Through Our Eyes – 11/7/17

Best of the best:

Bill Santley, 50, waits to get off in North Hollywood on the Green Line Metro Bus in Los Angeles, California. Bill Santley has been blind all of his life. “I would suggest stay in Northern California, there are a lot of people who don’t speak english here. I have to find an address and people I try to communicate to on the train speak Spanish. Very hard to navigate around LA, and being blind makes my days more rough. Unfortunately IÕve lived here all of my life, but the train system helps. Housing is ridiculous. If your going to live in LA you better have a kid, or else people won’t help you. Or your going to get left behind.” | Michael Blackshire

 

Honorable mentions:

Eugene Monsun, 76, smokes a cigarette before headed back home. He has lived in Bowling Green, KY for 10 years after retiring from carpentry. ” My old roommate died a year ago so now I live with his son. I try not to dwell on death but I can’t help but think about the inevitable since he passed away. Also doesn’t help my health that I chain smoke cigarettes.” Monsun said. | Michael Blackshire

Connor Fadely helps to clear the football field following a Creek Wood victory over the Portland Panthers on October 20, 2017 at Portland East Middle School in Portland, Tn. The Red Hawks won 21-6. | Gabriel Scarlett

PORTLAND, TN – 20: Kicker Camrin Lyle of Portland Panthers sits during halftime of a game in which she did not see playing time against the Creek Wood Red Hawks on October 20, 2017 at Portland East Middle School in Portland, Tn. She is the only female member of the Portland team. | Gabriel Scarlett

Dawson, 6, trick-or-treats with his family on Halloween in Brownsville, Ky.|Morgan Hornsby

“Here, we are not prisoner,” Denise says. “The [refugee] camp was surrounded with bushes.” Since moving to Morehead in 2014, she started a garden that includes her infamous hot peppers.|Shaban Athuman

Hours after Denise Luke was born in Togo, a west African nation, her family thought they were looking at her for the last time. She was born a bit overdue, and had swallowed some bodily fluids during the birthing process. A man passing by asked what was going on and the family told him that she was dead. The man looked at her, then made a cut under both of her eyes and applied some material on the wound. Seconds later she was awake. |Shaban Athuman

Nashville, TN – 4: Runners compete in their race at the TSSAA State Meet at Percy Warner Steeplechase Course in Nashville on Nov. 4, 2017. | Gabriel Scarlett

Through Our Eyes – 10/17/17

Best of the best:

Laura Webb waves goodbye to her foster son Dawson as he goes to school. Unknown to Dawson, his mother and father would soon leave for a court appointment regarding the adoption of him and his brother. After three years of foster care, the court system changed the goal of the boys’ case to adoption and decided to begin the process of terminating parental rights.|Morgan Hornsby

Honorable mention:

WKU tight end Mik’Quan Deane (85) catches a pass for a touch down at the WKU Homecoming football game on Saturday October 14, 2017 at LT Smith Stadium. WKU won 45 to 14.|Silas Walker

Other work:

A fight breaks out between patrons and is quickly pushed out into the parking lot during Yo Gotti’s performance at a concert on Saturday, October 14, 2017 at the Sloan Convention Center. |Silas Walker

Saxton lights one of many kerosene lamps for light in his home as the sun sets. | Kelsea Hobbs

Dawson waits for the bus while his foster mother Laura Webb dries her hair in preparation for their upcoming court appointment. Unknown to Dawson, his mother and father would soon leave for court to receive a hearing on the status of the adoption of him and his brother. After three years of foster care, the court system changed the goal of the boys’ case to adoption and decided to begin the process of terminating parental rights.|Morgan Hornsby

Paige Henderson dances with her friend Melody Dickerson in Henderson’s dorm room. The two are both on the Major Redz majorette-style dance team. Since meeting at tryouts, they spend most days practicing routines or creating new choreography homework for the Major Redz. “Most days, we dance, Henderson said. Everywhere, sometimes in the Chick-Fil-A line.” | Morgan Hornsby

Wide Receiver Cameron Echols-Luper #23 of the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers gives high fives to young fans after his game against Charlotte at L.T. Smith Stadium on October 14, 2017 in Bowling Green, Kentucky.|Shaban Athuman

