ISSUE 13 | SPRING 2014
DARING TO BE
DIF F E RENT
JIGGY YOON’S JOURNEY TO SELF-ACCEPTANCE
BLAST FROM THE PAST
TATTED UP...
A LOOK AT PENN STATE CHEERLEADING UNIFORMS
NOW WHAT?
FA S H I O N S TAT E
Jadah Bird SPILLS HER BEAUTY SECRETS
OF THE UNION
The Center for Arts and Crafts offers a variety of art classes such as pottery, painting, drawing and even workshops in recycled art. Classes are offered during the Summer, Spring, and Fall and memberships are available as well. Students receive a discount with a valid PSU student ID. Ceramics memberships are available as well.
Spring classes will start January 2014
GET I N T HE THE
HAPPY VALL EY STAT E O F M I N D
Employment opportunities, work-study & instructor positions available.
Center for Arts & Crafts 3 Ritenour Building 814.863.0611 craftcenter@psu.edu studentaffairs.psu.edu/hub/craftcenter
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352 E . Co l l eg e Aven u e 8 14 . 2 37.1946 M o n d ay to S atu rd ay 10 a . m. to 9p. m. S u n d ay 10a . m. to 6 p. m. 3
28. Whodunit? Mystery Stains Scratch and sniff no more.
beauty & health 11. Lipstick 101 The ultimate guide to the perfect pout. 12. Yoga Your Way Find your zen when everything else gets too crazy. 13. Effortless Summer Beauty 15. Jadah Bird: Uncovered This freshman is a campus celebrity, and she gave us all of her secrets.
TA B L E
16. What’s your Workout Style? Find out which exercise best fits your personality.
entertainment 17. The After-Effect of Disney
OF
18. Throw-a-Party: Kentucky Derby Valley gets down and Derby. 20. Summer Trips for your Budget.
CONTENTS
21. Sunny Tunes for Sunny Days. 22. The Wondershop Showdown An inside look at the ska-gressive band. 23. Off the Grid Chronicling the struggles of giving up social media.
self-improvement 25. Tattoos in the Workplace 26. Shaping your Future Your major choice has major life impact. 27. Is a Gap Year for you? How will you optimize the time?
29. College Crisis Our popular web column returns to print.
campus culture 33. Blast from the Past: A look at Penn State Cheerleading Uniforms We’ve made a few changes since the 1920s. 34. Stuff you Didn’t Know About your Favorite Professors 35. Promise Rings How promising is a promise ring? 36. Devin Tomb From Valley to SELF Magazine, a former Valley Editor-in-Chief is living her dreams. 37. LGBTA Awesome Allies Because it’s important for everyone to feel included. 38. Daring to be Different Meet our Spring 2014 Cover Girl. 46. Killing a Part of you A Penn State student talks about a little-known issue: female genital mutilation.
SPRING
2014 ISSUE #
THIRTEEN
fashion 49. Fashion State of the Union Address 50. Rave over Radiant Orchid Step aside Tangerine Tango, Radiant Orchid is in. The color of the year takes over State College. 51. The Bathing Suit Shuffle 52. Do-It-Yourself American Flag Shorts Who doesn’t love red, white and blue? 54. Game On Spring 2014 Fashion Spread.
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editorial division
business division
Editor-in-Chief / President: Leah Polakoff Design Director: Dillyn Duryea Photography Director: Orhan Yilmaz Web Director: Amanda Hunt Managing Editor: Samantha Allen Copy Editor: Corinne Fierro
Business Director: Kelly Jackson Advertising Director: Cassandra Nissi Events Director: Sami Taylor PR/Marketing Director: Marisa Simone Finance Director: Kayla Sredni
A DV E R T I S I N G
Beauty & Health Editor: Crystal Jones Campus Culture Editor: Natasha Tereschak Entertainment Editor: Christina Monteleone Self-Improvement Editor: Amelia Friedrichs Fashion Editor: Anna Marmorstein Web Photo Editor: Sam Florio Stylist: Molly Ferguson Assistant Stylists: Nikki Rose, Laura Barbosa
Rachael Kline, Julia Hummel, Carolyn Lanza, Grace Nissi, Rachel Reid, Annie Ryan, Katie Seibert, Cara Wallace
E V E N T S M A N AG E M E N T
Hannah Zavacky, Jessica Romberger, Bridget Lo, Natasha Cooper, Chellsy Costello, Julie Carson, Dana Singer, Haley Burnside, Lora Taylor Dolan, Erica Petrone, Brittany Goldman, Samantha Outlaw, Fatmata Kumala, Lauren Hill, Ann Meyers, Katelyn Dandrea
FINANCE
Madison Sarnowski, Katie Levine, Jamie Brichke, Jenna Rosen, Christina Sirolli, Amanda Hackney, Emily Hoover, Jordyn Kreshover, Samantha Chou, Kirstin Ratcliffe, Tykia McWilliams
PRINT WRITERS
P U B L I C R E L AT I O N S A N D M A R K E T I N G
Kasumi Hirokawa, Erica Kasan, Raychel Shipley, Katie Wall, Kelly Gibson, Paige Gurski, Amy Chilcott
Jessica Stefanowicz, Brooke Weidenfeld, Lindsay Meyers, Danielle Sampsell, Kasey Lam, Emily Grabowski, Alesha Lorca, Allie Debor, Kate Perkins
WEB WRITERS Jillian Selzer, Sabrina Evans, Jennifer Meyers, Steven Lynch, Sara Ware, Margaret O’Brien, Sarah Kim
B OA R D O F A DV I S E R S
P H OTO G R A P H Y
Pamela Monk, Ron Smith, Jill Shockey
Alex O’Brien, Sam Florio, Jonathan Hsieh, Jessi Korch, Victoria Oberdorf, Ziyan Sha, Sabine Clermont, Jose Ponte, Lauren Johnson, Ashley Zucker, Gabby Mannino, Lauren Duncan, Kyle Biller, Jacob Skoglund
GRAPHIC DESIGN Rachael Miller, Emily Zendel, Gabrielle Kalus, Angela Strock, Kailyn Moore, Kendall Spangler, Sarah Urquhart, Jamie Avino, Sara Silversmith
Photos by Orhan Yilmaz
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The content and opinions of this publication reside solely with the authors and not the Pennsylvania State University or the University Park Allocation Committee.
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A girl should be two things:
classy fabulous.
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
- Coco Chanel
This semester we’re trying something different. For our thirteenth issue, Valley is going to break some rules. Forget tradition and forget coloring in the lines. Lucky number 13 marks a turnabout. A school as large as Penn State is the perfect representation of a variety of cultures, a mixture of races and a conglomerate of social class. Valley embraces this diversity, and we want you, our readers, to know that we strive to represent this melting pot of culture in the best way that we can. I’m beyond ecstatic to present to you our spring 2014 cover girl, Jiggy Yoon, who in my opinion is a kick-ass embodiment of everything our campus stands for. Jiggy has faced dilemmas that laugh in the face of the daily college “crisis.” Check out her story (pg. 38) to see how she has overcome struggles that most students couldn’t imagine.
Photo by Orhan Yilmaz
MAKEUP . MANICURES . WAXING UP-DOS & SPECIALTY HAIR
Dress bracelets from Connections. 8 and www.valleymagazinepsu.com | Spring 2014 Ring owned by the stylist.
While I’ve only had a short amount of time to get to know her, to say that Jiggy has made an impact on my life is an understatement. Never before had I met someone so strong-willed, so positive and so determined to conquer her demons. She is the perfect role model for girls and boys alike, and is the exact reason why you should never judge a book by its cover.
When you see a girl walking down the street wearing boys clothes and sporting a Mohawk, don’t be so quick to make assumptions. While your first reaction might be to say she’s masculine, why not first ask, “I wonder what her childhood was like?” Instead of instantly labeling the homeless man asleep on the bench as a lazy bum, why not first ask, “Did he lose his job because of the economy?” When you see someone of a different race sitting next to you in class, don’t shrug them off because they’re different. Ask that person a question, or grab coffee after class. Because why not? I challenge you Valley readers, to go out and make a new friend. Strike up a conversation with someone you normally wouldn’t hang out with. Because hey, you never know what their story entails. How much longer do you have at the melting pot known as Penn State? Make the best of it while you can. Being on Valley for the past three years has surely had an influence on my college career. Through the stress of deadlines, writing, editing (and then rewriting and more editing) and meetings after meetings, my favorite part isn’t putting out a beautiful publication. It’s meeting people like you on campus, getting to interview students with
stories I couldn’t even dream of, and then sharing that story with the world. I want to thank you Penn State, for giving us the opportunity to share your story. I hope that throughout the production process, we were able to articulate the culture of Happy Valley. With that, I want to thank the entire Valley staff for all of their hard work this semester. None of this would have been possible without you guys. Special thanks to Amanda, Sami and Corinne for keeping my crazy ideas in check, being the support system I needed and always lending a hand. Thanks to Orhan and Dillyn for your creative eyes and all of the impeccable designs and photographs. And thanks to Kelly, Sami, Cassandra and Marissa for holding down the fort and being the business foundation of the magazine. Continue to share your stories with me, Valley readers. Because I hope that someday, I can share your story with the world. Thanks for reading. All my best,
Leah Polakoff 9
BEAUT Y & HEALTH N A M E : Kate Densmore H O M E T O W N : Pittsburgh, Pa. M A J O R : Nursing Y E A R : Senior
FITTING IN FITNESS “I definitely have room to improve. My busy schedule doesn't leave a lot of room for going to the gym or cooking all the time, so I have to carve out time where I can. My Crock-Pot saves my life. I can put something in and have a meal in minutes. Luckily, the apartment complex I live at has a gym, so I spend 30 minutes on the treadmill or whatever just to get some exercise in.”
luscious lips 101
N U M B E R O N E H E A LT H Y H A B I T “De-stressing is essential. If you're stressed, you're not going to feel like making a healthy meal, or going to the gym, or hanging out with friends and playing basketball or whatever. When you clear your mind and you're not overwhelmed…that's when you can do things. To de-stress, I normally talk to people. I have amazing friends and an amazing family. I call my mom a lot just to talk and vent about my day. Having a support network is important.”
By Erica Kasan
S AV I N G L I V E S “Taking a CPR class is essential. It saves lives every single day instead of having to wait for someone or an ambulance to come. If it was your mom or dad, you'd want someone there to know what to do. It's easy and quick to learn.
Your lips are a delicate part of your face that need proper and constant care. Makeup artist Kelly Clark broke down the three-step process to having gorgeous and healthy lips.
“The biggest thing [when performing CPR] is to compress fast and hard. We're always told in the class to not be afraid to 'turn their chest to mush' or break a rib because that can be what saves someone.”
moisturization:
By Crystal Jones
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Photo by Orhan Yilmaz
It's a different culture there. There were seven patients all in one room, no bathroom or anything. Here patients would be outraged if they didn't have a private room with a bathroom and decent food and heat. Parents would sleep on the sidewalk outside [in Ecuador] because there wasn't room inside for them to be with their kids. It really reminds you of how fortunate we are here in America to have access to this health care.”
Photo by Victoria Oberdorf
FOR THE KIDS “I was selected to go to Ecuador with the Hershey Park Group. We went down to the pediatric hospital and performed open-heart surgeries. One of our patients wasn't even born when we got there; our youngest patient was 30 hours old. I worked 12-hour shifts every day in the intensive care unit for ten days.
This first step is easily neglected. Clark recommends swiping a washcloth over your lips while in the shower to remove dead skin. Lips age and dry up just as the rest of our skin does, resulting in fine lines. “Exfoliating and locking in moisture will speed down aging,” Clark says. Look for key ingredients in a moisturizer including avocado oil, beeswax and a high SPF—Clark recommends the brands Burt’s Bees and EOS.
lip-liner:
A couple years ago, the lip liner trend was applying a darker shade to your lip. Today, it’s popular to apply a lip liner that’s equal to your skin tone, and then blend it into your lipstick color. With a lip liner, Clark says it is easy to make your lips look fuller. You can also fill in your whole lip with your desired lipstick, blend lip liner the same color as your skin and complete the look with lip gloss. “Adding a little lip color on your face adds color to your skin and gives you a healthy hue,” Clark says.
lip color:
Lip stains are great for rich color and shiny saturation on your lips. Blotting lipsticks gives your lips a matte look. However, blotting is a personal preference. Lip color can find its way onto your teeth, so be cautious while applying it to your lips. Valley recommends carrying a small mirror around at all times, which makes it easy to check those pearly whites.
