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[kulifefall2019]

Making Friends At Kutztown University

Prologue:

As Ray Velazquez was on his last few days of summer, he was starting to feel scared about making friends during his freshman year at Kutztown. From being one of the most popular guys in high school Ray was aware how different college was going to be. It’s scary to meet new people and adjust to a new lifestyle when first starting college. Thoughts start to race through his mind, will my roommate like me, what kind of friends am I going to make, what new people will I meet here? Although these thoughts are scary they feel like butterflies in his stomach. College is a place where students can find themselves and express what makes them who they are towards a new group of people. This post shares the different students’ experiences of making friends at Kutztown and the groups that incoming students can join that encourage making these new connections. In this post, we will discuss making friends at Kutztown in three acts. Act we will cover greek life and the bonds students make when rushing for a fraternity or sorority; Then in Act II we will transition to the musical side of Kutztown with different ensembles and the common interests students have other than music, and to wrap up; In Act III we’ll mention the commuter lifestyle, what it is like going to school from home, and the different ways that commuters make new friends at Kutztown. Kutztown becomes your home away from home. Read further and find out how welcoming students at Kutztown are to the new generation of incoming freshman.

(ACT 1 - GREEK LIFE) 

Trey Rubino

Most freshmen are fresh out of high school, happily holding their diplomas and eagerly waiting for their new lifestyle at college. Like every new beginning It’s scary. Questions swarmed through my head. “How am I going to make friends on campus?”  No one wants to  be THAT person. The one who orders a whole pizza pie everyday and spends every waking moment in their dorm room. Most upcoming freshmen at Kutztown University always go through the internal battle of wondering, “How do I make friends on a campus like Kutztown?” Everything and everyone is new and the potential is endless.

Greek life. That weird topic. No one really knows what greek life really is. It may be portrayed poorly through movies, but in all actuality it is a truly life changing experience. Greek life is one of the easiest ways to make a solid group of friends on campus, while benefiting your resume and academic success.  Joining a Greek Life organization is beneficial and truthfully one of the best things offered at Kutztown University.  After interviewing some of the current students, not many of them know the significance Greek Life can impact your future. Most of them believe it’s more about drinking and partying than anything, and with that said, they can’t be more wrong! 

The amount of groups in Greek Life has is endless. There’s groups for people who want to focus more time on their academics or on social ability.  

One thing Greek Life excels at is Brotherhood / Sisterhood. Brotherhood and Sisterhood  is a concept that everyone can respect. It builds solidarity and unity as a community. While rushing for what organization to join strong bonds and lifelong friendships will be made.  It’s good to feel and know that there’s so many people to rely on when needing help. Whether it be life advice, getting ready for an interview, or just help with homework and academics. Greek Life organization will help anyone through anything. There’s a reason why they are called Brothers and Sisters in Greek Life and that's why you aren’t just friends, you are family.  Ontop of having a second “family” away from home, mixing with other Greek Life organizations here at Kutztown helped me even more friends. 

Joining Greek Life is not what it is made out to be at all. It is a great way to meet new people, make new friends, and find yourself along the way. Having the countless resources through the organization, the variety of friendships and the ability to build up my resume It made my experience at Kutztown University so much better. I know how it feels coming to Kutztown not knowing anyone but now that got out of my comfort zone and expanded my horizon making friends is a daily occurence.

ACT 2 - Friends in Music 

(JoeyD.)

Kutztown University offers many music performance opportunities through the different instrumental and vocal ensembles regardless of your major. Currently, I am a sophomore at Kutztown, and just recently declared my major in Cinema, Television, and media. I am a member of the drumline in the Kutztown Marching Unit, and wrapping up my second season with the band. At first, I was nervous coming to college and making new friends, but after joining the drumline, all my worries were swept away with the welcoming environment and friendly atmosphere. As you read further, I will share our “family” motto and other members’ first experiences making friends through the band.

“We are a family, and families help each other, not hurt each other.” Dr. Daniel Neuenschwander is a music professor at Kutztown University and the director of the Kutztown University Marching Unit. The organization is available to all students attending Kutztown. Whether you’re going to school for business, education, liberal arts or visual arts, any student can join the marching unit no matter what major you are pursuing. Describing the band as a family is what makes this a welcoming organization, Dr. Neuenshwander strives for greatness out of his students which shows how great hard work can pay off with the number of graduate students he has taught from only working here for seven years. The Kutztown University Marching Unit is a great organization to be a part of with students of different majors and great staff, with some that are alumni of Kutztown and the organization.

Taking my first steps as an incoming freshman to Kutztown University was a life-changing experience. With the number of friendly students and hard-working professors, I couldn’t ask for more. The first semester of my freshman year was a crazy change, thinking about all the fears of college, joining the marching band cleared my head of those thoughts. 

I ventured out to other members of the band to see what their first experiences were like when they joined the marching band during their freshman year. Of the many people that I interviewed, many of their responses were very uplifting to listen to. One person I would like to point out is Jenna. Jenna is a member of the drumline, she is a freshman here at Kutztown, coming into Kutztown she declared a cinema, television, and media (CTM) major but recently switched over to music education. As a new student joining the marching band, I asked Jenna, what were her expectations before joining the organization. She was very optimistic about joining and couldn’t wait to meet the other marchers that soon created friendships throughout the season. 

I wondered what other students’ social lives were like when we aren’t playing music for three hours on a football field. A question that I asked Jenna was ‘do you find yourself still connected with these friends while outside of the band?’ As she was giving her answer, she was feeling very grateful, “Yes! With KUMU being the largest organization on campus I see people every day from KUMU even when we don’t have it… I have a lot of close friends and have even made friends from other people’s friends outside of the band.” As the marching band season of 2019 recently came to an end with the tragic loss of our D2 football team, Jenna can’t wait for the next season and meet new students joining the band. 

Whether you are pursuing a business major or a career in teaching, the Kutztown University Marching Unit opens up its arms to all students attending Kutztown. With the comradery that students cherish within the organization, that feeling is the encouragement the students need as they become successful individuals throughout their lives.

ACT 3: Commuters lifestyle

Sonae’ James

     As a freshman at Kutztown University, I fully understand the difficulty of making friends. It truly feels next to impossible to make friends as a commuter. It’s easier to say “I’m going to join clubs or sorority/fraternity,” than to actually get up and do it. Commuters usually schedule their classes early in the day because they are typically balancing college and a job. I am a commuter; I drive forty minutes to Kutztown and back every single day. My goal at the beginning of the school year was to join as many clubs until I realized that every club meeting began at 7pm or later. Working at four and trying to go to meetings at seven made joining clubs and making friends that much harder. 

