PEOPLEstella’s world:What It’s Like to be a Kid

Life Beyond Suburbia

Issue one Volume one

The relationship that

made ithow to make long

distance work

the american tennis player, age 18

JH

Dear Reader,

People catch my eyes- their stories, their lives, their uniqueness, their ability to overcome difficul-ties, their happiness, their passions. As a journalism major at Miami University, I have found my own passion writing about these people, and writing about what it is I have found to be important in life.

These are my stories- the stories that I have stumbled across, by accident or on purpose, and pre-sented in a magazine format, showcasing my abilities not only with words but with photography and design as well.

Throughout my time at Miami University I have had the opportunity to work for UP Fashion Magazine as a staff writer, assistant copy-editor, blog editor and editor-in-chief. Serving as editor-in-chief for UP has been the most valuable experience I have had at Miami, and has improved my skills as a leader, a writer, a designer, a photographer, and ultimately an editor.

Beyond UP Magazine, I was able to complete a social media and marketing internship abroad with Apartment Barcelona. Here I created press releases, tourism videos, various marketing strategies for social media platforms and worked closely with the marketing director to develop international ad campaigns.

The skills I present to you here are a result of not only four years working for an on-campus pub-lication, but also a product of hard work in the classroom, and time spent interning for Apartment Barcelona. All of these experiences have propelled me to grow as a writer and as an individual.

Everything you see is my work. And all of the people profiled have given me permission to tell their stories.

Thank you for giving both me and them your time,

Jen Heuermanheuermjl@miamioh.eduWriter || PEOPLE Magazine*Designer || PEOPLE Magazine*Photographer || PEOPLE Magazine*Editor || PEOPLE Magazine*

*This is a ficticious magazine, used soley as a professional portfolio and is not to be published or used in any other manner.

editor’s letter

table of contents

Editor’s Letter (pg. 2)

Stella (pg. 4-7)

Where the Water Lillies Lie (pg. 8)

Andy H. Baby (pg. 9)

Going the Distance (Pg. 10-11)

Thank you (pg. 14)

Stella Target is the coolest place on earth. They have a section in the front of the store where there are toys, and umbrellas, and markers, and cups, and balls, and chalk, and all sorts of other fun things. Stella got her new yellow squirt bottle at Target. There were other colors there too, but yellow was her favorite. However, yellow isn’t always Stella’s favorite color. Stella’s mind is always changing. She speaks a mile a minute and most of the time it’s jumbled mumble that only a 3 year old could make sound like English. Some-times Stella isn’t so sure about things, and she often gets real and make-believe confused in her mind. She knew her new yellow squirt bottle was real, and she couldn’t wait to show everyone. She said so herself. Her trip to Aunt Em and Uncle Rob’s though, could have been just as real. They flew there on magic carpets (her, Mommy, Daddy and Libby), and they flopped their toes in the water. It was a little hot so Daddy went first. After, they took her dolls and gave them all baths, and then they ate grilled cheeses and pet Finn, the dog. She said so herself.

When Stella is 18 she will probably be graduating high school, and going on to do something amaz-ing. She might be an artist, like her mom, or an engineer like her dad. Or maybe she’ll be a teacher like Aunt Em, or even an astronaut or a politi-cian. She’ll probably be very stylish and have a lot of friends who love her. She will most likely still like chicken and yogurt, but maybe she’ll learn to love green beans and cabbage too. When Stella is 18 she will be wearing different shoes, and she will definitely never pee her pants. But 18 is far away for Stella, who today is only 3. Here are the facts about Stella. She was born on April 21, 2010 into the loving arms of her parents Anna and Ben. As the first-born, and the first grandchild at that, she was immedi-ately spoiled with love, and kisses,

and quilted blankets, and excessive photo shoots, and gifts and praise. She was instantly loved. Stella has wavy blonde hair that is cut into a bob that accumulates bed headed locks near the nape of her neck. She has big blue eyes that are as round as marbles, and light up at the sight of her fam-ily. People are still trying to figure out what she’ll look like when she’s older, and which parent she looks most like now. Most say Ben. However, she oc-casionally gets told she looks like her 80-something year old Granny, Anna’s grandmother. Stella has a one year old sister named Libby and a plethora of cousins: Lily, Reese, Charlie, Joe, Jo-eWill, John, Trevor & Kelsey. She likes to jump on the bed, and play with her sister, and she always says no to asparagus. Stella is full of spunk and sass; busy figuring out what her world is all about.

