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(02/24/15 1:42am)
Khori Dunn, sophomore in the process of changing major to interdisciplinary studies with an emphasis in biology and art, first realized she could combine her two passions for art and medicine the summer before 11th grade during a forum on medicine at Emory University.
"We went in this room, and the teacher said, 'Welcome to medical illustrations,'" Dunn said, "I had this eureka moment that this is what I wanted to do."
Dunn's mother was a teacher. Dunn said it is from her she learned to pay close attention to detail, which has allowed her to excel in her drawings.
"She always doodles in her anatomy notebook in class," said Nnedi Obichi, sophomore in undeclared science and math, and Dunn's roommate. "You can always tell when something is hers because she has her own unique style of drawing."
Most schools in the United States do not offer an undergraduate degree in medical illustrations so students such as Dunn, who wish to pursue this career, are forced to major in some form of medicine as well as art.
Brian Wilson, Dunn's internship adviser, production director and senior medical illustrator for Nucleus Medical Media in Kennesaw, Georgia, said there are many different paths one can take with a degree in medical illustrations.
"We draw medical content: anatomical, physiological, pharmaceutical, etc., and then publishers buy our work," Wilson said. "Medical illustrators originally worked in hospitals and would draw surgeries as they were happening, to use later for teaching purposes."
At Nucleus Medical Media, Wilson said artists draw everything from medical procedures in hospitals to those injured in automobile accidents and educational illustrations.
Wilson said medical illustrators' primary focus, however, is legal cases. Wilson and his team are able to re-create images to be used in court cases.
"Say someone is injured in an auto accident, or a doctor messes up a procedure and doesn't do what he's supposed to do," Wilson said. "We can illustrate the incident to show what happened."
Although Dunn said she enjoyed her time interning with Wilson's company, she is not so certain she would want to work on the legal side of things.
"The legal side would be a lot of having to deal with people on a tight schedule and I'm not good at schedules," Dunn said. "I would rather do posters or textbooks or pamphlets because I just like labeling."
However, not all of Dunn's friends have even heard of her chosen career.
"When Khori first told me she was majoring in bio and art, I was kind of confused because those two don't normally go together," said Kia Jenkins, sophomore in industrial and systems engineering.
Dunn said when explaining her major or future career paths to others, there is always one of three reactions.
"The first is that they've never heard of it, the second is that they know someone in the field too and the last is, 'So you're going to be drawing textbooks?'" Dunn said.
Dunn said what she loves most about becoming a medical illustrator is it puts a label on her passions of biology and art, and according to Wilson, she has just what it takes to succeed.
"She's really smart, very talented and she has a great sense of design, especially with graphic images," Wilson said. "We tend to be very literal and we don't get a lot of artistic freedom, but Khori is able to add her own edge to her work."
(02/15/15 1:00pm)
Auburn University is filled with students from many different backgrounds, each with their own story to tell.
Some attend because their parents went here, while others may be the first in their families to be born in the United States.
For Nwando Anwah, junior in journalism, going to school in America meant she was given three choices by her Nigerian parents as to what she could do with her career: lawyer, doctor or engineer.
Anwah said her father told her he would not pay for her to study for any other career.
After two years of intense science curriculums, Anwah said she couldn't take it any longer and decided to pursue her dream of becoming a journalist.
"At first, I tried to water down biomedical sciences by majoring in nursing, but it was still affecting my grades, so I switched to journalism," Anwah said.
According to Anwah, her father is learning to accept her new career and is still paying for her to attend Auburn University.
Jade Ologunja, sophomore in nursing, said for her parents, school was a priority.
"There was no choice," Ologunja said. "Education is a huge thing for them."
Although her parents would have "been really happy" had she gone to medical school, Ologunja said they told her as long as she became successful, she could follow her dreams.
Ologunja said her parents moved from Nigeria to America before she was born.
"Their main goal for my sister and me is to do better than they did when they were growing up," Ologunja said. "They are so glad we have all of these opportunities, and they just want us to take advantage of (them)."
Although both Ologunja and Anwah were born in the United States, they said they are still subjected to the stereotypical questions people with immigrant parents are asked.
Associate professor of sociology John Cottier said Americans have come a long way, but stereotyping other cultures still exists.
"We create stereotypes in a lot of situations, something we have a difficult time getting away from," Cottier said.
Ologunja said besides the occasional ignorant question, people everywhere she has lived in the South, including Auburn, have been accepting of her family's culture.
Ologunja said the most common questions are about her parents' language skills.