  During the first two months at Kutztown I spent all of my free time in the Academic Forum. I ate chic fila and did my homework alone almost everyday in the same exact spot. Until I started to realize how little time I spent my day socializing. I was turning completed introverted. I received an commuters newsletter that explained how much commuter’s have access to but don’t know about. In the McFarland Student Union there’s a commuter’s lounge. It is open all day five days a week. I interviewed my friend, Kyle Roeder, a senior and also a commuter he went on to explain how the commuter’s lounge is like Breakfast Club. He said, “There may be ten different people sitting around the table, different majors, different races, but they’re all just talking. Talking about anything that crosses our minds and that to me feels like unity. That’s how I made friends.” He goes on to say how he’s graduating and leaving behind his best friends’ he made in the lounge. “The lounge gave me a feeling of belonging and that in itself is irreplaceable.” I’ve been going to lounge everyday since I found out about it. I’ve met some of my closest friends their. 

 Not only is there a commuter’s lounge there’s a monthly commuters lunch. Every Tuesday of the month there’s a free lunch for commuters to eat and meet other commuters. Although making friends as a commuter feels impossible there’s way that you can. If you’re willing to put yourself out there or even going to a commuter’s lunch makes it that much easier. Commuting is worthwhile, making friends may seem hard but it’s possible. If I can do it so can anyone else. Don’t be afraid to be you and worthwhile friendships will fall into place.

[kulifefall2019]

Being an Art Major at Kutztown

Prologue: 

Going to a larger school, the average student will be around art majors. Especially in a school like Kutztown that is known for its art program. (walking across campus, being curious about them, how a student will be living among them, see them in gen eds.) 

Kutztown is a large school, and one of the most popular state schools in Pennsylvania. It has many different majors, and some programs its well known for. One of the things Kutztown is famous for its large art program. Whether or not a student is an art major, they’ll see these people all around campus. They share housing buildings, dining halls, and even some general education classes with other students. They’re fairly easy to spot, some of the major things they’re seen with are big portfolio cases, big sheets of paper, drawing on iPads or tablets plugged into a computer, or even just sketching ideas into sketchbooks. To get even more stereotypical, they’re also easy to spot since a lot of them dress differently, or “artsy.” The clothes, unnatural hair colors/styles, artistic makeup make them easy to spot a mile away.

Art majors may seem like a foreign species to non art majors, but a little bit of insight on what the experience of art majors are can make them seem a little more human. Even if a student at Kutztown isn’t an art major, it’s important to know a little bit more about the everyday life of an art major. It’s one of the things Kutztown is best known for. Today we’ll be discussing three acts of an art major at Kutztown with Act I: the cost of being an art major; Act II: Weekends in the Studios; and Act III: Scheduling the Nightmare to really understand the personal lives and struggles of art students. 

Act I: The Cost of Being an Art Major

It’s common knowledge that the average college student should prepare to buy expensive textbooks for their courses at the start of their college career. Lately, more and more people buy used books or rent books to cut down the cost of expensive books. At the very least they can sell back their books at the end of the year. With the help of the internet, it’s gotten fairly easy to save money on books. All of this applies to the average Kutztown student. There is however, a group of majors that doesn’t have the luxury of saving money on the required materials for their classes: visual art majors. Visual art majors have to supply almost all of their own supplies for class, including but not limited to sketchbooks, paints, pencils, markers, brushes, printed posters, and the list goes on and on. These supplies are not cheap too, since students have to use something that's more on the professional side. 

Every class has a list of supplies that’s needed for the class. Fine arts majors have to buy the physical materials like paints, canvases, papers, etc. from project to project. Communication Design and Applied Digital Arts majors usually have to cover their own printing costs for posters, illustrations, and 3D printing. The 300 credits that is reloaded every semester for black and white printing in the library does not cover color and/or poster printing at all. If students don’t want to have to rely on lab hours to use the school computers and/or would like to work on digital projects at their homes over the breaks throughout the semester, they would have to buy expensive programs like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, ToonBoom, etc. In addition to that, every single art major has to take the same studio classes their freshman year of college. I personally spent well over a couple hundred dollars on supplies over the course of my first year of college alone, and almost every other freshman has a similar experience.

Now that I’m a sophomore in college as an Applied Digital Arts major, most of the money I spend is on printing and digital supplies like programs, a tablet, a hard drive, etc. Right now I’m using a two month trial of photoshop on my own laptop that came with the hard drive I bought at the beginning of the semester, but once that expires there’s no way I’ll be able to afford keeping it, since it’s based on a monthly subscription fee. If I want my own tablet to use on the school computers without having to rely on continuously renting school tablets out, that’s around $200. And that’s just for my digital classes alone. Applied Digital Arts majors still have to take traditional media classes, like life drawing, painting, etc. Those classes will require a lot of money for supplies as well.

To see how a different art major has to spend their money, I interviewed Haley Wawrzynek, a sophomore in Communication Design. CD is a major that focuses on graphic design and illustration as well. I asked her if she had to print all of her digital projects, and her answer was yes, every single one so far. She said she has to print the most for her Typography class, and that each project costs about $5 to print. That doesn’t sound like much, but so far she’s done five projects and the semester isn’t over yet. She also told me that in her current art history class she had to print a large poster for that as well. 

I asked her if she has to spend money in a different studio class, and she answered yes and started talking about her intro to illustration class. “Every two or three weeks he emails us a new list of supplies to buy for our next project,” she tells me. I asked her approximately how much each of these shopping trips costs, and she said it costs about $15 to $20 and that she has 7 projects this semester. 

To finish the interview, I then asked how she felt about having to spend so much money as a whole, to which she said “I don’t like it. It’s not cool,” and we both laughed. She then said “spending all this money for college and it’s not going towards utility things that I need for my major.” She said that she wished the prepaid credit that goes towards black and white printing could count for art printing, even if it cost more credits. I agree with her on this, because as art majors we don’t take as many classes that require printed essays, reports, etc. so most of the library credits go unused and wasted. 

Overall, the general consensus is that art majors spend a lot of money. A lot. For some single courses it seems that it costs even more than buying a textbook for a single course. Not only does being an art major require a lot of hard work, but it requires a lot of supplies, and therefore money. 

-Casey Stoneback

Act II: Weekends In the Studios

Most students that are non art majors have 5 classes that are either 50 minutes or an hour and 20 minutes long. They can start class in the late morning and finish by the early afternoon for the most part, giving them a lot of time to do homework, study, and work on projects. This is not the case for visual arts majors. The average visual arts major has at least three 3 hour long studio classes that meet twice a week. That means that these majors spend approximately 18 hours a week in studio classes alone, on top of having general education classes. All together, that’s about 20 hours a week in classes alone. 

