Introducing Maren Machles

Maren Machles doesn’t believe in marriage but still believes in love.

Growing up in a conservative, upper class neighborhood in southern Ohio, divorce was rare. When Maren was only four, her parents decided to split.

She describes her mother by saying,

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“I guess my mom was like this typical stay at home mom, going shopping with her friends, spending my dad’s money. She wanted to be accepted by people.”

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Divorce was tough on Maren and her two brothers aged twenty-three and twenty-seven. A big issue in her family was weight and as a result, her brothers were teased mercilessly throughout middle school. This led to her older brother’s eventual battle with bulimia.

Her brothers were not the only ones that were moved by the separation as Maren states,

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“It’s definitely affected me as well. I really don’t believe in marriage. I don’t believe it lasts. For me its impossible that people can stay together. If I feel like I’m going to get married, it’s going to be either for forever or for shits and giggles. I don’t want to put my kids through the same pain.”

(End quote)

But there was a bright side to her experience.

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“Because of my parents divorce, I was always really good at seeing each side of the situation. My parents often used me as the messenger. I’m really good at shuffling through the bullshit and I try to find the bright side in people and in every argument. I’m really open-minded,”

(End quote)

Machles attributes these personality traits to the divorce.

A big believer in astrology, Maren tends to be drawn to people who have really solid opinions. Among other things, she likes to learn about people and is interested in why things happen or why things work the way they do.

These features of Maren are what led her to study journalism at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University today.

Kate Hiller interview

     Freshman journalism major Kate Hiller got involved in the Symphony Orchestra after coming to Ohio University. But she did not only play in high school--she has played the violin for the past nine years.

     Hiller decided to try playing in fourth grade. A friend who had played since he was three years old inspired her. As it turns out, his mother would be one of her music teachers later in life.

     Hiller stuck with the violin throughout high school; however, she did not play for her own school's orchestra because she and her director did not get along. Instead, Hiller played for the Suzuki Music Columbus Touring Group, a group giving young students "great opportunities," according to Hiller, to learn music. Students from eleven (11) to eighteen (18) years old practice for a few hours per week, and some of them even learned music by ear.

     But one of the biggest opportunities Hiller had from her experience with the group was a trip to Peru this past March. She recalls exploring, shopping, trying new food and even bargaining in spanish with them. She also says that the trip taught her a lot about culture and independence, because she went without her family.

     As Hiller moved on to Ohio University, she looks back on her years with the Suzuki Music Columbus Touring Group.

     She says, "It taught me the power of repetition. We play music over and over to memorize it, and now I translate that to my studies."

     Hiller currently plays for the OU Symphony Orchestra, which she auditioned for at the beginning of the semester. But while she enjoys playing, the orchestra has been very time-consuming for a non-major. Hiller is unsure whether or not she can continue.

     She says, "I don't know what the future looks like. I don't want to stop because it's such a big part of my life that I can't drop it. But it's not the biggest part of my life."

Kelly Fisher - interview by Kate Hiller

We've all heard the saying "reduce, reuse and recycle" before, but for freshman journalism student Kelly Fisher, it means much more. Before coming to Ohio University, she was a four-year member of Solon High School's environmental club. 

Fisher signed up for the Lorax club as a freshman at her high school's annual club fair. She later applied to be an officer and spent her sophomore, junior and senior years as an officer for the club. Unlike a typical president, vice president, secretary, treasurer set up, Fisher says that the Lorax club's officers didn't have specific titles or responsibilities. Instead, officers shared responsibilities based on availability and interest. 

Despite the break from the typical power structure of a club, Fisher says that being an officer for the Lorax club helped her to gain leadership skills, practice responsibility and become more environmentally conscious. 

She says that the Lorax club…

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"…taught me a lot about being environmentally friendly, making better choices and things like that. I got my roommates to start recycling this year!"

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Not only did Fisher reap the benefits of being an officer, but she also enjoyed the experience of working with and getting to know other club members through activities ranging from tie-dyeing t-shirts to working on educational campaigns to get other students at Solon involved. 

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"You don't have to fit the "tree-hugger" stereotype to help the environment - even just recycling helps."

(End quote) Fisher says. 

The Real Branden Labarowski By: Kelsey Miller

When you look at Branden (L-ah-brow-ski),18, you automatically notice his infectious personality and the pep in his step.  The more you are around him, the more you sense his passion for writing, his way with words, and his overall confidence.

What you may not know about Branden is all of the internal conflicts he battles everyday.  When he rolls out of bed in the morning and looks in the mirror, Labarowski doesn't see the confidence that the rest of us see, but rather a self conscious, and very confused young man.

