BURST Magazine - Spring 2022

LEARNING CONTENTMENT

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RESCUING SELF-LOVE

THE ARTFARM

SPRING 2022 ISSUE 5

MUSIC

AVOID A FINANCIAL FLOP

SIDE HUSTLE SURVIVAL

TRANSFERRING IN COVID

HISTORY OF HERBALISM

GOING GREEK: AN LGBTQ PERSPECTIVE

FINDING MY VOICE

THE ARTFARM

CAPTIVATING CONFIDENCE

DOVE IS NOT BLIND ial

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LIVING ON A DYING EARTH

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RESILIENCE

DOVE IS NOT BLIND

ENDINGS AND NEW BEGINNINGS

LEARNING CONTENTMENT

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CONVERSATIONS MAKE COMMUNITY

BURST LIVING ON A DYING EARTH

A HEALTHIER TOMORR

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Staff Letter from the Editors

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Learning Contentment Dove is Not Blind Pandemic Profile: The ArtFarm Avoid a Financial Flop Endings and New Beginnings

MilliPeople Captivating Confidence Side Hustle Survival

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4 5 6 7 8

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MilliThoughts Rescuing Self-Love Finding My Voice Transferring in COVID’s World

Features

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Living on a Dying Earth Conversations Make Community Herbalism A Healthier Tomorrow Going Greek: An LGBTQ+ Perspective

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Last Page

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Music Makes Us Stronger

S TA F F

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF: Page Shields Sydney Sinks

WRITERS: Arica Burns Daniel Clear Lauryn Kenny Austin Medina Jeana Pierson Savanna Prasun Page Shields Sydney Sinks Carlie Thornton Kylie Venable

Claire Eppley Mitchell Garrett Cristobal Gonzalez Jack Harmon Divine Iinshuti Mark Jensen Noa Kappert Axel Madrigal Logan McCormick Skylar Meents Julia Mlynowski Conor Reynolds Adriana Webb Jorge Yague

FACULTY EDITORIAL ADVISOR: Dr. Julie Bates

FACULTY DESIGN ADVISOR: Professor Jessa Wilcoxen

CREATIVES: Leslie Anukwu Casey Bolt Carmen Brugarolas Austin Cannon Skylar Copeland If you too are going to lose it if you hear the phrase “unprecedented times” one more time, please reach out to someone. You deserve support.

National Suicide Prevention Hotline 800-273-8255 Millikin University Campus Crisis Line 217-464-8888 Growing Strong Sexual Assault Center 217-428-0770 ANAD Eating Disorder Helpline 888-375-7767 The Trevor Project 866-488-7386 RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline 800-656-4673 2

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LETTER FROM THE EDITORS Dear readers, Over the past few years, BURST has been a space to recognize the fight. Our writers and designers push for change, start conversations and plan revolutions. This work is necessary, but it isn’t easy. As we all cope with global crises alongside assignment deadlines, we’re grateful to join this community’s commitment to social justice.

Now, it’s time to take a breath.

This issue of BURST encourages balance in times of great change. Passion starts the fire; rest keeps it burning.You can’t win a revolution without resilience, and the resilience of our community, generation and staff has astounded us. This is how we grow stronger. This is how we create the world we want to live in.

Our writers have found sparks of passion at Millikin and beyond that even the weight of the world can’t dull. These articles are a dose of motivation for us, young people who are — let’s face it — struggling to find balance. We watch as our peers grow their confidence, promote antiracism, challenge antiquated binaries and beliefs and make healthcare decisions for the good of the all. These local heroes teach us how to have the hard conversations and still take care of ourselves. That spark is inside of us — we just have to fan it.

We show resilience in every protest we attend, every petition we sign. These movements are inspired by moments of looking inward and deciding to show kindness to ourselves and to others. It’s frustrating to see how long change can take.

But we’re proud to be part of the generation that has never grown tired of the fight.

There is still so much work to do, and while that can feel like a lot, we have the power to better the world. If we’ve learned anything from our time with BURST and our incredible team, it’s that we have the resilience we need to keep going.

And if the world ever feels overwhelming, we invite you to read this issue of BURST and remember: You are here.You have survived it.You’re still pushing for good. And you have a lot of people behind you who are glad to join you in the fight.

All the best,

Page Shields and Sydney Sinks BURST

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ontentment

I know — another thing that is hard and time-consuming. But to be content, you have to find things that you love about yourself. While learning to be less critical, you can 42 BURST BURST

Stop being so critical!

3.

Cut out toxicity!

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Love yourself!

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Don’t look at me like that; this is part of the process. We are constantly bombarded with posts and images and comments that tell us that we are not good enough as we are, and they turn us into our very own worst enemies. I am very critical of myself, so I’ve taken to writing positive affirmations on sticky notes and placing them all over the house. They have become so widespread that my dad is starting to get annoyed. It’s okay, Dad, it’s helping! I have friends who have

started paying themselves a quarter

for every critical comment they make. Find a real-life, physical way to reaffirm your confidence and reject self-negativity.

Being content with ourselves is hard, even harder after dealing with a pandemic. We are hard on ourselves, so much so that we can’t be content with the lives we work so hard to build. I’ve struggled throughout the years with being content with myself, so don’t feel bad if you’re feeling this way, too.

Being content with ourselves means to be satisfied with where we are right now, to have a balance on our wants and needs, to be comfortable in our own skin.

It doesn’t happen overnight, and it isn’t something that you can find in a clear-cut, one-day process. It takes time to unlearn the harsh gaze that we subject ourselves to every day.

Here are a few tricks that are helping me, and maybe they’ll help you begin learning how to be content with yourself, too.

work to find things about yourself that make you love who you are.

Look on the inside as much as on the outside. I’ve struggled to find things in my appearance that I love, but I’ve come to the comfortable conclusion that I absolutely adore my freckles, my eyes (hazel is pretty!), and my hair when it’s short. Now it’s your turn.

We criticize ourselves every time we look in the mirror, and scrolling through social media just makes us more insecure. We are toxic to ourselves, but we can unlearn this toxicity over time.

By: Arica Burns

earning

This is the hardest one of all.

It’s hard to be happy when you have people in your life who bring you down, and these critics need to go. You have to focus on yourself, whether they like it or not. In the end, it’s your life to live. You can’t live happily if people are tearing you down every time you build yourself up.

Being content with yourself is a long process, but it’s not impossible.

You have to prioritize yourself over what other people expect of you.

This is your life, our lives, so let’s take a breath and focus. This is the only way we’re going to be satisfied with what we do.

By: Carlie Thornton “It’s valuable to honestly think about how many people experience domestic violence. People don’t talk about it — but Dove, they’re talking about it,” says Julia Mlynowski, a junior at Millikin University, and a member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority. Mlynowski and other members of Alpha Chi Omega devote their time to volunteering with the Dove Shelter, a local nonprofit organization that works to raise awareness of domestic violence and provide shelter to victims. However, Dove does a lot more than just providing shelter — and all of this work is more important than ever.

Mostly volunteer-based, Dove’s main focus is community outreach, and spreading awareness is a key factor. The shelter offers myriad resources for the community, including programs for children in local schools. “It’s important to start teaching younger people now,” Mlynowski explains. “There’s value to teaching what a real and loving relationship is. This applies to all

relationships in our lives.” As Mlynowski notes, any relationship can become an abusive situation, which makes their outreach even more important.

When it comes to resilience, those who seek out the shelter are not the only ones who come to mind. Dove shelter staff have also had to remain resilient through the pandemic. Unsurprisingly, COVID-19 resulted in a rise of domestic violence cases. With everyone trapped indoors, situations were quick to escalate. The Dove shelter only has so much space, and they had to resort to providing motel rooms for survivors of domestic violence. The shelter also tried to provide aid through Zoom calls, but it is hard to handle physical situations from behind a screen.

