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Family and the Long Drive Home

It’s often said of young people that we don’t appreciate the value of family. In our early twenties we are most concerned with distinguishing ourselves from our families. We strive to a new life and a new character apart from the people with whom we spent the first 18 years of our life. These are admirable—and necessary—goals for college students. But that doesn’t mean a life entirely set apart from our family works best. In fact, most of the people I know at Juniata retain a healthy amount of contact with family.

What one defines as “healthy”, of course, varies depending on the sort of person you are and the circumstances you find yourself in. Many of my more extroverted friends keep in near-daily contact with their family from home, usually through the magic of text or online chat services. Some of my peers live close enough to campus that they either commute daily or, more frequently, spend the odd weekend at home. About half of our population here comes from within the state, so whether they live in Amish country or Appalachia home isn’t so far.

But for myself and many others, home is a long way away. I live in Massachusetts which—though thankfully on the same coast as Pennsylvania—is a nine-to-ten hour drive away. With the exception of Thanksgiving, I spend my breaks and free time exploring in-state or elsewhere. Many more students spend Thanksgiving here, especially those of my friends who live on the left coast. And for the ten percent of students who come from abroad, home is further away than many can appreciate—both in physical and cultural distance.

Thankfully, we are no longer living in the age where telephones require booths and quarters to operate. There are a variety of apps and services which allow one to send messages, images, and voice chat for free over any internet connection. I personally used Viber, a WhatsApp clone, while I studied abroad in New Zealand so as to save on cellphone bills. While I’m in this country, I share a group chat with my nuclear and extended families where we post pictures and musings from our daily lives.

Today more than ever students are traveling further and further away to go to college, something I believe to be an admirable trend. Distancing ourselves from where we grew up allows us to see a new way of life and gives us a chance to redefine who we are. For those of us who find ourselves flung far away from home, even with other oceans or continents between us, our modern age has at least some of the solutions. Now if I could only figure out how to get my cat to Skype me…

Zachary Hesse is a writer, commercial fisherman, and philosophy student at Juniata College. You can find more of his writings and get in touch with him at his website, zacharyhesse.com.

 

Lobbying

When I first came to college, I was thoroughly scared of public speaking and presentations. So, it was thoroughly shocking when I found myself lobbying Congress on Capitol Hill last week.

 

Capitol Hill
Capitol Hill

I was in DC as a part of Juniata’s Climate Advocates. We are a part of a larger group called Citizen’s Climate Lobby, which works to promote carbon fee and dividend (a thing which I can give you a 1-minute explanation of. Thanks, CCL online trainings!).

 

Last week, the organization had their Congressional Education Day. What does that mean exactly? Well, it means I put on went to a 10 hour training, put on my fancy clothes, and made my way to Capital Hill to meet with state representatives. Even though I now like public speaking, this was still a really intimidating experience. The other people in my meetings were strangers, I had never met with a representative before, and I had to find my way around through underground tunnels. All in all, pretty scary, but pretty cool.

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Overall, we had some success. I was able to do some of the presentation, which was a personal accomplishment. I realized (or was reminded by a friend) that the representatives are just people, so they shouldn’t be that hard to talk to. I would even describe the experience as a little fun. Exhausting, but fun.

 

Our little school impressed quite a few people at the conference. We brought the most students out of any educational institution that came, which is very cool considering that we are quite a small school. The thing is, Juniata people seem to care, and from what I’ve seen, they’re willing to put in the effort to show that they care.

 

This whole event was possible thanks to the hard work of a few students and one dedicated Chemistry professor, Dr. Sharon Yohn, who worked with students to establish the club only last year.

 

When I came to school, I expected to study. I expected to take finals and write papers. I expected to enjoy Huntingdon and meet people. I didn’t really expect to be pushed to the edges of my comfort zone, and to learn to do things I once believed to be beyond my reach. It was just lobbying, I know. I probably could have done it a few years ago, but now, I have the confidence and support to do this, and anything else that I can imagine.

