Issue 4 | Oct. 29, 2015

Oct

. 29,

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Editor-In-ChiefNatasha Jones

Assista nt EditorsTrenton CanadaAshton Rector

Faculty Adv isorJeremiah Massengale

Sta ff Wr itersLiz Guillermo

DJ HiteLydia Jay

Shyann NorrisChristin Rottenberger

Sta ff PhotographerEric Ford EdwardsJay Sanksakulchai

Editor ia l Rev iew Boa rdLisa Bartram

Marianne Worthington

- 7000 College Station Drive Williamsburg, Ky 40769

(606-539-4172

/patriotnewspaper @UCThePatriot

*thepatriot@ucumberlands.edu

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

Award-winning member of the Kentucky Press Association.

CONTENTS

UCTHEPATRIOT

10

Missions, Prisons andSpielberg

The 39 Steps

Halloween movies tomake you feel like akid again

Photo Spread

12 Happy Boo-day

14 Life after college:A devotional

Hello Students, We’ve reached the point in the semester that is quite possibly the hardest. Mid-terms are

over but there’s still about a month and a half of school left and we’re running on coffee fumesand candy corn. While it’s easy to get discouraged, relish in all the incredible resources ourcampus has to help us in times of slump. The Academic Resource Center is always availablefor tutoring and with registration for next semester having started advisors are always a goodplace to find encouragement and inspiration. With the added pressure comes the desire to quit,or at least pretend to that you’re doing way better or worse than you actually are.

As the Halloween festivities are upon us and you see Halloween costumes around campus,allow yourself to be reminded that we all wear costumes and masks in everyday life. There’salways so much more under the surface, don’t let the outward appearances fool you. The indi-vidual who depicts a strong and confident demeanor can sometimes be the individual who strug-gles the most. College is a time to grow and learn, both inside the classroom and out. Allowyourself to try and fail, and make friends with the most unlikely of characters.

Reach out to one another, as we at The Patriot hope to reach out to the student body andthe inhabitants of campus. Regardless of what costume or mask we wear on the outside, we’reall just trying to survive the semester, and ultimately we’re all just students of life, trying tolearn as we go.

This has been a lesson that the staff at The Patriot has learned this semester. The journey toimprove is never over and as a staff we’ve discovered that we all hold room for progress. So asthis semester comes to a close, we strive to push each other to continue to reach our goals, andacknowledge the hurdles we overcome. We hope to continue to serve our campus and commu-nity and build our relationship with both the administration and with our readers.

Sincerely,

Natasha Jones

Letter from the Editor

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Photo by Ashton Rector

In recent years, school campuses around the United States have experiencedtragic losses of students, faculty, and staff members directly related to the eventof an active shooter being present. Also, events of written threats found on restroom walls at neighboring universities of Eastern Kentucky University andUnion College have resulted in class cancellations. However, how would ourcampus respond if we were in that situation? University of the Cumberlands of-ficials Mr. Kyle Gilbert, Vice President for Operations, and Dr. Emily Coleman,Vice President of Student Services speak about the plans in place if an eventsuch as this were to happen on campus.

“When something doesn’t seem right, tell someone. Don’t just look the otherway or don’t just participate by being a bystander. If something doesn’t seemright, or something doesn’t look right, or something doesn’t feel right, tell some-body so that we can look into it to make sure that we continue to keep the safecampus community we’ve always had,” states Coleman.

According to Coleman, students can call campus security, student services,or enter any office on campus to report safety concerns and campus securitywill respond.

Ethan Lake, a senior at UC says, “I feel completely and 100% safe on thiscampus. I feel like if there was such an event as an active shooter or somethingof that nature that the school would do it’s best to protect us.” In the event of an active shooter, Coleman tells, “We have a formalized planthat works out step by step as to when we become aware, what do we do, wheredo we work together, what are our steps to lock down campus, and what are oursteps to notify the campus community.” An article recently released by Associated Press studied security and safety pro-tocol at more than 40 universities reported, “Many public college and universitysystems leave it up to their individual campuses to draw up emergency plansand decide what level of training, if any, to give employees and students.” Gilbert states, “The plan goes along with all guidelines that are put out by thedepartment of homeland security, and it covers the wide range of anything thatcould possibly happen on campus.”

