By Jessica Hickerson
Politics are not my thing
Let me just start off by saying no. No, this is not another article about President Bush and why we hate him. No, this is not another article about Saddam Hussein and why we hate him. And no, this is not an article having anything to do with war, terrorism, disease, or destruction. It just isn’t. So, what is left, you ask? What’s left for those of us who don’t necessarily keep up with politics, you say? Well, to be quite honest… me.
If you have ever read any of my columns, and read them all the way through, you would know that my name is Jessica Hickerson and I am a freshman English major here at U of L. What you would not know is that you will probably never ever see an article written by me concerning Bush, Capitol Hill, the U.N., the Pentagon, etc. I say probably because you never know, hell could freeze over.
It is not by any means because I don’t care about these issues, it is just because they don’t interest me. The newest law or governmental action does not fire me up or get me all bent out of shape, and my knowledge of these doings is minimal because of my lack of interest.
I do applaud my fellow columnists, however, for their ability to know and interpret our nation’s government and its actions. Eric, Nicole, Ken, and others do a genuinely wonderful job of using their knowledge to state their opinions and successfully back up their arguments, but that’s just not me. An opinion is something you feel strongly about, and, frankly, I do not feel strongly about which state President Bush will visit today, tomorrow, or a year from now. Many of these columnists do feel strongly about these issues, and if that is the case then writing about Bush and politics is perfect for them. I write what I feel. I write what I observe. If something on campus, or at home, or at work catches my attention, then that is what I choose to write about. A couple of issues ago, I wrote an article on romance in the 21st century, and that idea came simply from a car ride from Lexington with two of my best friends. I write about topics that mean something to me because I know that someone somewhere will have it mean something to them as well.
I try to write my articles as if I were speaking them aloud. Therefore, you will not find big irrelevant words that I would not use in conversation in my articles for the sole purpose of sounding intelligent. The great thing about this section of The Louisville Cardinal is that the stories and the topics come from the writers themselves. I don’t sit up at night worrying if my articles are good enough or if my topics aren’t the norm. I write what interests me and try to write to the best of my ability, which is all I can ask myself to do.
If you have been keeping up with my six opinion columns and, soon, one Focus column (which more than likely you haven’t), you would see that I have several varying interests that, to me, outweigh government affairs: everything from music to the Internet, to romance to who knows what else, because I write about what I see or hear. If you see me around campus and I am not surrounded by my flamboyant posse of friends, then I am watching. I watch everything and notice everything on campus. I watch people’s reactions and their emotions while walking past them at U of L, wondering what I could write about that they can relate to, because if one person can relate or even be benefited by one of my articles, then I must be doing something right.
So, if you’re looking for an article on George W. or Osama Bin Laden and you see Jessica Hickerson printed at the beginning of the column, skip it and move on. If you’re looking for an article that gives the government and politics a break, search for me. While national affairs are an important part of our lives, there must be room for other just as important but perhaps not so serious topics for discussion. However, such as life, you never know what’s going to happen next. As for me, I’m just going to patiently wait for hell to freeze over.
