Issue 5 | May 2, 2014

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Dear readers of The Patriot,

This is it—the last issue of the semester. Justlike many of you who may be making that crucialpush to finish strong before preparing for finals,we’ve trudged valiantly through these last fewweeks and I believe we’ve laid it all on the line.

For some of our staff, this will be their lasttime contributing to The Patriot; for others, it’sstill just beginning. To those of you who may beleaving: I would like to thank you for all you’vedone to help keep this publication runningsmoothly. All of your efforts are greatly appreci-ated. I’m not sure how you will ever be replaced.With the utmost honesty, you will be missed.

And to any other senior who may be gradu-ating soon: good luck in the future. While leavingcollege may seem like a dream come true, it canalso be a rough, confusing time. More often thannot, nothing is certain beyond the haven of yourcampus. You may not know what to do or whereto turn. But if you’ve managed to survive fouryears of exams, late-night cram sessions, count-less gallons of coffee (or energy drinks), lengthypapers and possibly a bad roommate or two, thenyou’re far more equipped for the world than youwere when you started. Whatever you go off anddo after graduation, do it well and do it proudly.

We all want to create something that will out-live us; something that survives in the hearts andminds of humanity forever. While that is a ratherlofty goal, it isn’t too farfetched to imagine thatif each of us were to live to the best of our abili-ties, take more time to actually be grateful notonly for what we have but what each of us areworth and set proper examples for those learningfrom and molding themselves after us, we couldimpact the world, if not as a whole, at leastthrough the eyes of those who are watching.

Sincerely,

Timothy WyattEditor-in-Chief

A letter from the editor

Editor-in-ChiefTimothy Wyatt

Managing EditorNatasha Jones

Design EditorKristina Smith

Photo EditorCarleen Fletcher

Socia l Media CoordinatorHayley Davis

Copy-EditorsJannica BradyBrandy Norman

Graphic DesignerBrad Pearce

Sta ff WritersAbbey Cherry

Autumn CooneyJessie EldridgeRyan Poynter

Christin RottenbergerTyler Shumate

Solomon Whitaker

Sta ff PhotographersJillian Carpenter

Chloe Gu

Faculty Adv isorJeremiah Massengale

Editor ia l Rev iew BoardLisa Bartram

Marianne Worthington

- 7609 College Station Drive Williamsburg, Ky 40769

(606-539-4172 /patriotnewspaper @UCThePatriot *thepatriot@ucumberlands.edu

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9 Five things I learned freshman year

16 Debate team receives highhonor at national competition

Five Netflix shows worthsummer binge-watching

Chloe Gu: international woman of mystery

The Patriot is the biweekly student publication of the University of the Cumberlands. Our goal is to provide timelyand original content by highlighting campus news and views.

Award-winning member of the Kentucky Press Association.

Spotlight: the final few

26 Photo survey: graduationplans

CONTENTS

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The last week of classes this semester is almost within reach. The lightat the end of a tunnel full of tests, homework and papers is almost in sight,right? Not quite. The only thing standing between us and summer vacationis the one thing we could all live without: finals week. The rest of the se-mester may have been stressful, but it's nothing in comparison to four dayscompletely full of nothing but tests, papers, and projects that are worth alarge percentage of our grade. It's enough to make anyone have a mentalbreakdown. However, when you take on finals week just right, you canmake it an easier experience.

First of all, being prepared is everything. In respect to tests, thatmeans starting to study during the last week of classes at the latest. It en-sures that you don't have to skip sleeping to study. By studying at least aweek before, you have the option of studying a little bit at a time, which al-ways beats trying to memorize as much as you possibly can all at once. Weall know that all-night study sessions don't benefit anyone's test grade much,if at all. Besides, memorizing all at once is the worst possible finals weektactic out there. Trying to study all night to make a decent grade on onlyone test is difficult enough. Trying to stay up all night studying for two ormore tests at once turns another day during finals week into an educationalmassacre. It would be hard enough to keep your eyes open for the durationof the exam, much less remember that one piece of information that's onthe tip of your tongue. In respect to projects and papers, nothing good hasever come from a project or paper completed the night, or even the hour,before it was due. In most classes, you know exactly what the final projector paper is about on the first day of class after reading your syllabus. Youcan start planning it, piece by piece, at any point in the semester. If it's aproject, do one piece of it per day. If it's a paper, you can work on it oneparagraph at a time. A 2,500 word paper seems much less intimidating ifyou decide to do around 500 words a day over five days. Coming from per-sonal experience, trying to do more than one project the night before a hor-rible way to spend finals week. Last semester, I had a six page paper, aportfolio, and a project, all due on the same day, and I decided to finish themall the night before. I didn't sleep at all, because I was working on all of theassignments I had up until the first one was due.

BY JILL CARPENTER

Sta ff Photographer

Surviving finals weekA quick, easy set of guidelines to help getyou through the roughest four days of

the semester

To make matters worse, each assignment required their own presentation, whichwas something I was not awake enough to tackle. I got decent grades on each ofthe assignments, but it wasn't worth all the stress and lack of sleep.

Speaking of sleep, getting enough of it each night is important. If keepingyour eyes open is a battle in itself, you can't expect to tackle the exam in front ofyou and win, can you? When it comes to finals week, it can be difficult to keepyourself from studying all night even if you have more than enough time studyingbeforehand. It isn't going to hurt to go over everything one more time, right? If itcuts into you sleep, then, yes, it will hurt. Rather than staying up late to study, it'sa better idea to go to bed early, and get up early to go back over the material. Notonly will it give you the opportunity to study more, it's better to take a test whenyou've had time to wake up, instead of jumping out of bed and straight to the examroom.

Study tactics are also very important. By this point, you know what youneed to do in order to best learn the material. This could be flash cards, saying thematerial out loud, or even explaining the material to someone else. Don't simplyread the book or look at the tests if you know that isn't going to benefit you. Some-times, the way you best study goes hand in hand with the way someone else studies.My freshman year, a friend and I both had a population biology final exam to takethe next day. I study best by explaining the material, and he studies best by hearingthe material over and over. I explained the material, chapter by chapter, while helistened, stopping me to ask questions along the way. We both got high A's on thefinal exam.

Finals week can strike terror in the heart of even the toughest college student.Why wouldn't it? One test or project at a time is stressful enough, having severalin a few days is enough to give someone a heart attack. However, if you tackle itthe smart way, it can turn into less of a massacre, and more of a walk in the park.

Photo by Carleen Fletcher

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Spotlight, formerly known as Cumberland Idol, is always a highlight ofthe year. It’s where students get to show their talent and be a rock star for afew weeks. This year’s contestants in the singing competition were CassieWalden, Rachel Kristen Humfleet, Sara Jo Hampton, Shawn Nelson, TimSmith, Jordan Infield, Ashley Dixson, Brandy Norman, Sydney Freeman,Ezra Keegan Anderson, and Chloe Fogle. These 12 have done a wonderfuljob in this competition but it is a competition so there has to winners and los-ers and we have gotten down to the final three and they are senior Jordan In-field, freshman Sara Jo Hampton and senior Brandy Norman. A few daysbefore the finale the top three contestants were nice enough to take the timeout of their day to answer a few questions.

Jessie Eldridge: How has this experience in Spotlight been differentfrom the others?

Jordan Infield: The last time I was a contestant my freshman year, it wascalled Cumberland Idol and I must say so much great change has come sincethen. The voting system is fairer, the atmosphere of the event is even better;everything has just been a more professional experience. Shout out toCAB/Lisa Bartram for putting in the work to make it the most fantastic it hasbeen yet. For me personally, I believe by the grace of God that I have becomea much more confident and skilled musical performer. Also, I’d like to givea shout out to the music professors and my band OH! Divide for having ahuge part in helping me learn and improve.

Sara Jo Hampton: My experience in spotlight has been amazing! I have metso many great people and made a lot of friends while getting to do what Ilove more than anything in this world.

