Status-May 2021

STATUS

May 2021 | Issue 02

1

Table of Contents Page 3...A Letter from Your Editor Page 4...Desk Jockey Alert Page 5...Student Highlights Page 6...Connor’s Bucket List Page 7...Take My Hand Page 10...Pendulum Heart Page 11...Photo Contest Winners Page 12...It’s On Us Page 13...The Light Shines Upon Us Page 14...Not Today Greek Page 15...Living Water Page 16...Leaving Behind a Better Country

2

A Letter from Your Editor

Spring is Here!

A gentle breeze blows softly through the fresh, new, vividly green leaves. The sweet scent of the first bluebell blooms fills the air with its wonderful fragrance. Sparrows and finches flit to-and-fro while singing their songs of joyful praise. Spring, the season of rejuvenation and rejoicing is here!

The dull, dreary days of wintery gloom have finally passed, and once again, we’re surrounded by the nature’s beauty of new life. Colorful butterflies emerge from their carefully camouflaged, wintery cocoons. Spring, the season of rejuvenation and vibrant life has arrived!

A pair of eagles take turns guarding their nest while waiting for their eggs to hatch.

A mother bear with her young cubs ventures out of their den for the first time, and a deer carefully hides her young fawn among the tall, thick underbrush of the forest. Spring, the season of pleasant surprises and new life is here!

Each of the five senses finds something to delight in with the season of spring. For it is a time when the eyes behold beauty and new life; the ears hear music and praise; fingers touch the delicate soft petals of newly bloomed roses; noses smell the wonderful flower’s perfume while lips taste the sweetness of the flower’s nectar.

Daily we discover something new in God’s book of nature. And each new discovery reminds us of God’s love and artistic design. For the winter came before the spring. So in like manner, difficulties came before success.

In order for there to be a time for joy and praise, there was a time of sorrow and sadness.

And in order for there to be new life, there had to be death. In order to live a new life in Christ, we had to die to self.

In order for us to be able to obtain eternal life, Jesus Christ had to sacrifice and die for us.

But just Jesus had to die that we might live, He also lives so that we may live eternally.

Spring, the season of reawakening and rededication is here!

By Aletia Thornton

3

Desk Jockey Alert

By Dr. Michael England

Eye troubles are a common side effect of being a college student. Students spend so much time reading textbooks, writing papers, and staring at lighted screens – computers, social media, online gaming and tv/movie watching – it’s almost inevitable. Eye issues should not be ignored.

Possibly the last thing on a college student’s mind is eye health. But the reality is that eye health should be near the top of a student’s to-do list to prevent vision issues that could negatively affect the academic and social experiences of their college years, and perhaps their lives beyond school.

Although vision generally remains stable during the young adult years, problems may develop without any obvious signs or symptoms. Add in the potential for college-induced eye strain and infections, and it is clear college students should pay attention to their vision.

Staring at a computer screen for hours at a time exposes everyone to blue light, which can cause digital eye strain, disruptions to the circadian rhythm, permanent eye damage and increase the risk of diseases like diabetes or heart disease. According to Santos-Longhurst (2018), screen fatigue has multiple symptoms including headaches, pain around the eyes, dry eye, blurry vision, tired or watery eyes, tiredness, difficulty keeping your eyes open or focused on the meeting, sensitivity to light, and even vertigo.

The 20-20-20 rule is becoming the rule of thumb—Every 20 minutes, look at least 20 feet away for about 20 seconds. Take 20 blinks for good measure. It’s a way to give your eyes a break to relax the eyes and rewet the surfaces.

Finally, stop using devices about an hour before bedtime. The high-energy blue light coming from screens tends to be stimulating to our retinas, telling us to stay awake.

4

Student Highlights

5

Connor’s Bucket List

By Ashlyn Tyler

It was a dark stormy night, Connor’s favorite kind of weather.

It wasn’t exactly the storm itself that Connor looked forward to, but it was what came after. The rain would clear the air, making a beautiful and crisp morning. The wind would blow down the bright orange and yellow leaves from the trees.

Connor loved autumn and looked forward to the possibilities it brought every year.

He never failed to get excited when he watched his classmates go out to pumpkin patches and fall festivals. He would tap away as he watched their stories on social media, feeling the excitement of possibility.