If you want to make an appointment with Kelly Clark or more makeup tip and tricks, visit www. kellyclarkmakeupartist.com or call (814) 441-6815.
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effortless
SUMMER BEAUTY We all want to look beautiful in the most uncomplicated way, as if we stepped straight out of the shower and into our flip-flops. Paige Gurski researches simple, yet effective ways to achieve this au naturale look.
By Anna Marmorstein
Find your zen amidst the crazy world of homework, meetings and classes. College is stressful, and with so many obligations, we often forget about ourselves. Participating in yoga is great for not only your physical health, but mental health. Luckily, State College has an array of yoga options. “It’s not just on the mat. It’s on life,” says Laura Van Velsor, instructor at Lila Yoga. At Lila Yoga (103 E. Beaver Ave.), yoga truly is a way of life. Students there practice Vinyasa yoga, which is a mixture of Hatha (physical), Raja Bhakti (devotional) yoga. This combination allows students to focus on their internal energy rather than the quality of the physical poses. Van Velsor says that students should try less to achieve more. Lila encourages students to implement these practices in everyday life. She says students should devote their time to participat-
ing in activities they are passionate about. At Lotus Center Yoga (129 S. Pugh St.), students practice Kripalu yoga to achieve balance in their lives. This type of yoga centers on cultivating internal focus through deep meditation. Karen Caswell Sapia, teacher and longtime practitioner of Kripalu yoga, says she is focused on helping people to find balance in their lives, whether it’s by eating healthier or exercising more. She even held a class to help writers get their creative juices flowing. Try giving your hectic schedule and occupied mind a rest with Kripalu yoga. A few sessions will be cleansing and allow fresh, positive thoughts to blossom. If staying on campus is a priority, check out the Yoga and Integral Living Club. President Maria Balcazar says they practice pranayama (breathing exercises) and asana (physical yoga practice). These techniques help to connect the mind, body and self. Through pranayama and asana, students will learn to see more of the bigger picture.
As the temperature
“Instead of going straight into a headstand, make your body feel as if you were doing a headstand,” Balcazar says. Students must trust the yoga experience, as they should trust events happening in their lives. This concept relates well to the everyday struggles students face. For example, getting rejected after a dream interview shouldn’t inhibit motivation, but rather act as a speed bump on the way to reaching their final destination. In addition to yoga classes, the Yoga and Integral Living club offers State of the Soul discussion sessions. This is an open space where students can talk about anything and everything. Students converse about topics that aren’t usually talked about in day-today. Take a few minutes out of your jam-packed schedule to relax with any of the many yoga options offered in State College. It will do wonders for both your mind and body.
rises, it beckons us to trade in our thick foundation and heavy styling products for a lighter, summertime look. However, this type of beauty takes some behind-the-scenes effort. Follow these five steps to achieve that uncomplicated, yet gorgeous
1.
Your beauty product shelf should reflect the rising sun. In other words, keep it light. How do you expect to get any color on cheeks that are coated with thick foundation? Instead, find a BB Cream that works for you. Garnier’s Miracle Skin Renew BB Cream ($12.95 at CVS) is one of Valley’s favorites.
2.
3.
Do you plan on smiling a lot this summer? Incorporate a bit of baking soda into your brushing routine to whiten your smile. Add a little to your toothbrush (mixed with your toothpaste) and proceed to brush. Only do this two or three times a week —the whitening effect is very strong, and if used too often it will weaken your teeth and add a grey tint to those pearly whites.
4.
Maybe you don’t live by the ocean, but that doesn’t mean your hair can’t sport those beachy waves. Use this Pintrest-inspired DIY Sea Salt Spray concoction to create the perfect Baywatch hair.
Run, walk or shimmy your booty. Just get that body moving! Working out will give you a healthy, natural glow, which of course, is better than baking in the sun.
Combine two cups of hot water, one tablespoon of salt, one tablespoon of coconut oil and one tablespoon of hair gel or conditioner in a plastic spray bottle.
If you go au naturale with your eye makeup in the summer, we salute you. However, if you can’t part with your mascara, try Lights-Camera-Splashes Waterproof Mascara by Tarte ($23 at ULTA). This mascara won’t budge, no matter how long you’re swimming in the ocean.
Spray the product throughout your hair and then massage it into your scalp for 10 minutes to get maximum results.
5.
Pro Tip:
Brighten your eyes by lining the inner rims of your eyes with a white eye pencil before applying mascara. The elusive art of ‘looking good without looking like you’re trying to look good’ is not so difficult once you find a routine that works for you. With these tips, this summer can be spent with minimal time in front of the mirror and maximum time with your friends.
Photo by Orhan Yilmaz
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Photo by Kyle Biller
warm-weather style.
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J ADA H B I R D : UNCOVERED
What’s Your Workout Style? YOU SEE THEM RUNNIN’…AND YOU’RE PROBABLY HATING. BUT WITH THEIR PICTURE-PERFECT BODIES AND APPROPRIATELY COLORED SPORTS BRAS, YOU’LL NEVER CATCH THEM RIDIN’ DIRTY. IF YOU’RE NOT THE TYPE TO FLAUNT YOUR STUFF ON A RUN AROUND CAMPUS, KELLY GIBSON HELPS YOU FIGURE OUT WHICH WORKOUT STYLE BEST FITS YOU.
By Samantha Allen
Freshman Jadah Bird is a campus celebrity who is taking the modeling world by storm. With those curly locks and bright eyes, you can’t deny that the girl is flawless…and she’s giving us all her secrets.
If you’re secretly the Incredible Hulk..…
VALLEY (V): WHAT DO YOU DO TO MAKE YOUR HAIR SO GORGEOUS AND PERFECTLY CURLED?
V: How would you style your hair for a date night? 14
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Penn State professor of exercise and sport science Scott Kretchmar says that playing sports has a higher risk of injury, but the benefits may increase your overall happiness.
JB: I would definitely start off by washing my hair, and it takes a good 30 minutes to brush it. After that, I would put the leave-in conditioner in and my Got2 gel, and I use a diffuser—my roommate just showed me that—and it’s the best thing ever. V: How about makeup? JB: I start by wearing this foundation by Make Up For Ever, and I put a yellow correcting concealer (Clinique Redness Solutions Targeted Corrector) on my eyes to battle dark circles. I put on neutral eye shadow, like the Naked 3 Palette, winged eyeliner, mascara and curl my lashes. I would dramatize my eyebrows and make them more arched with brow mousse. I would use Laura Mercier blush to finish. V: How do you get your face to look so airbrushed? JB: In the morning I just wash my face with Clarisonic Daily Clarifying Cleanser. I use
Spring 2014
“I like to do things because they are meaningful or fun, not because they are good for me,” Kretchmar says. “That’s one of the great things about physical activity. If you can find some activity that is meaningful and fun, you get a ‘two for one’ with having a better quality of life and better health.”
that in the morning and at night. I feel like the most important thing people look at is your face, and you don’t want to have any blemishes. At nighttime I’d use makeup remover wipes. There has to be salicylic acid in it, and I would use a face brush (that’s what the Clarisonic product goes on) called the Clarisonic Mia2 that’s amazing. I do it for one minute, 20 seconds per zone on my face. I use a toner by Neutrogena with a cotton swab.
Looking for your outlet? The Intramural Building on campus is open daily from 7:30 a.m. until midnight, complete with volleyball and basketball courts among other forms of recreation. So, give up trying to run like a model, and go kick some serious tail as a Nittany Lion athlete.
V: What is your daily makeup regimen? JB: I would put on powder foundation and mascara and I’d go to class. I don’t wear a lot when I go to class! Jadah Bird is becoming a face our campus knows well, and she’s just getting started.
If you’re a party animal..… Photo by Ashley Zucker
Jadah Bird (JB) : In the winter it dries up a bit, so what I have to do is put in leavein conditioner. I use LivingProof Restore Conditioner and I use Got2b Kinkier curling spray gel. Those are the most amazing products.
It’s not easy being green, and if you are the type of chick that gets really heated (or has occasional spurts of destructive human strength), letting out your super aggression through a competitive sport might be a good workout fit for you.
Photo by Gabby Mannino
“When every little girl looks at models, she thinks, ‘she’s so pretty. I want to be like her,’” says freshman Jadah Bird, Instagram celebrity and aspiring model. While Bird is only a freshman, she has quite a presence on campus. With almost 382,000 followers on Instagram, she’s turning heads with her beauty and graceful modeling. “I’ve gone all over Maryland, I’ve gone to this little place in Chicago—lots of places,” Bird says. The list goes on, including New York, Florida, Texas, Jamaica and Mexico. Her modeling contributes to her huge popularity, but what takes her to the next level is her knack for makeup tutorials and gorgeous ringlet curls. “I always knew how to do makeup because I wanted to be an artist…but it’s a hard profession, so I became an artist on my face,” Bird says. “I did my first YouTube video last year at this time because everyone asked me how I did my hair—how I style it every day—so I made a video.” We decided to do ourselves a favor and ask Bird about her makeup application, skin and hair care, and we’re so glad we did.
Love nothing more than a good beat on a Saturday night or the feeling of being in crowded rooms full of strangers? While you can hit up Indigo on the weekends, you need a similarly satisfying dance workout during the week.
The White Building holds daily Zumba and Power Remix classes, offering students a chance to dance their way to a new healthy lifestyle. Junior Julie Kittka, fitness instructor at the White Building, says Zumba is not only more fun and social than the traditional gym workout, but also a great way to work out your entire body. “It’s a complete cardiovascular workout. The songs we dance vary to increase the heart rate and slow it down, to create an effective physiological workout and effective movement,” Kittka says. “The music is also a great motivator.”
If you’re secretly allergic to the outside world..…
“Insanity teaches you formal techniques and how to work out without using any weights. It involves a ton of jumping and cardio nonstop,” Shaffert says. “I can notice that my arms are leaner and more toned, and my abs are becoming more defined. It’s hard at first but gets easier every day.” Working out is not for everyone. We’re all different, we all look different, and we all have our own unique style for doing just about everything. So whether you’re an Incredible Hulk, love dancing like an animal or just hate wearing pants, there’s always a way to stay fit and enjoy yourself. It’s just all about finding the right way for you.
We get it. The gym is just too far away, and you might even pass some great food joints on the way that would further distract you from your unfortunate objective. When you get there, you’re surrounded by guys measuring each other’s biceps…and it can just be plain uncomfortable. However, there are still ways of toning your soonto-be hot bod without putting on real pants and leaving your living room (although we do recommend wearing actual pants). Junior Karly Shaffert recently participated in Insanity, a twomonth, full body workout that you can buy online and do at home in your living room.
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Disney
The After-Effect of
ENTERTAINMENT N A M E : Richie Hume H O M E T O W N : Ridgefield, Ct.
WHO KNEW OUR CHILDHOOD FAVORITES WOULD HAVE SUCH AN IMPACT?
M A J O R : Supply Chain Management Y E A R : Senior
EVEN IF WE DON’T WATCH THEM ANYMORE, ALMOST EVERYBODY CAN STILL NAME THEIR FAVORITE DISNEY MOVIE FROM THEIR YOUTH. NATASHA TERESCHAK TALKS TO SOME PENN STATE STUDENTS ABOUT THEIR FAVORITE DISNEY MOVIE AND HOW THE MESSAGE AFFECTS THEM TODAY.
W H AT H E D O E S Singer, songwriter and guitarist Richie Hume is not just your typical good-looking musician at Penn State. He is also a business major, a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity, and how could we forget, about to tour the U.S. with the JJ Rupp Band. Hume has a natural country star aura. He loves to make music as well as perform it, and he does it all very well.
loved to read and I loved to read growing up,” says Gaynor. She says she also loved “Mulan” because while Disney always had different cultures, she thought this one was cool.
