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(07/23/15 9:55pm)
Taylor Swift attempted to bring the Infamous Swift-Minaj Twitter Fiasco of 2015 to an end today, tweeting out an apology to her followers and to Nicki for reacting negatively to Nicki’s well-deserved criticism of the MTV Video Music Award (VMA) nominations. If you recall, Nicki took a bite out of the racist, sexist, fatphobic music industry after her jaw-dropping, subversive “Anaconda” (which in my opinion should be immortalized forever as modern art) didn’t snag a Video of the Year nomination.
(06/22/15 3:03am)
On August 18th, 1920, men decided to allow women to vote.
(05/25/15 12:37am)
Elon University alumni offered advice for postgraduate success and shared their experiences since graduating from Elon.
(05/07/15 6:00pm)
Far from the heart of Elon University lies Loy Farm, an environmental center and recently added solar farm. Its lush acres of food and farming systems are home to long-term ecological research, greenhouses and the Design Build Studio for Responsible Architecture, to name a few of its features.
Senior Allison Hren spends almost 20 hours a week making sure everything goes smoothly.
Michael Strickland, lecturer in English and environmental studies, teaches “Garden Studio” classes in which students will spend a few hours over the course of the semester pulling weeds, tending plants and learning about what goes into the food they eat.
Hren works both as garden manager and a teaching assistant for the gardening classes.
“It’s a hard job,” she said. “It is the real world. It’s demanding. But it’s very rewarding.”
As garden manager, Hren serves as the liaison between students, Strickland and Lecturer in Environmental Studies Steve Moore to delegate tasks that need to be done at Loy Farm and the Community Garden, which is on E. College Avenue.
She also coordinates what plants need to be bought, decides where they will be planted over the next year, orders and plants seeds and performs general maintenance and upkeep.
Hren is in charge of Elon’s two major gardening events — the Pumpkin Festival in the fall and the Strawberry Festival in the spring.
This year’s Strawberry Festival will be from 2:30-5:30 p.m. May 8 in the Community Garden and will feature free food, live music, face painting and a plant sale.
Hren devotes her time and energy to all aspects of the farm. She works in the garden, runs errands and organizes schedules. In her role as a teaching assistant, she also helps teach gardening students about the garden and the farm.
“I see the way that gardening connects people together and connects people with the earth,” Hren said. “Connecting students to food is very important. The average American does not see how much work goes into the meal you see on your plate.”
Providing for the greater community
The farm and garden are not certified organic because of the lengthy and expensive certification process, but they are run as though they were. Neither uses pesticides and everything is hand-weeded, so workers know exactly what goes into it.
The food produced goes to Mill Point Catering, Elon Campus Kitchen and Allied Churches. Eventually, Loy Farm and Community Garden products will be distributed to more than 80 locations.
“It’s nice to know where the food is going,” Hren said. “The goal every day is to do everything as efficiently as possible.”
According to Hren, the end goal for the farm is to provide food to a majority of the dining halls — but is a long way away. The farm would have to expand to encompass at least five greenhouses and would require a full-time staff.
Without this staff, Hren does a majority of the work at the garden and farm. This semester, to keep up with the responsibilities of garden manager while balancing a retail job, she is taking only one class.
“You can’t just pick up and leave without someone to take care of it,” Hren said. “It could mean you could lose an entire crop. Farming is not super forgiving — timing is absolutely everything.”
Working year-round
Production at the farm doesn’t stop in the summer. The garden manager will stay at Elon to continue to tend the garden, either alone or with a Campus Kitchen intern.
Though Moore stays near campus for the summer, he is often busy with his own lectures, research and family, so most of the responsibility falls on the garden manager.
“Summers are the most productive time for the garden,” Hren said. “There’s tomatoes and squash and corn and sunflowers, and there’s such a large time period to harvest. Ironically, the school year is structured to have time off in the summer so that people could go home and harvest with their families.”
During the summer, the garden manager will also work closely with students from Elon Academy, provide food for Campus Kitchen and hold workdays for Thrive, a sustainability-focused one-week experience for incoming freshmen.
Despite the intense labor and time commitment, Hren believes the job is worth it.
“I learn every day,” she said. “There’s never a day that goes by where I don’t learn something new. Like solving an insect problem or figuring out the percentage of phosphorous that needs to be in the soil. I never leave thinking, ‘That was a waste of my time.’ I’m not going to leave this year thinking, ‘That was a waste of time.’”
Passing the torch
There is no application process to become garden manager — it is a chosen position. Each year, by the middle of the spring semester, Moore, Strickland and the current manager select a student with enough passion to take on the demands of the job.
Hren was a clear choice this time around. She has been involved in the garden and farm since her sophomore year. She has continued to take the gardening course as well as interning and working with friends who were previous garden managers.
Starting this summer, the position will be passed down to junior Alyssa Adler, who has been involved with the garden since her sophomore year and has also interned for the garden.
“I was awestruck by [Hren] and how knowledgeable she was and automatically knew that that was what I wanted to be someday,” Adler said. “Now that I’ve spent the past year working in the garden and putting in countless hours of hard work, I’m excited and ready to take my turn in making the garden and farm the best it can be.”
So far, Adler has shadowed Hren and taken part in the planning processes and procedures.
In the next few weeks, Hren will be working closely with Adler to give hands-on training on how to properly run the garden and farm. There is a manual that Adler can refer to, but Hren said a majority of the knowledge on how to run the garden and farm comes from experiences and challenges managers run into while on the job.
“Allison and the previous garden managers have done such an amazing job over the years that I know with their guidance and wisdom, the garden and farm will continue to flourish in the oncoming years,” Adler said.
Though there haven’t been any difficulties yet, Adler can already see how much time and energy the job requires and is preparing for the challenges ahead. She is confident she will receive the proper guidance and believes the rewards will outweigh the difficulties.
“I think one of the most rewarding feelings is when you witness someone coming to the garden for the first time and being mesmerized by it,” Adler said. “There’s such a beauty to gardening, and I cherish and welcome any time I can help someone get to the point of satisfaction with their hard work.”
Like Adler’s appreciation for the garden, Hren said both Moore and Strickland encourage all students to take advantage of the garden and farm, even if they are not enrolled in the course, as an opportunity to volunteer and get in touch with nature.
Sometimes, Hren added, students will simply read or relax in the garden because of the peaceful atmosphere.
“The garden is such a unique place,” Hren said. “It’s my favorite place. It connects people with each other and with nature like no other. There’s something special about working in the earth among each other.”
(05/06/15 10:10pm)
MaryClaire Schulz called her mother in tears on a recent Thursday afternoon.
Her mother assumed Schulz had bad news, but the opposite was true: Schulz was calling to tell her mother she had just been awarded the Lumen Prize.
“She said, ‘Stop crying, you should be happy,’” Schulz said. “And then her immediate next question was, ‘So what is your research even on?’”
Schulz and 14 other sophomores at Elon University received emails Thursday, April 6 informing them they had been awarded the Lumen Prize, one of the university’s most prestigious research scholarships.
