Student Battles Cancer

Written, Reported, Shot & Produced by Gabrielle  

Published: April 13, 2011

You may have seen her around campus – cheering next to you at a baseball game, representing you as president of the Resident Student Association, even sitting behind you in class. This soft-spoken, brown-haired girl looks like any other 21-year-old Cal State Fullerton student, but what sets her apart is her remarkable story.

Laura James has wanted to be a lawyer since she was six years old. She even dressed up as Judge Judy for career day when she was in the third grade. As she showed me her childhood pictures, I noticed something peculiar – the pictures suddenly stopped around seventh grade.

“I burned them,” said James. “I couldn’t bear to look at them.”

She held up a picture of herself dressed in green. She seemed shy, smiling politely for her school’s yearbook.
“This was the last picture taken of me before I was diagnosed with cancer,” James said. “I was 12.”

In 2001, Laura was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a cancer of the blood and bone marrow that is expected to take the lives of 910 people this year in California alone, according to the American Cancer Society.

“A man I’d never seen before, my doctor, sat on the edge of my bed, crossed his arms, looked me in the eyes and said, ‘Laura, you have cancer. You’re going to lose all your hair, drop out of school and spend a lot of time in the hospital.’”

After three rounds of chemotherapy, Laura went into remission for two short years. Though she was fighting for her life, she never really grasped the gravity of her situation.

“I didn’t understand what was happening,” James said. “I was so young and I didn’t know what leukemia was. In the beginning I didn’t get sick for a while so I thought it wasn’t all that bad … I thought, ‘This was fine.’ It really doesn’t hit you. I didn’t know what a big deal it was because I was a just a child. It was probably a blessing in disguise.”

At the age of 14, Laura needed a bone marrow transplant – she had relapsed. The cancer came back. Doctors put the teenager through three days of intensive chemotherapy followed by three days of relaxing and three more of radiation. The goal was to rid her body entirely of bone marrow to the point where her blood counts reached zero, meaning she possessed no red or white blood cells. Following that was a four-month hospital stay including five weeks of isolation.

“I was so sick and on so many medications,” James said. “Then I was on more medications to help with the side effects of the initial drugs. I slept through most of it, but when I was awake I just felt like the walls were closing in on me. It definitely made me claustrophobic.”

Although Laura was in isolation, she was never really alone. Her mother, Ruthie James, spent every night in the hospital, never leaving her daughter’s side.

“One year, the whole family moved into the hospital room to wake up together on Christmas morning,” said Ruthie. “I had to do what I could to keep the family intact. I couldn’t sleep. I still don’t sleep well. I haven’t been able to since Laura’s diagnosis.”

Looking around Laura’s apartment, I immediately noticed two things – one, it’s meticulously clean and two, everything is pink.

“Being in isolation for so long made me OCD about things,” James said. “Even though my counts are normal, I’m still a freak about germs.”

An entire shelf was dedicated to her extensive DVD collection, a list of books she planned to read hung on her bedroom wall and an entire corner of the living room was devoted to arts and crafts, revealing her three favorite pastimes – watching television, reading and making cards.

“It’s all I could do,” James said. “It’s all anyone can do when they’re sick. Even if I couldn’t go outside and be an athlete, I could still be creative. Even though my life was on pause, I could still live through movies.”
As of now, Laura is cancer-free, planning to graduate next year and continue on to fulfill her childhood dreams of becoming a lawyer.

The seven-year cancer survivor admits her treatments left their marks, but she isn’t shy about her scars. Her roommate, Valerie Caseria, 20, believes what Laura went through shaped who she is today.

“If she believes in something, she will stand by it firmly with no hesitation,” said Caseria. “She is an extremely strong-willed and determined leader.”

No one can argue against that. Laura is currently a team leader for the upcoming Relay For Life. She’s one of the top fundraisers and plans on making her own thank-you cards for every donor.

Her team name? Pink Hope.

