From the Classroom, to the heart

From the Classroom, to the Heart

By: E.J. Merlo

Casey & Friend

Erin Casey Lee, she’s a sports communication major, a sister to 4 siblings, and a huge Royals, Chiefs, and Oklahoma Sooner's fan. This is how Casey was to be known until we were given a certain assignment. On presentation day Casey shared with the class a very big part of her life. After she had announced such shocking information, Casey would be known for more than just wanting to be the next Erin Andrews.

Casey with her mother & sister

Casey shared that her mother killed herself on May 28, 2013. It was a week after she had graduated High School. Her mother left behind Casey, her 3 brothers, and 1 sister.

Casey is the youngest and was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Everyone on her moms side of the family, boys and girls, have the middle name Casey. Her mom wanted her to be called Casey but not ruin the tradition of having it as a middle name. So that’s why she goes by Casey and not Erin. Since her mothers passing Casey has become a suicide prevention advocate, and more recently a mental health awareness advocate. 

After seeing how extremely passionate Casey is about her cause and learning about the harsh realities of life she has had to overcome, I wanted to get to know her even more on a personal level. So I sat down with Casey and did just that by asking her some exposing questions

EM: What is your idea of perfect happiness?

CL: I think it would be when I’m just at peace with everything in my life.

EM: What is your greatest fear?

CL: I don’t know why but probably Clowns, I always have been, they make me uncomfortable.

EM: Greatest fear emotionally?

CL: Not succeeding, not being the person I want to be. I have all these dreams and aspirations to try and change the world. The worst thing would be to not accomplish any of that

EM: What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

CL: I try to do too much I am an emotional person.

EM: What is the trait you most deplore in others?

CL:  I really look for Honesty. Even if it’s not what I want to hear, I rather know the truth.

EM: Which living person do you most admire?

CL: I would have to say my dad. Once my mom passed away he sort of became everything in my life. He has just been amazing and he has always been my hero.

EM: Have you ever asked your dad any of the things I am asking you, like about his happiness and his fears? Especially after losing your mom and something like that happening?

CL: For a while it was definitely hard to talk to him about certain things and even know its hard not to have that mom figure and have to go to your dad about certain things. We still haven’t gotten to that point where we are completely open with each other, but its definitely getting there.

EM: What is your greatest extravagance?

CL: Being a suicide prevention advocate, and a mental health awareness advocate. Its something that I love and really want to go far with.

EM: What is your current state of mind?

CL:

EM: We will move onto the next question.

EM: What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

CL: Purity, no one is perfect.

EM: On what occasion do you lie?

CL: I think like most people I lie to help others.

EM: What do you most dislike about your appearance?

CL:  Probably my Nose.

EM: Which living person do you most despise?

CL: My former stepdad.

EM: What is the quality you most like in a man?

CL: Being able to take care of me.

EM: What is the quality you most like in a woman?

CL: Genuine and down to earth.

EM: Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

CL: I don’t know about a phrase, but I may cuss too much

EM: What or who is the greatest love of your life?

CL: Family comes first, but Matt is the love of my life.

EM: When and where were you happiest?

CL: About 2-3 summers ago with my sister, we flew to Chicago to see my mom.

EM: Which talent would you most like to have?

CL: Singing

EM: If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

CL: I think like I said earlier sometimes I just care too much.

EM: What do you consider your greatest achievement?

CL: Coming out about self-harm, it helped me and it allowed me to help others that reached out to me.

EM: If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?

CL: I would probably come back as like a dog or a really chill animal.

EM: Where would you most like to live?

CL: Um, I definitely love Kansas City. Most people growing up say how they cant wait to get away, but Iv grown to love the city and the sports. I really can’t imagine living anywhere else.

EM: What is your most treasured possession?

CL: I have this box in my closet that has everything that is important to me in it. My most treasured is my mom’s journal. I got to read a find out a lot of things about my mom that I did not know.

EM: What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

CL: I would say feeling helpless, when people get to a point where they just feel like there is nothing they can do. I have been to that point, it’s just hard when you feel like there’s nothing you can do.

EM: What is your favorite occupation?

CL: I definitely want to be a sports broadcaster. My two favorite things in the world are sports and writing. So if I could combine those and be a sports writer or and sports broadcaster, that would be ideal.

EM: What is your most marked characteristic?

CL: I’m not sure, I feel like that would be a good question for other people and what they really notice about me.

EM: What do you most value in your friends?

CL: Being able to rely on the ones that stuck around through all the hard times I have been through.

EM: Who are your favorite writers?

CL: Dr. Seuss, I have been writing poetry since I was little and he was a big part in that and it eventually expanded into my writing and journalism.

EM: Who is your hero of fiction?

CL: Not really sure.

EM: Which historical figure do you most identify with?

CL: Well my last name is Lee so my great, great, great something grandfather was Robert E. Lee.

EM: Who are your heroes in real life?

CL: I would definitely say my dad again for always being there, and people like my friends and such that have always supported me.

EM: What are your favorite names?