“It was really exciting,” Schulz said. “It was very much like, my life is going to be very different [whether I win or not].”
Lumen has awarded $15,000 to 15 remarkable sophomores each year since its establishment during the 2007-2008 academic year.
Lumen Scholars spend the last two years of their undergraduate careers working on advanced research projects in their respective fields with the help of a faculty mentor. But, according to program director Ann Cahill, professor of philosophy, Lumen is more than simply a research grant.
“I haven’t seen a lot of prizes like the Lumen Prize at other universities,” Cahill said.
Cahill said Lumen takes a holistic approach to research and funding. Rather than requiring all funds to be devoted exclusively to research, the program allows scholars to use the funds in any matter that forwards the student’s intellectual development.
The 2015 Lumen Scholars have only just joined the Lumen community, but the journey to this point began months ago, when Schulz and her cohort began the process that would lead them to Lumen.
Deciding to apply
Before they could start the application, Schulz and her peers had decisions to make. Each scholar had a different process that lead to him or her deciding to apply, but for most, that began with finding a mentor.
Students must submit a letter of nomination for Lumen from their mentor with their application. Lumen Scholars work closely with their mentors for the two years of their research.
“The first step in the application process is finding a mentor who wants to do this intensive, high-quality work with that student for the next two years,” she said.
Lumen Scholars must find a mentor for more than just a nomination, though.
“It’s the mentor’s job to make sure the scholar is developing and the scholar is learning about themselves as a scholar, is learning about the kinds of contributions they can make to a field,” Cahill said.
Schulz, a strategic communications major, said she hadn’t seriously considered applying for Lumen until she met her mentor, assistant professor of communications Lucinda Austin.
“It really started when I made connections with my mentor,” she said.
Schulz took one of Austin’s classes, where the two began discussing their common interests. They quickly realized they clicked well, and Austin encouraged Schulz to apply for Lumen.
“I always knew I wanted to go into communications,” Schulz said. “Meeting Dr. Austin and starting working on this research definitely solidified those interests.”
But for sophomore Ben Bridges, another 2015 Lumen Scholar, the process began with the decision to apply.
“It’s interesting because, for MaryClaire, she found a mentor then decided she wanted to do Lumen, and I decided I wanted to apply then found a mentor,” Bridges said.
Bridges selected his major, anthropology, in part because he was fascinated by the opportunities for research within that field.
He came to Elon intending to study biology and quickly realized that research in that field did not interest him as much as he thought it would. Bridges spent his freshman year talking to students in different majors and searching for the right major for him.
“Leaving my first year, I knew that I wanted to do social sciences,” he said.
So, when Bridges returned to Elon for his sophomore year, he gave it a try.
“A month and a half into my ‘Intro to Anthropology’ class, I was like, this is definitely where I’m supposed to be,” he said.
Bridges declared his anthropology major in October 2014 and decided to apply to Lumen that same month.
He began the process — which he described as “intellectual courtship” — of finding a mentor in November, and in December he asked professor of anthropology Tom Mould to be his mentor.
Completing an application
Once they found mentors, Schulz and Bridges began developing their projects and working on their applications. This year’s application was due March 18, but both students began working on it over Winter Break and continued throughout Winter Term and the first half of the spring semester.
“Applicants really know that in order to consider the Lumen you need to start on the application some months in advance,” Cahill said.
The extensive application calls for a significant amount of time spent working on it. In addition to the letter of nomination from their mentor, applicants must have a letter from someone else, such as a faculty member, who can speak to the applicant’s accomplishments and potential.
Students must also submit a transcript and a detailed application that includes an abstract, a personal statement, a project description, a feasibility statement and a specific plan for allocating Lumen funds.
Unsurprisingly, Lumen applications are typically polished products.
“Obviously, for the Lumen, there’s a high level of self-selection,” Cahill said. “Students who apply for Lumen tend to be excellent students. They tend to have already had a significant degree of academic success in their undergraduate years, so we don’t see a lot [of applications] that are just sloppy.”
Applications are reviewed by a selection committee composed of faculty from a variety of disciplines. Members of the committee change from year to year, though some faculty members remain for several years.
After the committee reviews applications, select applicants are invited to the second stage of the process: an interview.
“The night before the interview, I was as nervous as I was the night before I found out about Lumen,” Bridges said.
Interviews are in front of a panel made up of a committee member and two other faculty or staff members. The panel doesn’t always include a faculty member related to the applicant’s major or project. The committee member is the only one on the panel to have read the entire application, so applicants are often asked to explain their proposed research projects to the other two without using major- or discipline-specific language.
Schulz and Bridges said this process is intended to gauge the applicant’s descriptive ability and to judge his or her passion.
Soon after all interviews have been completed, scholars are informed of their awards.
Lumen Prizes are always limited to 15, and while Cahill was hesitant to share the exact number of applicants, she said that over the course of the program approximately 40 percent of applicants have been awarded a Lumen Prize. She said this number reveals the competitiveness of the program.
Of this year’s Lumen Scholars, 12 are women. They come from a variety of majors from international studies to exercise and dance science, which Cahill said is reflective of Lumen’s support of all disciplines.
Cahill said selection is based on merit and that the committee has the difficult job of comparing excellence across disciplines while making their final decisions.
“We’re really trying to get the 15 applications that show the greatest promise, the greatest intellectual potential,” she said. “We’re looking for scholars that are remarkable and that are well-positioned to make remarkable contributions to their fields. We do not consider disciplinary quotas or anything like that when making our final decisions.”
Of this year’s cohort of Lumen Scholars all but one of the award winners are involved in a Fellows program at Elon.
Cahill said that, while the number of Fellows who won Lumen Prizes is higher this year than it has been in recent years, the status of applicants as Fellows rarely comes into play and is not necessarily seen as an advantage, though Fellows do tend to have a foundation at Elon that supports them as they go through the application process.
“There’s no doubt that Fellows students come into Elon expecting to do undergraduate research, expecting to find a mentor,” she said. “They have great structure to support them in finding really good topics and taking the time to develop really good relationships with their mentors. Students who are in these programs have the opportunity to think about undergraduate research from the very moment they step on campus.”
Schulz and Bridges are both Honors Fellows, and both agreed that Honors requirements prepared them to apply for Lumen. They also said there were older Honors Fellows who had won Lumen who both were able to reach out to during the application process for advice and support.
“Every year, a lot of Fellows get Lumen, so you see the people older than you get Lumen,” Bridges said.
Honors Fellows and Elon College Fellows are also required to do undergraduate research, which Schulz said made information on Lumen more available to her and other Fellows.
“Honors and College Fellows have to do research anyway, so it’s like, why not apply?” Bridges said.
Looking ahead
Now that they have been awarded Lumen Prizes, Schulz and Bridges both have big plans, many of which they wouldn’t have been able to do without Lumen’s financial assistance.
Funds don’t have to be used exclusively for research, which Cahill said is one of the things that makes Lumen unique.
“Lumen funds can be used for experiences or other kinds of costs that forward the student’s intellectual development in general,” she said.
