FACES OF GRCC

Winter Semester 2016 

thecollegiatelive.com 

FACES OF GRCC

Your school. Your source. Your story. 

Vol. 4, No. 2 Winter Semester 2016 

Kayla Tucker 

Editor-in-Chief 

Zach Watkins 

Sports Editor 

Gary Manier 

A&E/Features 

Editor 

Chris Powers 

Web Editor 

Layout Editor 

John Rothwell 

Photo Editor 

Savannah Miles 

Advertising 

Manager 

Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood 

Collegiate Adviser 

On the cover 

Faces of GRCC 

Photos by Collegiate Staff 

Layout by Kayla Tucker 

The Collegiate Magazine 

is a student publication 

of Grand Rapids 

Community College 

143 Bostwick Ave. 

Grand Rapids, MI 49503 

Room 339, Main 

collegiate@grcc.edu 

Phone: (616) 234-4157 

www.TheCollegiateLive.com 

Features 

01 

‘The Old Man in the Back 

07 34 

Row’ 

Ensuring Hispanic Students 

12 

Have Representation 

48 

16 Hear me out... 

22 

Back in the Game 

The Resillient Underdog 

Beating the Odds 

Letter from the Editor 

28 

Community (College) Policing 

with GRCC’s Finest 

Sharpening Skills, 

Opening New Doors 

42 Freebird 

54 

55 

On the Rise 

MSU redshirt junior making a name 

for himself 

The Art of a Survivor 

Life beyond the chair 

Dear Readers, 

This semester’s magazine is something that we have never done before. Last year we, the staff 

at The Collegiate, discussed ways in which we could share the stories of everyday people on 

campus, the ones who don’t get in newspaper articles, the people who don’t always get noticed. 

We decided on following a theme based off of “Humans of New York,” a photo-heavy blog by a 

photographer named Brandon Stanton who walks the streets of NYC and interviews and photographs 

people he sees. Since 2010, Stanton has documented many stories and has reached 

beyond the city, interviewing migrants in Syria and New York prisoners, too. 

In this magazine, you’ll notice a similar approach. Our reporters fanned out across campus - 

and even a little off campus - and met a handful of interesting and relatable people. 

Some of the stories that struck me are those that speak about life-changing moments. Almost 

everyone has one, or will have one, at some point in their life - big or small - and it’s amazing 

to see how these people got to the point in their life they are at now. Tragedies, spontaneous 

decisions, time spent in the military or in border control detention, it’s incredible to see the 

faces of those you sit in class with or buy your food from at the Raider Grille, and know a little 

bit more than the superficial. 

I believe that if everyone took more time in the day to turn off the screen and engage in real 

conversations with those around them, the world would be a better place. Stereotypes could 

crumble and quick judgements would less likely be made. We are all people. We all struggle. We 

all laugh. We all want to be someone. 

We all made it to Grand Rapids Community College for some reason. And that matters. 

Everyone has a story and everyone deserves to be heard. I hope that by reading through this 

magazine you will see that, too. 

GRCC.Collegiate 

@GRCC_Collegiate 

GRCCCollegiate 

@thecollegiate 

Kayla Tucker 

Editor-in-Chief 

kaylatuckercollegiate@gmail.com

BACK IN 

THE GAME: 

How Deiona Rogers 

followed her passion 

back to the hardwood 

by Avery Jennings 

Growing up on the north 

side of Grand Rapids, Deiona 

Rogers, never learned to 

play basketball “like a girl.” 

“We lived in the projects, so there 

weren’t that many things to do,” said 

Rogers, sophomore point guard for 

Grand Rapids Community College. 

“And all the guys were always 

playing basketball, so I just went out 

there to see if I could do it … People 

tell me I play like a guy all the time.” 

Rogers said playing street basketball 

with the guys in her neighborhood 

helped her become a better 

player. 

“It’s easier to play against girls 

now that I’ve played with guys all 

my life,” Rogers said. “I’m tougher.” 

Rogers has loved the game of 

basketball ever since she was little, 

but because of her family situation 

growing up, it was not always easy 

to play. 

“We were really family oriented 

growing up,” Rogers said. “Until my 

John Rothwell | Photo Editor 

mom and dad split up … I mean, we 

still have pieces of our family, but 

we’re not as close anymore.” 

Deiona was caught in the middle 

of two important figures in her 

life, as her parents were giving her 

different messages of how to live 

her life. 

“When my mom and dad were 

together, I would listen to my dad 

more because he was a good father 

figure and has always been there 

for me. When they split up, I went 

TheCollegiateLive.com | 1

with my mom, so then I listened to 

her more, and my life changed a lot 

… My dad was very school oriented 

and my mom supported me more 

in basketball, so there was some 

tension sometimes.” 

Rogers made the most of her 

situation, as she would use her athletic 

abilities to put herself through 

college. 

“My parents don’t have the money 

to put me through college, and God 

gave me the gift of basketball, so 

I figured I should use that to go to 

school for free,” Rogers said. 

Originally Rogers was set to go 

to Wayne State University on a fullride 

scholarship, but the coach that 

recruited her was fired before their 

basketball season started. 

“I had to start over with a new 

coach,” Rogers said, noting that 

when it didn’t work out her transcripts 

were held by the college 

which delayed her ability to transfer 

and forced her to take time off 

school. “They’re actually trying to 

recruit me back to Wayne State, but 

I’m not (going back) because that 

messed up my life, just the way that 

everything played out.” 

And it didn’t help that there were 

other issues Rogers was facing outside 

of basketball. 

“My mom and dad were sick, so I 

was just worried about other things, 

not so much focused on basketball 

at the time.” 

Rogers proceeded to work after 

she was through with Wayne State, 

trying to figure where to go next. 

“That year after Wayne, I was 

working at a factory that worked 

with carbon fiber, so it was really 

bad for my skin,” Rogers said. “And 

there were so many people there 

that were so negative and bitter 

about life and I was like ‘I’ve got to 

get out of here.’ And then people 

there at the factory that knew me, 

that knew I played basketball, were 

like ‘Why don’t you play again? Why 

would you let it stop?’ And I thought 

to myself like ‘yeah ... you’re right.’ 

Rogers and a friend at the factory, 

who also played basketball with 

Rogers at Union high school, decided 

they were going to try and play 

together at GRCC. 

“Me and Erica Harris planned 

to go to GRCC and play basketball 

together because we played in high 

school together,” Rogers said. 

Harris would eventually leave the 

team, but Rogers stayed and became 

a leader and key contributor to the 

success of GRCC women’s basketball 

team. 

Rogers finished the season leading 

the team with an average of 5.7 

assists per game, 3.5 steals per game 

and 8.4 rebounds per game. 

“Creating for other people to 

Rogers 

score comes easiest to me,” Rogers 

said. “A lot of the time teams are 

focused on stopping me from 

scoring which opens it up for other 

people to score. A couple of games 

(during) the season, when I got the 

National (Junior College Athletic 

Association Division II) player of 

the week (award) I was averaging 

9 assists [per game], so I’m sure it’s 

helped my team and helped me win 

that award.” 

Even with Rogers’ small demeanor, 

at 5 feet 2 inches, her quickness 

and quick thinking has helped her 

succeed this past season, especially 

in the rebounding area. 

Rogers said that “being shorter 

than other people” has been her 

biggest challenge as a basketball 

player because she has “to be more 

in shape than other people,” so she 

can out run them. 

“But being quicker and having a 

high basketball IQ has helped me 

stay out of foul trouble,” Rogers 

said. “Because a lot of fouls come 

from rebounding, and I’m pretty 

good at rebounding, even with my 

height, so I go after the ball rather 

than box (out) people because I’m 

quicker than them.” 

Last season, Rogers helped her 

team sustain a seven game winning 

streak and finish the season with a 

winning record of 18-11. 

“I liked playing basketball here 

(GRCC) because I met a lot of people 

playing on the basketball team,” 

Rogers said. “And even in class, 

people would see my duffel bag and 

ask me if I played a sport, so I made 

friends that way and my professors 

paid more attention to me because 

I was on the team. They would ask 

me about the games and come to 

the games, so that was cool.” 

2 | TheCollegiateLive.com

FACES OF 

GRCC 

Jenanna Greeno 

Age 26, Muskegon 

“I am going to school for physical therapy ... 

I already have a degree and I am a dental 

hygienist ... I am not happy with my career 

so I decided to come back and try something 

different.” 

Reporting and photo by Arielle Jackson 

Pamela Santana 

Age 19, Dominican Republic 

“I was born in Dominican Republic. 

I came here to Michigan two years 

ago because my mom met someone 

here and then they got married, 

so we ended up moving here. The 

change has been huge, from the language 

to basically everything. All my 

friends are there, you know I made 

friends here, but it's not the same. 

Reporting and photo 

by Jasiel Ochoa-Mendoza 


Douglas Luke 

Age 54, Grand Rapids 

“The first two or three times she didn’t notice me. I started making 

some eye contact, we talked a little bit, got to know each other. One 

day I ran down to the station with the dog - he usually sits and stays 

outside. I was talking with one of her co-workers, when I noticed she 

was outside with my dog. I walked out and she promptly started firing 

questions at me. Who are you, what do you believe, what don’t you 

believe ... I believe in Jesus Christ. (I) thought, that’s okay, I’m just going 

to talk about Christianity. 

“She gave me her number, but I wasn’t getting a call or text back. 

(I) was thinking now that’s really strange. She gave me her number, 

I didn’t ask for it. That was when I realized I had been calling the 

wrong number for about a week. When we connected it was good, 

we knew it, and it was fast. 

Reporting by Jill Rothwell 

Photo by John Rothwell | Photo Editor 

Jacqueline Luke 


“I’m very happy. He brought 

me to his church. It was the 

first time I had stepped into a 

church in a number of years. 

The connection between 

God and our relationship 

is beautiful and amazing, 

something I never dreamed 

I could have. Being in the 

park is our special time, 

enjoying the scene, the sun 

and nature together.” 

Reporting by John Rothwell

Tim Harrisson 


“I went to Aquinas immediately after 

high school after graduating, only 

managed to stay there about a semester 

and half. Then kind of had trouble 

sticking to it. Couldn’t really see the 

forest through the trees. No real clear 

direction, no real clear social connection 

to anyone in the school. So I kind of 

tried to go a different direction. I went 

to massage therapy school at Blue 

Heron (Academy). For a few years I kind 

of didn’t do much with that either until I 

got employed down here at the Amway 

Grand and J.W. Marriott Hotel in 

their spas. Been doing that ever since. 

Saved up enough money to go back to 

school. Decided I need to get moving towards something more sustainable, something more permanent. 

“I’d like to stick to (teaching) high school. I really like a more casual style of teaching where I can really 

explain things to people that are interested. Kids kind of scare me. I don’t think I would have as strong 

a connection and I really want my potential future students to understand sarcasm because that will 

definitely be a strong functioning characteristic of any educational style I end up having if I do go into 

teaching.” 

Reporting and photo by Matt Smith 

Kyle Frozley 

Age 20, disc golf player from Grand Rapids 

“I just loved watching people throw at the park, so I tried it 

myself and now I play all the time, it really relieves me from 

the real world. 

“Sometimes I will play with people I don’t even know. 

“You would be surprised with some of the great people you 

can meet just by playing a round with them.” 

Reporting and photo by Andy McDonald 


Ava Gumowski 


“I’m majoring in fine arts. I want to major in 

medical illustration because I need to take 

care of my parents in their old age because I’m 

an only child. I feel as though I owe them that 

much. As far as I can remember I’ve wanted to 

be a starving artist. People told me I couldn’t 

do it. 

“I definitely know I can make my own way if 

I produce enough work and market myself 

well...It is something that’s always come easy 

to me. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do 

and I have to do it to keep on living. 

“My life philosophy is that you just have to let it 

come as it goes. 

“In the past five years I’ve experienced more 

traumatic experiences than most people 

would in their whole lifetime. In the past five 

years I’ve been stalked, assaulted, raped, accosted, 

involved in a driveby (BB gun) and hit 

by a car on my bike. In spite of all this, what 

doesn’t kill me makes me stronger. These experiences 

have changed my outlook on life for 

the better. Bringing me closer to my strengths. 

Providing me with the motivation to confront 

my weaknesses. It makes me stronger as I just 

have to keep going. I have to do what makes 

me happy and have to just exist.” 



‘The Old Man 

in the 

Back Row’ 

Story and photos by John Rothwell 


“Be nice to everybody 

because you never 

know who you are going 

to run into later in life.” 

Mike Kennedy used to 

sell Twinkies. As a 

driver for Hostess 

Brands, he would 

drive his route along Michigan’s 

western coast from Norton 

Shores to Port Sheldon delivering 

snack cakes to vendors. 

That all changed when the 

company went bankrupt and 

Kennedy was let go from his job 

in November of 2012. 