Most studio classes often require spending hours in the studio/computer labs outside of class time, so that’s even more time taken out of the week spent on studio classes alone. Since studio classes are so long, usually studios are full of classes from 8 in the morning and don’t end until 9 at night, meaning the studios and labs won’t open up until after 9 (other than weekends). If a student has to work on a project during the week that requires a digital program that’s only on the school computers, or need the space of a painting/drawing studio, they have to wait until 9 and will often stay until 12 to 2 in the morning. Sometimes they stay that late even when they have a 3 hour studio class at 8 in the morning the next day. 

All of this time spent in studio classes and the time spent on projects outside of class leave very little time for gen ed classes. I know I often fall behind in my gen ed classes because I simply do not have the time and energy to focus on them because I struggle so much to meet due dates for studio projects. In doing so, these studios make many art students suffer in their other classes because they barely manage to finish their projects for their main studios. 

The amount of time and effort that is put in by art students is seen just by looking at the lab hour sign up sheets. It’s rare to see someone sign in to the programs for anything shorter than four hours approximately. These are just the experiences of APD majors. With other programs, many students in other programs stick after class to work on the many projects they are required to do. Such as Fine Arts majors, that spend their times in the painting studios to work such as Fine Arts Student, and sophomore, Dorie Penny whom I interviewed to get truly into the mind of an art student. 

When I asked her, “What are your main struggles with time management as an art student?” She laughed nervously and responded “Since I’m in four studios so I feel like I don’t have any personal time. I can manage time for studios but it keeps away time for myself.” After she answered that question I then asked her “have you noticed that your time management has affected your mental health?” For a moment she didn’t know how to answer. She later told me it was because she didn’t really know how to answer it because she had so many feelings about the topic. She later responded “Yes, increasingly. My anxiety increased dramatically. That’s kinda a blanket term for it all though. I’ve have several panic attacks lately.” 

She later in the evening mentioned that she wanted to input that “professors will tell you it’s just three out of class hours of work, but you end up having around three times the amount, and that’s just my painting class. I have no time.” And these are the experiences of one art student. We may be given the time to finish our projects but that leaves very little time for ourselves. As you can imagine that seriously takes a toll on your mental and even physical health. The studios drain students drastically and that’s not even half of the problem. 

-Casey Stoneback & Gwyneth Trafford

Act III: Scheduling the Nightmare

As an Applied Digital Arts major, Life Drawing is a required class to graduate. There are over 200 students enrolled in the APD program in total. With only two classes available, taught by the same individual, that leaves only about 33 slots to enroll in. Not only do the APD students quickly enroll in, some Business major who needs a Gen Ed will also enter. Clearly, there is a problem here. Art students have to fight tooth and nail to enter a required class that should just be available to them in the first place. It took me three advisement meetings to eventually enroll in Life Drawing, which even then was just pure luck that someone dropped out as soon as we were looking at availability.  

Overall, the programing and scheduling in the arts needs work. Some specific individual programs within the arts have some more luck, but overall the scheduling typically is very difficult. In Kutztown, many of the arts programs are understaffed. As such, classes required to graduate fill up quickly. Not only are there not enough classes to compensate for all of the enrolled art students, they also allow non-art majors to enroll in these classes. 

Now what is the big problem here? What is the thing making all these students have breakdowns when they sign up for classes? Understaffed, and open classes for everyone. Only one person teaching Life Drawing is gonna leave many problems for scheduling. And that’s just my Life Drawing. I wasn’t the only person to struggle either. Many students, up to six, during my animation class also vocalized their struggles with signing up for classes, and those were the ones vocal about it. 

Not only does scheduling affect the students, this also hurts the working teachers. Students flock to their teachers to help with their problems, and even their advisors. During my Animation class, 4 students enrolled during that class period and not a single student was able to get a full schedule of their requirements. Some students, such as myself, couldn't even get two. During our Animation class, many of the students tried to figure out their schedules. There were at least five students in that class who had these struggles, including me. We all asked our professor how on earth we could fix this problem, with her looking at with disappointment as she knew she couldn’t help us. I personally saw another student start to cry, and I even started to tear up.  Not only does this take away a large amount of time that we could be working on projects, this also takes up the time and stresses out the teachers who help the students struggle. This puts intense pressure on the students, teachers, and advisors to deal with scheduling. 

-Gwyneth Trafford

[kulifefall2019]

College Stressors

Michael Drago

Angelo Bencivenga

Alexa Ghignone

prologue- Being a freshman is not an easy task, the amount of stress that is brought onto a freshman feels unreal. As freshman we know all the ups and downs of being a student and how stressful it can be. The first semester of college is a time when students go through many changes, not only academically, socially, or with extracurriculars and are brought into a whole new world. Students are forced to change so quickly it can cause lots of stress in their life. Stressors in college can come from many different places for many different people. We will be talking about the main causes of stress for students. Whether its from sports, academics, or social life at some point students at Kutztown University will feel stress during their journey. 

Act 1-Being a Student Athlete

by- Angelo Bencivenga

Being a student athlete in college is not as easy as it was in highschool. Here at Kutztown our athletes are incredible and very talented. Most of our Kutztown teams are top ranks in the country of all division two teams. I am a wrestler here at Kutztown and it is very fun but also very stressful. When I first came to kutztown I was so stressed because I didn't know if the team was going to like me. I never ended up doing an official visit with the team so I didn't know how they were going to treat me. This did not help with the stress of coming to college and dealing with the time management of wrestling and classes.  Being a student athlete they have to keep your grade point average above a 2.0 and take 12 credits a semester. Although this is not very difficult and they want to have a higher gpa than 2.0 it just adds a lot of stress on your life. Another thing that is very stressful is study hall that all athletes have to take freshman year. My study hall for wrestling is at 7pm to 9pm on tuesdays and thursdays. I find this very stressful because after practices I am very tired and don’t always have the effort to do homework at that time. It can be helpful some days but most of the time it is more about talking with the other freshman wrestlers than doing work. Another stress is picking classes to work with your practices. Although athletes get early action in picking classes sometimes the teacher that they want to take has a class during your practice and your unable to take that teacher. Early action is very helpful because picking your classes before everyone else creates less stress.  Another freshman on the team Tyler Fisher was interviewed. He talked about how it is very stressful to keep grades up with wrestling because of how tiring it is. Tyler discusses “waking up for classes in the morning are the hardest because your body is so tired from practices that you don’t want to leave your bed but I  have to go and do my work which is very stressful and trying to keep my grades up so that I am able to wrestle.” One thing that Tyler talked about was how joining a sports team allows them to have built in friends. He explains “coming into college was very stressful trying to find friends but every weekend we all hang out together now and do team bonding things, I feel like they are my brothers and they always have my back.” This is one thing that is very hard to find coming into college. It’s a stress that everyone has not being able to find friends. Especially with the wrestling team since I am on it, I can say that they are my friends and it was stressful in the beginning but becoming to know everyone it got easier and stress free. 