The exact plan was not explained in detail due to maintaining the protectionof these safety measures. However, some of the safety protocols for events suchas inclement weather can be located in the student handbook.

When asked if faculty members were aware on how to respond to such an

event in addition to administration Gilbert said, “Yes and no… we probablydon’t have as much regular ongoing training as we should with the faculty andstaff and we’re aware of that, we’ve been discussing that for some time now.”

Cassidy Daugherty, UC sophomore says, “I don’t feel like you can reallybe prepared because it always seems like it always happens so far away, and wedon’t have drills [at UC] or anything like we did in high school.”

“With the next edition of our student handbook, we are going to includemore information about an active shooter on campus,” states Gilbert.

UC junior Jade Profitt comments, “I don’t feel safe at all. Not a single per-son on campus is allowed to have a gun so the best we can do is hide and hopethey don’t find us. I think each professor should be trained in gun safety and al-lowed to keep a firearm in the room.”

Gilbert also adds, “Of course, one of the first things that we would ever dowhen anything happens is notify the campus community with our emergencynotification system and that’s why we strongly suggest that everyone sign upon that system every year.”

This system sends important information about campus through text mes-sages, web pages, RSS, PDA, email, text pager, Google, AOL, or My YahooPage.

One can access the emergency notification system sign-up page can befound on the UC website under the student tab and listed under tools and re-sources. Along with the ENS, there are published reports of crime and fire oncampus dating back to 2002 under The Clery Act. This act states that all insti-tutions of postsecondary education must publish an annual report that disclosescrime statistics on campus as well as providing a “timely warning” that couldpose a “threat to students and employees.” Also, that act declares that an indi-vidual, more detailed public crime log be made available. Violators of the actcan be punished by the Department of Education and be fined up to $25,000.More details on this act can be found on the UC website.

Coleman adds, “We talk about these things, we’re prepared, I read aboutwhat happens on other campuses so we can learn from those and to see how wecan continue to prepare in the case that something like that would ever happen,but we’re a very safe campus. We’ve not had or received anything that wouldraise concern in those ways.”

Securing the SafetyHow UC prepares for threats to campus

BY ASHTON RECTOR

Assista nt Editor

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The 39 Steps

Whenever you see a play in the theatre, you enter a world of suspendeddisbelief, which means that you put behind you what it real in the world thatyou exist in to believe in the world being shown to you on the stage. You per-ceive what is on stage as truth, become enchanted by the magic of the fictional,and at the end of it you leave, go back into the world that you know and con-tinue your journey with a new piece in your head. What you don’t see, how-ever, is the amount of effort, the everyday grind, the effort that is put into eachword spoken and each platform walked on. The world that is known inside thetheatre has been carefully and lovingly pieced together to give the audience acomplete escape into a new environment.

This semester at UC, the University of the Cumberlands theatre depart-ment is presenting a play by the name of “The 39 Steps.” The play is a farcicalretelling of a lesser-known Alfred Hitchcock film of the same name. A comedyforce filled with mystery, spies, and murder! This is a play that will suspendyour disbelief and send you to a place of intrigue. But what about all the workthat is putting into it before it goes onto the stage for your pleasure? I may bea little biased as I’ve been involved in theatre my entire career at UC and am,in fact, cast in this play but I truly feel that diving deeper into how everythingcomes together is a journey that I’m ready to take you all on. So, let’s lookinto all of the steps to putting “The 39 Steps” in front of the audience: fromcasting to closing night and everything in between. We can explore each partof the play in more detail to help you to appreciate what all goes into the fin-ished product.

First, we shall begin with the physical world of the play, the set. The set isbuilt here on campus by students. Work study in the theatre revolves around

building, painting and assembling the set. A ground plan is given to studentsand they work tirelessly to bring to life the designer’s dream of what will beon the stage. The use of the shop to measure lumber, cut, drill, and attach keepsthe whole process inside the department. Allowing each set to be a part of us,just as much as the play itself. Students push themselves to build a set that theycan be proud of, as well as a set that fulfills all of the needs of the actors andis safe to use in a variety of scenes. The theatre welcomes all students of anyclass level to join and help to build; to learn a new skill and to do a hands-onjob they can be proud of. There is the construction aspect but they also get togo up on a suspended grid to hang lights, some students who are musically in-clined get to help to not only pipe sound into the play but also to write andarrange new pieces for shows, for example a theme for “The 39 Steps” is beingwritten in house. I asked, freshman Nick Kidd how he feels about not only being cast in the playbut actually helping to build the set, and he replied, “I feel like I’m completelyinvolved in the play. It’s actually my first time ever building a set for a playand I’ve really enjoyed it. Especially knowing that I’m going to work on myown work; I think it’s pretty cool.”