Kennedy, 53, of Kentwood 

could have done a lateral move 

with another company and gotten 

back into sales but he wanted 

to do something with skill and 

decided on information security. 

Using the Michigan Works 

Program, a program that assists 

people who have lost their jobs 

with retraining and education, 

Kennedy was able to start at 

Grand Rapids Community College 

in August 2013. 

When asked if he is enjoying 

school and being a student, a big 

smile came to Kennedy’s face, 

along with the answer, “I love it. 

“It is hard to schedule classes 

around shows I want to go to. 

Lush is playing on a Monday in 

September at Saint Andrew’s in 


Detroit,” Kennedy said. “I have a 

physics class that night and will 

not be able to go to the concert.” 

Kennedy is going to summer 

camp, Electric Forest and Pearl 

Jam this summer. 

Besides being a student, Kennedy 

is in his 20th year volunteering 

at a local nonprofit, the 

Community Media Center, where 

he is a programmer for the local 

radio station 88.1, WYCE. 

“I am a volunteer programmer.” 

Kennedy said. “People 

would like to refer to us as 

deejays but we are not told what 

to play, when to play it and how 

many times to play it so we call 

ourselves programmers.” 

Not knowing what the next 

song is going to be, Kennedy is 

one of the 75 volunteers that 

are the last bastion of what real 

radio is. 

“People ask what we play and 

I tell them everything and anything 

but hair bands, gangster rap 

and corporate country,” Kennedy 

said. 

Listening to the station, you 

could hear anything from Frank 

Sinatra to the Sex Pistols. The radio 

station plays an eclectic mix 

of jazz, rock, blues and world 

music. 

“If I come across somebody 

that has not listened to WYCE 

I tell them to listen four or five 

times throughout the week 

because it is like the weather, 

always changing and never the 

same,” Kennedy said. 

Kennedy describes himself 

as the epitome of a “broke ass 

college student,” who is married, 

having met his wife on a blind 

date while in high school. He first 

saw his wife at a Halloween party 

in 1980. She was dressed as a 

Southern belle and Kennedy was 

too shy to talk her. He just stayed 

in the corner playing music. 

Kennedy’s first date with his 

wife was to a high school play, 

“South Pacific.” Kennedy used a 

line from the play, “I consider it 

a good night when I get a handshake” 

on his future wife at the 

end of the date. 

“I barely kissed her goodnight 

that night and 36 years later it’s 

still the same,” he said, with a 

laugh. “I still shake her hand.” 

Kennedy said he does do some 

things around the house. His wife 

cooks and does the dishes. He 

does the laundry and studies. 

“I am doing really well in 

school,” Kennedy said. “I have 

been on the Dean’s list six out of 

the seven semesters.” 

With a grade point much 

higher than in high school, Kennedy 

attributes the new success 

to time management, utilizing 

the tutoring system and talking 

with the professors and fellow 

students. 

“It’s been fun. I don’t mind being 

the old man in the back row 

screwing up the curve,” Kennedy 

said. “I have had great professors 

and I have been challenged in all 

my classes.” 

As a full-time student taking 

12 credit hours, he found 15 was 

too hard. Kennedy offered some 

advice to younger students and 

to the college. 

“The one thing they (the 

school) should tell a first year 

student is look out for week 

nine and week 10 because that 

is when everything comes to a 

head,” Kennedy said. “Your term 

paper is due, you seem to have 

tests in your other classes.” 

To students, Kennedy suggests 

to get points early instead of 

falling behind later. 

“Do your homework, read and 

participate in the class and you 

will not be struggling at the end 

of the class,” Kennedy said. 

Kennedy never thought he 

would make it through, but he 

has been able to move on with 

the help of the tutoring that 

GRCC offers. 

“I really appreciate the math 

tutoring department and the computer 

tutoring department - they 

both have really helped me out 

alot,” Kennedy said. 

In one of his classes, the class 

developed an app for Grand 

Rapids Festival of the Arts. It 

was part of a 2015 Armen Awards 

project and the team came in 

second place. 

“It was a great learning experience 

to be on a team,” Kennedy 

said. “Being in nonprofit I know 

what it’s like when the dollars 

are not there. It was a worthwhile 

challenge to help out on 

something that has been in Grand 

Rapids for over 40 years.” 

As one of the senior members 

on campus, Kennedy gave a few 

philosophical suggestions to the 

younger generations of students 

attending GRCC. 

“Be nice to everybody because 

you never know who you are 

going to run into later in life. Everybody 

should dance.” Stealing 

a line from the ‘Interns,’ Kennedy 

said. “Look up three inches. 

There is a world out there. Get 

out of your phone.” 


Brooke Thayer 

Age 20, Newaygo 

“The most defining moment in my life is when I decided I wanted to 

live. Not only live in general but to completely change my mindset of 

living to please others to living to please myself. I’m in the process of 

learning to live for myself. To live for my desires and not how society 

tells me I should or most importantly how my parents push me to live. 

I really struggled before, having no passion to drive me or even the 

courage to fight for my own life. But when I hit my lowest point, I made 

the hardest decision of my life. Not to give up. To keep trying. And I 

did.” 

Reporting by Hannah Burnis 

Photo by John Rothwell 

Grant Stevens 

Age 18, Dorr 

“I really like to listen to a lot of music and I find a lot of influence in 

my daily life from the music I listen to. I would definitely say artists 

like J Cole and Kendrick Lamar are very influential, as well as Lecrae 

and Andy Mineo. These are all hip hop artists. I think that these artists 

are trying to influence me to live my life to the fullest, to enjoy my life, 

and to take advantage of opportunities that I am given to make the 

world a better place.” 

Reporting and photo by Kevin Matienzo 

Autumn Watson 


“I traveled to Costa Rica in 2014, December. I was there for a week for study 

abroad for my Spanish class in high school and it was great. It was beautiful, 

it was a different scenery. They are so environmentally aware. They always 

make sure that they are conserving water and using natural resources … Everything 

that they have for electricity they use solar power, wind or water … 

They try not to pollute their environment, which is really eye-opening to see.” 



Emma Stewart 

Age 22, Grand Rapids, grew up in the Middle 

East in Muscat, Oman 

“My parents are both American and they encouraged 

me to study in an American college 

in Holland, Michigan. I’m living on my own for 

the first time in an apartment and working in a 

restaurant. A very good restaurant, Marie Catrib’s. 

I’m cooking there. I’m burning myself out 

early on, working 50 hours a week. 

“I really like (Immanuel) Kant, the philosopher. 

He’s German. I think the coolest thing about him 

is he never travelled more than 10 miles away 

from his home town in Germany and yet he 

was able to describe the way the world works 

in words that still affect us today. We think that 

now we have to get around (travel) and experience different things to get to know things. He knew it 

all just from staying in his home town. Sometimes when I get up I try to think about his words. 

“There was a quote once that I liked a lot that went something like, everywhere you go you’ll always 

miss someone and that’s the richness of knowing more than one people or place.” 


Eddie Brown 

Age 39, Detroit 

“I had to go to work to take care of these 

kids. I have car notes and rent to pay. I have a 

good job as well. I been with them for 11 years. 

I can’t complain. 

“The money’s decent. It’s not real yet. It can 

do better. I just have a lot going on right now. 

Trying to get my credit up. You can’t live in this 

world without credit anymore. I need to buy us 

a house because paying rent isn’t life.” 

Reporting and photo by Dawan Brown 


ENSURING 

HISPANIC 

STUDENTS HAVE 

REPRESENTATION 

Get to know Student Alliance’s Kevin Curiel 

Story and photo by Mike Balmer 


Kevin Curiel-Vazquez is the External 

Affairs Director of the Grand Rapids 

Community College Student Alliance 

and works hard to set an example for 

fellow Hispanic students. 

Curiel, 25, is from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico 

and moved to Grand Rapids 17 years 

ago when he was 8. And while his childhood 

went smoothly, he remembers that things 

really got challenging once he graduated 

high school and started thinking of college. 

“As a first-generation college student, there 

are resources that you don’t have,” Curiel 

said. “Nobody is going to tell you how to do 

college. Nobody is going to tell you how to 

do it, or how to do it right. Your parents can’t 

do a lot for you, and you have to pave your 

own path and figure it out by yourself.” 

As a Deferred Action Childhood Arrival 

(DACA) Student, Curiel has a green card, 

and is allowed to go to school and work in 

the United States, however he is not eligible 

to receive federal financial aid or scholarships 

to do so. This can make completing 

college almost impossible due to busy, fulltime 

work and class schedules. 

Curiel has been a student at GRCC for six 

years, attending part-time, taking one or 

two classes at a time as he can afford them. 

After his first couple of years, Curiel noticed 

a lack of Hispanic student involvement, and 

decided to take action and provide an example 

in his community. He began to work 

with the Hispanic Student Organization, and 

doors started to open for him. He saw the 

growing Hispanic population here at GRCC, 

and wanted to encourage other Hispanic 

students to continue with school and recognize 

the benefits of having an education. 

“This year was the first year that Hispanic 

students were the highest minority in GRCC, 

so this is where I saw a good opportunity,” 

Curiel said. “This year alone they are putting 

a lot of attention on the Hispanic students. 

While more of them are coming in, [we’re 

focused on] how are we going to make sure 

they succeed, and how are we going to 

bring them to GRCC, and how are we going 

to make sure that they get the credentials 

that they need.” 

Curiel’s days are busy, working mornings 

at Costco, spending afternoons fulfilling his 

responsibilities to the Student Alliance and 

attending class, and working on homework 

at the end of his day. Despite having a very 

busy schedule, he is happy to just have the 

opportunity to get an education. 

Curiel is studying architecture, and is very 

passionate about the “Green Movement.” 

He hopes to go to the University of Michigan, 

which is the only four-year university 

in Michigan that provides financial aid to 

DACA students. This has motivated him to 

improve his grades and to get more involved 

here at GRCC. 

Curiel’s advice to DACA students who are 

attempting to get an education is to not get 

discouraged. 

“Because our situation is very delicate and 

unique, the most important thing is to let 

people hear your story, hear your voice,” 

Curiel said. “Go out there, start getting more 

involved. The more you get involved, that’s 

when the doors start opening for you. That’s 

when you realize that there is support for 

DACA students, and there is support to help 

us go through school, but that’s not going 

to happen if we just wait for that opportunity 

to come to us. You can’t really wait for 

a miracle to happen, you’ve got to be the 

miracle, and go out there and really take 

action and personal responsibility for your 

future.” 


Joe Zambran 

Age 20, Lowell 

“With all of the other answers I’ve given you, this 

is going to be different but the most defining moment 

in my life was when I bought my third car. It 

was my own money, my own work put into it and 

it’s a really nice car. This car made me really interested 

in cars now. I still have it to this day. I work 

on it every day. I’ve been building it the last three 

years. It’s in a completely different state to when I 

got it. To me that is really cool having something, 

then turning it into something so great. At least to 

me it’s great. It’s a 2005 Subaru WRX. I swapped 

the motor out of it. It’s a lot louder, faster, than it 

was before. I’m also doing a lot of support modifications. 

When you upgrade the big things in the 

motor you need to upgrade all the little things 

that go along with it so they do not break. I also 

installed bigger brakes to make it stop faster. A lot 

of exterior work was done as well. It looks completely 

different. When I first got it, it looked like a 

typical car. Now it looks very unique. I added a 

lot of my personal touches. It’s just nice to know 

that I created something that means so much to 

me and I put my hard work into it. It’s a learning 

experience in itself and I will continue working on 

cars as a hobby. It’s definitely not cheap but it’s 

motivating that I pay for it all myself.” 

Reporting by Hannah Burnis 

Courtesy Joe Zambran 



Jim Blue 

Age 60, Ada 

“I play the piano and the trumpet, I’ve really always just had a great 

passion for music. I’ve never really been disciplined enough to play for a 

career but I heard GRCC had a good program, and I’m lucky enough to 

be able to take all classes I enjoy. 

“Since I was a kid I would play the trumpet, and it would shape the things 

I did, such as friends and all of the different kinds of music I got into. 

“Really, I just love music, and nothing takes me away from the real world 

more than my instruments. It’s amazing what they can do to a person’s 

life.” 


LC Cooper, Jr. 

Age 24, Benton Harbor 


“My father passed away two years ago and I realized at that time I’d 

have to take care of my family. My mother’s been working the same job 

the last 30 years, so I know for my family to survive I’d have to step up 

and take school seriously and I look at life (through) a bit of different lens 

now. I am the one who has to take responsibility to better my business 

to support not only my lifestyle, but my mother’s as well. My business 

doubles as a record label and a personal development company. I’m a 

musician. I like to record music and my long term goal with this business 

is to create a platform for younger kids to get mentored, to take them 

through the process that I went through and continue going through, so 

blending music and education, I call it edutainment.” 

