Nicholas DeMayo

is a sophomore English major at Wake Forest University. He serves as the Life Editor for the Old Gold & Black Newspaper where he writes restaurant reviews, health columns and relationship columns. His essays deal with issues in mental health and look deeply into how social media is changing the psyche of young Americans.

My Biggest Writing Fear

Everything I know about the “Black Lives Matter” movement, I learned from CNN.

I lay on the couch during the late nights of November, 2014 and watched the Ferguson protests play out as if they were regularly scheduled programming.

“Look at what the blacks are doing now.”

“This is ridiculous, they just need to follow the laws like everyone else.”

Those were comments made by late-teen, white, well-to-do, upper middle class college students at Wake Forest University. They sat alongside me in a comfortable living room of the dorm while I watched the protests, just waiting for the halftime show of Monday Night Football to end.

Honestly, I am not sure if that’s what those college students said at all, but I do remember the silence that ensued. That silence came from me. Continue reading →

Last Friday Night: A Memoir

The problem with my drinking is that I know way too much about addiction. I read up on this from a brain science perspective and found out that addiction happens when you do not feel normal without your drug of choice. Apparently, the drug changes your brain chemistry so that you feel down when you do not take your drug. Even thinking about that drug sends you into withdrawal. Your body undergoes a balancing act. Your mind thinks alcohol and your body gets ready for alcohol, so then it starts up the systems that would typically destroy the alcohol. So when you are addicted, your body kind of battles itself. This process is out of your control. In fact, it only takes a Bud Light commercial to pop up during the timeout of the basketball game to start the withdrawal process. It only takes a Bud Light commercial to knock your brain out of normal. I see hundreds of Bud Light commercials. Then I ask myself, am I still in control? Am I addicted?

Continue reading →