Quarterback Brooks Barden #12 of the Charlotte 49ers is tacked by Defensive Back Drell Greene #9 of the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at L.T. Smith Stadium on October 14, 2017 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. |Shaban Athuman

A member of the WKU Athletic staff holds a smoke canister before as the Hilltoppers are introduced on the field to play against Charlotte at L.T. Smith Stadium on October 14, 2017 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. |Shaban Athuman

Frank Phelps outside his mechanic shop in Bowling Green, Ky. Phelps and Son was once run by himself and his father, Andrew, but he has since taken over, often working 12-hour days. | Gabe Scarlett

Through Our Eyes – 10/10/17

Best of the best:

Autour Love, 46, holds a framed photo of his deceased son Javon Saadig Jackson, who was murdered by a drive by shooting on December 1st, 2016, he was 19.”First 20 minutes I heard about my son getting shot, I was Boom, out the house, drove straight from Park DuValle to 12th and Hill Street. All of the anger I let go when I was younger grew back inside me. The coroner didn’t even lay a sheet over my son’s dead body. Had him lounged over the car with his lifeless body, blood dripping on the ground. I left the streets for my son to learn from my past life lessons. All I can do now is lay back; ask God for answers, because the streets won’t give me answers.” Autour Love said while reflecting on the memory of his son Javon Saadig Jackson. October 9th, 2017. |Michael Blackshire

Honorable mention:

Running back Luke Owen #21 of the Salem Spartans scores a touchdown against Patrick Henry on Friday Oct. 06, 2017 in Roanoke, Va. |Shaban Athuman

Kenneth Forbes Sr., 45, son died a year and seven months after graduating from Valley High School in Louisville, KY. Kenneth Forbes Jr. died on December 23rd, 2012 in a parking lot off of Dixie Highway. “Christmas isn’t a good time for me, my son died two days before Christmas; that breaks me down every year. I don’t celebrate holidays. The closes people to me always ask me whats wrong, and I’m thinking do you know what happened to me man. I only have one son now, and I had to burry my first born. I suffer from grief, anxiety, and depression. Don’t ask me whats wrong, sometimes I just want to lay down in bed all day. I can never accept my son being murdered. I can find closure through reflection but my life changed on December 23rd 2012.” Kenneth Forbes Sr. said. October 8th, 2017. |Michael Blackshire

Through Our Eyes – 10/3/17

Best of the best:

Reggie Gough, 58, brushes the dirt off one of his horses before going on a ride in Franklin, Ky., on a Tuesday afternoon. “This horse has broken my collar bone, stepped on my hand, and kicked me in the face. I called her Suzy but I nickname her Bull. She’s my favorite horse but I swear the last time she injured me I had to strain myself to not put her down,” Reggie Gough said. | Michael Blackshire

Honorable mention:

Reggie Gough rides his horse Suzy while his other horse Mustang stays close with a halter carrying the horses to their resting stop. “I’m not a cowboy, I’m a horseman,” said Gough. “Cowboy’s chase cows, I make sure horses have tender hooves and a sore back, plus black man are afraid of ropes.” |Michael Blackshire

Bernard Djuma grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and after moving the Bowling Green, Ky., joined BG Projects United, a local soccer team for African refugees. The team was started three years ago and is sponsored by the Housing Authority of Bowling Green and Christ Fellowship Church. |Skyler Ballard

Dawson stands in his backyard in Edmondson County, Kentucky. Nearby, his mother and father take turns watching Dawson and his little brother Alex as they jump on the trampoline together and fight over who gets to ride their shared scooter. The boys have been in foster care with the Webb-Thomas family for three years. In just a week, the family will find out in court if they will become permanent guardians of the brothers or if they will return to their biological parents. Shot on 120 film. |Morgan Hornsby

Members of Bowling Green Projects United, a local soccer team for African refugees, practice for an upcoming game. The team, which ranges from elementary to high school players, was started by Daniel Tarnagda as a way for the the members to integrate into the community. |Skyler Ballard

Running back Jakairi Moses #29 of the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers dives into the end zone to score a touchdown against Ball State on September 23, 2017 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. |Shaban Athuman

