for me to
give her an example. I was hesitant to give her my
answer because I was afraid she would just take
my answer and neglect thinking about who she
truly was. I could see that she was afraid of giving
a wrong answer so I decided to share my newly
discovered answer to her.
This is who I am. I am passionate. My pas-
sion drives everything I do which is good for the
11
most part. My passion is what brought life to this
magazine. However, if I’m not passionate about
something I need to do then it takes Hell and
high water to get me to do it. I am also a very
considerate and caring person. I naturally put
other people before me and will do anything I can
to make others happy. As a result I have a ten-
dency to self sacrificing. At the same time, I am
manipulative. I am not proud of the fact. In my
eyes this is my most undesirable trait and I have
been working on curbing this tendency. I am also
an initiator. If I see something that needs to be
done then I will do it or get the people together
who need to do it. I am artistic and creative. I am
smart. I am funny. You have no idea how many
times I have made people roll on the floor laugh-
ing. I am active. I am bold. I am moral. I have no
problem voicing my opinions. I will tell people if
their morals aren’t in check because I would hope
that anyone else would do the same for me. I am
saucy. I am not afraid to break the rules if I feel
there’s reason to, e.g. they’re impractical or to
make a statement.
There is so much more to me and I could
literally write pages on it but the most important
thing that I have discovered is that I am strong.
This one took me a long time to realize. I used to
be very insecure and relied on everyone else for
emotional support, as well as help with academ-
ics. I never stood on my own two feet because I
didn’t think I was strong enough to do so. This
semester I have been working on growing as a
person and finding who I am as an individual
because my insecurities had gotten to the point of
interfering with my relationships. I’m sure we’ve
all experience points in our lives where insecurity
takes hold; spouts of jealousy, complaining, and
desperation. I didn’t know who I was beyond my
insecurities and what little I did know about me I
didn’t like. I decided to cast away everything that I
was using as a crutch and to figure out who I am
this semester. Let me assure you that it was no
walk in the park. By breaking myself down to the
fundamentals I have irreversibly changed my life
for the better. I made the most unexpected dis-
covery. I am strong and I can change the world. I
have found who I am as a person and what I want
has followed suit. My life now has a new vitality
and focus on the future.
I want to share this change with my friends
and people like my friend in the story. I am writ-
ing this article for anyone who has felt lost and
as if they were not the person they wanted to be.
My article will give you steps to get yourself on a
path of self realization. Each person has their own
unique path so I’m not going to be able to tell you
exactly which path is yours. I can, however, pro-
vide you with exercises and steps to work through
in order to get closer to finding your path. I will
provide a roadmap and the means to get back on
the road if you feel like as if have strayed a bit. In
order to prepare for my first article I would like
you to get started by reflecting on who you feel
you are now and all your insecurities that are
holding you back from becoming who you are.
If when you describe yourself, you are very self
critical then reflect on why you feel the bad things
are more a part of who you are than the good. Are
you really a bad person? I hope that you realize
that you are not and you deserve to change and
see yourself as the awesome person that you are.
I appreciate your readership and I hope I can help
you find who you truly are as a person. Until next
month, Chao!
12
 Normal isJust A Setting
on the Dryer
By Caitlin Kincaid

13
 Hello readers! My name is Caitlin and
I’m going to be one of the writers for this fan-
tastic magazine! I’m really looking forward
to this opportunity to write about something
completely out of the ordinary for me. I am
currently a sophomore at Purdue Univer-
sity studying mechanical engineering. Writ-
ing is generally not among my assignments
unless I have to write a scientific lab report
or describe something engineering related.
The writing I’ll be doing for this magazine
however involves something much more in-
teresting to the casual reader. credibly cliché and I know you’ve heard it a
Have you ever wondered why our soci- thousand times, people shouldn’t blindly do
ety believes certain things or behaves cer- something just because society tells them
tain ways? I’ve often pondered what prompt- to. You should never follow the crowd and
ed these thoughts and actions, so I will be not know why so I’m going to find out why
testing various societal norms to determine certain societal norms are in place.
where they came from and why they are a I hope to bring some of these seem-
part of our culture. I’ll do the opposite of ingly silly conventions into the open for the
what society has told me all my life I should readers to judge. Generally people may not
do, and write about what happens. I’ll see even notice how society has influenced their
if I’m treated differently based on how I look life because certain conventions are simply
or find out what happens when I try to start a ingrained into how they live. I hope my ar-
conversation with a random stranger. I may ticle, Normal is Just a Setting on the Dryer,
survey students or simply do something out will be enlightening to all of this magazine’s
of the ordinary and pretend it’s normal to see readers and that you all are entertained by
how others react. my societal experiments.
What a better place and time for me to
test these conventions than in college? Col-
lege students are generally the most open
minded people in society, especially at a
large public school like Purdue. This maga-
zine is also the perfect excuse for me to test
things I’ve always wondered about. I may
not be writing about engineering, but I’m still
an engineer at heart so I’ll try to be as scien-
tific as I can while I conduct my research. I
might also try to test some myths while I’m at
it. Don’t worry, I won’t write about anything
too nerdy.
I think it is important for people to real-
ize why we follow certain conventions, or if
these conventions are even necessary for
our survival in this world. Though it is in-
 Religion’s Effect
on Society
By Dan Hugar
I am an undergraduate student in Biomedical Engi-
neering at Purdue University, minoring in Psychology. I’m
from the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago, born and raised
a Cubs fan. I’ve been a part of whatever you can think of,
Varsity soccer in high school, lead in school plays, math
team, scholastic team etc., and right now I am working to-
wards becoming a psychiatrist and hopefully doing some
good for those around me.

