Feb. 27, 2019 by The Wichitan

Feb. 27, 2019 | Midwestern State University | thewichitan.com | Your Campus. Your News. | Vol. 83 No. 20

Dasia Daniels, general business freshman and Ally Solete, special education freshman eating lunch.

PHOTO BY KARRINGTON BRADLEY | THE WICHITAN

Freshmen find adjusting to college life a challenge KARRINGTON BRADLEY REPORTER

reshmen students are met with new obstacles which require adjustment. Firsttime students face struggles with making grades, starting friendships, and adjusting to being away from home.

GETTING USED TO CLASS

Landon Parks, exercise physiology freshman said, “It took me a couple weeks, maybe a month, to kind of get into the swing of things [and] realizing I need to be more aware of my time management.” Freshmen did not feel prepared coming into college. Dalton Drennan, pre-dental and biology

freshman, said, “Coming into college, I had a bunch of people tell me, ‘Oh it’s easy all you have to do is take notes and pay attention,’ but the homework… there’s so much homework but I didn’t have any homework, compared to this now, in high school.” First-time university students that came from smaller towns or high schools with smaller graduating class sizes took a while to get use to larger class attendance. Ally Solete, special education freshman said, “It was a big adjustment. I didn’t think it would be this hard. The classes definitely were bigger from the high school I graduated from. I graduated with a class of 47 and so being in these class sizes, one of my classes is literally the size of my graduating class and so it was a

big adjustment to get used to that.” Incoming students who have been concurrently enrolled in college courses during high school still felt the transition into university classes was tougher than they expected. Alyssa Vieth, general business freshman, in comparing dual credit to university level classes said, “It [dual credit] was a lot of easier. They didn’t really prepare me for this at all.” Other students said Advanced Placement classes from high school were different compared to university classes. Fatima Romo, radiology freshman, said, “In AP they [high school teachers] teach you based on what they think is on the test and they basically just want to teach you to pass the test but you don’t always learn the con-

tent as well.” Some students struggled with adjusting their study habits to match the course load of college classes. Tate Tomlan, radiology freshman, said, “I’ve had to study a lot more, pay attention a lot more and all that. It wasn’t anything like high school, no one is there to help you. It’s all on you.” In response to the added difficulty of university classes, various students adapted their learning practices to keep up with their school workload. Biggers said, “I got more organized. I actually use my planner. I have like a hourly schedule of what I am supposed to do and when I am supposed to do it see FRESHMEN pg. 5

2 | Feb. 27, 2019| FOOD REV I E W

S TAF F E DI T O R I A L

Adjusting to college is hard but not impossible

PHOTO BY AQUILA FREENEY | THE WICHITAN

A beverage made with fresh kale, apples, cucumbers, and lemons.

OUR VIEW: The Wichitan staff believes that getting involved with activities on campus can help freshmen adjust to their new environment.

or incoming freshmen, adjusting to college life can be hard and a little overwhelming. You no longer have nine months to learn a subject; only 16 weeks. With your parents back home and you becoming an adult, you’re the one in charge of how you spend your time. Developing a routine and time management skills are mandatory to make it through college. Even making new friends and developing new love interests can be a bit difficult. While this can seem scary, it’s not. Every college student has gone through this process, and many have succeeded, you can too. One thing that can help you get out of your comfort zone is getting involved with activities on campus. It can help you make friends, and meet people from different walks of life. The people you meet in college can be the friends you have for the rest of your life. There are even workshops on how to manage stress and develop time management skills. With activities like midnight breakfast, business etiquette dinners, round up week and homecoming you’ll be able to adjust to college life and thrive. Joining a student organization and being an active member can also help freshmen adjust to the college environment.

wichitan Vol. 83 | No. 20

Midwestern State University Fain Fine Arts Bldg., Room D201 3410 Taft Blvd. | Wichita Falls, Texas 76308 (940) 397-4704 wichitan@mwsu.edu | thewichitan.com @wichitanonline

PHOTOS BY AQUILA FREENEY | THE WICHITAN

Peanut banana curry, curry chicken, lentil pattie, apollo fish, and beef kofta korma. | Gulab jamun (spongy milky balls soaked in rose flavored syrup) in rice pudding with a flavorless wafer.

