Five years ago today, I had just finished my first year of higher education. As a first-generation college attendee, I felt quite intimidated. Unlike some, I didn’t really understand what college was didn’t have anyone I knew who I could reach out to and ask questions.
As a freshman in college, you have so many questions you’re trying to figure out. This is the first time you are out in the world alone, determining who you want to be in this big ole place we call life. It was one of the best, yet one of the worst years of my life for so many reasons.
Four years ago today, I had just finished my second year of higher education. I couldn’t believe it, I was really going to be a junior in college. And I hadn’t failed any of my classes even though my lifestyle at the time could have changed that.
No one tells you what is in store for you from the ages of 19-20. Adults treat you odd because they aren’t sure if you’re old enough to have a mature conversation with, yet we could decide whether or not to smoke tobacco or sign up for the army.
Three years ago today, I had just finished my third year of higher education with one of my best grade point averages yet, a 3.1. I was living with my mother in Grand Island and was commuting M-F to Kearney for class and work.
Not only was school going well, I met a man who I pushed to get back into school and who continues to push me every day to be a happier, more grateful person. We jumped the boat and moved to Kearney to continue our education. I turned 21 and was officially an adult.
Four years ago today, I had just finished my fourth year of higher education. I had switched my major bumping my previous one to a minor and moved to a different department at UNK. I had new professors, new classmates and a new environment. There was only room for failure or success.
I put myself down for not graduating within four years like some of my other classmates. But, I gave myself credit since adding another minor. Now I would have a major in Advertising and Public Relations with minors in visual communication and design and multimedia.
Today, I am a first-generation college graduate at a top ten university, the University of Nebraska at Kearney. I finished my last semester with a standing grade point average of 3.8 granting me a spot on the dean’s list. It was hard work, not only mentally but physically.
I’ve learned more in the past five years than I have my entire life. And none of it would have been possible if it weren’t for the support from my mother, brother, family, boyfriend, his family, my boss, coworkers, professors, classmates, my cat and most importantly MYSELF.
At the beginning of the spring semester I realized I was missing an important class in order to graduate in May. Talking with my advisor and the chair of the Communications Department, Ralph Hanson, I was able to sub that class for the one I’m writing this blog for JMC 406 – Blogging and Commentary.
This was one of the best opportunities presented to be at a time as I thought I would need to register for another semester of classes. That’s because most of my college education is covered by FASFA and in order to qualify you have to be a full-time student.
With two minors already, I didn’t want to have to add on to my student loans. And let’s just say my student debt told me I needed to finish this spring. Speaking with Hanson for the first time about this, I walked in nervous since I’d never had him in any other class.
He welcomed me into his office and reviewed my degree audit, agreeing that we could figure something out. And that’s when I knew this chair was different than any other at UNK. I was understood and accommodated too, something I could say was the first to occur during my college education.
Walking into our first class of JMC 406 in January, I didn’t know what to expect. I had never had Dr. Hanson as a professor before, and was worried I wouldn’t be a good enough writer for the class. It was different than any other class I had ever taken as we sat in a conference room together at a large table.
I loved being able to sit with Dr. Hanson during our discussions. It seemed as though he thought of us as equals as he sat next to us. Unlike other professors who sit at the front at their desk lecturing for an hour.
He spoke to us, not like we were just undergraduates, but like we were learners awaiting to hear his wise speeches and understand him. Hanson believes in us and recognizes us when we achieve and excel.
As the weeks moved forward I learned how to read and understand well written editorials by nationally recognized writers. I slowly began to understand how to incorporate my own opinion with that of fact, giving my readers a reason to be persuaded.
Learning. How to express myself through writing. I use to think who cares? Who wants to read about me and my life? But I learned that if you write well enough, you give people a reason or want to read about yourself.
Learning. To enjoy reading more often and form an understanding for well developed content.
Learning. To accept an abrupt turn of events when in-class courses were switched to online learning.
Learning. How to treat others how professor Hanson treats his students. He is like no other professor I have encountered at UNK.
This one class changed my perspective on the entire Communications Department and UNK. Not only did I form great relationships with professors, but I also wanted to learn more than I ever did before.
Taking the opportunity of subbing a class I needed in order to graduate not only taught me important factors about writing, but also taught me that no matter how much I think I know, I will always stay learning.
