Big win for Page 6 Dragons The student voice of Hutchinson Community College
www.hutchcollegian.com
October 4, 2019
Vol. 61 Issue 4
Photos by Pablo Sanchez/The Collegian John O’Leary explains his story to the community at the Sports Arena during the Dillon Lecture Series.
O’Leary gives inspiring talk
By Rachel Lyons Staff Writer
In order to be effective, a leader must change the world one life and individual at a time. But, according to John O’Leary, an individual must be willing to transform their mindset
before changing another’s. It took a horrific accident at age 9 for O’Leary to realize that he would need to change his mindset to let go of the negative, and embrace positives that could be made out of every step on his journey. O’Leary’s journey began on Jan. 17, 1987, the day that one action of mimicking kids three years older transpired into a long road to recovery. “As a 9-yearold boy, it is mesmerizing to watch 11-yearold boys light a puddle of gasoline into a dancing pool of fire,’” said O’Leary, who was in Hutchinson on Tuesday
as part of the 2019 Ray and Stella Dillon Lecture Series. However, on that fateful January day, when O’Leary lit a piece of cardboard on fire in his family’s garage while his parents were gone, he would be thrown, by the explosion, against a wall between 15-20 feet away. “That weekend, I got the wrong example in front of me,” O’Leary said. “My father is at work, my mother is out (of) the house. I walk into a garage, bend over a can of gasoline (and) try to pour a little bit of gas on top of a piece of paper that is burning. … Before the liquid, came the fumes.” O’Leary believes that is what we cannot see that hurts us, and what makes events like the Dillon Lecture Series necessary. He said that we train our mind to be ready to complete an
action during a given event, such as stop, drop and roll if you are ever on fire. But the reality is that if the time ever comes that we find ourselves on fire, the fear of the fumes that are now on fire will prevent us from acting how we were previously trained. “... But you love your life, have you students, and have you leaders ever noticed (that) when your life’s going splendidly well, we seldom pause long enough to realize how great it is,” O’Leary said. Often, he said, we miss the small details that show how blessed we are in our day-to-day lives, until our story suddenly changes. But often, in these moments of change, when a child thinks that their parents might kill them, that another’s love overcomes. It becomes the perspective of how one looks at a given situation.
O’Leary gives the example of his father who, as a 41-years old is old to 9-year-old O’Leary, but today 41 years old doesn’t seem that old. Throughout his presentation O’Leary indirectly asks the audience to answer the call, and to have enough of saying no. When asked what his favorite event to speak at was, O’Leary stated that it was talking to prison inmates, such as those at United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, because they are some of the most engaged students. These inmates are broken, but he has found that they are ready to make a change for the better, regardless of the length of any given inmate’s sentence. To be an effective leader is to change the world one
life at a time, because life is short, fragile, and “Essentially, we are all walking miracles”. Being a leader is also about overcoming the impossible, or seemingly impossible, and changing your mindset to adapt to the challenges at hand. It only takes one person to drive a great change that can reveal what is beyond the horizon. Change is necessary to make progress as a nation, especially when our “Epidemic of Loneliness” contributed to more than one million people committing suicide in 2018. From time to time, tears are strengthening, but when no one is willing to stand up for those who otherwise wouldn’t, they become a problem. See O’Leary, Page 5_
Spoopy fall hangout destinations By Tabitha Barr Editor in Chief
Since October has arrived, everyone will soon be thriving in fall sweaters with spoopy decorations in hand. Autumn seems to be the beginning season for people’s holiday moods. It brings cooler temperatures, colorful surroundings and the start of decorating season. Around the same time fall begins, college students are pushing through hard courses and their daily lives. So when it comes to enjoying the fall season, they reach out to places that are the epitome of fall - pumpkin patches, corn mazes, spook walks and more is the perfect place for students to unwind and take in that fall feeling. There are multiple farms and patches that are in the surrounding areas around Hutchinson. Each one has many activities that students, friends, and families can enjoy. When people think of corn maze in the surrounding area, their first thought is the Kanas Maze in Buhler. But with their new experimental sunflower festival this year, they aren’t having a corn maze. But many other places boast fun and entertainment.
Upcoming events
Oct. 5 — Women’s soccer vs. Garden City CC 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. Oct. 7 — Volleyball vs. Pratt CC 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Oct. 10 — Autumn Serenade Concert - Concert Chorale & Wind Symphony 7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. Oct. 11 — Fall Break, College Closed Oct. 12 — Football vs. Coffeyville CC 12 p.m. - 3 p.m.
The happenings around campus
Blue Dragons weekend forecast
Friday — High: 71 Low: 63 Saturday— High: 73 Low: 50 Sunday High: 68 Low: 47
Inside Scoop
Opinion: Page 2 - Laci Sutton brings her take on graduating from a small school Opinion: Page 3 - Competing opinions on flu vaccinations Campus: Page 4 - Free counseling option for Hutchinson Community College students