Letter from the Managing Editor
Yo, my name is Taylor Duke, I’m from San Francisco, California. I’m your managing editor for this semester and welcome to my leditor.
It feels weird but fulfilling to have this position. I feel like everything is falling into place. Being managing editor is more to me than just giving people assignments and running around like a chicken with its head cut off on layout night. It’s giving a voice to those on campus who don’t feel like they’re being heard. College media is important because it’s a stepping-stone for journalists. It holds our administration accountable, but it’s also the only way you can read news without data miners collecting your data.
College is truly the time where you are finding the “real” you. Remember that a first impression lasts forever. Even with a growing student body, we’re still a small school and you’ll run into everybody.
The semester is starting to settle down and everyone is getting back into routines. I mean, my wait for Tossed is a little longer than normal but for the most part I’m settling back in just fine. This semester has thrown me a new curveball with all of these faces. There are 855 new students this semester compared to the 508 incoming students from the last fall semester. My only advice to you is to remember to be nice and patient to all those new and old faces and the staff working at the eateries on campus. Those workers are people just like you who would appreciate some kindness.
Well, Patriots, that’s all the advice I’ve got for you today. I hope you enjoy this issue because a lot of great staff members and volunteers put everything but their blood and tears into it!
Keep surviving and thriving,
Taylor Duke, Managing Editor
Editor-In-Chief
Mike Krzyston
Managing Editor
Taylor Duke
Faculty Adviser
Jeremiah Massengale
Staff
Emilee Agee
Haley Bullock
Whitney Couch
River DePetris
Makayla Durham
Abigail Fletcher
Leanne Gregory
Alex Nunn
Jenna Rose
Elizabeth Spires
Maranda Young
Front cover by Mike Krzyston
Back cover by Taylor Duke
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UC students react to the fall opening convocation Time to use our gifts
BY ABIGAIL FLETCHER AND MAKAYLA DURHAM Staff Writers
At the beginning of each year, the University of the Cumberlands has a tradition of bringing the campus together for an opening fall convocation. It serves as a way to unify the campus and get students focused on service. This year Dr. Joe Martin used the analogy of a handkerchief, symbolizing gifts the students possess, to inspire students to be a servant this year.
Some students felt that the convocation had a spiritual impact on them. Cassie Poynter, a UC sophomore, says, “I thought that is was the best convo so far! It was challenging spiritually and academically. It was a great charge to start the semester off!” A similar reaction came from Jaclyn Jewell, a UC senior, says, “I loved the speaker and how he relied on the Lord to give him the words to speak. I felt as if UC needed what he brought to us because there are so many lost people here.” Another student felt a spiritual connection through the music that was played at the convocation. Kevin Siler, a UC freshman, says, “It was really well [sung] especially the closing song it was really moving. It felt like everyone was worshipping together as one.”
While some students resonated well with the church-like atmosphere, a few students really connected with Dr. Martin and his speech. Hannah Sizemore, a UC freshman, says, “I really enjoyed the speaker the most. I thought Dr. Martin was well spoken and struck a lot of chords that needed to be struck.” A similar reaction to the speaker came from Brooke Castle, a UC freshman, says, “I thought the speaker did amazing. I thought he had great points that can apply to each student’s life.” Several students felt the content of the speech could apply to their lives. Grant Bryant, a UC sophomore, says, “I thought the convocation was a night of inspiration and appreciation for the legacies left and legacies left to be fulfilled. It challenged me to leave a legacy for myself the next few years I have left at UC after seeing just how big of an impact one person can make on - not only just one person, or one campus, or one community - but the world.”
Although some students really resonated with what Dr. Martin had to say, some students felt the content was triggering to their past. Kyler Kersay, a UC sophomore, says, “At first I thought he was going to help people who are sexual abuse survivors, like me, but no. I get told ‘Thank God for you being sexually abused.’ It could have [just] been [me], but there are a large amount of people who were not happy with it. I thought once again it was my fault for some reason, but it is not.”
