Good or bad, entrepreneurship is in my blood. Long before I was born until about 2010, my Nana (my mom’s mom) ran a balloon company, Balloons to Go. Her long-term investment wisdom was impressed upon me through her typical birthday and Christmas gifts of sports memorabilia. To this day, I am the owner of a 2003 LeBron James rookie card set that seemingly will be worth even more than it is now in another 15 years. I have basketballs signed by Hall of Famers James Worthy and Dennis Rodman . . .

With fall just around the corner (we hope) I personally have been trying to get myself into the fall mindset. By this, I mean I have changed my computer background to everything green and orange, I have broken out my pants and sweatshirts from the back of the closet, and I have been exclusively ordering pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks pretty much everyday of the week . . .

I go to movie theaters a lot. According to Megan Brenan, “U.S. adults saw an average of 1.4 movies in a theater” in the past year. This statistic is from 2021, so the numbers were probably still being influenced by the pandemic, but even before the pandemic, the average American watched only 4.8 movies per year in a movie theater. Just in 2023, I have watched sixty-six movies, and twenty of those were in a movie theater. Like I said, I go to movie theaters a lot . . .

We are all preparing to reenter the great world of academia, but with the class of 2027 being the largest incoming class at Centenary, I thought I'd share my list of five things I wish I had known as a freshman (even if it was only a year ago). While these tips would have helped me, I hope they can save you, dear reader, from some not-so fun freshman year fumbles . . .

Centenary’s campus has been home to less than 1,000 students for a good while now–extremely uncommon for the majority of colleges/universities in the United States. Although our numbers have been steadily rising over the past couple of years, the student population is drastically smaller in comparison to the 50,000+ that attend state schools. Once you, your parents, and your grandparents get over the shock of the triple-digit student population, you’ll probably find yourself thinking about the size of the campus. Less than 1,000 students? Psh, that’s nothing! Finding my way through campus should be a breeze, right? Wrong.

If one thing can be said of the Conglomerate this year, it’s that we were ambitious. During the 2022-2023 school year, the Conglomerate has done a lot. We’ve published 19 issues, celebrated our centennial by passing out physical copies, published an April fools issue, as well as expanded into the realm of podcasts and crosswords.

In honor of there being only 3 weeks until graduation, members of Centenary’s 2023 graduating class offer some advice for other students. Do with them what you will . . .

The staff of the Conglomerate have recently come into possession of a leaked document that appears to come directly from the desks of CRAB, the Committee to Renovate And Beautify. While CRAB is best known for its bespoke campus renovations, the development of Centenary Film Studios, and our state of the art Simulated College Experience, this document implies more sinister machinations at work. While the Conglomerate cannot confirm the veracity of this document, we believe our readers deserve to be presented with all the evidence. If you or a loved one have recently encountered Evil Skeeter, or have noticed an increase of mold and sludge in the areas you like to frequent, please reach out to our investigative journalism team by emailing IGotSkeeted@centenary.edu.

I have spent a large sum of my time at Centenary tracking the actions of the Campus Cats. I’m sure you know, dear reader, the felines of whom I speak—the sweet babies who lay in the sun, hide under cars, and generally provide joy to the human inhabitants of Louisiana College . . .

The new film "Skinamarink" is an experimental horror movie by Kyle Edward Ball in his feature debut. It runs for about 100 minutes and consists of grainy shots and audio of a dark house. It's exciting to see something so low budget and experimental get a run in theaters, it managed to rack up $890,000 over the MLK weekend with an unknown director and a budget of $15,000. The film features many old cartoons that are in the public domain such as "Bimbo's Initiation" and a few lines of dialog with inconsistent subtitles.

Heed the disclaimer. This article is published under a pseudonym to keep this piece as it is intended -- confined to the realm of opinion -- based on personal experience and a little bit of math. It is solely an opinion piece that may or may not apply to your situation. Regardless, I hope you are able to get something from my experiences. Whether that be advice on what not to do, sympathy, comfort, or just sheer entertainment, with that said . . .

For any student, studying can be one of the more challenging aspects of school. It’s difficult to figure out what exactly you need to study for, let alone find time in a busy schedule, and also find the right location to study. And how do you do this multiple times a week?? It’s a process, and one that people don’t learn. Yes, you read that right- in order to study, you have to learn how to study. It may sound like a paradox, but keep reading, and you’ll see why it isn’t.