As of now, they have reopened the shelter and all of its provided groups to full capacity, but they still

MILLIBITS

Dove’s Dream: A look into the mission of Decatur’s Dove Shelter.

need help from the community. As a nonprofit organization, Dove is reliant on donations from the community. Thankfully, these donations have helped them survive the worst of the pandemic.

But the community can help in more ways than just monetary donations. Alpha Chi Omega often holds clothing and supply drives for the shelter. Those who are interested can also attend training at the Dove Shelter to become certified in Domestic Violence Response. Those who are trained will be able to respond to domestic violence situations and give valuable resources to anyone in their lives who may need them. Mlynowski believes that this is extremely important. “You learn it once, but you keep the skills forever,” she says. “It’s all about teaching those key steps so we can inspire those around us to go. It’s a resilient process, because no one is forced to seek out help. They have to be ready.”

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Pandemic Profile: By: Page Shields

While the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged small businesses, The ArtFarm is still going strong.

This charming Decatur store supplies the community with quality art and quality times.

Looking for a Decatur-made gift for your hometown family and friends?

In need of some new jewelry? Soaps?

Decorations for your dorm room?

Just a few blocks away is The ArtFarm, where you’ll find everything you’re looking for and more.

The ArtFarm is a local retail gallery dedicated to showcasing the work of more than 80 makers in the Decatur area. With a collection that includes everything from home-brewed coffee to fairy houses, this space is an exciting and accessible experience for patrons and creators alike.

A Decaturite at heart, owner Peggy Baity was born and raised in the local area. Though she’s become all too familiar with the “pervasive negative attitude” of many residents, Baity is not discouraged by cynics.

Instead, she sees this outlook as an opportunity or, as she puts it, “a nut to crack.”

But while the store is a local favorite, the ArtFarm’s reach doesn’t stop at Decatur’s borders. This artists’ hub draws in visitors from all over. “Outside of being a colorful, 6

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inclusive space, I know that when folks tell me they’ve come here from another city to check out The ArtFarm then ask where else they can shop and recommendations for lunch or dinner, I’ve done my part to bring people to this area,” Baity says.

In addition to artistic endeavors, The ArtFarm has become a community hub. The COVID-19 pandemic has put a damper on the shop’s “Out Back Summer Music Series,” which was set to “catch fire” in the summer of 2020, but Baity has continued to help host outdoor pop-ups and festivals. Punk on Park, a street festival, will run for the third time in August of 2022.

Community members hope indoor events at The ArtFarm will soon resume. Baity encourages visitors to attend classes at the store. Learn to Spin Yarn with Donna Lighthouse, a workshop covering techniques for spinning wool, is a customer favorite, along with Meet the Authors at the ArtFarm, a free event that has featured writers such as Gabriela Brunner and Debra Joy Hart.

No business has gone untouched by the effects of the COVID-19

pandemic, but Baity and The ArtFarm have continued to thrive while adapting to the demands of today’s world. “We will continue to innovate to keep this movement fresh and new for the artists I proudly represent, the public and the community who has yet to discover what we are and what we’re all about,” Baity says.

Visit The ArtFarm at 252 North Park Street, Decatur, or shop online at artfarmdecatur.com.

Interested in showcasing your own work? Apply with an artist agreement at artfarmdecatur.com.

Avoid a Financial Flop Take control of your finances with these realistic tips.

By: Sydney Sinks

“Skip the expensive coffee.” coffee.”

This is the advice we usually receive when we ask how to save money.

But as we enter year three of the COVID-19 pandemic with 6.5 million unemployed Americans and an average U.S. student debt of over $30,000, this advice feels unhelpful — and patronizing.

Instead, financial educators like Nikki Garry encourage us to think critically about budgets and debt.

Garry, who serves as Millikin’s director of campus life for BIPOC student support, also runs Your Money Matters, LLC, a business that provides financial education.

“I didn’t learn this stuff from home. My parents, we didn’t really talk about money, as a lot of families don’t, so I learned from the school of hard knocks,” Garry says. “I realized there’s a better way to do things. And I realized I could help people from the errors that I’ve made. I think every vision starts with a burden.”

Garry urges people to focus on three basics: budgeting, savings and debt elimination. She meets a lot of people who are so overwhelmed by their finances that they become paralyzed, but this simple approach makes it easier to take control of your money.

Ruby James, Millikin’s vice president of finance, also encourages students to think about what’s most important to them and plan what they’ll spend money on. She believes that certain purchases are worth the price, even if they accrue debt.

“I think there are some things you need to use debt for, you just need to use it wisely,” she says. James believes her education, her mortgage and her family’s medical bills have all been worth the debt. But to make this debt more manageable, she encourages everyone to generally spend below their means.

Most importantly, people need to plan ahead. James says everyone should think about insurance and emergency funds, just in case. And both Garry and James agree: It’s time to start saving for retirement.

They encourage students to think about setting up a retirement fund as soon as they start working, which will make this process feel like less of a burden as your career progresses.

Financial literacy is important for everyone to know. But historically, women have been kept out of the conversation. Garry says that 90% of her one-on-one clients are women trying to learn more about their money, and she encourages more women to take control of their finances. “Women sometimes don’t have this information because a lot of the time we depend on our spouses or we just kind of go with the flow of the household,” she says. “But it’s important for both partners in the household to know what’s going on with the finances.”

Ultimately, planning ahead and staying realistic will make your money more manageable. Take control of your finances now, and they’ll never take control of you.

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Endings and New In all of our lives, we have to make hard decisions. Saying goodbye changes us and can be difficult to work through. What determines how we handle these endings and what comes next is our ability to be resilient. Here at Millikin, members of our community have had to let go of important parts of their lives and are now moving forward.

Bianca Aguilar is a junior nursing major at Millikin University, also obtaining a minor in theatre.

Theatre was the focus of Aguilar’s life for nearly seven years. Her middle and high school career consisted of auditions, practices and performances. But once Aguilar entered college, her parents encouraged her to prioritize career stability. That is when she decided to change her major to nursing and move theatre, her passion, to a minor.

“Theatre was a good way to express myself. I was an awkward person growing up, and theatre made me feel like I fit in somewhere,” Aguilar says. She was sorrowful when she began her life without theatre as its main focus. “It just sucked because I didn’t have the time for it anymore. I got sucked into adult life,” Aguilar states.

Aguilar believes keeping a minor in theatre helped her adjust.

“While it is not the same as performing, getting to learn more about the technical side of things has been a good way to stay connected and move on at the same time,” she says. “It was just time for me to take the next step in my life.”

Overall, Aguilar feels that giving up theatre was the best decision for her future, though moving on was difficult.

Gary Cecil, success coach in the CAPP, feels the same way.

Cecil used to center his life around football; he played for nearly 15 years.

But his football career ended his freshman year of college when it came down to academics or athletics. As a first-generation college student, he knew he had a tough decision to make.

“I’ve always been really competitive, and it was time that I got to spend with my friends.

Whenever we all got

Beginnings to win together, it was always fun to celebrate with them,” Cecil states.

Ultimately, he decided that quitting football was for the best. “I didn’t go to school to play football, I went to school to get an education,” he says. “I was kind of fine with quitting because I didn’t leave football completely behind. I picked up coaching once I quit playing.” Cecil stopped coaching a few years later, and that’s when he realized sports had such a huge impact on his life.

Once Cecil graduated and started his career, he returned to coaching. He found a good balance between life and hobbies. While he still misses playing, he’s content with his decisions. “I know that I have reached my goal for where I wanted to be at this point in my life, so I know it was the right thing to do at the time,” Cecil explains. When it comes to moving forward, Cecil’s biggest piece of advice is to focus on balance. “Find a way to stay connected with the sport or hobby that you love,” he says, “but don’t let it distract you from your goals.”