In any situation, not everyone is going to share the exact same opinion. The opening convocation tried to promote the idea of service. Dr. Martin used his analogies and personal testimony as a way to inspire. Although some of his personal testimony was heavy and didn’t sit well with others, some students felt a strong inspiration to use their gifts this semester.
Free for all
UC students receive free rental textbooks starting
fall 2020
Following the big decision to cut tuition by 57 percent that went into effect this fall, UC has unveiled a new surprise for returning undergrads living on-campus for the fall of 2020: free textbooks. With the new textbook loan program, as long as students return their rentals at the end of the semester, the cost will be covered.
The news was made public at the first Student Government Association meeting of the semester on Sept. 4th. During the meeting with the SGA, UC’s president Dr. Cockrum confirmed that classes that use online access codes will be applicable for the free rental loan program.
Even though this information was released yesterday, campus is already buzzing about this exciting news coming to UC. Haleigh Howard, a UC junior, says, “I know it’s going to be my senior year, but I’m so excited for it. I wish they would have that for colleges everywhere. It really helps everyone no matter what grade [they are in].”
Though this is super exciting for juniors, sophomores, current freshmen, and incoming freshman, this announcement can be bittersweet for the students that are leaving UC in the fall and spring of this academic year. Simon Robinson, a UC senior, says, “It’s a good opportunity for the students to take advantage of. For me though, I was in majors that I used to have to buy all the books for, and it’s good now that they are finally recognizing that you don’t want to spend like $500 for books a semester.”
UC has made a bunch of huge changes on the academic, physical, and financial side of the university over the past few years and the next year coming up. Something is always changing, and change can be a wonderful thing, especially with the seemingly neverending benefits of all of these changes and adaptations on campus. Students, staff and faculty are excited for what UC will bring to the table in the future.
BY HALEY BULLOCK AND EMILEE AGEE Staff Writers
Photo by Taylor Duke
Speaker Dr. Martin and students listen to Dr. Cockrum open the convocation.
Photo courtesy of UC Communications and Marketing
Swinging back into the semester
some tips to help get you back into the swing of the semester
BY TAYLOR DUKE AND HALEY BULLOCK Managing Editor and Staff Writer
Students at UC are finally feeling the brute force of the school year starting back. Saying goodbye to summer break is always the most bitter goodbye, but here are some tips to make the transition back into the school year a little smoother.
1. Nighty Night
I know that all-nighter sounds really tempting when you’re on page 8 of 10 on an essay that is due at 8 a.m., but catching some shut-eye can be more beneficial to you and your grade than you think. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, sleep loss can lower memory retention, focus and alertness. Taking a break to actually sleep will help your focus in the morning, making those last two pages a piece of cake to crank out. You can help yourself by getting to bed around 30 minutes early every night until you’ve reached your optimal bedtime. For the procrastination part, you’re kind of on your own.
2. Get it Together
I know syllabus week seemed like it was just around the corner but midterms are roughly in 5 weeks. Assignments, projects, presentations, papers and tests are coming at you like Kanye West came for Taylor Swift ten years ago. Grab a planner and write those due dates down. If you’re
not a planner person, try a calendar app for your phone like Google Calendar or Pocket Schedule Planner. Being able to visually see all your events and due dates should help you set aside time to get everything done.
3. Settle Down
Settle down into a routine, not an expeditious marriage. Once you’ve made sure you know where and when your classes are at, figure out a time for everything else. Getting into a routine will help ease some anxiety. I know a life lived in a monotonous routine can be pretty boring, and that is not what I’m suggesting at all, but making time in your schedule to eat lunch, go workout or even to go to that CAB event that looks really cool. Getting back into a routine will help with stress and getting on top of your assignments.