Reporting by Cesar Ayala 

Dakota Hagler 

Age 19, Grandville 

“I enjoy pushing myself to learn new things. I used to get made fun of 

when I was younger because people thought I was weird. I’m also the 

same person that would rather learn more and expand as a person, rather 

than just sit there and do the same thing day in and day out.” 

Reporting and photo by Gary Manier 


Hear 

me out... 

by Wyatt Ridgway 

Photos by John Rothwell 


I can remember the first time I 

stuttered at 10 years old. It caught me 

completely off guard. I was so used 

to being able to speak fluently and 

normally that I didn’t even think that 

it was possible to speak any different. 

I recall my mom being aware of it immediately 

and asking me if everything 

was alright and why I struggled. I 

didn’t have much to tell her other than 

I didn’t know. 

I wasn’t born with this problem. I 

can still remember a time when I was 

able to speak clearly without any issue. 

Those were probably better days, 

but back then I wasn’t old enough to 

really consciously make friends or 

right and wrong decisions. I just kind 

of did my homework, and stayed home 

every day finding something to do in 

video games. Around fourth or fifth 

grade, I started to notice my stuttering 

impediment show its face. Mom did 

too, so did Dad. I think after a while, 

my brother Eli did, too. It evolved from 

being able to say a few sentences to 

Mom and Dad to trying my very best 

to get a paragraph out to my parents 

over the new game they got me, or how 

bad my day was, or how much homework 

I had, without losing my breath. 

The first thing my parents did was 

send me straight to speech therapy, 

lessons on how to properly pronounce 

words and sentences, how to sound 

them out and make it easier for your 

brain to create words. When I was 

young, it sounded incredibly stupid. 

Why would I ever need to take classes 

for something that I already knew how 

to do prior to having this problem? I 

guess I was just so used to speaking 

fluently that I never thought I’d need to 

remember how to pronounce syllables 

right. 

I had speech about two times a 

week and it took me out of some of my 

boring classes that I hated in school. 

It was actually a point of excitement 

for me during the week. The lessons 

were often very engaging and fun to 

be in and we ended up always playing 

a game at the end if I did well enough, 

and that alone made me want to do as 

best I could (which I did, I always did). 

I didn’t really get bullied for it too 

much in grade school, but that was 

mostly because I could practically do 

everything by myself and not talk to 

anyone. In middle school it was a lot 

different. Middle school is just a bad 

experience for almost everyone, but 

the bullying really started there. Aside 

from the occasional “stutter face” 

insult I got by the “cool kids” in grade 

school, I was picked on by the middle 

school kids a lot worse. I’d say it was 

probably the hardest two years of my 

life in school up to that point because 

of how group-dependent a lot of the 

school work ended up being. I was 

still this super shy, antisocial kid that 

couldn’t speak worth a damn. It ended 

up getting so bad that the teachers 

would hesitate to pick me when I had 

my hand raised to answer questions, 

on the rare occasions that I even 

raised my hand. 

Needless to say, school was not 

good to me in seventh and eighth 

grade. Kids would exclude me from 

hanging out with them and talking to 

them was so much of a chore for them 

that they just would try their best to 

not even speak to me at all. Teachers 

got so fed up with my stuttering, especially 

in English class, that I was being 

marked down in presentations for 

stuttering. I always ended up getting 

a lower grade than others in presentations 

even if mine was better than 

theirs. I always told myself that talk is 

cheap to make myself feel better. 

Oddly enough, the real pain didn’t 

start to set in until high school. High 

school was a lot easier for me as far as 

socializing goes because everybody 

was a lot more accepting. But it was 

still hard. Communicating was still 

just as much of a chore as it ever was. 

During my first year of high school it 

was nearly impossible for it take me 

less than 10 minutes to get through a 

single thought. People would often get 

so tired of me talking, especially when 

they already knew what I was going 

to say, that they would very frequently 

finish my sentences for me. 

Some may think finishing my sentences 

was helpful. But, to me, it was 

an insult. I wasn’t important enough 

and what I was saying wasn’t important 

enough to listen to so they ended 

it early. It got so annoying that I had 

to tell people to stop finishing my sentences 

and start being mean to people 

to get them to start treating me with 

the respect I needed and wanted. 

I was often told by some of my 

favorite teachers that if I didn’t have 

the stuttering issues I do that I would 

easily have the best reading voice. 

I’ve been told that I’m a very dramatic 

person. I would agree with that. I’ve 

also been told that I have an excellent 

ability to read in different tones. 

I don’t just read in monotone, I read 

with different voices in my head and 

make different sounds for things in 

books. I think it’s hilarious and oddly 

enough so did my teachers. After a 

while I managed to get an edge up 

on the competition thanks to a note 

from my speech therapist to all of my 

English teachers telling them that they 

could no longer grade me down for 

stuttering during presentations. I was 

relieved that I would no longer have 

10-point deductions because I tripped 

up on a word. 

Unfortunately, during my second 

year of high school the loneliness 

started to kick in and the self hate 

started to grow. I started to hate 

myself for having this disability and 

inability to speak right. Even with all 

of my training, I still wouldn’t speak 

to practically anyone at school and I 

would only speak when spoken to. I 

started to question myself and doubt 


my worth and existence 

because I was 

so shunned and cast 

out because of my 

inability to speak. In 

this world, being able 

to speak your mind 

fluently and quickly 

means everything. 

Many take it for 

granted, but being 

able to speak fluently 

means so much to 

me and others like 

me that we might 

pay anything for the 

ability to. We stutter, 

we clack and grind 

our teeth, we start 

to twitch, bite our 

tongues, we can’t even move correctly. 

It’s a nightmare for all of us when we 

try to desperately fit in both at home 

and at school or out in the world. 

Thankfully, in my third year of 

high school, things started to look up 

for me. I’m not sure what happened 

to me but a lot of my shyness and self 

loathing went away, and my confidence 

skyrocketed. It was so strange 

being able to fluently speak almost 

every sentence and word again. I felt 

so overjoyed that I was able to finally 

fit in with some groups, so much that 

I started to attend Gamer’s Club again 

and started to attend Multicultural 

Club. A turning point that year was at 

the annual international fair where I 

led one of the stands and taught people 

about England with my best bud, 

Alistair, by my side as he handed out 

biscuits and tea to people. 

In my fourth and final year of high 

school my ability to speak right went 

down again, but no fear because I took 

a drama class. It was the first time I 

took a drama class and it took me out 

of my comfort zone and let me become 

animated. I’d always wanted to act a 

18 | TheCollegiateLive.com 

little bit. I’ve always been an animated 

person at heart, acting out certain 

movie scenes that I liked and throwing 

out emotion. For my final grade I had 

to practice and recite a speech from 

a movie or game that I really liked. I 

picked the one that I wanted out, it 

was a speech that a Jedi Master gave 

to the other masters at the end of an 

amazing game where she defends her 

student and saves him at the end. It 

was really complicated and difficult. 

I went first on the exam presentation 

day because I was so confident and 

talked my heart out. My drama teacher 

told me he had never seen a more well 

performed final exam piece and told 

me that my stutter was almost undetectable. 

I ended up graduating high school 

and the bullying stopped. I didn’t see 

most of my friends from high school 

for a long time until I started going 

to Grand Rapids Community College 

and took a few classes. The stuttering 

issues persisted through the years of 

not going to school. I ended up taking 

a near two-year break from school 

and did not take any therapy classes. 

Then I went back 

to GRCC for a few 

classes. During those 

two years a lot of my 

training was forgotten 

but oddly enough 

I think I’ve done a 

better job at understanding 

how to 

speak properly than 

in the previous years. 

It’s still very obvious 

during class when 

I’m trying to give out 

answers or when I 

get nervous. 

I think I can say 

that stuttering has 

bettered myself 

over the years. It’s 

made me realize that everyone has a 

weakness of some sort and you have 

to overcome that weakness to be 

better, to forever etch your mark on 

the galaxy. 

I think what people ultimately have 

to understand is that stuttering is a 

work in progress for most of us. It is 

for me, too. I still struggle with getting 

it to stop and getting myself to apply 

the lessons I’ve learned over the years. 

Speech therapy has helped tremendously. 

The issue, for me anyways, will 

always be trying to apply the techniques 

I’ve been taught in the moment 

I need them the most. Everybody 

that stutters struggles with different 

things. For those that are looking at us 

from the outside in, just try to understand 

that we’re working on it. We’re 

trying our very best to make sure 

that you can understand us clearly 

and quickly. Believe me, we also have 

better things to do than stutter step 

over our own words. I hope people can 

try to remember that when they listen 

to us, we’re trying our best, and please 

don’t finish our sentences for us.

Natalie Vice 

Age 18, Dorr 

“Well I finished high school and I didn’t have that much money to go 

to a university. So I thought I’d get my gen eds done at GRCC, save 

the money then transfer later on. I’m hoping to (go to) Wayne State 

University. I have two jobs right now. I work at a candle store and then 

I clean offices once a week and in the summer I also have a job at an 

ice cream shop. Right now I’m working towards a bachelor’s in biology 

then hopefully after that I will do my master’s for assistant pathology. 

I procrastinate like it’s my job so it’s been a little bit stressful but I’ve 

gotten better at it, which is good.” 

Reporting and photo by Kiyrah Floyd 

Hunter Brown 

Age 21, from Hudsonville, Grandville, Jenison 

“My dad used to be a b-boy, he had a cardboard box that 

he had laminated and carried around with him so he could 

breakdance against anyone, anywhere. My mom made him 

throw it away when she had me because she thought he was 

too old to be doing that type of stuff. It was pretty awesome 

to me, I felt ‘fresh’ growing up.” 


Justin DeDario 

Age 18, Grandville, but his life before that involved a lot of moving from 

state to state 

“I was lucky enough to do most of the moving at a young age, so it was 

never hard to meet new friends. I hope to help the kids at work everyday 

who have problems meeting new people.” 



Paul Houston 

Age 64, originally from Lansing, 

been in Grand Rapids for 28 years 

“I don’t have to be ashamed of 

being gay anymore.” 


by Kayla Tucker, Editor-in-Chief 

Hayley Razzoog 


“My favorite production was Seussical the Musical where 

I got to play the Cat in the Hat. It’s something that really 

helped me develop my skills as an actor and helped me 

flush out how I would go about building a character. It was 

very challenging, but very rewarding. 

“My ultimate goal in life is to make people happy and be 

able to be happy while doing it. If I can go outside and 

make someone happy, it will make me happy and it will go 

around in a circle.” 



Samuel Casares 


“My degree that I hope to earn 

is in music education, but I am 

thinking about changing it to 

music therapy. Like working at 

a hospital, just playing music for 

people. I think that would be 

pretty sweet. I feel like helping 

people by doing my own thing 

musically would be pretty 

great. Why not? I feel like 

there are certain wards who 

have people to come to 

play piano, or I have seen 

people hand out instruments 

to everyone in the 

hospital to give them a 

chance to interact. Or like 

an old folks home would 

be fun. Just a way to help 

people using my music.” 


by Mike Balmer 

Elisabeth Brott 


Have you ever seen that painting by Michelangelo where God 

is coming down and touching Adam’s finger? That’s kind of 

what it is (religion), it’s kind of that connection that you have 

with people. It’s a big passion of mine, like I live in the city of 

Grand Rapids, my church is in the city of Grand Rapids. It’s how 

to keep the city healthy with food, housing, jobs, all that kind of 

stuff. 

Reporting and photo by Priya Kaur 


The Resilient Underdog 

Beating the odds 

by Nathan Taylor 

I was counted out my whole life, an underdog 

from the time I came out of the womb. 

I moved my eighth grade year from the Black 

Hills neighborhood in Grand Rapids to the Twin 

Lake area of North Muskegon. City life to small 

town country life just like that. I grew up going 

to The Potter’s House Christian school until high 

school and then made a sudden switch to public 

school at Reeths Puffer High School in Muskegon. 

I was a freshman, I didn’t know what to expect as a 

new kid from a different city. Right away, I felt like 

the outsider. 

Thank God basketball was my outlet. I heard 

that it would be tough to make the team at Reeths 

Puffer High, so I trained for hours every day 

outside on my driveway. When it was raining, and 

I had no gym available to me, I would dribble in 

my basement until my mom would yell, “Nathan, 

you’re making too much noise, I’m trying to watch 

‘The Bachelor.’” I would always say, “Mom, I have 

to get my handles right.” 

After that was done, I would run a mile and half 

to keep my stamina up. 

Any of my childhood friends will tell you that I 

was never really gifted in basketball. Football was 

my first love. I grew up playing street ball, from 

shooting over the backboard, to getting ripped 

Photo by Dylan Pelak 


left and right in five on five. I was the 

kid who got picked last. And I took 

offense to that. People have always 

told me I’m too short, I’m not strong 

enough, I’m too slow. 

I’ve always had a chip on my shoulder, 

my mom was 4-foot-6, legally a 

dwarf. My dad was six-foot-two. I ended 

up five-foot-seven. I played every 

game, every practice, every possession 

as it was my last. I was taught that 

by the legend Jim Goorman a Hall of 

Fame Coach to play every game like 

it is your last because you will never 

know when you have to hang the 

shoes up. 