As adults, we learn that not every beloved part of our lives we’ve lost is gone by choice. Many things in our lives are gone outside

of our control. WJMU station manager and communication instructor Sam Meister has experienced this personally. Meister lost his father last August, and he’s working through the stages of grief and learning to move forward after the loss of a loved one.

Meister and his father always shared a bond, most commonly bonding over sports and movies.

Through his childhood and into adulthood, Meister and his father would watch movies — usually Westerns — together and built a bond through shared interests. They often talked over the phone or texted when they would see something that reminded them of one another.

Meister expressed that being present when his father passed has helped him make peace with the situation.“It’s not like it was a prolonged death of watching him deteriorate over years, but it also wasn’t instant,” Meister explains.

“Since it was a middle ground, it was slightly easier to deal with. We left

no words unspoken and I stood next to him until the very end.” Good memories have been an important part of the grieving process. “Going through his stuff and finding objects that bring back memories for the family has helped. He was essentially a packrat,” Meister says. “I also enjoy watching our favorite movies or baseball games.”

Since losing his father, Meister has reflected on his life and looked forward at the years to come. Of course, you can never truly get over the loss of a parent, but he believes things do get better with time and sweet memories. “If there is some sort of all-encompassing knowledge, I hope I have made him proud,” Meister says.

Over the course of life, everyone experiences loss. Some things are beyond our control, and we must let go in order to build the best possible future. Take the time to grieve, move forward and know it will get better.

“ Move forward and know it will get better. ”

Breaking down unhealthy barriers, Burlesque Underground at Millikin University is proud to champion body positivity with the hottest dancing on campus.

By: Page Shields

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group’s role as a safe space for its dancers. “We’re all incredible, and so very capable of handling anything that comes our way. If we can’t do it on our own, we can lean on each other for support until we can make it through what’s plaguing us.”

Member health is just as important to Burlesque Underground as their performances. Magy also serves on the executive board as the Health and Wellness Coordinator. The position is meant to reduce health risks and injuries, encouraging members to care for themselves and seek professional help if needed. Magy focuses on how the members are rather than just what they’re doing in rehearsal. “[She] is always making sure everyone feels good both physically and mentally,” says Natalie Grote, a first-year who feels supported and encouraged through Burlesque.

Grote explains that great emphasis is placed on mental preparation, too: “We also say positive self-image affirmations before every show, which is a great confidence boost before doing something that can be really scary.”

With multiple shows each semester, support for Burlesque Underground is only growing, and the group’s body positivity message continues to spread with each performance. Their first show of the Fall 2021 semester, called “Burlecstasy,” was a great success. The rave-themed event drew in crowds from all parts of Millikin’s campus for a night of incredible dancing in an electrifying environment.

Sophomore member Avery Hoffman has felt Burlesque’s celebration of bodies boost her confidence and has seen the same effects on the campus community.

“When I talked to people after [the show], I could see a change in the people I knew. There was that same newfound confidence that I had seen in myself,” she says. “Everyone who came was so supportive and encouraging and I just cannot express enough how thankful I am.”

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Performance is often an idealistic image meant to entrance audiences, but behind such a “flawless” snapshot lies decades of exclusion. This appearance-based field continues to promote an unrealistic set of body image ideals that, for many performers, are detrimental to physical and mental health.

Dancers, in particular, are subject to unnecessary shame for the way they look, for the shape of their bodies rather than their power. Yet as the body positivity movement grows, not every dance group clings to this demeaning mindset.

Named Millikin’s Best Large Organization 2020, Burlesque Underground has been heating up campus since 2018. Self-described as “Proud to be Body Aware & Positive,” the group works to advocate for sexual liberation and self-love through high-energy dance performances.

Choreographer Hannah Magy acknowledges the roots of body positivity as “birthed from a movement started by queer Black women and femmes in the 1960s, who held space for marginalized bodies and anyone who did not fit the strict beauty standards of the time.” With the pervasive negative self-talk and fatphobia in today’s culture, Magy defines being body positive as “working against these patterns, dismantling biases and encouraging inclusivity for every body type and ability level.”

And that’s what the group is trying to do. Burlesque Underground has been an overwhelmingly positive experience for its members, including sophomore Skylyr Choe, who has seen a huge improvement in their perception of their own selfworth since joining the ensemble in the fall of 2020. “Burlesque promotes this belief that ‘every body is a sexy body,’” they say, discussing

Feeling captivated? Be sure to follow @burlesqueunderground on Instagram for information about auditions and their upcoming shows.

Original photography by: Rachel Silvey BURST

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As Americans face the financial strain of the pandemic, students have found innovative ways to make money and stay creative.

By: Sydney Sinks

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One in three Americans have a side hustle, and of those people, 31% started their side hustle during the COVID-19 pandemic. Roughly 700 of Millikin’s 2,340 students could feasibly have side gigs, and that might be close to the truth.

Between the floundering job market, increased levels of debt and the unique burdens of the pandemic, Americans are facing a financial crisis.

Many students have found innovative ways to make money during this time. By opening Etsy shops, advertising on social media and selling homemade products to their friends and families, students are using their creativity and ingenuity to stay afloat — and to create new business models that might support them long after the pandemic is over.

In fact, senior Taylor Davis’s business wouldn’t exist without the pandemic. When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) imposed mask mandates in March 2020, Davis set to work sewing masks for her family and friends. “It started as something to protect them, but also a kindness thing, like ’Hey, I’m here for you,’” Davis says. She realized that her product was in demand, so she made a Facebook post advertising masks at a low price. “Stores were not stocked and people were looking for masks, so I knew it was helpful, but it was also really therapeutic for me,” she says. While Davis isn’t selling masks currently — it’s hard to balance with her schooling, jobs, and other responsibilities — she looks back on her side hustle as a positive thing to come out of the pandemic. “It really helped me personally, mentally, helped my

community,” Davis says. “In this time of frustration and isolation, trying to make the best of the situation, that’s kind of what I did.”

Recent graduate Sophie Kibiger’s Etsy shop started as a way to stay busy during the extra time at home, but Kibiger has turned it into something much bigger — with lots of eager customers. “I think people saw my stuff and they obviously liked it, but I think they liked the idea of, like, I was doing something on the side and they wanted to support it,” Kibiger says. A year after starting the shop, Kibiger has expanded to sell earrings, necklaces and rings. The jewelry, while fun to create, has also added some security to Kibiger’s post-grad life.

“That extra income was really nice because I was finishing school and I had just moved, so it was just a lot of expenses coming up, and my business really helped give me that little push,” Kibiger says. While it’s been an adjustment balancing this work with Kibiger’s full-time job, Kibiger is excited to keep growing the business. You can shop Kibiger’s products at GypsophilaJewelery on Etsy or @gypsophila.jewelry on Instagram.

While we shouldn’t gloss over the flaws of an economy that requires people to take on extra jobs to survive — especially during a global pandemic — we should also celebrate the ingenuity and determination that we demonstrate.

The pandemic will hopefully end soon, but the innovation lives on.

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RESCUING SELF-LOVE

Body confidence is a difficult journey, especially if you do not fit the social standard for beauty. Navigating feelings of self-hatred, Lauryn Kenny creates a plan to love herself.

By: Lauryn Kenny

T

he doctor’s office messes with my self-confidence. I remember going to the Walgreens nurse, my stomach a bundle of nerves. I am only here for a strep throat test. I get strep throat every year, but every time, I feel the same dread. The same shame. The awful scale awaits, the dreadful number that everyone hates.

A doctor comes in, an older white man with judgmental eyes.

His hair is white, and he has a permanent scowl on his face. He looks like the type of guy who hates children. Here we go.

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He sits in his chair and looks at me, “You do know that your weight is a problem, right?” I recoil, even though I knew he was going to say that. I only came for a strep throat test.

Younger me looks him right in the eye, tears threatening to come.