A dramatic, inside-look at The Spolight’s final three contestants before the finaleSpotlight: the final few

BY JESSIE ELDRIDGE

Sta ff Writer

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Brandy Norman: I think this experience in spotlight has been different formany reasons. For one, I'm a senior now so I'm not as intimidated by the au-dience because I know most of them. Also, it's helped me a lot with voting.As a freshman and sophomore I didn't have a lot of people to vote for mebecause I didn't know anyone. I think my age and experience has definitelyhelped me out this year and I'm so thankful for my friends, family and fans.

How have you approached this event?

JI: I have approached it with so much excitement and enthusiasm! I startedplanning songs I wanted to do and strategic performances a year ago whenI was helping as an instrumentalist for the 2013 Spotlight contestants.

SJH: I spend a lot of time preparing for Spotlight each week to make surethat I know my songs forward and backward.

BN: When it comes to singing I approach it like I do everything else in life.I wing it. I wish I could say I practice all the time and freak out and get nerv-ous but I don't. I learn the song and go with it. Whatever happens, happens.

Do you have what it takes to win?

JI: Well, I honestly hope I have done what it takes to win. I guess we willfind out though. With that being said, I definitely feel humbled and honoredto be in the top three and regardless who wins I pray that God will receivethe glory for giving Him my all.

SJH: I think I do have what it takes to win, but at the same time I realizethat Jordan and Brandy are fantastic singers and performers so my compe-tition is tough.

BN: Do I have what it takes to win? Well, that's not up for me to decide.Trust me if I could hand myself $1,000 I would, but it's not my opinion thatcounts. I think all three of us deserve our spots. There was and is a lot of tal-ent this year. But everyone hears differently. Just like beauty, my voice is inthe ear of the listener.

What are some of your strengths in the event and some weaknesses?

JI: I would say something that I have found to be a surprising strength andweakness at the same time is my musical creativity in performing songs.

Some people seem to love my musical creativity and other people seem toview my creativity as "gimmicky." Whatever the case I just try to keep thingsmusically exciting because for me personally I despise being bored at ashow. I would say my experience in performing on stage is a definitestrength. Since being in college I have played somewhere around 200 mu-sical events. This has made me more comfortable on stage. Another strengthwould be versatility. I have been pleasantly surprised to find that most peopleseem to enjoy what I am doing no matter what genre I'm singing. I wouldsay a weakness would be the fact that I am a baritone in vocal register. Al-though I hit some tenor notes I tend to be more comfortable in a baritoneregister in which most popular songs don't seem to be written. Another weak-ness is the fact that I am not always up to date on the biggest pop songs. Ihave had to learn a couple songs from scratch this competition.

SJH: I think that my weakness in this competition is that I am a freshmancompeting against two seniors. But I'm up for the challenge. My strengthsare that people don't expect the voice that I have to come out of me becauseof my size and my experience in music.

BN: My strengths are that I don't really get nervous, I learn songs quicklyand I've been doing this for years so I'm used to the stage. Weaknesses? Ican't play instruments to save my life and I don't feel like I have a lot of on-line voting.

Do you have any secret weapons you’re going to use on the last show?

JI: I think I actually have a couple of surprises in the mix for the last show.We will see though, I always love busting out with a couple surprises. IFthings go as planned I am hoping to bust out two instruments I haven't usedyet for Spotlight this year. The song I personally chose I am hoping to addsome exciting vocal lines that are not in the recorded version of the song,one of the vocal lines will hopefully be reminiscent of Steven Tyler. That'sall I can say.

SJH: Of course I have secret weapons that I plan on using for the last show.[Laughs.] They're secret so you'll have to watch to see them.

BN: I have no secret weapon. I never even know what will come out of mymouth—pitch problems, wrong words, spit—who knows what you'll get tohear or see. I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping for a great ending to agreat season.

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Five Netflix shows worth summer binge-watching

BY RYAN POYNTER

Sta ff Writer

Summer break is a welcome time in all our lives where the weatherhas warmed and classes have ended. Our responsibilities, at least in part,have melted away in the summer heat and we are, for the first time in awhile, able to relax and do whatever we want. It’s a welcome vacationfrom the things that tie us up during the semesters.

But what will you do with all that free time? Don’t worry; Netflixhas your back. Here are five great shows worth spending all your summeron:

Mad Men:“Mad Men” comes from the folks at AMC, the same television net-

work that brought us shows like “Breaking Bad” and “The WalkingDead.” That alone is enough of a sales pitch to entice most viewers intowatching.

But let’s just assume you’re not swayed by big names or high ratings.How about history? “Mad Men” is an authentic and captivating look intothe extinct culture of 1960s Manhattan. It’s like a time capsule, dug up,dusted off and repurposed into something great by the cast and crew be-hind this gripping television drama. Don Draper and the folks at SterlingCooper advertising agency give us an honest look into the highs and lowsof the era, as pressed suits and greased hair dominated the New Yorkstreets, and the topics of racism and misogyny dominated conversations.It isn’t always pretty, but it’s compelling, and it offers a slew of charactersthat fit snugly into a world that feels as much foreign as it does utterlyAmerican.

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House of Cards:This show is a pioneer in the field of television. As one of Netflix’s first

original series, “House of Cards” is watchable only via instant streaming, andeach season of the show is released in an all-at-once format, where everyepisode can be accessed by viewers right away once a season becomes avail-able. It’s a risky formula unlike what we’re used to seeing with cable televi-sion, but it seems to be paying off for the folks at Netflix -- there are twoseasons of “House of Cards” available for streaming so far, and a third is al-ready on its way.

The show stars Kevin Spacey as slimy democrat Frank Underwood, a truesociopath on a political quest for revenge. After being passed over for the po-sition of Secretary of State, Frank seeks to right this wrong in a number ofways that only make sense in the context of Washington D.C.’s political land-scape. It is both an entertaining and eye-opening experience that, thanks toits unique distribution format, is ideal for summer binge-watching.

Lost:“Lost” is the television equivalent of that friend you have who always an-

swers your questions with another question. Sometimes you love him, some-times you hate him, but you never deny his entertainment value or lack ofpredictability. This show may take you all summer just to digest.

The six-season journey across this enigmatic island with the survivors ofOceanic Airlines Flight 815 is a wild one. Along the way you’ll meet a hostof unforgettable characters, visit some unique and unexpected island locales,and you’ll revel in delightful confusion as you attempt -- often unsuccessfully-- to solve any of the island’s many mysteries. The show is not without fault(the series finale alone managed to polarize both fans and critics), but, for allits shortcomings, “Lost” and its island inhabitants are well worth the journey.

Arrested Development:“Arrested Development” is a character-driven comedy from the brilliant

mind of Mitch Hurwitz. It centers around the Bluths, an unusually quirky butwholly endearing family held together by the strings of straight-laced MichaelBluth, who is tasked with managing his family and running their businessafter his father, George Bluth, is arrested.

It’s an intelligent comedy that rewards repeated viewings with overlookedsnippets of dialogue or sight gags that add new, thick comedic layers to an al-ready dense -- but in a good way -- television show. It’s a show where subtle

misunderstandings and recurring themes make up the skeleton of its comediccomposition. The true funny bone, though, is in the interactions between fam-ily members, where an ideal cast comes together to create a group that is asdysfunctional as it is hilarious.

Breaking Bad:“Breaking Bad” is the crowning achievement for cable television in the

last five years. Maybe in its history. Even amongst shows such as “Mad Men,”“The Walking Dead,” and “Game of Thrones,” “Breaking Bad” is in a leagueof its very own. It is a shining example of the depths of television as amedium, and an experience that everyone should see.

To describe “Breaking Bad” as a show about a high school teacher turnedmeth-cook is the TV drama equivalent of calling “The Voice” a round ofkaraoke. Yes, that’s the basic premise -- but not really. It’s a show about, toquote main protagonist Walter White, the “growth, transformation, and decay”of one man and the effect that process has on the people around him. It’s aboutthe skewed perception of the American dream -- the decomposition of a man’sheart beset with greed. It’s a journey ideal for binge watching this summer,or for any other time. Just, please, do yourself the favor of watching it.