WHERE THE MUSIC COMES FROM “My dad is my biggest inspiration, even though that sounds cliché, and my buddy Brian. He was the drummer in my high school band. Now, he’s a Marine and is about to leave for Afghanistan. He hasn’t been able to play as much because he’s fighting for our freedom, freedom to play music, which inspires me to work as hard as I can.”
“‘Mulan’ was awesome because she was so independent. She wasn’t a princess waiting to be saved,” says Gaynor.
“‘The Lion King’ was such a good story,” says Zimmerman, “Timone and Pumba raising a kid – that’s fun. And Hakuna Matata – that’s how I live my life.”
Gaynor thinks that both movies influenced her life today, especially with reference to Belle since Gaynor is a journalism major.
As for “Aladdin”, Zimmerman says that movie taught him that you can’t lie in a relationship.
CHANGE OF HEART “I’m a supply chain major but I kind of just want to put the old major in the back pocket for a back-up plan. I’m really looking forward to seeing what’s ahead and traveling and meeting a ton of different people. I’m looking forward to just having a good time, ‘cause when you play music, every night feels like Friday night and that’s the best thing you could ask for.”
“I try to be as independent as possible,” says Gaynor, referencing Mulan, “I’m sure the exposure when I was younger had something to do with that.”
“Jasmine couldn’t fall in love with Aladdin unless he was himself,” he says.“That’s what Genie said – be yourself.”
We really grew up in an amazing time period in terms of our movies. While some of us will always love the classics (“Snow White”, “Cinderella”, “Sleeping Beauty”) the more “recent” (i.e. past 25ish years of Disney) are the best, hands-down. “Beauty and the Beast”, “Hercules”, “The Lion King”, “Mulan” and “101 Dalmatians” amongst our generation’s favorites, and for good reason.
P O S T- G R A D D R E A M S “All I really want is to make a living playing music. It’s kind of my reason for waking up in the morning. This summer I’ll be playing with the band all down the east coast. I’ve written over 30 songs, with four officially on the Internet. My goal is to write 100 songs.”
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Photo by Ashley Zucker
Photo by Sabine Clermont
www.valleymagazinepsu.com
Women aren’t the only people who have
Who would have ever thought that our favorite “little kid” movies would impact us as people so much today?
While Snow White, Cinderella and Aurora are fine people, those princesses were very reliant on men. Snow White and Aurora can’t wake up without “true love’s kiss,” and Cinderella is rescued by a prince. The more recent Disney movies feature strong male and female characters that have impacted our lives.
By Christina Monteleone
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had a Disney influence. Jayson Zimmerman, a sophomore majoring in hotel, restaurant and institutional management, says his two favorite Disney movies were “The Lion King” and “Aladdin”.
Rachelle Gaynor, a junior majoring in journalism, says that her favorite movie when she was younger was “Beauty and the Beast”. “I secretly wanted to be Belle because she
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K ENTUC KY DE R BY
T H R OW-A- PA R T Y wRITTEN BY AMANDA HUNT
THRO
ATTIRE
Anyone who has ever watched the Kentucky Derby broadcast on TV or seen pictures knows there is a very traditional dress code. Big hats for the ladies, bow ties for the gentlemen and a sea of bright pastels and florals painting the renowned Churchill Downs grandstand. Look to celebrity Derby goers for inspiration such as Lauren Conrad, Miranda Lambert and Luke Bryan. Also, bonus points to any partygoer willing to dress up as a jockey.
DECORATIONS
Not everyone could afford to buy a fancy hat for the party? No worries! Provide props, easy to make with construction paper cutouts taped to a wooden stick. Your guests will love the opportunity to take fun, silly photos with friends. Use the Kentucky Derby’s quirks and clichés to your advantage! Place nametags at the door and tell guests to come up with their most creative racehorse name, which works great as a conversation starter. Compete for the Triple Crown with a series of games or place a bet for the most eccentric hat of the evening.
FOOD & DRINK
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The music you select will be dependent upon the atmosphere you are looking for. For a more sophisticated gathering, pull together a playlist of more traditional songs, including such Derby Day classics as “My Old Kentucky Home” and “Run for the Roses.” Though when in doubt, you can never go wrong throwing on some good ‘ole country.
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decorations.
Think spectator snacks, but more refined. Set out trays of finger foods, like cheeses and crackers, and to appeal to your guest’s cravings for sweets, small pop-in-your-mouth candies or brownies. To drink, add authenticity by mixing together refreshing mint juleps – a popular Southern cocktail recipe, and the official drink of the Kentucky Derby.
Photos by Alex O’Brien
Dubbed “The Fastest 2 Minutes in Sports,” the race itself is over in a flash, and it’s all about the victory lap at the end. Center your decorations on this celebration: construct a makeshift finish line strung with pennants and competition ribbons – and if you think you’re overdoing it with roses and flower arrangements, you are on the right track.
ACTIVITIES
W-A-
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SUNNY TUNES
TRIPS FOR EVERY BUDGET WHICH TRIP IS RIGHT FOR YOU?
SUMMER IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER, AND IT’S TIME TO PUT TOGETHER THE PERFECT JAM PLAYLIST. SUMMER IS ALL ABOUT TAKING A BREAK FROM THE CHAOS OF COLLEGE, LETTING YOUR HAIR DOWN AND HAVING A GOOD TIME. VALLEY’S GOT YOU COVERED WITH A SUMMER PLAYLIST YOU’LL KEEP ON REPEAT.
By Katie Wall
By Amy Chilcott
LOUNGING BY THE P OOL
Pompeii by Bastille
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[ 2 ]
GETTING R E A DY F OR A N I GH T OUT
Helicopter by Martin Garrix & Firebeatz [ 11 ]
Burn by Ellie Goulding
Tennis Court
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by Lorde JAMMIN’ IN THE CAR
JET-SETTIN G OF F ON VACATI ON
Girls/Girls/Boys by Panic! At The Disco
Big Jet Plane by Angus and Julia Stone
I Love It by Icona Pop
Summer Paradise by Simple Plan (ft. Sean Paul)
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GETTING P UMP ED UP FOR YOUR SUMMER INTER NSHIP
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P R ETEN D I N G I T’S W I N TE R BECAUSE TH E S UM M E R H E AT
Work Bitch by Britney Spears [ 5 ]
SINCE WE SPEND EIGHT MONTHS OUT OF THE YEAR IN STATE COLLEGE, SUMMER BREAK IS THE PERFECT TIME TO GET AWAY WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY. WHETHER YOU’RE LOOKING TO TAKE A BUDGET-FRIENDLY TRIP OR A EUROPEAN EXTRAVAGANZA, VALLEY WILL BREAK DOWN TRIPS FOR EVERY BUDGET. For those of you looking to take a vacation this summer and not break the bank, don’t worry, there are plenty of options.
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3. Find an all-inclusive resort. If you’re looking to take a trip outside of the U.S. but don’t want to spend every last penny you have, an all-inclusive resort might be for you. While some all-inclusive resorts can be on the more expensive end, it’s all about finding the right resorts. There are all-inclusive resorts out there that offer rooms for $70-$150/night in places like Jamaica, The Dominican Republic, Panama and Mexico. For those of you willing to dish out a little more money on your vacation, we’ve got you covered as well.
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2. Go to Europe. If you’re looking to take a trip to Europe this summer, the biggest expense is the airfare. Once you’re past that, you can do a fairly budget-friendly trip through Europe. Traveling within Europe is relatively cheap, whether you’re taking a train or flying. Staying in hostels is also a great option. There are nice hostels out there, you just have to do a little research. Having a summer break to brag about isn’t out of reach. Figure out your budget and your idea of fun, and you’re already halfway there—all you have left to do is wait.
[ 6 ]
Eye of the Tiger by Survivor
Sweater Weather by The Neighbourhood
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In Like A Lion (Always Winter) by Relient K
OLD-TIME SUMMER LOVE
Kiss Me by Sixpence None The Richer [ 7 ]
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How Long Will I Love You by Ellie Goulding
LY ING IN THE GR ASS & BLOCKING OUT THE WOR LD Photo by Jose Ponte
1. Tour your own city. This first idea might sound a little cliché. However, most people don’t think to explore their own stomping grounds. Surely some New Yorkers have never toured the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty. Take a day or two and explore all of the wonders your town or city has to offer, no matter how big or small.
2. Go on a camping trip. For the most part, vacations are not “relaxing;” there’s always so much to do and see everywhere you go. Take a camping trip with friends or family to get away from your day-to day-activities and enjoy a peaceful trip in the great outdoors. Mother Nature has a lot to offer at a very low cost.
1. Book a cruise. A cruise can be a great way to see the world at a relatively cheap price for all that’s included. There are also many different options for cruises; it’s all a matter of finding one that suits you. Cruises can cost over $600/person, but if you book your cruise last minute, you can get a trip for nearly half the regular price. After a certain point, they’re just trying to fill the ship.
IS GET TI N G TOO M UCH
SKATEBOA RD I N G ROUN D TH E NEIGHBORH OOD STRE E TS W I TH FR IENDS (À L A V E N I CE , CA )
Cool Kids by Echosmith
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Team by Lorde
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Ain’t It Fun by Paramore
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Girls (All Around The World) by Reece Mastin 21
e h t f of
GR I D
The Wondershop Showdown
Four days. Three social media outlets. One major case of FOMO. Raychel Shipley bravely gives up social media for four days to explore what it’s like to spend some time off the grid.
Day 1 No Facebook, no Twitter and no Instagram. Totally doable, right? Wrong. I didn’t realize how big of a social media addict I was until today. What I also realized is that social media has become a habit. Bored in class? Refresh the Twitter feed. Waiting for an appointment? Check Instagram. Feeling awkward? Scroll through Facebook. These outlets have become our comfort, and I’m not quite sure if that’s a good thing. Actually, I’m pretty positive that it’s a bad thing. For years, we’re talking years, humans were able to survive without the Internet or smart phones. Now, we can’t imagine
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contribute even in that small way to such an incredible cause was definitely a once in a lifetime experience.” 2013 was a huge year for the band. After performing at THON, they released their debut album, “A Night at the Movies.” Working with Marc Frigo, a recording engineer from Nashville, the band came together to write 12 original songs. The album itself is upbeat and has a definitive sound. “There were a lot of long days and nights spent in that studio and a lot of bickering about the little things, but we couldn’t be happier with the end result,” says Gonzalez. Since graduation last year, the band has had to scale back their performances. Getting everyone together for gigs is a bigger challenge this year but, despite the challenges, Gonzalez says The Wondershop Showdown isn’t finished. “It’s hard to say where Wondershop is going in the future,” he says. “But I think I can say with some certainty that we’re not going away.”
Social Media: 1, Raychel: 0.
Day 2 I swear there is an internal itch that causes me to break the boundaries that I have set for myself. The addiction is real, and there is a definitive ranking of social media outlets. I have ranked them for you according to my desire: 1. Instagram: The insta-addiction is fueled by a desire to be cool. Don’t disagree with me. We all secretly know this to be true. Cool filters, cool captions, artsy angles that make our lives seem a little more interesting than they actually are. Here’s the thing, though: we all know life isn’t actually how it is perfectly perceived through our iPhone camera lens. So why do we buy into it? We all want to believe we are cool. Most of the
time, we aren’t. 2. Facebook: I don’t know why I keep accidentally logging on to Facebook. I open my web browser and it is the first website I visit. The thing is that Facebook actually isn’t that awesome. I think I keep going back to it for the thrill of having a notification. Yep, that’s definitely it. 3. Twitter: Sometimes I find Twitter annoying in the first place, so I’m really not suffering any major loss in the tweet department. Will keep you updated.