Act 2- The stressors of college academics 

By Mike Drago

College can be one of the most stressful times in a person's life and its likely Students will realize this when they start classes at Kutztown University. One of the main causes of stress in college is academics. Academic stress can come from many sides of a students academics at Kutztown. Whether it's writing an essay, studying, or finals it's almost impossible to get away from stress. Coming from high school and moving into college is a big step in a students academic careers and it can take time to acclimate to their new workload. Many students including myself find that even though they have all this new found freedom it comes with lots of work in and out of the classroom.

After talking to Brian Bush, a close friend and classmate in Kutztown University I was shown many different types of academic stress that differ in some ways to the stress I feel in my everyday life during my first semester. Brian said that “I get very stressed over the amount of assignments im assigned over the week.” Many students find that acclimating to their new workload can be very stressful and have a hard time finding ways to overcome their new problems causing them to have extreme stress. Brian also felt “Professors don't give us enough guidance on assignments.” When a student moves on to college they may realize that even their work is more dependent and the student is given more creative freedom. This freedom can be more stressful for students. Students  may feel they aren't being guided enough by their professors and in turn, overthink and stress over simple assignments.

Another stressor is students setting a good base for their GPA. Setting this strong base for a student's GPA is super important for them their first semester. This is so important to them because it can dictate the rest of their academic career. This is why students will stress over setting up this strong base so much in their first semester. Setting up this base goes hand in hand with another stressor, time management. Time management can be very intimidating and stressful to first year students because as their work piles up they will have trouble juggling thing like sleeping, studying, and social life. If a student can't figure out time management quickly they won't get a good base for their GPA that they need and will continue stressing over academics.

Act 3- Social stressors

By- Alexa Ghignone

Coming to college all students have to go through many obstacles; one of them being the stress of finding new friends, going outside your comfort zone, and knowing when your social time is and when your study time is. For me, dealing with change is very hard. I went to highschool with kids I grew up with, so it didn’t take much to get adjusted to. Going from highschool to college is definitely a harder adjustment. I truly think each year of college requires more out of people, which forces yourself outside of your comfort zone. Today I interviewed my friend Brenna Clark. She is a sophomore here at Kutztown University. Brenna is now part of Zeta Tau Alpha, a sorority here at Kutztown. Brenna said it has been hard for her to make friends. She said “since I’ve been in college I have a lot of anxiety regarding social situations especially when trying to branch out and make new friends.” This is extremely common for so many individuals at college especially if you are a shy person to begin with.

Brenna also stated that she constantly have a fear of being judged and not liked by other people “I may not have the same interests and hobbies as them which can be hard in college, trying to meet new people and be open minded but always comparing people you meet here to your friends at home and just feeling like everything in your world is completely different.” 

“This also causes me to have a lot of social anxiety because I feel as if I say the wrong thing or make a decision that others may not agree with that I will be isolated and struggle to meet new people.”

[kulifefall2019]

Food On & Off Campus

Cyrose Conteh

Michael Smith

Amin Gould

Perry Carpenter

Theme: Food On/Off Campus

Prologue: Brooke-Lynn, a student at Kutztown University, finds it tempting to walk down Main Street especially while trying to avoid “freshman 15.” The smells on Main Street are indescribable, Brooke-Lynn explains the two most common Main Street scents, food and cow manure. Both smells intertwine, but on a good day the cheesy savory smell of Tommy Boys Pizza will take over the rotten egg smell of cow manure. With all the other places to eat down Main Street. Tommy Boys will forever be Brooke-Lynn’s favorite place to eat off campus because they offer good prices for large thin and crispy pizzas. Brooke-Lynn encourages everyone to go to Tommy Boys and try their pizza for the first time because their pizzas aren’t too greasy and most definitely not soggy. If you’re looking for something other than pizza, Tommy Boys is still the place to go, explained Brooke-Lynn. They have amazing cheesy mac n’ cheese bites along with freshly tossed salad and many many more stated Brooke-Lynn. Even though eating off campus can be enjoyable, it can also be pricey, uttered Brooke-Lynn. When she’s not eating off campus her favorite place to eat on campus is Chick-fil-a. Brooke-Lynn explained how waiting in a long line at Chick-fil-a before class can be detrimental if she plans on getting to class on time. South Dining Hall is another place on campus that Brooke-Lynn goes to eat. She talks about the salad and bagel bar being her favorite. On days where she wants to save money, South Dining Hall is the place she’ll go for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Brooke-Lynn is not alone in trying to navigate the world of food at Kutztown on and off campus. Food is necessary for all students. There is not a single person who doesn’t think about it on a daily basis. In this blog post, we will cover food at Kutztown in four acts: Act I South Dining Hall on campus; Act II North Campus on campus; Act III Tommy Boys off campus; and Act IV Pop’s Malt Shoppe off campus. Introducing Act I: South Dining Hall will be Michael.

Act I: South Dining Hall on campus

       I came to KU not knowing to expect I listened to many of my friends telling me about their experiences with their first year of college. My friends told me that it was not what they expected it to be. Most of the them were telling me how they didn’t like the food the cafeteria because there was little variety. My experience with the South Dining Hall has been on and off because sometimes there are good meals and at other times the food is not tasty. I mainly eat at the South Dining Hall at night because we practice until 8:30pm each evening. Many of the stores in the Marketplace are often closing as I just get to the facility after practice most food stores will be just closing. I like to go and eat after practice and often the food is well done, of good quality, and taste great. There are some evenings when I go to South Dining Hall that the quality that the food is not completely cooked and it does not taste very good. I can tell when it’s a good night and bad night because of how the food looks like as it is being served. I know when it’s a good night at south when there are a lot of people in there having fun and enjoying their food. I wanted to obtain an opinion of the South Dining Hall food so I interviewed my roommate Dominick Wilson. Dominick says the food at the South Dining Hall isn't really as good as it was talked up to be. In the beginning the food was okay because it was new to him.

Act II: North Campus on campus

If you’re on the Northside of campus before 8pm you can pick up something at the multitude of places to eat. If you are ballin on a budget, Cub Cafe might be the one for you. This Kutztown dining hall has a large variety of food to choose from, like speciality made sandwiches or freshly made hibachi. However, maybe you’re not feeling like Kutztown served food; maybe you want something with a little more flavor. Let us take a walk over to the Academic Forum to get in the outrageously long Chick Fil A line. Chick Fil A is the Academic Forum’s main attraction with students sometimes flooding out the door to get their hands on some delicious waffle fries. The small line rivaling Chick Fil A’s is that of the unauthentic mexcian cuisine in the AF. However, maybe not of this appeals to you and you are more of a coffee and breakfast person like my friend Emma. One thing Emma likes to get every day when she’s on North Campus is Starbucks. She claims that her favorite time of the day is when she is able to sit in the luxurious Starbucks section of the MSU with her coffee. Emma says before coming to college she was unpleasant that she would have to start making her own coffee, this was before she knew there was a Starbucks right on campus. Know she says that she wouldn’t want to go to any other college in the world. Maybe you can’t pay out of pocket for these wonderful food choices, that is not a problem with having a flex plan. The flex plan at KU is a set amount of currency on every student KU card that allows them to purchase things like Chick Fil A or Starbucks among other things. Whether you want an all you can eat food experience or a higher quality food experience, there’s always something to enjoy on North Campus.