Connor had an entire list of events on an autumn bucket list of what he always wanted to do. He had always wanted to carve pumpkins, go to an apple orchard and make fresh apple cider. He also wanted to take goofy pictures in the leaves with his friends.

These were all things on his bucket list that his parents found on that dark stormy night.

Each of those items remained unchecked, and would remain so until his parents decided to throw it out. Instead of feeling the excitement of possibility during that storm, his parents felt the dread of the morning.

His parents’ heart ached with a hollowness that suffocated them, Connor’s autumn bucket list was only adding on. His parents would never see these things in the same light as Connor ever again. Without their own son, how could they?

That dark stormy night filled them with the dread of burying their son the next morning. They would have to come face to face with everyone that had only claimed him as a friend after he was gone. They would be coming eye to eye with the very individuals who let him comment on their posts, yet never once invited him to join, and with the same people that left him alone during lunch, and never even gave him a happy birthday wish.

His parents could never bring themselves to say anything to them because it would always be too painful to bring up. They knew that they wouldn’t be burying their own son if someone would’ve crossed off something from his bucket list with him.

6

This story won Second Prize for Short Story in the SWAU 2021 Creative Writing Contest.

Take My Hand

By Keith Barrow

“Come on Pooh! You need to keep up.”

“Oh brother, I can only walk so fast.” Daniel spread his feet apart and walked like he was four times his size.

“Oh, you silly bear.” He changed his voice again to try and sound like Christopher Robin. Suddenly, he stopped and looked at his window. What was that? He thought. It sounded like a gunshot. His heart beat faster. He walked over to the window to see what the noise was. “Oh, it was just a bird.” To most people, the bird that hit against the house wouldn’t sound anything like a gunshot. For the fifteen-year-old with autism inside of that blue room, those two sounds have little difference. Not seeing anything else outside he dove back into his imagination.

“Dinner’s ready, everyone come to the dining room.” Mrs. Moore announced a few minutes later.

Daniel grabbed Winnie the Pooh and headed downstairs. When Daniel entered the dining room, Mr. Moore was strapping Jonathan into his high chair and Mrs. Moore had just put the bread on the table and sat down. Daniel took a seat next to his dad just as Kristen and Andrew walked in. When everyone was settled, Mr. Moore blessed the food.

“Okay, let’s bow our heads. Dear Jesus, thank you for the food we are about to eat. Please bless the hands that prepared it.

In your name, we pray, Amen.” Everyone began to serve their plates, but Daniel sat still in his seat. “Hey, where’s my food?”

Daniel crossed his arms.

“Oh, I forgot to heat up your mac and cheese. Hold on I’ll put it in the microwave.” Mrs. Moore got up and disappeared into the kitchen.

“Are you all ready to go to Disneyland tomorrow?” Mr. Moore asked his children as he gave Jonathan some food.

“I was ready last week!” Andrew said with a mouth full of lasagna.

“Ewww, that’s disgusting, close your mouth!” Kristen turned her head in disgust.

“Andrew, come on! You know better than that.” Mr. Moore shook his head in disapproval.

Daniel spoke up eagerly. “I’m ready! I want to see Mickey Mouse!”

Mrs. Moore walked back into the dining room with Daniel’s mac and cheese. “Yeah, I know you are, Danny. That’s all you’ve been talking about these days.” Mrs. Moore set the mac and cheese in front of Daniel and sat down. “This is the last trip you’ll have before starting school.”

Daniel’s smile faded. He squeezed Pooh tighter. School was something that Daniel had tried to forget about. He thought of the time last week when he threw a book right at his mother when she mentioned it. He didn’t mean to hurt her, he just didn’t want to talk about school. He hated any kind of change and this was definitely a big change. “I don’t want to!” he finally blurted out.

Everyone looked at him confused. “What don’t you want Danny?” Mr. Moore said with caution.

“School.”

“You don’t want to go to school?”

“Yes...” Daniel stared at the bowl sitting in front of him that was full of Kraft mac and cheese.

Mr. Moore gave his wife a worried look. She shook her head and they both continued to eat their dinner.

Early the next morning the Moore family packed up the car and headed to Disneyland. It was a four-and-a-half-hour drive from Henderson Nevada. Gazing out the window, Daniel pressed the skip button on his mp3 player to play the next song.