My column is called “Religion’s Effects on Society.”
I plan to use this column to help readers better under-
stand just how deeply religion (or resistance to religion)
is ingrained in society all over the world. It seems that so
few people comprehend how greatly their lives are im-
pacted by religion in some way, whether it be saying “un-
der God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, the reverence for
cows in parts of India, or even use of the word “Kosher”
in everyday language. Each article will focus on a specific
part of either American or International society that has
been influenced by religion, and how that influence has
changed society. Hopefully readers will be able to bet-
ter understand why other people around the world and at
home see the world as they do, and maybe, just maybe,
this will lead to a little more respect and compassion for
all people.

15
16
 We are Linked by Humanity
By Namita Agrawal

Hometown, birthplace, age, favorite

memory – everyone’s got an answer to
these questions. What makes a person
unique is that no one has the same set of
answers. But even then, we always seem
to find something in common with anoth-
er person, as if we aren’t all that different.
When we’re first born into the world, we all
looked more or less the same and knew
exactly the same thing – nothing. So when
did this all change? When did people be-
come judgmental against others? When
did society create norms about who is
important enough to make headlines and
whose lives aren’t worth publishing, even
if their stories are just the same? I’m not
here to discuss the philosophical issues.
However these ideas came about, they
will probably stay forever.
Let me begin by introducing myself
a little bit. My name is Namita, and I’m
a sophomore studying Biomedical En- time I went there, we took a three week
gineering at Purdue. I’ve lived in West road trip across the state of Rajasthan. It
Lafayette my entire life, which is not the was an amazing experience. We visited
most exciting experience. I’ve done some mountains, forests, temples, forts, and
traveling inside of the states – having palaces. We were surrounded by things
been to most of the states in the Midwest from the past and could almost feel how
and on the east coast down to Florida. the wealthy used to live. The first photo I
I’ve also been to Texas and to Califor- have is of a preserved room for the royal
nia. My favorite was the cruise my family in Junagarh Fort. The walls had actual
and I took from L.A. to Mexico and back. gold embedded in them. We saw so many
Besides Mexico and Canada, outside of rooms like this and pretty soon imagined
the Unites States I’ve been to India sev- everyone as having lived such a life, ex-
eral times. My entire extended family cept for the servants of the wealthy, of
lives there, so mainly when we visit, we course.
spend time visiting. It’s usually too hot to My first snap back to reality came when
do too much anyways. However, the last we had a punctured tire driving across the

