WEtown.org

Story #1: Still Image with Text Mason Podgers “I’m from a small town called Weatherly, Pennsylvania up north. Scranton Area. Wilkes-Barre. My graduating class was 45, so Etown is bigger, but still small enough that I felt comfortable. Weatherly has the small town feeling, everybody knows everybody; that could be good or bad depending on the people. For me, it was a little bit of both, I would say. Depends on the person. For good, there are a lot of good people that you get to get close to. The bad, then, is that there are some people that you don’t want to get so close to, but you have to deal with them. After college, I would ideally like to go somewhere a bit larger-- back home the closest Walmart is half an hour away. Not a big city, but somewhere a little bit bigger.” Story #2: Video https://youtu.be/kyKMxOeZpho Transcript: Mason Podgers: I don’t know, so coming in I was very undecided… um… but I like the comms field, I’m also exploring graphic design. Um… yeah so, right now I’m working with graphic design and PR, trying to figure out what I’m trying to do. Connor Sensenig: So is that a PR with a graphic design minor, or is that… M: I’m actually currently double majoring. C: Oh. M: So I’m on track to be able to accomplish that, so... C: Yeah, okay, so when do you want to do with that? Do you have plans for after college, or are you just gonna figure it out? M: (Laughs) I mean like I said I’m a sophomore, so I’m really… I still have to figure that out. I’d like to work with... Um.. Something with games. Video games. Um, preferably editing-- I really enjoy editing, or design something along those lines. Story #3: Audio https://soundcloud.com/connor-sensenig-847732736/humans-of-etown-mason-podgers-by-connor-sensenig/s-hnPfOwIVNDx Transcipt: Connor Sensenig: Here’s a question, you live on campus presumably, right? Mason Podgers: Yeah C: Coming from a small town, which is, as you know, common in Pennsylvania, how is the ambient smell different here? (both laugh) M: Oh my gosh... um… (laughs) I know exactly what you’re talking about, yeah. It’s definitely different, back home I was sort of farmland, but… there are days here where it’s really strong. But then, again being near the chocolate factory too, some days you get chocolate days. It’s really… toss of the coin: what you’re gonna get when you walk outside. C: Never have truer words been spoken. (both laugh)

Aprille, Jake, and Ismerai's: Humans of Etown story two: Kaylyn Gordon Video with closed captioning and transcript in the description.

Story 3 - Mark Clapper https://youtu.be/_DwGkYPkdxc

Story 2 - Logan Smith https://soundcloud.com/user-90983876/logan-smith-humans-of-etown-1

Story 1 - Brooke Riley Hi I am Brooke. I am an early childhood education major at Etown. I am from New Jersey and while it is not super far away moving out of state for college was still a big decision for me. I chose Etown for the close-knit community feel it has. It is very easy to get swallowed up into the massive groups of large school but at Etown it felt like home. It was super important to me to be surrounded by others who shared the same passion for teaching that I have. With its emphasis on service, I feel that Etown has given me a place where I can connect with future teachers who also want to make the community a better place.

OUTSIDE AT NIGHT I approach two men jogging in the night. Kyle: Where do you guys meet every night? Brendan: We just meet kind of down the street. We have an old buddy that lives up here and we meet at his mom’s house. I don’t think he knows, but we meet there a couple nights a week. From background: (yeah he’s like in Italy or something) Kyle: What’s your buddy’s name? Brendan: His name’s Seth Dannegal. Kyle: Seth Dannagel? So you meet at Seth Dannegal’s house. Is it every Tuesday? Brendan: It depends on how we’re feeling. We try to go like three nights a week. Kyle: You said Seth Dannegal is in Italy, so is it his family home? Brendan: Um, yeah this is his family home, his parents live there. Kyle: His parents live there, so his mom- Brendan: He’s in the Navy, that’s why he is in Italy. Kyle: I see. I see. Seth is in the Navy in Italy, so his mother then, does she know you guys congregate outside of her house? Brendan: Probably not. Kyle: Probably not?! https://youtu.be/sbVTdyBrYl8

Story #2: Interviewer: What do you do, Brandon? Brandon: I work at the college actually, in the kitchen marketplace. Interviewer: Nice. Brandon: Yes. Interviewer: Okay. What do you do there in the marketplace? Brandon: Uh I do a little bit of everything. Occasionally I will prep food, but usually I am out washing dishes and making sure that- Interviewer: Making sure that it all goes- it all runs together. Brandon: Yes that- the front of house part of things. Making sure there is always forks and knives in the forks and knives thing. Making sure the milks are full. Making sure the sodas are good. Kyle: He talks to me when I come there. Brandon: It’s true. Kyle: It’s the best, it’s my favorite part. Brandon: It’s my favorite part too. (laughter)

Story #1: “I’m a local business person in Elizabethtown. I work with the locals very closely. We have a very tight knit community compared to a lot of different areas. A lot of people just want a cool place to go around here. It’s a pretty town. We have a cute downtown park, and a cool intersection. We have an ever growing business district. The community is very strong and vocal about what they like and what they don’t like. I definitely see all the empty storefronts filling up.”