Yes, I do. This isn’t the last comment about my weight.

After many doctor’s appointments like this one — with the leers and the jokes — my younger self began to learn something: I don’t deserve love, not even self-love. I take up too much space. I am too fat to be loved.

You might be thinking, “Wow, that’s pretty heavy.” Wondering, “Is there a point to this?” Yes, there is.

I remember looking at myself in the mirror, doing the usual routine of “why I hate myself today.” Today, it’s my legs. Maybe tomorrow it will be something else. I pause, looking at my reflection.

Why am I doing this? What’s the point of all this heartache? What’s the point of all this self-loathing?

So, I do what any rational person would do.

I make a plan.

The plan is simple:

1. Make a self-deprecation jar.

Every time I say something bad about myself, I put my name in the jar. If the jar fills up, I have to buy my roommates dinner.

2. Do things that challenge

my negative perception of my body. Going for a run in public, for instance.

The first step was going to be so easy. I mean, I don’t say terrible things about my appearance all the time. No more self-deprecating jokes about my weight. No more self-criticism in the mirror; no calling myself ugly or worthless. This would be a breeze.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Each day, whether it’s morning, noon, or night, I make at least one comment about my appearance.

By the end of the first week, I have filled up half of the jar. Awfully bleak, if you ask me.

“How about you make a list of things you like about yourself?” One of my roommates, Sydney, suggests while we eat at the cafeteria.

Sure thing. That will be simple enough.

I stare so hard at the paper that my eyes start to sting.

“Come on,” she tells me. “There has to be one thing you like about yourself. I can name a lot of things.”

I look at her, my expression helpless. It’s impossible. Every compliment I give to myself feels like a lie. You see, loving myself never even occurred to me. Being plussized and loving myself is something

I never thought I could do. “Okay,” I say to myself, taking a deep breath.

MILLITHOUGHTS

E

1. I like my eyes.

Good. A neutral compliment.

2. I like my smile.

Even better, it’s more specific. I can do this.

“I look like all the girls I wanted to be.”

3. I like my passion.

4. I like my generosity.

5. I like my kindness.

I glance at my list, feeling a bit better. Yes, this can work.

“Looks good,” Sydney tells me, “I’m going to get something sweet.”

I smile at her, feeling proud of myself. I can do this.

After that day, the next step comes out of nowhere, on a random Saturday shopping trip with my friends.

“Get something,” they tell me.

My eye goes to a crop top. I’ve never owned a crop top. I never thought people like me could wear a crop top. It is flashy, with all sorts of colors and words on it. It looks like graffiti art.

“I like it,” my other roommate, Charlize, tells me.

“Okay, I’ll get it,” I tell them, my confidence slowly building.

Getting the crop top is the easy part. The hard part is actually wearing it. It, too, is on a random day, a Sunday when we decided to do a photo shoot.

Until then, the crop top stays at the corner of my bed, untouched.

I decide it’s time to do something bold.

“You look great!” My roommates tell me, their smiles genuine.

For the first time, I feel that the compliment is truthful.

I wear it with my head held high, my smile beautiful. I look stunning. I look like all the girls I wanted to be.

Confident, proud, beautiful. Happy.

We take multiple pictures, each of them better than the other. I feel like a rock star.

Self-love is hard. It’s a journey that I am still working toward. I tell this to the people who hate themselves, who think they are too much, too skinny, too fat. You, too, deserve self-love. You deserve to hold your head high.

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Finding My By: Arica Burns

A little girl sits on the gym floor, face buried in her knees, diaphragm compressed by her legs squeezing to her chest. She’s crying. Her sobs catch in her throat, thoughts cut by the cruel words of her peers. She hears the laughter, the whispers getting louder, for the sixth time that day. She doesn’t move.

My voice was taken from me when I was only 8 years old. With how loud and rambunctious my family is, it was already but a whisper. But at only 8 years old, I knew better than to allow anything to slip from my tongue — if anything came from my mouth, I would be in tears until I passed out.

At 21 years old, I’m learning that my voice was never gone, not truly, but it was buried, caught in a trap that I couldn’t escape. For 13 years, I couldn’t voice my opinion or thoughts without shaking the feelingthat I was wrong, despite

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sometimes knowing I wasn’t. I went from lively and talkative to subdued and silent; it was so noticeable that my own cousins would call me out on it. It got to the point where I had to avoid confrontation altogether because it freaked me out too much.

Even now, if my family argues, I have to excuse myself. It used to make me emotional — I would almost always burst into tears. Now it’s because I feel the need to speak up, words of anger dripping from my tongue full of a frustration that I have never known what to do with.

It took so long for these feelings, this urge, to build inside me.

It’s like I finally decided it was time to just be. It was hard enough just watching people tear each other down, feeling my voice get caught in my throat, wanting to stop it, but then the pandemic hit.

I never thought I’d be thankful for something so destructive, but during

After years of words dying in my throat, now I’m finally finding my voice.

this time, I truly began to realize that as my words are my weapon, that my voice has the power to make that weapon more volatile. It took a confrontation while I was on my own, a confrontation in the middle of a Walmart, of all places, for me to stand up for myself, for me to realize I had the power to speak up for myself.

I know how frustrating it is to feel as though your voice doesn’t matter. I know how hard you bite your tongue, scared of the reaction.

But why hide your thoughts when you can open up a perspective, when you can add to the discussion?

You should start slow, but don’t hold back. If you feel like you need to speak, just say it, raise your hand, and let the words flow out. Our voices are important, our thoughts do matter, so speak proudly.

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Transferring in COVID’s World Transferring during the pandemic is draining for anyone, but especially for those with social anxiety.

By: Austin Medina Transferring schools is possibly one of the most nerve-wracking things you can do in life. You are leaving behind familiarity for a world that is completely unknown to you. I transferred to Millikin in the fall 2020 semester. I was a transfer student surrounded by people who have known each other for years, so I felt like even more of an outsider.

My social anxiety did not make it any easier.

I am currently in my senior year at Millikin. Starting this year had my anxiety skyrocketing as it is my first year actually on campus instead of doing online classes from my room.

I nearly had a full-blown heart attack on my first day. I know in my head that I have had classes already with most of the people I see every day, but I cannot shake the fear I feel. I still have to take deep breaths every morning before I step into my first class, and I am mentally exhausted when I get home. I am taking steps to get used to seeing in-person these faces that until now I had only seen through a computer screen.

This is still a battle I struggle with on a daily basis.

I am fortunate enough that I have classes with a lot of people who I had classes with previously while on Zoom. That has made the transition easier to an extent, but there are still a good number of other students in my classes who I have never seen before. I have managed to start a few conversations with some new people (while internally freaking out), but that is a rare occurrence.

It’s not all bad, though. I am enjoying this new experience of being on campus and having a “normal” college experience again.

I look forward to seeing what the rest of this semester has in store as I meet new people and work through the last year of my college experience.

Tips for Dealing with Anxiety

Breathe.

Take the time to breathe and calm your mind before and/or after being in stressful situations.

Find ways to unwind.

Video games, music, podcasts — find something that you enjoy to help take the edge off.

Sleep.

Anxiety can be very draining mentally and sometimes physically, too. Be sure to get some rest and recharge your body and mind.

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No body copy abov

LIVING DYING EARTH ON A

By: Sydney Sinks

Our generation has been tasked with saving the planet.

But when the problems are so overwhelming, can we do it?

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We’ve spent most of our lives being told that the planet is dying.

It’s true, the Earth is struggling.

And as human beings — specifically, as young people — it’s our responsibility to do as much as we can to help. But when the situation is so dire and more bad news comes in every day, it’s hard to know where to even start.

At best, we feel lost. At worst, apathetic. How do you save a future that already seems out of reach?