17
deserts of Rajasthan. It was close to 120 that we would not have known about oth-
degrees, no clouds in the sky, and sand erwise. I will try to make it my goal to take
blowing everywhere. We complained some of these stories and tell them in a
as we had to sit through the scorching perspective where everyone affected is
heat while some “mechanics” worked on portrayed and where numbers will not
the tire for awhile. The station was com- suffice. I will try to show that we are all
pletely outdoors with a stack of tires and linked and describe the events with an
some tools behind a desk. There were emphasis on the welfare of all. Like I said
dusty benches that we could sit and wait above, everyone has a story.
on. The mechanics were boys younger On my trip in India, we visited the Ba-
than I was. It hit me then that this was hai temple in New Delhi. The temple is
just a brief stop along our journey, but one of a few built around the entire world,
a way of life for these boys. They would and is a symbol of peace and prosperity.
never be able to see all that I’ve seen, The idea is that we should all be of one
even though there was so much to see faith and be one country. Though this
so close to them. After we got back on may never happen, it’s nice to think that
the road, we slowly forgot about the in- we’re all bound by the threads of human-
cident as we witnessed more wonders ity.
from the past.
The media does give us glimpses into
the lives of the less fortunate – but nor-
mally only when it affects our lives. For
example, in the recent Mumbai bomb-
ings, the whole world was astonished as
terrorists took over the well known Taj
hotel. However, these terrorists took over
railway stations as well, and many help-
less Indians living there were killed. The
railway bombings were presented as al-
most an after-thought. Only the number
of casualties was given, as if everyone
could collectively be placed in one cat-
egory and a number would suffice. In the
Bernard Madoff scandal, wealthy individ-
uals that were destroyed were personally
interviewed while the less fortunate who
no longer had a place eat were collec-
tively talked about.
Don’t get me wrong, without the media
we would have no idea about what’s
happening in the world. There are major
stories everyday that affect people’s lives

18
 Who’s that Stranger?
Greetings! My name is Kate Buckalew.
I’m going to be writing about human behav-
ioral shifts throughout the years, but first I’d
like to introduce myself. I grew up in a small
town in Eaton, OH. As the youngest child
in my family, I was never allowed to do any-
thing semi-risky as a child. This meant no
bike rides past a quarter mile, no trampoline,
and no staying the night at a friends’ house
19
By Kate Buckalew
until my parents had met my friends’ parents
in person. I absolutely hated it when I was
little, but I’m sure I’ll do the same thing when
I’m a mother. Funny how that happens,
right? Growing up with two older brothers
made me a tomboy at heart. Life as a child
revolved around wrestling on my mom’s bed,
playing video games, and eventually listen-
ing to punk rock music and playing sports.
 Here are some things I believe in:
1.) One can’t please everyone in the world, but one can sure as hell try.
2.) If one wants to do something, they shouldn’t let anyone hold them back
3.) Believe what you want to believe, but believe in something.
4.) Fight for your dreams (and your money).
5.) Most people are naturally kind and caring, and won’t try to walk all over you.
6.) If one wants something done their way, they should do it themselves.
7.) If everyone became peacemakers, there would still be a world full of violence.
8.) Punk music with three cords and a basic drum beat needed to die a long time ago.
9.) Having passion and charisma will get you many places natural skills can’t.
10.) Never do something you care about half-heartedly.

So now that you know about me, you
probably want to know what I’m writing
about. Remember a time long long ago
when you could go outside and play, with-
out worry about being kidnapped? Remem-
ber being allowed to sell candy for a school
fundraiser door by door? Remember be-
ing able to wander around the supermarket
while your mom was checking off her gro-
cery list? Those days are way behind us
now. Today, people are very untrusting of
those they are unfamiliar with. Parents want
to keep a close watch on their children, and
will run background checks on anyone they
meet that have an association with their
kids. I will be doing a few articles about this
topic, and will study the behavioral shift that
has occurred since the time we were kids,
and the age we are at right now.
Why do I care? I think it’s ridiculous
how secluded people are now from each
other. People no longer start random con-
versations with people while waiting in line,
nor do they give a smile or a nod when they
pass by. People are scared of strangers,
and it shouldn’t be this way. Sure, there
are people in this world that want to kid-
nap children, or break into our houses, or
are only befriending us because they want
something in return. But think about this:
how many people do you know personal-
ly that do those kinds of things, and how
many people do you know as friends? We
all have way more friends than enemies, so
shouldn’t we consider the average stranger
as a friend rather than an enemy?
My hope in writing this article is to
change the way you view other people. I
would rather trust every person I meet and
get betrayed in some way or another than
go my entire life living on my own and not
trusting anyone. People need companion-
ship, and it’s the best feeling in the world
when a stranger does you a favor. I chal-
lenge you to think about what life was like
when you were a child, and consider how
the world and your views on others has
changed over the years. We always were
more trusting when we were children. What
happened along the way?