Please Stop Yelling at Me

Published: March 03, 2011

I’m one protest away from becoming a gun-toting NRA member.

On my way to class on Wednesday, I was bombarded with people putting signs in my face, telling me to do things like “cut from the top” and asking me questions like, “what about our future?” I let that slide; the protest was for a good cause.

Honestly, I’d have been out there marching with them if I didn’t have class. Then I wondered, don’t they have class?

It dawned on me that students were skipping their classes to protest a number of different things, one being the need for more classes. Is anyone else confused?

Cal State Fullerton President Milton A. Gordon addressed Gov. Jerry Brown’s call for a $500 million reduction in a state report for 2011–12 on the school’s website in January. He explained that CSUF students would face even more reduced classes and services.

Last year, Gordon announced that undergraduate fees would increase from $3,685 per year to $4,662, admissions would be reduced, salary and hiring freezes would be instituted and furloughs would be negotiated.

According to the school website, last year Gordon wrote that the budget deficit is the largest in the CSU’s history and is a result of the state’s lack of support to the CSU in the face of California’s $26.3 (now $25.4) billion budget gap.

Now, I’m all for freedom of speech. The First Amendment protects our right to peaceful demonstrations, and we should not take these budget cuts lying down.

So don’t get me wrong, I’ve been at the front of marches, and I encourage everyone to fight for what they believe in. But understand who your audience is.

When I see students marching together, standing up for their rights and taking a stand, I feel proud and inspired. When I see students waving signs and hollering on a campus filled with students and faculty who are all affected by the issue, it takes every ounce of self-restraint to keep me from grabbing one of their megaphones and telling them to get out of my face.

Because we know! We all know! I get it, you’re mad, but you’re preaching to the choir.

Maybe it’s just me, but trying to hear a professor lecture over foghorns and shouting got old fast.

Protests are taking place statewide. According to San Jose Mercury News, UC Santa Cruz protesters gathered to spell “Free Education” with their bodies. ABC 7 reports CSU Northridge students protested all of Wednesday and the Associated Press reports students are staging walkouts and rallies nationwide.

It’s all pretty mild so far; let’s try not repeating the 2010 budget cut protests. Last year, the New York Times reported that more than 150 people were arrested after stopping traffic along an interstate in Oakland. At the University of Wisconsin, 16 people were arrested when protesters tried forcing their way into administration offices while throwing ice chunks at campus officers.

Now is that really necessary?

It’s one thing to spread awareness; it’s another thing to disturb classes. Los Angeles Times reported incidents during the 2010 protests at UCLA where human chains blocked entrances to buildings. Way to fight for your public education while disrupting everyone else’s.

And walking out on classes to protest for public education seems a little ironic, doesn’t it? Sounds like a waste of money, much like all the taxpayers’ dollars spent on hiring extra shifts of police to monitor the demonstrations.

Frankly, protesting on campus is counter-productive. Quit telling students and quit skipping class. Missing classes hurts no one but you. Take your protest to the regents, the state legislature, our governor, anyone else. Write letters! March peacefully! Just not here.

Complaining about budget cuts to the students and faculty affected by them is like protesting U.S. occupation by marching around Afghanistan.

We know. We’re in the same boat. Please stop yelling at me

Valentine's Day is Stupid (Where are my roses?)

Published: February 14, 2011

Valentine’s Day, aka Singles Awareness Day or SAD, the Hallmark Holiday, Monday – today bugs me, no matter what you call it.

Even with a boyfriend, this “holiday” is overrated. I don’t like chocolate and spoiler alert: roses die.

What bothers me the most is despite thinking the whole day is cheesy, if my boyfriend doesn’t do anything for me, I’ll get pissed. And I’m talking the whole shebang – flowers, candy, jewelry, dinner, unicorns.

If he doesn’t buy me roses, people (including me) will judge our relationship. They’ll assume he doesn’t care, doesn’t appreciate me or doesn’t measure up to their significant other.

