Harrison George

This is the last issue of The Bulletin for this semester. As we wind down the year and prepare for finals all eyes are on summer vacation.

Summer means a break from school and enjoying the great weather outdoors. For Emporians it also means a mass exodus of students as they return home for two months. Unlike other college towns such as Lawrence and Manhattan Emporia does not seem to retain its student population during the summer months.

This could be for a couple of reasons. Students wish to return to their homes to be with their family and friends. Others return home to resume a job left on hold or because their city has more job opportunities than Emporia.

But the majority of students seem to leave Emporia for the summer simply because they feel there isn’t enough to do within the city. Emporia has long tried to fight its reputation of being a slow town without much to entertain its college-aged crowd.

It’s true that if you compare Emporia to bigger cities like Wichita or Kansas City it appears that Emporia is lacking in entertainment or jobs. But if you were to take the time to really look Emporia over you might realize there is plenty going on to keep someone occupied and entertained during the summer.

First to be mentioned should be the music scene. Emporia’s live music scene has begun to rebuild itself after a three year lull and the summertime is always a high point for good shows. Beer:30 will be opening its scenic beer garden area which is perfect for live music.

Live in the Lot will also be starting up come summertime. Live in the Lot is the yearly music event held in the Farmer’s Market parking lot that showcases good live bands for the whole family to enjoy. There will be concerts held there throughout the summer.

In terms of other entertainment the historic Granada Theater will continue to show films throughout the summer on Wednesday and Thursday nights. Tickets are cheap and the movies are fun for dates or just a night out with friends.

If you are looking for something to do outdoors go explore one of Emporia’s 18 parks spread throughout the city. Or check out the zoo (the largest free zoo in the country) and see what the animals are up to during the heat of the summer.

As always the ESU theatre department will be putting on a wide array of plays from comedies to musicals to dramas.  You can check them out throughout the summer for a very reasonable cost.

And of course all the great local restaurants you know and love in Emporia will be there day in and day out to serve up delicious foods. You’ll even be able to visit some of the restaurants that might be hard to get to during the school year because of their limited hours (Amanda’s Bakery, for example).

The more students we can get to stay in Emporia during the summer the better the end result will be for all of us. If you stay in Emporia and spend your money at locally owned businesses they can use their profits to reinvest in their business and in the Emporia community. This will only help the economy grow and expand. The more it expands the better the shopping and dining experience will be for everyone.

But in order to get there they need your business and your support as a customer.

Everyone knows that Emporia has a reputation for being a little slow. But if you do your part to become engaged in the local community and economy you can help make that reputation a distant memory and we can all enjoy the benefits of a thriving booming Emporia.

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Senior sociology major Harrison George performs at UAC’s Last Comic Standing last Thursday in the Memorial Union Colonial Ballroom. George was judged the winner by Pete Lee who was on NBC’s 6th season of Last Comic Standing. Sisi Huang/The Bulleyin.

Union Activities Council presented a Last Comic Standing competition in which several Emporia State student took the stage. Pete Lee, competitor on season six of NBC’s Last Comic Standing, hosted show.

“We met Pete Lee at the (National Association for Campus Activities) convention in the fall and we thought he would be a really fun act to bring to ESU,” said Lainie Harber, junior communications major and UAC president.

Competition organizers said that Last Comic Standing is a good way to bring a fun and enthusiastic influence to campus and to give students an opportunity to have fun and participate in an interesting event.

“We know we have many funny students at ESU and we thought it would be fun to have a comedy competition as a UAC event,” Harber said.

Each contestant had a 20 minutes to perform. First place went to Harrison George, senior sociology major.

“I have always been a huge fan of stand-up comedy and I’ve tried it a few times in the past, so I really wanted to see what it’d be like to compete,” George said.

George said that laughter is a great stress-reliever and he always tries to find humor in everything he does.

