Devils in Depth: Introspection
“Devils in Depth” is a project that gets down to earth and captures the diversity of Arizona State’s student population. We engage in conversations with students in an effort to learn more about their passions and get a feel for who they really are.
Jeremy Beren is a Copy Writer at the SDFC and one of the minds behind Devils in Depth. In Part One of the two-part series, co-author Julio Lugo sat down with Jeremy and asked him his thoughts on the themes covered this semester.
What do you do when you’re stressed?
I listen to music. My life revolves around music and I cannot live without it. I’m always listening to music. When I get really stressed, I’ll put on some jazz or hip-hop and I’ll vibe to it. I’ll unwind and relax from whatever my stressor was. I also play video games or I work out.
Something I would do when I was younger just let things kind of fester until I’d blow up. So I think capturing whatever stresses you out as soon as possible…it’s important.
What do “love” and “self-love” mean to you?
Love to me is when you have an unflinching commitment and desire to someone. You will make time for them, you will sacrifice for them. Love is that desire, that passion, the total commitment to a person. Whether it’s family, boyfriend, girlfriend, whoever, it’s that unflinching commitment to one person or one ideal.
Self-love is when you are committed to working on yourself, bettering yourself and being comfortable with yourself. That’s a battle that a lot of us have waged in the past, me included. Self-love is critical because it’s all about getting comfortable with yourself and not being afraid to step out in the morning and think ‘oh, am I going to get criticised because of my clothes?” or whatever. It’s all about being comfortable in your own skin and projecting that to the world that, “hey, I’m comfortable in my own skin you can’t knock me down.” Like Christina Aguilera said, “I am beautiful no matter what you say, words can’t bring me down.”
What is “style”?
Style is how you present yourself, but it goes deeper than that.Your style is how you present yourself, what you listen to, what you play, what your hobbies are. Style to me envelopes a personality. To me, things that form your personality roughly correspond to DSC_0036your style. The clothes you wear, the clothes you buy, the bars you frequent — that’s part of your scene and your style and that kind of fits neatly into your personality and what you are as a person.
I don’t think I have one influence. I kind of see what’s out there or see whatever is on Hypebeast. Seeing what trends are and taking bits and pieces from athletes, actors, actresses and incorporating it into my own idea of how I should look, how I want to look.
Who is your hero?
Donald Glover. He’s just a genius and he gets it. Everything the man touches turns to gold. He’s talented, versatile, creative and has his toes in everything.
Technology
I cannot live without my phone. My social interactions are in my phone — my messages, IG, Twitter. I use my phone for a lot of things other than just calling or texting. My laptop, too. That’s where all my work is, it’s where all my podcast-editing stuff is. It’s how I surf the internet. I’d say my phone over my laptop, but they’re both just so crucial to me at work and my personal life.
Sports
Soccer is a game that…everything is in the details and I learn more about it every time I watch a match. I like the pacing of it, there’s no stoppages other than half-time, the clock just keeps on running. It requires you to be on your toes, especially when writing [about it] because things can happen really quickly. It could look like nothing is happening, and 15 seconds later there’s a goal and you got to find a way to summarize it when you may have been put to sleep by the play being kind of slow. So, the nuances of the game and the kind of details that it requires, they’re fascinating to me.