I didn’t start playing organized basketball 

until the seventh grade. I was 

always a little bit heavy. In football I 

played fullback and middle linebacker. 

So my skillset on the court wasn’t the 

best. I tore my ACL in the eighth grade 

in the first game of the season, and 

that ended my football career. A year 

long recovery would make me miss 

the basketball season as well. 

Freshman year of high school, I 

struggled with classes and was ineligible 

halfway through the season. I 

then saw Western Michigan Christian 

(WMC) High School in Norton Shores 

win its third state basketball championship 

in a row. I told my mom we 

needed to check this school out, and 

she agreed. I went on a shadow visit 

and met a man that would change my 

life entirely. Jim Goorman, aka “Gip,” 

was the varsity basketball coach at the 

time, and a well known coach in Muskegon. 

I talked to him about playing 

varsity. 

“I’ll have to see you play,” he said. 

“We have a lot of talent on this team 

right now. We’ll see if you can make 

it.” 

After, that summer of training, 

and playing on the American Youth 

Basketball Tour team (AYBT) at WMC, 

I ended up transferring to WMC. It is 

one of the best choices I ever made in 

my life. 

Sure enough, I wasn’t good enough 

and did not make the varsity team. 

Three Division I players were on the 

varsity team. I didn’t play much when I 

was on the JV team because of grades. 

I also had attitude problems at home 

and at school. Life was tough. My dad 

wasn’t in my life at the time, after he 

got in a drunk driving accident, nd 

he really never played a major role. 

He was there as much as he could be 

when I was younger. I remember the 

times when we would grill out and 

always push the patties into the grill to 

hear the sizzle. My dad always loved 

to cook and I would look forward to 

coming over in the summer on my 

weekend visits. But, one thing that has 

always stuck with me, was what he 

said to me when I started to tell him 

what I wanted to be when I got older. 

I remember him telling me when I 

was 13 years old that I would never 

make it to the pros. 

“You’re not good enough,” he said. 

“You never will be.” 

That stung. It made me feel worthless. 

It put a burning desire in me to 

prove him wrong. 

After my sophomore season I 

was fed up with not playing a lot. I 

played on an AAU team that spring 

and worked my butt off that summer 

to make the varsity team. I made the 

team, but other assistant coaches 

didn’t want me on the team. Only Gip, 

the head coach, believed I deserved a 

spot. We struggled that season with a 

5-16 record, Gip’s last year coaching. 

He had become a strong father figure 

to me by that time. 

I had another summer to improve, 

where I worked twice as hard, four 

hours a day in the gym. Ball handling 

with a WMC legend London Burris, 

shooting drills with Evan Bruinsma, 

arguably the best player to come out 

of WMC. I had a decent senior year 

of high school. I made the front cover 

of the Grand Rapids Press newspaper 

sports section and the Grand Haven 

Tribune front cover for my hard work 

on the court. I’ll be honest I did not 

know about it until a few friends 

showed me. I hit a few buzzer beaters, 

one for the win and one for a tie. But, I 

was inconsistent. 

My mom watched my best game I 

ever played all around. It was at our 

crosstown rival Muskegon Catholic 

Central. It was the Catholics against 

the Christians. My first shot was in and 

out. The next one, came off a screen 

and I let it fly from deep and let’s just 

say the bank was open at 8 p.m. It 

continued throughout the night. I hit 

another three-pointer and it hit the 

front of the rim and bounced in. At 

that point, anything I shot was going 

in, at least I thought. My next shot was 

a 75 footer for the tie at the end of the 

third quarter. Our student section went 

nuts. I was smiling, but I knew we had 

another quarter to play. We would go 

on to win by a final score of 55-48. 

All I remember is looking at my mom 

tearing up telling everyone, “that’s my 

son.” 

That night, I walked outside to the 

car with my mom, carrying her oxygen 

tanks. My mom went through a lot. 

She had asthma and suffered from 

heart failure when she had my twin 

brothers. She started crying in the car 

and told me that it was the best game 

she ever saw me play. I thanked her 

and told her it was for her. 

Receiving my diploma was the 

biggest accomplishment for me at 

the time. I didn’t know that my high 

school graduation would be the last 

time I would ever take a picture with 

my mom. 


I was in Florida when my mother 

passed away in July 2013. It was a surreal 

feeling. It tore me into pieces. She 

was my everything. We would always 

go to church together. I would even 

sleep with her on the cold, hardwood 

floor at night, keeping an eye on her 

and making sure she was okay. She 

had many health problems. She would 

get out of breath walking up three 

stairs. She was very ill at the time but, 

not to the point where we thought she 

would die. She was only 55 years old. 

It tears me up just writing this. My 

hero taken away from me when I was 

only 18 years old. A mother of eight 

kids, she always told me if anything 

ever happened to take care of the family 

and stay together. I always told her 

I would play college basketball. I was 

told by college coaches in high school 

I wouldn’t be able to get my shot off. 

“You’re too short, you’re too slow.” I 

used that as motivation. 

Going into my freshman year I had 

no offers, Just prior to that an all-star 

game substitute. I went to Muskegon 

Community College where I prepared 

to walk on the team, but God had 

other plans. I injured my knee. 

When I came back to my high school 

alumni game, I tried pinning one of the 

kids shot off the backboard. I came 

down awkwardly on my left knee. 

This wasn’t the first time. This time 

I tore cartilage and needed physical 

therapy. My dreams felt as if they were 

washed down the drain. I would not 

give up, though. I worked as a student 

assistant coach on the team. I took 

care of the filming, laundry, and was 

the best water boy a player could ask 

for. I showed up to just about every 

practice. 

I found out my Dad passed away in 

October of 2013 from a seizure. I was 

at home doing some math homework 

when I received the call from my older 

brother. I was shocked. One parent 

wasn’t enough. It didn’t hit me right 

away because I was still trying to cope 

with my mom being gone. Basketball 

was the only thing that could keep my 

mind off of things. My Chicago teammates 

Tyiwan Jones, Turean Conner, 

Nick Norals, and Reginald Washington 

really reached out to me. They stuck 

by my side. 

During that time, I bounced around 

from house to house. That November, 

after four months of moving around to 

four different houses, my friend Eric 

Chilcote - who I met only a handful of 

times before this - reached out to me 

and said I could stay with his family. 

I’m grateful for the families that took 

me in before this, because they really 

did a lot for me, but now I finally had a 

stable home. The Chilcotes have stuck 

by me ever since then. They could tell 

I had been through a lot. They gave me 

the courage and the support to bounce 

back on my feet. 

I would travel from Grand Rapids - 

where they lived - to Muskegon every 

other day, an hour drive there and 

back. Sometimes I stayed in the house 

where my mom and I lived, which was 

unsettling. After the winter semester 

was over I transferred to Grand Rapids 

Community College, still holding on to 

my dreams of playing college ball. 

I was depressed that summer just 

working at Jimmy Johns and relaxing 

at home. I had no motivation to do 

anything. My host parents Mr. and Mrs. 

Chilcote let me know it was time to 

move out on my own. I was 19 years 

old at the time. Which was big for me. 

But, I thank them for that because 

I grew up, and learned more about 

myself and who I really am as a young 

man of God. I moved out to a small 

apartment, my first time actually on 

my own. It was tough, but I made my 

own rules and schedule. I was out of 

shape but it only took a few weeks to 

get into shape. 

I didn’t really put in as much time as 

I should have before getting cut from 

the basketball team. This wasn’t the 

first time I had been cut. I was used to 

the feeling, which meant I just wasn’t 

what the coach was looking for. 

I continued to train every morning 

at 6 a.m. at GRCC. I would not give up 

that easy on my dreams. The coach 

left after a few games for a different 

job. So an interim coach filled 

in, David Selmon, who came out of 

retirement to coach the team. He put 

up flyers needing players because half 

of the team was ineligible. I finally was 

given an opportunity to prove myself. I 

joined the team. It was a weird feeling 

knowing I got cut by the previous 

coach. But, the team was very welcoming 

and treated me as a brother. 

Every practice I would be guarding 

an All-American, Demarcus Stuckey, 

who I grew up with in the Black Hills. 

We would battle, but he always said 

I would foul him which was the case 

half of the time. I was not as quick as 

him, but he made me better each and 

every day. He carried our team to the 

championship. It was the best time of 

my life. I didn’t play much but, when 

I did get in the game, I made things 

happen. The season came to a close. 

We lost in the championship, but it 

was a great run. 

A new coach was hired because 

Selmon went back into retirement. 

I went to all of the open gyms and 

played well, until late July when I 

injured my knee once again playing 

football. I gained some weight during 

that time and just worked. I came back 

to the open gyms and my quickness 

disappeared. I wasn’t the same. So I 

decided to take a year off. 

Depression hit me so fast. I would 

just eat and sleep most of the time. I 


wasn’t productive at all. I didn’t want to live anymore. 

Life was a waste of time to me. There was no hero in 

my life and it felt like everything had been taken away 

from me. Basketball was my only outlet and I gave it 

up. 

Sure enough, I got back into the gym and started to 

get my energy back. I went from one job to five jobs in 

a matter of two months. I volunteered coaching kids 

at the YMCA and also started helping out at Greater 

Generation Basketball. I really am thankful to LJ 

Kilgore for letting me work with and be a mentor to 

these kids. It has impacted me so much, that I started 

my own personal training, Nate The Great Basketball 

training. I started to post videos of me on Instagram 

and record my workouts. I kept my faith through this 

whole time. God has blessed me so much, these past 

few months, so many doors have been opened. 

Out of nowhere I just got invited to the Circle of 

Men Athletics Beyond Talent showcase in Gary, Indiana 

later this month. Over a 100 coaches will be there, 

so this is another way God has shown me he has my 

back. I gave up on him this past fall after I gave up on 

basketball. I was depressed, feeling like I was alone. 

But, I had a dream and my Mom appeared in the 

dream. She asked me, why are you doing this? Skipping 

class, sitting around all day not being productive. 

She told me, “I want to see you play again.” That’s all I 

needed to hear from her. Since then I have been in the 

gym at least six days a week.Focusing on my diet, and 

expanding my flexibility. 

I decided to have a relationship with God again 

because for a while there I had turned on him for the 

first time in my life. I missed two months of church. I 

got back into his word. I feel blessed. Journalism has 

paved a way for me to tell my story to others going 

through tough times. If I can impact just one person, 

that would make me happy. I’m so thankful for everyone 

who has had my back in life and has been there 

for me. I just want to say thank you from the bottom 

of my heart, from the car rides to the Christmas presents, 

to all the professors who have helped me at MCC 

and GRCC. 

My mom wrote this to me before she passed, on the 

back of a bookmark: “I am so proud of you and all that 

you are, I will always be with you in your heart. Always 

look to the heavenly father first with everything. 

Acknowledge him in all your ways and he will direct 

your paths. Love you, Momma.” 


Taylor uses the bookmark his mother left him to mark his 

spot in his devotionals. 


Janet Romanowski 

Age 45, East Grand Rapids 

“I was always attracted to the bad guys, they were 

so fascinating to me. Jay, a boy I went to GRCC 

with, had always liked me but I never knew it. I 

always just considered him my friend, but little did 

I know he would forever change my life. Before 

I ended up with Jay I met a guy and he brainwashed 

me, had me convinced of so many things. 

My parents were extremely strict growing up, I had 

a curfew and I knew better than to break it. One 

night this ‘bad boy’ I was seeing fought me and 

forced me into a corner and wouldn’t let me leave 

the house we were at even after I told him I was going 

to be late for my curfew. I finally made it home 

at 3 a.m. and my mom was still up, extremely furious 

with me. Jay who had been at the house where I 

was forced against my own will called my house 

phone to make sure I was okay. He was always 

looking out for me. I didn’t know it at the time but 

it was kind of a bad thing that turned into a good 

thing, you know? He wasn’t my type at the time, 

but he ended up being the guy, my guy.” 

Reporting and photo by Nikki Herrmann 

Dustin Suchomski 


“I was actually playing a lot of sports 

in high school. I had fun and then, 

I don’t know, I just got into partying 

a little too much. GRCC gave me 

initiative to start doing more so now I 

have a whole bunch of goals. I wake 

up and always have something to do 

besides waking up and having nothing 

to do.” 


by Jasiel Ochoa-Mendoza 


Dan Bui 


Vy Bui 


“My girlfriend and I have been together for a year and three 

months. I would describe my relationship with her as difficult because 

we have our differences. When I say differences I mean 

that we argue sometimes, but that’s standard in any relationship. 

We usually argue about little things that have to do with 

knowledge like who’s wrong and right. We don’t always have 

the same view on certain topics. I still consider this relationship 

with my girlfriend important. I want to take this relationship further 

but I don’t know if it will. There’s a 40 - 60 percent chance 

that I could see a possibility of getting married to my girlfriend.” 