On Easter Stella woke up to an awesome surprise. Mommy and Daddy tickled her once she was out of her grumpy morning phase, and told her the Easter bunny had come and hid Easter eggs all over! She screamed; something that was not uncommon for Stella.

Whether she was happy, sad, angry, excited, her emotions were usu-ally shown through her screeches and yelps. It was re-ally funny when she screeched and Mommy and Daddy, or whoever else was around, looked at her and laughed. Sometimes she would make Mommy mad by screaming so much but then she would just say sorry and

kiss her and everything would be okay. Mommy was never mad for long at Stella as long as Stella fixed what she did wrong.

After she found all of the eggs (Mommy, Daddy and Libby helped a little, but she did most of the search-ing) they went over to Granny’s for lunch. Granny always has the best food. The best part is she usually has eggs. Eggs are some of Stella’s favor-ites. She’ll eat them any way. Hard-boiled, devilled, fried, scrambled, and sometimes even fried. Her favorite are hard-boiled. Though sometimes she likes the kind with a little yellow on the inside of the hardboiled, those are really good. They are creamy and a little bit sweeter than just a regular hardboiled egg and sometimes Gran-ny puts an olive on top of them! Stella always picks the olives off though because they’re yucky. On Easter, Granny had both kinds of hardboiled

eggs! Probably because Easter is all about eggs, they’re everywhere. Like the ones Stella hunted for for hours. But those were a different kind of egg, you couldn’t eat those!

writing and photography by: jen heuerman

Granny also has music boxes that are really fun to play with. There’s a little thing on the bottom and when you twist it, music comes out! The best part about going to Granny’s though is she lets Stella paint her nails all by herself. She usually has a pink color that Stella likes a lot, but sometimes she’ll have other colors like red, orange, or even blue. Usually when Stella goes to Granny’s lots of people go too. Sometimes Mama and Grandpa, and Auntie, and Aunt Em and Uncle Rob and sometimes even Alix and Stephanie!

On Easter, Stella ate a whole plate of hard-boiled eggs at Granny’s. She didn’t know she wasn’t supposed to, she just knew they tasted really good and she wanted to eat them. They were the kind with a little bit of yellow inside the hardboiled with the olive on top. When she was done, she stared at the plate full of olives in front of her, smiled and hopped off her chair to go get Granny. “Granny! Granny! Can I paint my nails?” “Why sure, sweetheart!” Granny replied as she got up out of her big chair to come help Stella paint her nails. Stella usually paints them herself but sometimes Granny helps her when it gets hard. Stella screeched, out of excite-ment of course! Mommy looked at her put her finger to her lips, meaning Libby was sleeping and Stella needed to be quieter. Stella smirked and tip-toed into the kitchen to meet Granny and her rainbow of nail polish colors to choose from. She smiled as Granny helped her paint them a pretty pink and then it was time to go to Grandma Kahut’s! “Stella, does your tummy hurt?” Daddy asked as he loaded the girls into the blue minivan. “Nope! I’m okay!” Stella re-plied with a smile. “You shouldn’t have eaten all of those eggs! We’re going to eat more later and you need to eat some-