As much as I’d like to tell them all to suck it, I still care what they think. I’m only human. (According to my doctor… but he doesn’t believe in elves.)

There’s too much pressure on the relationship! Expectations are always high and it’s safe to say someone will end up disappointed.

I blame consumerism.

February 14th is now associated with excessive spending, on the man’s part of course.

According to the Greeting Card Association, about one billion valentine cards are sent each year, making V-day the second largest card-sending holiday to Christmas. According to History.com, 85 percent of all valentines are purchased by women.

I repeat, 85 percent of all valentines are purchased by women. That doesn’t sound right. According to every commercial ever made, men are the ones buying the gifts. Something smells suspicious. (I’m not sure what that smells like, but just go with it.)

Why does one day out of the year mean more to a relationship than the other 364? What is the motive behind Valentine’s Day?

Urban Dictionary defines Valentine’s Day as, “The reason so many people are born in November.” (Moment of silence for all you November babies who just pinpointed the exact date you were conceived.)

History.com tells the legend of Saint Valentine – a priest who served during the third century in Rome. (Side note: If St. Valentine’s day is associated with Christian and ancient Roman tradition, should people of other religions be celebrating? Or is it like Christmas where the Jewish kid has their menorah but gets a tree to not feel left out?)

Emperor Claudius II outlawed marriage for young men after figuring single men make better soldiers. (I disagree, wouldn’t married men have more to fight for?)

Valentine defied Claudius, thinking the decree was unjust. He continued to marry young lovers in secret and after he was discovered was put to death. As one legend has it, Valentine wrote his jailer’s daughter a love letter, which he signed, “From your Valentine.”

Years later some random pope declared February 14 St. Valentine’s Day.

…And there you have it.

No mention of roses, diamonds or chocolates.

No chubby flying babies shooting magical arrows. Just a hand-written love letter. (If Valentine’s Day is about St. Valentine, where the hell did cupid come from? The whole thing is shady.)

I miss the days of passing out pre-made valentines taped to a lollipop to everyone in my class. In those days, you weren’t allowed to pick and choose who gets a valentine, everyone got one. (A Lord of the Rings card if you were lucky enough to be in my class.)

No pressure, no hurt feelings, just a ton of candy and hobbit greetings.

And that’s the way I liked it.

Now that I think about it, I don’t care what my boyfriend does for me as long as I get that lollipop.

Whatever I Want

Published: January 24, 2011

Most columns have themes. Most columns have focus. Mine does not.

Why? Because I do what I want.

This semester, I’m going to write about whatever crosses my mind. I don’t like being confined to a certain topic, and since I’m the opinion editor, I intend to express my opinion. That’s the power of the press.

According to Dictionary.com, a la mode means three things: 1. According to the prevailing style or fashion, 2. Braised with vegetables in wine and 3. Served with ice cream. I am none of the above; I just thought it would make me sound sophisticated.

I’d like to introduce myself, but we all know you can’t really “know” a person unless you’re friends on Facebook. (That's not an invitation to add me.)

Let me brief you: My profile picture is of my boyfriend and I (he made me), my last status was about picking up my friend from a bar before noon (Cole) and my about me is a quote by Marilyn Monroe (because I’m classy).

That’s pretty much all you need to know about me – no one cares about the important stuff like the fact I’m a journalism major with a minor in political science, I’m graduating this May and I invented the Snuggie in the fourth grade.

This week I begin my final semester at Cal State Fullerton, and while my peers are celebrating, I’m trying to keep my food down.

I am absolutely terrified of graduating.

Graduating college means entering the real world, growing up and functioning as a working member of society – all things I’d rather do later. Facing the reality of finding a job in this economy makes me want to stay in school. I’m not too willing to give up freeloading off my parents (who’ve threatened kicking me out of the nest for the past three years…for the record, I’m still living there.)