 

Mr. Juniata

On Saturday November 11th I got the chance to go to one of Juniata’s most loved traditions; the Mr. Juniata competition. Every year boys from all of the classes are voted in to compete with each other in front of a panel of judges to win the crown. One of the judges this year really caused a stir, Laura our favorite Sodexo employee who had left us came back for a visit. The contestants all participate in an opening dance number, usually choreographed by the dance club. Every year we have a different theme for the Mr. Juniata competition and this year’s theme was ‘king of the island’ so everything was tropical. The contestants are given a list of questions to answer ahead of time which the host, Professor Amy Mathur, uses to introduce them for the talent portion of the competition.

Amy Mathur, the Dance Team and all the Mr. Juniata participants at the end of their opening number.
Amy Mathur, the Dance Team and all the Mr. Juniata participants at the end of their opening number.

 

Each person creates their own act, sometimes individual and sometimes with the help of friends, to put on in front of the judges and students. It’s always incredibly entertaining and I’m always surprised by the creativity and effort put into their talents. From there they bring out their escorts for the night dressed in their formal wear and present their escorts with a gift. Some of the gifts given are very heartfelt and beautiful while others are just silly but still well meaning. The boys model their formal wear for the judges and are sent off while the scores are compiled. The top three contestants are selected and asked two questions, one they were given that morning and the other they had no preparation for. Most of the time the answers are ridiculous because they’re made up on the spot but it’s all good fun. Then the judges pick their winner, this year our winner was a senior at Juniata College, Storm.

I’m always shocked by how much goes into this competition, the decorations are amazing and there are well thought out questions to match the theme for the boys who always give us answers that make us giggle. Mr. Juniata really is something that is unique to our college. It shows how all of the different classes can come together to create something brilliant despite competing and have some good-natured fun. This gives you a great idea of the general environment on campus, everyone is always so friendly and willing to help each other out.

Is Everyone at Juniata a Master Juggler?

If there’s one thing in common amongst Juniata students, it’s the number of commitments everyone has. Our students are involved in clubs, athletics, employment, and social activities, all on top of their academic courses. For me, I am the President of the Juniata Student Theatre Ensemble, I have four on-campus jobs, I take seven classes, and I also take part in the Theatre Productions, which have rehearsal six days a week. How do we do it, you ask? Here are some of my tips and tricks for staying organized and on top of your work, all while making sure there is still time to relax!
Use a Planner
 
I am a neat-freak, and I am obsessed with color-coding. I use a daily planner from Panda Planner to help me stay on-task and make sure I don’t forget about assignments. Not only do I use a monthly calendar to mark important events (e.g. exams, performances, deadlines, etc.), but I also use a daily layout to write down my daily schedule, tasks, and wins for each day! Since my schedule is typically filled with classes and appointments, it’s really important to check the calendar every day so you don’t forget anything! Nothing is worse than getting an email that someone is waiting for you to show up to a meeting you completely blanked on. Don’t be that person!
Make a Work Schedule
 
For long-term assignments, I always have this impulse to blow them off until the last minute, and then end up stressing and scrambling to get it done on time. Instead of being lazy, I break down these assignments into smaller parts, that I can do throughout the week (or month) so I don’t fall behind. It’s definitely a little tedious, because no one likes doing work that isn’t due for a while, but after you get something done early, you feel so good! I always tell myself that I’ll feel better once the assignment is done, rather than putting it off and ignoring it. For example, if I have a rough draft for a paper due in two weeks, I’ll write down exactly what needs to get done in order for it to happen. For me, I need to do research, and then write an outline, and then put my research in the outline, and then start writing my paper from there. To help ease the writing process, I will maybe do my research and outline that first week, so I have over a week to focus on just writing my paper. It may seem lame, but it’s very effective!
Create Realistic Goals
 