“The problem with environmental issues is they’re very big,” says Millikin biology professor Roslyn O’Conner. “Like, what am I going to do about climate change? So then you just give up, really, because you’re like, it’s too big, I can’t do anything. But I would argue, and many would argue, that this is how change happens. Any change is by the individuals and individuals doing their

EH AT M I L LF IT OU UR GE HST S

bove or below the 0.5 line.

“ANY CHANGE IS BY THE INDIVIDUALS AND INDIVIDUALS DOING THEIR OWN PART AND INDIVIDUALS THEN JOINING WITH OTHERS TO MAKE IMPACT.”

own part and individuals then joining with others to make impact.”

O’Conner points to Greta Thunberg, Generation Z’s climate change warrior, as an example of someone who has rallied others to get involved in environmental activism. Thunberg, a teenager from Sweden, made headlines at the 2019 U.N. Climate Action Summit where she gave an impassioned speech urging politicians to take climate change seriously. At only 16 years old, Thunberg listed the ways that world leaders were failing younger generations.

“This is all wrong,” Thunberg began. “I shouldn’t be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us young people for hope.

How dare you! You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words.”

She has a point. According to a 2021 report by the Intergovernmen-

tal Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), we need to implement intensive changes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming to 34–35 degrees Fahrenheit — and if that doesn’t happen within the next few years, we’ll be too late.

We’re already seeing a lot of these effects. The sea level is rising at approximately 1/8 inch per year, and 2020 was the hottest year on record.

More natural disasters, more air pollution and more pandemics are possible as the Earth continues to heat up. And when places become too hot to sustain life, we’ll lose wildlife species and gain — or even become — climate refugees, people who are displaced because of climate change.

A lot of environmental issues can be attributed to systems that are much bigger than the individual.

According to a 2019 study by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), industries accounted for

13% of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. Transportation, including vessels to ship products across the U.S., account for 29%. Corporations and politicians make most of the decisions that have led to the current climate crisis. People have called for more regulations to minimize the greenhouse gas released into the environment, but there hasn’t been much progress.

This is when people start to feel overwhelmed. When there’s so much to do and it all feels out of our hands, calls to action don’t seem to work.

“We have this horrible revolving door, it seems, of just being stagnant and just going, oh, that’s just the way it is,” says Luke Russo, an environmental studies and criminal justice double major.

That’s not good enough for him. Russo, who also serves as the president of Millikin’s Environmental Affairs Council, has taken a special BURST

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interest in issues in Decatur, including Decatur’s water quality.

According to him, the city’s drinking water has phosphorus and nitrate levels that are technically below the EPA’s limit, but high enough to cause different cancers after five to ten years of use. “You read about these case studies that are halfway across the world, you know?” Russo says. “And Decatur is a perfect storm for that.”

But while Russo and other students have been trying to raise awareness, it’s hard when many members of the Decatur community work for the factories that have contributed to the high levels of chemicals in the water; shutting down these factories would lead to job loss. And they can’t simply warn people not to drink the water, because that’s unrealistic. Avoiding the city water and using only bottled water requires money that most people don’t have, and that’s saying nothing of the plastic waste that would come from it.

While these environmental issues feel overwhelming, O’Conner urges people not to give up.

“The way we deal with hopelessness is to act,” O’Conner says. She tells people to pick one thing they’re passionate about and use it to help.

“Just finding something little, because when it’s too big and you realize you can’t solve the problem on your own, you’ll give up,” she explains.

“But there are so many little pieces that you can do, that you can solve, that you can work on in your own life that do make a difference.”

Making conscious choices about what we buy, lobbying for better legislation, and spreading awareness about environmental issues are all real ways to make an impact.

O’Conner also points out that 20

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consumers keep businesses running, and we can push for change by being intentional about where we spend our money.

For Russo, it’s all about community. “That’s the best way to combat climate change — think global, act local,” Russo says. He works at both Donnie’s Homespun Pizza and Pure Coffee House in Decatur. Pure Coffee House gives their compost to Good Samaritan Inn, a farm-to-table soup kitchen in town. Good Samaritan Inn then gives fresh basil to Donnie’s. This helps the environment while building ties throughout the community.

Russo also believes that changing our mindsets could be a big step in fixing environmental issues.

He says to think of humans as a part of nature instead of focusing on what we can take from nature. Russo is hopeful that these changes could lead to powerful results.

“I think we can do it,” Russo says. “But it’s to the point now where it’s like, what more can we do? We can’t celebrate victories anymore.

We just got to keep going . . . It’s never going to be enough at this point, unless something really really drastically happens, which is daunting as all hell. So it’s tough, but I think it’s doable. I don’t think it’s going to be doable forever, but I think it’s doable.”

O’Conner echoes him. “The good news is, in my 50-plus years, I’ve seen things get better,” she says.

She points to the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, which were enacted in the 60s and 70s; these acts have had tangible effects on the air and water quality over the last 50 years. O’Conner thinks that more improvements like this are possible, even if it takes a long time to see their results.

“These are long-term changes that might not happen in our lifetime,” O’Conner says. “Am I going to see it resolved in my lifetime? No, I’m not. But does that mean we’re not going to work on it? No, it doesn’t.

I’m still going to do my part.” She encourages people to think about future generations as a reason to care about the environment and do what we can to help.

And while the issues are so daunting that some people might become apathetic, O’Conner has observed the opposite in her classroom. “In my 20 years of teaching, I’ve seen the students are much more active,” O’Conner says. “They care more, and they are making change. And I think probably one of the most important things you can do as an individual is decide what choices you make and how those choices affect the environment.”

These are reasons for hope.

Seeking out like-minded people, pushing for legislative change, making intentional choices about what we buy and from who — all of these are positive actions we can take that could make a genuine difference for future generations. As young people find our place on the Earth, we’re also trying to save it. Whether it’s possible or not remains to be seen, but these actions are a good place to start.

“It comes with this young person’s responsibility, our generation’s responsibility,” Russo says. “And it’s more than we should be able to put on our shoulders.

It’s too much for us. But we have to do something. If we have the ability to just do a little bit, we owe it to ourselves.”

“THINK GLOBAL, ACT LOCAL”

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“There’s so much going on in the community that needs people’s attention.”

By: Sydney Sinks

Millikin students and alumni are getting involved and creating a community they’re proud to call home.

After four years at Millikin, a lot of students find that Decatur becomes home. And what better way to honor your home than to improve it?

In recent years, students and alumni have banded together with the Decatur community to organize protests, Facebook groups and nonprofits. As more issues come to light, these young people are doubling down in their devotion to Decatur. They’re creating a better community and uplifting voices that need to be heard.

Dominique Bates-Smith, an alum who was heavily involved with social justice initiatives while at Millikin, is the person behind a lot of this work.

In the summer of 2020, amidst the 22

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COVID-19 pandemic and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, Bates-Smith realized what she wanted to devote her life to helping others and giving back to her community. Since then, she’s been doing everything she can to follow through.

“There’s so much going on in the community that needs people’s attention, and seeing the way people are affected during the pandemic and then with the social justice movement, and then realizing — I have all this time on my hands. There should be no excuse not to

~Dominique Bates-Smith

“We have found that young people have a voice and want to get involved in their community, but adults just push them to the side and silence them.” ~walkitlikewetalkit.org

take action,” Bates-Smith says.

“I really started to develop this kind of ideology or mentality, whatever you want to call it, that I’m tired of lip service, that actions truly speak louder than words.”

While Bates-Smith works full-time for a local nonprofit, she also devotes equal energy to building Walk It Like We Talk It, the nonprofit she co-founded in 2020. “We try to get 17- to 30-yearolds involved in the community through social justice, community service, political engagement and mentoring,” Bates-Smith says. The group has organized events in support of voter engagement and the Black Lives Matter movement. Members have also worked to advocate for peace and collect supplies for those in need, among several other initiatives.