Act III: Tommy Boys off campus

Since coming to kutztown all I have heard is how good tommy boys is and how I need to try it. After trying their pizza i can say it supported it's hype. From the big slices to the overall taste it was worth going. Shane a sophomore here at kutztown when asked how he would describe tommy boy’s described it as “heaven on earth.” Shane says he goes to  tommy boys about once every two weeks and does not get sick of tommy boys food.  

Act IV: Pop’s Malt Shoppe off campus

Since I came to Kutztown in August, I have gone to Pop’s Malt Shoppe at least eight times. Pop’s Malt Shoppe is an amazing family friendly restaurant located on Main Street in Kutztown. With all the amazing food Pop’s has to offer, their ice cream flavors are to die for. Pop’s have over 30 ice cream flavors. My all time favorite flavor at Pop’s  is black raspberry. Their ice cream is so creamy, refreshing, yummy, sweet and rich. Their vintage 50’s style provides a family friendly atmosphere that appeals to all ages. The workers are also very welcoming to students and families. Ali, a fellow freshman, also loves Pop’s. Her favorite thing about Pop’s is the cute 50’s style theme. The checkered walls, red stools, records on the walls, and the music played mixed with the delicious foods to offer will have you addicted to Pop’s Malt Shoppe. She would recommend the mac n’ cheese burger and the mac n’ cheese bites to anyone who’s never eaten at Pop’s. At Pop’s there are so many food options to choose from off the menu. Pop’s have amazing fries, especially their chili cheese fries explained Ali. She talked about how their nacho cheese fries are amazing but when it’s topped with chili, they’re to die for. Pop’s Malt Shoppe is Ali’s favorite place to eat off campus. When she has the time and money, Ali enjoys having their creamy mint chocolate chip ice cream with whip cream and a cherry on top. Although Ali enjoys eating at different places on Main Street, Pop’s Malt Shoppe is still her number one favorite place to eat.

Pop’s Malt Shoppe: Cyrose Conteh

[kulifefall2019]

This KU Housing Life

Prologue:

The MSU was flooded with unfamiliar faces left and right. Freshmen were checking in for student orientation. Leah was signing in when someone she recognized approached her. She was greeted by a girl she met at color guard auditions. They had a brief conversation and realized that they both made it and would be moving in soon to get ready for band camp. The girl looked at her and asked if she had found a roommate yet. Leah originally was going to room with someone from her high school, but all of the sudden, her friend bailed on their plans and decided to room with someone else. She explained the situation to the color guard girl and noticed a little bit of excitement from the response.

“Well, I don’t have any friends that go here. Would you want to room with me?” the girl laughed. She seemed nice and chipper. She would probably be a simple and easy living situation. Why not?

Not all living situations appear as magically and as simple as Leah’s freshman year experience, but finding people to live with and spend time with on campus is a big part of the college experience. Understanding the different aspects of KU housing will help incoming students navigate the different options and situations that come with living on campus. These different aspects have been broken down into three acts: Act I “And They Were Roommates,” breaking down a more in depth experience of having roommates and some of the situations that can arise living with new people; Act II “It’s a Wonderful Day in the Gayborhood,” discussing a different living option for those in the LGBTQ+ community who would prefer a more personal fit for them while they live on campus; and Act III “Visitation: Just Stopping By,” explaining the rules of visitation in certain dorm halls through personal anecdotes.

Act I And They Were Roommates:

Horror, success, and love stories can all emerge from discussions of roommates, be it in college or later in life. I talked to my friend, Anna, who’s had her fair share of roommate experiences and also works in Housing. She talks about residents making a huge scene about their roommate’s clothes on the wrong side of the room and even a mediation she had to partake in. “I tried really hard to make a good living situation with her, but we just didn’t get along well at all. She ended up switching rooms. Because it was really hard to work out our differences.” 

After this unfortunate experience, Anna was able to move her best friend into her dorm room. “When we first moved in together, it took some adjusting but it works pretty well. We already had chemistry and knew each other so it was easy to set boundaries and feel comfortable around each other.” 

I decided to live with three friends of mine this school year in a Dixon double. We were excited to decorate, buy wax melts, and figure out what bathroom spray to buy. Once the time came around to move in and start seeing each other every single day, the excitement faded. I remembered the constant frustrations I felt with one of the girls the year beforehand. The selfishness, constant belief that the world was after her, and unfortunate simplicity would soon be sleeping feet away from me. We’ve tried to make amends multiple times. The two other girls and I tried to change our ways of communication and attitudes, but our friendship dynamic has yet to change. My side of the room is now constantly empty. It’s peaceful and stress-free, but there’s times where that stress can revisit.

Roommate choices can be the biggest concern. It’s all about making or breaking a relationship with them. Settling for disrespect and discomfort isn’t an expectation, but being able to communicate with a roommate can make or break your residence life experience. Sometimes, simply talking things out won’t work out entirely; that’s the crappy part. However, it shouldn’t completely destroy college. Through unfortunate experiences can come a breath of fresh air. Anna was able to find success within rooming with a friend of hers after a past, rough experience. I on the other hand, haven’t had my success story yet, but I have time. It can be discovered that friends are better as just friends, not roommates, however, it can also be discovered that friends are the best roommates. 

Santana Outlaw

Act II It’s a Wonderful Day in the Gayborhood

When I first came to campus, I had no idea that there was even an option for people to pick their roommates regardless of gender. I always thought of the more traditional all girls’ floors and all boys’ floors setup like how it is in Johnson Hall.

By the time my freshman year was wrapping up, a lot of my friends who were girls already had found other people to room with for the following year. Even my roommate was going to be in a full suite with some of the other people we knew from band. I was starting to panic. Was I going to have to live in a random living situation next year? 

Luckily, a couple of girls from color guard were still trying to find extra people to live with. They told me we would be living with this one guy from the drumline too. They explained that because he was a member of the LGBTQ+ community, we could sign up for something that was considered a “safe place living option” where we can pick in certain halls where we want to live and who we live with, even if they are of the opposite sex/gender.

