Two Day Magazine

By: Richard Ernsberger

There is always something very special about voting.  It is the opportunity to select between two, three, or even more potential visions for the future. Each vision has merit, but is weighed by the community at large. And if the vision for the future does not work out, you can always elect someone else next time. And, how could you ever forget the first time you voted? It’s a proud moment for everyone.

However,  it isn’t as simple to vote as it should be this year.  Recently, in Pennsylvania, a voter identification law was signed into existence that will require all individuals voting at the polls to carry photographic identification before they are allowed to vote.

By: Anya Alvarez

“Progress always involves risks.  You can't steal second base and keep your foot on first.”  ~Frederick B. Wilcox

I’m sitting in a coffee shop right right now, looking at everyone around me. This is probably the last time I will sit in Espresso a Mano, a coffee shop I came to love while living in Pittsburgh.

I started to think about the difference between letting go and saying goodbye. To let go means to transition and move on from one stage of life to another. To say goodbye means to part, with the possibility to be reunited again. I began to reflect on the familiar faces I saw every morning while getting my coffee, or the sound of the cars passing by on the busy road that all made up a part of my daily life here in Pittsburgh.

By: Anya Alvarez

I look at my tattoo and I have to laugh. Four years ago, on the side of my right stomach I decided to get a paraphrase of the last stanza in Robert Frost’s poem "A Road Not Taken".

It goes like this: “Two roads divergded in a wood, and I took the less traveled by and that has made all the difference.”

Divergded? I didn’t realize that a spelling mistake had been inked into my body until after I got the tattoo. I wasn’t angry when I realized the mistake. I just had to laugh about it. What could I do about it now? I couldn’t get an eraser and fix it. The only thing I hoped for was that people wouldn’t even see the mistake and just compliment the beauty of the meaning of the poem.

By: Anya Alvarez

Everyday someone asks me, “Why did you move from Seattle to Pittsburgh?” And everyday, I give the same answer, “Because I moved for a boy.”

After my ex and I broke up, giving that answer left a bitter taste in my mouth. It wasn’t a bitterness towards my ex, however; it was a bitterness towards myself. We should have broken up months before we ended the relationship. I tried to make the relationship work, but not because I really loved him. I was afraid of failing and feeling like I moved all the way across the country only to find myself alone once again. I did not want to start over. More than anything, I couldn’t handle the disappointment in myself for not having a successful relationship.

By: Anya Alvarez

For the last six years I have spoken publicly about the times I had been sexually abused. Appearing on national forums, speaking at high schools, and writing columns about my experiences I have left everything out in the open. I thought by sharing myself and being a vocal advocate for those sexually abused it would help me with my own recovery process. I also felt by sharing my story I would help those as well who lived with the shame and guilt of sexual abuse.

I was right on both accounts: Some people told me I inspired them to receive help and I got the release I needed through sharing my story. However, after appearing on a reality television series that really played up my past history with sexual abuse, I have gotten to the point where I feel overexposed. It seems as though everyone knows my story. If you took the time to Google me, link after link would direct you to my past. I have, in a sense, lost myself through my openness.

By: Anya Alvarez

The other day I thought I was going to go insane. I looked at my calendar and almost had a mini-panic attack. How the heck would I accomplish all these tasks in a short period of time? I have the tendency to overbook my days, and then wonder why I am so stressed out. There is a part of me that likes being busy. If I have free time on my hands, something feels out of sorts. I twiddle my thumbs and look around for something to do. I don’t know how it feels to sit down for ten minutes and be okay with doing nothing.

By: Anya Alvarez

“Does what I do define who I am?” I asked myself this after finishing terribly at a golf tournament, completely blowing my chances to win.

I looked around me at girls who have been playing on my tour for years, trying to make it on the big time tour. I wondered if them never giving up on golf said something positively about them.

This is my first year playing full time professionally and after my fifth tournament of the season, I can already feel the wear and tear of my golf career getting to me. Three out of the five events I’ve played I have put myself in contention to either win, or put myself in position to finish well.

Each of those opportunities I have blown royally.

No one wants to picture his or her parents being intimate.  So, many people – mistakenly, as it turns out – assume that most seniors are no longer sexually active.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.

By: Anya Alvarez

As some of you may know, I play golf professionally. Often times, it’s a grind out there. Every shot literally counts for something. It could mean making a paycheck for the week, or nothing at all. To say that it can be stressful is an understatement.

I used to play golf with fear. I played competitively like this for awhile, and every time I stepped over the ball, my hands would shake. It’s a wonder that I even hit the ball, sometimes.

I do not remember when this fear of not hitting a good shot came into play. I started noticing a different pressure on the course. It wasn’t fun for me because fear would crop up in the back of mind that if I didn’t hit the shot the way I intended, then it was all a waste. I was afraid of missing a cut, afraid of hooking it, afraid of slicing it, afraid of not being good enough. And that’s what it was: Being good enough meant hitting every shot perfectly.

By: Libby Keatinge

The sun is out and you are ready to find that summer love. But where, oh where, may they be?  Hunting for an eligible mate can be daunting, but don’t worry. Here are our 5 top spots to find a summer fling. (And who knows, maybe a summer love?)

By: Anya Alvarez

Recently, I left my puppy alone in my house for two hours. After a couple incidents where she got into things she shouldn’t have, I barricaded her into the kitchen. I left her bones and plenty of toys to chew on, thinking that would occupy her during my time away. Confidently, I walked out the door.

When I returned later that day I was greeted by a happy puppy. But, something didn’t seem right. As I removed the barricade, I walked into my bedroom and saw not one, not two, and not even three or four, but FIVE shoes torn and shredded. I looked at Copper in disbelief. How could the sweet, innocent and adorable puppy looking straight into my eyes do such a thing?

By: Anya Alvarez

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

                Robert Frost

By: Anya Alvarez

This year, I began my first year playing professional golf on the tour.  Playing golf on tour can be a lonely experience. One thing many people don't realize is how isolated the tour is from the real world. When you are gone two to three weeks at a time, maintaining relationships at home can seem impossible. I worried when I started playing professionally how I would create a sense of normalcy on the road, and if I would have meaningful friendships.

By: Mia Bencivenga

Being a student of the University of Pittsburgh, you would think that I would know more about the bomb threat investigation that has made national news rather than someone who was not at all affiliated with the University.

Unfortunately, you’d be wrong.

When seeking information about these unsettling threats, I turn to online news sites in order to get information about the investigation.  The University seldom updates us on the progress of the investigation directly.  The only information we are privy to is when the bomb threats happen and where so we know to evacuate.  We also receive the occasional new email about the measures that the University is taking to deal with the problem and to, as they say, ensure our safety.

By: Mia Bencivenga

It’s no secret that transgender people are perhaps the most commonly mocked members of our society.  I believe this because they are terribly misunderstood.

This has been very aptly demonstrated in the recent firestorm over Canadian beauty queen Jenna Talackova’s expulsion from and then re-admittance to the Miss Universe pageant on the grounds that she was not born a female, despite the fact that she knew that at the age of four that she was a girl trapped in a boy’s body, began hormone therapy at the age of 14, and surgically changed her gender four years ago at 19.

Some people are upset she was expelled in the first place, others were upset she was allowed back in.  She was originally expelled for not being a “natural born” woman, but after a little discussion with GLAAD, she was allowed back into the competition.

The very terminology sends people into a tizzy.  What does transgender mean?  What does it entail?  Is she really a woman?  Can a person be both a woman and transgender?  Can we still find her attractive?  Is she really a him because she was born a him?