Trevor Wehner came to class early, every morning. Then, he made his tour of the faculty offices – joking with the staff, sharing bits of news, and always dazzling us with his big and generous smile. That Thursday, his smile was broader than usual as he was excited to start his internship. We were tickled, to learn that his internship supervisor would be Clay Parks, a “once in a decade” alum. Trevor and Clay were, in many ways, so similar! They were ambitious, yet grounded. Disciplined, but

Donald Trump, Jr. recently spoke to a group of teens, and encouraged them to NOT listen to their "loser teachers." That stung. Though it was only a brief period of my life, I look back at my years in the classroom with fondness. But I wondered if I would be among those he considers losers. I did lose a few minutes of instruction time once when I took a fifth grader aside to console him after the death of his grandfather, with whom he was close. I lost some amount of my private time when I

Despite the wickedness brought by the winter’s weather, I am already beginning to sense the inevitability of spring. The beginning of a thaw. It always happens when I hear four simple words: pitchers and catchers report. But this year it is more than just baseball and excitement about my Cardinals having the best first baseman in baseball once again. The difference this year is that I don’t simply want spring to come, I need it. And not solely because we have dealt with heavy snow, polar

50 years ago, most of us graduating seniors at Beloit College didn't have any idea where we would be and what we would be like at the 50 th reunion of the Class of 1969. But here we are. On and off that beautiful campus, I got my first experience in journalism. Studied abroad, got dream jobs and learned how to teach. Beloit College helped students believe we could be and do almost anything, and go places. In anthropology, geology, history, physics, economics and government, we didn't just read

A couple of weeks ago on the Late Show , Stephen Colbert said, “Money makes you think you know things you don’t know.” And on the same night on Full Frontal with Sam Bee , Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman said this about the super wealthy : “ Sometimes they are just lucky. S ometimes they really are smart, but about something, tiny, narrow. They get ‘billionaire’s disease.’ People want what you can give them, so they tell you what you want to hear.” Now, I want to be clear, this

This week, we've turned our Perspectives segment over to Breja Fink's A.P. Language and Composition class at Beloit Memorial High School. Life moves too fast, and people often let it move fast. We just want to hear that baby’s first word, can’t wait to get to middle school, and then graduate from college! We always work for the future and rarely ever think about the present. Sometimes it can be good to just live in the moment. Don’t think, “I hate these people I can’t wait to get out of here,”

This week, we've turned our Perspectives segment over to Breja Fink's A.P. Language and Composition class at Beloit Memorial High School. When we’re young we don’t quite understand the complicated concept of finances. As we grow up we start to understand the concept until we become adults, which at that point we’re thrown into the water with no warning where we begin to drown in the ocean made of bills, taxes, and fees. For the majority of my life I saw my parents struggle financially. Being the

This week, we've turned our Perspectives segment over to Breja Fink's A.P. Language and Composition class at Beloit Memorial High School. In life you find that not everyone thinks and sees things the same way as you. This is alright and was the principle that America's political system was founded on. The sharing of ideas to create a greater whole: It seems in recent times we as a people have forgotten this. Debates have drifted away from the need to understand to the need to be right. This is

This week, we've turned our Perspectives segment over to Breja Fink's A.P. Language and Composition class at Beloit Memorial High School. I’ve always been a happy person, but it wasn’t until I got a puppy that I realized how l much happier I could be. I, along with millions of others, absolutely love dogs. My dog Earl is the absolute joy of my life. He is the goofiest, most playful, cutest dog on the planet (this is NOT an exaggeration), and I couldn’t imagine my life without him. Backing up,

This week, we've turned our Perspectives segment over to Breja Fink's A.P. Language and Composition class at Beloit Memorial High School. This year Beloit’s Kids Against Hunger campaign donated over 285,000 meals to families in Guatemala, and although inspiring, I found myself asking the question: why is a nation that was economically backed by the U.S. during the Cold War experiencing a 75% poverty rate in their capital city? The answer isn’t simple. The Guatemalan Civil War began in 1960 when