Members of Bowling Green Projects United, a local soccer team for African refugees, practice for an upcoming game. The team, which ranges from elementary to high school players, was started by Daniel Tarnagda as a way for the the members to integrate into the community. |Skyler Ballard

My sister Natalie and her Imogen. “When I take her down to the water’s edge, when I hold her tiny foot in the cold, and clear, when I stand in it and splash for her entertainment, all the waters from all these histories collide. From the puddle of amniotic fluid that soaked my toes in the hospital to the puddles I couldnÕt hop over while pregnant, from the laboring hallucinations and flashbacks to the contractions like waves, from the obsidian pools of her eyes just opening to her searching, piercing expressions, all water flows to the lowest point. ImogenÕs eyes dig into me, hollowing and filling me. Her eyes, like whetstones on which I must drag my meanings and hone my understanding, ask and ask and ask. Water always flows to the deepest place.” ÐNatalie. Shot on 120 film. |Gabe Sacrlett

Through Our Eyes-09/19/17

Best of the best:

Demetrius and Demontaze Duncan play fight outside on Muhammad Ali Blvd in Louisville, KY. “You can’t steal me though” Demetrius said to Demontaze as they discuss their boxing records. September 11th. 2017. |Michael Blackshire

Honorable mention:

Demontaze and Demetrius Duncan relax upstairs in their rooms right before they go to bed at night. “I want to get a periscope, that’s my best subject is science, I made a 48 on my last history test, that’s my least favorite” Demontaze Duncan said while discussing class. “School isn’t my best subject, all of the subjects, none of them are my best,” Demetrius Duncan said while discussion school. September 7th, 2017. |Michael Blackshire

Other participants:

This is the Big Bethel AME Church in the Sweet Auburn neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the oldest African-American congregation in the area. Its basement was the first African-American public school in the city. |Gabe Scarlett

Louisiana Tech University wide receiver Rhashid Bonnette (86) rects after Western Kentucky University defensive back Joe Brown (7) intercepted a pass intended for him during the Hilltoppers’ 22-23 loss to Louisiana Tech University on Saturday September 16, 2017 at L.T. Smith Stadium. |Shaban Athuman

A focus stacked macro shot of one of the many specimens of Monarch Butterflies belonging to WKU’s own entomologist and beetle expert, Dr. Keith Phillips. |Thomas Helm

Dwayne Webb tries to get his foster sons to bed while Alex plays and Dawson sulks. Though Dwayne wakes up at 3 a.m. every day to go to work, he puts the boys to bed every night, which can take up to an hour. |Morgan Hornsby

Each time I come home, I notice subtle changes in my brother. On this visit, he was proud of the new words that he took from his library book and proud of the squirrel he killed. It still lies in our laundry room freezer, waiting for something. He updates me on his accomplishments as we walk the edge of our grandmotherÕs pond, plucking armfuls of yellow flowers. He begs me to loosen a stubborn front tooth. I reach for his hand as he lunges for a singular purple flower near the waterÕs edge. The distance subsides. This process is, to me, as holy as any ritual. He gifts the green and yellow bundle to our mom; the purple he saves for my hair. |Morgan Hornsby

Afghan journalist receives award for international reporting

The School of Journalism & Broadcasting at Western Kentucky University will welcome Afghan journalist Lotfullah Najafizada to campus in late September as the recipient of the second annual Fleischaker/Greene Award for Courageous International Reporting.

Najafizada serves as the director of TOLONews, Afghanistan’s first and largest 24/7 news and current events channel, where he oversees a newsroom of over 100 media professionals in Kabul and news bureaus throughout the country. He has conducted TV interviews with many global leaders, including former British Prime Minister David Cameron, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

In 2017, Forbes selected Najafizada among the “30 under 30” top media influencers in Asia. In 2016, TIME Magazine named him a Next Generation Leader and Reporters Without Borders named him a Press Freedom Hero for his fight for free press in Afghanistan.

“At 29 years old, this year’s Fleischaker/Greene Award for Courageous International Reporting recipient, Lotfullah Najafizada, has already braved numerous threats while working as a journalist and as Director of TOLOnews,” said Dr. Loup Langton, the School of Journalism & Broadcasting’s former director, who helped select Najafizada for the award. “We’re fortunate to have him join us to talk about the current situation in his country as well as the challenges and rewards of reporting from a country that has faced so much violence and uncertainty for decades.”

