When someone makes a late night run to Steak N’ Shake, go. The food might not be the best in the world, or remotely good for you, but those late night conversations will stay with you longer than the calories on the plate. When the World Series occurs, and people start converging in the common areas to root and watch, hang around. You may not like baseball, or either team playing, but in the end you will be richer for a communal moment that is harder to come by in a technology based world. For the record, in 1996 the Yankees played the Braves.  I am a diehard Yankees fan, and I took more grief than I care to remember for yelling for the pinstripes. Memories of watching those games, amongst my roommates, football players, random people from class, and those I still call friends still bring excitement and joy to me.

Use these same acquaintances along the way to battle the hard classes and laugh at the great ones. Embrace study groups, but don’t pester professors for review days. More often than not, those don’t happen. Instead, rely on yourself and your cadre of friends to amass the understanding needed for the task at hand. I firmly believe ninety percent of the college experience teaches you to make decisions on your own, stand your own ground and learn how to maneuver this thing we call life.

Notice, I did not say ace the exam. Why? Much like life, academic scores come from understanding. If you understand the material, you will show that in your answers. If you try to dryly memorize the data your answers will show a lack of understanding with jumbled and convoluted phrases sloppily laid on your page. This sense of understanding should carry you through your days. Do not worry if you don’t have a major in your first year. Do not worry if you still don’t have one in your second year. If you reach your junior year and still have no direction, then you should certainly seek some guidance. Why shouldn’t you worry? Those pesky classes called the deck requirements aren’t put there to drum you into submission. They give you a sampling of skills, subjects, and tasks. They should help you find what your true passion is. I have to say, if your true passion is history, don’t worry about how much money you won’t make. Instead, relish in the fact of how you will do something you love and love what you do.  

I see that this year the freshman class logo is “Your future is so bright you gotta wear shades.” What was mine? I transferred to KWC in 1996, and I think we were “Foundations.” Honestly, I cannot remember. What I do recall is that within a matter of weeks – like many college coeds – my wardrobe became a poster board for KWC. My friends were a hop and skip away.  Watching the football team lose wasn’t so bad because we knew them and knew they had heart. The basketball team brought up bragging rights for that blue and white school on the other side of the state. And . . . dubbing my favorite professor Captain History, later to be named “The Grinch who Stole My GPA,” and when he turned thirty, we painted Minerva in his honor.

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Annessa Ann Babic ’98 majored in English and History at KWC. She earned a Ph.D. in U.S. History from Stony Brook University in 2008 and currently teaches at New York Institute of Technology and SUNY College at Old Westbury. She is the co-editor of The Globetrotting Shopaholic (Cambridge Scholars Press, 2008), has written scores of academic pieces and uses a pen name to write fiction. She lives in Astoria (Queens), NY.

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It’s that time of year again, when young and old all across the land head back to school.  Back in the day, I stood in line as a new kid to get my polyester gym shorts and white tee. You could smell the fear in the room. Ugh, gym class and middle school. Neither were good combinations, particularly those polyester shorts. Ugh, gym shorts.

The power of literary technique allows me to jump forward seven or so years to my days at Kentucky Wesleyan. Those first days for new freshmen are always filled with wonder and awe, and in many cases a lot of angst arises. Unfortunately, this angst does not necessarily dissipate with the swing of the new semester. More often than not, though, this angst can pass rather seamlessly like the turns of the seasons. These are the things I often try to convey to my own timid freshman, or drifting and worried upperclassmen.

I graduated college in 1998, and yes we had the internet. My college days were shortly before the birth of Google, long before the advent of internet blackmail known as YouTube, at the beginning of cell phones becoming commonplace, right before the installation of key cards versus keys, when the computer lab was the only place to do your work, and at the end of the era when cable was not in dorm rooms. We gathered in common rooms to watch South Park and yell at ESPN games. In the midst of this, course work fell and campus legends loomed.

First, professors do not sharpen their pencils with their teeth or grade your papers with their blood. Trust me. We do not idle away at our desks and computers looking for ways to make your life miserable, and when we say come speak to us you should. Course syllabi are like maps for the semester, and like any good road trip, things may change. So when a professor adds a reading, or changes a due date, he or she is doing it because the nature of the group calls for it. Believe it or not, we have lives. We like ball games, we like dinner with friends, and we like to do things non-academic. Hence, when something is due turn it in. When you have trouble, don’t wait until the last minute to get help. Emailing a professor at 1:00 a.m. the night before the final will not help your grade.

On that same note, but slightly different, college is about more than the books. My fondest memories of KWC involve strolling through the quad and sharing a soda with those I met along the way. There used to be an infant tree outside what is now the Old Grill. In 2000 a tornado came and took it down, and to this day I am still saddened. Why? I read Jack Kerouac under that tree, studied for my favorite class, and Melanie Basham, Sonya Martin and I planned how we would change the world.