4. Lunch
I know it sounds trivial but think back to being in high school. There were set times for breaks and lunch. Making sure you get food is just as important as getting enough sleep. Taking care of your body allows your brain to pull nutrients so you can focus in class and on homework. Taking breaks to eat lunch also allows your mind to rest before getting back to work. Your brain is a muscle. It needs to refuel and rest. Make sure to
try to eat healthy foods so you can properly fuel up. Harvard Medical School reports that foods like leafy greens, fatty fish, walnuts, berries, tea and coffee are all foods that are linked to better brain power.
5. Kick Back
Classes and extracurriculars are overwhelming, don’t forget to take a break and relax. Studies also show that a 40-minute nap can increase alertness by 34 percent. By relaxing, you’re encouraging blood flow to your brain. Relaxing will help with improving memory, appetite and energy. The worst feeling is being burnt out. I know it can be hard with all of those deadlines looming over your head, but stepping back and taking a break can help you focus when you return to your assignments later. Preventing burnout before it happens is a great way to stay on top of things and to keep your mental health as good as possible. Having burnout is real and you can combat it by doing something you enjoy. Do something you love, hang out with your friends, join a club, or try something new.
Photos by Maranda Young
Maddie Lawson shows off her planner.
Students Amanda Gault and Cassie Pointer enjoy their time while dining in the cafeteria.
Looking back to go forward
Photos by Mike Krzyston
These are some things you’ll learn as you grow. Your story will begin with a journey. You are not going to know who you are yet, and that’s okay, you’re not supposed to know. You are always going to be changing, and those different sides to your personality, whether they be morose, or exuberant, are all a part of you, so don’t feel frightened if you can’t recognize yourself in the mirror anymore.
There will be times during your journey where you’ll hate yourself. You will cry, scream, and tear yourself to pieces mentally over the smallest of things, from a missed requirement for class, to an awkward social interaction. You’ll call yourself a burden because your fears will stop you from participating in activities throughout your journey. You’ll learn, however, that the way you act and feel is nothing to be ashamed of. You’ll learn that your anxieties are a part of you, and that the best way to handle them, is to accept that they will always be with you, understand the symptoms you’re going through, find something to ground yourself with, and to not be afraid to talk to people about the way you feel. You’ll come to find that those mistakes and imperfections you find within yourself are what make you perfect, because every mistake you’ll ever make is an opportunity to learn more not only about who you are, but about who the people around you are as well.
You’ll realize that, no matter what any academic source may say, there is no set standard of excellence you must achieve to reach your dreams, and there is absolutely no person on Earth who is stupid or incapable of learning. You will learn that the difference between learning and knowledge is a sheer veneer line and that, while everyone is capable of learning, individuals who want to be truly knowledgeable in what they’ve learned are those who never wish to cease learning and allow what they’ve already learned to help them see the world through someone else’s eyes.
Finally, you will see that people are capable of doing foolish things, but an action alone does not define who, or what, a person can or will be. So keep going, I can’t wait to see you on the other side.
Sincerely,
The person you are still learning to be.
Advice to the new freshmen
Change happens and that’s okay. You can’t stop it from coming and sometimes you never think it’s going to happen. You get to college and learn new things, meet new people and live in a whole different environment. Fighting the change is when things will get difficult. Instead of going against it learn how to accept it and it just might change you for the better. For a while things will seem spectacular, but it’s like getting a used car, great at first until the problems start to show.
The people you meet when you first go to college might be the friends you have around you forever, but don’t force yourself to be around people that don’t want the best for you. You are at college to get a degree in something you are passionate about, why would you surround yourself with people that don’t want the best for you no matter the sacrifice. From personal experience choosing to stay with friends and play card games knowing you have math homework due that night at midnight might not be the best choice. And if those people pressure you into staying even if they know you have homework, those are not the people you want to be around. Trust me, failing a class because you didn’t want to fail your friends is not a good enough excuse to tell anyone, especially not yourself. Changing friends is something everyone experiences in life. You may grow apart, or have a fight, but either way you are going to meet people you belong with and it might take until the end of sophomore year to do so, but it is so worth it.