"A lot of times people ask me if my parents speak English and if both my parents live here," Ologunja said.
Anwah was raised bilingual, speaking both English and Igbo, a Nigerian language, with her parents.
"I've grown up speaking Igbo with my dad, and English was my second language," Anwah said.
Both Ologunja and Anwah said the stereotype that Nigerian parents are strict is completely true.
"They question everything," Ologunja said. "Even little things, like curfew is a really huge deal for them, and I always used to have to tell them who I was hanging out with and where."
Although this level of strictness could dampen any teenager's attitude, Ologunja said she is happy her parents are the way they are and has come to have a newfound appreciation for them.
"I love being immersed in two different cultures," Ologunja said. "Plus Nigerian food is so good."
Anwah said her father came to America hoping to make a better life for himself and his future family, and the advantages he was able to provide his daughter with help motivate her every day.
"My dad came here knowing no one, and in order to put himself through college, he had to work two jobs, a morning job, class and then a janitor at night," Anwah said. "I know where I came from, and a lot of people can't really say that."
(02/13/15 10:00pm)
Valentine's Day: A day of love, chocolates, candies and adorably cheesy cards that show someone how much you care. But for flower stores, it's a week of complete insanity.
"We have by far more flowers, more orders and more deliveries than on any other holiday," said marketing manager at The Flower Store, Sydnee Cleveland.
The storage room at The Flower Store is packed with rows and rows of red, white and pink flowers, the most prominent one seen: roses.
Ginger Turvis, the marketing manager at Blooming Colors, said roses are also their most popular order.
"Roses are definitely one of the biggest sellers, and then probably mixed cut flowers and poppies," Turvis said.
In order for a store like this to manage such a hectic time, Turvis said her employees are the key.
"We've got a great crew that sets up special areas of high volume so people can shop and look at still arrangements at the same time," Turvis said.
Cleveland said managing Valentine's Day sales requires months of preparation and is comparative to firefighting.
"It's non-stop intense for an entire week for me, like putting on a million hats and putting out a million fires," Cleveland said.
Cleveland and the rest of the staff at The Flower Store have to change their regular routine slightly in order to manage all of the incoming orders. They assign delivery drivers to specific routes and bring in more part-time employees, according to Cleveland
Adam Perkins, senior in supply chain management, has been working at The Flower Store for three years.
"It is really hectic during this time, because I had three tests this week but I also had work some nights until 10 p.m." Perkins said.
Although Perkins said he is busy, he loves what he does.
"It's a fantastic job, they work really well with my schedule and even though Valentine's Day is busy, I'm appreciative of the business," Perkins said.
At the end of the day, after the flowers have been sorted and arranged, Cleveland said she is able to reflect on the positive side of Valentine's day.
"This is the most beautiful time of the year to work here," Cleveland said. "It's fun to see love spread to everyone: girlfriends, boyfriends, husbands, wives, new love and old love."
(02/11/15 5:30pm)
As Steffi Ledbetter, junior in music theatre, waited in the crowded room with 30 other finalists on "American Idol," all she could think of was how she had possibly just given the worst audition of her life. But when the producers walked back in and said, "You've made it to the celeb round," she couldn't believe her ears.
"I remember the boy next to me," Ledbetter said. "He said, 'Wait, you mean, like, in front of J. Lo?' and when they said yes, we both just stood there."
Although Ledbetter's time on Idol ended after Hollywood, she does not seem too phased by the experience, because she said she knows every experience helps further her career.
Ledbetter said she has been singing for as long as she can remember and has known it was what she wanted to do for just as long.
"I've known I wanted to be a singer, probably since I was 7 or 8," Ledbetter said. "How I felt on stage ... it just felt right, you know?"
When Ledbetter was 10, she was recommended by a friend to a voice teacher in Auburn, April MacDonald.
"I normally don't take children, but since she was referred to me by a musician, I thought I would go ahead and listen to her," MacDonald said.
MacDonald said she knew Ledbetter was talented the second she heard her voice.
"I was afraid that with an impressive voice like that at 11, if I didn't take her as a student, someone would ruin her voice," MacDonald said.
MacDonald said Ledbetter is able to sing in the highest classical register while also having the ability to belt with the best of them.
"She was trained by me in head voice because she could go very, very high, the highest soprano, called a coloratura soprano," MacDonald said.
Since then, MacDonald has been training Ledbetter steadily for the past nine years, watching her go through countless National Anthem performances, a performance for former President George W. Bush, leading roles in plays and "American Idol."
"I was really proud of her because, no matter what, it's great exposure," MacDonald said.