A self-proclaimed "geek" in grade school, Labarowski wanted a different image when he moved from a class of 12 to a class of 8-hundred in the start of his high school career.  "I found myself looking at different Facebook pages of people that I wanted to be like and studied what they would post and what kind of pictures they would upload," says Labarowski, "[In high school] I found myself acting more passive-aggressive and expecting people to approach me."

He also has doubts about his future.  He feels pressured into trying to please everyone about his career plans.  Because his first love is news writing, he feels that success will be hard in "a world where everyone says press is dying," he explains.  He expresses his concerns of how he thinks he isn't enough of a leader or that he isn't doing enough or doing anything right in college.

Although when asked if he would change anything in his high school years, Labarowski quickly denied. "Here in this college environment, I feel more ready than ever to get more involved, meet new people, and become more comfortable in my own skin.  And I already feel I have made more leaps and bounds to doing that."

Branden Labarowski, like the rest of us, is by no means perfect; but it goes to show you that even the most confident appearance has its issues as well.

Following A Role Model

Nearly everyone has someone who has influenced their life. Someone they would call their role model. For Ohio University student Olivia Hitchcock, this is her Grandpa James.

James Hitchcock was a hard-working Professor at Wright State University. Being a very intelligent man, James won several awards and recognition for his work. But he never bragged. He was a very humble person, and that’s what Olivia respected most about him.

When describing her grandpa as her role model, Olivia says

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“He was just so humble, and that is just something I really strive for in my life”

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And that is exactly what Olivia has achieved. This young girl is an honors tutorial college student studying journalism. She was in the top rankings of her high school and received an impressive GPA. But you won’t hear any of this from her. She demonstrates unwavering humility.

Olivia also received the hard-working gene from her grandpa. Working diligently at school, activities and community service, Olivia gives her all. This is not to mention the dedication and support she gives to her family now.

Sadly, James passed away when Olivia was a young middle school student. But she still remembers him fondly. 

Olivia described one of these memories by saying

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“He was an avid gardener so in my grandparents back yard they had the huge bushes and they grew a ton of raspberries… There are so many pictures of me with the curly hair running around with grandpa collecting raspberries and, I mean, that’s probably what I miss the most. “

(end quote)

Olivia has a bright future to look forward to. From her hard-work to her humility, Olivia has inherited much from her role model. 

Tim Carrico Interview By: Allison O'Brien

While most of us strive to eventually work as a news anchor, Tim Carrico achieved this goal at the young age of 10 years old. He started at a state- wide show called Kids News that aired on CBS and NBC affiliates across the state.  He says with his early start into media, he was quickly “bit by the news bug.”  Tim says he “was exposed to a small portion of television news and broadcast and he felt that it was the career path he needed to take.”

With success also came failure as the show was cancelled just one year later because of the lack of money to hire a producer.  Although it was extremely discouraging, Tim never gave up and started interning for the local CBS and Fox new stations.  He then began climbing the broadcast ladder starting as a camera - man and then a reporter and eventually a producer.  “It was neat to be a camera – man and producer, but being a reporter was my favorite,” says Carrico. “I got to meet a lot of interesting people and really become the face of 59 News.”

After years of hard work, Carrico achieved his ultimate goal of broadcasting: becoming the weekend anchor for the local CBS and Fox stations.  His greatest achievement was bringing the eyes of the world to Southern West Virginia in his coverage of the Upper Big Branch coalmine explosion that took the lives of 29 miners.  Carrico says: “As a reporter we all hope for the big story, but this story truly made it a reality. Meeting the family and friends of the deceased showed me the tough sides of reporting that were sad, but necessary.”

Tim was forced to grow up faster than most of us, being given such an adult responsibility at a very young age.   It truly gave him the jump-start he needed to further his career as a news anchor. 

Allison O'Brien Interview - By: Tim Carrico

Allison O’Brien is your typical teenage college student. But she’s overcome leaps and bounds that many 18 year-olds will never experience.

O’Brien suffered from a mild case of scoliosis. During her first year of high school, 23 hours a day consisted of wearing a back brace to help her overcome this debilitating issue…and she says wearing the brace brought pain and suffering, but says it could’ve been a lot worse.

“The brace was really constrictive on my ribs, but I know a lot of worse things could have happened to me, said O’Brien.”

Prior to being diagnosed with scoliosis O’Brien played softball in Cincinnati since the tee-ball era. But while other girls her age were on the out on the diamond playing, Allison was stuck watching from the sidelines.

“Wearing the brace made it so that I never had the chance to try out for the softball team. It was really difficult to watch a team, that I was not apart of.”

Even though O’Brien was benched for several seasons. She always found a positive side to her disease. She says working towards the goal of removing the brace turned out to be a homerun in the end.

“Do what the doctors tell you to. Feeling sorry for yourself will not make the pain go away. If you do what the doctors say, you will be able to overcome it and be able to get the brace off a lot sooner.”