Najafizada started out in journalism as a page designer at a local newspaper in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif. He later began writing and reporting, which led to a job in the online department at Kabul-based media group MOBY. When the idea came at MOBY to start a 24-hour news station, Najafizada was chosen to lead it.

Since assuming the director role at TOLONews, Najafizada has received threats from the Taliban for his coverage of Kabul affairs. In 2014, the Taliban attacked several of his colleagues, and Najafizada made the decision to continue reporting despite the dangers.

The Award for Courageous International Reporting is given by the Fleischaker/Greene Fund for Excellence in First Amendment Issues at WKU. The award ceremony and Najafizada’s presentation will be held at 7 p.m. CDT on Thursday, Sept. 28 in Ransdell Hall auditorium on WKU’s campus. The event is free and open to the public.

For more information about Najafizada’s visit to campus, contact Amanda J. Crawford, assistant professor of journalism, at 270-745-6407 or amanda.crawford@wku.edu.

About the Fleischaker/Greene Fund for Excellence

In 2008, Louisville attorneys Jon Fleischaker and Kim Greene created the Fleischaker/Greene Fund for Excellence in First Amendment Issues at Western Kentucky University. The Fund also supports WKU’s Fleischaker/Greene Scholars in First Amendment Studies Program, which gives top students in the School of Journalism & Broadcasting the opportunity to take an advanced special topics class and brings nationally recognized speakers in journalism and First Amendment issues to the WKU campus.

Through Our Eyes-09/12/17

Best of the best:

Harmony Hawks runs through her cousin’s yard in Edmonson County, Kentucky. Harmony has been in foster care with the Hawks for six months, and is on track to be adopted soon. “She should have been named hurricane,” her foster mother Jessica Hawks said of Harmony. The family lives in Grayson, Kentucky but is remodeling a home across the road to be closer to the rest of their family as they care for more children. |Morgan Hornsby.

 

Honorable mention:

From left, Dryan Neeley, Danielle Minton, Peyton Neeley, Alexandria Neeley, and Breanna Neeley watch as a solar eclipse takes place at their home in Bon Ayr Estates trailer park near Bon Ayr, Ky. on August 21, 2017. |Gabriel Scarlett.

 

Other participants:

Davis Lowe was diagnosed with a very rare mental disability at 6 months old. At the age of 3 he was formally diagnosed on the autism spectrum. He was then adopted by the Lowe family and he has been receiving therapy and schooling in order to help his progress. |Mhari Shaw.

Western Kentucky University wide receiver Nacarius Fant will return to take on Eastern Kentucky after injuring his knee last year. |Shaban Athuman.

A family watches the eclipse just before totality begins from the lawn of the Jefferson Davis State Historic Site in Fairview, Ky. |Skyler Ballard.

Dawson Thomas plays with his cat in his home in Edmonson County, Kentucky. Dawson, 6, has been in foster care with the Thomas family for half of his life. The family hopes to adopt as soon as possible. |Morgan Hornsby.

Brothers Dawson and Alex Thomas play together while their mother makes dinner in Edmonson County, Kentucky. The family lives on what their mother Laura calls a “pleasure farm,” with a few chickens, sheep, and one donkey. |Morgan Hornsby.

Breanna Neeley watches the street lights come on as a solar eclipse takes place above her home in Bon Ayr Estates trailer park near Bon Ayr, Kentucky on August 21, 2017. |Gabriel Scarlett.