20
 Call It How You See It
By Alyssa Welles
I am just another individual in the
world--- normal by some standards and
unique in other regards: young adult.
female. college student. lack of com-
mon sense. shy (generally). quarter-
korean. constant worrier. runner. love
cheesecake. and music. outdoorsy.
family-oriented. mild case of S.A.D.
emotional eater. idealist. intuitive. em-
pathetic. thrifty. unable to tell jokes.
constantly searching for answers.
afraid of aliens. social conservative.
horrible driver. left-brained.
I believe that we, as people, are
each in complete control of the out-
comes in our lives. Every action you
21
take, every thought you process, and
every emotion you feel are what define
YOU as a person. Those elements of
life also combine to form the pathway
to your ultimate happiness and in-
ner peace. I will strive to continue to
understand this concept, by asking
questions until they all have been an-
swered.
The main theme of my writing will
be focused on the human quest for
happiness in life. I’ll bring to the sur-
face issues that people do not nor-
mally question, then pull them apart
with my own approach. Each article
will consider ways to think from a dif-
ferent angle than the perspective that
you already hold. I will also expand on
how those different ways of thinking
can lead to a happier state of being.
Challenge yourself to look at various
components of life with a more open
mind, with more optimism, or with
more compassion for others and see
where it takes you. Dare to change
how you think. You can’t control many
of the things that happen to you, and
sometimes you can’t even control the
consequences; but you CAN control
how you view these experiences. The
key to reaching your goals is to place
them on the same page as your gener-
al attitude and beliefs. This will be the
major argument in my writing.
People of all ages, in all cultures
and religions throughout history, often
have many questions about the mean-
ing of life. Although there are many,
many answers to this question (and
sometimes they disagree), I personally
summarize our purpose in life as the
pursuit of happiness.
I feel that if we can change our
perspective on life, we can increase
the happiness in our lives. It seems
like a simple concept, but in truth you
might find it challenging to find a bal-
ance between the body, mind, and
soul. In my opinion, the mind is what
causes happiness, the soul is what
feels happiness, and the body is what
portrays happiness. Although all three
components are equally important in
finding true happiness, I find it intrigu-
ing to analyze the mind in this case. We
must consider how to think effectively
enough to account for and support the
body and soul.
My goal is to train your mind to
think differently, in order to find a more
intense happiness in life. I want for
you to realize the immense power of
the mind and its effects on the body
and soul. Then maybe you’ll be able to
harness this power and use it to create
the best life you can imagine. If you are
able to notice that you feel more con-
tent by changing your perspective on
life, my hope is that you will pass your
own philosophy on to others so that
the world can become an even happier
place to live.
22
 Through
Another’s
Eyes r
e m e y e
e Bus
C o r inn
by

23
 So I am looking out the window
of my building’s elevator lobby, peo-
ple watching and waiting for the sun
to set behind the dark line of trees,
wondering to myself what it would
be like to be someone else for even
an instant. Those people on the hill
going sledding: how long have they
been out there? That guy who just
walked into my building: where is
he coming from? The girl who I just
startled when she walked around the
corner: what’s her story? One of
my closest friends who has been go-
ing through one of life’s many rough
patches: how would I handle being
in her situation? What is it like to go
through something like that? I can’t
help but wonder, and I know it’s not
just me who does. So what’s my
story? Well, I won’t give away all the
details, not yet at least.
My name is Corinne Busemeyer,
and I am a sophomore here at Pur-
due University studying mechanical
engineering. When I agreed to write
for this magazine, I had a set idea in
my head of exactly what I wanted to
write about, but as time has gone on
and the deadline quickly, and I mean
very quickly, approaches, I have ac-
cumulated so many thoughts on the
what to write about, I cannot possi-
bly choose. At first, I wanted to write
about certain injustices in society. I
know, oh how typical. Then, as I am
sort of an aspiring vocalist, I wanted
to write about my journey through
the music scene. Not long after that
idea did I decide I wanted to write
about living life with passion. But
still, I just could not for the life of me
sit down and write an article on any
topic I had come up with. All of the
ideas I thought of were very impor-
tant to me, so why was writing about
any of them so incredibly difficult?
I went and talked to my “boss” in
the matter, but more so one of my
best friends and the brains behind
this entire project about this to see
what she thought. After we talked,
which in reality was right before I be-
gan writing this piece, I realized that
sometimes life is too complex to just
focus on one area. I am the type of
person who cannot stop and dwell
upon one thing for too long, and so,
in this column, I am going to feature
whatever thought is going through my
head at that very moment I sit down
to write. This is going to be a col-
umn that describes life from my per-
spective, and will give you a taste of
what goes on in my head and my life;
because sometimes you just want to
get out of your own shoes and into
someone else’s. You may disagree
with what I write or think that I am
crazy and unbelievably ridiculous at
times, but that is the beauty of it. My
only hope is that in some way, shape,
or form it may help you to discover
something about yourself, whether it
is similar to or different from me. So
here it goes. Here’s to taking a look
at life through another’s eyes.
24
 The Power of a
Helping Hand