Schulz’s project title is “International Corporate Social Responsibility and Female Stakeholder Entrepreneurship: The Case of Coca-Cola’s 5by20 Initiative.”
While Schulz will be using some of her funds to present this research and see what others are doing with corporate responsibility, she is also using them to support her own development.
“One thing about Lumen I really appreciate and what differentiates it from other research grants is that they want to invest in you as a person, as someone interested in research but with other pursuits as well,” Schulz said. “It’s not just money for this project you’re going to do and then be done. It’s something you’re involved in for the entirety of your time at Elon and probably after you leave Elon. It’s nice to know they care about you as a person outside your project.”
Cahill said this is one of the goals of the Lumen Prize.
“The program prides itself on saying, ‘We support scholars, not projects,’” she said. “That is, we’re committed to providing a variety of kinds of support to really remarkable scholars so they can fulfill their academic and intellectual potential.”
Bridges, whose project title is “Navigating Globalization through Myth in Quechua Communities of Southern Peru,” is using some of his funds to do his ethnographical research on-site in Peru. He will be studying abroad in Peru fall 2015 and returning to complete his research summer 2015.
Bridges, who wants to pursue a career in academia, said receiving a Lumen Prize validated both his goals and his research. During the application process he downplayed the prestige of the award to his family, but once he found out that he had won, he was excited to explain it to his family.
“I didn’t realize how emotionally invested I was in it,” he said.
(05/06/15 10:06pm)
The potent energy once displayed on the basketball court is now reaching audiences in a different form.
(05/02/15 8:30pm)
Soft, chewy and full of flavor, Acorn cookies — Elon University’s favorite guilty pleasure — tempt students from behind their glass display case while students wait to order a coffee or sandwich. The cookies beg to be bought.
There’s a flavor for everyone: chocolate chip, peanut butter, peanut butter chocolate chip, pumpkin spice, oatmeal raisin walnut, double chocolate, coconut pecan and carnival.
“I can’t resist,” said freshman Zach Monick. “It’s impossible to walk by the case and not get one. I tried to give them up so that I could save money, but that only lasted a week.”
Unfortunately, this cookie cutter vision doesn’t add up.
When students bite into the “fresh-baked goodness,” they assume the batter is whipped up in Acorn’s kitchen early in the morning and baked to golden-brown perfection before its doors open.
Acorn’s famed cookies are baked in-house, but the batter comes premade in a box.
“The cookies are from Otis Spunkmeyer and baked in house daily, with the exception of the oatmeal raisin cranberry which are made by David’s,” said Mike Bellefeuil, director of operations for Aramark at Elon. “They are baked in house, as well.”
This cookie dough isn’t as fresh as it seems, either. Otis Spunkmeyer is known for its frozen, individually-wrapped “thaw and serve” Sweet Discovery cookies. Sweet Discovery claims to produce the top frozen cookie dough in the United States. It comes in 20 flavors — and a few of them are displayed at Acorn.
Even though the sweet treats aren’t made in house, student opinion stands strong.
“I love Acorn cookies,” said freshman Tommy Mackey. “I love Acorn in general. Cookies are definitely a big part of why I love it. It’s not gonna change my opinion. It doesn’t really bother me.”
It even intrigues some of them.
“Sometimes you can see them in the back squishing them together to make a bigger one,” said sophomore Ashley Hill. “I didn’t really care. I’ll still eat them.”
Some are even shocked they are made in the cafe at all.
“I did not even know that they were baked here,” said sophomore Sophie Natan. “I just assumed that they were shipped in, but they’re still super delicious so it does not change my opinion on them.”
It may be a tough pill to swallow, but that’s how the cookie crumbles. Acorn’s famous cookies are baked with love, even if the dough travels to Elon in a cold box.
Want an Elon myth debunked? Email us at pendulum@elon.edu.
(05/01/15 2:00pm)
Palm trees may not be the first things that come to mind when thinking of Burlington’s Huffman Mill Road, but they’re the first things diners see as they approach The Village Grill.
From the outside, the restaurant — with its teal, peach and seafoam roof and a sign that looks as if it was made using clip art — seems like it would be more appropriate in a beach town or vacation destination. The tropical trees out front certainly don’t match the law firm, the nail salon or any of the other shops in the neighboring Huffman Mill Village strip mall.
But The Village Grill is a Burlington institution, and its light, tropical-esque fare has earned it a spot on the Burlington dining scene.
Established in 1985, The Village Grill has been around long enough for it to gain a loyal following from area residents and Elon University faculty and staff. Elon students don’t visit the restaurant very often, though, according to co-founder Wayne Bunting.
“We see more of them when mom and dad are in town with them,” Bunting said.
The Village Grill is just down the road from Panera Bread and Starbucks, spots Elon students visit regularly. Its unmistakable sign is even visible from the ever-popular Cook Out. But financial factors, not distance or lack of recognition, may be keeping students from the Grill.
With a focus on seafood and poultry, the restaurant may come off as too expensive or formal for the typical college-student dinner. But slightly steeper prices shouldn’t stop true seafood enthusiasts from getting their fishy food fix. While signature dishes such as the “Crab & Shrimp Cakes” or the “Lime Cilantro Salmon” come in at about $18 a plate, the Grill also offers less-pricey dishes like the “Cheeseburger from Paradise.”
Before The Village Grill, Bunting and his co-founder Randy Cox first worked together at The Cutting Board, another Burlington eatery.
The Cutting Board’s menu is centered around red meat, primarily steaks and burgers. When Bunting and Cox started The Village Grill, they took another focus. They made the Village Grill white-meat centric, with the majority of menu items consisting of variations of grilled chicken and fish.
“We wanted to present a healthier side in the interest of the consumers,” Cox said.
The Village Grill isn’t Bunting and Cox’s only collaboration. They also opened Blue Ribbon Diners in Burlington and Mebane in 1990 and 2006, respectively.
The menu at The Grill contains steak dishes now, but when it was founded the focus was on lighter fare. Even today, the most popular item on the menu is the signature “Key West Chicken.”
The restaurant serves the chicken in several different dishes, though the most popular are the “Grilled Chicken Pasta” and the “Key West Chicken Salad.” The Grill’s “Key West Chicken” is marinated in a sweet marinade made with key limes, among other ingredients, that sets it apart from the average grilled chicken.
“We’ve gone through a couple remodelings, but our menu is still focused on Key West Grilled Chicken,” Bunting said. “We’re still doing the same things we did 30 years ago.”
The Grill’s most popular seafood dish is its “Lime Cilantro Salmon,” which is grilled with a soy-lime baste and topped with lime-cilantro butter. All seafood dishes are also served with a choice of house or Caesar salad.
“We do all salad preparation in-house,” Bunting said. “Everything is fresh.”
All the seafood The Village Grill serves is also fresh. In addition to salmon, the menu features tuna, shrimp and tilapia, with other seafood dishes — including mahi mahi — as occasional specials. The menu is seasonal, Bunting said, to ensure all ingredients are fresh.
