The Collegian, Vol. 140, No. 7

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CMU SECOND SEMESTER OFF AND RUNNING — WELCOME NEW & RETURNING STUDENTS

T HE C OLLEGIAN CENTRAL METHODIST UNIVERSITY • FAYETTE, MO.

Vol. 140 • No. 7

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

www.centralmethodist.edu

Student will study in Argentina Caryn Jackson one of only 30 selected for six-week program

CMU will observe M.L. King holiday

The Central Methodist community will honor the memory of slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. next Monday. There will be no classes that day; however, university offices will be open. Free MLK-Day T-shirts will be given to students during the dining hall lunch hours. Monday also is a legal holiday. All government offices and banks will be closed and there will be no mail delivery. Public schools also will close.

Elsewhere this issue • Careers in a touch economy • Fayette eatery changes • New Ashby-Hodge exhibit • Assistant dean named

Plans for a career in the medical field and a love of Spanish have yielded a special opportunity for Central Methodist University student Caryn Jackson. Jackson is one of 30 students from across the U.S. selected for a six-week study opportunity in Buenos Aires, Argentina, set for May 20-June 30. “This program is perfect,” Jackson said. “It’s so highly competitive, and to be one of 30 chosen just adds to the excitement.” A junior from Fulton with a double major - pre-medicine/biology, and Spanish – Jackson applied for the experience in early November. She learned of it from her advisor, Dr. Michael Tilley, assistant professor of biology. “He (Tilley) saw that it was right up my alley,” Jackson said. As a Spanish major, she is required to do an international study program anyway, and was looking for an experience that combined both medicine and Spanish. The sponsoring group, Espanol y Cultura en Latin America

(ECELA), notified her in late November that she had been chosen. “I was so ecstatic…I screamed, then started calling everyone I could,” she laughed. Jackson referred to her upcoming experience as “medical shadowing.” In other words, participants will work directly with Argentinian health care professionals. They’ll visit clinics, a psychiatric hospital, an emergency response center, a morgue, an infectious disease center, cardiology hospital, and an addiction rehabilitation facility as part of their studies. They’ll spend plenty of time in the classroom as well. Jackson is especially looking forward to a class on Spanish medical terminology. “We’ll be immersed in Argentinian culture,” she said. Jackson noted that she has been studying Spanish for seven years, since her days at Fulton High School. “It’s funny, but I got better grades in Spanish than in English,” she said. “I’m really excited for this

chance to improve my conversational skills; in mid-Missouri, I don’t get many chances to use my Spanish-speaking abilities,” Jackson said. Coincidentally, her Spanish teacher at Fulton was Andrea Ravelo, a native of Buenos Aires. “She (Ravelo) was the first person I called when I was accepted to the program,” Jackson said. “She told me she will be visiting family while I’m there in Buenos Aires, so we will have ample opportunity to spend time together outside of the classroom, in the field she spent years teaching me. I owe her so much of my primary language development.” Jackson plans to go to Argentina a week before the program begins, and stay a week afterward, to “explore Argentina.” She’ll be staying with a soon-to-

Caryn Jackson be-determined family rather than in program housing, again so that she can be fully immersed in the local culture. If it sounds like a busy and ambitious schedule, that’s nothing new for the energetic CMU student. After all, she’s a residence hall assistant at Holt Hall on campus. And president of Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity. And captain of the CMU Color Guard. And a member of the University’s concert band, trombone (Continued on Page 2)

Singer-songwriter Robert Kelly to perform here Thursday By BRITTANEE JACOBS

COLLEGIAN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Robert Kelly, a singer and songwriter from Nashville, will play in the CMU Eagles Nest this Thursday evening beginning at 8:30. During the Christmas break, this reporter had a chance to speak with Kelly about his music and life experiences. Jacobs: How did you get started doing music? Kelly: I grew up near Dallas and wasn’t interested in music until I walked into my church’s youth group when I started seventh grade. They had a band playing worship songs, and I just remember immediately thinking, “that’s what I want to do.” After that, things just kept developing. I thought I wanted to be a country singer for a while, did lots of that, then started playing guitar, followed by writing a song, and the song turned out not to be a country song! And here I am. I graduated from Belmont University two years ago, worked at a bar for a bit to save money to make an album, which came out March 29. Things have been going wonderfully since then. BJ: So is that the bar where the ice-ball making thing comes from? RK: Yes! I was a barback at this fancy bar in Nashville called The Patterson House. They have a lot of different types of ice for various drinks, and I was in charge of making them.

BJ: What are your musical influences? Can you give specific songs, albums, artists, etc.? RK: Well, I listen to a lot of different music, especially now. I think some of the stuff that has influenced me most has been John Mayer’s “Room for Squares,” a band called The Format, and Matt Wertz’s “Twentythree Places.” At the moment, I’m listening to some songs from Imogen Heap’s notyet-released album! I love her. Also a guy named Andrew Belle. His album “The Ladder” was produced by the guy that produced my album “We Are Poetry.” It’s been so wonderful and crazy for Matt and Andrew to become good friends. It’s such a blessing to have people who are a few steps ahead to help guide me. BJ: What are the best and worst parts about playing music for a living? RK: I absolutely love the opportunity to travel. Since I went to Kenya (first out-of-the-country trip) four years ago, I’ve been crazy about seeing the world, meeting new people, and sort of collecting experiences and stories. Most of the time, for music at least, it has been in the U.S., and there are generally old friends wherever I go, who I’m due to catch up with. It works out really well. Sometimes, (Continued on Page 2)

Robert Kelly


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