Now, I had decided to take a semester off from college, and those roommates didn’t end up being quite the right match for me in the end. This year, I went back to a traditional living option, but it’s nice to know that we have such an open and accepting campus that allows students the opportunity to make themselves as comfortable as possible in a living situation that they have more control over.

This living option is so unique that I wanted to learn more about the logistics of it outside of my personal experience in this option. I sat down with someone who works as a DR for one of the halls on campus to get more information.

She told me about how this option was originally just Stonewall Schuykill Hall, which looking at it now makes sense. It’s the one freshman hall that doesn’t have gender specific floors or bathrooms. It then expanded into other housing options like Dixon, Golden Bear Village South, and other non-freshman dorms. In these dorms, they’re room specific instead of the whole building, and people go to the housing office in the spring term before the expected year to pick out the room they’re going to be living in.

She stated that, “It’s initial purpose was to give trans, intersex, etc. individuals the chance to live with an individual that “matched” their gender identity, or someone they felt more safe with,” but was for use of all individuals, LGBTQ+ or not.

The only problem is that some people take advantage of this housing option. My friend went into more detail about the loophole, “You can’t just ask someone to ‘prove’ that they’re LGBTQ+. We aren’t given membership cards when we say our sexualities. There isn’t an office we go to to get ‘official gay’ paperwork. It’d be a ridiculous and discriminatory way to run the policy.” Therefore, anyone could sign up for this housing option, even if they didn’t exactly need it. If they just wanted to live with their significant other without having to deal with visitation, anyone could just sign up for LGBTQ+ housing.

This housing style is so great for those in our community who need it to feel safer and more at home living on campus. It’s something to keep an eye out for though, because rooms could be taken really fast.

Alyssa Heaton

Act III Visitation: Just Stopping By 

As a community assistant, CA, in one of our campus’ dorm halls I frequently encounter my residents’ visitors. Whether it be greeting them when they come in, or kicking them out right before midnight so that they don’t get a violation. I see some of the visitors so often that they might as well just be a resident. They come and go, and I just have to hope that they don’t cause any problems. However, because of this if they do cause problems it becomes my problem. I have to help desk receptionists, DRs, and make sure that people aren’t just sneaking into our building. While most are just there to hang out and chill, you never really know who is going to come into the building. They could be sneaking in to drink, or who knows what else, and again it becomes my problem. Or, they could be sneaking in to try and harm another resident. I’m here to keep the residents safe, and while I can’t stop all the problems, I can at least try and make sure that those entering our building aren’t going to cause any problems for those that live there. At the end of the day, I am mostly greeting them and kicking out the guests, but I still have to make sure that they’re all safe.

One Saturday while on my midnight round, I was given a list of people who were in our building, who were never signed out, and thus had to be kicked out. Now when I went to these rooms, like usual, the guest had left and just wasn’t signed out. So this now more or less just telling people they had a violation, and to talk to our building director, BD,  to now get it fixed. Now there was one girl this night, then when I informed her about the violation, she apologized to me. She felt so bad about not only not signing out her guest, and having me come tell her that she must have said sorry somewhere between 5 and 7 times. 

I have also been at the desk as people try and sneak guests in, or just ignore the desk receptionist, DR, as they try and get them to stop and sign in. There was one night where a resident walked in with someone that we knew didn’t live there and when we tried to stop them to sign, they wouldn’t. Which is then a whole other issue for the CA on duty, who happened to be me that day, our BD, and possibly other residents. 

When asked about the housing policies an assistant resident director, ARD,  remembered an incident from her freshman year. It was right before winter break, and she was visiting friends in Dixon hall for the day. She had thought she was signed in, but it turned out she wasn't. She was not informed about not being signed in until after midnight, even after been seen by a few different DRs. ". . . had seen me throughout the day and around the building and had still waited and not said anything about it." 

After she finished her story, I asked if there were any major changes to the housing policy that she has seen as either a student or in her position as an ARD. She said the biggest change was in the overnight policy. During her freshman year, it was so that ". . .you could have an overnight guest, but only if they were of the same sex. But if a guy was having over a girl or vice versa they would have to be out by 2 a.m." She saw a problem with this because of its effect on not only trans and nonbinary people, but also couples trying to spend the night together. She also said that one of the changes she would like to see not only as an ARD but as a student here at KU would be a change in the mandatory sign-in time. She says, " I understand why because then it runs the risk of intoxicated residents. But there are some visitors who can’t get here until after midnight, and maybe the host forgot to make the pass or whatever, and then it’s like what do you do? You know?" 

However, she also understands that compared to other schools out policy isn't that bad, recalling a school she heard about where they don't allow overnight guests, period. So in the end, although she would like to see our policy be improved, we both agree it could be much worse. 

Jessica Burton

[kulifefall2019]

Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle at KU

Prologue

Matthew Zimisky is a student here at KU who takes his personal health very seriously. He is a sophomore transfer from Monmouth University. I have personally seen him take his health seriously here at KU from going to the gym with him to going to the dining hall with him l. At the gym he has specific workouts for certain days to make sure he targets all areas of his body. In the dining hall he always makes sure to get vegetables, fruits, proteins, water, and stays away from desserts. He even has told me he leans towards vegan options as well because they are healthier. He has lost weight and gained more muscle since being here at KU and it shows. Along with physical health he also takes his mental health seriously. He does this by staying organized in his dorm room and on top of his school work. 

When students come to Kutztown, the focus is often on meeting new people, surviving classes and overall learning how to navigate through college as a whole. Mental, physical, and emotional health don’t seem to be the main priority at first; however, once students get acclimated they begin to notice the decline in their personal health. In this Episode of This KU Life we discuss the overall theme of Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle here at KU. In Act 1, “Staying Fit at KU” the underlying issue of whether or not students are staying fit by being active and going to the gym will be discussed. We will hear insight from KU students who go to the gym everyday compared to those who don't. In Act 2, “How to Eat Better at KU” will discuss the epidemic of The Freshman 15 and unhealthy eating habits. In this act we will hear from current KU students who have experienced weight gain compared to those who have actually lost weight. Lastly, in Act 3, “How to Stay Organized at KU,”organization and how it correlates to improving your mental and emotional health will be discussed. In this act you will hear from upperclassmen at Ku along with professors on how organization in college is very important.

Act 1: Staying Fit at KU 

By Jessika Klo

The amount of times a day I have told myself I was going to go to the gym but never did is a lot. Then, next came the excuse of, “Oh, I’ll just go tomorrow!” Then tomorrow comes and I don’t go either and so the vicious cycle begins. The inner battle to go to the gym is ongoing. In my head I’m saying, “I will go to the gym!” However, the laziness takes over and my actions do not match my words. This battle has become harder to overcome for many college students due to the fact that they may want to go to the gym; however, they just have so much work to do and can’t get around to working out. 