Hey, #AEJMCcheckin – I'm getting great writing out of my blogging students during this challenging time. #jmc406
Those are some of the things that come to mind as we commence classes within the next week. Multiple things have happen to me this week, which made me feel grateful, thankful, together, alone, complete, incomplete and forgotten.
Monday, I was grateful. My neighbor and classmate knocked on my door to give me fresh produce from her and her family. I was humbled to be given such treasures as fresh broccoli, apples and oranges.
I worked up some delicious chicken thighs in the pressure cooker and tossed in some of that fresh broccoli (saving the rest for cheddar broccoli soup). Accompanied by homemade crab ragoon (my favorite). Cooking is something that has kept me grateful during isolation.
Tuesday, I was thankful. Judi the President/CEO of the Kearney Area Community Foundation offered me a marketing position after I interned for her for my entire college education (five years).
P.S. As you can probably tell, digital art is my hobby and I’ve been doing crazy things with it! Check out some of the gifs I’ve made, here!
Custom typography and imagery created on iPad via Procreate. Check out more on my portfolio, here.
Wednesday, I was together. My group of five classmates and I finalized our final project for our senior level independent study. We practiced together and did great. I’m so proud of my team and how far we’ve come throughout the years. Our final presentation is on Friday via Zoom.
Some of the elements we worked on were a website, along side with numerous print and media materials for a restaurant located in Callaway, NE. It’s called Shotgun Annies Saloon and Bar. Check out our content, here!
But it’s not all sunshine and custom typography skills (rainbows).
Alone. That’s what seniors are feeling as we complete our education. We feel incomplete because of the lack of closure. During these times of uncertainty, there is little to know on how this will affect our seniors.
Alone. Students are going to be emailed a diploma and tossed out into a pandemic world, expected to achieve. With this, there is a lack of transition between the college student life and the expected adult life. When do we make it and how do we start to develop ourselves professionally?
Forgotten: by our own government. As first generation graduates, raised by single mothers who claim them on their taxes; it is we who didn’t receive a stimulus check, when we needed it the most.
But for now, I will keep my head high, by accepting my achievements and being grateful for opportunities presented to me. As time continues to pass and the last week of my college education comes to a close, there is something I’ll never forget.
And that’s how thankful I am for how it all turned out, even if finishing during a pandemic cut things off abruptly with many questions in the air.
I’ve been offered a full-time position at the Kearney Area Community Foundation as their Marketing Coordinator. I have been interning for them for the past five years, and in a couple weeks I can officially say I am an employee and not just an intern.
Part of the Foundation’s mission is to effectively responding to the community’s needs. And that’s exactly what a couple of alums are doing with their stimulus checks.
Pay It Sideways logo created by Jasmine Thompson
The fund called “Pay It Sideways – COVID-19 Relief Fund” was established to collect donations to provide grants to nonprofits in the Kearney area that are providing, but not limited to, food, rent assistance, utility assistance, medicine, mental health or childcare to people living and/or working in the Kearney area suffering a financial hardship due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Marge Lauer, the first executive director of the Kearney Area Community Foundation (KACF), and Sherry Morrow, a past board member, are teaming up to promote the fund as a way to help nonprofits that are helping our community in the wake of COVID-19.
Morrow explained, “We want to encourage individuals to donate all or part of their COVID-19 stimulus check to help Kearney area community members with a COVID-19 related hardship. The fund will be used to make grants to local nonprofits who’ve addressed these basic needs in our area communities.”
Lauer added, “I wasn’t expecting this money and know others need it more than I do, so I’m wanting to “pay it sideways” to help our neighbors in need.
The grants selection committee made up of seven community members will determine which local charities to assist financially with proceeds from the fund.
Donors can give two ways:
Checks can be mailed to the Kearney Area Community Foundation, 412 W. 48th Street, #12, Kearney, NE 68845. (Staff is working from home, so donations cannot be dropped off at the office – only mailed.)
With 38,000 ‘confederate’ tweets floating around Twitter, it seems as though the word ‘confederate’ is trending. But why?
That’s because more than 3,000 people — including some brandishing Confederate and militia flags, as well as guns — piled into downtown Wednesday morning in Michigan (Michigan Advance).
Many banner waving, sounding nonconformists drove past the Michigan Capitol on Wednesday to show their dismay with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s requests to keep individuals at home and organizations bolted during the coronavirus episode (GazetteXtra).
Whitmer, a Democrat, broadened a remain at home request through April 30 and has closed down schools and organizations regarded unessential. Whitmer said she was “really disappointed” to see protesters close together without masks (GazetteXtra).