For diners 21 and over, The Village Grill boasts an extensive wine, beer and drink menu. Regardless of age, The Village Grill has a plate to fit every palate.
(04/29/15 10:03pm)
As students spend their school year doing work for classes, jobs and extracurriculars, some have a little more on their plate as they develop and conduct their own research in any given field.
The Student Undergraduate Research Forum — more commonly known as SURF Day — is an opportunity for students to present their original research in front of students, faculty and staff.
Introduced at Elon University in 1993, SURF has showcased undergraduate research for more than 20 years. It is one of the ways Elon provides opportunities for students to practice professionalism and apply it to a future career.
This year, there are a few changes in SURF. Now, there are student moderators during the sessions and symposia presentations — pieces spanning across three or more departments.
Meredith Allison, associate director of the Undergraduate Research Program, said SURF is an excellent way for students to study a single in-depth project for an entire year or longer.
“It is so different when you can study one thing for so long,” she said. “It improves writing, presentation and professional skills. All the research is not coming from one place all the time. We value cross-campus participation.”
At this year’s SURF, 203 students presented original research ranging from communications, science, religion, sociology and other fields.
Memory through music
For his undergraduate research, senior Elon College Fellow Jake Sokoloff intended to capture and connect generations through memories sparked by music in a project titled: “They Can’t Take That Away from Me: Stories from an Unforgettable Generation.”
To gather his information, Sokoloff visited the Village at Brookwood, a senior living retirement community in Burlington, and conducted in-depth interviews with individuals older than 75.
During the interviews, he played songs definitive of their generation, such as “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “New York, New York,” to recall memories connected to these songs.
Sokoloff first developed the idea four years ago from his close relationship with his grandmother. Although the research relates to the events of her generation, Sokoloff said our generation could also relate to the common themes of childhood, love and work. His research looks at humanity, culture, music and the power of physical communications with others.
“So often we ignore the people who can’t keep up in the same way society expects us to,” Sokoloff said. “It’s amazing how much we can learn about ourselves and life if we take the time to slow down and listen.”
Sokoloff’s research culminated in two one-hour performances. Each performance entailed parts of the conversations the residents had with Sokoloff, performed by the residents and set to music. While some told other residents’ stories, others told their own stories in the performance.
“The residents telling their stories give voice to this often unheard generation,” Sokoloff said.
Sokoloff wants to use music to bridge generational gaps. His dream is to one day start a company that connects interviews and music to document the collective cultural history and experience of U.S. citizens across generations. This hypothetical company would combine the efforts of the project Story Core, which creates an oral history of the United States through conversations, and the nonprofit Music and Memory, which helps individuals with Alzheimer’s remember more through music.
“I want to use music, which is so visceral, to trigger these conversations and stories, and take it to be presented on a larger scale,” Sokoloff said.
Through his experiences with undergraduate research, Sokoloff became passionate with the idea of connecting people through common musical experiences. Sokoloff referred to his research as a playground for his education.
“I wouldn’t [otherwise] have fallen into this passion that may turn into a career for me,” he said. “It’s more fulfilling than simply fulfilling graduation requirements.”
Sokoloff’s mentor, professor of Performing Arts Jane Wellford, enjoyed working with him and seeing his enthusiasm for his research.
“Getting to know Jake through our Elon College Fellows research over his four years, I learned that he is not only a talented music theatre major but an individual who will do well in life,” Wellford said. “I love the fact that Jake dares to dream big and make things happen.”
Practicing the art of pop
Senior Honors Fellow Brooke Jenkins appreciates the straightforwardness of pop music.
“Simplicity in pop music is a beautiful thing,” she said. “It creates something people love. That’s definitely art.”
For her research, entitled “Songwriting and Arranging in Styles of Popular Music,” she studied specific albums from 10 different pop musicians — including Lana del Ray, Mika, Fall Out Boy and Taylor Swift, among others — and wrote original songs based on the styles of these musicians.
Jenkins said some artists were easier to emulate than others. Her favorite was the style of Mika, which pushed her to be more “poppy.” Writing in the style of Fall Out Boy was the most difficult for her because of the clever wordplay and lyrics they usually incorporate into each song.
Throughout the research process, the most difficult aspect was writing songs similar to artists without ripping them off. She said it was difficult to follow melodic patterns without copying, especially with Lana del Ray’s music.
As a music production major, Jenkins has always enjoyed listening to and writing music, but she learned to appreciate pop music more with her research.
“Lots of people look at pop in a very formulaic way,” she said.
Prior to her research, she wrote many original songs, most of them folk- and acoustic-based, once a week while at Elon. After exploring pop music, she is more confident in songwriting, which she hopes to make into a career.
“I don’t see songwriting as overwhelming anymore,” Jenkins said. “To do it professionally, you have to just keep writing.”
Jenkins believes her research is an important contribution to the field of music theory. She said there is no pre-defined way to study and analyze pop albums, and her research helps build some structure for the field.
Her mentor, Clay Stevenson, a lecturer in music, has seen Jenkins’ songwriting progress.
“At the beginning of the process, her music was fairly predictable in that she wrote in a specific style and maintained a certain sound,” he said. “As she studied artists and styles she adopted a number of interesting techniques, and her music became more varied and interesting.”
Jenkins said participating in undergraduate research has changed the way she looks at music.
“It has been a defining element of my undergraduate career,” she said. “It lets me focus on what I want to do going forward. It’s what you do beyond classes that allow you to create something really meaningful.”
Click for a first impression
Senior Elon College Fellow Sara Hess’ research investigates individuals’ first impressions through online contact and profiles such as Facebook. Her research is titled “The Exploration of the Pit Bull Stigma in an Online Environment: An Analysis of Impression Formation and Online Discussion Groups.”
Her work, classified under the new psychology field Human-Animal Interactions, focused on the negative perceptions of the pit bull dog breed, which is stereotyped as an aggressive and mean breed. This degrading impression extends to pit bull owners as well.
Hess said people’s views on the breed have changed since the Michael Vick dogfighting incidents of the 2000s, which showed pit bulls aggressively attacking each other.
“They were regarded with respect, but now a majority of people hate and fear them,” she said.
To study her claim, she set up two mock Facebook pages. One featured a profile picture of a girl with a pit bull, the other a profile picture of a girl with a labrador. She found that more people liked the Facebook page with the Labrador.
Hess connected her study to first impressions that people experience online and in person.
“The choice of a dog you choose to adopt or the choice of a phone you choose to buy can affect the way people see you,” she said.
Hess stressed that today, online first impressions are more important than ever.
Paul Fromson, professor of psychology, mentored Hess. He said her research was a unique addition to research done on first impressions. Fromson also said he learned about his own perceptions of the dog breed during research with Hess.
“I now know that pit bulls are not as inherently aggressive as they are often portrayed in the media,” he said. “But if I was walking down the street and saw one in a yard up ahead, I’d probably steer clear. I certainly wouldn’t approach it going, ‘Nice doggie, nice doggie.’”
