magine being one of the 57 million people living in the United States with a mental illness.

Put yourself in their shoes, imagine the struggle or inability to function at home, in professional settings and in personal relationships.

Imagine how it would make you feel to know that you do not know why you are this way or who you can trust with such a personal issue. Imagine the way you would be treated, and imagine the way you would want to be treated.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, created to recognize the threats of mental illness and show support for those who suffer from it.

The American Psychological Association will spotlight a range of issues, such as traumatic stress and suicide in youth in recognition of the month.

Professionals acknowledge mental illnesses may be due to heredity, excessive stress, substance abuse or a combination.

Those who suffer from mental illness often experience discrimination and stigma from others, rather than compassion and understanding.

If you personally have ever experienced this, or one of your loved ones has, you know how hard it is to deal with this issue alone.

With stress building up from finals and large projects, even students here at Linfield may be experiencing personal mental health problems. Even at Linfield, people get stressed and upset, and that is completely understandable.

There are resources to get help if you need it or to direct others to if they need it.

Linfield’s Student Health, Wellness and Counseling Center exists to serve the needs of students in a holistic manner. The offices are located in Walker Hall Room 104. Remember, if you need help, just ask.

In addition, make sure to look out for one another. We are a small and close community here at Linfield, everyone should do their part and help keep everyone else happy and healthy!

If you see someone having a rough time, just ask them how they are doing. It may sound simple, but support can go a long way for a person who is feeling overwhelmed with life.

Just remember that mental illnesses exist at Linfield. In support of Mental Health Awareness Month and the oncoming chaos of finals, I encourage everyone to learn more about this important issue and really care for one another.

Just because we live in the Linfield bubble does not mean we are immune to these issues.

Alyssa Townsend/Opinion editor

Alyssa Townsend can be reached at linfieldreviewopinion@gmail.com.

Many of our lives are clearly on display on the Internet, and with everyone’s eyes viewing our lives, many of us have some things to clean up.

Whether you are on Facebook, Twitter or a blog, this applies to everyone. It’s not only your friends and family who you have to worry about seeing what you post anymore.

We all must worry about future employers and other individuals who make crucial decisions for our futures.

One of the first things students should work to rid their social media and other Internet outlets of is drunk photos, stories and references.

While we are in college, it might be funny now to look back at last night’s photos, but employers and others might think that this is you every night.

Why give them the wrong impression?

It’s not that people shouldn’t have these photos or stories online, but you should limit those who can see them.

Make a personal album, where only you can see, and laugh about it with your friends later when you are together. This will make them private, but accessible.

The second thing everyone should fix throughout their Internet lives is bad grammar, spelling errors and hard to read sentences. It’s not like you need to go back and fix every little mistake on the Web page, just be diligent about future posts.

It looks really bad when someone views your social media outlets, and they are riddled with missing words, made up words and bad grammar. Just take a minute when you’re done typing whatever you are posting and read it again out loud. This makes it easier to find mistakes.

Finally, the third thing we should all aim to fix is the use of profanity and words that are substituted for profanity. I’m sure there is another way to express what you are feeling that doesn’t involve these words.

If not, it might be time to step back and look at why you are so angry or why you feel the need to use these words. Employers are not going to want to hire someone who swears like a sailor.

With all this in mind, nothing is more important than being yourself online. Avoiding fake-ness and ranting, it should be pretty easy to fix up your social media and make it presentable.

I like to live by the rule that if I wouldn’t show my 94-year-old great grandma, then something needs to change or be put under a private setting.

It is also important that you understand the privacy settings because sometimes things change and the things you were hiding before appear for the world to see.

Kaylyn Peterson/Copy chief

Kaylyn Peterson can be reached at linfieldreviewcopy@gmail.com

Linfield College has a wide range of students from various socio-economic backgrounds.

This can be looked at as a good thing, but also a bad thing. Due to Linfield’s increasing costs, the financial burden can be higher on some students than others.

Linfield’s financial aid department does a great job helping students find scholarships, grants and loans that every student can take advantage of.

This helps ease the financial burden and also lowers the economic divide to some extent.

However, there are other areas of campus that worsen the economic divide to an extreme extent. January Term is one example of a time where the campus is extremely economically divided.