Ledbetter said the confidentiality contract she was under while on the show was the hardest part. After being discovered on YouTube, she was flown to Nashville, Tennessee, to audition for the first round. Even then, she wasn't allowed to report her successes, and when she found out she would be on the show in July, she couldn't tell anyone until December.
Taylor Thomas, sophomore in media studies, said he couldn't believe one of his closest friends would be performing on "American Idol."
"We were just driving in the car when she told me, and I was like, 'Wait, really?' and then I texted her constantly while she was away on the show, asking for updates," Thomas said.
For the celebrity audition, Ledbetter said she wanted to do something different to impress the judges. She practiced singing "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons and added her own jazzy twist. But after performing her planned song, American Idol judge Harry Connick Jr. wanted her to do something more modern in jazz.
"He asked me to sing something by Amy Winehouse," Ledbetter said. "So I picked the first song I could think of on the spot which was 'Back to Black,' and I guess that's what he was looking for."
Although Ledbetter said the entire experience was exhausting, it was also rewarding.
"Getting to go home and work on the things the judges told you and improve before Hollywood week was just a great experience," Ledbetter said.
Throughout her singing career, Ledbetter said she has acquired many fans and supporters who hope to see her succeed and admire her character through all of the fame.
"It would be crazy to be able to buy her own songs on iTunes," Thomas said. "She's crazy talented; so she deserves it."
MacDonald said she is most impressed by Ledbetter's nonchalant attitude.
"Through all of that she's still very humble," MacDonald said. "I'm kind of like her second mother, and I know I brag more about her accomplishments than she does."
"I remember once when I was 10 or 11 and opening for a Trace Adkins concert," Ledbetter said. "In the middle of the concert, Trace Adkins turned to me and said, 'One day I'll be buying tickets to her show.' I'll never forget that."
(02/01/15 8:30pm)
Auburn students are not just talented in academics and sports, but also design.
Callie Barganier, senior in elementary education, said she was excited to live in the new Cedar Creek neighborhood off Thach Avenue.
"It's cool that we're the first ones to live here and break it in," Barganier said. "We wanted to create a space that felt like home."
Allison Miller, senior in interior design who lives at Two 21 Armstrong, said she couldn't believe how well her apartment turned out.
Miller transformed one wall into a chalkboard with bookshelves and cheerful sayings.
"The thing most people like is the big chalkboard wall in our kitchen and a big world map over our couch," Miller said.
Miller said she designed her home first with a theme in mind -- "neutral with a touch of yellow" -- and then went from there.
Kathleen McGahan, junior in elementary education, said her house was designed with "coziness" in mind.
"It's very spacious and never feels crowded," McGahan said. "We tried to stick with very warm, neutral colors."
McGahan said she also tried to incorporate several smaller items in her decorating.
"I focused mainly on little details -- candles, flowers, picture frames," McGahan said. "Things you wouldn't think about."
"Little details" were something Miller also said she kept in mind when she added her go-to accessory -- a stack of coffee-table cups -- to create a personal effect.
McGahan said imagining style is much easier than buying new furniture, so she and her roommates combined what they already had.
"I saw what everyone had to work with, what worked together and what didn't," McGahan said.
In a window-lit corner of Barganier's kitchen, right across from the wooden dining room table she and her dad built, sits a gold-rimmed glass cart with sparkling water and glasses.
"My roommate got it from an antique market, and just decided to spray paint it gold," Barganier said.
Miller said her advice on figuring out where to start is to first pick a design or theme.
"First pick one thing, like maybe a pillow or fabric," Miller said. "We pulled inspiration from the shapes and colors on some fabric."
(02/01/15 7:00pm)
Cooking in college can be tough for multiple reasons. There's planning to consider, money to buy the ingredients and, of course, time to actually cook. But it turns out finding cheap, easy-to-make meals for just more than $8 is possible and can be fun.
I started with the notion that I wanted to make two meals for the price of one.
There are multiple directions you could take with this idea, depending on what type of food you like the best. While oatmeal works for most breakfast meals, if you wanted to make lunch and dinner foods, then what I've found is extremely useful.
At Outtakes in the Student Center, I found most of the ingredients I needed for spaghetti and soy-and-vegetable pasta.
There is a pasta section complete with different types of sauces.
The box of noodles itself is only a couple dollars, and the sauce is even cheaper. Wal-mart sells a 15-ounce bottle of soy sauce for $2.08 you can reuse.
The rest of the ingredients depend on personal preference, but if you want vegetarian stir-fry, the stores in the Village and Terrell both sell raw produce, or you can buy a bag of frozen veggies from Wal-Mart for $1.50.