It is pretty cool, when you think about it, how often do you get to experi-ence all of the aspects of something? Not only do they get to build the set, butthey also get to light the stage and work on the sound cues, even getting thechance to make them on their own. Students work about three hours in the af-ternoon every day to ensure the stage comes together. So far, we’ve hit on thestage, the lights, and the sound; but what about the clothing worn on stage?

An insider’s look at UC Theatre’s newest production

BY LIZ GUILLERMO

Sta ff Wr iter

Photo by Liz Guillermo

UC Theatre’s work-study students work to constr uct

t he set for t he upcoming production, “The 39 Steps.”

That is the one out of house aspect to the plays at UC, in fact, it’s an out ofstate import. The costumer, Alice Neff, actually comes in every semesterfrom North Carolina bringing in tow costumes and ideas to bring the char-acters into the correct time period. This semester brings with her clothingsimilar to what was worn in 1930s London. Each fitting takes anywherefrom 15 to 30 minutes of changing, pinning, and sometimes twirling. Myown fitting involved learning how to fix a hat to my head using hat pins,and if you know me personally you may have noticed some changes thatI’ve made for the play, namely dyeing my hair and wearing fake eyelashes.These are all things we do to help make our character more real to us. WhileAlice is from North Carolina the work that she has put in through the yearsmakes her just as part of the theatre family as those in house.

Lights, sound, set, clothing, and finally: action. The first step to gettingpeople on stage is to fill in the cast list. We normally hold a casting callwhere people come in and deliver a monologue, then a call back whereeveryone is put through some scene and motion work, and finally the castlist is posted, positions are accepted, and we move into the first night of re-hearsal: a read-through of the play. In most semesters, the rehearsal scheduleis a basic Monday - Friday working each night from seven to ten. Fifteenhours a week just on stage, countless hours of the actor’s own time workingaccents and lines. Rehearsal is the time for the actors to work on the set asit’s being built and to go through a process called “blocking.” Blocking mayseem strange but all it is really for is learning when and where to move onstage. Theatre is about action and movement, telling a story using peopleand action. Blocking allows the director to bring to life how they view the

play. Here at UC that means director Dr. Kim Miller’s idea of what the playis translating to the audience through the cast. Each member is responsiblefor breathing into the character and the actors behind the characters are asdifferent as can be and bring something different to each character. When Iasked freshman football player Brandon Northern how he feels about beingin front of an audience instead of a crowd he laughed and said, “If theycheer a lot, I’m gonna know ‘Yay! They like me!’ if they boo, I’m gonnaknow I need to stick with football.”

After it is broken down into all of its parts: at least 15 hours a week forset, five hours of costume fittings, fifteen hours a week of rehearsal, around30 people on and off stage, and the countless outside hours of everyone’stime designing and learning to make the two hours or so you see on stagereally worth suspending your disbelief. “The 39 Steps,” a story of mystery,spies, and murder is one that is being continuously molded and shaped foryour viewing pleasure. The show opens on November 19th and goesthrough the 22nd, so take some time and come see all the parts come to-gether to give you a show worth remembering. Maybe, now that you knowa little more about what goes into the show, you will connect to the peopleon stage and really see how all their hard work comes to fruition. There area lot of parts to making one show and sharing it with an audience is alwaysa rush of pride and excitement. Nick Kidd put it best, as when I asked himwhat he was most excited about sharing with the audience. Kidd didn’t hes-itate to reply, “All of it!”

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Photo by Wesley Graham

A lice Neff, t he costumer for t he upcoming pro-

duction, adjusts Liz Guiller mo’s costume.