“Dad, can you turn the AC on? It’s getting really hot.” Andrew pleaded. Mr. Moore pulled the windows up in the SUV and turned the AC on.

“Hey, you’re so, ughhh, I hate you!” Daniel clenched his fists and shook them vigorously. What’s wrong with them? Don’t they know the AC makes me go to the bathroom? Daniel thought to himself. He never went to public restrooms because they were filthy and normally there were spiders in the stalls.

“What’s wrong with you?” Kristen shouted back at her older brother.

“Kristen, I don’t need your help.” Mr. Moore looked at Kristen in the rearview mirror, then focused his eyes on Daniel.

“Hey Daniel, you are not going to yell in this car.” Mr. Moore stated in a firm voice.

“I DON’T CARE! Just shut up and open the window!” Daniel’s voice grew louder.

Mrs. Moore tapped her husband just as he was getting ready to respond to Daniel. She turned around and asked in a patient voice, “Daniel, why do you want the windows open?”

“Because I don’t like the air condition.”

Mrs. Moore looked back at her husband and then turned back to look at Daniel. “Okay, why don’t you like the AC?” Daniel slowly started to loosen his tight fists. “Because…” he mumbled.

“Because what?”

“Because I’ll have to go to the bathroom soon.”

Mr. Moore looked at Mrs. Moore in the seat next to him and nodded his head as if a light bulb just went off in his head.

“That’s all you had to tell us, Daniel. Use your words, don’t just yell at us.” Daniel turned back to look out the window. 7

“Did you hear me, Daniel?”

“Okay…” he responded in a whining voice.

Disneyland was crowded with people laughing and screaming with joy. The noise was deafening. At least I have my headphones, Daniel thought. He turned his music up just a little more to try and drown out all of the noise in the theme park. He reached for his mother’s hand and held it tight.

Mrs. Moore gave him a smile. “Are you okay?”

Daniel moved one of the headphones to the side of his ear so he could hear her better. “What?” He blurted out loudly.

“I asked if you were ok.”

“I’m fine,” he sighed. “I’m a little nervous.”

“Nervous about what?” she questioned her son.

“The fireworks, it’s really loud.” Daniel bit his fingers. He felt anxiety from all of the things that were going on around him.

“Daniel, if you don’t want to stay for the fireworks we can leave before they start.”

“I want to stay! I just don’t want to hear them.”

“Okay, just make sure you don’t lose your headphones. If you have your headphones with you the fireworks won’t be too loud.” Daniel’s eyes widened. “Will I still hear them?”

“Maybe a little, but they won’t be loud. The headphones that we got you block out sounds.”

“What does that mean?” he asked, wrinkling his forehead.

“That means you can’t hear what’s going on around you, or things just sound really far away.”

“Ohh..” Daniel loved to watch fireworks, but the loud noises they made scared him. That’s why he liked to watch the fireworks from his house on the Fourth of July instead of at the park. The park was nearby the fireworks which made them louder. He could barely hear the fireworks from the back porch of his house.

“Are you sure you want to stay for the fireworks, Daniel?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“Alright. Come let’s see if we can find Mickey Mouse.” Daniel continued to hold Mrs. Moore’s hand as they walked through the park.

The Moore family had the best time at Disneyland. They saw Goofy, Elsa and Anna, Flynn Rider, Tinker Bell, Cinderella, and many others. They also saw Mickey Mouse, which made Daniel extremely happy. They got on almost all of the rides in the park and watched the Disneyland Parade.

The sun had started to set and there were fewer people at the park, although it was still decently crowded.

“Hey Dad, can I go on that one?” Andrew pointed to a dome-shaped building. “It’s called Space Mountain. All of my friends told me I have to try it!”

“Sure, I’ll go with you.” Mr. Moore started to take off the baby carrier that Jonathan was sitting in.

“I’ll go too,” Kristen chimed in. She turned to look at Daniel. “You coming?”

“Um, sure.” Daniel let go of Mrs. Moore’s hand to follow his younger sister.

“Daniel, wait for your father!” Mrs. Moore shouted as Mr. Moore finished strapping the baby carrier to her.

“Alright let’s go!” Mr. Moore motioned to his kids.