“I have been doing improvisational comedy for seven years and I’m a member of the improv team here at ESU. I’ve done stand up for about a year, in Emporia and the K.C. area,” George said. “Life can be really tough sometimes and if you can’t make yourself laugh then it’s only that much tougher.”

The competition was started by Pete Lee’s performance.

The show was split into four sections for each of the contestants, Chance Henson, Ryan Lickteig, Kevin Dudzinski and Harrison George.

Lickteig, freshman English major, said the competition was amazing and all the contestants should be content.

“I’d have to say my grandfather and my dad were very influential, they are hilarious and very rare people; they take life as it comes and enjoy every minute of it,” Lickteig said. “They always told me I have strong opinionated views and that I use good humor in expressing my views. Hearing them saying that was definitely influential. Also I just enjoying performing and making people laugh.”

Lickteig has a strong desire to write and enjoys entertaining people. He thought the preparation for the competition helped him get reactions to his writing and ideas.

“I write all my material. I like seeing how people react to my jokes/humor; it is interesting and good building blocks for an aspiring comedian,” Lickteig said. “In most of my material I like to address social problems, yet make it comical to show life shouldn’t be taken so seriously. Also I like making characters and becoming them during my performance.”

Lee, who has devoted 14 years on comedy, showed audience members just how excellent they were.

“It was amazing. Everyone who performed was incredibly talented. I was crying I was laughing so hard. And the audience was the most fun-loving, supportive crowd I have ever seen. They were obviously there to have a good time,” George said. “I had a lot of fun, that’s for sure. What I love about stand up is you get a little better every time you do it; you learn what works and what doesn’t and you take that with you the next time around. It keeps me excited to keep performing because I feel I always have room to progress and get better.”

George said he hoped to move out to Chicago or LA and started a career in comedy. Holding his own late night talk show has been his lifelong dream since he was nine.

After the competition, Lee offered advice for each contestant’s own standup.

“I love the students here,” Lee said. “Their comedy is really funny. I think the four of them have potential. It was a tough choice for me to judge them tonight, cause how can you judge variety of people who are really funny. My only advice to them is keep doing this. Stick to your dream, enjoy this and write a lot, and try to be ridiculous successful.”

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Emporia State showed its gay pride Monday night with its first ever Alternative Beauty Contest at 7 p.m. in the Memorial Union Ballroom. Students dressed in drag to compete for Mr. and Ms. ESU Drag. There were three rounds: one for talent, one based on how the contestants were dressed and one where the judges interviewed the contestants.

“As far as acting out, this is the biggest I have ever seen an audience for in 10 years, so it was awesome and the energy from the crowd, from the performers, I just loved it,” said Luke Wolford, junior sociology major and PRIDE president.

Wolford said the event was a follow up to Friday’s Day of Silence as a part of Pride week, which supports gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights. For Day of Silence, students took a vow of silence to bring attention to discrimination in education. Wolford said this yearESU’s Day of Silence was dedicated to Missouri Southern, a university where sexual orientation and gender identity are not a part of the university’s non-discrimination clause.

“Today is supposed to be about being loud, being fun, being as visible as possible and showing that, you know what, Friday we showed you what it’s like if we didn’t have a voice, now let’s show you what it’s like when we do,” Wolford said.

Wolford said PRIDE has had drag performances as a part of acting out before, but there has never been an actual drag competition at ESU. He said he had seen it done at other campuses like the University of Kansas where it went over well. The event was partnered with Zoiks! who performed in between rounds and the Union Activities Council.

“We thought if we opened it up to the student body, made it a competition, it would get a lot more of a positive response, get a lot more student feedback, and get more of the campus involved in pride week,” Wolford said.

The competition was judged by Professor of Sociology Giovanna Follo, Psychology professor Jim Pershing and Professor of Social Sciences Deb Gerish. Senior Physical Education andEnglish major Austin Schopper won Ms. ESU with his drag persona Valerie Wasboyskee and Senior Communications major Brittany Zirkle won Mr. ESU for her persona, Chuck Taylor.