According to the Los Angeles Times, “The typical college graduate has virtually no assets and about $23,000 in debt -$20,000 in student loans and $3,000 on credit cards.”  On top of that, the average job search takes about five months, according to the U.S. Labor Department – and unemployment rates have increased since then. How about we stay in college till it all goes away?

I understand that receiving a diploma is a huge step in our adult lives, but I’m not ready for it. I’m comfortable here where I discuss and observe the world beyond the classroom, not partake in it. Am I alone here?

College is my bubble, and until the mess outside is fixed, I’d like to stay here.

My Beef With Parking

Published: January 31, 2011

Cartoon by Sean Lefler

I’ve decided to start parking in President Milton Gordon’s garage.

I’m sure he’d understand my frustration. See, I’ve probably spent a year of my life waiting for a parking spot.

It’s safe to say I spend more time trying to get to class than I spend inside the classroom.

When parking starts affecting grades, shit gets real - it should not be this hard to get to class.

According to Fullerton.edu, 35,590 students were enrolled in the fall semester of 2010.

According to the Los Angeles Times, nearly 95 percent of those students arrive every day by car. That’s 32,031 students driving to school.

According to our school website, there are 11,090 parking spots including the new structure in Lot E.

I’m not great with numbers, but 11,090 parking spots for 32,031 commuting students sounds a little off. Where do the other 20,941 cars go? Either President Gordon can’t count or he just doesn’t care.

The CSUF Budget Report lists under the university revenue budget (for the fiscal year of 2009 to 2010): Parking fund $8,319,000; Parking fines and forfeitures $1,393,000.

I stared at the budget for a while, examining charts and graphs, looking up words I’ve managed to avoid my entire college career like “revenue budget” and “expenditure report.” (Side note: 68 percent of the reason I chose my journalism major is to avoid math classes. Don’t ask how I calculated that, just accept it.)

So I pulled out my calculator and attempted to understand the budget in the simplest way possible. If a parking permit costs $220 and there are 11,090 of them, the school should be making around $4,879,600 per academic year from selling parking permits alone.

Since the parking fund is listed as $8,319,000, the school is selling over 15,600 parking permits (per academic year) for spots that do not exist. How thoughtful.

The LA Times reports our school collected more than $1.275 million in parking tickets from students, visitors and even faculty members.

Where is the money going?

According to the school website, 38 percent of the total revenue was allocated to operating expenses (including department employee salaries and benefits). How about using the money to create more parking spaces? Light bulb.

The school website also suggests alternate means of transportation. Examples: carpool or take the train. Then take the bus from the train station to school… meh. Too difficult.

I want to be able to drive from my house which is only 15 minutes away, find a parking spot in five minutes, then get to class on time. Is that too much to ask? I shouldn’t be jumping hurdles and passing obstacle courses to get to school every day. It’s ridiculous.

What can we do? Stop buying parking permits! Buying one does not guarantee a spot.

My solution: walk, don’t wait. I park in the neighborhoods around the campus and take the 15 to 20 minute walk to class; it’s faster than circling the parking lots and it saves $440 a year.

I also see people parking along Commonwealth Avenue, taking bikes out of their trunks and cycling to school.

At this point, if I can’t find a parking spot less than a 15-minute walk away from campus, I just turn around and drive back home. It’s getting old, I’m over it.

And after I park in President Gordon’s garage, we can carpool to school.

Twilight is a Sick, Twisted Series

Published: October 11, 2010

Courtesy of Kimberly French/MCT

I thought it was cute when my 10-year-old cousin asked if I was Team Edward or Team Jacob. I thought it was disturbing when my 23-year-old classmate could describe how every Cullen became a vampire but couldn’t name the presidential candidates.

I dove into the Twilight series, expecting the books that bridge the gap between elementary students and adult women would be a literary masterpiece. I thought wrong.

But to Stephanie Meyer’s credit, her work, much like George Bush’s re-election, made me laugh and cry.

