I didn’t believe the Notre Dame campus was in the stereotypical college bubble until two days ago when my roommate asked me, “Did you know Joan Rivers died?” and my response was, “Yeah…That was four weeks ago.”
It’s easy to get sucked into the college bubble when your only news sources are Twitter and Yik Yak. You think you’re pretty well informed with, well, the agenda of the infamous Notre Dame squirrels, dining hall problems, and football rankings, but it’s all revolving around Notre Dame. The outside world is nonexistent.
As college students and Notre Dame students, we are at the height of our education, but college is not just about being educated from within the classroom. We have to take the initiative to educate ourselves about the outside world. It’s not only about being educated, but also about being well-informed. Here’s some tips to stay on top of what’s happening:
1. There’s an App For That
The average amount of time a college student spends on social media apps is 120 minutes. I’m not discouraging social media, but instead, add some news apps to your collection. The CNN mobile app and the New York Times mobile app are two of the many great resources that will send short alerts to your phone about the breaking news of the day. Pick and choose which news sources are your favorite and go from there!
2. News the “ND Way”
You don’t have to rely on yourself to keep current though! The Observer, the school’s daily newspaper, covers several major national topics as well. Even though it does center around Notre Dame events for the most part, typically the viewpoint articles discuss current national topics and the authors weigh in on their opinions of the situation. This way you are able to support a Notre Dame club along with getting your news!
3. Crash Course
Finally, if you have the time and commitment, Notre Dame offers a voluntary FYS class called New York Times in the Classroom. It’s a one credit course that meets once a week for half a semester. The objective is to read a certain article for each class and have a discussion on the topic. Sometimes the teacher is able to get in contact with the author of the article or someone outside of the Notre Dame student population to weigh in on the debate. This is definitely one of the more intense ways to get your news, but if you want a better understanding of the national and international events, this is a great way to go!
Of course, you can always get your news the old-fashion way by watching TV or reading the newspaper, but these three options give you a little more variety to choose from.
Prove to the world that we are not only the smartest, but also the most knowledgeable students out there!
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Images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 provided by author