While a great many people stayed in their vehicles, some protestors got out and held signs on the Capitol grass, disregarding social removing rules (Forbes).
The representative recognized the agony however said the limitations were important to stop the spread of the coronavirus, which causes a respiratory ailment that has executed in excess of 1,900 Michigan occupants and overpowered emergency clinics in Detroit territory (GazetteXtra).
Not only is this ‘confederate’ trending but so is #michiganshutdown and that’s because of the extended stay-at-home order, shutting down Michigan. Michigan has the fourth highest number of coronavirus cases in the country with more than 27,000 (Forbes).
The discussion encompassing Whitmer’s extended stay-at-home request centers around the organizations the senator has considered essential, and those unessential. Alcohol stores are viewed as fundamental, for instance, however yard care organizations are not (Forbes).
The official request she marked cutoff points social events and travel and requires all laborers who are not important to ensure life to remain at home while forcing increasingly stringent restrictions on stores to diminish pedestrian activity (Reuters).
My Opinion:
All I know is how convenient it is that this rally didn’t end-up in a shoot out. I say that because if it were any other race, raising any other flag other than white radicals and their confederate flag, people would have died today.
White privilege is really something and these two trends on twitter depict that. Just skimming across people’s tweets from #michiganshutdown and #confederate there is every opinion in the book.
That’s what makes Twitter so wild, is the large pool of people and dynamic opinions we all form. Will we ever all be on the same wave-link? Absolutely not. There are too many people and too many opinions in our universe.
Stay in home order gets placed. People don’t stay home and it gets extended. So people go out to protest the order and it’s extension because those people couldn’t stay home. Congratulations it’s going to get extended again. #MichiganShutdownpic.twitter.com/4znbkEuGok
What I don’t understand about these protestors is that they’re literally disobeying their president. Trump declared a 10 person maximum, so why is that so hard to abided by. I’m sure half those old geezers haven’t left the house in years. What’s waking them up now, a pandemic?
All I know is that it is important to stay home during this weird time. There is a reason the CDC has addressed and responded to COVID-19 the way they have. To slow the amount of cases in the United States, and work on reducing the impact regarding our nations heath and economy. Can’t we all try out best?
Can you tell yet from all my fan art? I’m not sure what it is, but I’ve been doing a lot of digital art incorporating Asher. Maybe it’s her neutral grey fur, which makes it’s easy to have fun with some of the pictures I take of her.
A funny story about her is when I made a documentary about her as a final, yes final project for my video productions class. Was this my best choice? Obviously!
Did my professor think the same? Probably not. He would have liked something a little more professional, I agree. But, you’re only in college once, why not go out with a bang?
I was lucky to get the grade I did, as others created dynamic storylines with their friends and even interviews with others attending UNK telling their story.
Which, in my defense, I had already done an interview of my friend for a prior assignment, and it was definitely final project quality. But that was submitted earlier on in the semester.
Either way, that’s not how I did it. I created ‘A Day in the Life of Asher.’ And oh boy, are you in for a show. Let’s just say, it’s definitely not as good as I remember it being in the fall of 2019.
Attending UNK for the past five years, I originally kept to myself, went to work, school and honestly, partied. I didn’t speak up in class as a freshman, sophomore or even junior in college, but once I started my senior year I finally realized how soon my college career would be over.
For some reason when you’re doing it, it seems like college will never end. Until you have a realization that you are now a super senior and this is your last year. That was me. When I moved to the Communications Department from the Fine Arts Department as a senior, I connected to people.
I finally felt like I had found a place on UNK’s campus. I would see people around campus all the time, thinking wow everyone has people on campus to connect with, but me. Starting classing in the Mitchell Center in the fall of 2019 changed that for me.
It was my first semester as an Adverting and Public Relations major and I was taking video productions. I hadn’t done anything with video since I was in high school, so I felt intimidated at first. Our first project was simple, do an interview on a fellow UNK student.
I couldn’t wait, I knew exactly who I was going to interview. My friend Katie, who is a year younger than me, majoring in Interior Design.
I felt good after I submitted that assignment for video productions. I knew I had done a good job and I was new to the department, I needed to establish myself.
Long story short, that’s why I lived in the moment during class. I’ve found that being in classrooms where no one talks to the professor is extremely boring, no one learns that way. That’s why in any of my classes I had in the Comm Department I always tried to make an impression on my professor and classmates.