Meyer’s real talent is her ability to trigger my gag reflex more than my dentist’s giant hairy fists.

I’m going to get the main criticisms out of the way. The Twilight series doesn’t have a plot. Unless “I love you but I’m leaving so I don’t kill you…wait I’m back. I can’t be with you, good bye. Just kidding,” is a plot. The vampires sparkle, they don’t have fangs and the deepest thought the main character has goes along the lines of, “Edward is so hot. I love him.”

I also believe I read the word “chagrin” about 8,043 times. Someone should take Meyer’s thesaurus away from her.

The only thing Meyer doesn’t fail at is corrupting the youth. According to CbsNews.com, the series’ popularity caused a new biting trend among kids and teens. People are now biting each other like vampires to show their love and devotion for one another. One high-schooler explained the biting phenomenon as a way to “belong to somebody, and mark their territory.” To bite someone is to own them.

Let’s ignore the psychologically disturbing part of the trend and skip to the medical issues; doctors are concerned about the spread of bacteria and potential health risks caused by these skin breaking bites.

Way to go, Meyer.

While we’re on the topic of medical issues, I’d like to define some sexual perversions Meyer appears to be familiar with.

Pedophilia (n.): an abnormal interest in children; the act or fantasy on the part of an adult of engaging in sexual activity with a child or children, according to The Medical Dictionary.

According to Twilight, Edward was turned in to a vampire in 1918 at the age of 17, making him 100-something years old when he takes interest in 17-year-old Bella Swan. Luckily, they happen to live in the state of Washington where the age of consent is 16. Not Arizona (where Myer lives) or Utah (where she went to school), but Washington, where, according to SexLaws.org, Edward is not a pervert.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that any 100-something year old having a relationship with a teenager is pedophilia.

Necrophilia (n.): sexual attraction, contact with or erotic desire for dead bodies, according to The Medical Dictionary.

For those of you who live under a rock, Edward Cullen is a vampire.

Vampire (n): the reanimated body of a dead person believed to come from the grave and suck people’s blood, according to Merriam-Webster.com.

Bella wants Edward.

“Bella, would you please stop trying to take your clothes off?” – Edward Cullen (Eclipse).

Zoophilia (n.): the fantasy or act of engaging in sexual activity with animals, according to The Medical Dictionary.

“Of course you’d warm up faster if you took your clothes off.” – Jacob Black, the Werewolf, to Bella, a pathetic excuse for a human being (Eclipse).

Jacob tricks Bella in to kissing him, and she says, “I didn’t feel any anger at Jacob for tricking me. There wasn’t enough room in my body to contain anything besides the hatred I felt toward myself.”

I relate to Bella in a way. I kind of hate myself for spending time writing this.

Sadomasochism (n.): a form of perversion marked by enjoyment of cruelty and/or humiliation in its received or active and/or dispensed and passive forms, according to WebMD.com.

Edward (the sadist) has Bella (the masochist) wondering, “What was so great about mortality?” (New Moon).

After Edward leaves her so he doesn’t eat her, she constantly puts herself in harm’s way to hear his voice in her head. She says, “Edward had drawn many careful lines for our physical relationship, with the intent being to keep me alive. Though I respected the need for maintaining a safe distance between my skin and his razor-sharp, venom-coated teeth, I tended to forget about trivial things like that when he was kissing me,” (New Moon p.16).

At least Edward tries to set some boundaries:

“You really should stay away from me,” he warns Bella. “See you in class.”

Meyer (sadist) writes the series and I (masochist) read it.

Stalk (v.): if you stalk a person or wild animal, you follow them quietly in order to kill them, catch them or observe them carefully, according to English Collins Dictionary.

“ ‘You spied on me?’ But somehow I couldn’t infuse my voice with the proper outrage. I was flattered.” – Bella (Twilight).