There is no financial aid available for this term and can leave students at an extreme disadvantage.

There are many students who would like to be on campus during the month of January to take classes and get ahead in credits, but money often keeps them from being able to fulfil this desire.

The lack of financial aid for January Term does not help students get ahead and take classes because they cannot afford the costs.

There are many students who feel that January Term is meant for people who can spend the extra money. This does not help the school foster economic diversity.

There should be some sort of aid available for January Term.

There ought to be a way for the school to find donors to help aid students who wish to get ahead and take classes or study abroad during this optional term.

The situation can become worse because people who are not able to partake in January Term find themselves at home, usually struggling to find jobs.

There are few businesses that will hire someone for a month.

This further harms our system because now students cannot even work for a January Term to pay for the next year’s January Term.

The optional term continues to wreak havoc into the summer months.

Due to the month of school that Linfield students have off in the middle of the year, the school year ends at most a month later than schools who do not have the long break.

This continues to harm students’ chances of finding summer employment. By the time students return home from school, they find that a lot of the jobs have already been taken.

These last two points do not have much to do with Jan Term, specifically, but they do have a correlation. There are many students who wish for something to be done with Jan Term so they can be here to take classes.

Some have also said that if there can be no financial aid they would like the ability to get back home so that they can find easier summer employment.

Julian Adoff/Multimedia editor

Julian Adoff can be reached at linfieldreviewonline@gmail.com.

I had always envisioned myself as a self-starter. After all, I worked really hard at whatever goals I set for myself.

I was driven to do my best in all aspects of my life, whether in school, sports or work. I believed that I depended on no one; all my accomplishments had been mainly achieved by my personal determination.

Sure, a few people had helped a little, but 98 percent of the credit had to go to me. Wow, could I have been more conceited and arrogant?

It took me a few years to realize that my perception of myself was seriously flawed.

Would I have done as well in school if my mom hadn’t created an environment at home that supported my learning?

Would I have done as well in sports without dedicated coaches and a parent willing and able to drive me to and from practices?

The hypotheticals go on and on, from my grandparents who taught me a strong work ethic to all the teachers, professors, supervisors and mentors who have challenged me.

Despite the fact that these are all hypotheticals, and I could have done fairly well without those people, I doubt that I would be where I am now without them. In short, I now realize that all these people have had a tremendous impact on my achievements.

I may have put in a fair amount of work, but their support system was absolutely vital.

To honor and recognize the people who have supported me and created opportunities for growth, I choose to donate. But oddly enough, it’s extremely difficult to donate to individual people.

My parents scoffed at my mention of wanting to “donate” to them since they make far more than I do and their cost of living has dropped precipitously with their number of dependents at zero.

Instead, I choose to give to organizations that in some way represent people that I honor or that strive to accomplish missions that I admire. For me, one of those organizations is Linfield College.

Linfield College not only provided me with a superb education and fantastic opportunities—both during and after college—but it also opened my mind to new and different ways of thinking.

I only managed to enjoy these benefits due to the investments that Linfield made in me through several scholarships. As a result, I feel a deep, personal gratitude for Linfield.

Above all, I feel a strong connection to Linfield.

To support their mission of providing integrated learning opportunities for current and future students, and to give thanks for my own personal benefits, I choose to give.

True, I am a recent college graduate on a tight budget and what feels like a mountain of debt through school loans looming over me.

My gift reflects my tight budget; I give $10 a month to Linfield. That $10 is a tiny drop in an enormous bucket. But for me, giving isn’t about the size of the gift.

It’s a symbolic gesture that demonstrates appreciation and love. And those are certainly feelings that I have with regards to Linfield.

Lauren Ross,

Class of 2011,

Seattle, Wash.

McMinnville and the surrounding areas are known for their beautiful wineries. Linfield sits within the center of Oregon wine country and is home to the International Pinot Noir Celebration.

It only makes sense that the college takes advantage of this industry.

Linfield has been doing a great job of helping students learn more about wine and also providing them with the opportunity to get involved in the industry.

One of these opportunities is the Linfield College Oregon Wine Industry Experience.

In this internship, students learn about the business of wine through experiential learning. This is a year-long internship that starts during the summer, continues through the fall harvest and ends in spring.

