by Lumination Staff | Dec 18, 2020 | News, News Slider, Opinion
Tim Ghianni, adjunct professor/journalist-in-residence, asked his Multimedia Storytelling class to choose one word that best described this unusual semester and then explain it. Some needed more than one word. Other students may see a bit of themselves in the following short essays: Unmotivating & Exhausting Don’t get me wrong, this semester has definitely not been all bad. But I think we can all admit, COVID sucks! It has been hard to focus on school work with everything going on, and a lot of times I have felt completely drained. Sometimes I even get the “what’s the point attitude?” Which really sucks. I have had ups and downs with motivation— some days I’m eager to work, and on others work is the last thing on my mind. It feels like we were go-go-going without being able to take a break or even a breath. Pretty much all of my teachers have been understanding, which I really appreciate. This semester has not been an easy one… But it has been one to appreciate the smaller moments of joy in between all the doom and gloom stuff. Hopefully, this will be a season of being more grateful, humble, and understanding than ever before! I like to think something good will come out of all this. -Josephine Ballard Blessed When I think of the semester that is coming to a close in hindsight, my word is blessed. When I think of the moments that were difficult, I would say overwhelming, but when I think about how those two things work together, I think that I feel lucky. At the beginning of the semester,...
by Lumination Staff | Nov 23, 2020 | News Slider, Opinion, Student Spotlight
Adjunct professor Tim Ghianni, journalist-in-residence at Lipscomb, asked his 21st Century Media students to ponder the holidays, their traditions and what COVID-19 will or will not spoil this year. Here are some of their responses: Extra cautious because of grandparents My extended family loves being together. Both on my mom’s side of the family and my dad’s. We alternate each year who we spend each holiday with, and each year it is always a blast, laughing together, playing games, sharing memories and just having that time to slow down and just spend time together. Leading up to this year’s holiday season, I think we all feared that we would not be able to spend time together. Thankfully, my family’s holiday plans have not changed drastically because of COVID, but a few things leading up to the holiday season have had to change. I know for me personally, I had a few trips planned recently that I was really looking forward to, but because I knew that I would be spending Thanksgiving with my grandparents, I had to cancel those trips. Both myself and my brother have had to be extra cautious in these last few days at Lipscomb in preparation for spending time with my grandparents. … I know so many are not even able to be with anyone outside of their immediate family for this holiday season. So many things have been taken away from us this year because of COVID, and it is unfortunate that such a joyful time such as Thanksgiving and Christmas has to be taken away as well. But, hopefully we can all come away from...
by Lumination Staff | Oct 29, 2020 | COVID-19, News Slider
Tim Ghianni, journalist-in-residence and a Lumination adviser, asked his 21st Century Media students to reflect on the impact of COVID-19 on their lives. Faith, loneliness and worries about infecting their parents are among their tales of studying in the middle of a pandemic. Here are their stories: Never thought freshman year would be covered by masks COVID-19 has caused many changes and problems in our world. Many people have died or experienced serious health complications because, so I always hesitate to share my frustrations with COVID. I realize that other people are dealing with worse than me. But as a college freshman, so many things are changing in my life just because of the transition from high school to college. Then if you add COVID on top of all that, that is a lot of change. My senior year of high school was drastically cut short. I missed out on a lot of things that seniors should be able to do. The biggest being graduation. I was never a person who loved high school, but not getting to walk across the stage in my cap and gown was pretty disappointing. I was able to have a virtual graduation but that just is not the same. Now that I have transitioned into college, I don’t really still feel anger or disappointment about that time, but I do wish I had that memory to look back on. Another major problem that has come with COVID-19 is my freshman experience at Lipscomb. Lipscomb has done an amazing job with keeping us healthy and involved on campus, but there are still some things that...
by Lumination Staff | Jun 3, 2020 | News, News Slider, Uncategorized
The killings of three black Americans — including the recent slaying of George Floyd, killed by a white Minneapolis police officer who kept his knee on his neck for almost nine minutes, until he was dead — are “tragic and inexcusable,” said Lipscomb President Randy Lowry. Lowry addressed the Floyd case — the officer has been charged with murder and more charges are expected against the other three officers on the scene — and the other two deadly racist incidents in an email to the Lipscomb community. The killing of Floyd has led to demonstrations and rioting across the nation, including in Nashville, where a peaceful rally on Saturday was overshadowed by mob violence and arson of the Metro Courthouse and looting on Lower Broadway. Downtown businesses continue on alert in case other incidents flare-up. “I write to you this Monday evening with a sense of deep sadness as we respond to the tragic and inexcusable deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor,” Lowry said. “It follows recent similar instances when the lives of black Americans have been wrongfully taken revealing continuing injustice and inequality in our nation. The Lipscomb community stands clearly on the side of respect and love. We are completely intolerant of racial abuse and injustices for all. “The Lipscomb community stands clearly on the side of respect and love,” he said. “We are completely intolerant of racial abuse and injustices for all.” The death of Floyd came on the heels of two highly publicized killings of black people by authority figures. Taylor, 26, an emergency room technician in Louisville, Kentucky, was shot at...
by Lumination Staff | May 15, 2020 | News Slider, Sports
By Megan Kuper, Shelby Talbert and Rose Schaddelee The Lady Bisons softball team looks for its 12th win of the 2020 season, approaching the fourth inning ahead by 10. Less than an inning later, Lipscomb defeats the Lady Tarheels due to the “mercy” run rule. The girls celebrate the big win and give hope to having the best season yet… until the unimaginable happened. The day after the Bisons big win, all winter and spring sports were brought to an end by the NCAA, in response to the COVID-19 outbreak that became a national emergency. “There’s no way that it’s over,” said Jenna Endris, a Bison whose junior season abruptly ended. “We did not see it coming at all,” she said, drawing a long, slow breath. “And it doesn’t seem real….” Hearing the season is over sprung many “Whys?” to Endris and the team: ”Why did we want to kill ourselves in the fall from conditioning and weights? And why did we go to practice for four hours every single day to not even compete for a championship?” Every day gets easier for the junior, she explained. The Lipscomb Bisons are reigning conference champions, and her positive attitude was fueled by cracking light-hearted jokes about going “back-to-pause-back (instead of “back-to-back”) conference champs” in her final season as a Lady Bison next season. Endris was not the only one feeling the impact of the season’s cancellation. “There were lots of tears and many expressed frustration, you know some having worked their whole softball careers and to have it end like this….,” said coach Kristin Ryman. “However we tried to remind...