“We have found that young people have a voice and want to get involved in their community, but adults just push them to the side and silence them,” explains their website, walkitlikewetalkit.org.

“Walk It Like We Talk It does the opposite. We invite them to the head of the table.”

With this focus on young people, Bates-Smith and her co-founder, Millikin student Kamryn Harris, encourage students to get involved. They want to help students and other local young

people engage with social justice issues and do what they can to help the community. “So many people talk about what they want to do or what they want to see, and I can definitely say I was one of those people,” Bates-Smith explains. “I realized you really got to back up what you say.”

Bates-Smith came to this realization after a Black Lives Matter protest at Millikin. During an interaction with Public Safety, Bates-Smith struggled to be heard.

“That’s really where it changed for me because it was a moment where I felt, as a young, Black female, that I was being disregarded,” Bates-Smith says. She set up a meeting with Public Safety to address her concerns, and she left feeling satisfied and empowered. “If a moment like that . . . can lead to actual change on campus that can maybe impact students going forth — I was like, wow, maybe other things can happen.”

But to induce action, we need conversation. With this in mind, Bates-Smith decided to facilitate a space for people to talk through social justice issues and brainstorm solutions. She runs a Facebook group called Macon County Strong: No Place for Racism. (And her sister started The Girls of Macon County: Stand Up & Speak Up, a Facebook group against sexual violence, where people can share personal stories of survivorship, tips on recovery and resources.) The purpose of BatesSmith’s group is to bring people together and push for change.

“As humans, we all want one place where we can talk about these uncomfortable issues, but not be disrespected or put down,” BURST

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Bates-Smith says. “I started [Macon County Strong: No Place for Racism] as a way for people of color to have a safe space to talk about the racism they went through. What it turned into was that, but also a place for white people and other people of color to talk about things that they’re not sure about, to learn and to listen to people of color and then to talk about, ‘Okay, so what is it that we can do going forward?’”

Bates-Smith encourages people to use the group as a space to share their stories, connect with other people and learn about these issues. But she also fields messages from people who have upsetting

questions about racism or beliefs that don’t align with hers. In these situations, Bates-Smith tries to respond with empathy.

“The biggest thing I’ve learned through doing this group and through all the work I do around racism and diversity is most of this negativity and different things, it’s not racism. Most of it is ignorance,” Bates-Smith says. She works with people to unpack this ignorance and educate them. That’s why she feels that the Facebook group is ultimately so important: It’s starting the conversation.

But unfortunately, she has found that it’s a lot harder to unpack systemic racism with people who aren’t as open to unlearning and

“The biggest thing I’ve learned through doing this group and through all the work I do around racism and diversity is most of this negativity and different things, it’s not racism. Most of it is ignorance.” ~Dominique Bates-Smith

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relearning. While she has had some discouraging experiences, BatesSmith is determined not to stop her work. “That’s what people want,” she explains. “People who are equal, they want you to turn a blind eye.

They want you to not be empathetic so that hate can continue to fester.

And I don’t want to be part of that cycle. So I decided that even though it’s going to be hard, I have to keep creating these conversations.”

And that’s exactly what she’s going to do. Through these conversations and engagement with the community, young people like Bates-Smith are excited to make Decatur a better place. To get involved, visit walkitlikewetalkit.org or join Macon County Strong: No Place for Racism on Facebook.

HERBALISM By: Savanna Prasun

Herbs have always played a big role in medicine. With the right care and research, we can use herbs alongside pharmaceuticals today.

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Herbalism — the traditional use of herbs in healing — has a huge influence on modern-day medicine. Without it, we wouldn’t have the treatments we have today. But herbalism doesn’t have to remain in the past. We can still use these lessons in congruence with pharmaceutical medications and, in fact, there are some serious benefits to doing so.

Today’s use of herbs is built on a long history. The Ebers Papyrus, for example, was written around 1550 B.C.E. and translated

by Georg Ebers, a German Egyptologist and writer.

This 3,500-year-old document details

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’s

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how certain diseases could be treated with herbs. “For the most part the Papyrus Ebers is devoted to the medicinal treatment of diseases, surgical interference being recommended in only about a score of cases,” Ebers explains in his book, “Ancient Egyptian Medicine: Papyrus Ebers.”

Considering how extensive the information is, it’s not surprising that many of these recipes and treatments still exist. “Altogether 811 prescriptions are set forth in the Papyrus, and they take the form of salves, plasters, and poultices; snuffs, inhalations, and gargles; draughts, confections, and pills; fumigations, suppositories, and enemata,” Ebers writes. There are also different sections of the papyrus that cover bodily afflictions.

A few hundred years later, between

Wort

450 and 400 B.C.E., Hippocrates and others compiled theories on the human body and treatments into a document known as “On Ancient Medicine.” Hippocrates, a Greek physician who is considered the father of medicine, introduced the concept of the “Four Humors,” a theory that would be used for another 2,000 years and impact different forms of medicine, media and philosophy. “The body of man in itself blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile; these make up the nature of his body, and through these he feels pain or enjoys health,” Hippocrates writes in his work “On the Nature of Man.” The Greeks believed that these humors dictated the body’s health, and this idea impacted our understanding of medicine and the human body well into the 17th century.

People believed that for the human body to remain in harmony, the humors needed to be harmonious.

When the humors were out of balance, healers could use

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different herbal treatments to restore the human body’s homeostasis.

Throughout history, the line between medicine and magic often blurred. The Chinese document “The Divine Farmer’s Materia Medica,” also known as the “Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing,” openly mentions the magical characteristics of herbs, as well as how the herbs could be used in medical treatments. According to the preface of the book, “Medicinals should coordinate [with each other] in terms of yin and yang, like mother and child or brothers.” This view also incorporates some religious themes, which guided a lot of these ancient medical practices. The magical and religious characteristics of these herbs — along with their botanical properties — determined the medicinal effects.

“Bald’s Leechbook,” an Old English text that has recipes and instructions on medicinal care, offers more herbal

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hP ug

treatments than the documents that came before it. Each chapter details a different ailment and multiple forms of treatment, covering anything from simple aches and pains to treatments for necrosis. For example, the recipe for internal bruising calls for a mixture of wormwood, betony and rough plantain. The recipes are much more guided than in earlier texts, and it was important to follow these directions exactly. This healing book would have been popular amongst physicians and healers.

These aren’t the only texts that offer examples of herbalism, but they helped build the basis for medicine today. The use of herbalism used to be in the realm of village healers (usually, poor women who were considered quacks by the higher classes), but it soon transferred to physicians and doctors and became more and more common.

Many people possessed basic knowledge on how to use certain plants. Eventually, herbalism would

lantain

have been everyday know-how.

As herbalism grew, people made more connections between herbs, healing and other “magical” phenomena.

Astrology is one magical factor in the use of herbs. Some believe that the stars and planets interact with certain herbs and improve their potency. People have also used the smoke of herbs to cure diseases or even exorcise demons.

Additionally, there are a number of herbs that are put into incense.

Incense has its own magical purposes and is usually used to cleanse spaces.

Throughout history, charms have also been used in healing, and herbs are part of these methods, usually used in spell jars or amulets.

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Whether you believe in these magical properties or not, herbs have been used for thousands of years to help human beings feel better — and people are finally recognizing the benefits of herbalism in the 21st century. Medical care is expensive, and those who can’t afford to go to the doctor for small things can save money by doing their research and using herbs to heal themselves.

This isn’t to discredit pharmaceutical medicines; they have been monumental to the health of humanity. But with enough research and care, herbalism and pharmaceuticals can be used in harmony to help those in need.

Many pharmaceuticals have an herbal equivalent.

Warfarin, an anticoagulant often prescribed to those who have had strokes, can be 28

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logy o r t As

“replaced” with feverfew, garlic, ginseng, gingko and ginger. Some anti-inflammatory drugs can also be replaced by feverfew. Thyroxine, a thyroid medication, has an equivalent to kelp.