Peace, love and Namaste I

decided to branch out of my comfort zone and try a restaurant someone suggested, Namaste. Never in my life have I ever had Indian food, but that was soon to change. I decided to visit twice because once I got there, I found out they had a weekend buffet and a week day buffet price so I was curious to find out if they had different menus for both. Aquila On my first visit we were greeted by the Freeney waitress and she told us to go ahead and fix our plates and to pay once we were done. This was such a different experience for me, simply because no buffet restaurant I had been to, actually let you eat first, then pay later. I thought that was pretty cool about this place. I first placed a scoopful of white rice on my plate, then something called “potato banana curry” and I walked down to where the meats were and saw a familiar food item: chicken tikka masala. I went back to our table and the first thing I tried were the potatoes and I could have only had that and would’ve been satisfied entirely. They were a bit spicy but were so savory so I fell head over heals with the dish. Next I went for the chicken tikka masala. I had heard much

about it but I didn’t know what to expect from the taste. It was a bit bland, but not in a bad way. It just seemed like chicken drenched in a creamy tomato sauce. It went well with the house-made naan. The naan was amazing by itself and I took some to go. About five minutes had passed, and my friend’s green lemonade came. It looked pretty good, she let me taste some and I honestly felt like I was drinking ground up grass. My friend seemed to like it. She actually loved it, but it was a bit too fresh for my liking. It was not for me though. I’m here for a good time, not a long time. Before we left, I fixed myself a bowl of dessert. I got a half scoop of rice pudding, then put a “gulab jamun” (a spongy, milky ball soaked in rose flavored syrup) and I dipped one of those flavorless wafers you get from the Mexican ice cream trucks in it. When we left, our totals we reasonable, about $15 per person. I bid the waitress adieu and told her I would be back soon. Tuesday came, and I went back to see if my theory was correct about them having a different menu for the week days. I wasn’t right at all, but I still fixed a plate of curry chicken, rice and potato banana curry.

READ MORE ONLINE

EDITORS: Alyssa Mitchell, Chloe Phillips

COPY EDITOR: Bridget Reilly

First copy free. Additional copies 25¢ each.

DESIGNER: Brittni Vilandre

ISSUE STAFF: Alana Earle, Brian Lang, Andrew Murray, Karrington Bradley, Aquila Freeney, Peyton Alonzo, Paige Champagne, Brianne Founier, Camille Khan, Elizabeth Mahan, Yerasly Duran , Andrew Murray, Jared Bruner

ADVISER: Bradley Wilson

The Wichitan is a member of the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association and the Associated Collegiate Press. The Wichitan reserves the right to edit any material submitted for publication. Opinions expressed in The Wichitan do not necessarily reflect those of the students, staff, faculty, administration or Board of Regents of Midwestern State University. The Wichitan welcomes letters of opinion from students, faculty and staff submitted by the Friday before intended publication. Letters should be brief (250 words or fewer) and without abusive language or personal attacks. Letters must be typed and signed by the writer and include a email address, telephone number and address.

| Feb. 27, 2019 | 3

Gamma Phi Beta Moonball tournament March 30

MOVIE REVIEW

PEYTON ALONZO REPORTER

Michael Buscemi, John David Washington, and Adam Driver in BlacKkKlansman (2018).