thing healthy too,” Daddy said as he strapped Libby into her tiny seat. “But eggs are healthy Daddy!” Stella exclaimed. “You can eat 1,000 of them and it’s really healthy!” Daddy laughed. “You sure do know a lot you silly goose,” Daddy said as he got in the front seat. “Yep!” Stella responded. “I am a silly goose!” Stella squealed. Unlike Libby, Stella was able to talk to Mommy and Daddy and say all sorts of things. She knew it was not fun when she couldn’t talk like Libby. Before Libby was born, Stella could only speak a few words. But right be-fore she was born she was beginning to speak full sentences and she liked it a lot better.Finally she could say things like “mo pwease” when her tummy grumbled and “no mo” when Mommy and Daddy kept giving her food she didn’t want. It took awhile for Mommy and Daddy to know exactly what she was saying though. Like the first time she squealed “mama” instead of “grandma”, and Mommy came running. Stella had to cry and scream until her “mama” came to her side. But after that day they seemed to get it right. Mommy and Mama. It’s not that hard! Libby was finally starting to say things too, but she’s not supposed to talk when she’s sleeping because she’ll wake up herself! Sometimes she does that though, and Stella has to remind her talking is only okay when you’re awake. When the baby was still in Mommy’s tummy, no one knew if it would be a sister or a brother. Not even Stella, who had a keen guess about those sorts of things. It wasn’t until the day of her sister’s birth, after Mommy had been admitted to the hospital, but before any pushing had started, that Stella told Mama, “I can’t wait to meet Ibby!”

Grandma Kahut’s is fun just like Grannys. On Easter Kelsey and

Trevor were there and there were MORE eggs and Uncle Fuzz made cupcakes! “Stella! Do you want to play soccer?” Kelsey asked. “No,” Stella replied as she flipped her hair back and walked on her tiptoes over to the garage. Stella was in her independent mood. Sometimes she liked to just play by herself. Sometimes she liked to dress up and be girly, sometimes she liked to cuddle with Mommy and Daddy, sometimes she liked to love on Finn, and sometimes she just liked to play in the sandbox. Stella ran over to the park bench and pulled herself up. She could conquer anything. She twirled a silver wand in her hands, and looked blankly at Trevor and Kelsey who started kicking the ball back and forth in the driveway. Libby sat next to them, clapping her hands and smiling giddy as the yellow ball rolled be-tween Kelsey and Trevor’s feet. “Are you sure you don’t want to play Stella?” Kelsey squeaked. There were only 5 years between Kelsey and Stella but at this point, that seemed like a lifetime for Kelsey. She would always think of Stella as the bald little cousin who came into the world that beautiful April day. “It’s a girl!” her mom had told her. She couldn’t wait to meet Stella. “Nope!” Stella squeaked back as she hopped up off the bench and ran over to the other side of the yard. Words started spilling out of Stella’s lips as she skipped around the yard waving her wand at sports balls, flowers, anything that wouldn’t move, and started ordering them around. Mostly in a language that sounded for-eign to her family who stood around taking in the beauty of the first sunny Ohio day. She wanted them to be her friends and to do what she wanted. She wanted them to come to life and then go away again. She wanted to turn them into pumpkins and dolls and princesses. She was their fairy godmother.

When it was time to go to Grandma Zimm’s Stella screeched“Goodbye!” and then took of for her blue car. Stella had a blue car, Daddy had a white car, Mama had a red car and Grandpa had a green car. Hers was her favorite. But only because it was blue- her favorite color. She sat in her seat and stared blankly at the road as Daddy played “Mad-ness” by Muse as loud as it would go. Mommy kept checking Stella’s face, hoping maybe she’d close her eyes for a little bit before they got to Grandma Zimm’s. But Stella persevered, and when they arrived she was ready as ever for more food, family, and frolick-ing. “Joe! JoeWill!” Stella screeched in her patented yelp everyone knew so well. She kicked her feet in her car seat, waiting to be unbuckled. When she was finally down she ran up to her cousins and grabbed a stick to join them on their nature walk. When you walk down the street you have to be careful of the cars around you. Cars don’t have eyes so they can’t see you when you walk in front of them. And sometimes they don’t slow down or stop because they can’t see as well as people can. It would be really hard to see anything without eyes! Stella loves to go on walks. Nature walks with Joe and Jo-eWill, walks to the park with Mommy and Daddy and Libby, and even walks where she has to sit in the stroller because her asthma is too bad and she won’t be able to breathe if she walks for too long. She is still big enough to fit into the stroller with Libby because she is small; Libby is tiny, Mommy is medium and Daddy is giant. Only people small and tiny can fit into the stroller. Mommy told Stella that soon she would be too big to fit in the stroller, so sometimes Stella rides her bike while “tiny” rides in the stroller. “Mommy please!” Stella whined. “Can we pleeease go on a walk! Please!” “Sure sweetie!” Mommy replied. “Let me grab Libby’s stroller first.” Stella did a happy dance, throwing her head around and flailing her arms in the air.