My point: remember in the hustle and bustle to stop and talk to those around you. Those first few days you won’t know many or even anyone. Within a week you will certainly know at least twenty-five, and the beauty and joy of KWC is that it is a small campus. There is always a friend around a corner. Though too, the pain of KWC is that it is small. If you do something outlandishly stupid you will be reminded four years later after you walk across the stage. More so, remember to have fun.

Stay tuned for Part 2, coming soon …

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–Disclaimer: I wrote this post back in March when the event actually happened. Then I kind of forgot to actually post it. Found it the other day and decided to post it anyway. Hey, it’s Friday, right?–

Miss KWC is a pageant held annually at Kentucky Wesleyan where female students compete for the opportunity to represent our college on campus, the community and globally.

This year five young woman competed for the title — Bailey Goebel, Phoenix Jenkins, Cassandra Best, Courtney Grant and Courtney Chinn. The ladies competed in three categories, business casual with an introduction, formal with a talent and business professional attire with a question and answer session.

All woman performed beautifully; scoring was very difficult for the judges. When all the votes were tallied, Courtney Grant was the runner up and Courtney Chinn took home the tiara, sash and lovely bouquet.

Miss KWC 2010 Courtney Chinn (right) and runner-up Courtney Grant

As part of her reign as Miss KWC, Courtney will be working with Court Appointed Special Advocates. Judges appoint CASA volunteers to watch over and advocate for abused and neglected children so they do not get lost in the overburdened legal and social service system or languish in an inappropriate group or foster home.

CASA volunteers stay with each case until it is closed and the child is placed in a safe, permanent home. We are proud of our new Miss KWC and look forward to our collaboration with CASA.

Congratulations to all the Miss KWC 2010 contestants!

Miss KWC 2010 Contestants

Below is a video featuring Bailey Goebel’s talent portion of the competition — she set some of her photography to music:

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2010 Student Life Awards were handed out at the end of the Spring Semester — check out what KWC students accomplished in scholarship,leadership, service and involvement.

Student Life Award Winners:

Ambassador of the Year – Wyatt Foust
Larry Hager Award – Kathryn Riggs

Mt Laurel Festival Queen Candidate – Callie Hayden

SGA Awards:
Outstanding SGA Committee Chair –Ryne Williams
Outstanding SGA Senator – Phoenix Jenkins

W.L. Gorrell Student Leadership Award – Carissa Wethington

Greek Life Awards:
Fraternity Community Service Award – Sigma Alpha Mu
Sorority Community Service Award – Kappa Delta
Fraternity Scholarship Award – Sigma Phi Epsilon
Sorority Scholarship Award – Kappa Delta
Outstanding New Greek Members: Cory Coble of Sigma Nu, and Courtney Chinn of Kappa Delta
Greek Week Outstanding Sportsmanship Award – Sigma Kappa
Greek Week Overall Champion – Sigma Nu
Greek Man of the Year – Wyatt Foust
Greek Woman of the Year – Auburn Mynhier

Community Service Awards:
Outstanding Organization Community Service – Circle K
Outstanding Individual(s) Community Service – Siera Crowe and Tiera Crowe
Outstanding Dedication to SAPB – Rain Sumner, Jessica Torsak, and Kara Cooper

Intramural Awards:
Basketball – Ballaholics and Vballers +1
Volleyball – T.G.I.F.
Flag Football – Erroneous Enchinoderms
Bowling – Nik Dunkelberger, Tasha Capps, Treton Fleener, Miles Mallette

Residence Life Awards:
Outstanding 1st Year RA – Franklin Moore
Outstanding Veteran RA – Michael Kincaid
RA of the Year – Colin Gold

Outstanding Campus Organization : Psychology Club

Congratulations to all!

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If you plan to go abroad for either term, contact Pam Parr with the KWC Study Abroad Program as soon as you can. She’s in FOB 16 or at 270-852-3226 or you can e-mail her here.

She will get you a grant application packet, which you must return to her by September 1, 2010. The packet includes the following items:

• Two faculty recommendations (using the form included in the packet)
• Essay (instructions included in the packet)
• Advisor approval of abroad courses (using the International Studies Approval Form)
• Application to Study Abroad Program (Need ideas/suggestions? E-mail Pam Parr for information)
• Submission of official Statement of Cost
• Nonrefundable $25 application fee

If you’re interested, get in touch with Pam Parr and she will start you on your way around the world.

If you’re on the fence about whether or not studying abroad is worth the effort, check out these links (you’ll be off the fence in no time):

• KWC Senior David Bertschinger’s blog from his semester in Rome (Spring 2010)
• Photos from KWC Junior Aaron Taylor’s class this summer in England.
• Info on a study abroad trip to England during KWC’s Winter 2011 Term next January.
• More general info on KWC’s study abroad program.