I have first hand experience on this issue since there has been plenty of times I have been that person to say, “I’ll go to the gym today!” For some reason the minute I hit my bed after class I become lethargic and refuse to get up. I have even made my roommate (who goes to the gym often) remind me to go as well. She would say, “Are you going to the gym tonight with me?” And there I was my pathetic self making a dumb excuse to not go. Now some KU students are not like me and really do take pride in going to the gym and have mastered the art of going everyday. Zack Keifert (a sophomore community college transfer) student here at KU used to not go to the gym everyday due to the adjustment of the amount of work. He couldn’t get around to going to the gym; however, he says, “Overtime you learn how to fit it into your routine and now I go everyday because my personal health is important to me.” Most students depending on their major have a lot of work and can’t get around to going to the gym at first but once you adjust to the college lifestyle and the workload getting to the gym is doable. 

Another KU student, freshman Jakub Szemiako, started going to the gym immediately once he got to KU. Since he played football and highschool and constantly had practice or workouts for football, going to the gym wasn’t as concerning to him. However, once he got to KU and wasn’t playing a sport he took his personal health a little more seriously by going to the gym everyday to “stay fit.” He says, “ Going to the gym everyday is a personal battle between my mind and my body.” Recently Jakub has joined the lacrosse team here at KU and they do workouts. He says, “Joining a sport has made me more disciplined with my fitness.” This shows that if students are concerned about being active and staying fit joining a sport or even inurmerial sports can help them stay active. 

Matthew Ziminsky (a sophomore transfer from Monmouth University) a current KU student has been on the baseball team since he got here and workouts with the team, but also goes to the gym a lot in his free time. He describes his personal health as extremely important to him and has in fact lost weight and became more fit while at KU. He says, “Going to the gym everyday makes me feel better physically and mentally. As well as playing a sport and having built in times for me to workout is even better!” The main theme we can see through each interviewee is that it is possible to stay fit at KU with the many resources provided such as the gym and being able to join a sport. The battle of whether or not to work out and go to the gym is a tough struggle I have seen my friends contemplate on as well as myself. College students everywhere face this issue; many students just choose to procrastinate and be lazy instead of being active and go to the gym. If personal health is towards the top of the list of priorities, students are more likely to take their health more seriously than others who do not.

Act 2: Food Options at KU

By Mikal Dover

Before students begin their academic career at the university of their choice, they will typically hear warnings about the infamous “freshman 15”. Parents, friends, and the media express the idea that many first year students will gain fifth-teen pounds during their first year. However, research has proved that this number has been slightly exaggerated. While freshmen may not gain the entire advertised fifth-teen pounds, research has proved that weight gain is still common during a freshman’s first year in college.

 I personally believe that Kutztown may be one of the hardest colleges in the country to avoid weight gain at. At Kutztown University, all freshmen are required to have an unlimited meal plan. This comes in conjunction with 24 hour - buffet style dining at South Dining Hall and Cub Cafe. As a result there are over a thousand young adults who are on their own for the first time of their lives, and have access to endless food. This is a literal recipe for disaster. I have watched my peers overindulge themselves at the dining halls, and I did it myself during my first week at school. 

I have had an interesting experience with the dining at Kutztown University. I had the opportunity to participate in an overnight shadowing program called the MORE program before officially deciding to attend Kutztown. This allowed me to get an early glimpse of what the food was like. I saw the great variety of options and it made me excited. Initially, when I stepped into the dining halls, I would rush straight for the cheesesteaks, burgers, and fries. It certainly was delectable, but I quickly realized the effects that it was having on me. I began to feel sluggish. During my time at high school I was always apart of athletic teams. I noticed that once I got into college, I was intaking a lot more calories that I previously was, but no longer had a way to burn off these calories. As a result, I started eating healthier after my third week.

While the unhealthy options certainly outweigh the healthier choices on campus, there are still a lot of good options to choose from. For example, the salad bar is always full of crisp produce, and a student can easily order a fresh wrap or sandwich from cub cafe. The downsides are that both of these options are closed after 8pm, and depending on the time of day, a person may have to wait in a long line for these healthy options. From 8pm to 12pm the “healthiest” options are a salad or naan from the south dining hall. To get the most of the healthy options provided at Kutztown, it’s better to eat dinner earlier, which also helps with weight loss.

 As a freshman at Kutztown, weight gain is certainly common, but not unavoidable. It’s not hard to stay healthy If a student monitors their diet and stays active.

Act 3: Keeping your Life Organized at KU

By Gabbie Quigg

When I was living at home, my room was always a mess, there were always clothes all over the floor. When I came to college everything changed, I thought staying organized was going to be hard but I managed to keep up with it.I was worried that my dorm would be just as dirty as my room at home. On top of learning how to keep my dorm room clean I had to learn how to navigate new websites, know when in class homework and online homework was due and be prepared for exams. I was very worried that I wouldn't be able to manage it. After my first few weeks I slowly got the hang of things. I learned how to navigate the different online sources for class and managed to keep my dorm room clean. Keeping your dorm room clean might seem like a lot of work but it's actually easier than letting it be dirty. I found that cleaning my dishes after using them, making my bed everyday and putting things away after I use them has allowed me to stay organized. Keeping my dorm room clean is really important to me because it helps my life for more organized. 

Having a clean environment to live in helps me be more productive in my school work and just in general. Instead of spending time cleaning up the room I have time to get all of my work done and stay on top of everything. I find that when my room does become a little messy I become stressed out and more irritable than usual. I get really annoyed and frustrated when doing my homework when it’s a lot or hard to understand and I found that a healthy environment creates a healthier atmosphere. I use a planner to keep all of the assignments in order that way I always know when things are due. Another thing I do to stay organized is I make sure to get a different colored folder for each class. I think having separate folders helps keep all of my work organized in my backpack. It wasn’t too hard for me to pick up all of these organization skills, anyone can do it. It’s important to remember that a healthy environment will help boost confidence, productivity and a good mood.

[kulifefall2019]

Relationships at KU

Prologue

Tish didn’t know what to expect as she unpacked her things and hung up her pictures. Next to her desk was a frame picture and a note saying “forever and always I will never stop loving you.” It was a perfect picture, as picture perfect as the frame the picture was placed in. Little did she know that just like glass, her relationship would break later on in the year. With cuffing season approaching, the KU streets are filled with all types of relationships: friendships, intimate relationships, or just a random hook up. College has many things to offer other than learning. It is a place where one can discover themselves, make mistakes, and create lifelong memories and relationships. Relationships are a very huge component in what makes a college experience memorable. Just like college, relationships are confusing and like a major they come in all different forms. We hit the KU streets to talk to some students about relationships they formed here at KU. In this blog we’ll be covering relationships at KU in three acts: Act I, “Cuffed up, They Won’t Let me out” about entering college in a relationship; Act II, “Plenty of Relationships in the Sea” which covers friendships and other intimate relationships in KU; Act III, “Best of Both worlds or is It” which dives deeper into friends with benefits relationship. Join us as your guide in navigating this wild and crazy world of relationships here at KU.