Stella loved playing outside. Especially when it was really really sunny out. When Finn was younger he used to go on walks with Stella and Mommy and Daddy. Daddy would bring his disc golf discs and throw them for Finn to catch. One time Daddy threw it so far that Finn almost didn’t catch it. He ran and ran and ran for almost 2 days and finally caught it but Daddy couldn’t catch up with him, so Finn had to run back but then it was nighttime and no one could see because it was sleeping time. “Do you want to ride your bike, Stella?” Anna asked as Stella ran down the front porch steps. “Yeah!!!” Stella ran as fast as she could down to her purple and yel-low tike bike. She heard the click of her hel-met as she snapped it on, and looked both ways down the street. There was a big beautiful blooming tree to her left, but to the right there was more road to ride on. She shrugged her shoulders and decided to turn right down the sidewalk. Mommy pushed Libby in the stroller behind Stella as she began to pedal down the street. “C’mon Stella! You have to keep pedaling if you want to keep going!” Mommy told Stella after she stopped abruptly in the middle of the sidewalk causing a mini-accident between her and her little sister in the stroller behind her. Stella sat on her bike, with a pouted lip while Libby, who didn’t seem to notice the back end of the tike bike ramming into the foot of her stroller, smiled and gig-gled.

“I don’t like the hills,” Stella whispered out of her sad looking face. It was too hard for Stella to pedal up the hills. They were so big and she just couldn’t do it! She didn’t want to do it. She wouldn’t do it. It hurt her legs too much because the hill was so big. It was as big as the big-gest hill she had ever seen. Couldn’t Mommy just carry her up the hill? Libby got to ride in the stroller, so couldn’t she? Stella pouted on the side of the road. She refused to move. “Stella, you need to be a big girl right now and get back on your bike and ride it,” Mommy said to

Stella in a very serious voice. “Mommy I don’t want to!” Stella screeched. This time, she wasn’t squealing for joy. “Stella I am going to sell your bike if you keep doing this..” “Noo Mommy!” Stella inter-rupted. “Then you need to stop whin-ing and ride your bike up the hill,” Mommy said in an even more serious voice. “Can’t I just take it home and walk with you?” Stella knew if she was nice to Mommy then maybe Mommy would let her do what she wanted. “I will count to three for you to start riding your bike home or we won’t go on a walk at all. Do you un-derstand?” Mommy started to turn the stroller back around toward the house. “Fine,” Stella said as she started to slowly pedal her bike past the one house they had passed by, and into her front lawn. She plopped her bike next to a can of bubbles, skipped back to Mommy, held her hand and begin to walk to the park. Walks are fun. Funner than riding your bike up a really really big hill that hurts your legs. Finally, Mommy understood.