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Research papers have dominated April. I have an 8-12 page one due in all three of my classes. I journeyed to Assisi on April 10th. It was a fascinating town and seems to have more churches per capita than Rome. I personally did not think that was possible. I found several interesting museums, one of which was the excavations of tunnel systems used by the early Church, similar to the catacombs.

After another week of papers, AIFS had its spring dinner party. Almost the entire program attended the banquet thrown for us at the Hotel Marriott on the seventh floor balcony. We had a very good time.

As soon as I returned, it was back to research papers. But they were soon finished and I took my final in Italian that week as well. At the end of the week, some family friends vacationing in Italy arrived in Rome and I enjoyed their company for the couple days they spent in the Eternal City.

The last week of April and the final week of classes was one of the easiest. I went to see the Holy Father twice that week, both at his Sunday and Wednesday audiences. It was such a wonderful experience to hear him speak to us in seven different languages (English included) and reveal his love of cappuccino. Towards the end of the week, half the program roster crammed themselves into our apartment for a party.

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Faculty wait for processional before Honors Convocation

 As we near the end of the semester, many KWC students have been honored with awards celebrating their academic achievements. The list below is testament to their extraordinary talents.

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The weekend after I went to Interlaken, Switzerland, another amazing adventure awaited. AIFS had planned a three-day trip to Naples, Pompeii, and Capri for us. The bus ride to Pompeii was on the short side, only three hours long. Once we got there, we toured the ancient ruins of the city that had been preserved in volcanic rock after Mt. Vesuvius’ 79 AD eruption. Seeing life on the streets of an ancient Roman city was fascinating. I recalled reading of this city and seeing Discovery Channel specials on it, but here I was.

From there we took a chair lift up the side of Mt. Solerno and basked in the breathtaking beauty that was found on the highest point of the island. Dozens of pictures and “oh my gosh’s” later, we descended the mountain in search of some excellent Italian pranzo (lunch).

I caught the bus to the airport and flew back to Rome. It was nice to be back in my apartment, excitedly awaiting my parents arrival on Thursday.

A guest post by Professor Marisue Coy …

To call our trip an odyssey is appropriate because we traveled on our journey, had adventures, and struggled (a little) to find our way home. More on that later…

When a city names its professional football team the Titans, that city obviously respects Greek mythology. As further proof of that respect, Centennial Park stands in the middle of Nashville, and its reproduction of the Parthenon, the ancient Greek temple honoring Athene, goddess of wisdom, has attracted visitors for decades. Students enrolled in my Classical Mythology classes have visited the Parthenon nearly every semester, but this spring they got an added bonus, a visit to the Frist Museum.

April 17 started out as one of the most beautiful spring days of the year. Eight students and I left KWC’s campus in a van at 9:00 a.m. to travel to Nashville, TN. Nashville’s Frist Museum had an exhibition of Greek heroes, so we first stopped at the museum, where we saw ancient vases and artifacts depicting the stories we had studied. We could take “quizzes” to see which hero or heroine we most resembled and then look for “ourselves” in the exhibit. We wandered around that exhibit and came away with an even better appreciation for the ancient Greek stories.

In addition, we saw not only the collection of European Masterpieces (one of which depicted the “Judgment of Paris,” a pivotal story in Greek mythology), but also an innovative and fascinating exhibit by a Korean artist whose combination of metal and lights and electronics to create flowers and other unusual creatures fascinated us. It was absolutely beautiful.

After seeing all we could at the museum, we boarded the van for the quick trip to the Parthenon. When we approached, finding a place to park proved tricky because of a huge festival taking place in the park, but at last we found a spot and walked across the street to a restaurant to grab some lunch.

After another stop at an ice cream shop, we walked back to the Parthenon and spent time roaming inside to see the 40+ foot statue of Athene along with many other statues and pieces of information about the gods and goddesses of Greek mythology. We then walked around the outside of the Parthenon and enjoyed a stroll through the park. As much as we might have liked to stay longer, we found our way back to our van and headed home.

In true Greek mythology fashion, we faced a few obstacles. Like Odysseus in his journey back from the Trojan War, we found that going straight home just wasn’t meant to be. When the gas gauge indicated a need for gas, we found ourselves pretty much in the middle of nowhere with what seemed to be an empty tank. Again, in true Greek mythology tradition, we relied on heroism (two students got directions from some friendly farmers) and maybe even a little divine intervention (we found a gas station fairly easily once we got back on track). To say we were relieved would be an understatement.

At last, we arrived back on campus maybe a half hour later than we planned. In the end, we decided the entire trip was worth the effort, and no one complained about the final part of the adventure. We were thankful that at least, unlike Odysseus when he traveled home in the Odyssey, we weren’t lost for ten years.

For more photos, check out the Classical Mythology Nashville Trip photo set on Flickr.

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