Witt's party scene

I will have to admit I was much more into the party scene that Witt has to offer my freshman year than I am now. Freshman year I would go out on almost every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, but these days, I average going out about once a week. The problem I have with these parties, and the reason I don't enjoy the big parties on campus much anymore, is that I feel that are just a huge dance party where people get fairly drunk and sometimes make bad decisions. Now, I would prefer to hang out with a smaller group of people that I actually know and enjoy spending my time with. A friend of mine always tells me that going out is a great way to meet new people but I disagree with her. I tried that freshman year, and yes I met a bunch of great new people, but in reality I don't talk to almost all of those people today. None of those friendships were strong because they were all based on drinking and partying. I'm not saying this is everyone's experience, but this is what I have experienced through Witt's partying. I do appreciate that there are always parties on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday to offer students the chance to party though. And I do feel safe when I do attend these parties, but these days it is just not for me anymore.

Witt-trying to save face?

Unfortunately, Wittenberg is going through some hard and trying times currently and the debate is whether the University is handling the situation in the right manner. I have no idea what the right way for Witt to handle this situation is. Yes, they head of Communications sent out a vague email that upset students, but as a PR tactic she did what she should do. But, this upset many students, including myself, because we do have a right to know what is going on, especially in a case like this when the media is all over it. It becomes a safety concern when students are not well-informed of risky situations, especially with the man on Alumni Way. We should have been notified of that the night of, not the next day. I thought that was why we have all of the safety measures in place, such as the text alert system. On the other hand, Witt has the right to remain vague because this is bad press for them and any company in this sort of situation, regarding receiving bad press, will want to hide as much as they can and say as little as possible. I understand this is extremely frustrating for  the student body, myself included, but I feel this is type of situation will occur numerous times throughout our lives. I know when I was on the executive board of my sorority, things would happen that we didn't tell the chapter, or we were vague about. Whether this is right or wrong, I don't know, but I do know that is happens everywhere and that is why there are the people in charge who's job is to handle these sticky situations. But nonetheless, we should all come together as a community, and hope that that things only go upward from here on out.

story ideas

I will admit I have found it to be a bit difficult this time around to think of a few story ideas. Two that I am debating between doing myself are the WittPAC and this week's events by Women in Power. I'm not sure if that is exactly who is sponsoring this week's events but I think it would be a cool story to interview them and see how they think their week's events will impact the campus with all of the recently reported sexual assaults. The second idea I am thinking I might do is the group on campus, Witt Peace Alliance Club that I believe was just formed last year. I might need some more background info on them but I know they are hosting a movie night next Tuesday. I thought it would also be interesting to see how they are handling the sexual assaults as well as other safety concerns on campus, such as the armed man on Alumni Way this weekend. A third idea I thought could be fun was something that dealt with Halloween and how Witt students celebrate and maybe talk to people in Springfield to see what the city does to celebrate in a safe manner.

Drinking on Campus

It is not a secret that Wittenberg is known for their parties, and I am okay with that. I think that everyone is allowed to have a little fun on the weekends as long as you are putting in your time with your other work. I believe Wittenberg students also know how to control themselves, in a sense that it is fairly rare that you hear about someone being sent to the hospital after a night of one too many. I was forewarned about Wittenberg's party habits by not only my father, who graduated from here, but also from my tour guide. He said that students here "work hard, but also party hard." Even though I think that is inappropriate to say on a tour to prospective students, I think he described Witt perfectly. This might just be me, but since I turned 21 I do not like going to the big parties on campus. Nowadays, I prefer to go hang out with my closer friends and have a few and make memories with people I will still know the day after the party, and not just during the party.

Just another class

One thing I love about Witt is the fact that it is a liberal arts school and I have the opportunity to take classes that I would never have the opportunity to take at a large, state school. With that having been said, there is also a downside. The one class I could not stand was for my gen ed requirement and I had no interest in the topic of discussion at all. The class was my geology 110 course that I took the fall of my junior year. I am in no way, shape or form a scientist, nor do I desire to be one, and this professor taught this into level course as if we were all aspiring to be geologists. The crazy thing is he even asked on the first day how many of us were in the geology program, and not one student raised their hand. Essentially, the problem was that the teacher had a hard time simplifying his information to make it easy enough for us to understand. It was also difficult, because even when I would go to meet with him he was not helpful at all. What was reassuring to me though was that I was not alone, and almost everyone in that class felt like they were drowning with no one to save them. On the other hand I have definitely enjoyed more classes than not here at Wittenberg. I would have to say that my all-time favorite at the moment is my horsemanship class that I am currently enrolled in for my gym credit. Every Wednesday our class travels 45 minutes to Marmon Valley Farm where we get to ride horses for two hours. We split our time between trail rides and personalized lessons in the arena which is a great time. I think it is awesome that Witt offers a course like this, which brings me back to my love for the liberal arts education. Below is a picture of me and my horse, Jasmine.