Because of a one point difference in score, the overall winner was not one of the two finalists, but was Senior Sociology major Harrison George with his persona called Harizona Persona. Mr. and Ms. ESU were awarded with crowns and the overall winner received a DVD.

“I don’t think it’s hit me yet, I mean it’s like I just wanted to come out and have fun and stuff. I didn’t think I actually had a shot at winning and here I am, so I don’t know,” Schopper said.

The overall winner, Harizona Persona was a feminist character. George said that he came up with his drag persona while preparing for the competition. He said he didn’t want to wear a wig and shave his legs for the competition because he felt like he would be conforming.

“It just made me stop and think about it more, and this character, this feminist kind of character, which are a lot of beliefs I have anyway. It was the first chance I ever had to express them from a woman, an actual woman’s point of view,” George said.

Zirkle said that for her, being involved in it was a learning experience. She said she thought it gave people on campus an idea of what life is like for those whose lifestyle is dressing in drag.

“It definitely gave perspective to what some of my friends go through where they do put facial hair on every day and live that life, so I thought it was a pretty eye opening experience,” Zirkle said.

George said it was also a learning experience for him and that it sent the message that no matter how we dress or act, we’re all people and we’re all the same.

“I thought they did a really good job, it was entertaining and it was light but it also carried a really strong message and I was blown away that so many people attended,” George said.

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Harrison George

I have never been more proud to be an Emporia State student than I am right now. I attended the debate on abortion, which was held on April 5th, and was blown away by the amount of professionalism and respect that I witnessed.

From both sides of the argument, there were thought-out, well-researched answers to questions that are not usually easy to answer. I could genuinely see that the everyone involved was there to educate as well as learn, and not just promote their own hard-set ideals.

Since coming to college I had been waiting and hoping for an event like this. I wanted to see people’s opinions put to the test. I think the most important goals of attending college, in addition to receiving a formal education, is to have your views challenged by others.

Only when challenged can we truly realize what we feel. When we defend our views to others we are defending them to ourselves as well, and if the logic is strong enough we will be satisfied, and we will continue supporting that belief.

If there are holes in our logic then we must reevaluate our reliance on this viewpoint. Perhaps we follow that view because we were raised to or because it is aligned with another stronger belief such as religion. Whatever the reason, this journey of self-discovery is one of the most important experiences we can attain from college.

Many of us are afraid to admit doubt about our own ideals. It is better to convince ourselves we are right than to risk not really knowing how we feel. But once we admit we are unsure we have started down a path of new knowledge, one that will hopefully lead us to a better more satisfying answer.

That is what I felt the goal of this debate was: to help us all create a satisfying viewpoint on a very complex issue.  It did not matter that we all left the debate in agreement; many did not. What was important was that we were able to form our own opinions and feel confident about them.

I must applaud the individuals that took part in the actual debate. They all did an excellent job of remaining on topic and not letting emotion seep into the issues that were discussed. I was impressed at the obvious amounts of research that both sides did in order to prepare for their speeches. As an audience member, that showed me they cared enough about this issue to put serious time and effort into preparation.

The work and style of the moderator, Leo Arellano, was also very helpful in setting the mood of open-mindedness that the event was trying to promote. He remained unaligned throughout the event, doing a skillful job of moving the conversation along and avoiding serious dead ends.

Of course the event did not go without its hiccups. At any event such as this especially one based on such a controversial subject matter there are bound to be people speaking out of turn.  Overall, when this did take place, the moderator and the speakers did a good job of rerouting the course of the dialogue to more even ground.

This is the kind of event we need to see more of on campus. I would love to see this kind of thing occurring on a monthly basis. Abortion is just one of hundreds of issues that we should be addressing on campus.  I think that if something as hotly debated and controversial as abortion can be discussed successfully on campus, that shows we could discuss just about anything.