After her nature walk with Joe and JoeWill on Easter, Stella decided to see what everyone else was doing. She was getting kind of hungry again and wondered if Grandma Zimm had any eggs, it was Easter afterall. There were sure to be some eggs around that place somewhere! Grandma Zimm didn’t have any eggs, but that was okay because she had mashed potatoes and ham and pies and noodles. Stella sat at the table and ate some ham and noodles and then Grandma Zimm told her that she had found an Easter basket for everyone from the Easter bunny! Well, for all of the kids at least. The Easter bunny usually only comes for the kids, which is silly because the grown ups like candy too! Stella knew this because she had seen Daddy eat the chocolates at Grandma Zimm’s, and she watched Mommy steal a marsh-mallow from her basket when she thought she wasn’t looking.

Usually Stella is very particular about what is hers and what she can share. But after all of the food she ate today, she didn’t mind that Mommy ate one of her marshmallows.Inside Stella’s Easter basket were all sorts of cool toys and candy. The Easter bunny must really love Stella because he put more Easter eggs (but not the kind you can eat) in her basket, and also there was a slinky and anoth-er toy! They looked a lot like the kinds of toys you can find at Target (which is the coolest place on earth). Stella was so excited to play with her new toys with Joe and JoeWill. She gathered up her belongings and ran over to show the boys her cool new things. JoeWill was sitting on the couch next to Mama watching some-thing on an iPad. Stella immediately dropped her toys and jumped up on his lap. “Can I watch JoeWill?” she asked. “Sure!” the 6 year old re-sponded.

Stella loves iPads. Mama has an iPad and sometimes she lets Stella play with it. Stella likes to play all sorts of games. Her favorite is Curi-ous George, but sometimes she likes Thomas the tank and coloring book games too. She likes Curious George though because she knows him from watching him on TV. Stella loves watching TV. She likes to watch shows that are on PBS like Caillou, Curious George, Arthur and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. Sometimes Libby turns the TV off when Stella is watching it. That makes her really mad. So mad that she has to pick Libby up, and drop her down so she knows not to do it again. Libby still does it though. Everytime she does, she looks at Stella and smiles. That’s when Stella knows what is about to happen and she squeals. Not because she is happy. One time, there was an episode of Curious George where he went to the moon! He made a space-ship out of a box, and colored all of the buttons on it he needed to fly with. That day, Mommy got something from the mailman and it came in a huge box. Stella immediately knew exactly what she was going to do with it. She

was going to go to the moon! As soon as the box was empty she got out her markers and crayons and started drawing all of the buttons she needed to get to the moon with. When she was all done, she climbed inside and started counting down: “3, 2, 1... BLAST OFF!” Her cheeks flopped in the wind as she soared out of her living room and into the air. She saw all sorts of cool animals and magic people on her way to the moon. She made it there just in time for lunch, and she hopped out and ran over to Mommy who was there to serve it.

Stella was just starting to watch the movie about Christmas with JoeWill on the iPad but then Mommy told her it was time to leave. “But I don’t want to leave!” Stella said to Mommy. Sometimes, Mommy will change her mind if you really ask her a lot. “Easter isn’t over yet!” “Stella, we have to. It’s time for bed. You have had a big day,” Anna said with a stern face. Mommy can be mean sometimes when she wants Stella to do something she doesn’t want to. She’s not mean; she just sometimes has to be in order to get Stella to cooperate.

But Mommy was right. Stella had had a big day. And before today, she had had an even bigger week. You see, that week Aunt Abby and Uncle Mark came and brought new cousin Charlie. He was tiny, like Libby, but even tinier. They had a lot of fun, and did a lot of cool things. Stella had to be very careful with Charlie because he was so tiny. He couldn’t walk like she could, and he couldn’t crawl fast like Libby could. But she could make Charlie laugh. She and Libby told him stories and made him smile. She told him about how if you don’t brush your teeth, they’ll turn green and fall out. Stella wasn’t sure if Charlie had any teeth but she thought that maybe someday he would. Stella was good with Charlie because she has a little sister who is a baby too, and so she knows how to play with them. Playing with babies is different than playing with her older cousins like Joe and JoeWill, but you

can still have fun. Stella showed Char-lie all sorts of things and then they went to the park and she showed him how to swing and he laughed a lot because she’s so funny. She told him about how she was going to have a birthday and for her birthday she was going to have a cake with beautiful balloons. It would be orange because orange was her favorite color, even though orange isn’t always Stella’s favorite color.

