Each Thursday, WKU’s Student Chapter of NPPA brings you some of the best images of the past week taken by our very own classmates. To submit for our weekly posts, you must currently be a WKU Photojournalism student and have taken the images or produced the video within the last week (Tuesday to Tuesday). Send your top 1-5 selections to wkunppa@gmail.com by our Tuesday 6:30pm deadline and our officers and attendees will pick the best of the bunch to showcase at our open meetings every Tuesday at 7pm in Lab 127.
Coach Bill Powell has been swimming for 67 years. He learned when he was 8 while living on an island off the coast of Michigan. Ever since then, swimming has been a lifelong endeavor. He spent most of his career as head coach of Western Kentucky University swimming and diving, where he eventually had WKU’s current natatorium named after him. He has touched the lives of many by sharing the love he has for his passion of swimming. KREABLE YOUNG
After an intense break-up, a man copes with the fallout of his longtime relationship. LUKE FRANKE
**Please note: this is a work of fiction, and contains graphic imagery**
Tyler “London” Chandler, 19, of Louisville, Ky., received his first wig from his cousin. “She knew the struggle I was going through with transitioning and if it was right or not… she understood,” said Chandler. “So she gave me a wig of hers, because she’s all for my transition, and she believes that’s what I really am, as do I.” Tyler told his grandmother when he was five-years old that he wanted to be a girl but she, along with his mother, brushed the comment to the side. Now a freshman at Western Kentucky University, Chandler feels free to express himself without any reprimand. He says it is like starting over. Chandler feels his mother knows about his transition. “You know how parents know but they don’t want to know?” he said. Chandler is studying performing art/ musical theatre with hopes of one day performing with Janet Jackson or Beyoncè. ALYSSA POINTER
Children play catch as WKU beats Southern Illinois 6-4 on Feb. 16, 2014, at Nick Denes Field in Bowling Green, Ky. JABIN BOTSFORD
Warren Central High School art teacher Sandra Carter hides under a table with a student during an earthquake drill on Monday, Feb. 10, in Bowling Green, Ky. Carter has been teaching at Warren Central for over 20 years and is very close to her students. CASSIDY JOHNSON
A view of the sinkhole that opened up in the Skydome Showroom on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014, at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ky. Eight display cars were swallowed by the hole. MICHAEL NOBLE JR.
Jake Thompson congratulates Thomas Peter for batting in a run against Southern Illinois. Western Kentucky went on to beat Southern Illinois 6-1 on Feb. 16, 2014, in Bowling Green, Ky. MICHAEL NOBLE JR.
Jess Travis, 20, of Bowling Green, Ky. ADAM WOLFFBRANDT
Professor Chris Derry has been teaching Marketing and Sales at WKU for 5 years now. He brings 30-years of sales experience and an outspoken joy and enthusiasm to the classroom that the students thrive off of. “I enjoy helping students find their perspective,” said Derry. “A lot of them don’t understand the potential they have.” Professor Derry contributes his confident demeanor and positive attitude to his father Bill. “If we walked down the stairs without a smile on our face we went straight back to our room,” Derry said. “You couldn’t ever get him down.” Bill Derry passed away in 2010 due to various physical ailments, diabetes, and ultimately asphyxiation. Chris wears two watches, one his own and one his father’s, to constantly keep him in his thoughts and remind him of the impact his father made on him growing up. “My dad pulled 16-hour days for five years when he first opened his drug store,” Chris said. “If I could be just half the man he was I’ll be happy.” LUKE FRANKE
WKU junior forward George Fant lays the ball up to the rim during the WKU 81-76 win over Troy at Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Ky., on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014. JEFF BROWN
Karbura Vincent, 51, rarely gets to see the sun as he goes about his days working long hours on the night shift at a local factory in Bowling Green, Ky. A refugee from Burundi, Africa, Vincent is the sole income source for his family of nine. BRITTANY GREESON