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University of the Cumberlands head bowling coach Kevin Reigle saysit best when talking about his team. "The women's team has had an amazingfirst season. For a group of five freshmen to come out and finish like theydid is incredible. This is a great group of ladies and they are a great repre-sentation of the University. I'm also really proud of the men’s that they wereable to step up on the national stage and make such high-quality shots. Itwas an amazing first season for us and it was great to end it with such astrong showing at nationals."

To be a first-year team at a college level is an amazing hurtle in its ownway, but it’s nothing compared to being a new team where at least 90% ofthe members are freshman. But that didn’t stop us or intimidate us in theleast. Being such a young team just made us want to prove ourselves tothose around us more. From the beginning of the season the men andwoman of the bowling team took off like a wild fire, growing closer andbuilding more as a team as they took on each tournament they faced.

Jazmine Traylor, a freshman female bowler from Birmingham Ala., hadthis to say about our season, “For it to be a first year sport here at UC andall of us being all freshmen—with no subs—I have to say we have had asuccessful season. The best experience that I had this season was not onlymaking it to NAIA National Championship and getting to experience com-peting against some of the best teams in the nation. But, knowing that weare ranked 12th in the nation out of 44. It let us know as a team that if wecontinue to bowl like we know how to, we can be just as good as all theother top teams and even be ranked higher in our upcoming seasons.”

Taylor Harris, a freshman female from Middletown, Ohio added to thatsentiment, saying, “It was an amazing freshman experience for me. Wecame together as five freshman and overcame every obstacle that came atus, especially involving injuries. We made it to nationals and did well inevery tournament we went to. I’m proud of my ladies and the hard workwe did. I love them and can’t picture having any other girls beside me thanthem.”

Our Assistant Coach Brandy Hensley, was an NAIA National Cham-pion among other great things. I believe she explains it best, “How everyoneelse bowls and how we bowl are completely different. We have to be ableto read an oil patterns, which by the way, there are many, know ball layouts,

know how to make an adjustment for a shot we will throw in 10 minutes,know our game plus our team mate's games so we can help them line up,watch every shot our team throws to know exactly what the lane is doing,all while completely blocking out a thousand screaming people while wemake our own shot. We have to be accurate within two inches from 40 feetaway. Not to mention the pressure. Imagine you are throwing a shot for anational championship, there are seven people behind you on the lane andeven more waiting and watching from home, could you handle it? To others,it’s just rolling a ball to knock some pins down. To us, it means everything.”

That’s the word you can use for The University of the CumberlandsBowling Teams first season. Everything, we put everything into our firstseason. Whether it was just our game, our hearts, or even our tears, we heldour own this year. Our woman’s team placed second in our Conference, theMen close behind placing seventh. But the Conference itself was nothingcompared to our NAIA Tournament. Imagine being in a building with 42or more teams all around you, fans screaming left and right while you standon a lane knowing you have to knock all of ten pins down for your team-mates who hold their breath behind you. Sounds pretty intense, right? Well,that’s exactly what we went through each shot. No words can describe howmuch joy, laughter, adrenaline, anger, tears, relief, contentment, and happi-ness we went through in one day. In the end, we fought our way throughand ended up with an impressive end to our season.

Amanda Kelly, a freshman female from Georgetown Ky., talked aboutthe NAIA experience, saying, “The best part of going to the national cham-pionship was being able to compete amongst the best teams in the nation.It gave me the insight of what it takes to be a top team and we proved wehave what it takes to be one of those teams.”

The woman’s team started from the bottom of the rankings but thenworked our way up as a team and ended up placing 12th in the nation as anall-freshman team. The Men’s team proved themselves as well as theyworked their way to the top, all while taking out top schools who have beenbowling for years compared to our men who only had just months behindthem. But the men showed tremendous strength, placing 16th in the nation.With this being our first year, just imagine how much we will grow as theyears go on and we continue putting everything we have into our sport.

Life is like bowling

BY AUTUMN COONEY

Sta ff Writer

An insider’s perspective on UC Bowling’s first season

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The first year of college was… interesting. College is obviously differentfrom high school, especially where I’m from. I am originally from Cincinnati,Ohio, which is roughly three hours north of Williamsburg. I attended a SetonHigh School, which is a private, Catholic, all-girls school. We had uniforms,nametags, and seven classes a day. Needless to say, venturing to college wasa whole new world for me. I went from seven classes a day five-days-a -weekto roughly two classes per day five-days-a-week. I have the freedom to wearanything I want, assuming it’s “Cumberland Appropriate” of course. Althoughhaving classes with guys for the first time since eighth grade wasn’t a bigchange for me since I was in marching band in high school, which was co-ed.

With that being said, my freshman year of college was quite the experi-ence. I have learned so many things about not only myself but other peopleand life in general. I have experienced so much in the past seven months andI am so grateful for every good time, every bad moment, or anything in-be-tween that has been thrown my way. I could rattle on for ages about all of thethings that college has taught me so far, but I’ve managed to shorten it to fivethings.

1. College is hard.As silly as that might sound, it’s true. Of course I came to college knowing

that there would be a lot expected from me and that I would be busy, but Iguess I wasn’t quite prepared for how big of a toll it would actually be. Therewere your standard classes, homework assignments, projects, and exams. Thenon top of that I was balancing marching band, which was three days a weekfrom 3:15-5:30. I was trying to cram all of these priorities together along withattempting to maintain a decent social life. I’m not Superwoman, so trying tobalance all of these things on top of each other wasn’t successful and camecrumbling down on top of me. Although it was rough to go through at the time,I’m really glad that it happened because it taught me time management andhow to prioritize better.

2. Not everything is set in stone.I came into college very excited about the major I chose. I felt like I was

totally ready for it and that nothing would bring me down. Boy was I wrong.I had no idea that my major would be as demanding as it was. Don’t get mewrong, I still enjoyed my time when I was in that field, but by the end of thesemester I realized that I enjoyed my major as a hobby and I couldn’t handle

it as a career. A person may come into college thinking they know what theywant from their life, but it’s very likely that they will change their major atleast once, and that’s perfectly okay.

3. Help is out there.Sometimes you’re going to take a class that doesn’t exactly come naturally

to you. Struggling in classes isn’t a foreign concept and it happens to nearlyeverybody. One of my biggest struggles was learning to speak up and ask forhelp if I needed it. Making friends with someone in your class is one of thebiggest gateways for assistance if you’re having trouble. The Academic Re-source Center (ARC) is also available for tutoring and any other help needs astudent might have. I learned to stop being afraid to ask for help because mypeers and professors would much rather see me ask for help than see me fail.

4. Decorating is key.We all know that college dorm rooms aren’t the liveliest looking places.

The best way to liven up your dorm and make it feel more like home is tobring things from home. Pictures, posters, even stuffed animals from homecan transform a simple dorm room into a bedroom that looks like it camestraight from home. Having a fully decorated room might come back to getme when it comes time to move out for the summer, but it really helps curehomesickness and makes me feel more comfortable with dorming when I walkinto my room to pictures of my friends and family along with miscellaneousposters and other things.

5. Home is where the heart is.I would be lying if I said there weren’t times when I get insanely home-

sick, contemplating whether or not I should hop into my car and start my three-hour journey up I-75 to go home. The small-town life sometimes drives memad sometimes because of the lack of things to do. But when push comes toshove, I really do enjoy the time that I get to spend in the ‘burg. I even findmyself saying “When I get home I have to clean my room,” when referring toWilliamsburg. Spending time away from my Cincinnati home made me realizethat the phrase “Home is where the heart is,” is actually pretty true. As longas I make the most out of my time here, everything will be okay and I can con-sider it my home away from home.

BY CHRISTIN ROTTENBERGER

Sta ff Writer

Five things I learned freshman year

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Sara Donahue is late to the interview which takes place in her own officein Academic Affairs. When she opens the door, her face lights up with a brightsmile and she’s enthusiastic to begin chatting about her life. She sits down ather desk and replies to some emails before she finishes her workday. As herfingers are tip-tapping across the keys, she explains that she was late becauseshe was helping a friend. When she starts telling her story, somehow she keepstaking the spotlight off of herself and emphasizing others who have made agreat impact on her life.