“I work full time as an activity leader for Hope Network side by 

side program. What I do at work is help lead different activity 

groups for our participants. I lead groups such as discussion groups 

for brain stimulation exercise. I have a kitchen club where we 

prepare snacks for everyone else, crafting groups, art class, nail 

and spa groups. I work with participants who are between their 

60’s to 90’s. I work mostly with women because we only have a 

handful of men that come. I love my job and I have been there for 

over seven years. I think I would consider this job a passion. When I 

first started, I wasn’t sure if this was what I wanted to do but as time 

went on the place just grew on me and I can’t picture my career 

anywhere else.” 


Myka Irvine 


“I didn't really know what I wanted to do after high 

school, but I didn’t want to jump into a university because 

I didn’t know what I wanted to major in yet. Balancing 

work, and school and relationships was a struggle. 

I’ve been giving myself really hard semesters with 

a lot of credits and then I work almost 40 hours a week. 

Once I give myself down time... I end up getting behind 

in school work.” 

Reporting and photo by Jasiel Ochoa-Mendoza 


COMMUNITY 

(College) 

POLICING 

with GRCC’s Finest 

Story and photos by Avery Jennings 


Grand Rapids Community College Police Sgt. Jesse 

Heard patrols campus with a smile on his face. 

He holds open doors, socializes with students 

and lives with ‘to serve and protect’ as his life motto. 

Little does the campus community know, he’s a former 

high school all-star and All-American semi-pro football 

player, and winning boxer from Grand Rapids. 

Heard plays a major part in motivating students to continue 

on their journey for success. 

“He’s been a great help to our students and a great 

resource,” said GRCC Admissions and Enrollment Coordinator 

Francisco Ramirez. “You need mentors, like Jesse, 

on campus to be a successful student and it’s awesome 

that we have him.” 

Heard said he’s enjoyed being more of a friend to 

students than anything else. On his foot patrols around 

campus, he’s constantly greeting students, opening doors 

and being a friendly figure to everyone he meets. 

“My favorite part of my job is talking to students,” 

Heard said. “That’s why I work here. I like communicating 

with the youth, learning a little more about what they do, 

what they’re going to be doing, what they are studying 

and helping to motivate them and keep them going because 

they’ve gotten this far.” 

Since he was young, Heard, 49, has always respected 

law enforcement. 

“I’ve always had an interest in law enforcement,” Heard 

said. “I was in first grade and I got into a police cruiser 

and the (officer) showed me all around the car … I was 

like ‘Ah this is really cool, this is what I want to do.’” 

Football was Heard’s dream growing up, and he held a 

special place in his heart for it. 

Heard played running back for the East Kentwood High 

School varsity football team and played in the Michigan 

High School All-Star Game after graduation. In the game, 

Heard broke his neck, but it didn’t stop him from trying to 

follow his dream of playing professional football. 

“I went as far as I could in football,” Heard said. “I 

ended up going to Ferris (State University) and then I 

left there … so then I ended up playing semi pro football 

with the Grand Rapids Crush. I was All-American in that 

league.” 

Heard went on to try out professionally for the Pittsburgh 

Steelers, but was turned down because of his 

previous neck injury. 

“I finished out the rest of the week, of course I got cut, 

but it was just a good experience,” Heard said. “I was glad 

and still am glad I experienced it.” 

Heard went on to box in the Michigan Golden Gloves 


league for a year in 1987. 

“I ended up winning the city tournament,” 

Heard said. “It was for the 

Michigan Amateur Golden Gloves … I 

had Buster Mathis as a trainer as well 

as Floyd (Mayweather) senior who 

helped out and trained me … It was 

fun but I figured out you’re gonna get 

hit, you’re gonna get your bell rung 

a few times … and it just wasn’t for 

me.” 

Athletics was Heard’s goal, but 

he decided it was time to try other 

opportunities. 

“I was an athlete first,” Heard said. 

“Football was my dream, but I had to 

have a plan B.” 

Heard studied law enforcement in 

an accelerated program at Lansing 

Community College in 2002 and 

joined the GRCC police department 

that same year. Before that, he 

worked as a security guard for Grand 

Rapids Public Schools from 1994 

until 2002. He takes extra pride in 

being able to mentor and coach the 

“troubled kids.” 

“I try and get them in the right 

direction,” Heard said. “That stems 

from the public schools when I 

worked there … as a security guard. 

They had a lot of troubled kids, a lot 

of kids that didn’t have a mom or a 

dad, or living with their grandparents 

and I tried to help those kids because 

they don’t know any different, they 

only know what they’re raised in.” 

For most of his childhood, Heard 

was surrounded by a negative 

environment at home. He is glad he 

experienced it, however, as it has 

allowed him to understand where the 

“troubled kids” are coming from. 

“To me it made me a better person,” 

Heard said. “When I was that troubled 

kid, I was an angry kid, mad at 

everything, (I thought) everybody was 

against me … it made me more understanding 

with the troubled kids. 

“Where some might go, ‘Oh, he’s a 

troubled kid, he’s a knucklehead, or a 

bad apple,’ whatever it is, without realizing, 

you don’t know what they’ve 

been through. It might be something 

else. You never know what it is, but 

I think I get a better understanding. 

So when I deal with people in the 

community, or kids that have been 

through a lot, I think I can read them 

a little better.” 

Heard thinks that this ability to 

“read” people has also helped him as 

a police officer. 

“It has helped with the calming 

down factor,” Heard said. “I’m always 

saying ‘Hey, calm down. I’m here 

now, bring it down, you can stop’ … I 

don’t judge right away. I don’t jump to 

conclusions. I try to figure the person 

out and do so safely.” 

After some trouble at home, Heard 

was welcomed into the home of his 

high school head football coach Bob 

Friberg and he said he appreciated 

the experience of living with his football 

coach because it allowed him to 

“live in both worlds” and realize that 

there was more to life than what he 

grew up in. 

“Living in the environment that I 

was in and moving over to living with 

my football coach, totally different,” 

Heard said. “I’m glad I experienced 

both worlds … getting myself more 

educated, knowing right from wrong.” 

He got close enough with the Friberg’s 

family that he considers them an 

extension of his own family. 

“I have three brothers and a sister 

on that side,” Heard said. “And that’s 

what we call each other, brothers and 

sisters … it kind of blows people’s 

minds when they see us because 

we call each other that… and we all 

spend the holidays together … I still 

see my other family too and things 

have gotten better on that end, but 

I’m really just lucky enough to have 

the two families.” 

Heard takes pride in his position at 

GRCC. 

“I’m basically in between the management 

positions and the officers, 

the guys I work with,” Heard said. 

“I’m still a part of the union and I 

listen to what they (police officers) 

have to say and what Chief has to say 

… you have to find the right balance 

between the two, but it’s still great to 

work with both parts.” 

Officer Kam Robles, who’s been 

with the GRCC Police Department for 

about six months has already felt the 

positive impact Heard has on people. 

“Since I’ve started here, he is 

probably my prefered type of leader,” 

Robles said. “He likes to get out and 

do the same stuff we (police officers) 

do. Not that I would expect that out 

of every single leader, but I think that 

someone who is able to supervise 

people efficiently and fairly and at 

the same time get out and do the 

work themselves earn a new level of 

respect from me.” 

Heard has committed to GRCC and 

he plans to stay for the rest of his 

career. 

“I love this place,” Heard said. “This 

is it for me, I don’t plan on going anywhere 

… at first I was thinking I was 

out of here after three years. Those 

three years went by and by that time, 

I realized that this place was really 

meant for me.” 

After Heard retires from law 

enforcement, he plans on spending 

more time with family. 

“Usually when I get out of work, I 

get out at 11 o’clock at night, so it’s 

kind of hard on my family. I was still 

able to make it to my kid’s sporting 

events by taking time off a little bit 

here, a little bit there, but I see them 

in the morning and then I don’t see 

them until the next day. So I’ll enjoy 

seeing them more.” 


“When I was that 

troubled kid, I was 

an angry kid, mad 

at everything, (I 

thought) everybody 

was against me … 

it made me more 

understanding with 

the troubled kids.” 


Marney Salmon 


“I never would have pictured myself moving to 

Michigan. When we first moved I didn’t know what 

to expect. I was from Canada and was bringing my 

5-year-old daughter into the states with me. In order 

for me to be able to live here I had to be enrolled 

in school full-time. I didn’t know where I wanted to 

go or what I wanted to do, so I decided to enroll at 

GRCC. Shortly after, I met Alan, who is my husband 

now in the strangest of circumstances. When we met 

it was like everything that shouldn’t have gone right 

did. I was out with a friend where I almost didn’t go 

because I couldn’t find a sitter for my daughter. On 

the other hand, Alan was supposed to catch a flight 

back to England that day, but his trip had randomly 

gotten extended through the weekend. I saw him 

at the bar and he we got to talking but as the night 

ended we never exchanged numbers. The next night 

it so happened that I was able to go out again. Alan 

was there and he was looking for me. He had even 

gone out and bought a little outfit to impress me, 

it was cute. After that we immediately clicked and 

we’ve been married ever since. It’s strange to me to 

think that if I had never gone to the bar that night I 

may have never met my husband, I think it was fate 

that brought us both there.” 


Natari Kumagai 

Age 23, Grand Rapids, born in Okinawa, Japan 

"My parents got divorced and my mom wanted us to learn English and 

get an education here, I'm doing a (3+1) program with Ferris and I'm going 

to be studying criminal justice. I don't want to be a cop, but criminal 

justice is such a broad degree that you could do a lot of things and I 

chose juvenile probation. I believe every little thing you go through in life 

builds who you are today, every little struggle and every little happiness 

made me who I am." 

Reporting and photo by Cesar Ayala 


Sophia Vanmeeteren 

Age 19, Kentwood 

“You have this one body, one mind, one soul, 

you’re gonna want to love it as much as possible 

because that’s the only one you get. There’s 

only one you in the world, and so you might as 

well make the best of it. Do whatever you want, 

do what makes you happy, don’t worry about 

things you can’t control. If there’s something 

you don’t like about the world, do your best 

to change it if you want to. Make decisions for 

yourself that will make you happy. 

“Whatever comes at you in life, just take it one 

day at a time. Life isn’t supposed to be easy. 

There’s so much opportunity out there, so many 

great things to be living for and be happy 

about. Even if there’s something bad going on in 

life, you just have to keep moving forward and 

always find the positive in the negative. 


Alexia Garcia 


“I plan on going into advertising, 

this might sound really stupid, 

but it’s because I watched 

Mad Men a lot my senior year. 

There’s a lot of stereotypes with 

advertising and I hope if I become 

successful in life I’d like to 

change those stereotypes.” 


by Cesar Ayala 


Sharpening Skills, 

Opening New Doors 

Story and photo by Jill Rothwell 


Grand Rapids Community 

College Secchia Institute 

for Culinary Education 

student Jacqui Bumstead, 

describes her decision to 

make a career change from teaching 

as her own “mid-life crisis.” 

“I was a teacher overseas for 

years in various, exotic corners 

of the earth, South Korea, Peru, 

Jamaica and Austria, finally ending 

up in Dallas,” said Bumstead, 

33. “I just wasn’t happy, felt a little 

lost after teaching, but didn’t want 

to step back into the classroom.” 

Bumstead made the move back 

to Michigan to regroup, take stock 

of her interests and advantage of a 

supportive extended family in Eaton 

Rapids. She was armed with 

two degrees, one in education, the 

other in history. 

Initially her career ideas 

ranged from singing in a band, 

training to be a masseuse or going 

to beauty school. Being single, her 

options were wide open. Taking 

the tour at GRCC Secchia Institute 

for Culinary Education was the 

lightbulb moment Bumstead was 

looking for. 

“Food makes me happy,” 

Bumstead said. “I always loved 

to cook, to be in the kitchen. 

It’s an amazing feeling to watch 

people enjoy my food and see the 

happiness it brings. Walking into 

the kitchen on tour with Professor 

Gendler and watching Professor 

Campbell work with the students, 

I knew this was where I needed 

to be. The sheer joy on his face 

(Campbell) helping the class 

create, you really got the sense 

he and the other professors cared 

about the students’ success.” 

“To someone considering the 

program, I would say do it. It’s 

amazing because the program 

doesn’t focus just on making food. 

It’s also about the historical influence 

of food. I Iove that aspect, 

being a history nerd.” 

The two-year program starts 

out with a semester of lecture 

courses such as food science, 

culinary math and cooking fundamentals, 

all before going into the 

kitchen. Knife skills, table service 

and international food production 

are some of the lab classes 

required before an internship. 

S0tudents graduate the program 

with the knowledge of how-to 

start their own business, calculate 

profit and loss and how to find 

investors. 

“My favorite cuisine is Asian. 