People come to college for a variety of reasons.  We come to be educated, to improve our social skills, and to prepare ourselves for the outside world. But one reason that is rarely discussed is coming to school to have our views challenged and our opinions expressed. This should be a foremost goal in any credible university. Just as an unexamined life is not worth living, an unexamined viewpoint is not worth defending.

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Harrison George

Sitting in class the other day, I came to a surprising realization. Over the last year, unbeknownst to me, I had somehow become “that guy” in class. You know who I mean. The guy that sits up front every class period, always the first to raise their hand to offer a $10 answer to a $2 question. In middle school, we called this guy a suck-up or the teacher’s pet.  I came to this conclusion after it dawned on me that I was the only student in the class who had spoken all day.

I hadn’t always been this way. Up until this year, my senior year, I was merely an interested student who spoke up only when the situation really called for it. After a question was asked I’d wait a few minutes and if no one else wanted to answer it I would.

As a sociology major, it only seems right that I would spend time analyzing how students regard each other within class. Like most of my fellow students, I didn’t care much for the teacher’s pet, which can be found in just about every classroom.

I couldn’t understand how they could be so socially blind to the fact that they stood out like sore thumbs every time they tried to answer questions or engage the teacher in conversations. I figured it was just another example of people who liked to hear themselves talk.

But this year has changed my perspective on things, and I feel I understand more of the motivation behind the verbose student. My classes have started to affect me on a level that goes beyond the classroom. The material I’m learning about has crept into my thoughts while off campus. I can easily say I am a changed person because of the classes I have had this year and are taking right now.            After years of math, science, and general education classes that went in one ear and out the other, I am thrilled to see that my education is actually starting to sink in.

It’s this mindset that inspires me to speak up in class. I have reached an amazing intersection of interest and actual comprehension of a subject, and that fact gets me so excited I feel the need to become actively involved in my education.

Even after four years of college, that feeling of knowing the answer to a teacher’s question is exciting enough to motivate me to raise my hand, regardless of how it makes me look to the rest of the class.

From my new perspective I have also reexamined what kind of student I used to be. As a more passionate student, I look back on how I was and think about all the chances I missed to widen my understanding of what was being taught.

I have become a believer that education can’t be a spectator sport- students have to take a proactive stance on making sure they not only understand what is being taught but can relate it to their own lives, aka the real world.

I look back on my quieter self and think I was robbing myself of a full education simply because I didn’t want to come off as a dork. Even though we are college that doesn’t mean we’ve fully escaped the world of cliques and social status that was so evident in high school; it’s just more subtle here.

We all take note of how others perceive us, especially in the classroom. There were definitely times I would have spoken up but didn’t for worry about how it would shape people’s view of me.

Now, with a mere two months left before graduation, I’ve become a full blown, unabashed sociology nerd. I am no longer going to apologize for loving my classes and for wanting to interact with my teachers. I am willing to take on the labels that come with that attitude. In the end it’s worth it to feel I am getting my full college education experience.

We all know that it’s cool to sit in the back and pretend you don’t really care about what the teacher is saying. It’s even cooler if you can do that and ace all the tests. But at some point you should stop and think about what is best for you, not your reputation.

In 20 years, are you going to remember how cool you looked in class playing games on your phone or are you going to remember what you learned when you spoke up and asked a question?

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Harrison George

Last Monday, I was feeling exhausted. I had gone through a full day of class, two club meetings, and still had an event for The Bulletin to prepare for. I had a free hour in my schedule and decided to go listen to the speaker at the Granada Theater.

Her name was Dr. Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons. She was a Civil Rights activist who worked with Dr. King during the 1960’s. She spoke about her time as a volunteer in the American South, helping minorities register to vote and working with local churches to spread the word of the Civil Rights Movement.

As I listened to her speak I was consumed by an overwhelming feeling. Suddenly all the feelings of exhaustion, and pride, created from the work I had done that day drained out of me and I was left only with one big question; “What am I doing to change the world?”