By Stephen Sehr

25
 Hello! My name is Stephen Sehr and I am
a sophomore at Purdue University studying
Materials Science and Engineering. What’s
that you ask? Materials Science and Engineer-
ing is the study of various types of materials,
their properties, and how different processes
can affect their properties. The field also in-
volves choosing the best material for a desired
purpose. For example, I have three bicycles
and each one is made of a different material.
The one I ride around campus is a fairly in-
expensive steel mountain bike. My old mid-
level road bike is made out of aluminum. My
newest bike is full carbon fiber composite. All
three are equally strong but each is different in
purpose, weight, and price. The less the mate-
rial weighs the more it costs. MSEE majors
work to develop these lighter, faster materi-
als. But that’s enough about academics, let me
explain some of my beliefs and what to expect
from my articles.
One of my central beliefs is that everyone
has certain talents and gifts that make them
special. It is up to that person to decide how
they use those gifts: either for his or her own
benefit or to help others. Hopefully people
will choose to help others. Some of the most
satisfying moments in my life were when
I helped someone else achieve a goal they
thought was not possible. One of my favorite
bands, the Dave Matthews Band, expresses
this belief in their song “You Might Die Try-
ing” by stating “If you give you begin to live.”
Through high school I considered my-
self a swimmer who rides bikes. I swam on
my high school team and a club team year
round. In the summer I would ride my bike
as much as I could. Now I consider myself a
cyclist who swims. I ride competitively for
the Purdue Cycling Club and swim for the
Purdue Swim Club. Though I will probably
have an article or two that deal with cycling or
swimming, that will not be their main focus.
Rather, I want to explain how I have tried my
best to use my gifts and talents to help others.
Also I want to share stories of how I have been
affected by the actions of others.
Another one of my central beliefs is that
no one is perfect. While every one has certain
talents and gifts, they also make mistakes. The
only difference between one person’s mis-
takes and another’s is who is affected by those
mistakes. Obviously some actions, such as
murder, directly harm another person. How-
ever some actions may not have as obvious
consequences. Typically we look back at our
past actions and decide whether or not some-
thing was a mistake. From there we can either
decide to just forget it ever happened or decide
to make a change for the better. Each one of
us has a personal decision to make.
By writing about these topics, I hope to
help my readers see how they can show kind-
ness to others in ways they did not realize be-
fore. Too many times I have seen friendships
strained or even ruined because people cannot
accept that no one is prefect. Instead of real-
izing fault may lie with both people, one party
places blame solely on the other person. Simi-
larly, when one person is harmed by the ac-
tions of another he will not forgive the person
who hurt him regardless of what happened.
With all of the disagreements and wrongs
committed in today’s world, a little kindness
to others would go a long way. From lending
a hand to steady someone from falling on an
icy sidewalk to talking to that person you think
you cannot stand, small acts that are not hard
to accomplish can change people’s lives for
the better. Please keep an open mind and be
willing to change and help others. I hope my
articles will inspire you!
26
 Boredom. We all know that feel-
ing of monotony. It’s that anywhere
but here, get me out of this place, just
give me something to do feeling. Ev-
eryone experiences it. Everyone has
something to get them out of the bore-
dom funk, but quite often we waste the
feeling browsing Facebook (my self
included) for hours. If you can learn
to embrace that drive to do something
that comes with boredom, it becomes
a motivator, a divining rod for interests,
a learning experience, or even just a
chance to have fun.
Before I get too far into this I
should introduce myself. My name is
Sarah Tuttle. I’m from West Lafayette,
IN: Home of Purdue University and…
corn. I love my hometown, don’t get me
wrong, but preplanned activities are
somewhat difficult to find on a regular
basis. My friends and I have always re-
lied upon ourselves to find something
to keep us occupied and away from
spending an evening on Facebook.
I’m a sophomore in Wildlife in the
Forestry and Natural Resources de-
partment. So far I’ve loved every mo-
ment of it and I’m looking forward to
the day when I’m able to apply all that
I’ve learned thus far in the field.
I’m passionate about the environ-
ment. You could call me a tree hugger,
27
but I don’t believe I have ever actually
hugged a tree. To be honest I never
thought I would have ended up here.
Majoring in a degree in the College
of Agriculture was nothing I ever had
planned, but after actually thinking
about what I enjoyed and what I want-
ed to do, I knew it was right for me.
Coming to this realization was a
journey and for that matter journey that
has just really began for me. Learn-
ing about you is a task that is never
done; there’s always something else
to find out, whether it be through deep
thought or a sudden epiphany. Bore-
dom is simply your brain’s way of tell-
ing you that you’re not fully stimulated
and creatively breaking boredom is a
fantastic way to use boredom to your
advantage.
And that’s exactly what I’m writ-
ing this article about: How to help find
yourself through breaking the bore-
dom. I hope that you’ll be able to start
to find your self or if you’ve already
started (because finding yourself is
more of a journey than a destination)
I can help offer insight to help guide
your self-development and you’ll join
me on my own journey. Or at the very
least I hope to just help you find some
fun and the Best of What’s Around.
by Sarah Tuttle