Both Project Gutenberg and Greg Leck, author of “Captives of Empire,”provide the names of the documented Japanese prison camps, which held an es-timated 125,000 civilian prisoners during World War II. Under the listings forShanghai, China, only eight camps seem to have been created, and of those,only one was ever a school. Here’s where things get really exciting. TheLunghwa camp was listed as the former Chinese Kiansu Middle School, andwhile that name, “Lunghwa,” may not mean much to some, to avid readers itmay ring a few bells. Lungwha was the setting for the famous JG Ballard novel“Empire of the Sun.” Ballard was a young boy when he entered into the Japan-ese internment camp, and his novel fictionalized some of the events that tookplace in Lungwha. The novel received so much attention that in 1987, an Oscar-nominated movie of the same name was released. The film was directed by

Steven Spielberg and featured a very young Christian Bale as the lead. So, there’s the connection. While there have been no records found to indi-

cate with absolute certainty that Marlowe and Ballard knew each other, the ev-idence seems to suggest that they were interred in the same camp. Marlowe-the woman born in Pleasant View, Kentucky, the 1912 Cumberlands graduateand missionary- appears to have been a captive in the very camp made famousby Ballard and Spielberg.

Finding Marlowe’s story was more than I had hoped for. Marlowe was bornand raised in southern Kentucky, an area that doesn’t get much recognition. Yet,she was able to not only attend college- an impressive feat for many women inthe area at that time- but also stay courageous in the face of such adversity. Sooften we are told of the horrors of World War II, of the bombing of Pearl Harbor

and the fear that swept American soil. Yet, we seem to have for-gotten of the perils that befell out citizens abroad. Marlowe ded-icated her life to teaching and to her missions; that much isevident from all that she helped to establish in in the foreignmission field. Her life became a living nightmare and yet thereis little remembered about her on our campus- no plaques ormonuments dedicated in her honor, no mention of her true storyin the annals of our history. She was forgotten, forgotten untilnow. Her story, and I suspect many others’, are hidden just be-neath the surface of dust that covers them. We simply have tobrush it off and follow the clues to uncover these forgotten sto-ries of heroes close to home.

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BY TRENTON CANADA

Assista nt Editor

Anyone who knows me understands that I’m a history nerd, and if youdidn’t know that, now you do. So, it comes to no surprise that a few weeks ago,during alumni weekend, I began digging into the history of the University ofthe Cumberlands. My first stop was the documented 100-year history of the in-stitution, former UC president and current chancellor Dr. Jim Taylor’s book,“A Bright Shining City Set on a Hill.” Flipping through the pages, I wasn’t re-ally learning anything that I didn’t already know. It seemed to be the same storyany student or faculty hears at the Founders Day ceremony. That is, until myeyes landed on page 70. There, at the bottom of the page, was a picture of anelderly woman named Rose Marlowe. Marlowe’s picture didn’t stand outagainst the others included in the book; she appeared to be just another alumnus,just another name attached to the university. Yet, her story, both the one includedin print next to her photo and the one I uncovered, is one that begs to be told,one that connects her to not only all of us but also to perhaps the most famousname in the film industry, Steven Spielberg.

According to birth records, Marlowe was born in 1890 in Pleasant View,Kentucky. The small bit of information about her included in Dr. Taylor’s bookstates that in 1912 Marlowe graduated from the Williams-burg Institute, which later became Cumberland College andthen the University of the Cumberlands. The UC digitalarchives provided some light on Marlowe’s life as a stu-dent. She was listed in the yearbooks as a member of theart club, the Philosophian and the young ladies athleticclub. After graduating, she joined the missions fieldthrough the Foreign Missions Board and the Southern Bap-tist Convention and is referenced in their official records.

Yet, included in that information presented by Dr. Tay-lor was the one statement that set me on a quest to uncoverMarlowe’s story: “Miss Marlowe spent several months inan [Japanese] internment camp…” While this is incrediblyinteresting in itself (I mean, how many people do you knowthat spent time in such a place?), her story isn’t finishedthere. In fact, it’s just getting started.

According to the records obtained from the Foreign Mission Board, Mar-lowe was sent to Shanghai, China, in 1921, assigned to work with the ShungtakSchool as well as the Cantonese Baptist Church. It was during her time in thattensions across the world began to stiffen, leading to many conflicts and twoworld wars. In particular, Japan and China saw each other as enemies, and in1937 Japan invaded China, bringing World War II to the Pacific. Following theinvasion, Japan targeted many citizens and foreign occupants, including mis-sionaries from the United States. This included Marlowe.