I know it’s a broad statement but 

I love playing around with spicy, 

red pepper pastes and soy sauces. 

It’s fun for me to experiment,” 

Bumstead said. “Grand Rapids has 

a great culinary scene but I’m not 

the biggest fan of the ice and cold. 

I miss the sun and heat. My long 

term goal would be to open a bed 

and breakfast in the Gulf Coast 

area in a small town off the beaten 

path.” 

Bumstead is in her second year 

of the program with one semester 

and a summer internship to finish 

her degree. 

“I’m so happy and fortunate 

to be a part of this program. My 

alarm goes off at seven. Instead 

of hitting the snooze button I’m 

excited to get up and go to school 

because I’m looking forward to 

what I’m going to learn.” 



Christopher Tyminski 


“I’m a machinist, live in Muskegon now. Once in awhile we come 

back here. This is actually where Melissa and I went on our first 

date, for a walk in Riverside Park. It’s a nice day when you get 

to fish. I don’t use live bait, I just use lures. There’s Pike, Crappie, 

Bass, Bluegill, Carp here in the river. If I caught a nice Crappie or 

White Bass I might eat them, but mostly it’s catch and release for 

me. This is one of my favorite places to fish (Riverside Park). Melissa 

and I met online a year ago, so it’s kind of like the anniversary 

of our first date here at the park.” 

Reporting by Jill Rothwell 

Melissa Medina 


“Christopher taught me how 

to fish. I had always wanted to 

learn how, even before meeting 

him but didn’t have anyone 

to teach me until we met. Last 

year he started me out with a 

fishing pole and a license. I’m 

not afraid to touch the fish but I 

don’t bait hooks with live bait.” 

Reporting by John Rothwell 


Jesse Ballard 

Age 21, Holland 

“My big dream in life is to write plays and musicals and to 

have them performed. My love of theater began when 

I was young. I always took joy in reading lines at school 

assemblies or presenting to the class. I auditioned for plays 

in middle school and early high school, but I didn’t get any 

parts until I was a junior in high school. I mostly did stage 

crew work, but my first role started as an understudy but 

then I got the part when the actor could not make the 

performance. 

“In 2014 I was out to lunch with a friend when she suggested 

that I try writing my own plays besides just seeing them. 

The thought never crossed my mind, but I tried and found 

myself enjoying it, making it a hobby but hopefully a career 

someday. I am currently working on my second draft of my 

first two act play “Booked,” a comedy about two competing 

theaters.” 


Jose Abreu 

Age 36, from Santiago, Dominican Republic 

“I am a graphic designer. I work for an advertising 

company and for a local newspaper. I am a father 

of four children, and in my free time I like to dance, 

and work with digital photography. I struggle with 

perfectionism, I like for stuff to be perfect. If they 

are not perfect, I get frustrated. I (also) want to 

improve my English. My company sent me (to CC) 

to improve my English because English is my second 

language.” 



Trang Nguyen 

Age 18, Palawan, Philippines 

Originally my plan was to not go to college … My plan 

was to actually not even finish high school at all. I was 

going to drop out. Just a lot of things were happening at 

that time, so I never really expected to graduate. I came 

to CC because ... it was actually last minute, towards the 

(end of) senior year I was going through some depression 

and family problems so I didn’t apply to any colleges. I 

didn’t apply for scholarships and towards the very last 

minute my counselors, my teachers wanted me to at 

least apply to CC to see if I’d get in, and I did get in. So 

here I am. Because I am first generation, I am still pretty 

confused about what I am going to do, what I am supposed 

to do, what I want to do, obviously. I am so used 

to having my family tell me what to do so trying to be 

independent is just really, really, really foreign.” 


Micah Miller 

Age 20, Fort Wayne, Indiana 

“I occasionally go on walks and take photos. Photography 

is definitely a hobby for me. There is a 

beauty everywhere in this world and having a camera 

allows me to frame places which are important 

to me or pretty. I don’t necessarily focus on certain 

objects or people, I just take photos of environments 

I see when out and about. I really just frame places 

straight, horizontally and/or vertically and press a 

button. Afterwards I edit the photos to make them 

look extra pretty. My end goal is to take satisfying 

photos for myself and other to see. Photography 

means the world to me because I can photograph 

the world with ease. Each photo I take is a memory 

and I cherish them all.” 



Osbaldo Gonzalez 


“My parents are immigrants from Mexico … It was really hard because 

they went to New York and everything in New York is really 

expensive and my dad was the only one working. He pretty 

much worked all day, everyday, even Saturday and Sunday … I 

think he was being paid $7 an hour or even less just to pay rent 

and possibly some food. I look up to him and even until this day 

he wakes up at 3 a.m … He comes home, goes to work and he 

has nothing to complain about, so I really look up to my dad.” 


Corinne Vandersluis 

Age 19, Wyoming 

“I like talking to people, I like meeting people, I like 

figuring out their brains, their emotions, anything to 

help people. I’d love to be a writer but that’s not exactly 

sustainable. I mean sometimes, it's debatable. 

Something to do with writing, something to do with 

people, a journalist would be nice.” 


Mitchell Lough 

Age 27, Jenison 

“I don’t know where my life would be without her (girlfriend). Not only, you 

know, companionship, she’s just a wonderful person, she cares, she really 

cares. That was one of the things that really drew me to her. When we first 

met (6 years ago), and even now, she still does but not quite to the capacity 

that she did, she very much believed in things, she was very impassioned 

about a lot of things. Really, she cared. She was in demonstrations 

and protests. That’s one of the things that really drew me to her, I’m very 

laid back and it’s not that I don’t have beliefs. Sometimes it’s hard finding 

that motivation to really act upon your convictions, and she had that. I 

think that everybody should do that no matter what your beliefs are.” 



Alex Merrill 

Age 20, Jenison 

“It started with a 

hood, it’s a European 

modification 

scene. It’s called 

‘rat.’ But you just do 

a lot of rusting and 

I’ve included a lot of 

artwork and various 

things. I try to bring 

back a lot of things 

back like white walls 

because no one really 

does that anymore 

that stuff anymore, I 

just try to personalize 

it because I just want 

something different 

you see a lot of these 

random cars on the road they’re just plain. I have stuff like, the mirrors are like japanese cars, I’ve done 

stuff like plaid, but yeah it’s all my own artwork and it started about a year ago.” 


Gabriella Davis 


“I think it’s important to see people for who they 

really are. I look up to people’s personality traits. 

If I see someone that’s like really successful, I 

want to know why, what did they do to get that 

way? Or if somebody is like really outspoken, 

like what did they do to feel so confident to say 

whatever they want?” 



Julio Gomez 


“I didn’t know if I wanted to play music at a young age but I did 

want to be involved in some type (music). I remember listening 

to the oldies radio stations and hearing bands and wondering 

who are these bands and where did they come from and why 

are they doing this? That got me very intrigued. In middle school 

I ended up learning how to play guitar. My dad did not let me 

play his guitar, and that gave me extra incentive to take his guitar, 

steal it, and learn how to play it. One day he came home 

and saw me playing it and realized I knew how to play guitar 

and he bought me a guitar. That was when I was 11 and ever 

since I’ve been playing in bands. 


Michael Estle 


Samantha Louisekane 


“I always looked up to my older sister because 

she's always done everything right 

and she has her life together super young." 


“I work at the YMCA and I also work at Anna’s House. 

I’m lead staff at the Y, so I’m pretty busy there most of 

the time. I teach swim 

lessons and I lifeguard 

a lot, I have to make 

sure people are doing 

a good job. My 

favorite thing about 

the Y is watching 

people change their 

lives on a daily basis, 

people who think that 

they might not have 

time for the gym but 

somehow get around 

to it, they work out 

and feel better about 

themselves. You see some people losing weight and 

getting healthy, more flexible and it just feels really 

good.” 



freebird 

by Arielle Jackson 

Photos by John Rothwell 

When I was a little girl, I dealt with many 

changes. My once happily married parents 

were on their way to a divorce when something 

happened that would change my life 

forever. And I have lived with the secret for 

more than a decade. 

At 7 years old I was sexually abused. My 

innocence was stolen and I lived with the 

shame of being mistreated for years. I did not 

tell anyone about what happened because of 

how hard it would be to explain to others. 

When I started attending Union High 

School, I could not get it out of my head. The 

constant memories fluttering back into my 

head made me feel valueless. I began to think 

my body was a vessel and not in my possession. 

I began to act out by not caring about 

my choices, trying to make myself feel better, 

but it only made things worse. Some days 

after school I would come home and hide in 

my room while listening to “Runaway Love” 

by Ludacris and Mary J. Blige and cry myself 

to sleep. I began to realize how much being 

raped affected me and I tried to move on and 

forget it ever happened. 

The only problem with trying to forget 

about him sexually abusing me is when I have 

to see him every so often. He greets me with a 

“hello” and a smile on his face. He acts as if it 

never happened, while I’m wanting to say, “Do 

you even care about what you did to me? Do 

you feel bad for what you have done?” Instead 

I keep a smile and try to avoid being around 

him. 

During my junior and senior years of high 

school the lingering memories still remained. 

The thought that he could go on living his life 

without any regret for his actions or apology 

angered me, as I live with the pain and 

questions about why this unforgettable event 

ever happened. I decided to turn my depression 

and frustration into fuel and told myself 

I would not be a victim anymore, instead a 

survivor of an unjust crime and to let go of 

the past to move on. 

I forgave my persecutor for his actions, 

even if he was not worthy of my forgiveness. I 

needed to do this for myself to move on. 

Last fall during ArtPrize I decided to 

walk the blue bridge downtown. I noticed a 


ArtPrize entry named “Unveiling.” 

There were several silk sheets on 

metal stands with words written 

on them. When I read the first 

one I saw the words, “I hate He 

gets to Live a Normal life” and the 

words, ‘He,’ ‘Live,’ and ‘Normal’ all 

in capital letters. I realized how 

much I could relate to this survivor. 

He lives “freely” while I live 

here with the pain he has caused. 

I also thought about how many 

other women and young girls have 

suffered and have lived the same 

life as I. When I read the next silk 

sheet, it described the events that 

happened to a young girl. She 

was 7 years old and she loved her 

grandfather, and unfortunately her 

grandfather did not love her in the 

same way. Instead of giving her the 

love and affection a grandfather is 

supposed to, he raped her. 

I continued to walk across the 

bridge reading each silk sheet and 

the saddening words, feeling the 

pain within their stories. When I 

reached the end of the bridge, there 

was as a stand with a sign describing 

the art entry and a folder with 

paper so that other survivors who 

have endured sexual abuse could 

write their stories, send them to 

the artists and let their stories be 

displayed as well. So I thought, why 

not tell my story? To allow others 

to know that molestation can happen 

at any age, even a 7-year-old. I 

grabbed a piece of paper from the 

beige folder, sat down on the grass 

near the bridge and began to write 

about that day. I then sent the letter 

to the artist, but it was too late for 

my story to be displayed. Instead I 

made another decision. 

My next step to finally overcome 

everything was to tell my parents. 

For 13 years, I kept this secret from 

them. When I noticed the “Unveiling” 

by Nichole Riley, I thought it 

was destiny. During ArtPrize my 

mother and I went to many entries 

and when we made our way to the 

Blue Bridge, I told her, “I have to 

tell you something after we look at 

this next ArtPrize entry.” 

She said okay and asked, “Why 

don’t you tell me now?” 

I told her I would after and we 

walked through the displays. She 

read several of the stories, then we 

walked to the side of bridge. I was 

nervous and did not want to tell 

her, and when I did she could not 

believe it. 

“It is hard to think about your 

daughter having to endure something 

like that,” she said. She 

looked at me in sorrow and extended 

her arms out to give me a hug. 

The idea of her daughter being 

abused pained her. She asked me 

why I didn’t tell her when I was 

younger and I replied, “Because I 

knew you would not believe me, 

something like that is not easy to 

tell.” 

I recently told my father what 

happened to me, too. He didn’t 

know what to say. When he finally 

did say something, he wanted to 

Jackson’s tattoo resembles her freedom as she 

learns to let go of her past. 

know who did this to me. I did not 

tell him who it was. 

“I am sorry you had to go 

through that,” he said. He told me 

that being able to tell others about 

it is one step closer to leaving it 

behind. 

Although it was difficult to tell 

my parents, I felt better in a way by 

allowing myself to talk about it. I 

felt that I could begin to move on 

and start a life that did not revolve 

around what happened. I never told 

the police, let alone my parents, 

about the sexual abuse because I 

was young and afraid. 

There are many times when 

I think about how if I didn’t tell 

my parents, how much this would 

affect my future. Would I still allow 

my past to control my life? Would I 

be the timid and anxious person I 

once was in high school? Opening 

up to my parents about what happened 

to me was one of the many 

things I never thought I would be 

brave enough to do. The courage 

to move forward and suppress the 

memories is what I have longed for 

all these years. 