“Fine Mommy,” Stella finally pouted as she drug herself off of the couch and out the door to go home from Grandma Zimm’s. She had a good Easter. She was tired. Finally. She was going to go home and read a book with Daddy. She’d tell him all about her day, even though he was there. She’d tell him about the magic dragons she saw at Grandma Kahut’s and how there was a space-ship at Granny’s but she didn’t go inside it because she didn’t want to leave Libby behind and since she is not walking yet, it would be hard for her to get in. She’d talk about how Libby would fit in the spaceship she made like Curious George, but how Libby probably shouldn’t go to the moon because she was too tiny. Daddy would tickle her and she would scream “Giant! Stop! It’s not tickle time!” She’d brush her teeth to make sure they didn’t turn green, and then right before she fell asleep, she’d tell Mommy and Daddy she loved them so much and hug her new yellow squirt bottle from Target. It was her favorite toy, even though squirt bottles aren’t always Stella’s favorite. Next to the bed scattered on the floor would be last week’s yellow squirt bottles: stuffed animals, books, markers and magic wands. “Goodnight baby girl,” Mommy would say as she pet her head lovingly. But Stella would already be fast asleep. Dreaming about the Michigan mouse and running in fields with Finn and Libby and JoeWill and riding dragons and spaceships into outer space where she would meet Caillou and Curious George and she would swing on magic moon swings and drink almond milk and eat grilled cheese and eggs.

Cedargroveisasmallneighborhoodroadthatwindsbackthroughanintimateneighborhoodlitteredwithhouseswithspaciousyards,gardens,andplaysets.Thestreetisonlyoneofthreenearbythathappenstobepaved-ironicallyallthreearesideroadsoffofthemaindirtpaththatleadstothecityofClarkston.Clarkstonitselfisagrowingpopuloustown-filledwithpharmacies,tanningsalons,grocerystores,andsandwichshopsoneverycorner.However,tuckedbacknearthecityline,thepeoplelivingonCedargroveshareadifferentworld.

Tofindthesimplecountrylifeamidstthebustlingsuburbia,onemustdrivepasttheconcertvenueandelementaryschool,anddownthecrumblingdirtroad.Passingfruitandvegetablestands,horsebarns,andfamilygardens,theroadrollsupanddownoverhillsshadedwithmillionsofOaktrees,wildflowers,andMichiganblackberriestoadifferentsideoftown.Finallythetreesopenup,andthesunlightcomespouringin,justasasmallgreensignpopsup-Cedargrove.

Thehousesontheroadareeachcompletelyunique.A1970’sranchsitsquaintlynexttoaturnofthecentury“McMansion”,whichsitsloudlynexttoanantiquefarmhouse.Noneofthehousesarethesame,andnoneofthepeoplelivinginsideshareanycommonalitiesbesidesthelocationoftheirhomes.Thereareelderlycouplesbloomingsunflowersandbabiespullingoutdaffodils.Thereareteenagersplayinggamesofbasketballintheirdriveways,andhousewivesbakingpiesandshuckingcorn.ThelifeonCedargroveistypicalandadmirable.

Behindallofthehouses-bothbigandsmall-thereliesalakethattiesthecommunityofthestreettogether.Whilelivingonalakeisenjoyableandadventurous,manyofthepeopleonCedargroveoftenforgetthelaboriousupkeepthenaturetakes.However,amongtheinhabitantsofCedargrove,anoldermanfindscomplacencyinthislifeoflaborandproductivity.Themarshlands,forinstance,mustbekeptdry.Soilmustbeflattenedoverthewetgrassesandtheweedsmustcarefullybeplucked.Thewalnutsdroppinghardfromthelargeshadytreesmustbepickedupindividuallytoavoidpoisoningneighbordogsandchildren.Thelawnsallmustbemowed,toavoidextramosquitoes,andthebeachareamustbekeptsandyandraked.Thewildlifesurroundingthelakemustbemaintained-deermustbekeptfromsneakingintofamilygardens,andbeaversandsnappingturtlesmustbekeptfromventuringuptowardsthehouses.