I know we all love dreaming big and setting our hopes high in order to succeed. Realistically, however, you’re not going to write a perfect 10-page paper the night before it’s due. You’re also not going to be able to do a project you’ve had for a month in one weekend. We’re given deadlines sometimes to help us, not freak us out! Making small goals for yourself, even if they aren’t work related, can be very beneficial. For example, I never go to the gym. For me to make a goal for myself to go to the gym every day for a week is completely unrealistic, since I’m not even going once now. If I made a goal to work out for 30 minutes twice a week, instead of an hour-long workout every day, it’s much more attainable, and much less stressful than trying to do things that are almost physically impossible for you.
It’s Okay to Say No
 
We all want to help out as much as possible, and say “yes” to as many people as we can. I often have this assumption that if I say “no” to someone, they’re going to resent me for it, and not ask me for things in the future. I don’t like disappointing people! However, through many failures and emotional breakdowns, I’ve learned that it’s more important to think about yourself and what is on your plate before you bring more things onto it, no matter how badly you want to say “yes” to something. For example, someone asked me to help them with their talent portion for Mr. Juniata. I immediately said “yes”, because I wanted to offer my assistance and it seemed like something I was capable of. It soon became apparent to me, however, that what this person needed from me wasn’t exactly my “help”; they actually wanted me to design, choreograph and be in their talent portion. I had agreed to help them with it, not do it for them. Although I had already said “yes”, I ended up reaching out to this person again and telling them I couldn’t help them. I said, “what you need from me is not what I can give you at this time”. It was really frightening to send that email. because I felt like I was letting this person down. However, I realized that it wasn’t my fault. I had agreed to something completely different than what had been asked of me, and I had every right to say “no” to this person. Trust me, saying “no” can be hard, and scary, and really intimidating at first. The good thing is, the more you do it, the more comfortable and confident you will become. Just know that it’s okay to say “no” and stick up for yourself! Especially when everyone has so much going on!

 

Juniata’s Concert Choir

On Sunday November 5th, a group of friends and I went to see Juniata College’s Concert Choir to support our friend who is a member. They sang eighteen songs, which is an impressive amount of songs to learn. Several of the songs were performed in a different language with the translation in the program provided at the door. We learned that the choir is going to travel to Vietnam in January to perform with another Vietnamese choir, we heard some of the songs they are working on in Vietnamese for this trip. The choir travels to another country every two years to sing abroad and experience a new culture. I don’t know anywhere else that has their choir travel like ours does. This really speaks to the liberal arts education that Juniata strives for. It gives students a more well-rounded knowledge of the world. My favorite song was called “Northern Lights”; it was a beautiful piece that showed the skill of the singers and the effort that they have put into this concert. The emotion in the voices of the choir could be felt and many of the audience members were moved by this piece. I also enjoyed listening to the different folk songs which were more upbeat and energetic.

The Juniata College Concert Choir performs around the world every year.  They learn songs in the language of the country they tour in.
The Juniata College Concert Choir performs around the world every year. They learn songs in the language of the country they tour in.

The audience seemed to respond best to the folk songs because of the energy coming from the choir. They all looked like they were having a lot of fun up on stage singing those songs which is important during a performance. There were a few solos that were beautifully done and could easily be heard. Most of the choir’s songs were done A Capella, which is amazing because it can be very difficult to stay together without music, but during one of the folk songs three students came down off the risers to place instruments to accompany the singing. This added a fun aspect to an already entertaining piece. I have always loved going to see the concert choir’s performance. The singers all appear professional but they also show how much they enjoy singing. Their music is varied so that you don’t have to listen to the same kind of music for the entirety of the concert and it shows off the skill and work the singers have and have put into their concert. I would encourage everyone to attend more of the choir’s concerts to support them and as a chance to experience the beautiful music that these students work so hard to provide for their audience. It really is a wonderful experience to heard my fellow students doing what they love and creating something so unique.