Day 3 Admittedly, I’m doing a really bad job at this, but I think that means there’s something to be said about our dependency on social media. It’s ridiculous that I can’t go a day without checking my accounts, and I’m actually kicking myself for it. The dependency goes beyond looking to social media for entertainment purposes. I think we go onto social media for self-assurance. We want to keep up with the norms, the styles, the trends. And, hey, maybe we want to show off a little bit. Maybe the perfect solution for this is to step away from what everyone else is doing and focus on ourselves for a little while.
Day 4 It feels incredible to rid yourself of distractions. It’s a lot easier for me to get things done now that I have an excuse not to be in constant contact with people. I’m learning to enjoy the moment I’m in, rather than immediately answer phone calls and texts.
Photo by Jessi Korch
From playing at various venues around State College, house shows, Movin’ On and THON 2013, The Wondershop Showdown has done it all. The band, all Penn State students, released their first album last year, “A Night at the Movies.” Founding members, Kyle Ennis and Tim Gould, met in 2010 at Movin’ On while watching the band, Less Than Jake. After the Movin’ On performance, the two were inspired to start a ska band of their own and began recruiting friends to join. The two friends managed to add nine other members to form the band, including trombonist, Tim Gonzalez. “Despite coming from a variety of musical and social backgrounds, everyone worked and played very well together, and brought
their own unique flavor to the group,” says senior Gonzalez. “It’s been really fun watching the band evolve as each new member is added.” The band describes its members as “ska-gressive”, which according to Gonzalez is “basically ska music, but with a very heavy rock/punk/progressive influence.” Ska, a genre that originated in Jamaica in the 1950s, experienced resurgence in the 80s and 90s with the formation of popular ska bands including Reel Big Fish, Less Than Jake, and Sublime. The Wondershop Showdown cites these bands as influences, along with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Young the Giant and Rx Bandits. Playing at THON was one dream the band set out to achieve, and this dream came true last year when they were chosen to play at THON 2013. Gonzalez describes playing at THON as absolutely unbelievable and unforgettable. “We worked hard and never lost sight of the goal, and one day in February there we were, standing on the BJC stage,” Gonzalez says. “To be able to share our music and
Photo by Kyle Biller
For four years, The Wondershop Showdown has been doing nothing but showing up the competition. Amy Chilcott delves into the wonders of this eclectic band.
life without ’em. I couldn’t even go a day without them.
If you’ve got to get something done, get it done. Although it’s hard, the phone honestly can wait for a while. It’s an addiction, but you can fight it.
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SELF-IMPROVEMENT N A M E : Elizabeth Peter H O M E T O W N : Harrisburg, Pa. M A J O R : Telecommunications
Tattoos are becoming less taboo among our generation, but that doesn’t mean that you can go into the job market showing off your ink. Natasha Tereschak asks professionals what you should consider before you get inked and what to do if you already have.
Y E A R : Junior W H AT S H E D O E S President of Essence of Joy, Essence of Joy THON member, Technical Director of Penn State Television Network’s newscast PSN News, WPSU sports production intern and active member of Navigators.
In a world full of colorful and large tattoos, weird-looking piercings that make your grandmother cry and other forms of body modification. However, it appears that our generation is either forgetting that we have to enter the job market sooner rather than later, or are simply taking for granted the fact that everybody is doing the same thing. While tattoos are certainly becoming less taboo, some companies are still against them. “It’s a matter of preference on the interviewer’s part,” says Bob Martin, assistant dean for internships and career placement in the College of Communications. “If they find it to be a concern, they’re going to hold it against you.” Martin says a place that employers and interviewers easily notice a tattoo is the inside of the wrists. “I would recommend to cover it up,” he says. “I have seen tattoos on the inside of wrists, and it’s funny because the students try to cover it up.” While Martin doesn’t mind nor judge students on their tattoos, he says it is different in a professional company setting. “You want to be judged on your merit, not something like a tattoo,” says Martin. “Once you’re there you can see how they feel about them.” For those of us who are inked, we know
A TRUE LEADER “There’s something challenging about being a student leader that other members of an organization don’t get to see. They don’t see the side of balancing, being the one in charge and being a friend. It’s something that demands patience, respect, kindness and a lot of self-reflection. It’s really cool when people trust you as not only a person in charge but also as a friend. I think that’s rare to find.” CHANGE OF HEART “I really wanted to be a physical therapist. I have no regrets in my life. As a leader you need to know when to move forward and when to put things in the past and move on to the next thing. Yes, the past helps you to make decisions in the future, but you can’t let it cloud your judgment from moving on. So that has really helped me to stop thinking about the past and what could have been. I could have been a great physical therapist, but now I’m in a new place, I’m using different types of my gifts and I’m excelling.” ‘PEOPLE ARE MY THING’ “I am who I am today because of people. People are my thing. All these organizations and all the stuff that we do in life, yeah that’s great. But the real point to all of it is the people. People drive you to be better and inspire you to go farther. In the end, if I don’t get some amazing job in my life that’s okay with me, because I know I’ve loved others and that others have loved me.”
Photo by Lauren Duncan
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that covering up can sometimes be easier the situation and wear what’s appropriate – said than done. Luckily, there’s a store in what you think is going to work,” Steinbach downtown State College that can help you says. nail your interview while still having tattoos. Martin says he agrees. “I always tell Connections, on Allen Street, is the area’s people to ere on the side of caution in a go-to destination for business professional situation like this,” he says, “Don’t give clothing. Owner Bob Steinbach says that the someone a reason to disqualify you.” right clothing will look professional while Neither Martin nor Steinbach are covering a tattoo. For example, a business trying to dissuade anybody from getting a casual, long sleeved shirt will cover up (sensible) tattoo. almost any tattoo. “There is an increasing prevalence It’s harder to cover up tattoos on your feet, of tattoos in our society,” says Martin, but it isn’t impossible. Steinbach says all you “Perhaps, down the road, things will change.” have to do is wear suit pants with shoes that don’t show any of your feet. While pants may be a disappointment to the ladies who want to wear a business skirt and pantyhose, these won’t show any foot or ankle tattoos. The most important factor, however, is assessing the job situation. “I think the best thing to do is appraise
Photo by Alex O’Brien
By Amelia Friedrichs
NOW WHAT?
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IS A GAP YEAR FOR YOU?
SHAPING YOUR FUTURE
By Kasumi Hirokawa
If you think about it, it’s as though college shapes your destiny, which can be a scary thought. You may change your major several times before you find one that interests you, but being able to find the right major may be more crucial to your career than you realize. Dr. J. Randall Woolridge, a finance professor at Penn State, says that you have to do something that you have a passion for and enjoy. “If you’re in a major you don’t enjoy and don’t like, you’re not going to work hard and it’s not going to interest you,” he says. 26
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Woolridge studied economics as an undergrad, but soon realized that finance is what he liked studying. “It’s tough trying to find what you like… you think you should major in one thing and you don’t enjoy that,” says Woolridge. “Usually students can figure it out through classes.” With finding the right major comes finding the right job. “I think a lot of times people find jobs and it’s not the job they want…and sometimes you have to take a job you don’t want,” says Woolridge. If you have to take a job that you didn’t see yourself doing, be patient. Sometimes it takes time before you can reach your goal of finding a job that you truly love. Woolridge’s advice to students is to network to learn about jobs and careers. Through networking, people tend to see things they like, and through networking you can learn a lot about possible jobs.
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A gap year can be the perfect option for taking a break from the hassle of the real world, but only if you know how to optimize it.
Take a moment and picture your ideal career. It doesn’t have to be something relating to your major right now—it can be anything that interests you and that you’d enjoy day-in and day-out. Every morning you wake up and get out of bed to go to your job, it should be something you want to do ¬ not something you dread to do.
After four stressful years of pursuing degrees, we often find ourselves wondering, “What’s next?” Jeff Garis, senior director at Bank of America Career Services Center, talks about the benefits and drawbacks of taking a year off after graduating college.
“If you’re miserable driving to work on your way to your job, you’ll be happy when you leave at the end of the day and go home…but you have to go back the next day. You better find another job,” says Woolridge.
“Even if it’s going to Hawaii and running a scuba shop, you can show the result on your resume,” Garis says. “From the career development perspective, I don’t see a problem with taking a year off.”
Too often people take jobs for financial reasons. Sure, finances are of importance to most of us. However, if you’re not happy at your job, reconsider things – it may not be worth it. While everyone has his or her own idea of what success means, Woolridge defines success in his own words: “[Success] is something you enjoy: financial success, family success, being healthy and in terms of jobs, it’s doing something you enjoy and makes you happy.”
Photo by Jacob Skoglund
FINDING THE RIGHT MAJOR AND CAREER MAY BE ONE OF THE HARDEST DECISIONS YOU WILL EVER HAVE TO MAKE. KATIE WALL TALKS TO EXPERTS ON MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FOUR YEARS AS AN UNDERGRADUATE.
According to Garis, there are two types of gap years: proactive and reactive. A proactive gap year is when a student decides he or she wants a year off and is actively exploring ways to make the most out of the time off. A reactive gap year is when students who did not originally plan to take a year off decide to do so for circumstantial reasons, such as a bad economy. If you do decide that a gap year is for you…
Plan ahead As much fun as the idea of taking a few months to a year off from school may seem, you need to think about a few things before booking a one-way flight to Paris. Garis says that a common mistake people make is not figuring out what they want to do when the gap year is up. Whether it’s applying to grad schools or finding jobs, make sure you have a plan. If you were set to begin grad school or a full-time job right after graduation, expressing your desire for time off before deciding to pack up and leave is a good idea. “A gap year goes by fast and students often find themselves stuck in the same situation as they began,” Garis says. It’s okay to reflect and enjoy yourself, but be sure to figure out what you want to do.
“For example, during a gap year, a student can still work part-time. Maybe their longrange goal is to work in banking or bank management. So they get a part-time job during the gap year as a teller. That way, at least they will be exposed to a banking environment,” Garis says.
Not for everyone Although many employers are not concerned about a year or two off from school or work, it is certainly not for everyone. Garis says he doesn’t recommend taking time off for those in public accounting and other fields that require you to be in touch with social and economic trends and movements. Garis advises you to ask yourself, “Why do you want to take a time off? Is it for allotting some time to devote to your long-term goals or just for fun?”
Work on a larger goal “Sometimes the economy and labor market influence students’ decisions,” says Garris. However, it is still possible for students to stay relevant to their desired fields during a gap year, Garis adds. 27
college CRISIS
FROM ONLINE TO PRINT:
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Stop! Before you attempt the scratch and sniff test on that mystery stain, there’s another way to figure out what that pesky stain is and how to get rid of it for good. Junior Lucy Scott says that her wardrobe of lightweight leggings, sweatshirts and tunics has helped her keep stain-free.
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in drips or in the pits? Knowing where the stain is can narrow down what the substance is. The stain’s look can give you the missing pieces to solving the puzzle. Soft spots can be anything from food stains (like spaghetti sauce), to ink to that pen that’s gone MIA. Stains that feel harder are most likely nail polish or other synthetic products like paint or adhesives. But how do you clean it? Monika Manter, customer service manager at Balfurd Cleaners, says that there is one ingredient that’s your clothes’ best friend.
“I’m not a messy eater or anything,” Scott says. “If I ever get any stains, they’re pen marks from class. But I wear mostly dark colors anyway so it doesn’t matter.”
“Water is the best thing most of the time,” Manter says. “Blot it—don’t rub the stain into the fabric. Of course, the amount of time matters, so the sooner you try to remove it, the better. But don’t use water on dry-clean only items.”
Scott (like a lot of us) doesn’t pay attention to the laundering instructions on tags (seriously, those symbols need a decoder ring sometimes). But she says she hasn’t had any problems removing stains, even though she does laundry often.
Manter suggests using cold water to wash, then checking it before putting the clothing in the dryer. Heat will seal in the stain and make it harder to remove. She also says to be careful using bleach, it could actually make the stain worse.
“The only thing I really do differently is wash my socks separately from the rest of my clothes,” she says, “I feel like it’ll make your clothes dingy and smell like feet.”
“Make sure to read the ingredients in any cleaner or to-go pens before you use them,” she says, “Bleach can be an ingredient and it may not be what you want.”