Fromson said undergraduate research not only helps the individual but also the greater community of academics.
“The questions we investigate and the methods we use to pursue answers are embedded in our disciplinary communities,” he said. “Research doesn’t end until we have shared our work with members of those communities.”
Students worked on their research throughout the semester and shared it with their peers and faculty on Tuesday, April 28.
(04/28/15 6:51pm)
Three words Michael Williams, director of campus center operations and conferences at Elon University, would use to describe Barry Bradberry are honesty, integrity and Elon. He has his reasons.
As Williams was pumping gas into his car before heading to work one morning, he saw Bradberry, associate dean of admissions and financial planning, pass in his own car.
Bradberry stopped his car in the middle of the street, hopped out, picked up a piece of trash, got back in the car and continued on his way.
As Bradberry drove away, Williams thought to himself, “He’s true, he’s real, he’s all about making Elon look good.”
That is not how Bradberry views his involvement on campus. He sees himself as the major beneficiary of a more than 40-year relationship with the Elon community.
“The university’s been so good to me,” he said. “I’ve been able to avoid square pegs and round holes.”
Bradberry has watched as Elon grew from a little-known college to an award-winning university. He grew alongside Elon, going from student to staff member to associate dean of admissions and financial planning.
Bradberry graduated in 1975 and returned to Elon the following fall semester to work in admissions. He never left.
A tap on the shoulder
Williams first met Bradberry more than 16 years ago.
“The first time I met him, he welcomed me to Elon in his own Barry, Elon way,” Williams said. “The same thing he’s said from then to now is, ‘Good to have you here.’ That’s the image he portrays and the way he communicates with people.”
When Bradberry graduated from Kellam High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia, he had a close relationship with his school principal, Jefferson Davis, an Elon graduate. Davis made sure Bradberry had the opportunity to attend college — the first in his family to do so.
After Bradberry spent two years at Chowan University, then a junior college in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Davis helped him transfer to Elon for his junior year.
During Winter Term, Bradberry spent a month interning with the Virginia House of Delegates.
“Elon had the 4-1-4 semester system, which enabled me to take the Winter Term off-campus and work as an administrative assistant to Del. Donald Rhodes from Virginia Beach,” he said. “It was a life changing experience for me.”
When Bradberry returned to Elon, he got what he calls a “tap on the shoulder” from then-Dean of Admissions Mary Dell Bright.
“She heard of my experience in Virginia and felt I had the skills that would help attract students to Elon,” Bradberry said.
He was hired immediately after graduation under a 90-day contract that allowed him to return to the Virginia House of Delegates in January. He had planned to return since the end of his first internship, but he never got the chance to do so.
“Elon decided to extend my contract, and the rest is history,” he said.
But Bradberry did not remain stagnant at Elon.
“After I completed my third year, our vice president, Dr. James Moncure, brought me into his office to explain the Elon vision and the future expectations for admissions,” Bradberry said.
He didn’t think anyone was paying attention to the work he put in during those three years in admissions, but he found himself tapped on the shoulder once again.
“[Moncure] explained to me the 5-5 rule,” Bradberry said. “If I did not have a master’s degree in five years, I would be gone in five minutes, which meant in simple English that the train was leaving the station, and if I wanted to move to a different position in higher education, especially at Elon, it had to happen. I never looked back.”
Bradberry chose to attend graduate school to reaffirm his commitment to the university’s community and culture. He attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and returned to Elon — back to work.
Watching progress unfold
Bradberry has seen remarkable growth during his 40 years at Elon. The university has expanded its graduate programs, become one of the largest private schools in the state and, in 2001, changed its name from Elon College to Elon University.
“He’s seen the transition of the university through a lot of years in the admissions process,” Williams said. “I think he’s a good conduit to be able to reach back and say, ‘This is what we used to do, this is where we come from,’ but in the same respect, knowing where we’re going.”
Along with others in admissions, Bradberry takes part in important conversations about how the school recruits, where it recruits and what the university is looking for in potential students.
“I’m at the point in my career where I hear from students I recruited to Elon well over 30 years ago who now have sons and daughters considering and enrolling at Elon,” Bradberry said. “I love my job, gosh I do.”
But he views his job as much more than selling the school.
“The ‘Elon way’ is not a catchy phrase or a cool, feel-good marketing slogan,” he said. “It is an attitude and a way of life. It is what has made Elon the place it is today.”
Bradberry’s goal is to give every student who visits Elon the best chance at finding the right place for him or her, which involves working and meeting individually with families. He never misses a call from a potential student.
“I pride myself on getting back to people,” Bradberry said. “When I get that call, that issue is probably the most important issue for that family. If I have to stay until 7 p.m. tonight, we’re gonna answer
that question.”
Giving back by paying it forward
Bradberry’s dedication was inspired by his own family. Over the years, Bradberry maintained a close relationship with his mother and late father. He also says he and his wife have had a very full life, starting with their shared line of work.
“The very best thing about my time at Elon is [that] I met my wife Martha while working in admissions,” he said. “I could not have a better life partner.”
The two have never had children, but for Bradberry, the students he has seen through the admissions process are like their own.
Bradberry knows many families visiting from out of state are doing a series of tours at various schools in the area.
Rather than pointing out why he believes Elon is better, he presents the facts he feels are part of what makes the school special. Beyond those figures, he said, lies the true value of an Elon education, one that is impossible to convey in an hour-long presentation.
“I truly believe in the liberal arts,” he said. “We have people that are English majors and go to law school. You can’t put a dollar value on that.”
If students still don’t feel as though Elon is right for them, Bradberry will still make sure they understand what to look for when choosing a school. In his introductory presentation, he presents the best practices for developing an impressive profile, acquiring recommendations and submitting applications.
His goal is to get students into colleges that will suit their needs.
“We counsel a lot more than people realize,” he said.
As one of the few initial university contacts for prospective families, Bradberry believes his experience has more than made up for the work he has put in.
He said no day is the same, so staying stagnant in admissions has not been possible. He views the journey as one he would not change if given the chance.
“They said, ‘You’re a glass half-full kind of guy.’ I said, ‘I can’t do it any other way,’” he said.
(04/27/15 4:36pm)
Each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, transfer sophomore Charles Perschau leaves home by 7:15 a.m.
While his classmates roll out of bed 15 minutes before class begins, he is pulling into Elon University and searching for a parking spot.
Perschau was born in Raleigh. He moved to New Jersey and later California, where he took classes at Cuesta College, a public community college.
Now, he lives in Hillsborough and commutes to Elon for class. And Perschau isn’t the only student to choose this kind of college experience — according to Scott Jean, chief of security for Campus Safety and Police, Elon has 176 registered commuter students this semester.
These students often face obstacles in becoming involved in on-campus activities, but many still feel like they’re part of the Elon community.
Balancing Elon and home
As both a transfer and a commuter, this semester has been a transition period for Perschau. But he still believes he is a part of the college experience.
“Socially, when you’re on campus, you run into more people — but regardless, [the college experience] is what you make of it,” he said. “It’s all about figuring out more about yourself, getting opportunities to meet others.”