Donahue is a human services major and senior of the University of theCumberlands from Harlan, Ky. She is involved with the drama team of theBaptist Campus Ministries, Campus Activities Board and Mountain Outreach.She works at Academic Affairs, plays intermural volleyball, sings with UCsingers, enjoys music and going to concerts. In addition to being a movie fa-natic, she adds, “I'm a girl, so obviously I enjoy shopping. Like, who wouldn'tenjoy that?” She is much more than that. She’s a wonderful friend to everyoneshe encounters.

“There are not many things that I am excellent at doing, but I try my bestto be a really good friend to people,” expresses Donahue. “I just really likespending time with family and friends.”

Being a friend is very important to Donahue. She followed her desire tohelp others into the field of human services. When she came to UC, she wasgoing to major in elementary education. Instead, she found her passion in ac-tively serving others.

“I really enjoy helping people, whatever the task is small or big,” saysDonahue. “My cup is absolutely over flowing after doing stuff like that. Iknew human services was what I needed to do. A lot of people had like socialwork or counseling like very specific and I don’t even care where I go. I don’t

even care what it is, I’ll do whatever.”Donahue’s longing to aid others is evident in her many pursuits for a ca-

reer. She would love to do something in ministry in the church, particularlywith youth, but would also love doing something on a college campus. Herinterest in stopping sex trafficking by helping the victims get counseling andreassessed into the real world is also a dream of hers. Even with serious sub-jects, Donahue likes to lighten the mood. She jokingly mentions about be-coming a country singer, because she is going to learn to play the guitar thissummer.

Also this summer, Donahue will be a graduate assistant at CAB workingwith Lisa Bartram, director of student activities. In the fall, she will be intern-ing at the boys’ and girls’ club in her community while studying for her mas-ter’s in pastoral counseling at UC. She will continue her job as a graduateassistant at CAB in the spring.

“Sara is one of the most genuine people I’ve ever known,” says Bartram.“She’s been great in CAB. She always has a positive attitude and gets every-body on board. And just makes everybody feel great. It’s been a joy havingher.”

CAB has also been influential in Donahue’s life, as much as she has beento them. She’s gained a lot of friends there and learned a lot about the nitty-gritty part of organizing an event. The experience from serving on MO’sspring break trips for the past four years has been beneficial to her as well.Donahue says she connects really well with the families that they assist.“Sara encompasses what a woman of God is,” says UC senior Abbey Cherry,Sara’s college friend and roommate. “One of the most beautiful marks of aChristian is the ability to be relational and I think that’s Sara’s greatest strengthis her ability to reach out to anyone and find something to relate with them

Sara Donahue: friend to allBY LYDIA HUGGINS

Guest Writer

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on. Her beauty is shown in herheart for others.”

Donahue’s empathy and com-passion for others has been usefulto her not only in the states, butalso in Russia where she went on amission trip. “As cheesy as it is,love is an international language.Like that love is something that isunderstood by everybody,” saysDonahue. She thinks of a little boyin particular, who she left a little bitof her heart with, when she saysthis.“I would always love to go back toRussia,” Donahue says longingly.“I just made a ridiculous connec-tion with the people that weworked with over there. I have re-ally good friendships with them.So I would love to go back there.”

A friendship with Donahue isnot short lived. “Sara wasn’t one ofthe first people I met on campus,but she’s one of the ones I knowwill have one of the longest lastingimpacts on my life from my timehere,” says Cherry. “I’ve taken herhome with me multiple times.She’s part of my family now. She’smore than a friend, she’s family. Iknow that sounds really cheesy, butit’s the truth and my family will at-test to that. She’s my sister.”

Donahue becomes family bybeing a good listener to people andshow that she cares. The power ofprayer is also very important to herfriendships. She expresses that shewill pray for someone as soon asthey need prayer no matter howsmall or big the issue is.

“Loving people and showingthem love through action andthrough helping and just being ser-vants to those who need it andhelping them out,” says Donahueemphatically. “That’s all abouteverything that Christ is about.”

Photo by Carleen Fletcher

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Most people would pass by Shiyi “Chloe” Gu without a second glance if itweren't for her fashion sense. If you were to open the door in her closet youmight have several moments were you stare with a blank expression of utter dis-belief and confusion. Yellow, black, red, purple and a pair of hot dog pants hang,as if screaming to be worn that day, all together. Most times Chloe gives intoher clothes. But not today. I was expecting Chloe to show up dressed in a whirl-wind of colors across the whole spectrum of the color wheel but she was almosta black and white version of herself. She was wearing jeans and a blue hoodiefrom Melbourne University which read “Postera Crescam Laude,” which a brieftrip to Wikipedia told me meant, “Later I shall grow by praise.” And, of course,her dark round-rimmed glasses, which I think Harry Potter stole from her. Sinceit was 9:30 a.m., she had just woke up and came straight over to my office withno time for her fashion consultation from her closet. “I don't believe fashion hasto be expensive,” Chloe says with a smile. “I get clothes from department storesto thrift stores. Whatever speaks to me at the time.”

She has an extensive eye-glass collection that would rival any LensCrafters.Round, square, wire-frame, metal, plastic, solid color, multicolored. She hasglasses that can match what mood she is in that day. The only thing that comesclose to her eyeglass collection is her hat collection. They come in every shapeand size in this extensive collection and come from all corners of the world.

We meet in one of the loudest office buildings on campus. The Multi-Mediaand Sports Information Office in the Brown Building. Music of all kinds is play-ing from various offices as music is being put to videos used to lure in freshmanfor next year. Laughter can be heard from downstairs varying in every octaveand pitch on the scale. Two doors down there is a girl and her mother talking onthe phone speaking in French; they appear to be arguing but we will never know.

Shiyi “Chloe” Gu: international woman of mysteryBY BILL TURNER

Guest Writer

Photo by Bill Turner

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Photo by Carleen Fletcher

There are two sides to Chloe and most people on campus only see one. Thequiet, reserved and almost timid Chloe is who most people see, including thepeople she works with. Her closest friends see the other side, which is spon-taneous and light hearted. “We will just make random trips to places,” Chloegently laughs, “could be a trip to Wal-Mart at 3 in the morning.”

England, France, Holland, Scotland and America are just a few of theplaces Chloe traveled during spring break. Chloe is an international jet-setter.When some women in today's culture can't go to the bathroom by themselves;Chloe traveled to all these far far away lands all by herself. She is very com-fortable being by herself and there is one thing that gives her courage: hertrusty Canon digital camera. Photography is her passion and one look at thephotographs she uses as wallpaper in her room you will instantly know sheis good at it. Whether she is behind or in front of the camera you see Chloe'strue sense of self shining through. She has a very unique and creative eye forcapturing life around her.

“She's a phenomenally talented photographer, but she's also extremelyhumble about it. Any time I've ever heard someone compliment her photog-raphy or her writing, which happens often, she acts so surprised even thoughshe shouldn't be.” Jeremiah Massengale, assistant professor of communica-tion arts and journalism, said “The world is better because she shares her giftswith it.”

Chloe hails from Jaixing, China and is majoring in business administra-tion and minoring in journalism. “I hate business,” Chloe shockingly re-marked, “but most Asian kids get a business degree.”Journalism is her thing and she is very good at it. She is applying for graduateschools to study digital communication or television programming.

So how does a young worldly traveler make it from China to a smallChristian school in Williamsburg? Her English teacher in China and UC’sRick Fleenor, who visited her hometown, introduced her to the University ofthe Cumberlands.

“It's A Small World” keeps playing in my head as I'm writing this. What advice does she give to other international students thinking about UC?“Push yourself to make friends, English friends,” advises Chloe. “Don't beshy, people are friendlier and more open here then in other parts of the world.And you have too get used to ice in your drinks.”

Where did the name Chloe come from? She has had several other Englishnames over the years, sometimes it was because it sounded like her Chinesename other times because of the meaning of the names themselves. The firstEnglish name she was given was “Grace” and she had many others after thatbut then came the name “Chloe.” Chloe means “green shoot” or verdant andblooming. I believe her English teacher had a divine hand guiding her to thatname for Shiyi.

