Penn Drug Culture
December 7, 2012
From my time at Penn, one darker side of it’s character that I have observed is the abuse of a certain kind of drug. Amphetamine misuse is rampant, and in this case the source is dodgy prescriptions. Some students take ‘aderall’ (ritalin) by the bottle-load and ofttimes even in the open, discussed amongst general peers. It’s a sad phenomenon which is chronicled from a different perspective in this opinion piece from the DP (Daily Pennsylvanian), Penn’s student run newspaper.
Thirty minutes later, I was standing outside CVS, washing down 40 milligrams of Vyvanse — an ADHD treatment — with chocolate milk. I was eager to do something — anything — to get my life together.
I found the article most insightful, especially as I try to avoid involving myself with that sort of culture and so am mostly oblivious as to the internal struggles that people on such drugs face.
Sunday – Day 31 – Part A
August 21, 2012
Today’s post is separated into two parts. Not for reasons of length, but to separate the content.
Today I confronted the darker side of Germany’s history, visiting again the Holocaust Memorial but, this time also going into the Holocaust Museum Memorial underneath.
For the entire duration of my trip to Germany there was this shade hanging quietly behind in the back of my mind. No amount of rationalizing that Germany today is different from that of the third Reich is sufficient to create an equivalent barrier in my perception of the country.
Koen mentioned to me that as he was feeling the tendrils of the evil left behind that I must be even more so affected. And, indeed I was.
I won’t go into depth on the details of the memorial, but as I stood silently in front of the following sign, I felt paralyzed by the realization that the horrors were no longer in some far off European city but, carved in barely faded blood onto the stones on which I was walking.
Yehi zichrum baruch.