As a commuter student, Perschau’s time for on-campus activities is limited, but he is a member of ETalk, Elon’s entertainment talk show.
With the little time he spends on campus, he has to manage his homework differently than many students. He rarely does school work at Elon, choosing instead to work at the Carrboro Coffee Company or at home.
Perschau met most of his Elon friends in classes, but he doesn’t have much time to hang out with them because he has to return home each day.
One of these friends is junior Patrick Achey, a commuter student from Greensboro.
“Unlike most students, we understand the process of going to school,” Achey said. “We’ve bonded over the fact that more effort is required to get to school and through the day.”
Achey transferred to Elon from the University of Mississippi last year. He decided to commute this year to pursue an opportunity in property investment, which is a family business.
“If I didn’t commute, I wouldn’t be able to effectively manage the property investment as I have,” he said.
Achey is a management major and president of the Transfer Student Organization. Like Perschau, he has an 8 a.m. class.
His commute is about 40 minutes, so this semester, he has to plan each day in advance. If he forgets something at home, he has to restructure the whole day to compensate.
Achey has committed to be an Orientation Leader and a tour guide next semester. Like Perschau, he wants to return to on-campus housing or housing closer to campus to be more involved next year.
Achey is glad to have met many people last year in his role as a RA in the Danieley apartments. Without that experience, he believes he wouldn’t have as many friends on campus.
“It was great getting acclimated with the campus last year, being a transfer student,” he said.
Deciding to commute
Unlike Perschau and Achey, other students live in Burlington but decide to live on campus, only minutes away from home.
Freshman Ashley Day’s house is only about 10 minutes away, but she currently lives in Colonnades.
According to Residence Life, she is one of 20 Burlington residents living on campus.
“Distance from home was indeed a factor that I did hesitate with at first,” she said. “However, family means so much to me, so having them close is nice. I knew whether I decided to go to Elon or not, I would live on campus without a doubt. It is just part of the college experience.”
Though she lives on campus, Day is unlike most students in that she still has the benefit of going home regularly for hot, homecooked meals.
“Personally, I think that living close to campus has impacted my college experience in a positive way,” Day said. “I honestly love being close to home and would not want to be at any other school.”
By living on campus, Day made friends and found roommates for next semester. She joined Alpha Omicron Pi, the Exercise Science Society, Young Life, Autism Speaks and College Republicans. She also has an on-campus job in the men’s basketball office.
“I don’t think there would be any advantages if I had commuted every day,” Day said. “Everything I need is already on campus.”
Sophomore Jacob Schmiederer and junior Steven Cobb made a different decision. They both live in Burlington and commute to campus each day.
Schmiederer said he decided to attend Elon for financial reasons, and one of his goals is to graduate debt-free. He is not very involved in organizations on campus, but works 15 hours a week at The Oak House.
Cobb decided to attend Elon for four more years of proximity to his family.
“Every Friday around 11 a.m., I have breakfast with my grandmother,” Cobb said.
He also said it’s not logical to pay $8,000 or more a year to live on campus when his home is so close.
Both Burlington commuters agree they miss out on many social opportunities on campus, but there are still benefits to commuting.
“There are definitely a lot of notifications inside dorms about campus events that I never see,” Schmiederer said. “I think you have to hunt for experiences a little more if you don’t live on campus, but living on campus is not necessary for the college experience.”
Similarly, Cobb also struggled to be involved, but eventually found a place where he belonged.
“It took me nearly all of freshman year to find the people I wanted to be with and the organizations I wanted to invest in,” he said. “I consider myself lucky, actually. I know [that] many students who commute to school don’t get involved at all.”
After discussing the college lifestyle with commuter and non-commuter Burlington residents, Perschau learned how to become involved when not living on campus.
Early on, it was simple for him to go to classes and return home without leaving his comfort zone. But he’s glad he didn’t stay that way.
“To all commuter students: be proactive about meeting people, instead of what I tried doing at first,” he said.
(04/27/15 4:28pm)
Communicating an order is key to getting the meal you actually want from a restaurant. However, for those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing this can be impossible to understand, which is where sign language helps, but a fraction of the population knows it.
Students are hosting a dinner to raise awareness for American Sign Language (ASL) and the local deaf and hard-of-hearing community Monday, April 27 in the Numen Lumen Pavilion. The dinner benefits the Communication Services for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (CSDHH) in Greensboro.
“This is a unique event,” sophomore Elizabeth Zimmerman said. “We are having a taco dinner and the wait staff are trained, certified sign language interpreters and we will have menus that have translations with the signs.”
Students came up with the event for SEM 427, a practical course within the Sports and Event Management major that allows students to apply the principles they learned in earlier classes to planning their own events.
The SEM 427 course, as a practical service-learning class, requires students to create, promote and manage an original event that will benefit a local community. Students must select an event and then plan, organize and execute it, Sport and Event Management department chair Hal Walker said.
“In SEM, we stress the importance of transferable skills, and there is no better way to learn these skills than by running a live event,” Walker said. “Planning, organizing, staffing, directing, organizing, leading, budgeting are all critical skills necessary for success in the real world. Students take ownership for each of these aspects, and they always learn a great deal about themselves and others.”
The idea of a sign language restaurant was first proposed by a student who was also taking an ASL course. As a whole, the class was interested in pursuing this unique and fun concept and raising awareness of a local organization.
“The event was inspired by a restaurant in Toronto called Signs,” freshman Lauren Miscovsky said. “This restaurant hires only deaf waitresses and waiters, which encourages the hearing world to be exposed and to use American Sign Language and menus are created so each item is shown with its corresponding sign in ASL.”
The “Event Management” students thought it would be an engaging challenge to bring a restaurant like Signs to Elon. When deciding on the event, the class thought recreating the signing concept was a different way to bring awareness of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community to the Elon campus. They decided on a taco bar where patrons would be able to say exactly what toppings they wanted using sign language they learned from images on the menu.
“We decided on serving tacos so people can learn multiple different types of signs for all of the toppings that come with a taco,” Miscovsky said. “I am extremely excited for the event and I think it will be a great success.”
Along with organizing the event, students also needed to find a specific organization to support. To keep the awareness local, they decided on CSDHH.
“CSDHH focuses on giving deaf people in the central North Carolina area resources they need to succeed in a hearing-based world.” Zimmerman said. “Our goal is to raise funds and awareness to things they and we are passionate about. We wanted to stay local, to show that the Elon community cares about the people in the surrounding areas.”
The event serves as a way for both the students to organize an event on their own and for the community to learn more about the CSDHH and deaf and ASL culture.
“By putting on this event, we hope to raise awareness for the sign language community and the cause, but also to raise funds,” Zimmerman said. “Our goal is to put on a professional event at the end of the day and that we can be proud to have made a difference.”
(04/24/15 5:26pm)
These are not your parents’ piano lessons.
(04/23/15 8:02pm)
Luminaries displaying faces, names and memories will line the paths of Elon University April 24-25 as Elon hosts its third Relay for Life.