To say I found Dr. Simmons inspiring would be an understatement. Her personal story of sacrifice and dedication to a cause she felt so much passion for made my own feelings of commitment pale by comparison. She spoke about the things she willingly risked to become involved in the Civil Rights movement; expulsion from school, disownment from her family, threats to her very life.

Up until that night I felt I was doing a lot in the name of my passions. I felt satisfied with what I had done and was doing, and I felt like I was doing “enough” to support them.

            But after hearing Dr. Simmons speak, I realize there is no such thing as “enough” when it comes to an issue you are truly passionate about. Until that problem is solved, or justice has been delivered, you can never do “enough”.

I’ve always been inspired by the actions taken by the counterculture generation of the 60’s. Looking back at all the work that generation did for great causes such as Civil Rights, Women’s Liberation, the Viet Nam protest, I can’t help but wonder why our generation has not followed in their footsteps.

What will be our great cause? What will cause us to rally by the thousands to have our voice be heard?  What are we waiting for?

It can’t be because there are no more issues to fight. In some ways, we have just as much work to do as any generation that came before us. The problems might not be as clear-cut as legal racial discrimination, but they exist.

I’m reminded of a silly bumper sticker I once saw on the back of a truck. It said “If you aren’t angry you aren’t paying attention.” Where is the passion of our generation? Where is our unstoppable desire to see change?

All of us have watched the harrowing footage of protestors being attacked by police dogs, and being sprayed by fire hoses. I have tried to think of a situation where our generation would put themselves at that much risk for a cause, and I seem to draw a blank.

We’ve let society define us as a generation of apathy; a generation of slackers interested only in instant gratification and job security. Society tends to place its own worse habits on that of the latest generation. We are letting them tell us who we are, and more importantly, how we will be remembered by generations to come.

I know for a fact that I could be doing more. With every day that passes my feelings about our wars in the Middle East grow stronger and more concrete. My dedication to protecting the environment continues to be central to who I am as a person.

So what do I do about it? Why aren’t I protesting, taking my views to the people, making my voice heard?

Because it’s easy to get slowed down in the daily distractions of modern life; TV, Facebook, and the like. Because it’s easier to say you’re an advocate for something then to go out and prove it.

In the 1960’s, the people didn’t wait around for their government to create change. They didn’t put all their hopes on the shoulders of one charismatic leader. That generation stood up, made a plan, and followed through.

Are we going to do the same, or are we going to stay seated?

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Harrison George

I can’t believe I’m 22.

While most kids dream about the day they finally turn 21, I was always much more interested in 22. That represented the true age of adulthood. I guess it’s because all the birthdays before that carry so much symbolism; 16, 18, 21.

But after 22 birthdays just become a thing- an amorphous semi-holiday that carries no concrete benefits. If anything, they become despised as they only serve as a reminder of how old we are getting.

So now that I’m 22, what comes next? I’m an adult now, by all legal and social standards. (The only thing I can’t do at this age is rent a car, but I don’t think that will hold me back that much.)

I certainly don’t feel like an adult. In a lot of ways I still feel exactly how I did at 16, or 18, or 21. I’ve certainly learned a lot since then, both in terms of book smarts and life experience. But personality-wise, I feel like the same person I was as a kid. I guess that’s what personality is- those characteristics that stay with you your whole life regardless of age or education.

I should point out this analysis of age was not brought on by a recent birthday; my birthday is in September. So I’ve been 22 for over five months.

The reason I bring it up now is because it’s just now dawning on me what it means to be an adult. It’s the age-old difference between knowing something and realizing it. I know I’m 22, but sometimes things happen that really make me realize I’m a “grownup.”

Two events happened to me recently. First I stumbled upon an amazing site that really conveys my experience in dealing with adulthood. The site is titled “OMG I’m the Adult”, which perfectly sums up how we all feel when we have those grand moments of realization. The site is a collection of user-submitted stories in the vein of Fmylife but to the theme of maturity.