PHOTO CURTESY IMBD

‘BlacKkKlansman’ a honest and terrifying look at civil rights I

n 1978 Ron Stallworth, the first black police officer in Colorado Springs history, convinced a member of the Ku Klux Klan that he was a white supremacist. “BlacKkKlansman,” a film that’s almost too wild to be true, recreates the fascinating and often terrifying ride of Officer Stallworth and his journey into white supremacy. “BlacKkKlansman” was Brian nominated for six Academy Awards and diLang rector Spike Lee took home the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. It all starts when rookie police officer Ron Stallworth (played in the film by John David Washington) becomes tired of the normal cop beat. After being assigned to the detective division, Stallworth begins making contact with the local chapter of the Klan by calling a number posted in the Colorado Springs paper. He uses a “white voice” to trick the supremacist into believing his story and before he knows it, Ron is in. With the help from seasoned detectives Jimmy Creek (Michael Buscemi) and Jewish officer Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver) pretending to by Ron during face-to-face meetings, the dangerous sting operation begins to take shape. Tensions rise as Grand Wizard David Duke enters the picture and Stallworth’s true identity is nearly uncovered constantly, with Klan “brothers” becoming increasingly suspicious. This eyeopening drama scares and enlightens audiences about the dangers lurking in the peaceful communities of America not only in the past but in the modern world of today. “BlacKkKlansman” is a thrilling film to watch, and is deserving of its Oscar nomination for Best Picture. Lee refuses to sugarcoat the hard truths about bigotry and painful racial

slurs are tossed about relentlessly, their sting never fading as the movie progresses. In an explosive ending (literally) there’s almost a sigh of relief that the horrors are finally over until Lee smugly reminds his audience that these attitudes are still everpresent today. One of the highlights of this film is the great way that the actors work together. Driver and Washington pair well together and their personalities complement each other nicely. Driver’s performance especially stands out as he depicts the turmoil that a Jewish officer has to face as he rises in stature among his new Klan “buddies” and is forced to pretend to turn his back on his heritage while spouting off hate-speech and planning attacks with the other Klan members. Despite the critical praise, this movie isn’t without its faults, however, and pacing is a huge issue for “BlacKkKlansman.” It seems to build up to something really big or insightful, but in its two hours and fifteen minutes, the ending just drops off, wrapped up too quickly without a second thought or satisfying conclusion. This is discouraging, especially because the film has so much going for it while it’s a wonderful movie to watch, this quality doesn’t make it especially re-watchable. It seems that there’s a troika of acclaimed civil rights films this year with “Green Book,” “If Beale Street Could Talk,” and “BlacKkKlansman.” “Beale Street” is thoughtful and lyrical, flitting across the screen like a dream, but it still speaks volumes about the disparity of civil rights in this country. So even though it came out in August, and it didn’t take home that shiny gold trophy for Best Picture, “BlacKkKlansman” is still a must-see. Its dark humor will keep you afloat despite its barrage of painful images.

ut of the four sororities on campus, the women of the Gamma Phi Beta Sorority race to begin posting flyers around campus for their upcoming Moonball tournament on March 30. President of Gamma Phi Beta, Leah Gilliland, marketing senior said, “Moonball is our annual philanthropy event. We do a volleyball tournament where teams from on and off campus compete. We also give winning baskets for the top winners of the tournament.”The money raised will be benefiting the organization. Summer Greer, radiology sophomore, said, “All of the money we raise from Moonball goes directly toward Girls on the run, nothing goes to the sorority. Our philanthropy’s goal is to raise more than $2,500 by the end of March.” Members of Gamma Phi Beta are determined to have multiple teams of students participate in the tournament. Greer said, “When taking on the responsibility of this job, I had honestly no idea what to do. Since I am a new member of Gamma Phi Beta, I had no prior knowledge or experience with this event. So planning this with confidence is very hard to do, but the more that I accomplished every day, the more I learned to love my title as philanthropy chairwoman.” This is Gamma Phi Beta’s third time organizing the Moonball tournament. Gamma Phi Beta also does multiple events in both the fall and spring semesters that encourage strong character in the girls apart of Girls on the Run and the surrounding community. “Having worked at an actual Girls on the Run race, to me I believe that Girls on the Run represents confidence of girls of all ages. The race and working with the girls was very inspirational and empowering to me. We like to have a lot of fun and I can’t wait to volunteer and help out with another race with the Girls on the Run,” said Scydayah Quest, sociology senior. Gamma Phi Beta was founded in 1874, and express the ideals that the founders worked to achieve: love, labor, learning, and loyalty. Quest said, “As a sorority all together we donate a various amount of time helping out Girls on the Run. Also, any money that we collect throughout the year such as our donut sale in the fall, goes to the organization. We participate in writing inspirational letters that hopefully cheer up the girls in the organization.”