If you don’t have your cleaning system down to a science, the first step in spot removal is to look at the stain’s location. Is it all over
Now that you know what to do to keep those pesky stains at bay, go forth and live a spotfree existence.
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I F I A S K E D Y O U W H AT A C R I S I S WA S , W O U L D Y O U H AV E A N A N S W E R ? Is a crisis a dire situation, an emergency or something hard to fix? You might look at me with raised eyebrows and say, “obviously.” But what the dictionary says isn’t always right, because in college, it feels like everything is a crisis.
Photo byLauren Johnson
ONE MORNING, THE INEVITABLE HAPPENS: THERE’S A STAIN ON YOUR FAVORITE SHIRT AND YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT IS. CRYSTAL JONES HELPS YOU TO INVESTIGATE EACH STAIN AND HOW TO NIX EACH ONE.
Photo by Ziyan Sha
Mystery Stains
Whodunit?
By Anonymous
My boyfriend, my schoolwork, my roommate, the fact that I almost fell down a flight of stairs in front of a crowd…those are all college crises. My whole life, and I’d go as far as to say every college student’s whole life, is a crisis. That being said, why can’t we stop ourselves from indulging in these crises? There is a masochistic element to what we do as college students.
When we overanalyze a text from some guy we don’t even really like to the point where we’re crying because we just know he doesn’t like us (do we even like him?), when we postpone our homework until 20 minutes before it’s due, when we refuse to just communicate with our roommates and resolve problems like the adults we are, we are creating these crises. But what if we actually had a real crisis? I have used this column time and time again to rant about people without signing my name, giving importance to situations that didn’t deserve a second look. Recently, though, I experienced a very real crisis. My Nonna (grandmother in Italian) fell extremely ill, and now my family and I spend our free time visiting her at the hospital. She’s the only grandmother I ever had, and she’s one of the best and strongest people I’ve ever known. Now that I’m
standing to lose someone who has loved me more than I could imagine loving anyone, I’ve come to the realization that these things we label crises are nothing. That’s it—nothing. If a boy doesn’t text you back, so what? You’ll find someone new. If you fight with your friend, you’ll make up. The things we do to create drama are laughable in the face of real, imposed crises. So while it may be hard, we have to learn to let go of these daily annoyances we have come to call crises because while a college crisis might seem real, it’s nothing compared to a real crisis, and it’s certainly not real enough to deserve all of your energy and time.
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3 5 8 E A S T C O L L E G E A V E . S T A T E C O L L E G E , P A 1 6 8 0 1 8 1 4 2 7 2 5 6 5 2 W W W . D W E L L I N G S A T H O M E . C O M
130 S. Allen St. State College, PA 16801 814.237.5462 | connectionsclothing.com
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BLAST
CAMPUS CULTURE N A M E : Bertha Guzman H O M E T O W N : Washington D.C. M A J O R : Information Science & Technology Y E A R : Sophomore
F R O M T H E PA S T
W H AT S H E D O E S Latino Caucus, Noche Latina Chair; FreshStart (an alumni to first-year mentoring program), Executive Board Member; BluePrint (first-year mentoring program), Student Mentor; Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting (ALPFA), Corporate Relations Chair; Active member of Women in Business
By Amelia Fried ric hs
I N V O LV E D F R O M A Y O U N G A G E “I started working at the age of 14, but companies don’t really hire 14 year olds because society doesn’t think we’re responsible enough. A mentor told me to start a day camp, they gave me the place to start. It [the daycare] was free because a lot of parents in the neighborhood didn’t have money, but that’s why we did it for two years.
Tumbling, lifts and contagious smiles have consistently captured the hearts of fans packed into Beaver Stadium for decades on end. With cheers that successfully soar above clashing helmets and exploding blue and white crowds, there is no question that the Penn State cheerleaders have proven “ever true to our dear old white and blue.”
“After that, I did an internship at the Washington Post. I interned at Osse, which is an early intervention company. After that, I had an internship at the National Museum of American Indians, then I worked at a restaurant and as a camp counselor.”
While the loyalty and spirit of Penn State’s cheerleading team has remained firmly intact, the team’s uniform fashion has undergone countless decades of change.
M A N AG E YO U R T I M E A N D G E T I N V O LV E D “I think time management is key because if you don’t know how to prioritize and say ‘let me do this first,’ it’ll be difficult for you to do everything. What I do every time I go to sleep is set my schedule for the next day – homework, classes and meetings.
Former Penn State cheerleader Kathy Radick ‘91 recalls her 80s Penn State cheerleading uniforms consisting of a vest, pleated skirt, long sleeve wool sweater and a dickey to be worn beneath the sweater. “Penn State was extremely traditional and our uniforms reflected that,” Radick says. “It was a very proud moment putting it on.”
“I make sure school comes first. I found the orgs I wanted to join from the involvement fair. Once you find the clubs you like, pick your top five and go to the meetings and once you see the environment you’re in, you should narrow it to three organizations – that’s a good number to be involved in.”
Similar to Radick, current cheerleader Jacob Katz describes the first time trying on his Penn State cheerleading uniform as “overwhelming.”
F O R G I V E N E S S M A K E S YO U STRONGER “My parents divorced in middle school, and my dad left. He wasn’t a part of my life for about five years. It was hard because I didn’t have a male figure, but I became really responsible. His leaving made me stronger than I ever was.
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Photo by Gabby Mannio
By Natasha Tereschak
Photo by Jose Ponte
“During those five years, he went to jail for something I don’t believe he committed. During that time, he had the realization that he hadn’t connected [with me]. He wrote me letters apologizing…and my mom forgave him for everything she was put through. Over time, I realized my mom had a point and holding a grudge wasn’t going to resolve anything.”
“I know what it’s like to stand in front of a lot of people and perform. That wasn’t freaky,” senior Katz says. “But putting on the uniform for the first time and stepping on the football field at Penn State, or stepping on the basketball court or showing up to a soccer game…those moments — those are exciting. And the people who make it special are the students.” From a fashion perspective, Katz explains that the current cheerleading uniforms speak for themselves. “We don’t need to write Penn State on our uniforms,” he says. “Everyone knows for a fact that when you have that uniform on, we are Penn State.”
Despite the familiar Nittany Lion logo seen on the front of Penn State’s current cheerleading uniforms, cheerleading trends have drastically changed since women first joined the cheerleading scene in the 1920s and 1930s. Uniforms worn were typically cardigans donning school letters on the front. Sweaters and buttoned cardigans were often worn over turtlenecks, just as longer wool skirts became a cheerleading fashion staple. Plaid was also a popular trend during this time period, as many private schools aspired for their cheerleading uniforms to match their everyday plaid school uniforms.
The 1960s and 1970–s uniforms ushered in shorter pleated skirts and short-sleeved crew neck sweaters. Bolder patterns such as stripes grew increasingly popular and an array of V-neck sweaters and knit designs were added to the cheerleading wardrobe. Shirts were no longer being worn underneath sweaters, which resulted in tighter tops and new styles that provided a more functional and comfortable fit. Though the fashion trends have evolved over time, sophomore cheerleader San Pham explains that uniforms are more than simply a fashion statement. “Our uniforms definitely give us a sense of pride and unity,” Pham says. “We’re athletes and our own team. Wearing the uniform brings us together and makes us feel proud of what we do and who we cheer for. I am still so proud to put on my uniform every game day.” And every game day, past and present, fashion trends aside, Penn State cheerleaders shout with pride in their hearts, wearing none other than Penn State on their sleeve.
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STUFF
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P R O M I S I N G
I S
YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT
young love?
YOUR
PROFESSORS WANT TO KNOW HOW SOME OF PENN STATE’S COOLEST PROFESSORS STARTED TEACHING? WHAT PEARLS OF WISDOM THEY HAVE TO SHARE? VALLEY WRITER KASUMI HIROKAWA CHATTED WITH SOCIOLOGY PROFESSOR SAM RICHARDS AND COMPARATIVE LITERATURE PROFESSOR CHARLOTTE EUBANKS TO FIND OUT.
Sam Richards
Valley (V): How did you start teaching at Penn State? Charlotte Eubanks (CE): I grew up in a rural, agricultural part of South Carolina. It’s the kind of place where there are no stoplights and my high school job was as a milkmaid. I milked goats and made cheese. I spent my paychecks at this used bookstore in town that I really loved. I ended up reading a lot of Japanese and Chinese literature there. When I went to college, I knew I wanted to study literature and also wanted to have a marketable skill coming out of it. So I decided to do comparative literature in Japanese. I lived in Japan for a couple of years as a junior high school teacher… after a few years I decided I wanted to go back and become a professor. So I did the whole grad school thing. When I went to the job market, Penn State came up. It was just perfect because I like the setting [and] just being around all this amazing natural beauty.
Valley (V): How did you start teaching at Penn State? Sam Richards (SR): In the summer of 1990, I left for Ecuador for some research and my wife came here for her Ph.D. We were not married at the time, but at the end of that year, I came back to the States and I needed somewhere to live. She was here and we were in love, so I was like yeah, I’ll go to Penn State. I went to the sociology department and gave them my vitae, to see if they had any classes that needed to be taught. They said, if you don’t teach SOC119, we don’t think we have any other classes for you to teach. And I said, okay, I guess I’ll teach SOC 119. That was the fall of 1991. So here I am, many years later.
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A few “lucky” young girls receive promise rings at a young age. What does it represent? How long does young love really last?
What does a promise ring represent? I
Not everyone likes the idea of being “stuck”
promise to be with you until we are ready
with one person for years before they get
to get married? Does it symbolize a lifelong
engaged. It symbolizes young love because
relationship? How serious your relationship
obviously if it were socially acceptable to get
is?
married, you would actually get engaged.
To be loved by the one person that means the most to you is the most amazing
Some girls absolutely love the idea of a
feeling in the world. It makes waking
promise ring. It’s exciting because it gives
promise ring. That’s something 16-year-olds
up every morning a little more exciting
them a sense of safety. Sometimes true love
do after dating for two months and think
and going to bed at night a little more
can be so strong that you cannot wait to be
they’re in love,” says junior Alexis*.
comforting. But the feeling of love, the deep
together for the rest of your lives. Love can
connection and intense passion between
change your perspective and make you want
two people, is unexplainable.
“I would be offended if I were given a
A promise ring can obviously mean different
to rush through young adulthood so that
things to different people, and it’s up to
you can be with that one person forever.
you to decide if you’re ready for a lifelong
feel more than once over the course of a
Senior Briana* talks about how she felt
you for…right now.”
lifetime, but will never forget. When two
when she was given a promise ring four
people are mature enough, financially stable,
years ago at the age of 17. She has been with
and of age, the next step is usually to get
her boyfriend for a total of six years now.
Love is something a few lucky people may Photo provided by Sam Richards
V: One piece of advice? CE: If you think you might want to do [anything], now is the time. Do it. [Even if ] it’s [to] dye your hair blue because there is not going to be a better time than when you are in college to dye your hair blue. Or take a weird class in something you never thought you knew…embrace the unknown.
V: One piece of advice? SR: The number one piece of advice is that, we are not born with intellect and insight. We have to develop them. What I see in a lot of people is that they don’t necessarily take a step outside of their own minds and look at their own potential…often people just go through the steps. My advice would be that many people could radically improve the quality of their existence if they focused on the amazing potential, the potential that comes with deepening our intellect and insight. That doesn’t mean doing more schoolwork; and that doesn’t mean smoking some pot and having random thoughts. It means really taking thinking seriously and not being lazy about it.
Written by Christina Monteleone
Photo by Victoria Oberdorf
FAVORITE
Charlotte Eubanks
commitment or an, “I promise to be with
* Names have been changed for privacy
engaged. A man gives a woman a ring to promise her a lifetime of love, loyalty and
“I loved it. It made me feel secure with my
happiness. Sometimes, a ring very similar to
relationship and that nothing bad would
an engagement ring is given earlier on in a
happen. It made me believe he would never
relationship—a promise ring.
hurt me,” says Briana*. 35
LGBTA
VA L L E Y A L U M L I V E S H E R DREAMS IN THE BIG APPLE Her successes have not come without setbacks. In her sophomore year at Penn State, Tomb auditioned for The Daily Collegian, confident in her writing abilities. “I go to check the list and my name wasn’t on it, and I remember I just started bawling hysterically to my dad,” she says. “When I was at Penn State, the only major opportunity to gain journalism experience was the Collegian.”