Andrew walked well in front of them as he headed into the line. Daniel’s excitement grew. He enjoyed roller coasters, there wasn’t any ride that he was afraid to go on. Unless there were things that jumped out at him on the ride. Daniel grabbed his father’s hand as they got closer to the coaster. He felt nervous from all of the different emotions that were rushing through him. They stood in line for almost an hour waiting to get on the Space Mountain roller coaster. Daniel held his dad’s hand the entire time. He noticed the looks that people gave him. He was glad that his dad was willing to hold his hand. Otherwise, he would have felt overwhelmed.

Finally, it was their turn and the four of them boarded the roller coaster.

“Put your headphones over there in the basket, Daniel. You can get it when we get off.”

Daniel walked to the other side of the ride. He placed his mp3 player and headphones into the basket that held personal belongings.

“Do you want to sit on the edge or in the middle?” Mr. Moore asked Daniel when he finished putting his headphones away.

“Um, I guess the middle.”

Mr. Moore let Daniel walk passed him before he took a seat on the outside of the roller coaster. “You ready?”

“Yes,” Daniel answered as he lowered his harness.

When the roller coaster started to move, everyone cheered. “Yeah!” Daniel yelled along with everyone else on the ride. The coaster slowly started its ascent. When the ride reached the top of the rails everyone was quiet. Then, suddenly, the coast raced down the track and everyone screamed. “Ahh!! Yeah!!! Let’s go!!!” After a series of twist and turns, the roller coaster came to a stop and everyone got off.

“WOW! That was sick!” Andrew shouted as he jumped onto the platform.

“That was definitely my favorite ride!” Kristen exclaimed while fixing her hair.

“Did you like that ride Danny?”

Daniel smiled wide as he answered his father’s question. “Yes! It was so fast!”

8 it sure was.”

“Yeah,

When they exited the big dome, the sun was almost gone. They quickly found Mrs. Moore and Jonathan and looked for a place to watch the fireworks. They found a nice place near the water that had a few benches.

“We can watch the fireworks from here.” Mr. Moore laid his backpack on one of the tables.

“Can I go closer to the water?”

“Sure Andrew, but be careful.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Daniel headed towards the water.

“Wait up!” Kristen called after her brother. “I’m coming with you.”

Daniel took a seat at the table with his parents. He didn’t feel like running anymore, he was too tired from walking all day.

He kicked his feet back and forth in his chair and began to zone out into his own imagination.

“You might want to put your headphones on in a few minutes Daniel, the fireworks are going to start soon,” Mrs. Moore advised while she took baby Jonathan from Mr. Moore.

Daniel reached for his neck to put his headphones over his head. Suddenly, his heart stopped and for a second he couldn’t move. Where is it? he wondered. He ran his hands down his shirt and patted his pants pocket. He looked all around him searching everyone with his eyes.

Mrs. Moore noticed the frantic boy. “What’s wrong?”

“My headphones! Where are they?”

Mr. Moore looked up immediately from his phone. “Wait, what?”

“I can’t find my headphones!” At that moment, Daniel was overwhelmed with anxiety and fear. His worst fear had come true. He made sure that he always had his headphones with him and now they were gone.

“Okay, where did you last see them?” Mrs. Moore looked through her bag.

“I don’t know!”

“Think Daniel! Where did you last have them? Did you ever take them off?”

At this point, Daniel was so scared he just wanted to cry. His mind raced with emotions and he couldn’t think straight. I just want mom to be quiet and find my headphones. He thought.

Mr. and Mrs. Moore continued to ask Daniel questions about his headphones. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore. He covered his ears with his hands and bit his tongue.

“SHUT UP!!!!!”

Daniel’s father quickly responded to him. “Don’t tell us to shut up! We are trying to help you!”

“JUST FIND MY HEADPHONES!!”

“Daniel, you won’t...”

“SHUT UP!!!”

“HEY! You were the one who lost them, I don’t have to help you!”

With that, Daniel threw his brother’s toy, Lightning McQueen, right at his father. Too many people were talking to him at the same time, so he found the closest thing to him and just threw it. All Daniel wanted was for his parents to stop asking questions and find a solution to the problem. The fireworks were going to start soon after all.

Mr. Moore was holding his chest where the car had it. “What’s wrong with you?!”