St. John’s wort is another common plant in the herbalism profession. In high doses, it can poison anyone who consumes it, but used in other ways, it can be beneficial as a natural antidepressant.

However, you need to be careful with mixing or replacing medicine with St. John’s wort. In this case, choose either the herb or the medicine, and never mix them; they may have a volatile reaction.

There are many potential interactions with herbs and pharmaceuticals, so this is why research is so important.

You need to consider dosages and carefully research the plants

you want to use. “We are naïve to think of every plant extract as necessarily safe for human ingestion, and poison centers know firsthand numerous examples of botanical toxins,” explain Andrew Vickers and Catherine Zollman in their article “ABC of Complementary Medicine: Herbal Medicine.” We need to think about these risks before taking our medication and health into our own hands. Also, it’s recommended not to use herbal substitutes for medications that treat diseases like cancer or diabetes. Herbs are best used for more minor ailments, like fevers, headaches and skin injuries.

Ultimately, humans have relied on herbs since the beginning of human history. We can still rely on them today with the right skills and research. Anyone can take up the mantle of herbalism and carry on an ancient tradition that has saved lives for thousands of years.

College students grieve the experiences they’ve lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, but readily available vaccines offer a spark of hope for the future.

By: Page Shields

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For the past two years, students across the country have watched their college experience slip away before their eyes. Upperclassmen reflect on their favorite memories — memories of travel, parties, concerts and conferences — while newer students can only wonder what moments the COVID-19 pandemic has kept from them. Cafeteria take-out boxes, Zoom performances and fully-remote courseloads make up a new normal the public never could have anticipated — and yet, this is the reality of higher education during the coronavirus crisis.

Though Millikin University has remained open since its original shutdown, the college has not gone untouched by the pandemic. In the fall of 2021, members of Millikin’s campus community suffered 164 cases of COVID-19. Compared to national statistics — the daily case count surpassing 1 million in January of 2022 — the number may not seem high, but in a student body of approximately 2,000, almost 200 is not to be overlooked. And as cases soared even higher across the country, Millikin was no exception.

Entry testing for the spring 2022 semester alone resulted in 132 cases, with an 8.2% positivity rate.

Of course, neither Millikin’s administration nor its students sat back, watching idly as the case count ticked upward. Guidelines rapidly changed to match those of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some of Millikin’s rules included a “no visitors” policy for

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Greek housing, an approval requirement from the Office of Campus Life before hosting gatherings, and the closing of the university’s communal dining room.

As soon as vaccination opened up to those age 18 and older, Millikin encouraged students to take advantage. The school began hosting regular pop-up clinics in the University Commons to offer immunity to as many campus community members as possible.

The student body responded enormously, with 84% receiving at least one dose of the vaccine by the start of the spring 2022 semester.

Luke Leach of the Macon County Health Department has helped to facilitate these clinics on Millikin’s campus. A Decatur resident all his life, Leach was originally hired as a contact tracer. He has been ensuring that Millikin students have vaccines available to them since the school’s first pop-up clinic in 2021. “These vaccine clinics, generally, people are very grateful for the opportunity to get vaccinated because we’re able to help offer them protection against the virus,” he says. “We’re all trying our best to fight this pandemic.” He considers helping people protect themselves from the virus to be the most rewarding part of his job.

But as we have unfortunately come to learn, vaccines aren’t going to eliminate the pandemic on their own. Sophomore Joe Goodwin contracted COVID-19 in December 2021, despite being vaccinated

“Hopes are high that Millikin students’ experiences will only get better.”

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against the virus. Though inoculation didn’t protect him from infection, Goodwin is still grateful for his vaccine. “I’m really glad I was vaccinated before I tested positive because my symptoms never got any worse than a common cold,” he says.

Many facing the virus without a vaccine in their favor have not been so lucky — according to the CDC, the unimmunized have proven 15 times more likely to die of COVID-19.

Thanks to readily-available vaccines from pop-up clinics and local pharmacies, though, the worst most COVID-positive Millikin students have had to face is the discomfort of the isolation period. Goodwin spent six days in Walker Hall, the university’s designated isolation housing, before returning home to finish riding out the virus. He describes his time in his isolation room as “not the most comfortable.”

Between the illness and Walker Hall’s faulty heating, Goodwin was happy to recover and leave Millikin’s isolation housing.

Despite their original enthusiasm about combating the virus, though, many Millikin students are now slipping behind in the public health fight against COVID-19. With the outbreak of new variants in the past months, the CDC updated their guidelines to include a third “booster” dose in the definition of “fully vaccinated.” At the start of the spring 2022 semester, only 18% of students had received this booster dose.

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The low percentage may be caused in part by the growing epidemic of misinformation that has spread across the country. The Macon County Health Department has witnessed this problem firsthand in Decatur. “The spread of misinformation has been especially challenging, just because there is correct information out there, but people are quick to dismiss it,” Leach says. What does he recommend to those still facing vaccine hesitancy?

“Trust the scientists. You might see one or two that spread the misinformation, but the bulk of them that really follow the science say you need the vaccine. It’s the best way to fight this pandemic.”

Millikin’s campus has felt the effects of this dangerous mindset.

Logan Mulholland, a sophomore at Millikin, observed these impacts firsthand. “I know students who are exposed to COVID, and when they don’t get a call from the contact tracer, they think it’s safe to go out.

It jeopardizes the safety of all of us,” he says. With the rise in new, dangerous variants, relying solely on leadership will not protect the public — it has become an individual responsibility equally as much. “To keep the campus open, we all need to be stricter about exposure,” Mulholland says.

While the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, some experiences are safely returning. Gwen Klinkey, a junior professional writing and literature double major at Millikin, helped to bring back one of the

English department’s favorite traditions this past October in a COVID-safe Halloween celebration.

Poe in the Pit is an annual event typically hosted by the English Club.

But when Millikin’s campus shut down in 2020, scattering its members across the country, the club virtually dissolved.

After an informal Zoom version of the event in 2020, Klinkey heard her peers wondering what had happened to the tradition. “Since I had run it once before, I talked to Dr. [Michael] O’Conner and asked if that was something that I could do, and both he and Dr. [Tony] Magagna wanted to see English Club and Poe in the Pit active again,” she says. In October 2021, Klinkey and the English Club hosted the first in-person Poe in the Pit in two years outside of the newly-built Center for Theatre and Dance, drawing in students from across all disciplines with snacks, cider and spooky readings of Edgar Allan Poe’s work.

Even as COVID-19 persists across the country, Millikin’s campus is filled with students making the most of their college experience.

According to the Macon County Health Department, vaccination is the key to reclaiming that experience. Does Leach recommend the vaccine for everyone here on campus? “Oh, absolutely,” he says.

As the winter months melt into a warmer spring and vaccines become more accessible, hopes are high that Millikin students’ experiences will only get better.

By: Daniel Clear and Page Shields Even at its best, Greek life isn’t known for inclusion. Is it time to make a change to Millikin’s social organizations?

Content Warning: Minor mentions of sexual violence When you type the term “Greek life” into Google, the top related search is, “Why is Greek life bad?” The exclusionary nature of sorority and fraternity life has permeated the media in the last decade, bombarding the public with horror stories of racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexual abuse and violent hazing. This negative reputation has persisted beyond the borders of any one state, labeling Greek life nationally as intense, scary and even dangerous.

But emerging from COVID-19 isolation into a socially-charged environment, students entering college are yearning for a support system. Greek life is marketed as just

this, the prime opportunity to gain a built-in friend group, life-long ties and friendly roommates. And there’s nothing scary or harmful about a group meant to have your back — in fact, such meaningful connections are vital to maintaining social and emotional wellness. It’s when these connections are used to enforce damaging heteronormative standards or to encourage aggressive group behavior, though, that Greek life turns from an exciting social bubble to an ever-growing threat.