My next move was to find the camp that Marlowe was sent to in 1943. Dr.Taylor’s book mentioned that she moved to Louisville, Kentucky, upon return-ing to the United States. Some digging revealed that she attended the CrescentHill Baptist Church in Louisville. After speaking with a receptionist there andvisiting the church’s online site, I found more information about Marlowe. Heronline biography didn’t say much about her time in the prison camp, but it doesmention that the camp was fashioned from “a school in Shanghai.” The questionthen was this: “How many prison camps in Shanghai were made from schools?”As it turns out, just one.

Missions, Prisons and SpielbergThe untold story of Rose Marlowe, UC graduate and prisoner of the Japanese

7

Photo provided by Will iam TurnerBoth Project Gutenberg and Greg Leck, author of “Captives of Empire,”

provide the names of the documented Japanese prison camps, which held an es-timated 125,000 civilian prisoners during World War II. Under the listings forShanghai, China, only eight camps seem to have been created, and of those,only one was ever a school. Here’s where things get really exciting. TheLunghwa camp was listed as the former Chinese Kiansu Middle School, andwhile that name, “Lunghwa,” may not mean much to some, to avid readers itmay ring a few bells. Lungwha was the setting for the famous JG Ballard novel“Empire of the Sun.” Ballard was a young boy when he entered into the Japan-ese internment camp, and his novel fictionalized some of the events that tookplace in Lungwha. The novel received so much attention that in 1987, an Oscar-nominated movie of the same name was released. The film was directed by

Steven Spielberg and featured a very young Christian Bale as the lead. So, there’s the connection. While there have been no records found to indi-

cate with absolute certainty that Marlowe and Ballard knew each other, the ev-idence seems to suggest that they were interred in the same camp. Marlowe-the woman born in Pleasant View, Kentucky, the 1912 Cumberlands graduateand missionary- appears to have been a captive in the very camp made famousby Ballard and Spielberg.

Finding Marlowe’s story was more than I had hoped for. Marlowe was bornand raised in southern Kentucky, an area that doesn’t get much recognition. Yet,she was able to not only attend college- an impressive feat for many women inthe area at that time- but also stay courageous in the face of such adversity. Sooften we are told of the horrors of World War II, of the bombing of Pearl Harbor

and the fear that swept American soil. Yet, we seem to have for-gotten of the perils that befell out citizens abroad. Marlowe ded-icated her life to teaching and to her missions; that much isevident from all that she helped to establish in in the foreignmission field. Her life became a living nightmare and yet thereis little remembered about her on our campus- no plaques ormonuments dedicated in her honor, no mention of her true storyin the annals of our history. She was forgotten, forgotten untilnow. Her story, and I suspect many others’, are hidden just be-neath the surface of dust that covers them. We simply have tobrush it off and follow the clues to uncover these forgotten sto-ries of heroes close to home.

Photo ta ken from Dr. Jim Taylor’s 100-yea r histor y of

UC, “A Br ight Shining City Set on a Hill.”

Features

Features

The untold story of Rose Marlowe, UC graduate and prisoner of the Japanese

A Day with the Band The Patriot Marching Band takes thePractice Field

Photos by: Jay Sanksakulchai

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Halloween movies that will make

When the air gets colder, pumpkin spice fills the shelves of grocery stories, and the days grow shorter, you know Halloween is coming. It’ the time of yearwhen no matter what age, you can dress up as someone else and indulge in so many new and old seasonal movies. As a college student, sometimes it’s toughto allow yourself to relax and take a break but Halloween movies help us do just that. Here’s a list of Halloween movies that will make you feel like a kid again.

BY NATASHA JONES

Editor-in-Chief

you feel like a kid again

B HalloweentownEveryone’s favorite Disney Channel original movie and the townwe all secretly wished we could visit. The original movie pre-miered in 1998, with the last movie featuring the original castand lead coming out in 2004, viewers became really attached tothe magical town and the characters in the film. It’s not Hal-loween if we don’t take a visit to Halloweentown.

W CasperThis longtime generational flick is a must see in October.This film has a bit more serious adult themes and dark tonesin this film compared to some on this list but still a kid-friendly movie with lots of humorous personalities and teendrama. Casper the Friendly Ghost is icon in pop culturewhich makes the movie only more memorable.