Through Our Eyes-09/05/17- Summer Edition

After three tries for the title, Aysha Catron-Tsosie was crowned Miss Teen Navajo Nation this Spring. Aysha learned about her Navajo heritage from her grandmother as she prepared for the pageant as she studied the language and traditional music. Before her involvement in pageantry, Aysha said that she didn’t understand much about her culture. Now, she is involved in powwows, fairs, and events across the reservation, and advocates for Navajo language in education on the reservation. “Navajo women have to be strong, mentally and physically,” Aysha said. “Pageants have helped me learn that.” |Morgan Hornsby

Chenoa Stevens is crowned Miss Eastern Dine Bi Fair in Crownpoint, New Mexico. The pageant, which lasted three days, had a modern and tradition talent section as well as the bread baking competition. |Morgan Hornsby

Wentzville resident and St. Giana parishioner Laura Tyson walked under Kenrick-Glennon Days Summer Camp leaders with her son Gabriel as they were welcomed on June 5 to the Kenrick-Glennon Seminary. Tyson dropped off her son Mark Tyson, 11, for his first time at KGD. |Kathryn Ziesig

Paul Peters, owner of Peters Tire and longtime resident of Haines, Alaska, reflects on the state of his buisness and the local economy on July 13. Paul’s shop, located directly off of the town’s Main St.. does very well due to the fact that many people choose to repair older vehicles rather than buy new ones, as Haines’ road system is completely isolated from any other towns or cities. |Nic Huey

John Dau holds his daughter, Akur, after arriving home from school. After moving to two different countries and refugee camps, Dau was resettled into the United States. |Shaban Athuman

Portrait by Thomas Helm.

Jaime Walter holds on to her daughter Addison during a funeral service for slain Special Agent Mike Walter on Saturday June 3, 2017 at Pawhatan County High School in Powhatan County, Va. |Shaban Athuman

Marion Clement, executive director of the Maryland Bird Conservation Partnership, listens for bird callbacks during a marsh bird monitoring survey conducted by Maryland Department of Natural Resources at Monie Bay in Somerset County, Maryland, on June 15, 2017. |Skyler Ballard

Seven-year-old Joshua Smith plays with an open fire hydrant on Tuesday July 18, 2017 in Mosby. |Shaban Athuman

A First Communicant in Pueblo, Colorado wanders after her ceremony on June 18, 2017. |Gabe Scarlett

Julian and his boy Christopher at their home on Pueblo’s East Side on July 3, 2017. |Gabe Scarlett

At 93, Emory Townsend is the oldest mail carrier in Colorado. As he gazes towards the Ragged Mountain WildernessÐits serrated ridges scraping a bright skyÐhe comments that it must be the oldest mountain in the state because of all those wrinkles. |Gabe Scarlett

People gather in solidarity at a candlelight vigil for LGBTQ individuals who passed in the past year in Window Rock, Arizona on June 30, 2017. The vigil was part of the first DinŽ Pride event on the Navajo Reservation. |Morgan Hornsby

Leroy Teeasyatoh stands on the grounds of his tourism-based business in Monument Valley, Utah. Under the Trump administration, Teeasyatoh is worried about prolonged disregard of Indigenous land rights, but says that this has been a problem with every administration. “Our ancestors have already sacrificed what it takes to live on this land,” Teeasyatoh said. |Morgan Hornsby

Laura Elbl, a friend of the Surdyke family, comforted Rosemary Surdyke following the signing of a bill that will name a stretch of I-55 in honor of her brother Cadet Thomas Surdyke, a former St. Pius X student who died on vacation after saving a civilian from drowning. Governor Eric Greitens signed the bill on June 29 at St. Pius X High School by the football field where Cadet Surdyke used to play. |Kathryn Ziesig

Taneka Hill embraces her son Jadon Carter on his first week of school in Aurora, Colorado. Taneka’s family is part of the growing Denver-area homeless population. At the motel in which they live, Jadon stays up late on school nights to watch his younger siblings. |Gabe Scarlett

PJ Majors Meeting

The Fall 2017 PJ Majors Meeting will be on Wednesday, August 30 at 7:30 PM in the MMTH Auditorium. Everyone in the major or those seeking admission are encouraged to attend – in fact, lets just say it is mandatory to attend. Fantastic door prizes will be given!

2017 Capstone Projects

 

We are excited to present an exhibition of the PJ436 Projects class, WKUPJ’s capstone course. From the depths of the longest cave system in the world to flying over the United States/Mexican border to an arranged wedding in Pakistan, the students criss-crossed their way around the Commonwealth, country and globe to bring you stories that matter.

 


The Cost of Bats

Kentucky sees implications of deadly fungus decimating bat populations.

