College Life

By Rylee McDonal ~ Copy Editor

Walking is something we overlook. It gets us from point A to point B. If there is something across the room, we walk to go get it. When we need to get to class, we walk to get there. We do not associate real significance with the act of walking. 

However, there are few moments and few milestones in our lives that are associated with this act. We learn to walk as babies before we start to run. We walk down the aisle to get married. We walk across the stage for a diploma or an award. For myself and others, we walk to enter into Greek Life.

The week of September 10, 2021, I rushed the fraternity, Sigma Nu. Being the person I am, I was anxious beyond belief. I had already missed two days of rush week to attend to my duties as part of the school newspaper, and felt I may not fit in with this new crowd. Thankfully, I was wrong. The week continued and I was invited to their Knighthood dinner. It was very relaxing and reassuring to be around people I could relate to.

Hunter Epperson ~ Copy Desk Chief

College students face many demands, ranging from trying to manage a social life while going to classes, possibly working a job, and/or handling extracurricular activities such as sports, honor societies, greek life, and clubs/organizations. As a result of this, many students experience a mental condition called mental burnout.

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), mental burnout occurs when “a stressful lifestyle puts people under extreme pressure to the point where they feel exhausted, empty, burned out, or unable to cope.”

By: Rylee McDonal ~ Copy Editor

What does beautiful mean? 

In the easiest description of the word, it is something that is appealing to the eye. In terms of what is exactly beautiful, there are a plethora of answers. And after almost two years of non-stop issues, spanning from global to personal, I think I finally remembered my own answer. 

Before the pandemic, before the world shut down, I went to a little college only ten minutes from here. I was in love with this city, and for the most part, I did love the school I attended.

 Due to unfortunate circumstances at the start of the pandemic, I was unable to return. For the majority of this pandemic, I have been working. 

By Hunter Epperson ~ Copy Desk Chief

Prior to college, I was a seasoned traveler. In fact, I have had the opportunity to go to South America, Mexico, Europe, almost all of the Caribbean, and ten out of the fifty states before going to college. 

Almost every winter, my family and I would plan some sort of vacation. Hence, traveling the world has been a tradition within my family. In fact, my cousin had the opportunity to live in Bermuda, Guatemala, Belize, Mexico, and Scotland (once for graduate school, and once for study abroad) twice. Hearing her stories and experiences motivated me to study abroad while in college, and I looked into study abroad opportunities when choosing a college.

Kelli Carter ~ Staff Writer

     When planning on where to go to college, people of color often take into consideration the diversity of the school, not just where it is located or whether or not it has athletics.  

     The University of Lynchburg has been making strides to show their commitment to diversity and inclusion. I am so appreciative of this and for them creating a space where people can learn but also voice their concerns. 

     Still, being a person of color on this campus is difficult at times because it is hard to feel like people can truly relate to how you are feeling or what you are going through. The campus is about 23 percent multicultural, but some days it feels so much less than that. 

Kelli Carter ~ Staff Writer

It is that time of the year yet again… Midterms. They sound really scary because of all the tests that we might have but also checking our grades. At the end of the day we need to just take a step back to see how far we have all come this semester. 

This one goes out to my seniors, we are really on the last leg of our college journey and we tend to be stressed about getting into grad school or even finding a job. We got this even though it tends to be hard and very overwhelming. We have come this far, so let’s not give up now.

Kelli Carter ~ Staff Writer

This week has been a hard week for me because of the passing of my grandma. But one take away that I can take from this week is how we should appreciate every little moment with our loved ones. 

During this week I have done a lot of thinking and I want to make some changes in my life so that I can be the happiest that I can fully be. I feel like taking time off of school and just being with family really helped me just realigned how I see life. 

The first thing that I want to change is admire the little things in life and just cherish them. For example this can be just breathing but it can also just be taking the time out of the day to just admire my surroundings. I tend to be always moving fast especially being from NYC but I would like to change that. 

Kelli Carter ~ Staff Writer

     The spring is always a fun time for our Panhellenic sororities here on campus. This is a time when recruiting new girls is in full swing and everyone is trying to showcase their chapters in their best light. Even though the week of recruitment may seem long and tedious, it is such an exciting process to see potential new members find their homes. 

     Recruitment starts this Wednesday, and people are already really excited to meet the new girls that are coming in. No matter what sorority they are in, we are all Greek sisters and love to see everyone find a new home where they feel the most comfortable. 

     I decided to ask some sorority girls what they were most excited about this recruitment. Recruitment is virtual this year, which might have been seen as an obstacle, but the girls seem to be really excited and here is what they had to say. 

Kelli Carter ~ Staff Writer

End of semester is always a fireball of emotion as we consider our friends who are graduating and we weigh it against the excitement of a break from the academic grind.

I am excited to head home and delve into the holiday season, despite the shadow of COVID. 

I understand that the pandemic may adversely affect some of the joy around the holiday season but I am a firm believer in finding joy even in the midst of uncertainty.

Kelli Carter ~ Staff Writer

     This has honestly been one of the best months so far of senior year. Not only is it a spooky time of the year but the weather has been beautiful and has allowed me more time to enjoy my friends and commune with nature.

     Last weekend, the University hosted a senior Oktoberfest event.  The event gave us a chance to socialize and enjoy a glimmer of final year normalcy.

  Emily Grunder, a senior at the University of Lynchburg said, “Due to covid I thought this year was not going to be fun at all and the seniors will not be able to feel like seniors but this event was truly amazing because It was nice to finally feel like a senior.”

Kelli Carter ~ Staff Writer

This year I have been really focused on going on a spiritual journey to better understand my life but also try to conceptualize the world that we live in.

In my last article I focused more on what I was getting to allow to go on my spiritual journey. This included my crystals, teas, tarot card and Oil pulling. I want to highlight different things that I do with these items that allow me to be more relaxed and relieve the anxiety that I have.

Kelli Carter ~ Staff Writer

So midterm grades are out and I hope that all of you are feeling good about how you did. This time of the year can have students feeling overwhelmed or even stressed. Honestly this is a good time to focus on self care in order to make yourself feel better and improve those grades. So here are some tips to help you relax during this time.

During this time I really do enjoy doing face masks with my friends. Not only is it relaxing but you are  helping to clear up blemishes on your skin that you might have gotten from over stressing. I tend to use a wash off mask but you can use any type of mask that you want!

Kelli Carter ~ Staff Writer

     This week has honestly been a spiritual journey for me. I have always been spiritual but I have never really chosen to learn more about different rituals. For example I have been learning more about crystals, tarot cards and herbs. 

     For some reason I have been really feeling pulled to doing more meditation and better understanding my energy. 

     Everyday so far I have been doing Oil Pulling, which is a practice of Ayurveda which is an old herbal medicine. Oil pulling is when you swish coconut in your mouth for 20 minutes in order to pull out toxins from your body. It was hard at first, but if you find something to do while doing it then time will pass faster.