Devin with Hunter Hayes
From Valley to SELF Magazine, former Valley editor-In-chief Devin Tomb is living her dreams. Writer Raychel Shipley chatted with the Penn State alum about dream career, and how Penn State helped her to get there.
Not long after the Collegian audition, Tomb received an email that a few girls were starting a women’s lifestyle magazine on campus. That magazine turned out to be Valley, our proud publication that Tomb served as the editor-in-chief for three issues. “I would have spent my junior year at the Collegian, but instead I got handed a magazine of my own to run,” says Tomb. “It really goes to show that if you don’t get into something or if something doesn’t work out for you, just keeping looking and move on to the next thing.”
“There is really no magic trick that is going to get you into your dream job,” says Devin Tomb, associate lifestyle editor at SELF. The only way to do it is just to sit down, focus and just work your ass off.”
During her college career, Tomb landed summer editorial internships at CosmoGirl and O!, where she networked with professionals in the industry. After graduating, those connections landed Tomb a position as an editorial assistant at Glamour.
“I got one of those form responses back, which at the time I thought was totally
Tomb worked at Glamour until land-
Tomb, who graduated in 2010, knows a thing or two about hard work. Starting as an intern in a small, unglamorous newsroom, the Penn State grad appreciates where she’s been. Now, as an editor at one of the most highly acclaimed women’s health and lifestyle magazines, she is confident yet humbled.
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bBy y CCrystal rys t al Jones Jo n e s
“It just wasn’t the work I wanted to be doing. I really missed covering women and empowering careers,” says Tomb “I love teens. It was just the idea of covering flirting, 24/7, got old after a while.”
Penn State is full of people with different experiences, backgrounds, beliefs and ideas. Have you ever considered breaking free of people who are just like you?
Now, Tomb makes the commute to Times Square each morning to work for SELF. “It was the dream fit for me because SELF really reflects who I am in my life outside of work,” says Tomb. “I am training for my first half-marathon right now, I really like to prioritize mindfulness and being healthy and in shape.”
While we spend our four or more years here, it’s important to help everyone feel included in the name of school spirit. One way to do that is to be an awesome ally to the LGBTQA community.
For Tomb, a typical day on the job includes brainstorming ideas, writing, editing and searching for people with awesome stories for the magazine to cover. It all comes back to hard work – and remembering that it pays off.
Maggie Ignasiak, an intern at the LGBTA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, ally) Student Resource Center, says that being an ally (a friend and supporter to the LGBTA community) is important because everyone should feel comfortable being who they are no matter where they are.
“There was this wave of people who came in, and you could tell they all just watched ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ and wanted to be a magazine editor,” she says. “And, of course, the magazine industry was really glorified in that way, but really if you can separate yourself from that and really just focus on the hard work, the hard workers are going to be the ones to get ahead.”
Devin with former Valley editor-in-chief Arianna Davis
"It's a basic human right and it's who you are," she says. "You can't stop being who you were meant to be." Ignasiak also says that learning how to be an ally is easier than you think. "Just really open your mind," she says. "We take it for granted all the great resources we have at Penn State. You can walk into the [LGBTA] center and learn more in 10 minutes than you could in class." Christopher Reed, the professor in charge of the sexuality and gender studies minor, says that taking classes about sexuality, gender and how they relate is important not just for students within marginalized groups, but for the entire student body.
“These classes are emphatically not just for students who identify as GLBTQ (gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans and queer), but everyone has a sexual and a gender identity, and everyone will interact with people whose ideas of sex and gender are different from their own,” Reed says. “These classes are relevant to everybody, and crucial to creating an inclusive climate at Penn State.” Learning is what we came here for, but there are other benefits to becoming an ally to a community outside your norm. “Becoming an ally is not just something you do out of the goodness of your heart to accept people who seem different, but it's also a way of understanding your own individuality, experiences, and identity as specific to you,” Reed says. Allison Subasic, director of the LGBTA center, says that learning what is important to the LGBT community by taking classes, attending events and getting involved can make a huge impact for even one person. "As an ally, you can make the difference in an individual's life," she says. "You can be their friend, their support or even what keeps them in school no matter how tough things can get."
Photos provided by Devin Tomb
Tomb giggles, thinking back on the time she emailed the editor-in-chief of Seventeen to ask her how to be a successful magazine editor.
“I remember when I got the news I had just gotten to my new apartment in Hoboken, New Jersey, and it was empty, and I blasted ‘Bullet Proof ’ by La Roux and danced around my room,” says Tomb. “It was like my dream come true, all this work has paid off moment.”
AW E S O M E A L L I E S
ing the love editor position at Seventeen, fulfilling a prophecy written in that email many years ago. She worked there for a year.
Whatever your background is, making a difference in someone’s life can be one of the most important experiences you’ll ever have, no matter how different from you the other person is. Photo by Lauren Johnson
original,” she laughs. “I was so excited because she emailed me with all these tips.”
And the friends you’ll make along the way are added bonuses to your already awesome Penn State experiences.
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DARING to be DIFFERENT O N E G I R L ’ S J O U R N E Y T O S E L F - AC C E P TA N C E Written by Leah Polakoff - Photography by Orhan Yilmaz - Design by Dillyn Duryea Styled by Molly Ferguson, Nikki Rose & Laura Barbosa
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Jiggy Yoon had been awake and standing for 41 hours. Her mental capacity and physical abilities were pushed to their furthest limits as a dancer during THON 2014, and Jiggy still had to go on stage and perform with the hip hop dance group R.A.M. Squad in front of more than 15,000 people.
After years of being handed the short end of the stick, Jiggy has finally learned to appreciate the life she has been given. The tattooed hip-hop dancer’s life has been tested multiple times, starting when she moved from Korea to the United States. And again when she learned to understand her sexuality. And again when she struggled to work through a troubled relationship with her mother.
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Culture shock struck Jiggy when she arrived in the States, as she had been raised in a very conservative, traditional Korean family. It was difficult for her to catch on to the English language, though she credits the show “Friends” for helping her learn.
While Jiggy, now a telecommunications major, was an honor student growing up, she says that she didn’t care much for school. Music, rap to be specific, was more her style. Before she was informed of her acceptance to Penn State, Jiggy had planned on attending State University of New York (SUNY) Purchase, a school for the performing arts. For those who know Jiggy, it’s no secret that this girl, who is adorned with seven tattoos, a nose piercing and a partially shaved head, has no fear expressing her opinion. She’s one of the few people at Penn State who can say they’ve put the Willard Preacher in his place. But rapping has always been her favorite form of expression.
And again when her mother was diagnosed with cancer. And again when her home in Queens burned down the summer before she came to college. And yet again when Jiggy was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and suffering from depression. But with a positive mind and a newfound faith, Jiggy believes she can make it through anything God throws her way.
“Rapping, and writing in general, is my best way of expression. People tell me I have a way with my words,” Jiggy says. “It’s why I’m so blunt. I’m not a poet. I don’t beat around the bush. This is what it is and this is how I feel.” During her freshman year of college, fame came knocking on Jiggy’s door when a LGBTA record label in Las Vegas wanted to sign her. Knowing that her parents wouldn’t approve of this huge life decision, Jiggy turned the deal down. Looking back, she says she’s glad that she walked away, but she misses making music and using her words to help others. “I’ve always said that school is in the way of my passion,” she says. “It’s how I motivate other people. Express and inspire is my motto.”
“I grew up depressed and angry, I was just mad at the world,” Jiggy says. “I was just so different from everybody.” 40
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Jiggy rapped these words about her mother during her freshman year to a Soc 119 class. She utilized her musical talents to write a song for her mom. Jiggy and her mother had a troubled relationship, to say the least.
Jiggy thought they were only coming for a few years. Her father stayed in Korea while Jiggy moved with her mother and brother, who was seven years older.
“It’s almost selfish to say that THON was so hard, that standing for 46 hours was so hard. No, that’s not what hard is,” she says.
T H E GI RL BEH IND T H E TAT TOOS
“Growing up she never taught me about love and affection, I guess that’s why I always cherish a woman’s attention.”
With a laugh, Jiggy talks about her mom sitting her down in a McDonalds in Korea. Jiggy, who refers to her 7-year-old self as a “fat awkward dumpling,” remembers her mother asking if she wanted anything to eat…and that they were moving to America.
When she speaks of the performance and having to stay awake and standing for 46 hours straight, Jiggy says that compared to the other struggles in her life, this was nothing.
“In the end, I really believe in the idea of energy,” Jiggy says. “Of course if you think things are going to go wrong, they’re going to go wrong! If you think things will work out eventually, then eventually they will. Of course, you’ll struggle, but if you have the patience to get through that struggle, you’ll be fine. I’ve been through a lot of shit…I welcome struggle now.”
‘ MOMMY I SS U E S ’
Jiggy, whose Korean name is Na Eun, moved from Seoul, Korea to Detroit, Michigan when she was 7 years old.
Spring 2014
Despite being in America, Jiggy’s mother held onto her traditional Korean values. Jiggy jokes about her mother’s “stereotypical Asian ways,” and how she was always stressing the importance of schoolwork and good grades.
After years of being handed the short end of the stick, Jiggy has finally learned to appreciate the life she has been given.
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“I was an A student, but that was never good enough,” Jiggy says about her mother. “I could get a 100 on an exam and she would ask why I didn’t get bonus points.” While her strict Korean background focused on schoolwork, dating was never an option for Jiggy, who was tackling her sexuality. A heterosexual relationship was a no-no, let alone a same-sex relationship. “Coming from Korea, dating wasn’t really an option even if I was straight. You don’t date, you study,” she says. “Every stereotypical thing you hear about Asians is true.” She came out to her mom during her freshman year of high school. Jiggy’s mother’s response was, “Why are you thinking of things other than studying?” Jiggy’s mother wasn’t the only one who didn’t take her coming out lightly. Upon officially coming out in middle school, Jiggy says that her friends from the private school she attended in Michigan all turned their backs on her upon hearing that she was a lesbian. Ironically enough, one of the girls who mocked Jiggy is now a lesbian herself, and has recently sent Jiggy an apology. “It’s just one of those things that I have to be patient with and know that people change,” Jiggy says. “People always need something to happen to make them realize, ‘damn,’ to understand a different perspective.” Jiggy’s mother moved their family to New York for high school, which allowed for a broader range of acceptance from her classmates. Her high school, Bayside, was commonly referred to as “Gayside” because the people were so open. Jiggy began dating her first girlfriend in high school.
“She had a boyfriend but broke up with him for me,” Jiggy says with a laugh. “I helped convince her she was gay.” Jiggy had to hide her first relationship from some members of her family, like her father, because they didn’t know that she was gay. “I can’t tell him [my father] I’m gay, I come from a super-traditional family,” Jiggy says. “It’s not a matter of accepting or not accepting, or understanding or not understanding, I just can’t tell him.” Jiggy went on to say that back then, everything that was wrong in her life was because of her mother. Some girls who sleep around refer to it as “daddy issues.” Jiggy has her own vocabulary. “I realized I had mommy issues when I came to Penn State,” Jiggy says, openly speaking of her relations with multiple girls. “We used to have a toxic, horrible relationship. I think I depended on other females to fill that void.” Jiggy learned to define herself through experimenting with different hairstyles (she used to sport a blonde mohawk) and wearing men’s clothing. But her choices, which strayed from traditional Korean values, sparked many arguments with her mother. “There was always a part of me that says I’m so different from my family,” Jiggy says. “I couldn’t see myself being accepted in my family.”