As for the cooking, I started by boiling the pasta and heating up the sauce to pour on the noodles for some delicious spaghetti. I made sure to only use half of the noodles and save the rest for the next day.
The second night, I sauteed some vegetables in the soy sauce, poured them over the leftover noodles and voila! I created two delicious meals for just more than $8.
(01/30/15 4:00pm)
For many students, their daily routine consists of attending class, spending time with friends and doing homework. Some students do all of that while also operating a business.
On a normal day, Ashley Kickliter, senior in graphic design, goes to class while simultaneously answering calls and scheduling appointments. When she returns home, not only is homework looming over her head, but also the photographs from countless weddings, engagements and senior portraits she has to edit.
"The first three years of college, I feel like I missed out on a lot," Kickliter said. "(But) I don't feel like I was meant for a typical college experience anyway."
Kickliter said she has been photographing her friends since high school -- going into backyards, dressed in fashionable clothing, pretending they were "ready for Vogue."
It wasn't until the end of high school that Kickliter said she realized maybe photography was something she was meant to do for the rest of her life.
"Those moments when people tell me, 'You made me feel beautiful,' that's when I'm reminded this is what I was meant to do," Kickliter said.
Deli Wayn Robertson, senior in printmaking, said she too feels the rewards of owning her own business.
"My friend I'm making a Jedi robe for, he's just so excited about it," Robertson said. "Helping somebody else fulfill a personal goal is really fulfilling for me."
Robertson said she didn't start her printmaking business for the money; she started because she loved the craft, which transformed into sharing her passion with others.
Robertson said she enjoys branching out and using her skills to further her business in other areas, such as jewelry, costumes and accessories.
"I really enjoy building friendships with people I'm working with," Robertson said. "I sometimes sell stuff to complete strangers, and it's validating in a way that people are interested enough in what I'm making to give me money for it."
Rose Sweet, senior in studio art, said the pressure of managing a business is not as bad when she is selling items she already had to make for class.
"My best friend approached me and said, 'Let's start a business,'" Sweet said. "I was like, 'Why not?'"
Sweet said she thought ceramics was the last class she would enjoy, but it ended up being her favorite thing in the world.
"I love ceramics because it's a functional art, it has a purpose," Sweet said. "It's not just something that hangs on your wall."
Robertson said she knows the clash between school and owning a business.
Robertson said it is hard to find the time for everything when some projects require weeks of research.
"Take my paper dolls, for example," Robertson said. "They are related to extensive research because I research who the person is and what part of themselves they want to share."
Finding time for extracurriculars or homework is challenging for someone spending more than an hour in the studio for a single image.
Kickliter said many students tend to misunderstand the demanding nature of a photography business.
"There's also all of the editing, packaging, delivering and answering emails and phone calls," Kickliter said.
However, when all of the hard work is over, Kickliter said there's nothing comparable to the feeling she has when she gets to know her clients and their stories and they are completely overjoyed at her work.
"I had a lady call me once, almost in tears, begging me to redo her wedding photos because the photographer they hired hadn't done them how she wanted," Kickliter said. "She is the one who wrote me a letter when she got the photos back and told me she had never felt more beautiful in her life."
A month after receiving the letter, Kickliter said she found out the couple she photographed had both just gotten out of cancer remission without relapsing.
"That hit my heart even further when I realized why she may have had such a hard time with her self-image," Kickliter said.
Kickliter said it is the moments like those that make all of the work and struggle of owning a business in school worth it.
(01/23/15 7:00pm)
Cassidy Kulhanek, senior in fine arts, slid a sample of her work across the table. It was a print of a blue sky, with a hill, and a bone -- possibly of a dog -- lying in green grass.
Kulhanek said printmaking is the process of making artwork by printing ink on a blank page through a screen made by the artist.
"You take a chemical photo emulsion and then you put it on the screen, and that reacts to light the same way film does," Kulhanek said. "Then you have an open space to push ink through and that's how you make the print."
Kulhanek's work has been featured in local galleries and within the University.
"In Biggin, there's one show open for any student, and then one for seniors at the end of each semester," Kulhanek said.
In the Field Work Projects Gallery on Gay Street, Kulhanek has been able to display her work. She said she feels her work has begun to improve recently because she is no longer afraid "to talk about the bad parts" of herself.
"My art tends to come off as a little revealing or harsh sometimes," Kulhanek said. "But I think that's a special part of it because it gives it a little bit more of an intimate relationship with the viewer."