Daniel’s eyes filled with tears. “Leave me alone!” He put his face on the table and just cried with his hands covering his ears. He knew what he did was wrong, but he didn’t know how to tell his parents what he was feeling. Mr. Moore stood up, still groaning in pain. He angrily told Mrs. Moore that he was going to check in the lost and found. Mrs. Moore stayed in her chair holding baby Jonathan.

Fifteen minutes later, Mr. Moore returned holding Daniel’s headphones. “They were in the lost and found. A worker turned it in about 30 minutes ago.” Mr. Moore handed the headphones to Daniel. “What do you say?” Mr. Moore asked firmly.

“Thank you.” Daniel took his headphones and put them over his ears. He knew that his father was still upset with him. “I’m sorry Dad,” he mumbled, waiting for his father’s response.

Mr. Moore looked down at his son. “It’s okay, Daniel. You have to learn how to use your words! We can’t keep doing this.”

“Okay.” Daniel turned back to look at the water.

Five minutes after Daniel got his headphones back, the fireworks started. Kristen and Andrew ran back to the benches to join the rest of their family. Daniel couldn’t hear anything, which made him feel a lot better. Wow! It’s so cool! He thought. Mrs. Moore took Daniel’s hand and smiled at him. He smiled back, grateful for her forgiving spirit. Then, they both turned back towards the sky to enjoy the fireworks.

9

This poem won First Prize for Poetry in the SWAU 2021 Creative Writing Contest.

Pendulum Heart

By Valerie Pichot

Sometimes my heart swings in my hollow chest like a pendulum, hanging from a string.

Like a grandfather clock, it swings to the rhythm of its own infinity.

Some nights it grows heavy from the weight it carries and it slows.

And time stands still— The waters breathe quiet.

The moon, awake and crying in the night.

Some nights it grows tired of the fragility in its blood and it rages.

It throws time to the wind— The waters roar angry.

The sea, a raging pit of salty desperation.

And some nights my heart does not stir at all and I wish it would.

Sometimes my heart swings in my hollow chest like a pendulum and I wonder what it would feel like to cut the string it clings to.

10

Photo Contest Winners!

1st Place by Vitor Monteiro

2nd Place by Samantha Szelest

3rd Place by Michaela Lazarus 11

“It’s On Us”

12

The Light Shines Upon Us

By Taylor Pool

The light can be blinding sometimes, but it fills the whole world with warmth. How it brushes my cheeks as the tears of sorrow and terror stains my face. The warmth of the sun feels like it is beaming its rays on every single one of us, both, the good and the bad. The warmth is what helps me survive the chaos that I am currently caught in. A banging sound erupts the quiet, broken house. I rush across the room trying to make little to no noise at all. I spot a small book that my momma gave me when she was in one of her good moods.

I run over and pick up the slowly decaying book while my heart begins to beat faster and faster. As I make my way back to my bed, a crash sounds from outside the bedroom. I cover my mouth, as to not let another sound come out or the tall, scary monster would come in the room.

With my heart in my throat, I go back to my bed, and I hold onto the one thing that keeps me grounded.

At the end of every day, as my momma brought me to my room, she would say “the world is cruel”. She said that the terrifying and sinister monster was mean to everyone because he, himself, was lost in a sea of violence that he probably wouldn’t be able to come out of. Why would she believe that though? The man whose hands were always warm, who had a smile that would light up the whole room, kept me company as the bloodcurdling screams of the monster kept me awake during the quiet hours of the night.

It was strange because the man that sat by my side was the man that I read about all the time in my little book that momma gave me. He was everything that the book said, and he made the darkness of that small room light up like the twinkling stars of the night sky. He was the light that would chase the shadows of the dark away. The darkness may try to swallow us, but the light will be the guiding hand to take us away from the dark. The light will shine upon us soon.

13

Not Today, Greek

By Portia Ameyaw

Oh, what a beautiful day it was when we walked through the rose gardens with our hands clasped tight together and our steps perfectly in-sync. The sweet sentiments that he whispered in my ears and the laughter we shared was just wonderful. As we walked together, I prayed a little prayer to the Lord, “Please let him be the one for me.” Throughout my single years, I have cried out to my Savior with the request that He would send me the one that my heart longs for. Now it looked like God had heard my prayers and answered me. Or at least, that was what I thought in the beginning of our relationship while we were going on cute dates and romantic walks. The best part was that this man loved the Lord as much as I did; and he was kind to everyone he met.