BY JUSTIN GILLILAND and BRITTINY MOORE

Bedded rock layers gave way to water that dripped down the earthy limestone rock, covered in thick green moss, and created a muddy floor below.  The drops echoed in the deep depression of earth, created by the sinkhole that exposed the mouth of the historic entrance of Mammoth Cave in Mammoth Cave National Park.  Brown leaves dangle from rock crevices and concrete steps make up a staircase that leads its visitors into the damp darkness of the underground world.

Slipping deeper into the cave, traversing through sinuous passageways, bats cling to the rocky walls and nestle in small roosts.  This cave as well as many others in the park provides ideal locations for Kentucky bats to hibernate during winter months.

Steve Thomas, the monitoring program leader for the Cumberland Piedmont Network, and his crew, outfitted in helmets, headlamps and gloves, worked their way through Bat Avenue – a passage in Mammoth Cave once teeming with bats.

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La Lucha Sigue

For undocumented woman, the fight goes on.

BY NICK WAGNER

Diana Lopez is familiar with the non-English speaking courtroom in Nashville. She’s been there twice before to settle two different charges of driving without a license. But circumstances were different on May 4. As an undocumented immigrant in the era of deportation-happy President Donald Trump, stress levels surged when Lopez heard that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were at the courthouse during the days leading up to her appearance. Lopez plans to fight back, no matter if it’s from inside a jail cell, or on the streets of the United States.

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The Femininity Project

BY SALLY JEAN WEGERT

Throughout history and around the world, the idea of what is feminine has constantly been evolving. Despite its changing context, the gendered social construction, made up of both socially-defined and biologically-determined factors, maintains a place of permanence in society today. Women are womanly. They’re feminine. But what does that mean?

Femininity is a fluid concept, open to the interpretation of those who claim it for themselves. For women, the feminine is not a separate entity, but an expression of one’s own identity. The Femininity Project is a magazine profiling nine women with different backgrounds in varying stages of life, each sharing her own perspective on womanhood and the implications of femininity for her personally.

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Pre Arranged

BY ALYSE YOUNG

A look at the deeply rooted tradition of arranged marriage in Pakistani Culture and its collision with the globalizing world.

From honeymoon bliss to cold feet, marriage in Pakistan is the same as any other country, only for the children in the Sadal family it was a fate chosen for them. Putting their trust in their parent’s decisions, they seek out love in a way that diverts significantly from the narrative of a love-at-first-sight culture.

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The Road Not Taken

BY CASPER CHRISTENSEN

Derek Neal was born on August 28, 1985 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. From an early stage of his life he was introduced to wrestling and from that point he was hooked. He would spend hours as a child in the backyard wrestling and teaching himself how to “pop a crowd”, make them boo or cheer, and how he could adapt that to his own performance. At one point he came across a wrestling school in the area where he met his trainer who took him under his wings and taught him about the art of wrestling in and outside the ring.

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Thicker Than Blood

Blood isn’t necessarily thicker than water.

BY CASIDY MAYO and KENDALL NORWOOD

In life it is believed that acceptance is something every person deserves, no matter their race, gender, or sexual orientation. A large segment of the population never deals with a struggle for acceptance quite as difficult as gender mis-identity.

Explore the life of Riley McCracken, a recent Western Kentucky University graduate, and his search for acceptance as he continues the process of transitioning from female to male. Because of this transition, Riley has been cut off from his family life. He struggles to find the love and acceptance that a family is supposed to provide. His girlfriend, Kendra, serves as a great source of strength for him and has helped him begin to find himself. He has opened himself up to the LGBT community around him by getting involved with Drag performances and he has established friendships with other transgender people who serve as a new family. Riley’s story proves that blood may not be thicker than water.

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Made With Love

The Sixth Love Language: Food.

BY LEAH JOHNSON

Part of what makes us so interesting as humans is that we’re all different. We come from different places, have different families and traditions, and each have a very different life. Somehow, though, we all connect with each other with our ability to love but also with one other thing. Food.

Food has a way of bringing even the most different of people together. It’s so easy to connect over a meal. Sharing food with others can take you from strangers to friends, and sometimes even make you fall in love. There is a sixth love language, and it’s sharing food.

