FACES OF GRCC

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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 <strong>GRCC</strong> 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 <strong>GRCC</strong>, 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.” Reporting and photo by Gary Manier 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.” Reporting and photo by Andy McDonald TheCollegiateLive.com | 19
Page 1 and 2: Winter Semester 2016 thecollegiatel
Page 3 and 4: BACK IN THE GAME: How Deiona Rogers
Page 5 and 6: FACES OF GRCC Jenanna Greeno Age 26
Page 7 and 8: Tim Harrisson Age 28, Grand Rapids
Page 9 and 10: ‘The Old Man in the Back Row’ S
Page 11 and 12: Detroit,” Kennedy said. “I have
Page 13 and 14: Emma Stewart Age 22, Grand Rapids,
Page 15 and 16: Kevin Curiel-Vazquez is the Externa
Page 17 and 18: Jim Blue Age 60, Ada “I play the
Page 19: I can remember the first time I stu
Page 23 and 24: Samuel Casares Age 24, Grand Rapids
Page 25 and 26: left and right in five on five. I w
Page 27 and 28: wasn’t productive at all. I didn
Page 29 and 30: Dan Bui Age 20, Grand Rapids Vy Bui
Page 31 and 32: Grand Rapids Community College Poli
Page 33 and 34: “When I was that troubled kid, I
Page 35 and 36: Sophia Vanmeeteren Age 19, Kentwood
Page 37 and 38: Grand Rapids Community College Secc
Page 39 and 40: Jesse Ballard Age 21, Holland “My
Page 41 and 42: Osbaldo Gonzalez Age 24, Holland
Page 43 and 44: Julio Gomez Age 32, Grand Rapids
Page 45 and 46: ArtPrize entry named “Unveiling.
Page 47 and 48: Luis Demas Age 24, Grand Rapids, bo
Page 49 and 50: Mikah Townsend Age 20, Hudsonville
Page 51 and 52: train. “I would stay everyday, at
Page 53 and 54: Melissa Lucas Age 19, Grand Rapids
Page 55 and 56: Mansehaj Singh Age 21, Big Rapids
Page 57 and 58: LIFE BEYOND THE CHAIR by Jennifer L
Page 59 and 60: somebody that doesn’t have an imp

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