Glaze, Alex Glaze.

Hi. My name is Alex Glaze, and I'm a sophomore from Minneapolis, Minnesota. If I asked you if you knew one fact about my homeland, you would probably reply "it's cold there isn't it?" In fact, I would agree that it is pretty cold there, but that makes me love The peninsula all the more. I smile when I see people walking around on campus draped in overcoats when the temperature is above 30 degrees. I mean come on guys, there's no snow on the ground! If you think San Francisco is cold, I advise that you don't ever make a trip to Minneapolis in the winter. That being said, Minneapolis is absolutely beautiful in the Summer, so if you find yourself wanting to make a trip to the Midwest in the summer time, you're in for a treat. 

One cool fact I always give about myself during introductions is that I am a twin. Although we do share a special twin connection, having a fraternal twin of the opposite sex sounds a little cooler than it actually is. I'm a boy, my twin is a girl. I'm sure you can imagine the rest.

I enjoy reading novels and poetry, watching/playing basketball, and good music. I am currently undecided on my major (perhaps this class will make the decision for me) because I find myself simultaneously loving and hating the subjects that I study. I guess I'm a jack of all trades/ master of none kinda guy.  My favorite piece of literature would probably have to be Dante Alighieri's the Inferno. For some reason that novel has stuck with me. All I remember thinking after finishing the book was "how the hell did he achieve such a complex allegory without google?" 

Anyways,

Do I think that there is such thing as a new story? 

My intuition says of course there is. What would be the point of writing or reading the same story over and over? Although one can easily see the basic elements and themes that pervade each and every story, I don’t think it provides ample evidence that every story is the same. Take two stories that have the same basic theme, whether that is love, tragedy, the hero’s journey, or what have you, as you’re reading each piece does it seem like they are the exact same story? Of course not, because the details present in each story are different. By details I mean characters, settings, etc. These are the things that create the specific stories individual world, universe, or perspective. I’ll use a metaphor to make this clearer. Simply replace specific stories with specific human lives. Each and every human (if physically capable) experiences, love, loss, death, birth, and all of the other universal aspects of the human experience. Would it be fair to state that there is no new experience for the human race? I wouldn’t think so. In fact I would be slightly offended if someone told me that my love for someone in my personal life was not unique. It may be true that love is universal, as is the quest for love, but how the bond of love is created and expressed is unique from person to person. In short, the details matter in creating a unique tale, and they do seem to vary from story to story.