Whether that be excelling at a certain program such as Illustrator or InDesign, or making a final project focused on the life of my cat. I wanted to go out with a bang, but unfortunately I think COVID-19 shut that down. Hopefully, my impressions were impressionable enough.
Through trying times of isolation, or living with those who you got stuck with for the time being, we’re all in need of a fulfilling, satisfying, well deserved, yet budgeted meal this Easter Sunday.
And I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Home-cooking is easy and cheaper than purchasing takeout or already prepared meals from supermarkets.
Let’s get started!
So what’s on the menu for my mother, my boyfriend and I this Easter weekend?
Ham loaf: I know what you’re thinking, “what could ham loaf possibly be?” We’ll get into that.
Baked Macaroni: Let’s talk about yum and easy!
Crockpot Creamy Mashed Potatoes: Pretty much the same thing I said above.
Deviled Eggs: These just got way easier using my Instapot!
Rolls: Bread is good.
Fresh Salad: Veggies are good.
Cheesecake: Cheesecake is good.
I know it seems like a lot, but it’s Easter and like I said above we all are in needing fulfillment of joy that is received when you eat amazing home-cooked meals.
Lucky enough for me, my mother will be preparing the ham loaf, therefore I do not have to purchase the ingredients. But here is the recipe. My mother has been making this ever since I was young and it has always been one of my favorite ways to eat not only meat but also ham.
Let’s talk about macaroni! I found this recipe on Pinterest, my favorite online cookbook if you will. Check it out, here. I love this site because she has a link at the top you can press that will take you directly to the recipe, without having to scroll through their entire blog, enjoy.
Moving on, mashed potatoes! I am a feen for potatoes, especially MASHED. And in a crockpot? They just got way easier to make! Here’s the recipe I use.
Boiling eggs in a Instapot makes it much easier to make sure you have hardboiled eggs rather than finding out you needed more time on the burner. Perfect hard boiled eggs in an Instapot is a revolution. All you have to do is this:
After that, making the devil in the egg is simple. Cute the eggs long way in half, flip and pop out the yellow cooked yoke. Mash together with mayo and mustard and stuff into the halved eggs, sprinkle with paprika.
Rolls, Salad and Cheesecake: Here’s what I bought at Hy-Vee.
And yes, I’ve done this once before. This was a Thanksgiving meal I did in 2019.
Journalism lecturer Rob Breeding expressed with me the affects of COVID-19 he’s experiencing yesterday, via Zoom.
Breeding teaches News Writing and Photography, Writing for the Media and Advanced Reporting and Editing. He is also the faculty adviser to The Antelope, UNK’s student newspaper.
From not seeing his students throughout the week, to a change in work environment; it’s safe to say life as a professor has drastically changed in this past month.
But Breeding has found light during these times of uncertainty. He says, “one of the silver linings in all of this, is that I’ve really been able to reconnect with my daughter in a great way.”
Breeding expressed his concern about how his daughter was living in Boston earlier this year. Rob knew when things were starting to unravel in New York, he needed to get his daughter out of Boston. “We’ve pretty much been isolated since,” says Breeding.
Since UNK’s recent campus closing due to COVID-19, Professor Breeding is working from home. “The university allowed me to take my computer home. So I grabbed the box of books that I knew I would need.”
And that’s when things gets real; when the university tells you to grab your necessities and get out out.
But none of this makes up for the fact that this pandemic stripped relationships away between students and professors a month before graduation.
“I miss being in the classroom. And I think that makes sense. There’s a couple of aspects of that. One of which is I really thrive off the interaction I have with students,” said Breeding.
With this being Professor Breedings second year at UNK, he’s created relationships with faculty and students within the Communications Department.
“I’m starting to sort of assemble a cohort of students who know me fairly well and are comfortable talking, visiting and being in my office. And I I miss that aspect of it. I’m naturally more of an introverted kind of person, but in my role as a journalism instructor, I get to be extroverted. By the nature of the position. And so that’s good for me.”
It just goes to show that professors aren’t taking this pandemic as an “extra month of summer vacation,” but rather are upset on how sudden everything just stopped. Sporting events, school events, in-person classes and now public parks are closed.
And that’s something seniors will never get back. Whether they are in high school or college, closure isn’t possible for some of us, during these trying times.
“I kind of realized after, there’s a certain number of kids that I won’t ever see again,” said Breeding.
