Opinions

A Shameless Plug and a Crochet Update Hello y’all. The two weeks since the last issue has been busy busy busy. Kayla, Kerstin, and I have worked plenty of hours putting together and publishing 88.4, which is now in your hands. October is gearing up to be an exciting month with The Content Creators Summit happening on Oct. 9. There will be professionals from the communication field and a special keynote speaker. And potentially a student-led class taught by Mystic Media. Al

For 23 years, my world has been defined by concrete walls, the jarring slam of iron gates, and the constant, cold reminder that my physical freedom is completely out of my hands. But throughout all these years of isolation from the world, the strongest bars I have ever faced aren’t the ones made of steel. My greatest battles have been during the darkest of nights where severe depression took hold. I have looked straight into the quiet, heavy whispers of suicidal thoughts at t

The Lindsay Clancy case has been growing more attention over social media and the news over the past few weeks. The case comes from originally a triple murder suicide attempt after a mother was charged with killing and strangling her three young children. But people online and students on campus have different opinions on the case. The case grew popular on social media because of the multiple inconsistencies in the case, but has also provided a reminder of how important men

Pet peeves are an interesting thing. Similar to phobias, something you simply can’t control, pet peeves just annoy you to the ends of the earth. Some can be considered more valid than others, but everyone has them. After listing off some of my pet peeves to my friends I’m slowly starting to think it might be a little high in demand. I won’t list off all my pet peeves but just a couple include; people who make having a girlfriend or boyfriend their whole personality, people w

The United States has more people in prison than any other country in the world. In fact, while the U.S. has roughly only 4-5% of the world’s population, it has more than 20% of the world’s incarcerated population. According to the Vera Institute of Justice, 95% of those people will one day return home to local communities. However, the sad fact is nearly two thirds of those people will end up back behind bars within three years. Yes, the good old “land of the free, and home

Call Me a Hooker In the multiple attempts of writing this letter, I think I have finally settled on what I want to talk about. Crocheting. About a year and a half ago, I took up crocheting. Which I have been told is a “grandma hobby.” I started with a dishcloth. Dishcloths are supposed to be square. I knew this, but mine ended as a triangle. I got better however and now I can make a square. Yay! I have realized that when I start a hobby, as I seem to do every other week,

Recently, the word permanence is one you might say has found permanence in my mind. I’ve been dedicating significant thought to the incredible reality that some things truly last forever. Humans from the dawn of time have been fascinated with thoughts of eternity. Countless books have been written and movies have been made dealing with themes of immortality. Just this morning, I read about Calypso’s tantalizing offer of eternal youth and vigor to Odysseus in “The Odyssey,” a

“Small Favors,” by Erin A. Craig, is a book I have put off reading for a while. I saw it in Barnes and Nobles a few years back and immediately cast it aside. I thought it was a romance novel judging by the cover. I know what they say, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” As a reader, I absolutely judge a book by its cover. You can base a lot off the style on the contents of the cover, and frankly this one gave “smut.” I was interested in the story however, and yes, it is a roma

Bismarck State College President - Dr. Brian Kalk Dear MysticNation, One of the best parts of being president at Bismarck State College is having a front-row seat to the incredible things happening across campus. Nearly every week, I have opportunities to celebrate student success, visit with students and employees, showcase our programs to industry leaders, welcome alumni back to campus, and meet future Mystics who are considering BSC. All those conversations remind me w

I caught myself scrolling past vertical videos of horrific images and war crimes the other day, with cute kittens doing silly things for a short break in between. Thank God for those cats, otherwise I would have kept scrolling. Thankfully, after a few videos of cats, I lost interest and put down my phone. This scenario is not real—at least, parts of it aren’t. I do not have violent videos in my Instagram feed. Actually, it’s mostly cat videos. But I know that there is anothe

Mystic Media Editor - Sophia Fafard While this is my last letter from the editor, it is the first of many things for all of us. You, dear reader, will not be seeing my face on campus as I leave for UND this fall, taking my experiences at BSC with me to begin a new adventure on the other side of the state. While a part of me is sad, I am excited to see what the upcoming year has in store. I could go on about leaving, but I would rather talk about how proud I am of this new

MystiCast Executive Producer - Isaiah Johnson Likely, I’m not the first person to tell you that Avatar: The Last Airbender is a masterpiece of a television show. I was one of those people who had heard how masterful it was for a few years but wasn’t too interested in watching it. That began to change when I saw just how many videos my favorite YouTuber uploaded praising nearly every aspect of the show. So, last year, I watched the whole series with my sisters, and I can co

Has anyone noticed how this summer is flying by? As I write this letter from Canada, it’s already been a month and a half since the spring semester ended, and we’re already halfway through summer. But for me, my days have not changed; working in The Mystician office, interviewing sources, and studying for my summer classes any chance I get. I hope that for you, dear reader, your summer is filled with sunlight, the sound of waves lapping at a lakeshore, or exploring lush hikin

It appears I’m back in the editorial column for the summer. I’ve also gotten an upgrade in the form of an official title: Rambling Raconteur. The word raconteur is French and refers to a skilled storyteller. I don’t mean to be presumptuous in titling my column such, but I like to think of it as more aspirational to the heights I wish to achieve. Perhaps I should include some more long-winded anecdotes in my pieces. Regardless, I leave it to my audience to determine if and whe

I picked up “A Winter’s Promise” on a whim a few years ago. I’ve read it a few times since, if that says anything. “A Winter’s Promise” is a young adult novel written by Christelle Dabos, originally published in French. This novel is set in a steam-punk world made up of 21 Arks. Each Ark is ruled by a celestial, immortal deity. Given their immorality, these deities have come to a point where they can no longer remember much of their life. To combat this, each one has a book

Home. It is one of the most unique words as it does not have a decided definition. It means something different to everyone. If someone were to ask me “where’s home for you?” the answers might go something like this: “I’m from Canada” or “I live in the States” or “It’s wherever my family is.” But what defines the place that is home? I have lived in the United States for almost two years now. I could say it is starting to feel like “home,” yet my passport and visa status r

Kayden Schmitcke and Sophia Fafard during their internship at the Morton County News Journal. The pair hold the first summer issues of The Mystician. It’s been a whirlwind of a semester, and so has this last Mystician. Coming in at (36) pages, this hefty, sexy beast contains our blood, sweat, and tears from this semester—literally. We want to send y’all off into the summer with stress, excitement, and nostalgia. Not only did we talk about the growth of BSC since we have be

I was having a conversation with a friend the other day and an interesting topic came up. Just one in a two-hour conversation, but it was a good one nonetheless. The topic was, ‘are you okay leaving an event early?’ Whether it is just a chill hangout, a wedding, or, I don’t know, a family picnic. We disagreed which I knew we would. I took the stance of being okay with leaving, and he said he would not want to. Again, due to our personalities, the conversation became about “Th

Humans are incredibly adaptive, as we see countless times throughout history. When a need arises, we rise to the occasion. But what about the reverse? What happens when our needs are met? Modern man can’t even walk 10 miles uphill both ways to school each day anymore! Pardon my bandwagon humor. We proceed. A culture of ease and convenience can yield some benefits in society. We have constant access to the necessities of life in addition to the innumerable comforts we hold d

If you have read more than a few of my previous book reviews, you might have noticed a pattern. I am not a fan of romance. More specifically, romance novels. And it’s true, I’m not. Mostly because what I find romantic is not stalker, werewolf men and their insecurities that they mask with fire, guns, and duct tape. I know, I know, call me crazy. But every once and a while, a novel surprises me, and that is true of “Grave Mercy.” My main problem, other than the one I just n