LO C AT I O N : S T U D E N T WE LLN E S S C E N T E R T- S H I R T S : $15 B Y M A R C H 8 C O S T: $10 | T E A M M I N I M U M O F FO U R P LAY E R S

4 | Feb. 27, 2019| A DAY IN THE LIFE

Ceramics professor Steve Hilton and son Wes Hilton get creative in the art studio, Jan. 20.| Steve Hilton | Hilton standing in front of his students work, Oct. 4.

PHOTOS BY PAIGE CHAMPAGNE | THE WICHITAN

STEVE HILTON

‘The students have humanized themselves to me’ PAIGE CHAMPAGNE REPORTER

ne hundred and eighty-one. That’s how many steps ceramics professor Steve Hilton takes to get to work in the morning. As faculty-in-residence, Hilton lives on campus in Legacy Hall. He wakes up to his four-and-a-half-year-old son, Wes, giving him his morning kiss, they have breakfast, coffee and ride their scooters to take him to school. “When I have coffee, [that’s] my favorite time of the day,” Hilton said, “And it is funny because when I have coffee I’m with my family. It is a ritual. I have this really nice espresso machine and I’m hanging out with my wife and little boy and sometimes my wife has a coffee too, and my son is dipping his finger in my latte and making his own latte art.” After dropping his son off at school, he goes to the ceramics studio in the Fain Fine Arts building. He spends a large portion of his day working on his own projects and helping students with theirs--whenever he’s not teaching, that is. Tuesdays and Thursdays Hilton teaches ceramics and art education. He doesn’t have a favorite class to teach, but there is one that he said makes a bigger impact on people. “I love teaching art education because I get to make a big difference in a lot of people’s lives. So it’s not just like I’m making a differ-

ence in my students’ lives, I’m hoping that I’m making a difference in all of their student’s lives,” Hilton said. “If you were to ask me what my favorite class is, a better question would be what’s a class that you think you’re doing more for the world, more for humanity?” He has a break between noon and 1 p.m. to eat lunch with his son and his wife, Alissa, and has another break for dinner at around 5 or 6 p.m. “I’m really fortunate in that I get to eat at least two meals with my wife and all three meals every day with my son,” Hilton said, “I’m so lucky because not many dads get to do that.” After dinner, he spends time with his son, and after his wife and son go to bed at 7:30 to 8:30, he returns to the ceramics studio until around midnight. Hilton said the work he does is how he relaxes. “I’m wound up when I’m not doing something,” Hilton said. “When I’m just sitting around that’s when I wind up. I unwind by doing what I do.” Bailey Pitzer, art education senior and Hilton’s student assistant, explained that Hilton doesn’t stop teaching after class is over. “He’s very dedicated to his job,” Pitzer said. “He spends a lot of time in the studio outside of class time. Anytime that he’s not with his family, he’s up here helping us and making