Some are casual observations about minor events-being called “Sir” or Ma’am” by strangers, while others are downright intense.
One of my favorites: “Six Word Memoir. Sign on the dotted line. I became my mother’s legal guardian.”

You can read more of the stories at http://omgimtheadult.wordpress.com. The site isn’t as updated as often as I’d like, but it’s great to know others have experienced the surreal transition that occurs between childhood and adulthood.

Secondly, a few weeks I updated my Facebook with the following status: “I am __ years old and still can’t ___.” I was inspired to do so after coming to the depressing conclusion that I was 22 years old and still didn’t know how to properly spell the word definitely. For whatever reason, I never took the time to learn to spell it correctly, and always had to spell check it. It’s little things like that which keep me from seeing myself as an adult. “I can’t be a grown up,” I tell myself, “I don’t know how to spell definitely. Shouldn’t a grownup be able to do that?”

Anyway, the response I got was enormous- 27 people submitted their own version. The answers were astounding, ranging from the absurd (“I am 22 years old and still can’t floss.”) to the heartfelt (“I am 22 years old and I still can’t approach a stranger.”) (By the way not everyone was 22 years old, that’s just a weird coincidence.)

We all have these arbitrary conditions that we think have to be met before we can be full fledged adults. Maybe it’s owning a house, or having a kid. Or it’s being able to parallel park. Or learn to swim. Or like the taste of coffee.

I guess I drew some solace in hearing that other people were worried about growing up too. The feeling I got was no one feels ready to be a grownup; it just happens whether we like it or not.

My parents probably felt the same way I do now. One day you’re a kid goofing around with your friends, the next you are paying bills, working a job, and starting a family.

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Harrison George

I never thought that my last semester in college could be so difficult. It’s not the workload that is hurting me, or the juggling of class, work and my club activities. Those things are all challenging in their own way, but what is really throwing me for a loop is the content of my classes.

As a senior sociology major I am forced to examine every single one of my views on how the world operates on a daily basis. My classes are all based on viewing everyday subject matter from a new perspective.

For example, I am in Sociology of Death and Dying. The class focuses on how society views the process of growing older and dying, and how we react to the natural occurrence of life and death. This class forces me to analyze my own private opinions on death and how it affects me.

Like most normal people I try to avoid thinking about death, either my own or that of my family, whenever possible. This class pushes it to the fore-font of my attention.

I’m also in class entitled Social Deviance. This class has taught me an incredible lesson. From this class I have gathered there is no real universal “right or “wrong” in life; all values are relative based on their specific society or culture.

So anything I might consider to be wrong, weird, or in any way deviant is merely a product of my culture and time period.

Confusing? Try taking 15 hours of this a week – it’ll make your head swim.

The point is that in the last two months alone I have felt my values and world views, things I hold very dear to my heart, begin to mold and shift, and I can see that my outlook on life is currently undergoing a monumental transformation.

But as scary as it is to have your proverbial rug pulled out from under you, I have to remind myself that is exactly why I came to college in the first place. I am here to have my values and opinions tested, and I am prepared to change them if they can’t be defended.

College should be that time in our lives where we are the most open-minded to new ideas. We are away from our parents, our biggest social influencers growing up. And we are still a few years away from joining the “real” world, where we are expected to have our opinions in line. Now is the time we should be testing and experimenting, and be willing to make changes if that’s what the situation calls for.

I welcome you all to willfully step outside your comfort zones while in college and try embracing ideas radical to your own. If you try this, there are only two feasible outcomes – you view both sides of an issue, decide you still agree with your initial opinion, and walk away that much more secure in your beliefs, or you decide there is more logic found in the alternate viewpoint, and you walk away with a more open mind.

Either way, putting your views and opinions to the test will only make you more comfortable in the end with the way you feel, and will help you the next time you feel the need to explain yourself to an ideological opponent who questions you.