During the summer, students get an overview of the industry. Fall is spent with hands-on harvesting experience at a single vineyard.

January Term is an opportunity for the selected interns to learn about the multitude of jobs that are available in the wine industry.

Finally, spring is spent working with staff to develop a wine experience.

This kind of experience is priceless for many students, as they begin their job search after college. An internship can greatly add to a candidate’s resume.

This internship also provides networking contacts for future employment opportunities and a chance to apply a liberal arts education to a local industry.

In addition, Linfield College is involved in a project dedicated to preserving Oregon’s wine history.

The Oregon Wine History Project is an online accumulation of photographs, history and information located in Nicholson Library, while the Oregon Wine History Archive is the physical source.

This resource allows students the opportunity to learn more about Oregon wine history and get involved in local endeavors.

Ultimately, these opportunities are great for Linfield and the communities surrounding it. Students get a chance to learn from hands-on internships and employers get some eager new employees.

This ongoing partnership has the potential to help the economy, create jobs and give students a wonderful opportunity to start their lives after Linfield.

It is a special and wonderful opportunity, and we hope students really do take advantage of it.

-The Review Editorial Board

There are many rules that restate common sense, because people don’t want to think about consequences to their actions, whether these consequences are major or minor.

Why is it that people think it is a good idea to do dumb things and ruin it for the rest of us?

So many people complain about the legal drinking age, but drink illegally anyway. Have you ever wondered why the drinking age is 21?

Maybe it is because so many young people choose to be irresponsible about it. They say they want to go out and have a good time, but what is good about getting so drunk so fast that you get sick, pass out and don’t remember anything?

What is it that people find so entertaining about trying to climb anything and everything?

Do they want to think they are Spiderman when they know they can’t stick to buildings and hang from bridges?

Or trees?

I like to climb trees, but other people don’t think, so they want to push the limits of how far up they can go or how much weight a branch can hold, then they fall and get hurt or die.

Since when has that been a good idea?

Never.

Did you know that there is a policy against climbing trees on campus? I didn’t, and I know a lot of other people didn’t. I can see why there is this policy.

It is to keep people safe and to prevent damage to the trees.

Have you thought about the fact that if enough people used their common sense and were safe and considerate about many things that we wouldn’t need all of these laws and policies?

Then people turn around and blame someone else for their own lack of common sense. If you order a hot coffee, you should expect it to be hot. So when you spill it, expect it to burn you.

One woman successfully sued McDonald’s because she burned herself after spilling the hot coffee she ordered.

People need to use their common sense and realize that excessive drinking can kill you, you can get hurt if you climb buildings and you shouldn’t blame your actions on everyone.

The people in our nation need to take responsibility for their actions and not be so sue happy.

They also need to realized that other people pay for their lack of common sense.

Kiera Downs/Copy editor

Kiera Downs can be reached at linfieldreviewcopyed@gmail.com.

All I had to do was watch the extended trailer on E! Online of Ryan Lochte’s new show “What would Lochte do?” to know that I had entered into a world shallower than a river during a drought.

Apart from his good looks and quick swim to fame, Lochte has little to offer besides annoying catch phrases and unoriginal fashion sense.

Let’s start off with his phrase, “jeah”.  The way you are supposed to pronounce it is “JJJJJJEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE” and then “yah”.

Really let that “JE-” holler, otherwise you run the risk of sounding lame. I think this catch phrase is lame because the “je-” part only makes me think of “chia pets”; those little animals that grow grass in specific places to imply fur.

Talk about so ’90s.

Now let’s talk about his fashion style.  Lochte looks like a white boy trying to pull off the “Guido” look. Call in all the sports related graphic tees and cargo shorts!

Let’s be honest people, the only thing Lochte looks good in is a speedo!

Lochte claims that his dinosaur green shoes with his name on the sole was his big break into the fashion world. Too bad I did not hear about them until now. Also, that color goes with almost nothing besides the color of envy that Lochte probably feels for himself.

I mean who wouldn’t want that life style?

Expensive cars, the incapability to find a normal date and your mom telling the whole world that you have one night stands. Jeah!…sounds like a dream to me!

Back to fashion though. Lochte talks in the trailer about how he wants people to be “walking in his shoes” and he wants his fashion style to have the “Lochte edge.”