sure that we’re taken care of, which is really cool. He’s also working on his own projects a lot, too, which is inspiring to his students.” As faculty-in-residence, Hilton helps organize events for the Living-Learning Programs. Events such as the “Get on the Bus” trip, where they take students on a trip somewhere, but the students don’t know where they’re going until they get there. They simply get on the bus and see where they end up. Hilton said the only bad thing about living on campus was they didn’t have consistent hot water for their first year and a half. Other than that, he said he could only think of positive things. Living as close as he does, he can get to the ceramics studio in about 45 seconds whenever a student might need his help. He also has the opportunity to spend time with students even when he’s not working, something that he said positively affects his son as well. “My son gets to hang out with 500 brothers and sisters, and he’s seeing education as something that’s really important. He sees it through the eyes of all these students who are studying and he sees the work that they do,” Hilton said. Norma Ramirez, assistant director of residence life and housing, has gotten to know Hilton and his family through her time as Legacy Hall’s hall director. They collaborate together on the events and activities they

plan for the LLPs. She said one of the things that stands out to her about him is how engaging he is. “So at first when he became the faculty in residence I didn’t know what to expect and for him,” Ramirez said. “He’s really done a good job and what makes him unique is he’s so genuine, personable and he’s way creative. He [also] takes an interest in students in a different lens. And that’s what I really appreciate. Any time he can do a program, some type of event, some type of service or volunteer opportunity that he can do to engage residents, he’s going to do it and he’ll do it 110 percent.” Despite Hilton’s proximity to students, he said that he sees their type of busy as different from his own. He does, however, acknowledge the work that they do, and he said that he sees them differently than he did before. “When I took this job, I used to say that my job was to humanize the professorial,” Hilton said, “To humanize myself and to show students that I wear soccer shorts and I hang out with a little kid and I ride a scooter and you know I’m just a normal person, right? But now I often say that the students have humanized themselves to me. I see what’s happening over there and how it affects what might happen in my classroom and so that’s changed my perception.”

| Feb. 27, 2019 | 5 from FRESHMEN pg. 1

and I actually look at the syllabus.” Drennan said, “Last semester I kind of blew the ball so I’m trying to take better notes and pay a lot more attention than I did last semester.”

GETTING INVOLVED ON CAMPUS

As students were getting used to classes, they spent any free time going to events and utilizing campus facilities. Dasia Daniels, general business freshman said, “I go to the spin classes here at the wellness center and I go to sister-to-sister meetings just so I can interact with other girls and we can express ourselves.” The student involvement staff make efforts for freshman students to get out of their dorms and attend events around campus. Ruby Arriaga, activities coordinator said, “We try and work with different areas on campus, so one of the huge things is resident life and housing. They [resident life and housing] try to do a lot of late-night weekend events. What we noticed is that incoming students that are minors can’t go out whether it’s because of transportation or they can’t drink or anything. So, they’re kind of stuck at home or stuck in their room not being able to do anything. We’re trying to have more late-night weekend programs whether its movie nights, bingo, pajama nights any of that.” Freshmen are offered various events around campus. Darren Butler, computer science freshman said, “I didn’t think that I would enjoy some of the social events as much as I did. The social events were my chance to try something new, something I’ve never experienced. Like the ice-skating rink, I’ve never been ice skating so it was an interesting experience that I didn’t expect to enjoy but I did enjoy it.” Arriaga said, “We’ve been working with the wellness center as well to have programs, the Clark Student Center with the Counseling Center so it’s mostly Student Affairs that try and look in the calendars and see what weekends we have nothing going on and we try and put some programming in there.” Besides the many events that go on around campus, there are various clubs and organizations that students are encouraged to get into. Drennan said, “I‘m in Greek life. I just wanted to be involved in school. I didn’t want to go to class, go to work then go home every day, so it gave me something extra to do which is always nice.” Some commuters find it difficult to get involved. Parks said, “Living off campus has made it a little bit harder. I feel that because if you live in the dorms or on campus you’re going to lunch or dinner and all these things just together with the people that you’re close with in the dorms. I feel like you develop friendships a little quicker.”