The event’s popularity on campus has significantly increased and is aiming to raise $75,000 compared to the $50,041 last year. With more than 13 million people living with cancer in the United States, many students have deep connections to the cause and are eager to participate.
From participants to directors, every person has a different reason and story for participating in the fundraiser for cancer research.
Senior Laura Castro first got involved with Relay for Life in 2013 after seeing many friends lose their parents to cancer. She is currently executive director of Relay for Life at Elon.
“I tried to support them through that struggle and thought it was extremely unfair for someone so young to have to experience that much pain,” Castro said. “We decided that we wanted to make a difference by establishing a Relay for Life at Elon and got to work.”
During the fundraiser, men and women walk 60 miles over the course of three days. After completing the walk, Sykes continued her passion for cancer fundraising.
Colleges Against Cancer (CAC) is a nationwide collaboration of college students, faculty and staff dedicated to eliminating cancer by implementing the programs and mission of the American Cancer Society. Relay for Life is one of CAC’s strategic directions, the others being advocacy, cancer education and survivorship.
“Ten years ago, my world was rocked when I lost my mom to breast cancer,” said senior Eleanor Sykes. “Not long after, I became very involved with the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day with my family and friends in order to make a positive impact in such unfortunate circumstances.”
“When Danielle Prongay told me my sophomore year that she was bringing Colleges Against Cancer to campus and it would host Relay for Life, I jumped at the chance to be a part of the fight against cancer again, applied for exec and have been involved ever since,” Sykes said.
Sykes currently holds the survivor relations position. She and other students organize luminaries that are personalized with a name, photo, message or drawing in memory of a friend or loved one who has been affected by cancer.
“A lot of our exec members, committee members and participants have been affected by cancer, which is evident in the amount of luminaries we have dedicated already,” Sykes said.
Each of these luminaries tells a story that connects students to the fight against cancer.
There will be a luminary dedicated to freshman Virginia Townsend’s mother at Relay for Life. As an individual, Townsend has raised the most money for the event.
“My mother was diagnosed with stage-4 colon cancer last October,” Townsend said. “She passed away very quickly on November 2. I want to do everything I can so that no on else has to suffer the pain that my family and I did.”
This will be the first year Townsend is participating in this event, but she wishes she had started participating earlier.
“When it hit home, I knew it was time that I get involved,” she said.
The Luminary Ceremony will take place after sunset. As darkness falls, it represents the immense effect cancer has on participants and the support system surrounding them.
“It is without a doubt my favorite part of Relay for Life because it is so touching and impactful to look around at all the glowing lights and realize you’re not alone in being affected by this disease or in the fight against it,” Sykes said.
The CAC Chapter at Elon has more stories about why others chose to participate in Relay for Life at eloncac.weebly.com/blog.
“Unfortunately, all members of the Elon community can relate to the pain to some degree, but we turned the negative into a positive by uniting the campus to fight back,” Castro said.
(04/22/15 10:01pm)
Grandmother Stokely taught Eric Lupton, the current owner of Stokely’s BBQ, everything he knows about food. He spent his childhood summers at his grandmother’s home in eastern North Carolina, and after years of baking cakes and smoking pigs, Lupton decided to go into the restaurant business.
(04/15/15 10:22pm)
Drema Holder has just one son, but during any given semester, that number balloons to more than two-dozen.
For the past six years, Holder has worked part-time in the Moseley Center at Elon University as a program assistant alongside two full-timers and watching over nearly 30 student workers.
These students are Holder’s self-proclaimed “all-time joy,” and the relationship she has deveolped with them has given her the title of “the mother of Moseley Center.”
“I still feel like I’m raising children,” she said.
It’s a tight-knit group inside the Moseley Center that’s made up of Holder, Michael Williams, director of campus center operations, Henry Walling, assistant director, a graduate assistant and 27 student workers.
After a few minutes around the front desk, it’s easy to see why they consider themselves a family.
“What really impacts me are the student workers that we have and how close they’ve become with each other,” Holder said. “I ask them, ‘Would you have ever known this person unless you didn’t work at the front desk?’ and they say, ‘No.’ To me, that’s rewarding. It’s just amazing how they grow and that’s fulfilling for me.”
Holder’s mission is to get to know her co-workers beyond the workplace. She wants to know about their families, friends and lives in general.
“I feel like I have a good working relationship,” she said. “I ask about them. I want to know about their family, what they did on break, what they’re going to be doing. I want them to be able to come to me if they need something or just want to chat about how their weekend went.”
Holder’s main responsibilities are to assist with the daily operations of the Moseley Center as well as to coordinate the shuttle service Elon runs for its students during breaks.
To perform this role, Holder learned a lesson in mitigation, as she often has to deal with angry parents and students.
“By the end of the conversation, people are usually OK,” Williams said. “With her personality, there’s no way you couldn’t. She’s kind but she’ll tell you what you need to know though as well, so that’s the good part. She’s almost like a mother figure to a lot of the folks.”
The students’ relationship with Holder doesn’t end after they graduate from Elon. A number of her student workers have remained in contact with Holder through Facebook, exchanging messages and maintaining the relationship that began on campus.
One of these students is Suzanne Bell ’13. Bell worked at the Moseley Center for three and a half years with Holder, and Bell considers her a “second mom.”
Bell has shared some great memories with Holder, but none was more special than the New Year’s Day she spent at the Holder home a few years ago.
“I was apprehensive about going, but her family welcomed me into their home,” Bell said. “We all chatted for a while and then ate a wonderful meal. It was a special night. One I’ll never forget.”
As she begins to build her professional career and move on with her life, Bell has become more detached from Elon. But the one connection that remains is Holder. They stay connected through simple gestures, like the one Bell made on Holder’s birthday last year by sending her flowers.
“I just thought that was so special,” Holder said.
Elon isn’t the only place where Holder helps others. She has elderly neighbors she assists when needed and frequently volunteers at the Allied Churches food bank.
“I love to help them, take food to them or check on them cause they don’t have much family,” Holder said. “That’s really fulfilling for me to see things that you kind of take for granted.”
Relationships are important to Holder, and she builds them anywhere she can.
Holder is a Burlington native and graduate of Williams High School, has been married for 41 years and still remains close with her brother and two sisters, who also live nearby.
“We are a real close knit family,” she said.
Working with students isn’t something new to Holder. She worked with students for three decades prior to coming to Elon as an administrative assistant for two associate deans at nearby Alamance Community College (ACC). It was there she realized her love for interacting and bonding with students.
“My all-time joy is the students,” Holder said. “I still feel like they’re my little children.”
Over three decades from her start at ACC, Holder has not lost a passion for interacting with the students and brightening their day. On any given day, Holder might bake cookies for the staff or bring in doughnuts from her favorite doughnut shop to share with everyone. This is a gesture Williams appreciates but jokes it will have him in the gym more often.
“To me, they’re my all-time favorite doughnuts so I’ll stop by,” she said. “I feel my co-workers are just so special to me and I like to do things for them.”