8 Hocus PocusAnother classic film that stands as a staple for Hal-loween movies in everyone’s childhood; this comedicmovie has humorous villains that make it hard to hateand a sense of romance. This movie is notorious forbeing a part of ABC’s Family “13 nights of Halloween,”and is a popular movie to be aired on cable, whichmakes it easier to, gives Halloween lovers their fix forthe season.

B The Nightmare before Christmas A movie that has a much larger time frame than most on thislist as it can be enjoyed between the holiday seasons. TimBurton’s animated world, Halloween Town gets shaken upwhen Jack Skeleton stumbles upon the portal to ChristmasTown. This film provides fun, creative characters and worldswith added in suspense that make this a timeless classic.

8 TwitchesThe “Sister/Sister” duo alone isenough to allow you to feel nostalgicabout this Disney Chanel originalmovie. Add in some supernaturalmagic and switched at birth twinsand you’ve got a movie to get youinto the Halloween season.

v Casper Meets WendyWhen Lizzie McGuire, before she wasLizzie McGuire, meets Casper theFriendly Ghost. This is a spinoff fromthe original Casper film. The greatchemistry between the characters andthe unfortunate circumstances of thelead character make this a film thatleaves viewers feeling like they actuallyknow the lead character and have em-pathy for her.

1 Edward ScissorhandsAnother great Tim Burton film thatfeatures Johnny Depp as an es-tranged, mysterious abandoned boywho has scissors for hands. Whenthe local Avon lady discovers theboy, she takes him in as a part of herfamily which shakes the plain,lame, “normal” suburb up a bit.

2 BeetlejuiceThis fun but eerily creepy movie hassome disturbing humor that will leaveyou eerily intrigued. This is a classicmovie that’s not only appropriate forHalloween but has several charactersend up as Halloween costume icons.

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Would Yousurvive

“Scream Queens,” the new hit series on FOX, has taken over and causes Twitterfeeds to blow up every Tuesday night. Take this quiz to find out if you would sur-vive against the Red Devil. Who is the Red Devil? Well, nobody truly knows. TheRed Devil is the main antagonist of the series who is out for blood. His main tar-gets are the women and men of Kappa Kappa Tau and the Dickie Dollar Schol-ars.

1. What’s your go-to accessory?a. Scarfb. Braceletc. Just one accessory? There’s too many to choose from!

2. You find out that someone is spreading rumors about you. What do you do?a. Confront them face to faceb. Avoid everyone until the rumors stopc. Subtweet the person spreading rumors

3. What is your current pump up jam?a. “Can’t Feel my Face”- The Weenkdb. “Stitches”- Shawn Mendesc. “Drag me Down”- One Direction

4. What is your morning routine?a. Occasionally I’ll dress up, but only if I have the timeb. Roll out of bed, throw on whatever, and goc. Dress to the nine’s. Every. Single. Day.

5. What do you get your best friend for their birthday?a. A CD from their favorite artistb. A gift card to Taco Bellc. Their entire Amazon Wishlist

RESULTSMostly A’s: You would survive a little too well against the Red Devil. Maybeyou’re the Red Devil! You’re straight to the point and know what you want in life,whether it’s your next victim or with your friends.Mostly B’s: Unfortunately, you would not survive against the Red Devil. You’resuper easy-going and simple, which makes you the perfect target.Mostly C’s: You’re cunning, witty, and ready to roll with the punches. You’d def-initely survive against the Red Devil.

BY CHRISTIN ROTTENBERGER

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1. Candy! The coolest part of having my birthday on Halloween is gettingthe extra candy. As a kid that was one of the most exciting moments knowingthat the night of Halloween I would be able to trick or treat and still get birth-day presents and extra candy at the house. When I used to trick or treat I re-member having bags and bags of candy that my family and I could neverfinish, so we would keep Halloween candy until Christmas.

2. Popularity! Another thing that happens when your birthday is on Hal-loween and just like any other holiday, everyone remembers your birthday.My friends growing up never forgot my birthday and also teachers. My teach-ers also used to do cool things like scary scavenger hunts or other Boo-daygames during class because it was my birthday.