Story 3 - Piper Wright (Podcast) https://soundcloud.com/hayden-gavin-523871850/piper-w-interview Transcript: PIPER: “Hello, my name is Piper Wright. I am a sophomore year biology major and I’m minoring in psychology and biochemistry, and I have intent to go to a Masters program for Genetic Counseling after undergrad.” PIPER: “Genetic counseling – it’s such a new field, genetics is such a growing field, but I also like the aspect that it is a counseling program. It’s a lot of psychology focused as well as, you know, focused on biology, human genetics, and everything that I really like the balance between the two because I love psychology. I love that aspect of humanity, but I couldn’t see myself with certain aspects of psychology full-time. I really love the healthcare field: I knew I wanted to be a bio major for the longest time. That finding a way to balance the two, study both, and just be a part of a really growing and unique field is really cool to me.” PIPER: “One of the big things that a lot of programs have looked into have said is they really want advocacy experience. So, experience with working with different crisis centers; possibly like r**e hotlines and su***de hotlines or else other just support networks for various crisis, emergencies. Because in Genetic Counseling, you still work with clients going through incredibly hard stuff that it’s just one of those, ‘be prepared to see a lot emotionally.’” GAVIN: “Are you the type of person that is gonna be prepared for that?” PIPER: “Um, that’s a good question! Probably… I’m not truthfully sure. I feel like I can be composed at times with various things, but sometimes stuff really impacts me. I am an empathetic person. We’ll see, it’s just a matter of preparation and preparing myself for it. I mean, it’s part of the job, it’s something I’ll have to prepare myself for.” GAVIN: “Sounds like you’re ready to take on all aspects of the job.” PIPER: “I hope so! I mean, I still need to get through my masters program, undergrad, and pass board certifications but I’ve known that I wanted to be a Genetic Counselor since I was a sophomore in high school.” GAVIN: “What happened in sophomore year of high school?” PIPER: “My careers class. I did that random, like, ‘Here’s what career you should have,’ test, and I got Genetic Counseling. I just started looking into it, my Bio teacher brought it up during our genetics unit, that I was just like, ‘Alright, I’ll look into it.’ It’s just something I think’s really interesting, ‘cause you can also – you do work a lot with patients but not necessarily all the time, and it’s something that right now with, especially COVID, people are doing a lot from home over zoom that – I don’t know, there’s the chance it could be really flexible. And as far as jobs in the healthcare field, it has some of the best, like, work-life balance compared to doctors or PAs or nurses who would be working insane and really sporadic hours. I just could work office hours and be done, and have the evening for myself and my family.”

Story 2 - Darci Ott (video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y1Fn9UIkHs&feature=youtu.be Transcript: “Hi my name is Darci Ott. I was a peer mentor for this past year; It was my first time being a peer mentor, but it was a really great experience.” “I remember back in our first year, my peer mentor really helped me out in the college transition - I know I was very homesick at first. So, I just kind of wanted to be that person to help guide the incoming first year students have their transition.” “I kind of joke around with our boss Stacy Zimmerman and some of the other peer mentors that peer mentoring – it doesn’t feel like a real job because you’re essentially getting paid to make people happy.” “Being there for the students and like impacting them in a way that’s gonna make them a better version of themselves I think is a really valuable position here on campus. And I know that peer mentors are kind of like that leadership role on campus and I’m really proud, I guess to be a part of that.”

Story 1 - Ainsley Thimes “I was born in New York, but I lived all over the country. I’ve lived in New York, New Jersey, Tennessee, Missouri, Nevada, Nebraska, California, and I count Pennsylvania cause I live here most of the year.” “My dad is an environmental health and safety manager. He basically comes up with training programs with OSHA and when he fixes up the training programs he gets bored, so then he decides to move which has made for a really interesting childhood. My older siblings have lived in like 13 states which is kind of crazy.” “I was living in Nebraska from 8th grade until my senior year and my parents moved shortly after my graduation to California.” “It’s really hard because I have to separate who I am to each place – its not just like people identify as different parts of themselves with their friends or their parents or in a relationship, but I am different with my friends specifically in Pennsylvania than I am with my parents in California or with my boyfriend in Nebraska. It’s not just the people, it’s also the places - they each bring out different qualities of who I am.” “I fly around a lot. I keep a wall of plane tickets in my room and then I have a box full of plane tickets that I think is pretty funny to look at. Going to California is usually 2 to 3 flights – and I’ve made that a few times. And then Nebraska also a few times, usually like 2 flights to get there from California.” “It’s really expensive to do so, but its kind of hard to draw a line between who I am in which place. My friends in Nebraska don’t know the me in Pennsylvania. I don’t know if anybody but me will ever truly know that entirety.”