“You can tell that she is just starting to come in to her own. Her photog-raphy and journalism skills are growing everyday,” said Alyssa Burke, an ad-ministrative assistant at UC who has worked with Chloe for several years.

Chloe will have that proverbial door of opportunity put in front of herafter graduation. She will get too choose which she opens and which shewalks past. Whatever decisions she makes in life her creativity and under-standing of others will send her on an amazing journey and I'm sure her trustycamera will be right there beside her.

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The Spotlight has become somewhat of a hot commodity among Univer-sity of the Cumberlands students as of late. It’s a full-on production—lights,cameras, the whole shebang—drawing its spectators to Gatliff Chapel, thebackdrop for the singing competition since its inception. Many talented vo-calists have participated in the event over the years, each vying for the titleof “best,” accompanied by a giant check in the amount of $1,000.

This year’s installment was no exception, with plenty of exciting mo-ments and jolting defeats. Though, at the end of the gauntlet stood only onelone singer: Brandy Norman. Being a senior, Norman is no stranger to thiscompetition—finishing third her freshman year and in the top six the follow-ing year. And while her place at the top was only cemented by a single vote,a win is a win. We sat down with Norman after the finale and talked to herabout the experience, what she feels gave her an advantage this year versusprevious years and what it was like to perform in front of a large group ofpeople.

First off: how does it feel to have won it all and what are you going to dowith the money?

Um…I’m kind of excited, but I’m kind of not. I feel like my freshman yearwhen I was in the top three I was thinking the whole time, “If I win this

money, I’m going to go buy something cool.” Now, I’m a senior and I’mabout to graduate, and I’m like, “I’m going to have to put this toward an apart-ment or a student loan or my car.” Just, you know, something “big girl,” andI don’t really want to do that, but I have to. [laughs] If I didn’t have to, Iwould probably go somewhere. I would put it toward going on a trip of somesort. Just chill out, you know. Not anything adult-like.

You’ve participated in The Spotlight prior to this year. Why do you thinkyou didn’t do as well the other two times?

I wasn’t involved in a lot my sophomore year and I didn’t really talk to a lotof people, so I feel like I lacked in voting. And the voting was different then,too. I really like the voting change.

What’s changed that you feel helped you?

Before, it was just online voting. So, basically, anyone and their familiescould sit and vote an unlimited amount of times. Now, they have an in-housevote, which I think is super awesome because it should matter to the peoplethat are actually there that come, because what you see on the live stream—although it’s such good quality compared to the past—it’s so different whenyou’re there live. So having the in-house vote really helped. And then thejudges get to put in their percentages too.

SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT:a Q&A with Spotlight winner, Brandy Norman

BY RYAN POYNTER

Sta ff Writer

& TIMOTHY WYATT

Editor-in-Chief

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Photo by Ca rleen Fletcher

Did you know either of the other two finalists and, if so, what is yourrelationship like with them?

I have to admit, I was really sad when Jordan didn’t win and I know thatdoesn’t make a lot of sense, but, like, my heart broke because I wanted himto win. We had already talked about it; we both kind of felt the same. Justbecause we came in together, and we were picked for duet partners our firsttime here, and that’s how we met. Then it was like we were going out to-gether, too. And it was our senior year, so it kind of made it great that atleast one of us got to win. And Sara Jo, the times that I got to talk to her,she’s just a very sweet girl. Very, very nice, and I think she has a beautifulvoice, and I think that—eventually, if not next year—she’ll end up winningif she auditions again.And what about the people who were eliminated before? Any strong re-lationships with them? Were you sad to see anyone go?

I didn’t know Chloe beforehand, but she was my duet partner, and I justthought she was a really sweet girl. It was kind of like—she was a freshmanand I was a senior, and I kind of felt like she was under my wing. So, whenshe got eliminated, it kind of broke my heart—not that we were great friends.It was just that I think she has a really good voice too. It was kind of sad tosee her go.

Being in front of all those people must be nerve-wrecking. Do you everhave any kind of performance anxiety?

Not really. I don’t ever get nervous or anxious about singing unless I’msinging with a track or the song has more than two verses, like the song Isang, “Fancy,” by Reba McEntire, that song had, like, six verses. It was sohard for me to keep those in line. Like, I didn’t know what I was going todo when I got out there because I kept trying to do it in my head and I keptmessing up and I actually did leave out a whole verse when I performed. Imessed up the band and everything—which, was kind of payback because,when I got there for my rehearsal on Monday night, they had not learnedone of my songs because of some miscommunications. So we both kind of,the band and I, went back and forth kind of taking turns messing each otherup, I guess. [laughs] But, um… even getting there Monday and having themnot know my song, like, I wasn’t even concerned with it. I was like, “What-ever… [laughs]. It doesn’t matter.” Because, at the end of the day, singingis really one of the only things that makes me truly happy. So, as long asI’m out there and I’m doing what I love and I’m having fun, like, “It doesn’treally matter what anybody else thinks.”

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Debate team receives high honor at national competitionBY NATASHA JONES

Managing Editor

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After a successful season of advancing on to out rounds in almost everycompetition attended this year, UC’s speech and debate team were very pleasedto leave the 2014 National Christian College Forensics Association Tourna-ment with the prestigious National Champions Quality Sweeps Award.

The Quality award is an award that is awarded to the team with the mostpoints per student competing. Professor Jay Bourne, who is faculty advisorand coach of the team explained, “Our motto is always preparing everythingfor nationals. I always want us to do well, but I’d rather us be in peak form atNationals. And this year for the most part, I think we maxed out our potential.”

This semester the team had 11 members, and six members qualified forNationals. Attendees included Katie Detherage, Brian Johnson, Matthew Kel-ley, Caleb Stoffle, Jenette Mitchell, and Rob Jones.

In addition to being awarded the Quality award, Matthew Kelley andCaleb Stoffle reached octofinals (top 16 ) in team debate, and Rob Jones andJenette Mitchell were national semifinalists (top four) in team debate. Twoteam members also won individual medals for their debating. Rob Jones washonored as a national champion gold medalist and won Novice individual de-bate and Katie Detherage was awarded a silver medalist.

Detherage said, “Placing in a national tournament was amazing, especiallymy first year on the team. I'm thankful for the opportunity to compete in thisactivity and for all of the wonderful friends I've made on the team this pastyear.”

Jones was competing at Nationals for his second year. Jones took two De-bate and Argumentation classes before joining the team. Christopher Leskiw,associate professor of political science recognized Jones’s real natural abilityfor debate in his Introduction to Political Science course that Jones took as afreshman.

“He has a gift in the ability to explain complex issues in easy to understandterms. One reason I think that Rob has experienced such success in the Debatearena is that he actually listens to the opposing argument,” said Leskiw. Bournesoon took notice of Jones’s ability when he saw how willingly Jones was tostep up against one of the best debaters in his Argumentation and Debatecourse.

Jones said, “Debate is beneficial to both my major and minor due to typ-ically debating political science topics and communications that give me ad-vancement in oral speaking and communicating my ideas.” Jones also saiddebate has helped him to think on his feet and be understood in a clear andconcise manner.

The team does two types of debating, individual and pairing up with apartner. The team never gets to debate as a group, as they are always eitheralone or teamed up in a minimum of two people pairs to compete. At compe-tition, a topic is announced that varies every round and they have 15-20 min-utes to talk about it as a team and develop strategies and then go off in debate.It can always be random but a lot of the time the topics are foreign or domesticpolicy dealing with the US government.

“That’s the thrilling and the scary part about it, it’s always something dif-ferent we don’t know ahead of time what it is, and that makes it interesting. Alot of time if you have a well-rounded background and you keep up to date onnews, you should be ready to take most of what you need,” said Bourne.Bourne said the initial goal of the team is about making students better speak-ers and more persuasive people, the end result will be that they’ll be more con-fident and better in communicating. Often students, who took part in the team,come to Bourne and tell him of how participating or receiving awards on theteam helped them get jobs, or scholarships for graduate school because theydemonstrated oral communication skills.

The team has been very driven and worked really hard this year, and theirwork has paid off as their awards have spoken for themselves. Seven of thecurrent members have committed to participating again next year and Bourneis looking forward to what the team will achieve in the future.