Eight months ago I decided to 

get a tattoo, but did not know what 

to get. I found one that said “free” 

with a bird attached at the end. At 

first I did not understand the true 

meaning of it. Getting the tattoo 

because I was abused was not my 

initial intention but thinking about 

the meaning made me realize how 

free I feel now that I can finally let 

the past go. The tattoo became a 

sign of freedom. The freedom to 

think ahead and to not allow him to 

control my life. Now I can move on 

to the next chapter in my life, I do 

not know where it will take me but 

I embrace every moment I am able 

to live, free like a bird. 


Leigh Morrison 


Right now I am looking at multicultural education programs so eventually what I am thinking is that 

I would like to either work for a place or start my own organization that goes into workplaces and 

schools and does trainings about diversity and the ways that we are often times prejudice toward 

other people even if we don’t intend to be or we don’t want to be. I’m kind of figuring out how can 

we address that and fix it so that we’re not hurting people intentionally or unintentionally. No one in 

my family has been directly involved with that (field of study). My mom was a teacher for a while. She 

taught mostly geography and history for middle school. She’s actually working in the nursing department 

here now. My dad is working in the department of institutional research and planning so he kind 

of does a bunch of stuff with data for the college. I guess in some ways their jobs have inspired me because 

we’re all kind of working for the college which serves a really diverse student body and trying to 

figure out how to make it the most accessible to different communities. 



Luis Demas 

Age 24, Grand Rapids, born in Mexico 

“We’re managing right now. I work and my hours are 

pretty flexible, so I think we’ll be fine. In fact my girlfriend’s 

thinking about taking summer classes. I actually want to 

do one of those three month courses … like home remodeling 

over there in the tech center ... I haven’t really 

looked into it, kind of waiting for my girlfriend to finish her 

school, and then I plan on enrolling.” 


Jenna Yeazel 


“My health has been my biggest struggle since I 

was young, I have three chronic diseases, but it 

was a beautiful fight, and it still is.” 


Rylee Wells 

Age 20, Wyoming 

“I’m writing a young-adult fiction book right now, but I kind of want 

to get to the adult genre, kind of romance thing. I work with children 

also, so I have a couple ideas for children books as well. 


“I really never believed in having a role model. I kind of take different 

aspects from different people, and just kind of thrive to be the 

best person I can be. I don’t like looking up to just one person and 

wanting to be them. ‘Cause I don’t want to be them. I just want to 

be me.” 

Reporting by Marco Zamudio 


Adraya Garrett 

Age 22, Ypsilanti 

“Growing up, my brother, sister and I had a social worker from 

child protective services that couldn't even keep our names 

straight. All of our names start with the letter ‘A’ and that was 

apparently too complicated for him. Just having someone there 

that’s supposed to protect you and doesn’t care is really hard, 

so I just want to be a better social worker for someone else. I’m 

a firm believer that everyone’s purpose should be to leave the 

world a better place when they go. Even if you touch only one 

person, that's enough. Just one person. Sometimes the smallest 

actions just keep going forward and people don’t even realize 

it.” 


Thomas Person 


“I’m pretty much laid back, I 

guess it 

depends 

on when 

I’m excited. 

Right 

now my 

mind is 

focused 

on this 

test I 

have 

to take 

in five 

minutes, but when I get out of 

here I’m going to be all smiles for 

this trip I’m going on. I’m excited, 

like everyone knows I’m going to 

Jamaica at my job, and they’re 

all excited for me and that puts a 

smile on my face.” 


JJ Benzer 


“I’ve always had people 

ask me about the 

spots on my skin, sometimes 

people don’t 

notice, but when they 

do, they usually ask 

about it. I have Vitiligo, 

which is a disease that 

causes loss of skin color 

or blotches in the skin. 

Basically, when you’re 

about 3 or 4, the pigment-producing 

cells in 

your body stop working 

like they would for any 

normal person. Usually 

this disease spreads on 

people’s bodies their 

whole lives, but mine 

stopped by the time I 

was a teenager.” 


by Nikki Herrmann 


Mikah Townsend 

Age 20, Hudsonville 

“One unique thing about me is that I am autistic. 

I enjoy talking about my autism because I believe 

that I have this disorder for a reason. I was diagnosed 

early, in the second grade and that can really help 

because you can learn how to be you instead of worrying 

about fitting in because there is no use in it. I’ve 

learned to love my autism. There are more pros than 

cons in my opinion. You can blend in, you can act 

like you don’t have autism. I am very lucky, I am high 

functioning. Since I am high functioning, not many 

things bother me whereas I know of people who also 

have autism that struggle with sensory issues. I would 

say that I am very detail orientated. I get very distracted 

with paint, for example. It is very troublesome 

for me to notice a wall that hasn’t been properly 

glazed. As my mom would say, that makes my teeth 

itch. It’s kind of like the nails on the chalkboard sound 

but it’s with touch. Another random texture I can’t 

stand are tomatoes.” 

Reporting and photo by Hannah Burnis 

David Drummond 


“I moved to East Grand Rapids from New Hampshire, which was a 

huge change. I found myself in a small and extremely wealthy town, 

but I absolutely loved it. I was the star athlete in high school and got 

an awesome scholarship to go to Saginaw Valley University. They 

have a decent football program so I decided to go for it. After a year 

of being in the program I dropped out and moved back home. It was 

hard moving back to such a small town where everyone knew I had 

dropped out of school. I felt like such a disappointment and needed 

to find a school to help me get back on my feet. I started attending 

Grand Rapids Community College, which helped me realize how important 

school actually is. Next year I will be transferring from Grand 

Rapids Community College to Ferris State University to play football 

yet again. It’s my passion, and I’m happy I could use GRCC as my 

backbone to set my priorities straight.” 



On the Rise: 

MSU redshirt junior 

making a name for 

himself through 

basketball 

Story and photos by Nathan Taylor 

Eron Harris is a Michigan State University 

shooting guard from the East Side of Indianapolis. 

A former high school basketball player 

at Lawrence North High School who had no 

offers going into his senior summer. A kid who 

gave up on the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) 

circuit. 

“I quit AAU from the sixth grade to my sophomore 

year,” Harris said. “I wasn't getting any 

playing time when I was playing for these top 

teams, like the Indy Stars and 100% Hoopers. 

Those were the two best teams in the state.” 

Harris’ parents decided it would be best to 


train. 

“I would stay everyday, at least five 

hours a day, during the offseason,” 

Harris said. “When you love basketball 

you will be there to just do drills.” 

Harris’ father was the only person 

who trained Eron growing up. 

“All we did was just hoop with my 

older brother,” Harris said. “My dad 

played against us my whole life.” 

Harris said he was a “YouTube 

junkie,” watching videos of Kobe 

Bryant and Michael Jordan, his two 

favorite players growing up. 

“I would study their movements,” 

Harris said. “While my dad just rebounded 

for me.” 

The summer before his senior year 

of high school, an opportunity came 

from the Indiana Elite AAU team, 

who gave Harris a call to fill in for 

Yogi Ferrell who is now entering the 

NBA Draft. Harris did well, and Indiana 

Elite kept him on the roster the 

rest of the summer. 

“At the end of that summer I had 

about 15 offers,” Harris said. He didn’t 

sign his letter of intent. 

At the last second, Harris’ high 

school coach called a coach on 

West Virginia University’s basketball 

team. They thought he would fit in 

the system well. The coaches were 

impressed. 

“I did amazing in these workouts,” 

Harris said. “Coach Huggins came 

down on the second day. He came to 

my house that night and offered me at 

my house.” 

Harris thrived at WVU, averaging 

just under 10 points a game his freshman 

year. His sophomore year he 

broke out averaging over 17 points a 

game. He was named a Big 12 Honorable 

Mention for all-conference. 

Eron’s first major was journalism. 

“I wanted to get into something that 

dealt with photography and video,” 

Harris said. “I thought it would be 

something smooth where I could 

focus on basketball as well too.” 

Now, Harris is majoring in sociology. 

Almost out of the blue, Harris 

announced his plans to transfer 

elsewhere. 

“My heart wasn’t in a good place 

there,” Harris said. “My heart brought 

me here.” 

Harris said his two years at WVU 

played a key part in his path. 

“I have a high appreciation for that 

stage in my life,” Harris said. 

MSU coach Tom Izzo made a call to 

Harris’ father in hopes of recruiting 

Harris to the team. In the end it came 

MSU redshirt junior Harris sits in 

front of his locker in the Michigan 

State locker room. 

down to three schools, MSU, Purdue 

University, and the University of 

Michigan. 

Harris sat out his junior year at 

MSU under NCAA transfer rules.. 

“Once I came to Michigan State, 

we had it all planned out and just the 

image of it was perfect, so me and 

my parents all agreed that this is the 

place I wanted to go. 

“My redshirt (junior) year, I gained 

a lot of confidence,” Harris said. “I got 

to play against the guys totally free.” 

One of Harris’ philosophies is that 

everything happens for a reason. 

“This past year was my first time 

ever being in the tournament so I 

don't really know what it's like going 

super far in the tournament,” Harris 

said. “Being a great basketball player, 

you know, I know what went wrong 

what we could've done a little bit 

better in that game, but, we had a historical 

season so we can’t down that.” 

“We're definitely going to look back 

at this season to be balanced on attack 

to where we get into a situation 

when we’re one and done, I want to 

have multiple guys to be able to help 

out and bring some energy.” 

Harris said his team didn’t do as 

well they should have in their 90-81 

loss to Middle Tennessee State on 

March 18. 

Harris said his message to MSU 

fans would be to stick with them. 

“If you don't like us anymore that's 

okay because we're going to be back,” 

Harris said. “We are looking for revenge 

to prove ourselves.” 

Harris reminds himself daily of his 

goals to win a championship and get 

into the NBA. 

“I'm just trying to get my schoolwork 

done, eat right, get into the gym 

even when I don't feel like it,” Harris 

said. “You can't slack off. You have to 

be the hardest worker at this level.” 


James Reed 


“One time I was sitting 

down and playing and 

a random homeless guy 

came up to me and asked 

me if I wanted money for 

playing. I was like no man, 

I’m just playing for the hell 

of it, I like the music. So he 

sat down next to me and 

asked if he could play. He 

started strumming the craziest 

chords I’ve heard in my 

life. He was very talented, it 

blew me out of the water. 


by Matt Smith 

Marlyn Chub Bolom 

Age 22, Guatemala 

“I want to start my own business. Before, I wanted 

to be a social worker, but I didn’t like the field. I’m 

not from here. I’m from Guatemala, and I want to 

go back there and build a school for kids that are 

not able to go to school or don’t have the financial 

background to go to school. I love to help 

people. That’s my goal. I care about others. 

Photo by Cesar Ayala 

“I came here seven years ago. I got a scholarship 

to come here. The program was for four years of 

high school and four years of college. But after 

the first four years, they didn’t have enough 

funds. And so they were gonna send me back to 

Guatemala. But then luckily for me, my host family 

took me in. So they’re taking care of me right 

now. I came here for education.” 



Melissa Lucas 


“(I look up to) my parents. I think specifically my dad just 

because he came to the U.S. at such a young age, and 

he went through so many struggles when he was young. I 

know, for example, when he was young he was into alcohol, 

so he did used to drink a lot when I was younger. But 

thankfully he kind of met God along the way. That really 

changed him as a person. I’ve seen him change as a 

person, and that really has influenced me to be a better 

person.” 


Whitney Penn 

Age 22, Grand Rapids, student cashier at Raider Grille 

“I’m going to school for political science, politics. I want 

to be President of the United States. I know it’d give me 

gray hair, but that’s my dream. 

“I come here at 6:30 in the morning. I do everything you 

all eat here. Tuesdays and Thursdays I do the cash register.” 


Sam Dame 

Age 19, Born in Grandville 

“I’m a pretty quiet guy but I think of 

that in a good way.” 




Alvaro Chachagua 

Age 22, El Salvador 

“What makes me happy? 

Getting good news from my 

family and talking with them. 

They live in El Salvador. It’s 

been almost six years. I have 

not seen my family. 

In my country, we don’t have 

too much work, so in 2010 I 

come to the United States 

with my brother Pedro. We 

took busses to cross Guatemala 

and then a boat to 

cross from Guatemala to 

Mexico. After that, we were 

on the street walking our way 

to the United States. For two 

weeks, we walked to catch 

the first train in Mexico. We 

had to catch nine trains to 

get to Texas. But when we got 

to Texas, we got caught by 

border patrol. They kept me 

there for six months and my 

brother was deported. But for 

me, I had some help from a 

program that helps refugees 

(Bethany Christian Services). 