I feel as though my values are under a constant attack on a daily basis. But once I get over the feelings of involuntary defensiveness that comes with having strong opinions, and agree to see the issue from the widest perspective possible, I am able to appreciate what college can really do for the mind.

I hope that all students are able to appreciate the college experience in that way.

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“We are pilgrims in an unholy land.”

The above quote is from one of my favorite movies, “Indiana Jones.” In it, Harrison Ford is referring to his presence in Nazi Germany during WWII. While I’ve never been in a situation that extreme, I think of this quote when I find myself outside of the Midwest region I know so well. I think the quote says something about people’s mentality; we like to think we are the normal ones, and the rest of the world is crazy, or backwards, or weird.

As a kid I was under the belief that people were people, no matter where you went. When I traveled through Europe in high school I learned how wrong I was. People are very different. Looking back, it’s childish to think that everyone is like you simply because that’s all you know. Cultures create personalities, so with different cultures come different types of people.

I remember my first night in Italy when we were eating at a café and I asked the waiter for refill on my soda. He looked at me like I had pasta coming out of my ears. Apparently in some parts of Europe there are no refills – you drink what you get, then you’re done. As a child raised in a soda-decadent culture, that baffled me. That was my first experience in crossing cultures.

It’s important to note when I say people are different, I don’t mean inherently or morally, merely superficially. Just because the waiter didn’t like refills didn’t make him a bad person, or me one for loving refills. I’m simply talking about those tiny differences that are the result of cultural upbringing; the ones we all take for granted as being universally apparent. Just wanted to make that point.

The older I got, the easier it became to see cultural differences. The more I traveled the U.S., and the more stories I heard from friends and family, the more I learned about the differences within regions.

I remember my dad telling me about his first time in Boston. He stood in line for 10 minutes at a coffee shop before realizing he wasn’t moving. People were merely walking right in front of him, slowly pushing their way to the counter to be served. To a Midwesterner like my dad, it seemed chaotic, but he was assured by a Bostonian that there was a method to the madness. Apparently something as simple as waiting in line is up for cultural interpretation. They don’t even call it waiting in line there – it’s waiting on line!

I asked a few of my friends about their experiences since moving from the Midwest to other regions. When they tell people they were from Kansas they got one of two responses; either a “Wizard of Oz” reference, or an apology: “You’re from Kansas? I bet that sucked.”

The third most common response seemed to be, “Where is Kansas?”

My friend Sarah said, “I’ve found that many Seattleites don’t really know where Kansas is. It’s mostly just “over there” somewhere. Also, telling them I had to drive 30 miles to go to a mall or a movie theater is mind boggling.”

Mainly what I’ve heard from my friends is that people outside of the Midwest are much ruder than we are. We have all heard this stereotype before, but I was surprised at how often it popped up in people’s comments.

My friend Larry talked about his first few days in D.C.: “I remember my first time in Georgetown, walking from the metro stop I noticed that even if you said “hello” right to someone’s face, they would completely ignore you. That was a first for me. I counted 30 people on that walk. Not one of them seemed to notice I was there.”

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Harrison George

Like many of you, I was shocked and disappointed by the recent outburst of cold weather we have been experiencing. I was hoping that the coldest chapter of winter was behind us, but this last week has proven that is not so.

Winter is always a difficult time to be eco-friendly, as staying comfortable typically means running the heater in your home and in your car. We all tend to spend less time outside and use our cars more often.

Though I tell myself every winter this will be the year I break my dependency on my car to get around in the cold, it has yet to actually happen. Emporia is the perfect sized town to walk or bike; you are never more than 20 minutes away from where you are going.

But the bitter windy Kansas cold makes it very difficult to stick to my convictions when it’s time to run errands or get to campus. Add to that the fact that I’m typically running late and it is even more tempting to just hop in my car and crank up the heat.

But, when the will is weak sometimes fate intervenes. Last weekend I left my house to go over to a friend’s place for the evening. As it was late and extra chilly I had already resigned myself to the fact that I would drive.