She strives to give all of her work that intimate feel because she thinks "it's easier to have a connection to the work if you feel like you have a connection to the artist."
Kulhanek said she originally began as a zoology major, before switching to drawing, and then finally, printmaking.
"Printmaking is really quick, and it's easy to make a lot at once, and that's good for me because I'm really impatient," Kulhanek said. "I think that's why I gravitated toward it."
After graduation, Kulhanek's ultimate goal is to earn an MFA in printmaking so she can teach, but she said she definitely wants to continue making prints as well.
Forrest Badington, sophomore in studio art and one of Kulhanek's closest friends, said majoring in art may seem difficult, but there are certain jobs specific only to those majoring in an art field, such as film.
"I want to be a production designer for movies," Badington said. "You get to have creative control over the look of the movie."
Kulhanek said her father, an engineer, is extremely supportive.
"He's just happy I'm doing something that makes me happy," Kulhanek said. "He understands it's not going to be easy for me, but he knows that I also know that."
Kyle Taylor, a recent alumnus in fine arts, and another friend of Kulhanek's, said Kulhanek has the ability to succeed in printmaking.
"She seems to work hard at what she does," Taylor said. "I hope she can be around people that want to learn."
Badington said he also recognizes the drive in Kulhanek.
"The day I left for winter break she was in the studio working," Badington said.
Kulhanek said most of her inspiration comes from her relationships with others and how she interacts with them.
What she said she loves most about printmaking is that "it is so unlike other things that you can study" or major in.
"There's no right or wrong way to do it," Kulhanek said, "and there's no right or wrong answer in the end, it's just working the whole time to improve."
Kulhanek said many people do not realize the amount of hours artists spend in the studio, and the amount of frustration that goes along with that.
"You have to work on something until you hate it, because if you love it too much, you'll just want to work on it forever," Kulhanek said.
Even with the trials and tribulations, Kulhanek said she still loves what she does and is thankful she gets to do it everyday.
"It's a very personal action to make art," Kulhanek said. "So whenever you make art you are making little pieces of yourself."
(01/16/15 8:30pm)
Auburn University offers hundreds of degrees to suit different areas of interest. Three of the least-common minors and majors at Auburn are botany, dance and interdisciplinary studies.
When Auburn was first founded in 1856, it was primarily a school for agriculture and engineering. Since then, the school has grown in other disciplines, but there are some areas, such as dance, that are only offered as a minor.
"If there was a [dance] major, I'd be one," said Ashlie Lauderdale, junior in biomedical sciences with a minor in dance.
After doing what they love for most of their life, many dancers at Auburn said they aspire to dance professionally, according to Lauderdale.
Lauderdale said there are often misconceptions about what is actually involved in the curriculum with majors or minors such as dance. She said if there was one thing she could make people understand about dance as a minor, it would be that it is a serious subject.
"People tend to think it's an extracurricular-type deal, like it's not actually hard when it is," Lauderdale said. "It's a three-credit class."
Another uncommon major at Auburn is botany, the scientific study of plants. There are only three students majoring in botany.
"Botany is an extremely diverse field with lots of disciplines under the title," said Evan Kilburn, junior in botany. "I'd say it's misunderstood due to a lack of knowledge about it."
Kilburn said botany has an intense College of Science and Mathematics curriculum.
"I am often asked, 'What are you going to do with that?' because many are unaware of the different, exciting careers open to someone with a botany degree," Kilburn said.
Kilburn said botany is not just a boring, basic study of plants, there is a wide array of career fields open to botany majors.
Kilburn said he is excited that he may one day be "fighting invasive species around the globe, finding new cures or even working in research and development" because of all the options botany offers.
Samuel Price, junior in interdisciplinary studies, said one of the most confusing majors to attempt to explain is interdisciplinary studies.
"I think many more people would choose to do it if they knew how easy it is to customize your own major," Price said.
Interdisciplinary studies is designed so students with a specific career goal in mind can design their own curriculum based upon classes they think they will need to accomplish their dream.
"This semester, I am teaching Indian music to children in India that haven't really had exposure to it, which is definitely something I'd probably want to continue doing," Price said.
Price said if there was one thing he could clarify about his major, it would be his major has good career prospects.
"People think it will be hard for those of us majoring in IDSC to find jobs, when really we are more equipped to find a job because our major is so specific for what we want to do," Price said.
Students in majors as uncommon as these wish for people to learn about what their major entails before disregarding or judging it as lesser, according to Kilburn.
"It's always good for people to know more about something you love," Kilburn said.