Wakinguptothesoundsofcranesandbeavertailsslappingthewater,theelderlymanstartshissimpledaythesameasthelast.LookingouthiskitchenwindowhecanseecattailsandQueenAnne’slacebloomingnexttoneighborhoodfishermenrowingcanoes.Hissummerdayonthelakebeginsnotwithabeerandafloat-toy,butinsteadwithahammerandanail.Thericketydockonthecornerneedsrepair.Ashetrotsdowntowardsthewater,hesays“Goodmorning,”tothebutterfliesflutteringtowardsthebrightlycoloredflowersofhisneighbor’sgarden.Ashereachesthedock,heslipshistoesintothewaterquietlynexttothecroakingtoadsandthebuzzingdragonflies,andhegetstowork.

Where the Water Lillies LieA look into life beyond suburbia

writing and photography by: jen heuerman

Thwarp, slash, swish, clump- the racquet swiftly moves with the breeze, bouncing the neon yellow fuzzy ball back and forth across the court. His eyes fix steadily on the blue tape that his right wrist grasps with a falcon grip. They never leave the court. As the ball drops slowly over the other side of the net, he lets out a minor grunt of delight as he heads back to the receiving line to take on yet another point. He doesn’t lose focus.

This time the ball comes swarming towards his face, and from a bystander’s view it looks like his head will suffer a minor concussion. However, he gracefully steps back and slashes his forearm across his chest, thrusting the ball directly back at his opponent. A sigh of relief comes over his mother’s face- my mother’s face.

Andrew, or more favorably Andy H. Baby, has been playing tennis for over 5 years. He has been team captain and number one singles player of Clarkston High School’s Varsity Boy’s Tennis team for 3 years. He has been MVP of teams and matches, winner of tournaments throughout Michigan, and a coach and mentor for many youth tennis players in the area. However, off the court, Andy is much more.

Andy has been my brother for over 17 years. The youngest of just the two of us, he has always been the sweet, and down to earth one. While I was off throwing temper tantrums about my missing hairbrush, Andy would be playing euchre with my grandparents and father- cool, calm, collected. As he has grown up he has found friends who will last him a lifetime, passions for sports, music, and health, and a competitive drive that will take him wherever he wants to go in life.

On the court, Andy transforms into a different person. Nothing else matters to him besides the racquet, the ball, the painted lines, and the net. He is no longer the down to earth little brother he has always been, he is now a 6 foot 4

beast with muscles instead of arms and quick feet of fury.

Every point matters. The people in the stands aren’t there. Myself, my mother, my father, his friends, our grandparents, his girlfriend, his coach- we are all invisible. Andy lets loose on the court- screaming, grunting, throwing balls, fist pumping, smiling, crying- he is in his domain, and he is not embarrassed of anything.

When Andy loses, there is anger in his eyes and sadness in his heart. As he walks off the court, looking defeated and lost, he will become the little brother he always has been. If anyone tries to cheer them up, they sure as hell will get a cold shoulder or a snappy comment. He doesn’t want to talk about it.

However, when Andy wins, he is not cocky. He does not boast, or brag, or bring down the other opponent. Instead, a victory is followed by a smile, a fist pump, a “let’s go!” as he encourages himself with a pat on the back. He will then spend the next thirty minutes or so, dissecting his game.

“That kid had a really good forehand, but I think where I got him was on his backhand. He had no control over that thing- it was like he had never moved that way before,” he’ll say as he drowns his throat in Gatorade. He’ll then change the subject and start talking about the rest of his day; because for Andy, tennis is his life- but his life is not only tennis.