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Gatliff Chapel is one of the places on the University of the Cumberlands’campus where graduating senior Julie Paris has spent most of her time. Afterbeing a leader in the Baptist Campus Ministries for four years and part ofthe Disciples Drama Team for about as long, Paris has spent countless ex-periences in this sanctuary. Ministry, and specifically missions, is what Paris’heart beats for. Her heart for ministry and missions has not only influencedher decisions of what to do after graduation, but it has also influenced herimpact and presence on the campus as well.

After growing up in a home that was missions minded, the mission fieldquickly became Paris’ passion. Her father, Floyd, was a pastor with a hugeburden for foreign missions.

“He led the church in a very mission-minded type of way, but I actuallykind of ran from it for a while,” she explained.

After he had led and sent a number of trips to Africa to reach out to thepeople there, sharing the experience with his family became something ofgreat importance to him.

He found it important to bring his children along to show them what themission field looked like, specifically in Africa. This experience combinedwith the 1:8 Leadership Experience (a mission opportunity through the Ken-tucky Baptist Convention & Baptist Campus Ministries) truly ignited thepassion in her heart for foreign missions and even domestic missions.

When I asked her if Africa, in the nursery schools her father and othershave worked so hard to build and support, was where she wanted to be, shegave me an answer I wasn’t expecting.

“No, and that’s really hard for me to say. I do have strong ties to Ugandaand those people will always hold a special place in my heart. But my heartdoesn’t beat for Africa the way that his does. People are called to differentplaces, and I feel that I am called to Greece. Of course I’m going to go toUganda, I’m leading a trip during Christmas break and I am so excited totake people. But while Dad’s heart beats for Africa, mine beats for Greece.So, it’s the same and different,” she expanded.

Julie Paris: missions minded

BY K IM OLIVIER

Guest Writer

Photo by Carleen Fletcher

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Greece was where Paris spent the overseas portion of the 1:8 LeadershipExperience with her team this past summer, which is when God reallystarted heavily laying missions on her heart.

“God literally just opened up my eyes and said ‘I’ve created you forthis and for this purpose,’” Paris shared.

This revelation governed her decision to minor in missions and min-istry at UC. But her studies aren’t the only aspects of college life thathave been influenced by the passions God’s put inside of her.

When Paris first started attending UC as a freshman, she knew thatshe had a heart for people. She sought out opportunities to be aroundpeople and love on them. She found great opportunities with AppalachianMinistries to get to show love to children while building relationshipswith other Christian students on campus.

She also found that her passion for people and missions collide inthe ministry of the BCM Drama Team.

“What I want people to understand is freedom in Christ. That’s whereI found my freedom. To express it through dance and through skits andthat’s why it’s where both of those worlds collide to me,” Paris said.

She hasn’t done it all on her own though. Paris talked to me in greatdetail about some of the people who have encouraged her and poured intoher all along the way. One of these people or mentors is Kelsey Day. Dayis one of the interns at UC’s Baptist Campus Ministries; Paris said Dayhas such a passion to pour into girls as freshmen and watch them growthrough their time at UC.

“I think Julie is the person I think about most often. I think the thingwith Julie is that she’s allowed God to transform her into the woman ofGod that she is today. And so she might be my favorite person to see howshe transformed,“ said Day.

Leaving a legacy on this campus is an understatement for the im-pression that she’s left here. I asked Paris what she hoped people thoughtof her after she is gone and this is what she had to say.

Paris says, “I hope people see me as caring in all capacities. I hopepeople saw me as intentional. What I really want people to understandabout Christ is the freedom He wants for them. Christ wants freedom foryou and for your life. I really want people to grasp that and to walk inthat.” When I asked her to narrow that down for me she explained, “Caring funand relational but all of that centered in Christ, and centered in the free-dom that He’s given me. “

I told her that I think she’s accomplished that she laughed and said,“Yeah, well you’ve only known me for a semester.” And honestly that’s all it’s taken for me to see the absolutely beautifulthings God has used Julie Paris to do at UC with the sweet spirit He putinside of her.

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Travis Burkhart comes up to the steps of the campus library look-ing unsure and tired from a long day. He just finished a two-hourphoto shoot for his graduation invitation. He doesn’t even scoff at thenews of having to take a couple of more photos at the end of the in-terview. We walk up the flight with stairs he’s climbed on several oc-casions; he takes each step surefooted and with familiarity. As hetakes his seat in the group study room, he squirms with nervousnessin his chair before the recorder begins collecting his thoughts andfeelings from the past four years of his life.

“I don’t like talking about myself or what I think or how I feel,”Burkhart says right before the first actual question. He’s hesitant tospeak out, but once he relaxes, a confident, collected tone of voicecomes across to anyone who talks to him.

Like a lot of freshmen starting out at the University of the Cum-berlands, Burkhart majored in biology. Over the first few years, hesays he changed his major to psychology and accounting and finallydecided on business administration. Officially, he’s a business admin-istration major with a minor in public health.

“I’m more of a business-minded person,” Burkhart says withslight conviction. “I’m more of a leader.” His dream job is workingat a hospital, preferably in the area, as a healthcare administrator. Hesimply wants to help people. “I thought that administration would be something I could do inhealth care and still help people and make a difference in someone’slife without having to suffer through the biology,” Burkhart says withhumor and sincerity.

Finding the aim for a career, a passion, is one of the primary goalsin a college student’s life and Burkhart found his during his fouryears: helping and leading others. He’s a natural leader and he desiresto help others translates into various parts of his life, especially whenit came to being the only senior on the bowling team, which is com-prised of mostly freshmen.

Travis Burkhart: natural leaderBY AMANDA KELLY

Guest Writer

Photo by Amanda Kelly

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“I feel like they needed somebody who was a little more mature,someone who had a little more understanding of college,” Burkhart says. The season was over quickly and his first and only year has finished. “Iwish I could bowl a couple more years, which is why I’m excited to comeback as GA,” Burkhart says with joy.

A week after the season finished, he asked Reigle about the newly un-occupied position. After some consideration, Reigle gives him the positionas the graduate assistant for the next season. Brandy Hensley, the previousgraduate assistant for the bowling program, gives Burkhart her blessing.

“I think he will do a great job with the bowling team next year,” Hens-ley says. “He is a dedicated student of the sport and his knowledge willbenefit the team.”

Though Burkhart hasn’t coached bowling before, he says, “CoachReigle gave me a big study guide on how to be a coach.” Yes, an actualstudy guide on how to be a coach. With his natural leadership skills,Burkhart is an excellent choice for the team since he just came off a seasonof collegiate bowling and he knows the underclassmen on the team.

“They needed somebody they knew close and could work with theminstead of someone from some random school coming in and taking theposition,” Burkhart explains. Burkhart brings 14 years of bowling expe-rience to this new position. He says he’s been bowling since his fatherhooked him on the sport. However, Burkhart considers he has grown themost from this past year’s experiences as a collegiate, competitive bowler.He has acquired new skills that will go towards him coaching next season.

“I have a better understanding of how to help people,” Burkhart says.“I can guide them.”

UC has been home to Burkhart for the past four years and London,Ky. has been home to him for his entire life. He’s a leader, a contributingmember, in his community; however, one major aspect of his life is stilla shock to most people.

“Believe it or not, most people don’t know I’m married,” Burkhartsays in a matter-of-fact tone. “I don’t know why people don’t know.”

Burkhart married his long-time girlfriend, Emily Brock Burkhart, inthe gazebo on the soccer field located on UC’s campus on Aug. 4, 2012.

“We really wanted to do it somewhere that was really special to usand I know we met each other in high school, but we’ve really grown to-gether here at Cumberlands,” Burkhart says. He gives a faint smile whilethinking about the memory. He says the two of them began dating fresh-men year of high school and decided to get married between their sopho-more and junior year at UC.

In his community, Burkhart maintains his married life. The couple islike many college students: they go to class, socialize with friends andBurkhart is a student athlete. But they also pay the rent, pay bills, andBurkhart has a job at Cumberland Valley Psychiatry in London, Ky. asthe receptionist. “You name it, I do it,” Burkhart says. “I’m the go-to man.”

