April 3, 2017

Page 1

Monday, A pr il 3, 2 017

C a l P o l y, S a n L u i s O b i s p o

w w w. m u s t a n g n e w s . n e t

E s t a b l i s h e d 19 16

No Wildflower?

No problem.

R ACE ON

KAORI | COURTE SY PHOTO

| The triathlon team usually travels just north of San Luis Obispo county to Lake San Antonio to compete in the Wildflower Triathlon. Due to its cancellation, the team will now travel to Napa to compete in the HITS race.

Triathlon team heads to Napa Erik Engle @ erik_engle

As the blistering summer sun beat down on what was left of Lake San Antonio and the golden hills surrounding the ever-shrinking body of water, junior software engineer and Cal Poly Triathlon team President Jake Pickett leapt from the cool reservoir and sprinted toward more than 2,000 bicycles. “I’ll be able to finish the race,”

Pickett thought to himself. “I’m not going to drown this time.” Still sopping from his mile-long swim, Pickett quickly hopped on his TT bike, firmly gripped the rubber surrounding the carbon-fiber frame and sped off through the rolling hillside just moments ahead of the pack of thousands of triathletes behind him. Pickett bobbed and weaved through the 25 mile-long trail with confidence. It’s his favorite part of

the race and, for Pickett, much easier than the other two legs of the grueling Wildflower Triathlon. Dry from the sun’s relentless rays, he came to the second and final transition of the race — a six-mile run. Pickett parked his bike and dashed toward the finish line with the thought of crossing it motivating him every step of the way. He was physically exhausted as he came to the most treacherous portion of the run: a one mile up-

hill climb. Just as he wanted to give up, he was showered with cheers from the race’s volunteers, many of whom were current Cal Poly students and alumni. “If you were racing in a Cal Poly kit, it did not matter who you were, the volunteers were going to cheer for you,” Pickett said. “The race itself was so hard and a brutal course, but it made it 10 times better having those volunteers there cheering for you.”

This is Pickett’s favorite memory of the Wildflower Triathlon, one of the largest events of its kind in the world. At its peak in 2007, it attracted more than 7,000 athletes from all corners of the globe. Wildflower is also the apex of the Cal Poly Triathlon Team’s season. But it has been cancelled for 2017. TRI TEAM continued on page 16

A look at mental illness in college Cassandra Garibay @ CPMustangNews

Should I stay or should I go: The move after graduation LAUREN PARRISH | COURTE SY PHOTO

SLO TO SF | Lauren Parrish moved immediately to San Francisco for a job, with only 15 days to find housing, after graduating from Cal Poly in 2015. Katelyn Piziali Special to Mustang News

The choice isn’t always clear for soon-to-be graduates – move back home or start somewhere new? Often, graduates believe becoming successful requires moving away to a new city to begin their post-graduate lives. This idea keeps many from moving back home in fear of being seen as a failure. But for some Cal Poly students, location isn’t the key to success. Finding fulfillment in San Francisco “You have two weeks to move.”

It was Dec. 19, 2016, and Lauren Parrish, who graduated in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in English, just received the news of a lifetime — she got the job. With that elation, however, came a reality check. She had exactly 15 days to move from San Luis Obispo to San Francisco where she would be sitting in the office chair she occupies today. It was an overwhelming task for Parrish, but the small-town girl from Madera, California was determined to live it large in the city. With merely two weeks to find somewhere to live, Parrish and her mom drove up to San Francisco in search of a

quick solution. By a stroke of luck, Parrish was able to view an apartment, get approved and sign a lease all in one day. She moved in on New Year’s Day and began working Jan. 3, 2017. Now that Parrish is two years out of college and living in San Francisco, she sees how the perceived success that comes from working right out of college isn’t necessarily what everyone is achieving, she said. “Once you actually get out of college a little further, you realize that people are still figuring out what they’re doing a year or two later,” Parrish said. “A lot of my

friends have been kind of honest and upfront, like, ‘I don’t really know what I’m doing.’” Even though Parrish didn’t move back home herself, she can see why others choose that route, she said. “A lot of people think it’s a failure, but with perspective now, it’s pretty smart to move home for a while and save money,” Parrish said. “I know even some of my coworkers now live at home because they just happen to be from the [San Francisco] Bay Area, so I think it has its advantages.” POST GRAD continued on page 2

Most freshmen walk into their first quarters with high expectations for their social and academic lives. Kelly Harding, now a business administration senior, was no different. After all, college is supposed to be the best four years of your life. Yet best does not always mean happiest. Harding was diagnosed with depression and anxiety in middle school. Throughout high school, she went to counseling with the support of her parents, but in college she wanted to start anew. “I kind of thought that maybe my depression was just a phase in high school,” Harding said. Unfortunately, mental illnesses do not work that way. Harding did not know

PUPPIES

how to address her depression because she felt an overwhelming pressure to be happy. So instead, she pushed it aside and avoided speaking about it around her friends. In spring of her freshman year, Harding decided to return home to Oregon due to the severity of her depression. “Something my mom told me when I was choosing to leave Cal Poly is, ‘If you were in a car accident and had broken both your legs and your arms, nobody would judge you for leaving school, because you wouldn’t have the ability to do your work,’” Harding said. “And that’s kind of what depression is. It’s debilitating in so many aspects. Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there.” INSIGHT continued on page 3

ANDREW EPPERSON | MUSTA NG NE W S

| Kennedy Library brings puppies to campus each quarter.

News 1-3 | Back to School 6-7 | Arts 10-12 | Opinion 14 | Classifieds 15 | Sports 16


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