Members of Millikin University’s progressive student body have high hopes that their efforts toward reform will make the Greek

experience on their campus vastly different from that on others across the country. A member of the Illinois Delta chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon here on campus is working hard to be a part of that change.

Originally, they felt intimidated by the perceived “bro-yness” surrounding Greek life, but since going through recruitment themself, they have found the community to be far more accepting than anticipated.

“It’s a very safe, very queer space,” they say.

Since the member’s joining, an epidemic of sexual assault has resurged on Millikin’s campus, and campus fraternities have been placed BURST

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at the controversy’s very center.

“Someone in the organization we didn’t expect did something really bad, and we kicked them out,” the member says. Now, they’re focused on changing the organization they’ve joined for the better. The group has formed a close partnership with the Growing Strong Sexual Assault center in Decatur, implementing their sexual assault prevention workshop as an element of all members’ training each 34

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semester. “It’s about focusing on the change of the mindset rather than just letting it happen again,” the member says, hopeful that the fraternity’s efforts can make their group into a formative experience rather than a harmful one.

The inherent gender binary present in Greek life is something this member feels passionately about, too. As a nonbinary individual, they “have been working on changing it

just by being in the organization,” they say. “The biggest thing we need to see changed is at a national level.”

Even as one of the smallest chapters nationally, Illinois Delta has hosted many of these interactions recently, with national risk-management representatives visiting to help mitigate conflicts with those former members who have committed harmful acts. This member plans to help further their

chapter’s beneficial impact by helping those that Greek life traditionally harms through philanthropy efforts.

At the end of the day, “Meeting new people is important,” they say, and these social connections are what they and many other members of Greek life feel their communities are all about.

On other campuses, however, some students feel that Greek organizations’ pasts are simply too dark for locally-led reform. In 1990, students at Cornell College decided it was time to form their own Greek organization free from national perceptions and restraints. Phi Lambda Xi is a gender neutral group with many queer and nonbinary members. They have no national affiliation, leaving the organization’s dues, system of governance and event planning entirely up to its members. The original Phi-Lambs, as their members have been affectionately nicknamed, went through their school’s Greek council to officiate their chapter, and they are now run on the basis of a public constitution.

Current Phi Lambda Xi members reap the most popular benefits of Greek life — support, friends and fun — without risking the expansion of entities that have been historically hurtful. Phi-Lambs are dedicated, too, to ensuring they never become a part of the problem. When asked about resolving issues within the organization, one member says that the organization’s independence allows them to deal with individual problems internally. If there’s a drastic issue with the group itself?

“Then we leave,” they say.

At Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, many LGBTQ+ community members have elected to forego the Greek life experience entirely, instead opting to make connections through a group by the name of Transcending Gender.

Formed specifically for their campus, TG is a peer education group open to transgender, nonbinary and identity-questioning students at the university. Through board games, food, thrift shopping and more, TG helps people get involved and have fun in a comfortable environment.

“Building community is hard!” says one member. “People gravitate toward you, and then you build that superstructure.”

Outside of providing a supportive space for its members, TG works to inform other organizations on Washington University’s campus about the needs of all of its gender non-conforming students. The Fraternity and Sorority Resource Guide is linked on their organization webpage, encouraging inclusive growth within all areas of the university. TG also provides resources for students, including a map of gender-inclusive restrooms on campus and an outline of the school’s Preferred Name policy.

Though these organizations have had an overwhelmingly positive impact on their campus communities, neither fill the housing need that draws so many students to Millikin’s Greek life. While Spectrum, a campus LGBTQ+ club, offers Millikin students a safe space, joining a club doesn’t come with a place to sleep at night. Instead, queer students

find themselves with a tough decision: Should they uphold historically problematic institutions in pursuit of cheap housing and good friends, or sacrifice the experience and take out another loan?

Millikin’s chapter of the Alpha Psi Omega fraternity demonstrates how such a housing situation might work. The fraternity does not own a house themselves, but instead rents it from a local landlord. Most members live in the house, but other nonaffiliated students live there as well. If queer students were to similarly pool their money that would otherwise go to chapter dues or apartment payments, they could establish a safe community housing space all together.

It’s time to see an LGBTQ+ Greek organization on Millikin’s campus. Without a national affiliation, students would be free to form their own inclusive traditions, providing a supportive environment and an enjoyable experience for those who might otherwise believe Greek life doesn’t align with their personal values. Housing funds have been built through multicultural organizations before, and an LGBTQ+ group would be no different. As evidenced

by SAE at Millikin, there can be great benefits to having a national board to help with conflict resolution, and students’ devotion to bettering their communities is inspiring. But now is the time to move forward beyond an oppressive system, and students within Millikin’s community have more power than ever before to create change.

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Music Makes Us Stronger

Music brings people together, giving us hope and inspiring us to take action. Think of these songs as your ultimate hype playlist, your pick-me-up, your daily reminder that you are resilient and you will survive. By: Jeana Pierson

1.

“Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)”

by Kelly Clarkson (2011) “Stronger” became an instant hit when it was released in 2011. The writer, Ali Tamposi, explained that the lyrics were inspired by a phrase her mom used to say: “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” While admitting it is a little cheesy, Tamposi feels the song is empowering.

2.

“I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor (1978) With tones of moving on and survival, Gaynor intended this song as an anthem of female empowerment. With the rise of the AIDS epidemic in the ’80s, the LGBTQ+ community found that the song’s message resonated with them, too. Today, “I Will Survive” inspires resilience in many social justice movements.

3.

“Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor (1982) As the theme of “Rocky III,” how could this song not become an anthem of survival? Initially, “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen was supposed to be in the movie, but they declined usage of their song and “Eye of the Tiger” rose to fame.

4.

“Smile” by JAY-Z ft. Gloria Carter (2017) “Smile” reminds us that no matter what happens, we need to keep our heads up and think positively. Jay Z hits on important topics like homophobia, racism and the criminal justice system. We always have the power to smile, and this song ensures we never forget.

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5.

“You Can’t Stop the Beat”

by Hairspray Cast (2002) The “Hairspray” movie musical takes place during the civil rights movement of the ’60s, and this classic song emphasizes the power of overcoming segregation.

Not only does “You Can’t Stop the Beat” spark a huge dance number anywhere you play it, but also symbolizes the power of resilience against oppression.

6.

“Bulletproof” by La Roux (2009) This dance favorite is more than just a hit. Even the title is inspiring, a metaphor for holding strong.

Singer and writer Eleanor Jackson wrote the song in the context of an ex-lover, but it has become much more than a breakup ballad. “Bulletproof” has been featured in multiple movies and shows, including “Pitch Perfect” (2012), as a symbol of resilience.

7.

“I’m Still Standing” by Elton John (1983) The iconic Elton John wrote “I’m Still Standing” after getting over a past relationship. In the lyrics, John talks about pulling the pieces back together, making a comeback and looking like a survivor — a powerful form of resilience.

8.

“Survivor” by Destiny’s Child (2001) After a review compared “Survivor” to the television show by the same title, lead singer Beyoncé Knowles explained that the song was indeed inspired by the reality competition. “Survivor” is all about strength, working hard and not giving up. And if Beyoncé says you can do it, it must be true.

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ENDINGS AND NEW BEGINNINGS

A HEALTHIER TOMORROW

MUSIC MAKES US STRONGER

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LEARNING C

ENDINGS A

HISTORY OF HERBALISM

RESCUING SELF-LOVE

CAPTIVATING CONFIDENCE

MAGAZINE

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CONVERSATIONS MAKE COMMUNITY

SIDE HUSTLE SURVIVAL

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TRANSFERRING IN COVIDS WORLD

GOING GREEK AN LGBTQ PERSPECTIVE

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FINDING MY VOICE

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