Stress is something everyone experiences, and it doesn’t matter if you think you have more stress and problems than anyone else around you. What matters is how you solve the situation. Figuring out a way to release your stress is key to creating a better space for yourself and others around you. This may be cleaning, taking a nap, going for a walk, painting, playing a video game, really anything that will take your mind off of something until you feel more comfortable to tackle the issue. Putting half effort into something because you can’t think may cause more issues then if you take a second, breath, and then come back to it with an open mind. You have to take care of yourself because at the end of the day you matter more than anything else.
BY: MAKAYLA DURHAM Staff Writier
As I grow older and adventure more through my college career, I know that if I could, I would give my freshman-self just a few pieces of advice. Now, don’t let this be confused as me regretting any choices made during my first year. I have been inspired by this quote in the movie, “We’re the Millers,” “No ragrets, not even a single letter?”
The previous quote, in a comical way, is definitely one of the biggest pieces of advice I would give to myself or any other incoming freshman. The first year of college is full of making mistakes. There are only a few ways to deal with these mistakes: dwell on them, learn from them and or grow from them. The past is done and gone, there is no changing that. So why would you dwell on, or regret, actions or words that you cannot make different. Instead, use those mistakes as guidance to make better decisions in your future.
The best way to make a decision that is right for you is to stay open-minded. In fact, I believe that would be a great piece of advice I would give to freshmen. While staying open-minded is important for life altering decisions such as what you might want to major in, it is also important for everyday decisions. These might be: what you want to eat, what route to take to class, whom to have a crush on etc. The times spent in college are some of the most fun and important years of our lives. So remember all of the options available and take time choosing what you want.
After a long day of making decisions, you just need to relax. So, as a final piece of advice that could possibly be the most important one that I could give to my freshman-self, and to everyone else, is to make time for you. School, work, sports, extracurricular activities and many other daily activities can be extremely stressful. So, take an hour or more to de-stress. You could read a book, make a DIY facial mask, take a nap, I recommend 20 minutes to feel energized, paint your favorite animal, dive into prayer and so much more.
As you make this journey through your college years remember to have fun, work hard and help others. You are not your past mistakes, but those mistakes can help you grow and change. Always stay open-minded, whether that’s about your major, who you want to be in a relationship with or even something as small as choosing what to eat. Lastly, take time for yourself. These are going to be the years you’ll reminisce on and how you yourself will give future freshman advice for college.
BY: LEANNE GREGORY Staff Writer BY: MARANDA YOUNG Staff Writer
Review: GINGER by Brockhampton
Brockhampton brings the heat with their new album Ginger
8.5/10
BY MIKE KRZYSTON Editor-In-Chief
The summer of 2017 was a special one not only for Brockhampton, but for hip-hop fans everywhere. Not only did the 15-person collective (selfproclaimed “boy band”) release their debut studio record, they released two follow up records only months apart. “The Saturation Trilogy”, comprised of albums Saturation I, Saturation II and Saturation III was met not only with critical acclaim, but love by fans of all genres. With those first few projects under their belt, it appeared that Brockhampton was picking up where former rap collective Odd Future left off and could potentially leave a legacy with the impact of the Wu-Tang Clan.
With every success story, however, comes controversy. In early 2018 the boy band announced the departure of one of their main artists Ameer Vann due to allegations of sexual misconduct. The announcement was met with split opinion by their fan base and even more uncertainty after the release of Iridescence in August of 2018 received mediocre reviews across the board. Fast forward a year later, the boys have taken almost ten months off to create a project that not only reflects their struggles but their resurgence as well. Ginger, their fifth studio album in two years, puts together all the broken pieces that Iridescence left on the ground. It spans spectrums of rage, love, regret and religion in a concise 45-minute runtime.