FRESHMEN DISCOVERING NEW THINGS ABOUT THEMSELVES

Freshmen learned new things about themselves once they got to campus. Biggers said, “I don’t really put myself out there and I don’t really want to. Adjusting from high school to college, I’m okay with being by myself. But in high school I had so many friends and I was always at somebody’s house.” Students became closer to their family even if they don’t see them as much or have moved hours away from home. Daniels said, “Family and friends from Dallas are rooting for me and they want me to do great. I’ve actually gotten closer to them even though I’ve gotten farther from them. They’re proud of me and they’re rooting for me.” The roles of parents have changed with their oldest child moving out of the house and engaging in adulthood. Solete, “I didn’t think I’d miss my family as much as I am right now. I know they miss me. I think my dad took it hard and my mom definitely took it hard. My mom calls me like four times a day.” UPB and the Office of Student Involvement like to hear feedback from students about what they could do to promote participation on campus. Daniels said, “They could have more prize-based events and bigger prizes as well.”

ODPhi and TKE collaborate for a consent talk CLARISSA ALVARADO REPORTER

Core Text Pedagogy: Its Significance & Methodology Presented by

DR. KIRSTEN LODGE Associate Professor of Humanities

& DR. JOHN SCHULZE Assistant Professor of English

7 P.M. MARCH 4 LEGACY HALL MULTIPURPOSE ROOM

Attendees are encouraged to read the classic Greek tragedy Medea by Euripides prior to the forum. Admission is free and open to all. msutexas.edu/faculty-forum

s a way to educate students on the meaning of consent, fraternities Omega Delta Phi and Tau Kappa Epsilon, invited Rachel Fornof, director and coordinator of Title IX to lead an open discussion. David Brown, criminal justice junior and vice president of Omega Delta Phi, said the purpose of the event was to let people know that fraternities on campus stand with consent. “At first, [the idea] started with Omega Delta Phi,” Brown said. “We wanted to have a consent talk. We reached out to TKE, because they talked about having a consent talk as well. So we said why not just bring it together, that way fraternities can let people know that we’re with consent, we agree with it, and we want to try to help everybody.” Marvin Castillo, criminal justice senior and president of Tau Kappa Epsilon, said the collaboration was to be more involved with multicultural Greek organizations. “We wanted to expand our relationship with multicultural greeks and not just with inter-fraternity council or Panhellenic,” Castillo said. “I felt like it’s very important for us to get involved with the ones [organizations] we are usually used to getting with.” Although it is TKE’s first event on campus related to consent, Castillo said TKE has mandatory consent presentations at a national level within the organization. “Every year we have a mandatory consent presentation and exam according to our national organization,” Castillo said. “It is our first one to do here on campus and with another organization.” Amelia Ecevido, biology senior, attended the event to support Greek life and learn more about consent. Ecevido said, “I saw that TKE and ODPhi were holding it [the event] so I wanted to come by and learn more about the topic.” In addition, Ecevido enjoyed being able to sit in a big group and discuss consent. “If you feel awkward, individually going to the Title IX Director or someone to talk about issues like this. It’s nice to go to an event like this in a big group, kind of just sit and learn more about the information and not feel awkward about it,” Ecevido said. Ecevido said she enjoyed having Fornof lead the discussion, because she made it relatable to the students. “I thought it was really informal and informative at the same time,” Ecevido said. “She approached it in a good way to relate to us college students so it wasn’t awkward for us to learn more about it.”

6 | Feb. 27, 2019|

PHOTO BY CAMILLE KHAN | THE WICHITAN

This is the first load of donations the Redwine Honors Program delivered for the Preventing Euthanasia Through Sterilization Clinic. This food drive dropoff is located on the first floor of Moffett Library Room 112D, Feb. 21.