Burkhart, a self-proclaimed go-to man, comes off as quiet and re-served at a first impression. However, his wife, Emily Burkhart, says he’snothing like what his first impression alludes.

“At first glance, most people think he is very reserved, quiet, and shy,”Mrs. Burkhart says. “But when he's comfortable or needs to get somethingdone, he's actually very outspoken and extroverted.”

Burkhart stands out when it comes to being a leader. He takes chargeand helps out wherever is needed, whether it is in his job, on the bowlingteam, or at home. “I want to be a good leader and role model,” Burkhartsays. His desire to help others comes through with such a strong convic-tion that it is impossible to ignore.

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It’s a warm Tuesday night in the Kleist Hall lobby. The silence of thehall is suddenly broken when the front doors swing open. 21-year-old sen-ior physical education major Jess Upchurch walks in; her blonde hair istied up in a bun and she is wearing grey sweat pants and a white Nikeshirt. She looks just like an athlete (which is what she is) but at the sametime she looks gentle, kind and smart. She smiles her infectious smile asshe sits down. Her smile makes anyone around her smile and would makeanyone completely comfortable and ready to start an interview.

Upchurch has had an impressive journey here at University of theCumberlands. Everyone who knows her knows Upchurch is an extremelytalented athlete. Just ask her former teammate Sierra Anderson who says,“I always enjoyed playing basketball with Jess, she is very competitive,talented and one of the hardest workers I’ve ever met.”

When asked about her athletic experience at UC, a big smile coversUpchurch’s face and there’s a nostalgic glow in her eyes as she begins toreminisce about her sophomore year when they won the Mid- South Con-ference Championship. “That is an experience I will remember forever,”she says, “and I’ve got the championship ring to prove it.” She begins tolaugh.

In her four years at UC Upchurch has spent countless hours on thecourt and in the weight room. Even though she admits that at first it washard to balance both athletics and academics she said it became easier,and her academic accolades are proof to that. Upchurch has made boththe all-conference and all-American academic teams. She is very proudof these achievements but also very humble and makes sure to let peopleknow she is very thankful to all her coaches, teachers and teammates whohave helped her through the years.

She says that all her teachers and coaches were amazing when it cameto helping her balance basketball and school work.

You can tell by just looking at Upchurch that she is a friendly person,so it is no surprise that she has made many friends here at UC. She holdsher friends very close to her heart and will go to great lengths to ensureher friendships last a lifetime. Upchurch loves to travel and said she’s glad

that a lot of her friends at UC are foreign so that she can travel the worldto visit them after college. One of her closest friends and teammate, seniorThali Rodrigues is from Sweden. When asked to describe Upchurch, Ro-drigues says that Upchurch’s favorite quote by famous basketball coachJohn Wooden is what describes her best. The quote is “You can’t live aperfect day without doing something for someone who will never be ableto repay you.”

Rodrigues says, “Jess is always trying to help those in need and is justa very giving person.” Rodrigues quickly adds that there are many othergreat things about Upchurch and continues praising her by saying, “Jessalso loves to practice her faith and love towards God and is a very joyfuland kind person.”

Upchurch lifts up her arm, which is in a very thick cast and points toit. “Are you going to ask me about this?” she says with a charming smirkon her face. She says that it might be important and that readers might getbored by just reading about her achievements and would rather knowabout her hardships. It shows how tough and confident Upchurch is whenshe is willing to talk about her hardships and you can’t help but be evenfurther impressed by her.

Her latest injury is a torn ligament in her thumb. She says that she isused to being injured and that her list of injuries is long. The list includesthree surgeries including knee surgery on her meniscus, ankle ligamentsurgery and her recent thumb surgery. Any average person would probablyhave given up on basketball to avoid any more serious injuries but hertoughness, dedication and love for her team mates willed her on andhelped her to stay strong through tough times. Upchurch has also sufferedthrough four concussions, which were so severe that she couldn’t evenpractice or be in a basketball gym because of the loud noises and brightlights. She says that the concussions were the hardest of all her healthproblems because she couldn’t be around her team mates. But it is in JessUpchurch’s nature to find the bright side in all situations. She says, withan optimistic look on her face, “These hardships have helped me grow asa person and become closer to God.”

Jess Upchurch: a true patriotBY MICHAEL DOW

Guest Writer

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Upchurch once again starts talking about her friends and how muchshe is going to miss them all and just all the people in general. Her smileturns into a stern look and she says, “Don’t think I’m always happy andthat I’ll miss everything. I will not miss the café food at all!” She sticksher tongue out and makes a disgusted face. She thinks intensely for a mo-ment and then shouts out, “Don’t forget to mention how annoying the se-curity guards can be.” She is trying to sound firm and angry but the tonein her voice is friendly and only half serious, further proving her naturalkindness.

Upchurch is more than happy and even a little excited when askedwhat something nobody knows about her is. That smile that has been seenso many times during this interview returns to her face. She says not tojudge her or think she is weird when she says that she is obsessed with herpillow. “I take it everywhere and love to smell it,” she explains with aslightly embarrassed look on her face. As if to confirm that she’s not crazy,she starts to explain that her granny made it for her and with the most se-rious and intimidating look I’ve ever seen on her face she says, “If anyonemesses with it I’ll have to hurt them.” Unable to bear an unjoyful momentshe changes the subject and explains that when she was younger she lovedcupcakes so much that she wouldn’t just ate the cupcake but the wrapperas well, to ensure she got all the icing. She looks around to make sure no-body heard her and laughs, which brings back the fun and pleasant atmos-phere to the room.

Upchurch is spreading her love for God and for helping others bygoing on a missionary trip to Uganda beginning on June 11, 2014. Up-church has combined her love for helping others and for travelling twotimes before when she went on mission trips to Peru and Jamaica.

“I have always dreamt about going to Africa.” Upchurch says with anexcited expression across her and her body. She’s almost leaping out ofher seat and radiating with passion and joy as she explains that she can’twait to teach the love of God to the little children of Uganda. She continuesby saying, “I know the livings conditions are bad and that it can be dan-gerous but that is not going to scare me. My passion to help those that areless fortunate gives me all the strength I need.”

The final question asked to Upchurch is about her plans for the future.Without a moment’s hesitation she answers by saying, “I’m going to getmy master’s in occupational therapy.” She says this so confidently thatanyone that can hear her believes without a doubt she will achieve it. Butthis isn’t her only goal for the future. Upchurch also wants to one day coach

basketball and pass on her knowledge to other aspiring athletes. She alsowants to continue going on mission trips every two years and travel theworld as much as she can.

After the interview, she stands up and smiles one last wide smilewhich, of course, lights up the entire room. Upchurch then shares one lastthought by saying, “I just want people to remember me as a caring and al-ways happy person. As for the future, it doesn’t scare me because I knowas long as I’m helping those in need and living my life for God everythingwill be ok.”

Photo by Michael Dow

A montage of old running photos combined with happy pic-tures of friends and family, along with quirky, brightly coloreddrawings decorated the small wall that was Christine Moon’s sideof the little dorm room in Harth Hall. She sat cross legged on herbed, tossing her sketch book aside as I walked in the room. Shepicked up a massive pink pillow and hugged it close with a light-hearted smile painted on her face, looking alert and ready, as al-ways, to begin talking.

“Unique” seems to be the go-to word that would sum up thekind of person that Christine Moon is. Moon has been a part ofthe track and cross-country teams at UC for the past four years,she can draw, she reads books like it’s her job, she loves to laughbut hates comedies, and she doesn’t eat meat. She doesn’t eatgrapefruits either because, “One time, being the risk-taker I am,I tried eating one of those things but then it squirted me in theeye. Never trying that again.” This May, she will be graduatingthe University of the Cumberlands with a degree in public healthand a minor in psychology. All of these things add up to makeChristine Moon a fun, well-rounded young woman, but she iseven more than that; she is also big-hearted and has always hada powerful drive to make a difference.