When asked “What is the Lochte edge?” he did not even know.

Well, I can tell you what the edge is…a ticket straight to Shallow Town. Clearly the only thing Lochte has been asked in his budding career is how many medals he won at the Olympics, and judging by the trailer for his show, he does not even know that either.

Little word of advice dude, you should probably know the details about your claim to fame before you go on having your own TV show.

Lochte epitomizes everything that I find annoying about the human race, and  I probably would not be done talking about it before he got off the podium at the Olympics.

But I’ll save that for another time.  In the meantime, I guess the more important question is will I be indulging in Lochte’s new show?

Jeah….NO.

Kate Straube/Photo Editor

Kate Straube can be reached at linfieldreviewphotos@gmail.com

An issue that has plagued me during my many study sessions in Jazzman’s is the quality of the Internet connection in Riley.

While in Jazzman’s, I constantly find that the Internet has connection issues and makes studying an issue.

I often wonder how our tech department works constantly on the Internet, yet we still have so many issues with it. I know it is something that confuses me, as well as my peers here at Linfield.

The issues are not only in Jazzman’s. There are parts of Renshaw Hall that do not have connection on a regular basis.  In this building, classes are regularly held so it is extremely concerning that inconsistent Internet occurs.

What if the Internet quit in the middle of a professor’s lecture?

They may no longer have access to the different online resources they need to finish the class as planned.

In addition, the older residence halls have such a slow Internet connection.

Someone who lives in Frerichs Hall told me that the Internet crashed, and it was not solved for some time.

From what I have gathered, it seems that ITS relies on complaints to fix the Internet.

Also, Jane Failing Hall has inconsistent Internet depending on what floor you are standing on, which way you are facing and the time of day.

We all know that around 10 p.m. the Internet is at its slowest as everyone around campus hops on Netflix or Hulu to get their regular intake of television online.

There is a real need for Internet on a college campus. We all have work that uses the Internet.

Rarely do assignments not require use of an online search engine, app or Linfield resource that is only found online.

The Internet is also important when it comes to research and the amount that professors and students rely on Blackboard for assignments.

Blackboard has become a staple in the classroom that needs to be easily accessible.

Often times people begin to panic when the Internet fails during important online activities, such as registering for classes.

Internet failures during this could result in a student not getting the required class he or she needs.

There needs to be a new system in place for maintenance of the Internet. The Internet needs to not only be fixed when people complain.

The school needs to always work on expanding the capabilities of our Internet connection.

This is another one of the times that many students feel Linfield is on the defensive when it comes to progress.

We need to focus more on expanding our technology and not “fixing” our outdated products.

Julian Adoff/Multimedia editor

Julian Adoff can be reached at linfieldreviewonline@gmail.com.

Sarah Mason / Features editor

Sarah Mason can be reached at linfieldreviewfeature@gmail.com.

The problem is all of these options have less than ideal consequences. CPS does a great job responding to people when they are locked out of their dorms. But I feel guilty distracting officers from their safety-related responsibilities to request help for getting into my building.

Security is a top priority for students, and it would be more beneficial for CPS, students and other members on campus if CPS were not responsible for helping us into the building.

I have a solution to this problem that will hopefully help all of the forgetful students out there who cannot keep track of their swipe card and find themselves weighing out the options above on a daily basis. This solution is a fingerprint reader.

It makes perfect sense to implement an electronic fingerprint scanning device considering the benefits.

Students have to keep track of a lot. Not having to worry about a swipe card would be one less painful thing to keep track of. It would be more convenient for students because they would not have to fiddle around with their half-broken duct taped swipe cards, and CPS would not have to take time out of its schedules to come let students into their buildings.

Students are already paying enough for tuition so how does it make sense that students have to pay a fee every time they lose their swipe card? A fingerprint reader would also cut down on the amount of plastic our school uses. This new device would benefit the environment as well.

Fingerprint readers would also keep unwanted and unauthorized people from accessing  buildings on campus. One of the features of the fingerprint reader is that it is programmed to allow certain people into buildings. Also, the device can be set to limit access to only residents after a certain hour.

This solution is more convenient and safer for CPS officers, students and other members on campus. Not to mention, it would be so nice to not have to stand outside in the pouring down rain weighing out the best option to get into your building.