In first grade, Ambria Ollie's teacher pointed out to her parents that she had naturally turned out feet and suggested they enroll her in a ballet class. Ollie said she hated the class at first, but her parents encouraged her to stick with it for at least a year.
Tiara Thomas started teaching herself how to play guitar at the age of 12. She took her guitar with her to school, telling her classmates she would win a Grammy one day before she knew how to play the instrument. At the 63rd annual Grammy Awards earlier this year, Thomas proved her 12-year-old self and her classmates right.
Ashley C. Ford was nearly 10 years old when she felt it might be true she had an inclination toward writing. Ford was sitting in her third grade classroom during poetry week, and there were two new movies on Ford’s mind that she was “obsessed” with, both starring Leonardo DiCaprio: “Titanic” and “Romeo + Juliet.”
Tom Gubbins woke up earlier than usual that Tuesday morning. It was before 9 a.m., and his radio was on and set to his typical station, one that would normally play “The Bob & Tom Show.” But, instead of the satirical humor he was used to listening to while getting ready, Gubbins heard announcements from CNN Radio, a station he didn’t know existed.
As you’re thinking about how to decorate your dorm, apartment or house for the school year, consider adding a few small plants to your bedroom or living room.
When Brock Spahr stepped onto Ball State’s campus as a freshman in 2019, he carried his passion for cross country running with him. Now, as a junior, Spahr belongs to a community of runners with Ball State’s Run Club — an organization that allows people of all paces and abilities to get together and run.
For more than 100 years, Ball canning jars were manufactured in Muncie and plant workers developed many memories working for the Ball Brothers Corporation and cementing Muncie’s history as a manufacturing city. The Minnetrista “Jarring Our Memories” exhibit aims to highlight and share those memories with the local community.
Cindie Hudson, Kokomo, Indiana resident and owner of two therapy dogs — Harlee and Seger — has recently published a book called “Yellow Dog.” “Yellow Dog” is about Hudson’s family trip that she took to Sanibel Island on the southwest coast of Florida.
Justin Shupe, Ball State senior business administration and risk management major, was with two friends when the idea to travel by boat from Indiana to Florida was born.
For Robert La France, director of the David Owsley Museum of Art (DOMA), pop art represents hope during difficult times. The exhibition “POP Power from Warhol to Koons: Masterworks from the collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and his Family Foundation” is a show La France thought could bring some joy to people as they feel safer visiting museums during the COVID-19 pandemic.
When Cheryl LeBlanc was 9 years old, she came across a Lady Slipper orchid in her backyard. Right before her eyes, this orchid sparked a life-long passion for nature she would later incorporate in both her personal and work life.
As the 2021 school year comes to a close, soon-to-be graduates may feel their time at Ball State is ending too fast.
When Stacy Steggs was about 8 years old, her grandmother was her first student she taught sign language to.
As Erica Forstater, the assistant for the Dr. Joe & Alice Rinard Orchid Greenhouse, walks to the “Cool House” section in the back, she searches for Pleurothallis orchids, which have tiny blooms often smaller than her fingernail.
Sitting on her dorm room’s beige carpet, freshman psychology major Maiya Garcia spends her mornings using her teal pliers and black wire cutters to hand-assemble earrings, necklaces, bracelets and rings for her jewelry business, Maiya Makes Jewelry.
Because of this semester’s adjusted school calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students weren’t able to travel home for their typical week-long spring break from classes.
Last semester, Colleen Dyra, freshman elementary education major, would move her bean bag to the other side of her dorm room at Studebaker West Thursday nights at 6:30.
Matt Mullins said he discovered film literature through “a series of happy accidents.”
As students open the front door to their residence hall, letting the cold winter air rush in behind them, they walk past the front desk, scan their ID and head up to the warmth of their dorm.
Looking out their windows this winter, students can only see bare tree branches, brown grass and frosted fall leaves.