“I thought for so many years that I wanted to be a nutritionist.Actually, I was convinced that I would be doing that for three-and-a-half years of going to school here. It just seemed to fit. I’vealways been extremely health conscious because as a runner, youhave to be. Diet is extremely important for runners, and I am ac-

tually a vegetarian. However, lately, I see my future going in acompletely different direction. I’m graduating in May, so it is toolate to change my major, but I see myself doing something in thesocial work field.”

Moon has recently realized that, although nutrition and ath-leticism have and will always be a huge part of her life, her realpassion lies with children. “It actually started my junior year of high school. My dad saidthat I could either go to prom or he would just give me the moneythat I would have spent on a dress and a limo, and I could dowhatever with it. Instead of going to prom, I decided to “adopt”a little girl through World Vision. I put the money towardsHugette, who was my first girl. Every year, part of my Christmasmoney goes towards it. She graduated from the program this pastwinter, so I adopted a different little girl.”

As of now, Moon is planning to move to Ohio, where all ofher family is from. From there, she can begin a program inCincinnati that will allow her to start pursuing her career in thesocial work field. “I will miss her like crazy. Christine isone of the best friends I have ever had,” stated Rebekah Hender-son, a UC sophomore. “I don’t know what I will do without herhere next year. She is beautiful, inside and out and seriously oneof the most unique people I have ever met. She’s always joyful,positive, and she’s just as quick to sit and listen if you need afriend as she is to sit and chat your ear off for an hour. That girlmay be long-winded, but really is a great listener.”

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Christine Moon: a bright futureBY SYDNEY FREEMAN

Guest Writer

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“She is hilarious. I remember freshmanyear, she literally ate like cottage cheese andbeans for every meal. For seriously like theentire school year,” stated Kyle Marsh, aclose friend of Moon’s, provoking an erup-tion of laughter from the rest of the lunchtable, where Christine Moon had becomethe subject of the conversation, “She wouldsay after year ‘this is it, I am transferring!’and we would say our goodbyes, and sureenough she’d be back the next semester.She couldn’t stay away.”

Well, I am glad she didn’t transfer. Idon’t know what I would’ve done this yearwithout her!” said freshman, Bonnie Nutt,“She knew how to lighten the mood atevery cross-country meet. When I think‘Christine’ I think of the girl who could bein the middle of the race singing ‘What doesthe fox say?’ in one breath and laughing‘just kill me now!’ in another. I am going tomiss her like crazy next year.”

“Oh my gosh, I remember that!” Moonlaughed as I read out loud the comments herfriends had made about her, “You’re notgoing to put the cottage cheese thing inthere are you?” I shook my head no withmischievous grin, but she knew better, “Ohgosh, it’s a good thing I am graduating,cause after you write this I would nevermake friends!”

“Kyle’s right though,” she continued, witha thoughtful look on her face, “I was con-vinced at the end of every year that I wouldtransfer closer to home but something keptbringing me back. All the connections,memories, and friends I made make thisplace feel almost like another home, really.Do I think UC is perfect? No. And I defi-nitely don’t agree with all the policies here,but I love the people. I love them so muchthat it kept me here for four years, and thepast few months I even debated whether ornot I would try and get an apartment and jobhere in Williamsburg, just for a couple ofyears to stay close to everyone.”It is no doubt that those who have had thepleasure of knowing this young woman willbe forever affected by her unique spirit. Shewill have left her mark on the University ofthe Cumberland’s as she makes her way outinto the world to leave her stamp on it.

Moon says, “I want to do somethingthat is important. Not important just to me,like nutrition. That’s a lifestyle, in my opin-ion, not my choice career. I want to dosomething that is important to a lot of peo-ple. I’m here to make a difference.”

“After graduation, Iplan to go to mycommunity collegeback home to get myCertified Nurse's Aidlicense and get aCNA job while I lookfor my first full timeteaching job. I hopethat eventually I findthe perfect placewhere I can reallymake a difference!”

Amber HipsherFrom: Morristown, TennesseeMajor: Elementary Education

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“I will go back to Japanand get a job that I canmake opportunities forpeople all over the worldto communicate with var-ious countries people. Mydream is let many peopleknow about Japanese cul-ture as well as other cul-tures around the world.”

“I am trying to find a jobin the multimedia indus-try. I have a passion forvideo production andgraphic design and wishto pursue those interestsin the future. In the futureI would love to own abranding agency where Iwould help make logosand commercials forcompanies.”

Rubem RodriguezFrom: São Paulo, Brazil

Major: Fitness and Sport Science

“After graduation Iwill stay here inAmerica, I will coachsoccer in some clubteams around hereand work as a per-sonal trainer for now,I would like to workin a professional soc-cer team here oneday! I want to do amasters in ExercisePhysiology. I alsoplan on get marriedwith my girlfriendKendra.”

What are your plans after graduation?BY CHLOE GU

Sta ff Photographer

Bradley PearceFrom: Lexington, KentuckyMajor: Communication

Kana NaitoFrom: Hiroshima, JapanMajor: Communication

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2068. The dark blue ship sped through the open,blue sky of Earth. It was headed straight for the In-ternational Bank that rested in Washington D.C. In-side, two creatures that had light grey fur and werebuilt like humans sat in the two pilot seats. They haddarkened goggles over their eyes and brown leatherjackets. The Agolians sat in silence and stared long-ingly at their destination, the twenty-story building.The International Bank held reserves for manycountries and was a branch out of the United Na-tions. For extra security, the safe had been built onthe top floor, where no one would think to look forit. The Agolians had acquired schematics for thebuilding and were on their way to the ship-landingplatform on top of the building. Ships were comingin all the time for interstellar trade, ships were com-ing in all the time and that helped them to be incon-spicuous.

The Agolians softly landed on the platform ontop of the building. The window of the ship openedand both of the aliens jumped out. “Where do I needto start drilling at?” asked the one on the left.

“Four tiles to the left of the center landing lightaccording to these schematics,” replied the one onthe right. The Agolian on the left was namedRiechteck and the one on the right was named

Moltek. Riechteck carried the long, metal drill overto the tile Moltek described and started setting up.The drill went through the safe in a few minutes andthen a circle form was cut wide enough for the Ago-lians to get in. They both jumped in and ten min-utes later had all the money stowed in a bag. Thebag was quickly deposited in the ship and they liftedoff in haste, knowing it would only be a few a min-utes before what they did was discovered.

“This is ASP Headquarters to all units, we havea heist in progress. Subjects were seen flying anAgolian Cargo ship. Possibly members of the Ago-lian Crime Syndicate.” A hand quickly punched thetalk button on the touch screen dash of the ASP Fly-ing Unit.

“Copy Headquarters, Unit 7 is in pursuit,”replied the man who had punched the talk button.The 28 year-old man in the passenger side, ZackLinden, was dressed in the black uniform of theASP, a patch on his right should indicated his rankand unit. The 32 year-old man in the drivers seat wasdressed likewise and his name was Genaro Farrell.Blue LED lights flashed on the outside of the ASPFlying Unit’s side-view mirrors. The Flying Unitswitched from the inbound lane going towards Earth

to the outbound leaving Earth. Genaro hit the talk button,” Computer, find any

Agolian Cargo ship in this lane.” A screen thatshowed the outbound lane highlighted one ship inred. He quickly put the thrusters on full and woundhis way through traffic. The Agolian Cargo shipshifted to the right in the traffic flow and startedspeeding as well. Once they saw that the other shipknew they were in pursuit, Zack activated the tar-geting computer for the gun mounted on the FlingUnit. He waited till it got a lock and pressed the but-ton to fire on the dashboard touch screen. A laserbolt fired from the ASP Flying Unit and struck thebottom of the Agolian Cargo ship causing smoke tocome out. The ship pulled out of the traffic and tothe side. The Flying Unit shot out a grapple cableand the claw at the end caught onto the ship.

“Headquarters, this is Unit 7, we have the Ago-lians in custody,” called in Zack.

“Unit 7, you can bring the Agolians to Head-quarters. Congratulations, you passed your Unitexam on apprehending interstellar criminals,” camethe prompt reply. Genaro and Zack looked at eachother and shook their heads in amusement.

ASP: Atmosphere Space PatrolBY SOLOMON WHITAKER

Sta ff Writer

COMICS