When I reached my car I was surprised to find it was frozen over completely, to the point where I could not open my doors.

As my scraper was inside my car, I didn’t see any other option but to hoof it the eight blocks to my friend’s house.

The first few moments were tough to say the least. I sped quickly, going as fast as possible without slipping on the ice. I was trying to block out the cold by counting down the blocks in my head. “Only 7 more blocks to go,” I told myself.

But, once I got past the first few blocks, I felt a strange burst of energy. My cheeks stopped burning and started to glow. The cold air was coursing through my lungs and providing my body with a chill blast.

I raised my sights from the icy sidewalks and noticed how serene my surroundings were. The trees were encased in ice, with cycles hanging from branches. The only sound was my boots crunching through the snow.

Before I knew it I had arrived at my friend’s house. I walked in, was warmly welcomed, and basked in the warmth of the heated apartment.

As I wiped off my glasses, which had fogged up, I was surprised to realize I had actually enjoyed my walk. It was invigorating, and I felt completely refreshed.

We spend so much time trying to afford the extremes of nature, the heat, cold, wind, smells; we forget how much the great outdoors can do for us if we let it.

So the next time you start to walk for your car, stop and think it over. Maybe just take a walk instead.

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Harrison George

My senior year will soon be drawing to a close, and I can’t help but think about what kind of impact I have made here at ESU.

It’s also made me stop and see the school on a larger scale, seeing not only how ESU impacts me but all the students, staff and faculty here. I feel grateful for all that my college experience has given me.

This school has given me so many great things – a great education, a wonderful group of friends, a fantastic fraternity, just to name a few.

The last four years have been instrumental in helping shape me as a person. So it’s natural that I would want to give back to a campus that has given so much to me.

I feel proud of the work I have already done on campus. Working with the Environmental Club, Zoiks! the improv comedy team, and my fraternity, AKL, I’ve been able to get involved on campus and feel like I’m helping make things better for the campus as a whole.

I have a deep pride for my school, and the Emporia community, and I am glad to give back whenever I can.

But I see a lot of students who don’t feel the same. It seems that many students are content to simply go to class and go home. They are also the students most willing to speak poorly of ESU or Emporia as a town.

Now I should point out there are those who would be more actively involved throughout campus but cannot for various reasons. I have been lucky enough to avoid ever working a full time job while in college and because of this I’ve had the time to commit towards campus activities. (Though I’ll be paying back the student loans for a while)

This school does so much for the students, but what do the students do for the school? What are we doing to ensure that the future generations of college students are getting the same, if not better, college experience?

It’s easy, especially at a school like ESU, to adopt the mindset of just wanting to get through college. ESU might not be the most exciting school out there, or the most prestigious, so many people just treat it like a stepping stone towards their next life goal.

But this mindset undervalues all the wonderful things that ESU and Emporia do have to offer. It’s simple logic that the more you put into something the more you will get out. Your college experience is what you make it. No one but you can have the final say on how you view your time here- not your fellow classmates, not your teachers, and not the administration. If you want to have a good time in college, the responsibility lies on you.

My friends at KU and K-State ask me how I’m able to have so much fun at ESU. I tell them it’s because I decide I’m going to have fun, and then go out and find it. I put in the work and I get to reap the results, which are an awesomely good time with great people.

I hope that everyone will look back on their college years with as much enjoyment as I will. I cannot wait to come back for ESU alumni events, to see the old alma mater once again. I hope that I will still see students actively involved in their campus and community events.

I will feel proud to know I was someone who helped maintain, and maybe even improve, the workings of the campus, so that others after me could enjoy it here as much as I did.

Like the old saying goes, “we plant trees under whose shade we will never sit.” We all have the opportunity to plant trees here at ESU, for the future generations of students to enjoy and to use.

We should take advantage of those opportunities, not just because of what they can do for the future, but for what the experiences can do for us now.

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