N D DAILY NEWS
BETHEL AVENUE DAIRY QUEEN TO REOPEN OCT. 1 08 Back to the MAC: Football prepares for first conference game. 12
Guardian Brewing Company hosts ‘Music Bingo’: Every Thursday, the brewery gives free drinks to bingo winners. 18
BECOMING A
CHAMPION Ball State alumna shares her journey from 300 pounds to award-winning bodybuilder. Adam Pannel | Reporter At 12 years old, Rachael Heffner exchanged her memories of shopping, cooking and carving pumpkins with her “best friend” for the comfort of chips, soda and fast food. She spiraled down an unhappy path, searching for comfort after the death of her mother to systemic mastocytosis — a disease related to fatal organ damage. “[Food] was the only thing I could control at the time,” Heffner said. “I just lost my mother … I had no control over the events happening to me.” As a child, Heffner said kids in school would call her “hefty” or “Heffer from Rocko’s Modern Life.” Heffner was not alone in her experience. According
to the Obesity Action Coalition (OAC), 63 percent of overweight high school girls are victims of bullying. These victims are susceptible to increased “feelings of insecurity, low self-esteem and social isolation.” “When she passed away, I started emotionally eating and acting out and rebelling against my dad,” Heffner said. “I was so unhappy with not only her but also with my life, and I didn’t care about anything.” At 19 years old, she weighed 300 pounds. Burdened with insecurities and past grief, she started her freshman year at Ball State in 2010. During that point in her life, Heffner had little in the way of dreams or ambitions. The way she saw it, she didn’t think she would live past 25.
See CHAMPION, 20
BALL STATE SPORTS Women’s Volleyball vs. Eastern Michigan This Friday at 7 p.m. • •
Free admission for students BSUDM NIGHT - $1 donated to Riley for each student in attendance courtesy of Pepsi and BSU Athletics
09.27.2018
Football vs. Kent State This Saturday at 3 p.m. • • •
Free admission for students Tailgate lots open at noon Take the SGA shuttle!
ballstatedaily.com
Women’s Volleyball vs. Central Michigan
James Gilbert, #34 Running Back
This Saturday at 7 p.m. •
Free admission for students
Kate Avila, #2 WVB Defensive Specialist
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