28
 Colorblind
By Sandhya Dammu

29
 One of my favorite quotes to live
by is by Salman Rushdie: “Our lives
teach us who we are.” I think this say-
ing relates well to what I want to write
about. Our lives teach us who we are
and the lives of others can teach us
what we don’t already know about our-
selves. I have always been intrigued
by culture and its wealth of different
perspectives. I thought it would be an
interesting idea to write about cultural
differences (or similarities) and what
lessons, if any, they offer. This topic
fascinates me because while we think
that we live in a world where culture is
more or less about assimilating to the
“norm”, there are still vast differences
that exist. I do not seek to preach about
a particular way of life or to try to
build cultural differences; I just want
to look at a cultural belief or custom
from my point of view and compare
it to one that is completely different.
I moved to the US about four
years ago and the move has since
made me reconsider or think more
deeply about my previously held be-
liefs and convictions. For instance, I
have contemplated the meaning of
race and to what extent it has shaped
me. According to the renowned 21st
century philosopher, Colbert, can
anyone really be colorblind? I also
reflected on why people from differ-
ent ethnic or racial backgrounds hold
certain beliefs and whether racism is
something that is learnt from society
or whether we have an innate mistrust
of a particular race and hence hold
on to stereotypes. Perhaps the issue
that has piqued my interest the most
is how important is assimilation. I am
also fascinated by language and how
the same, simple words are interpret-
ed by every culture in a distinct way.
I would like readers, to have a
deeper understanding of cultural dif-
ferences and appreciate them as much
as I do. As someone who loves to trav-
el and learn about languages, I hope
my writing conveys my thoughts on
culture and how it impacts our lives.
30
 Image Credits
A special thanks to Flickr’s Creative Commons and the artists that contribute
to it for allowing KME to use their images with attribution to the original pho-
tographer. These photographers are truly amazing and I highly recommend that
you check out their other photos on Flickr. Also show you’re support for the
Creative Commons by uploading your images to it so that independent artists
have access to more copyright free images to further their creative endeavors.

Pg 8 Pike Street at night, 2000 by Seattle Municiple Archives

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seattlemunicipalarchives/3097689939/
9 Mouthing Off by demi-brooke
http://www.flickr.com/photos/demibrooke/2336528544/
11 Somebody is watching us by lepiaf.geo
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajawin/2834168125/in/set-
72157605521357775/
13 Speed queen (drying tumbler) by (le) doo
http://www.flickr.com/photos/doolittle1989/1465838929/
16 Getting from where we are to where we need to be, now thats The
Crunch. by paintMonkey
http://www.flickr.com/photos/epac_island/313497640/in/set-
72157594336227771/
17 India Vacation Pics by Namita Agrawal
Altered with polardroid

31
19 The distorted perception in the common eye of humanity Person by
DerrickT
http://www.flickr.com/photos/derricksphotos/20316288/in/set-81487/

21 green by Shahram Sharif

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sharif/466814864/in/set-
72157600223985436/

23 project 365: day 277 by erin MC hammer

http://www.flickr.com/photos/balladist/2563681011/in/set-
72157603677950750/
25 Five by woodelywonderworks
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/2336784676/

28 Painfully Boring Day by Riot Jane

http://www.flickr.com/photos/riotjane/2216996071/

29 Palm Patina by Meanest Indian

http://www.flickr.com/photos/meanestindian/317762019/in/set-
72157594478128903/
31 Argus by Skagman
http://www.flickr.com/photos/16822508@N05/2215349360/

Cover Image Alba Dominguez 17 © studio.es by Vincnet Boiteau

http://www.flickr.com/photos/2dogs_productions/375351116/in/set-
72057594066107593/
Altered by Lexie Mantlo

32
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