Edward admits to watching Bella sleep at night, but Meyer teaches her young, impressionable readers that being stalked gives a sense of self-worth. It’s not creepy if he’s hot.

Am I the only person bothered by the fact Bella is Edward’s food?

Let’s put this in a new perspective. Let’s say Edward is a vegetarian, much like my friend. So he doesn’t drink human blood and my friend doesn’t eat meat. Edward loves Bella romantically, my friend doesn’t want to bring a cow home to meet his mom. Are we getting the picture? Bella is his FOOD.

I love cheeseburgers but I don’t want to have sex with one.

Meyer invented a whole new sexual perversion: Foodphilia.

My problems with the series goes further than Bedward’s “relationship.” Or the fact they’re in “love.”

Everyone knows true love is between a girl who smells good and a guy who’s hot.

Apparently at Brigham Young University, where Meyer got her English B.A., they forgot to teach her how to write well. At least if she graduated from the Derek Zoolander Center For Kids Who Can’t Read Good And Wanna Learn To Do Other Stuff Good Too, she would’ve learned that there’s more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good looking.

“I guess my brain will never work right. At least I’m pretty.” – Bella (Breaking Dawn). Initiate slow clap.

Maybe Edward can’t read Bella’s mind because she doesn’t have one.

“Many of the words they used were unfamiliar to me, and I figured I’d have to have a Y chromosome to really understand…” – Bella (New Moon)

The last person I want my little cousins influenced by is an obsessed, helpless, needy girl who can’t bear to live without a guy who’s no good for her.

At this point, I’m torn between team Tyler’s Van and team Shut the Hell Up.

In Favor of the "Ground Zero Mosque"

Published: August 30, 2010

Let me make two things clear: 1. The “ground zero mosque” is not just a mosque – it’s a community center open to non-Muslims with amenities ranging from fitness centers to museums. 2. It’s not on ground zero, it’s two blocks away and only 686 feet closer than an existing mosque.

According to the Associated Press, Muslims have been praying less than 80 feet away from the site of another 9/11 terrorist attack for years; inside the Pentagon, in a room made specifically for daily prayer during its massive renovation. What’s the difference?

Religious freedom is one of the core values our country was founded on. The fact that this is even an issue is embarrassing. If anything, we should be supporting this “mosque.”

Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International, explains that Sufi is a sect of Islam that is peaceful and loving. Not only is Sufi opposed to al-Qaida, but Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the man behind the project, is sponsored by the U.S. State Department to travel to Muslim countries and promote peace and cooperation between Americans and Muslims. Rauf has spent a majority of his life on a good will mission, swaying Muslims from supporting extremists, preaching tolerance and understanding.

Why are we getting in his way? Wouldn’t we rather allow Muslims to practice their religion in a tolerant environment rather than alienating them and pushing them in to the arms of extremist Islam?

According to the local ABC news, there are many families of 9/11 victims who support the building of this mosque.

We have to remember that among the thousands of Americans who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks on 9/11 were a number of Muslim Americans. Those who argue that the building of the “ground zero mosque” is disrespectful, breed ignorance and fear. With this logic, churches shouldn’t exist near the site of the Oklahoma City bombing out of respect for those who died since Timothy McVeigh was Catholic.

“The war against the terrorists is not a war against Islam. In fact, you can’t have an effective war against the terrorists if it is a war on Islam,” writes Maureen Dowd of The New York Times. If you are at war with Islam, you’re at war with over 1.5 billion people in the world. Islam is the second largest religion in the world after Christianity.

9/11 was an attack on America (including Muslim Americans) organized by individuals who were extremists (contrary to our propaganda and sensationalism, only a minuscule percentage of Muslims are extremists.) You can’t condemn an entire demographic for the acts of individuals.

Our resistance just shows our ignorance. The truth is, Muslims live in New York and will continue to practice their religion whether the cultural center is built or not.