3. Costumes! Not everyone gets to dress up on the birthday. As a kid it wassuch a thrill to dress up as one of my favorite superheroes or even a moviecharacter. I remember one year when my birthday was nearing, I wanted tobe a ninja. My mom and grandma helped me make a ninja costume and hadso much fun. Having your birthday on Halloween is cool also because noteveryone sees people in costumes on their birthday.

4. Halloween and my birthday is totally different now that I am older. Theexcitement is still there but the curiosity and fulfillment has died out. Nowthat I am older I don’t trick or treat as much anymore unless I am going withfamily or a younger sibling. The candy has turned into money because of allthe responsibilities that come with age. Since I don’t trick or treat any morethe old costumes just collect dust in the closet.

5. College! Halloween and my birthday in college is awesome. There aremany different parties and activities that the university hosts every year. Ontop of that I get presents and gifts because of my birthday. College has forcedme to dress up again because of the costume parties. My freshmen year myfriend and I dressed up as the Fresh Prince and Carlton Banks for a Hal-loween party, which was a blast. Even though things have changed becauseof my age it is still awesome having your birthday on Boo-Day. The candyis endless no matter how old you get.

5 things that happen

DJ HITE

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when Boo-Day is your birthday!

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Confident:

Heartfelt, raw, motivational, fun. These are just a few feelings you expe-rience when you listen to Demi Lovato’s new album Confident, Lovato’s fifthstudio album, released on October 16 of this year. It debuted at #2 on the Bill-board 200. Fans of Lovato, called Lovatics, were ecstatic about the album re-lease since her last album was released in May of 2013. The former DisneyChannel star gave her all recording this album, singing about anything fromsummer flings in her hit single “Cool for the Summer” to laying all of heremotions on the table for the heart wrenching track “Father.” In 2014, Lovatotold MTV, “The sound (of the album) just evolves into everything that I’vebeen and everything that I want to become. I’ve never been so sure of myselfas an artist when it comes down to confidence.”

The album begins with a flourish of horns delivering a fierce fanfare, start-ing the title track “Confident.” The song continues with messages of not “hold-ing your freak back” and making your own choices. “What’s wrong with beingconfident?” is repeated throughout the chorus, empowering listeners to lovethemselves and stay true to who they are. The second track, “Cool for the Sum-mer” is a sultry song about summer flings and having fun. The electro-poprock beats in the chorus make for the perfect party tune that’s easy to danceand let loose to.

“Old Ways” an empowering track about overcoming your past battles.While previous albums by Demi have had songs similar to this one when itcomes to the message, it’s a power song that’s fun to move to rather than aslow ballad. “For You,” the next track, is a song with a strong ‘80s vibe aboutloving someone more than they love you. With lyrics like, “I’d do anythingfor you. Nail my heart to the ceiling, put my fist through a wall,” it definitelyhits close to home for anyone who’s been in a similar situation.

The breakup track “Stone Cold” is truly a masterpiece. This song is about

putting someone’s happiness above yours even if that means you’re no longerin the picture. Lovato sings, “If happy is her, I’m happy for you.” With nothingbut powerhouse vocals, a piano, and drums, this song is great for anyone whois experiencing a breakup.

Both “Kingdom Come” and “Waitin for You” are the only songs on thealbum that feature other artists besides Demi. “Kingdom Come,” featuringIggy Azalea, is a fun song about being in love and wanting to rule the worldwith your special person. “Waitin for You,” featuring Sirah, has a differentvibe. This track has strong lyrics about standing up for yourself and not lettinganybody tear you down.

The next track, “Wildfire,” is a sultry tune about the fires of love and trav-eling through a relationship with no sense of direction. “Lionheart” followsand has a totally different message of love. This track is all about love con-quering any and all problems a couple may face and having the spirit of a lion.This song is also great for self-empowerment, giving people the realizationthat they can have more strength inside of them than they believe.The final tracks of the album have a bit more emotion to them than the previ-ous songs. “Yes” is a song that would remind anyone of a wedding. The lyricssuggest wedding vows and talk about giving yourself over not only to yourselfbut to the one you love. “Father,” the last track, is a message to Lovato’s latefather. This song is a prayer not only to God but to her father, wishing him thebest and praying for his peace in heaven.

Overall, the album has a great mix of songs, lyrics, and vibes. Be sure topick up Confident on iTunes.