But the sad truth of the matter was that like many people in our world today, my handsome, faithful man was wearing a mask that hid his true nature. When Greek was around me, he checked every box on the long list I had made and prayed for in a partner. I am a person with good intuition, so after a few weeks of dating without any odd feelings, I sang-out my joyful hallelujahs and starting to really enjoy my new relationship with Greek. Little did I know how quickly things would change.

One Wednesday afternoon, while we were picnicking in the park, Greek got a text message that left him very upset. Noticing his distress, I proceeded to ask him about the text message; and to my surprise, he raised his voice and yelled at me. This stunned me, because Greek had never raised his voice at me before. Later that night after we had both returned to our respective homes, Greek called and apologized for raising his voice at me. He told me something happened at work which had him upset. I accepted his apology. “After all,” I thought “we all get mad once in a while, so no big deal.” The days that passed after this unpleasant incident were strange, because Greek started raising his voice and yelling at me again and again over such simple, silly things. The moment that alerted me to the dangers of continuing my relationship with Greek occurred two weeks after the picnic incident. Greek swung his hand and nearly hit me while we were having a disagreement.

Luckily, I managed to dodge his attempted punch so I didn’t get hit in my face. But that was enough.

If this was not a red flag, then call me color-blind.

The Bible tells me that love is not easily angered and that it always protects others. Unless Webster’s Dictionary updated recently and defined the act of throwing hands at someone as protecting them, then count me out. I prayed about the situation, and the Holy Spirit impressed me to let Greek go; and I am so glad that I did. Three days later, when I went to break up with Greek, this handsome, angry fellow began to threaten me and swing his hands in an attempt to hit me. I left as quickly as I could. The very next day I went to court and got a restraining order. Then I praised God for saving me from a potentially bad situation.

God had rescued me from the trap that a man who was a wolf in a sheep’s coat, had started to skillfully set once he came into my life. Now, I was safe and free.

14

Living Water

By Dr. Ken Shaw

Thomas Fuller, an English historian from the 17th century, once wrote “We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.” We all shared that dry well experience in February when after a challenging week of snow, ice, subzero temperatures and switching to online classes once again, our well literally went dry when access to running water was interrupted for a weekend.

There are many lessons to be learned from the events that occurred this past year.

Hopefully we have learned not to take things for granted – from the conveniences like toilet paper and hand sanitizer, to the necessities such as water and electricity.

Most important of all, I pray we have learned not to let our spiritual well go dry.

Every day, as I walk to my office in the Larry R. Moore Nursing & Administration Building, I pass a beautiful large Nathan Greene painting in the lobby. It is entitled, “Living Waters.” This painting depicts Jesus pouring water from a large vase and as a result the proliferation of life abounds. I am reminded that His life-sustaining well will never run dry as His supply is boundless. Relying on Him when the storms of life temporarily paralyze us will provide peace, grant courage, strengthen resolve, and cause gratitude!

I am blessed to be a part of the wonderful Southwestern community who values the Living Water, whose well never runs dry!

15

Leaving Behind a Better Country Anonymous

“To Leave Behind a Country Better Than the One We Were Left.”

Before COVID, my family and I would go on family vacations and stay in Air-B-n-B’s.

Since they didn’t have maids like hotels would, my mom would always remind us to leave the room better than when we first came. This was a way to show respect and to make sure that the person after us would have a clean, enjoyable stay, despite our own experience.

On January 20, 2021, we were inspired by the words of Amanda Gorman, reminding us to, “leave behind a country better than the one we were left.” As someone familiar to the phrase, it was a reminder that everybody has a different perspective of America. Some may believe it is the greatest country in the world, while others believe it is a country that is unable to recognize its wrongs. Despite your perspective of America, if we all have the goal to leave it better than what we had, our America would look much different.

We don’t need to wait for political figures to make the changes that we want to see.

If we believe in creating a better tomorrow for others, we can begin with figuring out what we dislike, and change it. Sometimes it is easier said than done; however, every powerful change that has taken place in this country began with one person that wanted to make the America they knew different. So as citizens, or residents, of this country that has given us so many opportunities, may we allow our respect and love turn into actions that will create a better America for those after us.

16