Local Band Feature: Young the Giant

Published: August 23, 2010

Courtesy of Young the Giant

Cheers erupt amongst a swarming crowd inside a dimly-lit bar as five young men take the stage. The lead singer runs his hand through his dark hair and looks at the audience before breaking into a huge smile, pulling his bandmates into a huddle. They put their heads together while looking at their feet for a moment before separating, now ready to share their newest songs with their Orange County fans at Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa.

Walking to opposite sides of the stage, Jake Tilley and Eric Cannata of Young the Giant pick up their guitars while Francois Comtois sits behind his drum set. Placing the strap of his bass around his neck, Payam Doostzadeh stands by Sameer Gadhia, the face of the band, who picks up his tambourine from beside his tan loafers and wraps his hand around the microphone in front of him.

“It’s good to be home,” said Gadhia over the applause.

Young the Giant’s name is as unique as its sound, which has been described as a mix between Kings of Leon and Interpol. The Irvine natives have been together for three years, writing music described by Last.fm as “an assembly of international names and assorted backgrounds that combine to produce a refreshing brand of sun soaked Indie rock … it is a sound all their own.”

You may have seen Young the Giant on their recent national tour with Minus the Bear or opening for The Whigs, Ghostland Observatory, Steel Train and Kings of Leon. The band has also shared the stage with LMFAO and Shiny Toy Guns.

You may have even heard one of their singles, “Cough Syrup” on KROQ’s local favorites. Their song “Texas Tea,” a song about oil burning in the 1930’s, was on MTV’s “The Real World: Brooklyn.” “Paid the Piper,” a song about corruption within institutionalized religion, was played during A&E’s “The Beast.”
With their infectious energy and original melodies, it’s no surprise this band comprised of stylish men in their early 20’s showcased at South by Southwest and headlined a packed House of Blues in Anaheim.
Posters of the band cover the walls of Detroit Bar, where the bar’s trendy, laid-back atmosphere is complemented by Young the Giant’s music. Their natural charisma mesmerizes the audience who seems to sing along to every word.

As they began playing “Shake My Hand,” their old friend, Hannah Lee, 21, of Irvine, raised her arms in the air.

“This is my favorite song. It’s really inspiring that people my own age can write lyrics that are so deep. This is my favorite verse!” Lee said of the lyrics,“being alone really ‘aint that bad. I make the best of the hurt.”

Inspired by The Strokes, Coldplay and Radiohead, the band is described by fans in the audience as “fun,” “talented” and “hot.” The guys are just as fun-loving on stage as off . Their humble, carefree attitudes draw people to them.

Music comes naturally to the five friends, who each contribute to the writing process.

“A lot of it is based on improvisation,” said Comtois of their song writing. “We’re probably the only band I know who will write a song at 4 o’clock and play it at a show at eight.”

After graduating from high schools in Irvine and attending four-year universities all over California, including Stanford and UC Irvine, early last year they decided to take a leave of absence from school to focus on their band. Because they value their education, choosing to pursue their music careers was a difficult decision, but hard work is paying off for the young men who just a year ago, snagged a record deal with Roadrunner Records.

The band just finished recording their first full length album to be released later this year with Grammy Award winning producer Joe Chiccarelli (The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, The Shins, My Morning Jacket). Their newest single, “My Body” can be downloaded for free at YoungTheGiant.com. This month, they have residency to perform at The Troubadour in Los Angeles on Sundays and at The Casbah in San Diego on Mondays.

As their show nears its end, Gadhia sings passionately, closing his eyes and hitting the tambourine against his hips to the beat. Dancing with each other while laughing and smiling, one would think they feed off the audience’s energy, but the band’s chemistry is so overwhelming, the audience feeds off theirs.
As their last song ends and they leave the stage, the audience begins to chant.

“One more song! One more song!”

Without hesitation, the band picks up their instruments and begins their encore.

“For those of you who don’t know us,” Gadhia said with a grin, “We’re Young the Giant.”