They put me in foster care for 

two years and helped me until 

I turned 21. They also gave 

me school, a caseworker and 

helped me to get legal in the 

United States.” 


by Marco Zamudio 


Mansehaj Singh 

Age 21, Big Rapids 

“My religion, Sikhism, gives me a way to express 

myself, it gives me an aim in life. Whatever I do, 

I try to do it through my religion because it has 

shaped every aspect of my life. It’s a really easy 

religion, all it tries to imply is that we should 

love and remember God. Whatever we do, we 

should try to do it with an honest heart and we 

should care about others. If we can help someone, 

we should. It says that God resides in everything, 

so we should treat everything around 

us with respect. I still do not consider myself 

religious. I guess it depends on how you define 

being religious. I don’t consider Sikhism to be a 

religion, more of a philosophy to live by. I think 

it’s a really open thing, all it does is encourage 

you to love your surroundings, love God, serve 

others, and find true happiness through that. 

“The reason I don’t call myself religious, is because 

it just so happens that I can connect my 

whole life to Sikhism, my experiences matched 

up with what I read. I could relate to it, I had 

already experienced things I learned about, it 

wasn’t that I learned something and then experienced 

something spiritual. It’s not like Sikhism 

changed who I am, it just encouraged me to 

do a few things differently, and I guess I don’t 

know what people define religion as. For me, 

it’s sort of blind faith in something that was written 

a long time ago, not that it’s a bad thing. 

“I don’t even know what being religious means. 

You should just be a nice person, and believe in 

God and you can experience everything on a 

better level. I don’t believe a specific religion to 

be any better than another, and I don’t believe 

the concept of being religious. I think all religions 

end up talking about the same thing in 

the sense that they try to attain enlightenment, 

it might be through different paths, but in the 

end they’re all trying to attain enlightenment.” 

Reporting and photo by Priya Kaur

The Art of a 

Survivor 

by Jill Rothwell 


Grand Rapids Community College Paul Collins Art 

Gallery recently featured a show entitled the “Feminist 

Art Exhibit” that drew one of the gallery’s largest 

crowds to date. The collaborative was 17 GRCC 

student artists, Devin Hankinson being one. 

“My photography in the exhibit was a means to back myself 

in my decision to not report my sexual assault this year,” 

Hankinson, 20, said. “I didn’t have enough hard evidence, 

didn’t fight back hard enough, so I didn’t have any bodily 

proof.” 

Hankinson is a survivor of date rape. ‘No Proof’ was her 

way of poignantly and publicly revealing the details of her 

sexual assault through photography. Her therapy is being 

open and candidly talking to others about what happened. She 

keeps a journal as a method of therapeutic recall. 

“I sat alone with the assault for a while before I said it out 

loud,” Hankinson said. “I told a few friends because I was in 

shock. I thought, I can’t not tell someone. I needed someone 

for me.” 

Prior to the exhibit Hankinson had not found a way to tell 

her dad about the assault. She sat with him the night before 

the show. 

“At first I didn’t want my dad to find out,” Hankinson said. 

“I didn’t want him showing up in a room full of people and 

finding out. This way he had some time alone to process. He’s 

obviously worried for me. It happened a long time ago for me, 

but for my dad it just happened. He’s still getting used to me 

being okay now.” 

Hankinson, who is from Belmont, lives locally with her 

family and considers it a safety net that allows her to explore 

her art. She noted that her art is not necessarily a reflection of 

her experiences but more of artists she admires. 

“Art really makes me happy,” Hankinson said. “I have many 

favorite artists, from a number of periods and mediums. To 

name one favorite would be impossible.” 

As an art history major, Hankinson aspires to be a curator 

at an art museum or gallery. Her next move is to find a fouryear 

school to transfer to where she can complete her degree. 

One of her top picks is Central Michigan University because of 

their photography program, her preferred medium. 

“If I could stay here at GRCC and finish my degree, I would. 

All my family lives in this area. I’m big on family and their 

support,” Hankinson said. 

Her openness on connecting with and meeting other survivors 

has helped her heal. Having that perspective she feels it 

has made it easier for others to open up and connect with her. 

“There are after effects on my personality, some have told 

me I’m too open and bring it up too soon in conversation with 

new friends,” Hankinson said. “It happens to a lot of people. 

No one should be ashamed to talk about it.” 


LIFE 

BEYOND 

THE CHAIR 

by Jennifer Lugo 

Photo by Kayla Tucker | Editor-in-Chief 

Out on the ice, Chelsea Perry propels 

herself along the length of 

the hockey rink using only upper 

body strength and two hockey sticks, 

seated in a sled built for the ice. Since 

the age of 8, Perry has used hockey and 

other sports to build herself up, mentally, 

emotionally, and physically. 

Perry, 25, is a student majoring in 

Recreational Therapy at Grand Rapids 

Community College, but outside of 

school, she plays hockey, basketball, 

downhill snow skiing, water skiing, and 

fencing. 

Perry spends a lot of her time 

engaged in sports, as she has always 

found motivation and independence in 

being part of that environment. 

“Whatever time I have left over, I 

choose to use for sports stuff,” said 

Perry. “I was given those opportunities 

to start those at a young age.” 

Born with Spina Bifida, and having 

holes in the L3 and L4 vertebrae in her 

lower spine, caused Perry to have paralysis 

below the knees. Although she 

uses a wheelchair, she still makes the 

effort to walk with crutches around the 

house to keep herself mobile. 

Despite this, she continues to do 

what any other adult her age would do 

- go out with friends, attend college full 

time, and play sports. 

Perry plays for the Grand Rapids 

Sled Wings, an adaptive sports team, 

that gives people with disabilities the 

chance to play hockey in sleds instead 

of standing up. 

Adaptive sports are led by recre- 


ational therapists at facilities like Mary 

Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital, and 

allow disabled people to be given the 

same opportunity to play as everyone 

else. 

Sled Wings Coach Steve Kozlowski 

has coached Perry for the last eight 

years. He said Perry is a role model for 

younger players. 

Perry coaches an adaptive sports 

team in addition to her playing for the 

Sled Wings. 

“We have an eight year old that just 

started,” Kozlowski said. “It’s great that 

we can look at her and say ‘Hey, look at 

Chelsea. She’s been here for 14 years,’ 

and their eyes light up like ‘Wow, that’s 

a long time.’ That’s longer than they’ve 

been alive, so it shows that they can 

enjoy it and continue to enjoy it into 

adulthood.” 

According to the Rinks to Links 

website, Grand Rapids Sled Wings, 

sponsored in partnership with Mary 

Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital, was 

the first junior-level sled hockey team 

in Michigan. They were founded in 

2001 and the team travels around the 

country. 

Perry’s idea of seeking a recreational 

therapy degree comes from her active 

role in Sled Wings, and being a part of 

the recreational therapy program at 

Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital. 

“I’m a typical college student,” said 

Perry said. “I like to go to movies. I 

like to go out to eat with people. In the 

summertime my friends and I like to 

find concerts to go to.” 

Perry currently works on the second 

floor of the Library Learning Center, at 

“The P.L.A.C.E,” a drop-in tutorial lab 

at GRCC, as a front desk assistant. She 

likes working there and finds it rewarding 

to be the first face that people see 

when they seek help. 

An average day for Perry includes 

daily struggles with getting dressed, 

getting in and out of vehicles, and overcoming 

a learning deficit that comes 

56 | TheCollegiateLive.com 

along with the physical portion of her 

disease. One of her biggest struggles, 

she said, is time management as it 

takes her twice as long to accomplish 

small tasks. 

“I just recently got my license, so 

when I go to leave the house now, 

I have to not only count the time it 

actually takes to physically get in the 

car and drive somewhere, but also the 

extra couple minutes it takes to load 

up my chair, or the forearm crutches I 

walk with,” Perry said. 

Perry’s family understands her 

struggle, but they acknowledge that it 

doesn’t stop her from being who she 

wants to be. 

“It’s easy to look at someone in a 

wheelchair and think, ‘Oh their legs 

don’t work, or ‘Oh, they can’t walk like 

me,’” said Perry’s sister, Lauren Perry. 

“It’s a big part of what she’s dealt with 

all her life, but I think there’s a lot left 

for her to do and accomplish, because 

she can do anything she sets her mind 

to.” 

Perry’s best friend, Renee Short, 30, 

of Grand Rapids, has known her for 15 

years. Perry and Short met as teammates 

on a hockey league, and they 

hang out quite frequently on weekends. 

“She’s a good friend,” Short said. 

“She’ll be there to lift you up, be there 

as a shoulder to cry on, whether you 

need a friend, or just a few laughs.” 

She is currently striving towards 

the goal of moving out of her parents’ 

house. 

Perry’s twin brother, Pat Perry, said 

he wants to see her be able to have the 

same opportunities as him, when she 

moves out on her own. 

“I’ve always encouraged her since 

the beginning about being independent 

and moving out,” her brother said. “I’m 

excited and anxious to see her in a 

place where she can get to experience 

all these small, wonderful things about 

adult life.” 

Perry recently won the Youth Leadership 

and Inclusion Award at the Invest 

in Ability dinner last October. This is an 

event put on through The Advocates of 

Disabilities of Kent County, an organization 

which helps young adults direct 

independence throughout adulthood. 

Former Grand Rapids Mayor George 

Heartwell presented the award to her 

and she had a chance to speak with 

Heartwell about challenges facing the 

disabled community. 

“It was a huge honor to be there and 

to be able to kind of start to speak on 

issues that affect me, and issues that 

affect people that I know,” Perry said. 

“I’ve always felt like I was a part of 

something bigger. The fact that people 

want to know what I think, and people 

want to know where I’ve been at, and 

what my story is really means a lot.” 

A couple issues Perry mentioned to 

the Mayor were wheelchair accessibility 

around the city and snow removal 

on sidewalks. 

“In the dreams I’m pursuing, I’m 

always conscious of the fact that I’m 

doing what I do because I love it and 

because it’s my dream, but at the same 

time, I’m speaking and acting on behalf 

of people who aren’t always heard,” 

Perry said. 

Perry speaks out for people like 

herself because she understands the 

stigmas and stereotypes that the world 

has yet to conquer. 

“People without disabilities should 

not make assumptions,” Perry said. 

“Because the generalization and the 

assumption typically is that people 

with any type of disability have to be 

counted out and that’s just not true.” 

Perry hopes people with impairments 

hear her story and get inspired 

to enhance their quality of life. 

“If we’re advocating for ourselves, 

and connecting with the right people I 

think that things will start changing,” 

Perry said. “Because we’re saying that 

we deserve to be in the world using 

talents, passions, and skills just like

somebody that doesn’t have 

an impairment. That’s what 

adaptive sports is to me. That’s 

how I show people that would 

only typically see the chair, that 

there’s something beyond that.” 

The athlete understands that 

she has been given more than 

some people as far as opportunities 

go. She said she feels 

lucky to have the support and 

love that she has in her life, 

from her family, coaches, and 

friends. 

This support group includes 

her sister, Lauren Perry, who 

lives in Tennessee. 

“I think she’s ready to have 

her independence,” said her 

sister. “I think it’ll help everything 

about her life. She’ll get to 

go and step out of the bedroom 

that me and her shared for 

years. I see why it’s scary, and 

it may be taking her longer than 

some people.” 

Perry wants the world to understand 

that she doesn’t allow 

her failures 

to get in the 

way of what 

she is trying 

to accomplish 

and she lives 

a normal 

life, just like 

everyone else, 

despite her 

impairments. 

She encourage 

others to do 

the same. 

“I wake up 

everyday and 

I’m lucky to 

do the things I 

do,” she said. 

“I’m not in a 

place where 

I’m mad at the 

situation I’m 

in. Anything 

can be worked 

around when 

you have the 

guts and the 

wherewithal 

to say ‘This is 

my goal. This 

is my dream. 

I’m not going 

to stop until it 

happens.’” 

Photo by Jennifer Lugo 

Advertorial 

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skills and understand how to manage. You’ll be prepared for a variety of management 

and leadership positions: district manager, entrepreneur, general manager, hospitality 

manager, project manager, regional manager…the list goes on and on. 

If you’ve completed at least 30 transferrable credits in a single specialized or 

technical area, or if you’ve earned an associate degree in a non-business major and 

you want to move into management in your chosen field, Northwood University’s 

Bachelor of Science in applied management is the program for you. To learn more, 

contact Northwood University’s Associate Director of Admissions, Todd Lake at 

517.483.9758 or at laket@northwood.edu. 

About Northwood University 

Private, nonprofit, and accredited, Northwood University specializes in managerial 

and entrepreneurial education at its full-service, residential campus in Midland, 

Michigan. Adult degree programs are available in multiple states with many course 

delivery options including online. The DeVos Graduate School offers day, evening, and 

weekend programming in Michigan, Texas, and online. The Michigan-based Alden 

B. Dow Center for Creativity and Enterprise provides system-wide expertise in family 

enterprise, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and new business development. 

International education is offered through study-abroad programs, with Program 

Centers in Switzerland, China (Changchun and Wuxi), Malaysia, and Sri Lanka. For 

additional information regarding Northwood University, visit northwood.edu.

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RIGHT HERE. RIGHT NOW. 

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