Act I: Cuffed Up They Won’t Let Me Out

My experiences in college so far has shown me things that I’ve never really thought on for example coming into college in a relationship. Before coming to Kutztown, I dated someone for a year despite my families endless warnings against the idea. The concept of being far away and not being able to see each other was a huge concern for both of us. I thought about it, and after a lot of talking we both agreed to dive right into the unknown and give our relationship everything we had. We convince ourselves that if we can just make to winter break everything would be okay. There were definitely some questionable moments, but we’re still together so there’s always hope though, it will never be easy. Usually these kinds of situations don’t come with a template or instructions on how to keep each other interested and hold the trust. It’s just a matter of going with the flow and figuring it out along the way. For some, there’s a balance of communication, but for others it’s just not in their favor and the relationship fails.

Before school started, we were inseparable, but as I moved away, the distance between us grew farther. When we went off to school, we didn’t have nearly as much free time we had when at home so this impacts the relationships communication because of our classloads. Along with the distance Relationships need communication and patience, if one or the other isn’t contributing to that balance things can get tense and that's where the relationship crumbles. Sometimes one or the other can also become overwhelmed with school. I explored Kutz’ to find others who came into school with a relationship and listened to what they had to say. I interviewed Drew, a junior at Kutztown who shares his troubles of starting college with a relationship. When I asked him if being in a relationship in college is worth it, his response was a simple “No.” He would have liked to have said yes, but “we don’t see each other as much and our schedules barely lined up so it gets tough to communicate like we normally would.” I can relate to this, having opposite schedules is harder than not seeing each other often because when you don’t see each other, we often rely on phone calls and texts to talk.

Dolores Ackerman

Act II: Plenty of Relationships in the Sea 

“College is the best part of your life, you’ll have so much fun,” that’s what many people say. So far I have had several mental breakdowns, more than 50 cry sessions a day, and have been in at least 300 stressful situations. It is clear to see that the educational part of college, though rewarding, is far from fun. However, as I have moved through college, I’ve come to realize that the interactions that I’ve had with people are what pushes me to get through the day. The various forms of relationships that I’ve made at KU have helped make my KU experiences memorable. Whether it’s laughing with my friends at Cub cafe, dying on the track from a workout with my teammate, or having a nightly therapy session with my roommate, at the end of the day my experiences here at KU would be nothing without the people I’ve met. Each and every interaction I’ve experienced here at KU, good or bad, has left an everlasting impression on me. I haven’t been here long, but I’ve seen and experienced a good amount of different relationships here at KU. 

Just like the university has a lot to offer, so does it’s social scene. Kutztown is a web of social interaction and many would say it is fairly easy to come across and make these kinds of connections: teammates, friendships, classmates, relationships, situationships, and even friends with benefits. There’s something for everyone for every part of their college experiences, looking or not. Taye, who is a sophomore at Kutztown University, said it best when she stated “I really didn’t know what I would encounter on when coming to KU. I was focused on just being a star student and keeping to myself, because that’s the type of person I am. Now looking back, I don’t know what I was thinking back then.” After interviewing her for a fair amount of time Isaw that she treasures each and everyone of her relationships she’s formed at KU. Taye, like many other KU students who were interviewed, came into college focusing on either academics or parties. Even though relationships are a huge part of the college experience many people tend to focus on one aspect of college relationship, ignoring the many more that are offered.

Even though we all know that friendships and interacting with each other is practically unavoidable in college, most people don’t know where that can lead them. Just friends takes on a whole new role when it comes to the college KU scene. Take for instance David whose friendship with a teammate took several wild and crazy turns. It was the cool, brisk fall weather around first semester of David’s sophomore year, “I remember it like it was yesterday. She was always on my track team and I’ve just never worked up the course to say hi. On that fateful day however, I did. I took her to Pops and we really hit it off. After talking for 2 months I thought this would lead into a relationship, I was terribly wrong.”

David poured his heart out as to how he really felt a connection with this individual. The once teammate relationship, which turned into a friendship, then a situationship, eventually died out. In college these kinds of paths happen all the time; it’s just apart of being a KU bear. It usually occurs rapidly, sometimes even slow, but as soon as you know it one trial will end and another will begin again. Since then, David and the girl are still friends and teammates but just that. He has moved on to exploring other relationships that KU has to offer. That’s how it is on the KU streets; there's not just one yellow brick road to follow. There are friendships that turn into long time partnerships which could eventually lead into marriage after or during college. There are acquaintances or just classmates that turn into a situationship or a random hook-up. The possibilities and combinations for interactions and relationships are endless.

In the long run, there’s always an intimate relationship being formed at KU. Though everyone had different stories and paths that the relationships they formed here took, one thing that was a common theme in all of the stories is that they wouldn’t change a thing. These friendships and intimate relationships can be messy, heartbreaking, and confusing, but that is what makes us golden bears. 

Jerenita Sokan

Act III: Best of Both Worlds or Is It? Friends With Benefits

It all started with a kiss, which is pretty common for the average college student. I did not really think much of it at the time. We were just platonic friends. Nothing ever happened until it did. Personally, I never really saw myself as the type to engage in that kind of activity. I once believed at a point that it was wrong, especially outside of the standard monogamous relationship but didn’t feel the need to judge those doing it. As the saying goes, “Do whatever floats your boat.” In the end, I ended up finding myself in the exact situation I once called wrong. In my time of being here, I realized that friends with benefits is the way to go.

Most people have different definitions of what this term/relationship of friends with benefits truly is. However, the common theme that everyone sees is two people that aren’t in a committed relationship but engage in sexual behavior. Friends with benefits grants many KU students the opportunity to experience two different forms of relationships without the heavy labels,  because let’s be honest, there’s not really much time for one to begin with, especially if one is involved in sports or clubs. It’s also not easy maintaining a relationship in general and college can make it much more difficult one way or another.  

In an interview with a freshman here at KU, she describes how friends with benefits gives her the best of both worlds. She says “I am emotionally unavailable, therefore I cannot be in a relationship. However, I still have other needs. Being friends with benefits, benefits those other needs.” As the conversation goes on, she mentions how they both started off as really good friends. She had just gotten out of a relationship and wasn’t looking for anything serious at the moment. Time passed and it was something that just happened. 

The journey of friends with benefits can quickly become a tricky one if boundaries are not set in place. Someone can develop feelings or lose the bond of a genuine friendship. It is better to proceed with caution, especially in the beginning to avoid any messy scenarios that could potentially play out.

Ariana Garcia