For seasoned fans of Brockhampton, the opening track signaled a change in the group—rather than starting off with an overly energetic posse cut, Ginger is opened with the somber and reflective track “NO HALO”, which may be one of the best songs produced by the group thus far. Here, the setting of the album is set with a song about accepting ones imperfections with lyrics like, “Do I matter? I’m ecstatic, I’m depressed/ More like God’s special mess, never had no halo.”
Followed by “SUGAR”, a love song that sounds like it could have topped the R&B charts in the early 2000’s, it’s clear that the boys of Brockhampton are going through some very heavy times. These feelings come to a head in the song “DEARLY DEPARTED”, a bold cut laying out the group’s feelings towards departed member Ameer Vann. Vocalist Dom McLennon airs
out his disgust with Vann on his final verse on the song, rapping about how Vann set up one of his friends to be robbed and kept it a secret their whole friendship, “I do not feel obliged to dismiss the truth because of how I feel about our time/ If I knew what you would do to someone you owe money to, you wouldn’t get a dime.”
The content of Ginger is raw, heartfelt, and emotionally potent, which is all the makings for an absolutely stunning album. Yet, for the casual listener, for the fans that may not know what Brockhampton has been going through this past year, Ginger can come off as a disappointment. What truly hurts this project is the promotion, in which members of the band were marketing it as a summer, feel-good album. With expectations of high-energy “bops”, the songs of Ginger can be a turn off for listeners not knowing what to expect. Take the cover art, for instance, which features two members of the group embraced in a hug—it loudly translates that this album is going to make the listener feel something.
Ginger not only makes the listener feel things, but it challenges the listener as well. As a group that is comprised of members from all around the world, the lyrical content of the album is a melting pot of different types of problems, creating a relatable project for all sorts of demographics. The album closes with the song “VICTOR ROBERTS”, in which new vocalist Victor Roberts delivers an absolutely sobering verse about family struggles and betrayal.
A song about acceptance in the face of struggle, the album is finished with the resonating lyrics, “Thank God, when I talk, I know you listen to me/ Thank God that I’m built for the distance/ Thank God for me.” Regardless of religious beliefs, the boys in Brockhampton are thankful for having fans that not only listen, but empathize with their struggles. If true art is created through pain, Brockhampton came very close to creating a masterpiece.
8.5/10
Encouragement
for a new season
A devotional
BY JENNA ROSE Staff Writer
As human beings, it’s a commonly shared opinion that change is the worst. It can bring feelings of anxiety, uncertainty, sadness, and/ or aggravation. The encouragement for this unavoidable part of life is that Christ is available to guide us through it. Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV) says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
While this is a common verse used among Christians, it should not be overlooked. It is so important to keep the fact that God’s plan is far greater than anything we could imagine for ourselves. Because of this, we should trust that when a specific change in our life doesn’t match what we wanted or our plan, God will provide something better for us that will benefit not only us, but Him as well. I was once given an analogy by a pastor that I will never forget. It went as follows: a young girl had a pearl necklace that she wore all the time. She would never take this necklace off and over time it began to build up dirt and become dingy. Her father would ask every night before she went to bed if he could have her necklace to clean it up, but she refused. Finally, she grew tired of him asking and agreed. As soon as she handed the necklace over her father pulled out a brand new, upgraded necklace and gave it to her.
See, our Heavenly Father wants to give us the best, but we must meet Him somewhere and be willing to give up the comfort of what we know. Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV) says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Another common struggle that we experience when we move on to a new season of life is focusing less on God and more on what we need to do to make our situation better. However, it is important that we focus on serving God in all we do and maintaining our relationship with him. If we put our focus toward these goals, we will feel more peace and understanding than we can create on our own. He is with us and for us, always.
Are you feeling overwhelmed yet? The year is in full-swing. We’ve made our semester goals and plans, but what’s next? We’ll figure out the answers to these life questions together.
Photo by Taylor Duke
Students Alyssa Hamilton and Savanah Wagers gaze into the sunset.