A D OW N WA R D S PIR A L O F D E PR E SS IO N On July 7, 2010, during the summer before Jiggy’s freshman year at Penn State, the apartment complex her family lived in burned down. To this day, she’s still not sure what caused the fire. Her family has only heard rumors. Because everything in their apartment was ruined, Jiggy and her mom stayed in shelters and hotels for the rest of the summer. She had lost almost all of her possessions. Losing everything sent Jiggy into a downward spiral of depression. She had a difficult time adjusting to life at Penn State. She says she began to eat her feelings. “I always had depression. When all of this happened, everything got worse,” Jiggy says. When she joined R.A.M. (Raw Aesthetic Movement) Squad, Jiggy felt an instant connection to the “melting pot of people.” “I can confidently and 100 percent say that 41
we are the most diverse group on campus,” Jiggy says. “We have people who are from different countries, people with different cultures, different majors, different backgrounds, people who have been through depression, someone with OCD ¬ I’m diabetic. Everybody has a story. In that way we learn to empathize and how to treat other people. We call each other RAM-ily.” Jiggy, who is now the public relations head chair of R.A.M. Squad, remembers one night during her freshman year when she was hanging out with a few other members of R.A.M. Squad. They ended up laying in the grass outside of Thomas Building, pouring their hearts out to each other, telling their deepest secrets.
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“They’ve been there for me since day one,” Jiggy says. “R.A.M. watched me go through so much shit. They listened to me vent so much.”
Even though her life at school had become better, Jiggy still had no place to go when she went home for summer breaks. Her mom, who didn’t have space for Jiggy in her small apartment, found a conservative Korean family in New York for Jiggy to stay with. The woman of the house took one look at Jiggy, dressed in boys clothing and covered with tattoos and piercings. Jiggy was told that if she would be living under that roof, she’d be attending church every week.
NE WFOU ND FAI T H Jiggy credits a newfound faith in bettering the relationship with her mom. While Jiggy grew up in a Catholic household, she found her faith again in college. Going to church opened a new form of communication with her mother. They would meet up after church to talk about the services. “I called and talked to the lady [that I lived with] and thanked her for leading me back to church,” she says. “If it wasn’t for that, I don’t think my mom and I would have redeveloped our relationship.”
I don’t call myself anything. I feel like labeling yourself limits your possibilities.
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Jiggy’s mom went to a Catholic service while Jiggy, who doesn’t identify with a specific religion anymore, went to a Baptist church. “I don’t call myself anything. I feel like labeling yourself limits your possibilities,” Jiggy says. “I believe more in developing a relationship with God and being more like Jesus than trying to follow a religion.”
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Top from Harper’s on College Ave. Pants are the models own.
Jiggy doesn’t see her sexuality as a problem when it comes to her faith. While many peo43
ple, including The Willard Preacher, have told her she needs to stop being gay, Jiggy refuses to listen to the negativity.
up, and I would pretend I was still sleeping,” Jiggy says. “I still feel like a bitch for that.” Despite the continued fighting, Jiggy was cheering for her mother to get better. She says that she knew her mother was strong and that she could beat cancer. And for a while, her mother did.
“A lot of sins we commit, we don’t realize we commit them,” Jiggy says. “Everything we do is a sin. Indulging in food is a sin. Correlating me being gay and my relationship with God is not something I like to talk about. A lot of [gay] people turn away from God because they believe it’s a sin. Here’s the fact: God loves you for who you are, no matter what.”
“Cancer ‘went away’ for a while and it was the first time I had happy tears,” Jiggy says. Jiggy says that she tried harder to be nicer to her mother by not starting as many arguments, and it helped them to become closer. Of course, things weren’t perfect. But Jiggy was able to provide support for her mom, especially when the cancer came back even stronger in October 2012.
After coming to the realization that God would love her despite her sins, Jiggy still suffered from depression and the fear that her own family would not accept her. She was clinically diagnosed with depression last semester, right before her first trip back to Korea in 10 years. When she arrived, she saw a side of her family that she never expected to see.
She remembers thinking: “If she dies, I’ll be pissed. Our relationship just got better!”
“I never felt like I was good enough to deserve love. All these years I thought my family will never accept me because I’m gay,” Jiggy says. “But my relatives all cried when they saw me. They just missed me so much. Now I know there are people who pray for me every day even though I don’t see them. I never knew what unconditional love meant until that trip, and that’s why I’m okay now.” Now that the door to a better relationship with her family has been opened, Jiggy stays in touch with her relatives in Korea who help her to combat her depression. “I feel like God has shown me enough for me to trust Him that I don’t have to stress at all,” Jiggy says. “It’s pointless to be stressed out and use my energy for something negative when it can be used for something positive…I’m blessed for everything.”
WAK E U P C A LL Acceptance into her family was pushed aside when tragedy struck. In 2010, Jiggy’s mom was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Her mom, who had already survived a heart attack, was in poor health. “I think that was my wake-up call,” Jiggy says. She knew that she couldn’t continue holding onto a toxic relationship with her mom: “Something needs to be fixed.”
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“He said: ‘I’m proud of you. Stay strong. This is great what you’re doing. This is for cancer, you know what that means,’” Jiggy says. Jiggy says it’s moments like these that help her to realize how lucky she truly is. Moments that allow her to be with her family, who she knows will love her unconditionally. Moments that allow her to see her RAM-ily create a human tunnel and hold up flashing lights ¬ her best friends who will always provide a shoulder to cry on. Moments that allow her to look up at the sky and say, “Mom do you see this? This is beautiful. Thank you.”
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On Jan. 5, 2013, the Friday before she was set to come back to school for the spring semester of her junior year, Jiggy went to the hospital to say goodbye to her mother before heading back to school. The moment she walked in, she knew something was wrong. None of this was expected. Her mom’s eyes were going off in two different directions and her breathing was shallow, like a fish on land. Her dad was crying. The nurse pulled her aside and told her that her mom was going to die.
A few hours later, Jiggy went to the adjacent hospital room to try to rest. Her brother came in after an hour, and told her that their mother had died. She texted a few of her closest friends, “Mom’s with God now.”
R E D EFI NI NG THE P OSS I BI LI TI ES “I honestly thought about my mom the entire time,” Jiggy says of her experience as a dancer in THON 2014.
In hopes of creating a better relationship, Jiggy spent the next summer at home with her sick mom. But things only got worse, as the fighting and struggle for acceptance continued. “Some nights she would wake up and throw 44
Jiggy spent all of Thanksgiving and Christmas break in the hospital with her dad and her brother, who had both come to New York to take care of the family. Jiggy was unsure if she was waiting for her mom to get better or to die.
Her brother came all the way from Michigan to surprise Jiggy on the Bryce Jordan Center floor and to remind her why she was doing this ¬ why she was dancing for this particular cause. The last time she saw her brother was over a year ago in New York when they went to pick up their mothers ashes.
Top and bowtie from Harper’s on College Ave. Earrings and watch model’s own
R.A.M. Squad took over the stands, helping to motivate Jiggy and her partner throughout the weekend. But nobody helped Jiggy hold onto her faith in THON like a surprise visitor did.
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I never knew what unconditional love meant until that trip, and that’s why I’m okay now.
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at the time, the benefits outweighed the pain. “We got the most specialized treatment you’ll get [in my country],” Diallo says. “They’d cook for us, clean for us…we were treated special. All the kids know is the celebration aspect after that…the love you’ll get, the gifts you get, the special treatment.” Diallo’s elders tried to keep her thoughts as far from her procedure as possible. “They told us not to look in between our legs. It was some taboo stuff to make us scared so we wouldn’t see what was going on down there,” Diallo says. “They’ll say that if a girl isn’t circumcised, her vagina is gonna grow into a penis…they just make this stuff up.” When Diallo moved to the United States, her aunt, who is American, shared with Diallo an educated perspective on the procedure. “She really shed light and explained to us that this practice was not the way of life,” Diallo says. “Slowly after looking at it and seeing everyone [in the United States] not circumcised, she’s right—you don’t have to be circumcised to be a woman—to be a human.” Diallo’s view of FGM was not the only view that changed—she also realized how impoverished her hometown was compared to her new one in the United States. Diallo says that back in Guinea, her community consistently struggles to keep power outages at bay. The community regularly faces sickness because of the dirty water and the lack of clinics and hospitals that will treat those without an upfront payment. “One of my goals is to go back home and to build a hospital to help the under-served population—people who don’t have the
Killing a Part of You BY SAMANTHA ALLEN
A Penn State senior opens up about her experience with female genital mutilation, and how she plans on making a difference.
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Diallo started that day excited for the transformation, despite not knowing where she was going or what she was going for. “It was four of us in total that day, and we went there [the clinic]. There’s an older village lady who does it to the girls,” Diallo says. “I was happy I was the first one to get it done because if I would have heard the screams, I would have been too scared.” She says that when she entered the room, two big women held her down by her hands and feet, and one covered her mouth, because the screaming was inevitable. The village woman cut Diallo with an unclean pair of scissors, the same ones that were used on the girls after her. “I remember the pain, and it was sharp and quick. It was so painful, you just want to scream out of your lungs,” Diallo says. Up until a month after the procedure, Diallo had complications using the bathroom and going about her daily life. But she says that
herself, “Were there even kitchens?” She was accepted to Penn State’s bio behavioral health program on a full scholarship and has been working hard toward her ultimate career goal, which is inspired by her experiences in Guinea. “My goal is to go into the public health care system and I can help the community back home,” Diallo says. “Ultimately once I establish myself here, then I’ll go back [to Guinea] and open up a health care clinic and
eventually a hospital.” Diallo says a major contributor to the FGM prevalence in Guinea is the lack of education: “They don’t look at the statistics and research that’s been done and the harm it does to the females. I tell my mom [what I know] and she says, ‘this is our culture and what we are raised into.’ She doesn’t understand the science—she just believes what she knows.” Diallo’s mission aside from her career in local health care is to spread awareness about FGM and other forms of female oppression in order to make a positive impact and hopefully decrease the statistics. She also challenges the Penn State community to help her take a stand against oppression like this. “We should start organizations here,” Diallo says. “I’m going to be one of the people who goes home and speaks against FGM—most likely there are thousands of girls going through this right now. I feel like Penn State is the perfect setting because we’re educated and we can be a part of the movement that’s destroying so many girls.” Looking back on her experience and what she learned since coming to the United States, Diallo says that she feels like her own culture took something that wasn’t meant to be taken. “It’s like taking someone’s eyes out because you don’t want them to see,” says Diallo. “They take away your female parts so you don’t have any feelings left, and then…they celebrate killing a part of you.” Though the truth was shocking and painful, Diallo keeps her head high and reminds herself that she has a choice to make a positive impact out of her horrific experience. She says, “Sometimes you just got to laugh through it so you don’t cry.”
Photos by Sabine Clermont
Aissatou Diallo came to the United States from Guinea, Africa in 2003 for a better life. She came for a life without constant power outages and better opportunities for education. Now a senior at Penn State, she is taking advantage of the opportunity to make a difference on campus. She wants to protect women from dangers many Penn Staters may not be aware of. Diallo is a victim of female genital mutilation (FGM). What Diallo experienced is common practice in many countries—the removal of the clitoris, an extremely sensitive area of the female genitals, and a primary source for pleasure.
