Viewpoint by Montreal Spencer/south news editor

Nothing rejuvenates your mind, body and spirit like a mid-semester vacation.

I spent my Halloween weekend at a journalism convention in Austin, and I had more than a ball. It was like a humongous, spherical, Earth-sized amount of fun — one of my top 10 life experiences thus far.

No one in Tarrant County had as much excitement and shock as I did. Halloween on Sixth Street isn’t a block party. It is a “blocks parties.” You couldn’t move without bumping into people, but it was all good.

As for my mind, I learned many tips and was reminded of facts I may have forgotten at some point in my writing. Student writers, if you want to write well, it is important to find your voice. This is my voice. Can you hear me?

I learned that 93 percent of communication in first impressions we give as humans is non-verbal. Sixty percent of our overall communication is non-verbal. Students looking for jobs should keep that in mind.

Stereotypes are often formed by first impressions, so it’s important to control non-verbal communication.

As for the body, my feet just stopped hurting from all the walking, and my back still aches from the diva amount of luggage I took, but it was all worth it.

I learned we have 700,000 gestures as a culture. Hand-shaking and eye contact when meeting someone says a great deal about who you and they are.

Don’t be grabbing my hand all tight trying to outsqueeze me. It’ll make me want to arm wrestle. Don’t grab it too soft unless you’re a female or I’ll laugh at you — well, on the inside. You have to shake it just right.

As for my spirit, I haven’t been this inspired to write in a long time. I’m literally smiling with every key that is stroked. I feel no writer can equal my swagger or style right now.

I learned how important it is to diversify yourself because in this industry, the more you can do the better. That goes with all jobs and anything you want to do in life. Learn as much as possible. Knowledge is power.

The weekend inspired me to finish this semester better than I started.

No more jokes. It’s time to get serious.