ANDY H BABY It is more than just a game

writing and photography by: jen heuerman

Nothing else matters to

him besides the racquet

the ball the painted

lines and the net

The phone beeps, sophomore Sarah Stimpert leaps across the room to grab it, swiftly slides the keypad and pauses- a smile gleams across her face as she plays the keyboard’s sweet melody of clicks and without delay hits the send button. Her boyfriend of over 6 years is finally done with his workout and sends her a text reminding her how much he loves her. While this may seem a little overboard, it is just another day for Stimpert and boyfriend Dean Zettler who rely on technology to keep their relationship alive. Zettler is a second year at the Naval Academy in Annapolis Maryland and allowed a limited amount of vacations and visitors throughout the year making communication a key tool in their relationship.

“It can definitely be hard,” Stimpert said. “But we’re both following our dreams, and right now in our lives, that is the most important thing.”

Stimpert and Zettler communicate everyday, through technology. Stimpert claims she sends somewhere near 100 texts, and makes 4-5 calls daily. Stimpert says each and every time the two talk is special, and without the progression of technology Stimpert is sure their relationship would not be as strong.

Living hours away would be difficult for any relationship. However, with Zettler attending the naval academy, the rose is even thornier. Rules and regulations keep Stimpert from even spending time on campus. When she visits, she must stay in a hotel room, and only if she’s lucky can Zettler stay with her. Zettler coming to Miami is even more of a rarity, since second years are only allowed emergency visits home along with holiday vacations. “It’s really exciting when I know I get to see him soon!” Stimpert exclaimed. “I really wanted to come and

surprise him for our 6 year anniversary, but that would simply be out of the question. There are way too many details and if he wants any time off he has to let his commanders know a week or two in advanced.”

In addition, Stimpert and Zettler rely on ooVoo to connect

their faces during the long months away. Again, because of regulations at the Naval Academy, students are not allowed to use any other inter-face application such as Skype, due to ‘safe connection’ protocols.

Going the Distance

writing and photography by: jen heuerman

We’re very lucky we live in the time that we do. Without these types of technology, I wouldn’t

hear from him for days, or weeks, which would

make the months apart even longer.

-Sarah Stimpert

“They met at a soccer match in Asia, she was from New York and he was from New Zealand. They knew from the start that it was going to be difficult,” Sexton said. We’re very lucky we live in the time that we do,” Stimpert explains. “Without these types of technology, I wouldn’t hear from him for days, or weeks, which would make the months apart even longer. I am so grateful for ooVoo, seeing his face is always so much better than just hearing his voice; for example, he had to get braces and I got to see them on him the day he got them as if we were together. That would have never happened ten years ago.”

Stimpert and Zettler are not alone in this age of long distance romance via computers, cell phones, and web cams. Junior Elise Sexton’s cousin Patricia Sexton finally just ended her long distance battle

and married boyfriend Jesse Phillips. Before their extravagant wedding in New York City, however, the two lived continents apart and had to rely on Skype to even have a date.

However, Phillips was creative and found all sorts of ways to woo over Sexton.

“He would set up Skype dates,

where he would wear a suit and light candles in the background, and then they would drink wine and talk. Also, one time he sent her a spreadsheet via email to try and flirt with her,” Sexton explained.

Whether across the country, or across the world, it is clear that the days of failed long distance relationships are briskly coming to a close. With the help of applications such as Skype and ooVoo, couples are able to feel like they’re closer than ever.

Greg Guldner, a physician in Riverside California is just one of many to have performed extensive research about long distance relationships.

“We know a great deal about college students and their dating patterns,” says Guldner.

Pictured above: Stimpert (left), Zettler (right).

Thank You!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my writing samples, view my photography and look at my design samples!

Please feel free to contact me at heuermjl@miamioh.edu if you have any further questions, comments or recommendations.

Thank you again,Jen Heuerman