She says she doubts many people in the United States are familiar with the procedure, but she admits that even she was not informed on her own experience until her teen years. “Every girl in Guinea wishes to get circumcised,” Diallo says. “They’ll look at you differently if you don’t do it. If you don’t get it done they’ll think you’ll sleep with every boy that you see around and you’ll get pregnant quickly. Even your parents ¬ they’ll look at them wrong because your parents didn’t force you to get it done.” Diallo was told by her elders that the circumcision would better her life. They also told her to look forward to what was coming—she was going to receive special treatment after the “change,” including a party with rare foods, presents and clothes. More importantly, she was going to become a part of the larger statistic. She would be normal.
funds to get treatments,” says Diallo. “I know a lot of people, even family members, who have to be left at home to die because there’s no money to get the treatment or even the surgery that they need.” Diallo admits that when she returned to Guinea for a visit, she was taken aback by how bad conditions were. She says she’s not entirely sure how people survive the way they do in Guinea. “There’s no gas so we can’t really cook,” Diallo says, as she pauses and then asks
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FASHION STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
FASHION
By Anna Marmorstein
N A M E : Ashley Vargas H O M E T O W N : Mountian Top, Pa. M A J O R : Public Relations Y E A R : Junior
W H AT S H E D O E S Head fashion guru for College Fashionista, ASOS brand representative, member of Ed2010 and past fashion intern at Cosmopolitan. H O W S H E G O T S TA R T E D “When I first got to Penn State, I didn’t know how to get involved with fashion. I did internships with various Penn State sports teams, radio stations and newspapers and loved the public relations aspect of it, but knew I wanted to be more involved with fashion. On a whim during my sophomore year, I applied to my number one fashion choice, Cosmo. That’s how I got my foot in the door. It was the best first time experience.” SHE DOESN’T STOP THERE “By my junior year in college I was a columnist for College Fashionista. Each week, I interview[ed] a ‘fashioninsta’ on the street about her personal style. Being a columnist involves social media, promotions, writing and photography. I love to help the website grow and get the word out. I want to be doing it, so it doesn’t even feel like work.” A D V I C E F O R P E N N S TAT E ’ S FA S H I O N - O B S E S S E D S T U D E N T S “Even though we’re in the middle of nowhere, there are many ways to get involved. My advice is to get as much experience as you can on campus. Every company has a brand representative, so look into that. I’m a brand rep for ASOS. If you’re passionate, it will go a long way.”
PENN STATE STUDENTS, SHOPPERS AND FASHIONISTAS: This spring, the crop tops are getting shorter, the skirts are getting longer and the pants are getting slouchier. The creative trends displayed on the high fashion runways illustrate a captivating balance of femininity and masculinity. The spring styles have escalated from the heavy fall pieces into beautiful and fun items that every student can access this semester.
HER PERSONAL STYLE “I always like being comfortable and I’m girly. I incorporate street style into all my outfits. Everyone else’s outfits inspire me from people on the street, to friends and celebrities. But I am open to any style.” DREAMING BIG “I’d take any job in the fashion industry but my dream is to be a stylist for either a celebrity or a magazine. I would also love to have my own fashion line.” By Anna Marmorstein Photo by Orhan Yilmaz
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Spring 2014
Photo by Lauren Duncan
The color scheme this season is pushing past the expected spring pastels, and going bright. “There is a resurgence of metallic,” says Veronica Burk, store manager of Mr. Charles Shop. But, this metallic isn’t New Years Eve tacky. Burk says it’s an old gold, like in an old Roman coin.
According to Sam Kielwein, sales associate at Access, prints and florals are going to be big this season. These vibrant prints are adorned on everything from pants, blouses to graphic tees. If you have an edgier style, rock a printed top and bottom set. This Bohemian look was notorious on the fashion week runways and perfect for the spring season. “Crop tops and high-waisted shorts are going to be popular,” says Carissa Rice, sales associate at People’s Nation. This trend is not new to State College. However, the crops have become so popular that they have become a spring staple rather than a quirky item. Grab them in all sorts of fabrics like leather, lace or perforated. “Leather was in over the winter and is staying in,” says Lauren Martonick, key holder at People’s Nation. Much like prints, leather can be incorporated into any piece of the clothing. The inherently masculine fabric can double as a girly skater or
high-waisted skirt. Leather crop tops and bomber jackets are a perfect addition to pastel-colored outfits. “The bomber jacket is making a comeback, which is replacing the moto jacket from last year,” says Burk. Match this with a Grace Kelly inspired tea-length skirt to fashionably counteract the boldness of the jacket. Wide-leg pants are also hitting the clothing racks this spring. “Flared pants are coming back, but in my opinion, never left,” says Burk. Kielwein also agrees that slouchy, wide leg Bohemian-inspired pants are a staple for spring. They are comfortable to slip on, and when worn with wedges, can make your legs go on for days. There are plenty of trends to choose from this spring. Step away from bitter cold pieces of the winter and fall in love with the Boho printed, brightly colored and delicately textured clothing of the spring. 49
Rav e Over
Radiant Orchid
1)
Wearing this top is the perfect way to showcase Radiant Orchid as bold and fearless. This color also is a great compliment to other spring colors ¬ perfect for color blocking. “Radiant Orchid will look really well with turquoise,” says Matthew Lannan, store manager at Dwellings. Lilly Pulitzer Solid Elsa Top $148.00. Available at Dwellings, 358 E. College Ave.
2)
Finding the perfect day bag to hold everything from your wallet to your makeup to school books is essential for Penn State fashionistas on the go. Lannan recommends that girls invest in pieces with this color because it’s going to be everywhere this year, especially within fall 2014 trends. Because you use it everyday, definitely splurge on a bag. Shiraleah Chicago bag $105.00. Available at Dwellings.
Radiant Orchid will be seen on clothes everywhere this spring. Erica Kasan found the perfect pieces in downtown State College to rock this new hue all year long.
the
B AT H I N G S UI T S HU FFLE
3)
Follow this Radiant Orchid Guide to get inspired by these Valley approved pieces. Now hurry to get your hands on these great buys before everybody else does.
A pop of Radiant Orchid is the perfect way to incorporate a touch of brightness into your weekend outfit. Jazz up your mini dress with a cross-body bag. Wearing Radiant Orchid as an accessory will make basic neutrals stand out for spring. The Dani Crossbody Bag by Shiraleah Chicago $30.00. Available at Dwellings.
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Spring 2014
Photos by Alex O’Brien
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If you cringe at the idea of bathing suit shopping, you’re not alone.
“Girls of any size need bathing suits that they won’t fall out of, and what a lot of them don’t know is that it is possible to have bathing suit tops that fit properly like a bra,” Stover says.
“Some students try to follow social guidelines to select a suit that will hide what they think are their ‘flaws,’ which can lead to anxiety.”
5)
Earrings with Radiant Orchid will complement rose gold eyeshadow, shimmery blush, and that perfect messy bun. Earrings $8.50. Available at Access.
IF YOU’RE A BIT CHESTY… Afraid of falling out of your swimsuit? We’ve got you covered (no pun intended).
“Many women students feel a great deal of pressure to present an ‘ideal’ body, which may have little relationship with their own body’s natural healthy shape and proportioning,” says Mary Anne Knapp, outreach and consultation coordinator at Penn State’s Counseling and Psychological Services.
Necklaces are the most effective way to bring your outfit to the next level. “Radiant Orchid will look good on every skin tone and is a great dress up or dress down color,” says Leanna McDonald, sales associate at Access. Necklace $28.50. Available at Access, 224 E. College Ave.
Illustration by Kailyn Moore
Each year the global color authority, Pantone, announces the official color of the year. Tangerine Tango was so 2013, and Radiant Orchid is officially in for 2014.
While the summer sun and the ocean’s waves are a girl’s best friend, bathing suit shopping is the frenemy you wish you didn’t have to associate with. Kelly Gibson has some tips on how to find the perfect bathing suit for your body type.
However, it doesn’t have to be this way. More types of bathing suits are becoming readily available to fit your body the way you want. Get ready for your most confident summer ever with Valley’s decoding of how to find the right bathing suit for you, no stress included.
While the traditional bikini practically comes with a warning label for busty ladies, there are bathing suit tops that can be supportive as your go-to bra. Pattii Stover, co-owner of Jezebel’s Boutique, says that her store carries bathing suit tops that go up to a J-cup size.
From bikini tops that could easily be mistaken for a bra, to girly band-style tops with underwire and support stitched in the cup, there’s something stylish and equally supportive for everyone to make you feel your best. IF YOU’RE WORRIED ABOUT YOUR HIPS.. Don’t be afraid to show off your curvy hips. Jessie Stover, daughter of Patti and co-owner of Jezebel’s, knows the perfect way to accentuate them while remaining confident. The secret, shockingly, lies in the ruffles.
of times girls are reluctant to try them on because they think it might do the opposite of covering them, but most end up loving how it looks.” IF YOU’RE INSECURE ABOUT YOUR MIDSECTION.. Belly fat may be your worst enemy, but that doesn’t mean you have to surrender to its demons. Traditional tankinis have always been popular and do their job well, but what’s evolving even more nowadays is the new wonder that is the swim dress. Like a one-piece, the swim dress has the advantage of just being able to slip up your body, but can also add a lot more coverage. “There’s underwire still built in, and the straps can even come off to make it look even better,” Jessie Stover says. “As for the length, it can be easily adjusted to either show off or cover more of the legs.” Your new favorite bathing suit can also be adjusted to be tighter or looser around your entire body, creating the ability to control how much of your curves you want to highlight, while also completely covering your midsection in a way that a traditional tankini can’t. Plus, the colors and designs are endless, making you feel like you’re strutting the beach in an adorable sundress.
“Ruffles look good on everybody, especially if you have larger hips,” Stover says. “A lot
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YOU DECIDE. WE PROVIDE.
D O - I T-YO U R S E L F AMERICAN FLAG SHORTS
from small comedians to large-scale concerts, the student programming association brings refreshing entertainment & engaging lectures to the penn state university park campus.
BY PA I G E G U R S K I
Not much rivals Penn State in the springtime. Our winter jackets go back into closet hibernation and our skin finally gets to see the light of day. As classes wind down, students are eager to kick back during the day with their best friends to celebrate another year in the history books.
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2. Buy the necessary supplies: blue painter’s tape, red and white fabric stencil spray paint, foam paint brushes, a star stencil and a piece of scrap cardboard. All of these can be found at the Walmart. 3. Slip the cardboard in between the pant legs to create a solid base for painting. 4. Using the white paint, paint the stars on the front left side of the shorts. Painting with the star stencil is tricky, so use double-sided tape to adhere the stencil to the shorts before you start. 5. After you stencil paint the stars, remove the stencils and make small touch-ups by hand to perfect the shape.
Spring 2014
6. Paint the stripes using the red paint. Tape your painter’s tape in vertical strips down the front right side of the shorts. We used five different strips of tape, all varying lengths depending on where they were located on the shorts. Paint in between the strips of tape. Remove tape.
You have the perfect pair of ‘Merica shorts in six easy steps. Just wait until the paint is dry before you slip into them. Happy crafting!
follow us on social media to stay up to date with free campus events. @psu_spa www.spa.psu.edu facebook.com/psu.spa
Illustraion by Kailyn Moore
You can bet that at least one of these parties will be “America” themed. So what to wear? This is a fresh, DIY American twist on the classic denim shorts, inspired by a post on Free People’s blog.
1. Pick the right pair of shorts. Don’t pick your favorite pair of shorts on your first try, just in case you mess up.
B y j o i n i n g S PA y o u' l l h av e t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o a s s i s t i n t h e s e l e c t i o n & m a r k e t i n g p ro c e s s o f t h e a c t s a n d e v e n t s w e h o s t a t Pe n n S t a t e . By v o l unteering, you can learn the logistics of running a full scale event and take on numerous leadership roles. Come visit our office at 223 HUB.
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liliana: rings from connections
GAME ON S T Y L I N G L A U R A
B Y
M O L LY
B A R B O S A & N I K K I
P H O T O G R A P H Y D E S I G N M O D E L E D
locations: northland bowl & recreation center, what-a-blast extreme lasertag 54 www.valleymagazinepsu.com
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Spring 2014
F E R G U S O N &
B Y B Y
B Y
O R H A N
D I L LY N
R O S E
Y I L M A Z
D U R Y E A
H E AT H E R & L I L I A N A
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heather (left): connections top, connections jeans, connections rings, access earrings, shoes stylists own liliana (right): mr. charles top, mr. charles pant, access necklace and bracelet, shoes stylists own
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Spring 2014
heather: connections top, mr. charles skirt, bracelet and ring stylist's own, 57own shoes stylist's
liliana: connections top, connections pants, connections rings, access earrings, shoes stylist's own
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Spring 2014
heather: connections top and shorts, rings from 59 own access, shoes stylist’s
liliana: mr. charles fringe top, mr. charles jeans, ring and shoes are stylists own
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Spring 2014