“Usually there’s more of a process where you say goodbye to people. And in this case, we just didn’t get to say goodbye. They’re just suddenly gone. There’s a few students that I’ve had for a couple years that I know are graduating.”
This is just one of the many sad truths and affects of COVID-19 on both professor and student life.
But, as the days continue to go by day-by day, maybe this time should be used to be still with ourselves. Allowing ourselves to better understand ourselves and others. Although closure isn’t something that is absolutely necessary, it is nice.
So I think it’s important to stay connected and reach out to peer, friends, neighbors and mentors. During these times of isolation, we must remember our strengths and how we can still find light in the darkest of days, as well as maintain relationships with those who were cut off abruptly.
The last month of my college education was taken away quite recently and I find myself upset at the matter. Should I have graduated in four years instead of five? If so, I wouldn’t be dealing with being a college student during COVID-19 but instead could be possibly dealing with unemployment.
I have to say, dealing with this as a college student is 100x less stressful than if I were a full-time employee because the possibilities are endless. I don’t even know where to begin. Would my employer care about us and have us working from home or would we all be laid off?
These are questions I don’t have to ask myself since I took an extra year to earn my bachelor’s degree. As a five year senior, I’ve sometimes looked down on myself for taking too long. But then I remember my achievements. I never took a year off, I’ve always been a full-time student and I’ve always had income thanks to an internship I snagged as a freshman at UNK.
And thanks to that, I am guaranteed pay now until I graduate. No matter if there is work to be done or not, I don’t have to stress about not receiving a paycheck nor if I have the money to afford rent. I am beyond grateful that those are items on the agenda that don’t need to be addressed.
On the other hand, isolation is hard. I like my alone time as much as the most introverted person ever, but I also need social interaction. Yes, zoom meetings are fine and dandy, but I need gut-wrenching laughter and understanding from my real friends and I need it physically.
I am much luckier than others, as I have a significant other who I get to see every day. But others, such as my girlfriend, live by themselves. This makes isolation much harder to bare and I understand that. My heart goes out to her and my mother as they take on COVID-19 isolation by themselves.
But for me, my boyfriend is still working at CHS, a grain elevator in Elm Creek. So, although he is home during the evenings he isn’t during the day. This allows me to complete any homework or internship work that needs to be completed before he heads home around 5 p.m.
Isolation in that regard is good. I can spend the entire day working in my home office and complete assignments, all thanks to the multimedia department loaning me a fast Mac laptop. If it weren’t for Doctor Nannette, I would be in a very slow predicament as my Mac desktop is incredibly slow.
So even though my last month of physical higher-education was taken away from me in a matter of weeks, I have the resources, the equipment and the people I need in order to overcome this virus.
I am upset that my last month at my internship was taken away, as I have grown a relationship with my coworkers for the past five years and when I graduate, it will be the last of my years at the Kearney Area Community Foundation.
Did any of us have any idea this was going to be the outcome of 2020 graduates? Not at all. But, it takes sacrifice and dedication to grow great people and I believe those graduating in 2020, whether you are a higher schooler, college graduate or higher will overcome this isolation and we will come out stronger, together.
FX and Hulu have officially partnered up to introduce us to a new way of absorbing content. With that, a brand new show called DEVS has aired with only six episodes available right now, and it’s fair to say this is something you’ve never seen before.
A new episode of DEVS appears every Thursday on FX, which means that episode is put onto Hulu on the next day, Friday’s. I started the first episode the day Hulu and FX announced their partnership. I thought, “wow, what a great way to watch a cable network via a streaming service, finally!”
So what is DEVS?
Centered around a young programming engineer named Lily Chan who works for DEVS, a cutting-edge tech organization situated in Silicon Valley. After her significant other Sergei’s unclear suicide, Lily starts to delve into the unthinkable.
She rapidly understands that all leads aim to Forest, the confounding CEO, and DEVS organization’s mystery improvement division. In Lily’s journey to find reality involving Sergei’s murder, she reveals an innovation-based intrigue that could change the world.
Forest is played by none other than Nick Offerman. Seeing him in Parks and Recreation, I have a new found love for this actor. He’s sarcastic, serious, funny and witty. He becomes a better actor each time I see him perform.
The popular question among the show is, “what is DEVS?”
That is something that only the show can tell us, episode after episode. I can’t wait to find out. This is definitely a show to consider watching if you have Hulu. The simple fact that you don’t have to purchase an add-on to watch FX series, is even better.