A review of Demi Lavato’s recent album

BY CHRISTIN ROTTENBERGER

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Photo by Shyann Norris

Patience:

When being asked what stage of our life we are in our first response is usually, “I am in college.” The next question asked is usually, “What is your major?”Some of us may have an answer to that question and some of us may not. As a young child I knew without a doubt what I wanted to major in but as time wenton, my mind changed at least five times. I began to become impatient with what God wanted from me and my life. I knew what I wanted but what did Godwant? Patience was what I struggled with. I wanted a plan for my life and I needed something to prepare for; however, God wasn’t giving me the answer whenI wanted it. This is when I learned that it wasn’t always my timing that mattered, it was God’s.

When it comes to future plans, something we may all struggle with is being patient. Consider Job in these situations. Job was one of the most patientpeople in the Bible. God continuously reminds me to keep the patience of Job. Despite every trial Job faced, he was patient. He was not quick to get upset orgive up. He kept the faith. Not only did Job face many trails; he faced them all at the same time. This is much like what college can be like. If one thinghappens, it is a host of things happening at the same time. This is where God needs to intervene for your life long decisions and plans. In Romans 5:3-4, Godreminds us that in time of tribulation is when we need the most patience. “And not only so, but glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh pa-tience; And patience, experience, and experience, hope:…” (KJV).

Making a decision about your major or what you want to do with your life is nothing to take lightly and not the decision to make on your own. Let Godguide you and lead you. My biggest fear in making a decision for my life is that I would make a decision that would only be for myself and not what Godwants; therefore, I would miss out on letting God use me and being in His will.

The next time you feel as if you are needing an answer or needing God to show you where you need to be; consider yourself as Job. Trust in His timing.I still to this day face times when I am uncertain of what God has for my life. Hebrews 10:36 (KJV) says, “For ye have need of patience, that, after ye havedone the will of God, ye might receive the promise.”

SHYANN NORRIS

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Life after college:

As we all know, the semester is winding down. For many of you that means you’ll be done with school come Christmas break. As for others the day offreedom, much needed sleep and being in the “real world” will be in the spring. Knowing that graduation is almost near can be both exciting and nervewrecking, in figuring out the next step in life and walking into that season of your life after college. Some of you may know what the next step is in life; asfor others, they may not. That’s okay. The important part is getting to the place where you know what your next step is and having peace about the next stepand walking in that season in your life. So how do we do that? How do we go beyond making good grades and passing your classes? How do we know thatthe next step we take after college is the right one for us? How do we even begin to find out the next step in our lives? What’s next to do after we’ve doneall were supposed to do and still don’t have a clue as to what to do? Who do we go to after we’ve done all we can do on our own? These are the manyquestions that go through our minds, whether we verbally express it or not. So how do we get the answers to all of these questions? How do we ensure thatour life after college will ensure that we have the right job, grad school, living environment, vehicle, marriage or no marriage, money etc. It’s simple; yougo to the only one who knows everything and who is more than willing to help us. God. So how do we allow God to help us?

One: You need to surrender. We have to come to a point in our lives where we give up the reins of attempting to run and control our lives and admit thatwe need help. That we need God’s help. When you surrender you are going out on a limb and trusting that things will work out without you’re doing. Proverbs3:5-6 (ESV) states,

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight yourpaths.”

Two: Pray. When you pray talk to God as if you would a friend. Tell Him about your concerns, your desires, plans, requests, feelings, and ask him toreveal to you how all that you on what you should do. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (KJV) says, “Pray without ceasing.” Pray for Him to reveal to you the directionyou are meant to take and to have the strength to walk in it. Even when your prayers aren’t answered right then and there continue to pray; don’t stop. 1Chronicles 16:11 (KJV) says, “Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.”

Three: Wait patiently and expectantly. Be patient and confident that the Lord will speak to you on what to do. Be confident that you will hear and knowwhen He is speaking. Expect for Him to speak to you and reveal the life he has for you. Psalm 32:8 (ESV) says, “I will instruct you and teach you in theway you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” Habakkuk 2: 3 (KJV) reminds us, “For the vision is yet for an appointed time and it hastensto the end [fulfillment]; it will not deceive or disappoint. Though it tarry, wait [earnestly] for it, because it will surely come; it will not be behindhand on itsappointed day.”

Be Blessed.

A devotional

BY LYDIA JAY

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