Posts Tagged ‘Florida’

PROFILE: Failed Floridian Fencer Finds Finale

Ready.  Fence!

Chris Law advanced a step on the raised strip in front of a crowd of more than 300 at the Ocala, Fla., Fencing Tournament.  His Russian opponent charged.  Law, who was only two points away from winning, retreated a few steps and attempted to block the moves.  The Russian lunged forward and body checked Law.  Law stumbled, twisted and slipped.  His leg was broken and his Olympic bound fencing career was over.

Law is now a senior about to graduate from Marietta College.  Before his final fencing match began the fall of his senior year of high school, he planned to go to Penn State on a full ride scholarship and join the fencing team.  If Penn State had not worked out, he had been accepted to Harvard under the same conditions.  The same was true with Yale, Oregon, Oregon State, and Syracuse.  In a few seconds, all of that was gone.

“I blacked out immediately after it happened,” says Law.  “The next thing I remember, I was going to the hospital and knew I had a bad injury.”

The injury was pretty serious indeed.  The doctor determined Law’s right leg had a broken tibia and femur, a dislocated and shattered patella, several torn muscles, a torn LCL, and a strained ACL.

Within a few days, every scholarship offer had been revoked except for Law’s academic scholarship to Marietta College.  This was Law’s backup to his backup.  As it turned out, it became one of the best things to ever happen to Chris Law.

“I enjoyed MC more than I thought I would.  Classes I could have had anywhere.  The friends, though, I wouldn’t trade for Penn State’s fencing program or Harvard or anything like that for the friends I made at Marietta.”

Law embraced the situation and he become very involved at Marietta College.  He joined a fraternity and became an editor for the Marcolian, the student newspaper.  He is about to graduate with a degree in Advertising and Public Relations, a double minor in journalism and organizational communication, and a certificate in international leadership.

Adam Bruhenne, Law’s best friend and former roommate, is impressed by how much the entire situation has humbled Law.  “I don’t think I could have taken this as well as Chris Law.  He’s become an avid volunteer for the Boys’ and Girls’ Club and wants to join the Navy after he graduates.”

The military is one option Law is considering.  If he can’t find a job in the private sector, he’d like to serve his country.

“My dream job is to be the director of social media for Budweiser, but it will take a while to get there.  If I can get in a few years with the government, I think it will not only help my career, but I will be able to give back for everything my country has given me.”

EDITOR’S NOTE:  This article is by Dave Hood, a Media Writing Two student at Marietta College.  If you are interested in writing for Writing on the Mall, send an e-mail to Patrick_H@writingonthemall.net.

PROFILE: Flowers Blooming At MC

If you have ever felt destined to be a certain person or follow a specific path, then you already have plenty in common with the topic of this article, Nancy Ann Flowers. “Live, Love, Laugh, and Dream” is the perfect quote to sum up Nancy. Through her 22 years of life, she has kept fighting and held tight onto her dreams of someday becoming a star on Broadway.

Flowers was born in the early morning hours of March 6, 1988, in Bellaire, Ohio.  Mike and Cheri Flowers were caught slightly off-guard the night before Cheri’s scheduled baby shower for her baby bump named Nancy. The happy couple was decorating their church to welcome friends and family with gifts for their new baby the next day when Cheri went into labor and had to be rushed to the hospital by her husband. Leave it to Nancy to stop the show and make everyone’s jaws drop with her impeccable timing and knack for making everyone smile.

From their exciting kick-start as a family, Mike, Cheri, and their daughter Nancy have been a very close-knit family. Nancy didn’t have any siblings growing up but she has helped raise two family pets; Ziggy, who came into the family in her eighth grade year and then Gizmo, who was born with his multiple sibling right underneath the Flowers’ porch! Nancy saw the pregnant mother cat under the porch and just had to help out. She and her parents adopted one of the kittens and took the rest to the local shelter that did not put pets to sleep. This is just another example of how Nancy shows her kindness towards anyone willing to accept it.

Another way this kind character likes to show her kindness towards animals is through being a vegetarian. Nancy has been a vegetarian since July 19^th, 2005. She can remember the day so vividly because her decision to stop eating meat didn’t come lightly. She and her mother had been on the South Beach Diet for a few months when suddenly, while eating a steak her father cooked, Nancy decided she had eaten enough meat for a lifetime.

Now, she never really liked the taste of meat all that much, as she was used to only eating hamburgers and chicken tenders as her selections of meat, but this was her breaking point. Not only did Nancy stop liking the taste but, when she thinks about how the meat came to be on her plate, it “grosses [her] out!” Being a vegetarian for going on five years now has taken a lot of strength and determination from Nancy. These personality traits are helping her in more areas than nutrition though.

Nancy will be the next-to-last graduate, and the only one this year, who will leave Marietta College with a degree in Musical Theatre. The major has since been deleted from the school’s repertoire but this young dreamer is determined to make it her career.

“It’s the only thing I really love to do and I can get a job in. Yeah, my parents weren’t too thrilled about it at first but, they came around.”

They came around to the possibility of musical theatre being a career for their only daughter during Nancy’s senior year. She played two major roles in her high school productions; Abbie in “Arsenic and Old Lace” and ended her year as Dolly in the Spring Musical, “Hello Dolly.”

“Dolly convinced me I could do it because it was one of the best shows my school had done and it showed people I was a pretty good singer and actor too. They were kinda shocked to see me doing so well and that made me happy!”

Through her four years at Marietta College, Nancy has partaken in numerous plays and several of the musical productions as well. Ask Nancy what her best show experience has been and you’ll get a warm reply with a bright smile saying “Quilters!” This was Nancy’s senior capstone project and the 2010 Marietta College Theatre Spring Musical. Nancy had a huge role in the musical and even got to direct a couple of scenes that were most people’s favorites. She had to change character on stage a few times and, although that was the hardest part, Nancy said “It helped me a lot because it forced me to practice and get out of my comfort zone.”

Nancy isn’t nervous about the future because she seems to be pretty set, at least for the next year. She will be graduating in May, working a local job in Bellaire, then going down to Orlando, Fla., to live and work at Disney World. Nancy was accepted into Disney’s college program and will be there for around five and a half months. She will be working with the Attractions division and hopefully auditioning for shows and performance roles in parades and such.

If I learned anything from having the privilege of interviewing this young lady, it’s this; you can never underestimate yourself and the power you have to affect those around you. Nancy Ann Flowers is a truly genuine, caring, supportive, faithful, and dedicated student who is more than ready to take on the world in her own unique ways. I’ll leave you with the words of the famous Walt Disney, “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”

EDITOR’S NOTE:  This article is by Allison Holton, a Media Writing Two student at Marietta College.  If you are interested in writing for Writing on the Mall, send an e-mail to Patrick_H@writingonthemall.net.