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A Jockey’s Journey

BY HARRISON HILL

The sport of horse racing has seen many famous faces throughout the industry. Legendary jockeys and thoroughbreds have come and gone over the past decades, and everyone is doing what they can to make it to the finish line first. For 20-year-old Katie Clawson, her first full year of horse racing has brought about many successes, yet many challenges. Coming off of a major injury two summers ago, Katie has raced at just about every track within the Kentucky circuit already. With nothing but pure drive and passion to keep her going, Katie hopes to make a name for herself as a female apprentice horse jockey.

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Summer’s Solstice

Human trafficking survivor empowers women with a grassroots Christian ministry

 BY SAWYER SMITH

Summer Dickerson, 38-year-old from Louisville, Kentucky, is human trafficking survivor and former prostitute. Within two years, she initiated recovery from her old lifestyle, accepted Christianity, and founded a ministry to empower other women. She is also mother of 11 children, who accompany her in her ministry work. Her relationships with her husband and children have improved drastically since her personal transformation.

Soon after committing to Christianity, Summer started a Bible study for sex trafficking victims. She invites women in clubs and bars around Louisville to a weekly meeting. She invites women in more desperate need to live with her and her family in their home. In summer of 2017, she plans to open a transitional home for them as well. Here they will receive mentorship and community in exchange for maintaining strict rules for recovery.

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Changing Every Day

Over the past 15 years more than 2500 men have pursued a change through the Journey Into Manhood program. But is change from homosexuality possible?

BY RUNE PEDERSEN

Brett lived as homosexual for 10 years — and for a long time, he didn’t even think it was something that should be changed. A serious breakup with his last boyfriend made him rethink his life, which led him to join the Journey into Manhood program.

Today he strives to live the life God created him for, in the hope that he will find a wife and start his own family.

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Sam: They, Them, Their

 BY EMILIE MILCAREK

We are all born with a brain that is molded and shaped by those around us and the circumstances in our lives. One thing that never changes is the person we are born as. Gender and sexuality are often misinterpreted as black and white or the same thing. This is Sam’s story; a non-binary, college freshmen who is trying to figure out what are the next steps to take after figure out who they are in every aspect and what that might mean to those around them.

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An Island in Time

One man slows down as life speeds up.

BY JOSH NEWELL

Life is accelerating at an ever increasing pace. The Internet has made the speed of life race to almost unheard of levels. As a society, the choice has been made to mash the button and hurtle towards wherever it is that the digital age decides to take us. Steve Shafer decided he didn’t want that. As a farmer, a blacksmith, and most importantly, a teacher, Steve has decided to pursue a slower lifestyle in the hills of middle Tennessee.

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Gotcha’ Forever

BY KATIE ROBERTS

Kendra, 15, always feared that she wouldn’t have anyone to be there for her. Two years ago, Ben and Kayla Thompson of Bowling Green, Kentucky, took in a pair of sisters, Kendra and Caitlin, 10, that needed a place to call home. After entering foster care, Kendra didn’t think she had a chance of adoption because of her age. “I knew my sister might get adopted, but I was like I’m not getting adopted,” Kendra said. The past few months, the Thompson family has been preparing for both of the girl’s adoption hearings.

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The Kentucky Wine Project

Nurture by Nature

BY MATT LUNSFORD and SAVANNAH PENNINGTON

Drew and Jessica Rogers, of Smith’s Grove, try to balance full-time jobs, three kids, and the Bluegrass Vineyard. The couple have been working towards their grand opening, but they are forced to postpone it until Drew returns from a one month training session in Hawaii.

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Found Hope, A Survivor’s Story

The 27-year sexual assault marriage victim now free

BY ANN MARIE DiSALVO

Connie Knapp, 66 is was a victim of a 27-year marriage were she was sexually assaulted by her husband. Knapp did not have a way out until she finally stood up for herself in a time where she was the most afraid. It was when her husband was being serious about killing her in their own Kentucky home where they lived and raised three children.

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Struggle for the Dream

Christina Dawson wants to spend her whole life in service for unemployed people.

BY JING ZHAO

The Founder & CEO of SOKY Job, LLC commits her life to developing an online job search engine used to advertise open positions in Southern Kentucky.

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