Redwine Honors Program collect donations for PETS BRIANNE FOUNIER REPORTER

he first floor of the library is not only a place for students to study but also a drop off for cat and dog food donations. The Honors Program’s service committee is collecting donations for the Preventing Euthanasia Through Sterilization Clinic as part of one of their community service acts. Amanda Threlkeld, accounting sophomore and co-leader for the volunteer sub-committe said, the Redwine Honors Program decided to do a service event with PETS to highlight the business and bring more awareness. “The Clinic is not well known, so we wanted to be able to spread the word while supporting them through donations and helping animals in the Wichita Falls community,” said Threlkeld. Co-chair for the honors service sub-committee, Camille Khan radiologic technology senior, said they’ve been taking donations for more than a week and already delivered two bins full of cat and dog food. “Our goal is to collect as much food as possible to stock their pantry, so far we’ve had over 25 people donate,” Khan said. PETS Clinic isn’t a service act the Honors are usually involved in, but Khan said their pantry is what caught their attention. “As an Honors Program, we value our community service projects and this semester we wanted to do things we normally don’t do. So, the service committee picked the PETS Clinic for a food drive. Their pantry is open to anyone in the community to come by and get food for their pets in need, but it’s stocked solely on donations,” Khan said. Haley Ferrell, general business freshman said, students outside of the Honors program are more than welcome to bring whatever they can. Members of the Redwine Honors Program have donation buckets.

PHOTO BY ELIZABETH MAHAN | THE WICHITAN

The University Choir and Midwestern Singers perform “Britten and Beyond” in Akin Auditorium on Feb. 24.

Choirs perform music from Ireland and beyond ELIZABETH MAHAN REPORTER

oices echoed in harmony throughout the Akin Auditorium on Feb. 24. Members of the University Choir and Midwestern Singers arrived an hour early to practice. At 4 p.m. they began their show “Britten and Beyond” for an audience of about 30.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SONG PERFORMED IN THE SHOW?

“O Whistle, just because it’s upbeat and happy and kind of bouncy. It’s one of those things that just puts you in a good mood,” Lindsay Rittenhouse, vocal performance senior and choir president said. Steve Singleton, vocal performance junior said he also has fun with his favorite song. “Feller From Fortune because there is a certain part in the bass section that some of us try not to laugh at,” Singleton said. Preston Busby, criminal justice senior said he enjoys singing the tenor section of his favorite song. “Welsh Lullaby. It’s a really sweet, pretty, soft song,” Busby said. Macy Mullins, vocal performance freshman said she appreciates the story behind her favorite song. “Rejoice in the Lamb. It’s just very interesting and complex, and it was written by a man who was in an insane asylum, so he had lots of complex things going through his brain, and I think it’s really cool that we get to sing for his thought,” Mullins said.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO STUDY MUSIC?

“It connects you with cultures of the past and today. Also the emotion that you get to share with people. That’s why music therapy is a thing. Kids with special needs don’t

connect with normal things, but they connect with music. There’s studies that show that a lot of medical students started off as music majors because it helps with your cognitive ability. It’s used to teach math problems so that you can remember the formulas. It surrounds us everywhere, but people don’t realize how much they use it,” Rittenhouse said. Singleton said studying music is crucial for any performer. “If you want to be any type of vocalist, it is very important to practice every single day. Study a theory every single day, every minute, every second because if you want to be a professional, they’re expecting you to know at least your basics. It’s very important to stay on your A game and be professional,” Singleton said. Mullins said it’s important to understand the sounds that surround us every day. “Music is in our lives 24/7. It’s important to get to know the complexity of what creates the sounds that we hear every single day,” Mullins said.

WHO IS YOUR MUSICAL INSPIRATION?

“Luther Vandross and Jonathan Mcreynolds. I like the smoothness of their voice, and the simplicity used to get across the honest writing Jonathan Mcreynolds has,” Busby said. Singleton found celebrity inspirations. “My first inspiration is Josh Groban, and my second inspiration is a somewhat famous bass, Maurice Robinson,” Singleton said. Mullin’s inspiration is in a beloved family member. “My grandmother. She passed away when I was four, but she was a concert pianist, and I inherited her piano,” Mullins said.