After leaving the community college system, Holder moved on to a new phase of her life but knew she wasn’t ready to retire.
“I retired from the state and then wanted to keep working because I felt like I wasn’t old enough to retire,” she said. “I didn’t want to sit home.”
Now, Holder works part-time in the Moseley Center and provides much more than assistance with shuttles to the airport on breaks.
She is someone students can talk to, relate to and go to for help. The reputation she’s built over the last six years at Elon as a motherly figure is one she has embraced, and doesn’t see herself losing hold of any time soon.
“When I dread getting up in the mornings and coming to work, that’s when I’ll know it’s time for me to actually retire,” Holder said. “But right now, I love coming to work, even days that I feel like I’m sick and need to be home, I still want to come to work.”
(04/09/15 6:35pm)
Across campus, a blonde ponytail bobbed up and down, bright Nike sneakers hit the pavement and music blasted. Freshman Helena Nicholson reached another mile on her run.
Nicholson recently began training for a half marathon in Boston this summer. With about a month and a half left before the race, her training regimen has become rigorous.
“I just started a more intense schedule of running six days a week and doing longer mileage,” Nicholson said. “I try to run around 30 miles a week around campus.”
While practicing running long distance is important, Nicholson added that her diet is just as significant. She now eats more protein than she used to and drinks lots of water.
Sophomore Danielle Dulchinos completed her first half marathon during spring break in Wilmington. She was apprehensive at first since she had previously only run 5Ks and a ‘Color Run.’ Dulchinos said the support of friends running with her made it much more worthwhile.
“My friend convinced me to start training because she had run lots of half and full marathons,” Dulchinos said. “When she went abroad to Spain, I began training with another friend who was at the same running level as me.”
Freshmen Olivia Sorbo and Olivia Vaz are training for a half marathon in June in Fairfield, Connecticut. Training together, the two agree, makes it fun and much easier.
“This is my first half marathon, so doing it with Liv is a great motivator,” Vaz said.
Sorbo and Vaz are on a 16-week plan, training five days a week with three of the days specifically for running. The rest they spend on cross and strength training, and following Blogilates’ YouTube videos or taking cardio classes at the gym.
Their Fitbits, Vaz added, are an important part of their training plan, tracking their movement and running distance each day.
Sorbo decided to do another half marathon after having positive experiences running in previous races.
“I like having something to work toward,” Sorbo said. “I played field hockey in high school so I was always looking to have a low mile time. Once that was over, I wanted a new something to focus on.”
For Nicholson, running has been a huge part of her life since high school. She runs almost every day, a training schedule she says contributes to her positive mindset.
“When I had shin splits in the winter, I couldn’t run, and I noticed a dramatic change in my mood,” Nicholson said. “People say they get a ‘runner’s high,’ but for me, it’s an overall improvement of happiness.”
Dulchinos said the running community has given her a greater appreciation and love for running.
“They are a really cool group of people that are supportive and friendly,” Dulchinos said. “I love racing because it’s an amazing feeling to have people cheering you on in the sidelines.”
A half marathon is no easy feat — 13.1 miles is quite daunting, especially for new runners. Sorbo said that beginner runners should not be afraid of half marathons because of the length.
“People always say, ‘13 miles, that’s impossible,’” Sorbo said. “Freshman year of high school, I couldn’t even run a mile. I am not a natural runner, so I feel like if I can do it, anyone can.”
Nicholson added that running in general is a great stress reliever and also a convenient way to work out.
“Running gets you into great shape because it works every muscle group,” Nicholson said. “I am fairly lazy in regard to working out, so it’s nice that I don’t have to go to the gym and do several different exercises to work each specific muscle.”
After finishing her half marathon, Dulchinos got hooked. Running with 3,000 people was an incredible experience that made her consider signing up for a full marathon. This was different from her original plan, which was to simply finish the whole race.
“I was running three miles before I started training,” Dulchinos said. “For anyone who is hesitant to do a half marathon, all you need to do is find a great plan, commit yourself and just do it.”
(04/09/15 6:29pm)
As class periods ended, students shuffled about campus and walked to their next class, but a few lagged behind. These students can be seen wearing braces or casts accompanied by a pair of crutches and have a few difficulties moving about. Varsity basketball player Nicole Razor is one of those students.
The junior point guard played 17 games as a freshman in 2012-2013, receiving the team’s Most Improved Player Award.
“I take pride when players are not able to score on me,” Razor said. “I like the challenge.”
Razor had her third hip surgery in August after experiencing a lingering pain during preseason. Because of it, she missed the entire season and is still working to overcome her injury. She has had two other surgeries, the first after the 2013 season and the second last June.
Watching from the sidelines has been challenging, but Razor still supports the team and attends all of their games, cheering them on from the sidelines.
“This has been my hardest year,” she said. “I think I’m still a great teammate, and, as much as I support them, I want to be out there playing and fighting with my team.”
While she supports the team from the bench, her teammates have supported her recovery. She received words of encouragement via text from some of them on the day of her most recent surgery.
“The hardest part is trying to stay positive, especially since I previously went through this injury. It was discouraging in the beginning,” Razor said. “But my teammates are always there for me, so they’ve made the process easier.”
This is Razor’s first serious injury and there is no diagnosis. All she knows is the pain came from her hip but is unsure of the cause. This uncertainty will make adjusting to the game a challenge when she returns, but she hopes to be ready for the 2015-2016 preseason.
“It’s difficult to pinpoint a certain muscle or part of the body,” Razor said. “You don’t know exactly what you did to get this way.”
Since her surgery, physical therapy has changed Razor’s schedule immensely. She meets with Laura Cobb, assistant athletic trainer, four to five times a week to help the recovery process.
Throughout rehabilitation, Cobb has noticed Razor’s positive attitude and her determination to return to the court.
“Nicole’s taught me a lot about the passion athletes have for sports and how much they [are willing] to go through to get back playing,” Cobb said.
Cobb said Razor’s case has been particularly demanding because it is long term and requires time to heal.
“I always tell the athletes recovering, ‘it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon,’” Cobb said. “It is going to take time and hard work, but it’s worth it, as opposed to getting frustrated about injuries.”
Razor said the recovery process has been 80 percent mental and 20 percent physical.
“No matter how much you prepare your body, it all goes out the door if you don’t have the confidence and begin thinking about what could happen,” she said.
Moving around campus has also been an adjustment because her hip brace and crutches make her normal walk through campus longer.
“It’s all a little time consuming,” Razor said. “But if you want to return to the court, this is something you have to do.”
(04/09/15 1:26am)
Junior Ben Neikirk likes to arrive at his classes 45 minutes to an hour early. He isn’t there to sit behind a desk, though — he’s a Group X instructor, and he’s there to teach.
(04/09/15 12:54am)
Correction: The original article referred to a student with the last name "Young." This was a pseudonym — no student with the name "Young" was interviewed for this article. All references of the student have been changed to "the male freshman" or a variation thereof to prevent confusion. The Pendulum regrets the error.