CL: Well I definitely already named my children that I don’t have, for boys I really like the name Winston, and for girls I like the name Cadence.

EM: What is it that you most dislike?

CL: I dislike people that are very close-minded. I think we are all entitled to our own opinion, but when people refuse to look at situations in another point of view; I think that’s the problem.

EM: What is your greatest regret?

CL: Losing my mom brought a lot of guilt, and blame. I have definitely been working on it, but its something I will always struggle with.

EM: How would you like to die?

CL:I definitely want to be old, I want to live a long good life. I want it to be in my sleep and very peaceful. I don’t want to suffer I guess.

EM: What is your motto?

CL: I would just tell people “Life is worth living.”

Casey & Dad

At 20 years old, Casey Lee has already faced more tragedy and hardships than one may have to face in a whole lifetime. As Casey looks to keep getting stronger over time and one day hoping to come to peace with everything, she continues to search for ways to help others. With her passion for writing, suicide prevention advocacy, and mental health awareness advocacy, Casey plans on taking her experience with her mother and changing the world.

Pro's and Con's of Pro's connecting with Joe's

Pro’s and Con’s of Pro’s connecting with Joe’s

By E.J. Merlo

Kansas City, MO- To most fans, the idea of being engaged in or feeling a part of a professional athletes life, would be the most hopeful dream come true. But isn’t that exactly where we are in today’s society? With social media being as big as it is, this doesn’t seem like dream, but rather a reality. Almost just a decade ago athletes were almost impossible to try and connect with. As a fan the only way to see or connect with your favorite athlete(s) was when they were on the field. Fast-forward to now and you have multiple ways to connect to professional athletes all over the world through social media.

           

Not using social media as a professional athlete can have its downfalls. Some players may lose popularity, and favoritism through their fan base because the fan(s) feel as if there is not as strong of a connection that there could be, such as the athlete’s who’s fans can feel connected and follow them and their lives through social media.

This leads to a whole other topic brought on by social media, (THE SELFIE). With social media being so popular the thought of taking a “selfie” with a pro athlete and being able to post it and have the whole world see, fuels the desire for even more of a personal connection to pro athletes. What determines where the line is crossed? Is it with an accepted friend request from your favorite athlete? Is it with the comments you can leave on everything the athlete displays on social media? Or is it when it gets to be a personal encounter with the athlete and you confront them for a picture (selfie)? Just like social media the athlete has the control of how far they are willing take this so called relationship with his or her fans.

Twitter being most common social media used amongst athletes, and most publicized through athletic televised programs such as ESPN, Sports Center, and ESPN2, this is the most popular way to stay on top of what pro athletes are doing with their lives on a daily basis. However, like anyone, the athletes can control how much of their information and life is exposed to the world. Some athletes choose to embrace social media and thrive through the use of it. These athletes who choose to engage in the use of social media may do so for many purposes. Some do so to simply just connect with the fans and gain support. Others use social media strategically to promote personal branding; one of such is former Cincinnati Bengal and New England Patriot’s wide receiver Chad Ochocinco. On www.ibtimes.com Ochocino was said to of used his popularity on twitter to land him a reality T.V. show on VH1. He was then quoted saying “why do I need a podium? I have 3 million followers on twitter. That’s my podium”. Other purposes athletes use social media is to help promote and raise money for their charitable organization they choose to represent.

Regardless of the reasons athletes use social media, they do. The popularity of social media will continue to grow not only with athletes, but their fans as well. Zach Mize from Avila University is one amongst many to take part in the social media frenzy. Zach also chooses to follow not only friends but professional athletes as well. When Zach was asked why he followed certain professional athletes such as Trent Richardson, Eddie Lacy, and AJ McCarron, he said, “I follow them in particular because they attended my favorite college, the University of Alabama “.

This just goes to show that social media right now, in its prime, has an impact not only on the greatest of professional athletes, but also on the everyday student and how they connect with those athletes and the rest of the world. So again, is it wishful thinking to be connected to a professional athlete? Or is this the reality of the world we live in, given to us by social media?

Field of Dreams, Or Dreams of a Field?

By Ej Merlo

Kansas City, MO- When it comes to recruiting student athletes, what a school has to offer seems to be make or break a decision for most. Scholarship amount, coaching staff, living quarters, and sports facilities are the things that most recruits are interested in.

KCKCC Coach Jason Browar

Coach Browar from KCKCC was asked if he thought having a new baseball facility and clubhouse had helped him and the school in the recruiting process. He said “absolutely, more kids want to be here with the facilities we have compared to other schools.”

KCKCC Baseball Clubhouse

KCKCC Baseball Field

      

A four year university not having its own baseball field and practice facilities on campus would leave most with raised eyebrows. It’s not to say that the baseball team doesn’t have a field at Avila University…they just don’t have a field of their own. During football season, baseball cannot practice on “the baseball field” due to the shared complex that multiple sports utilize. Baseball, softball, and both men and women’s soccer, all share a “community field”. What this amounts to is that the baseball players are forced to commute day in and day out to Belton High School a public school twenty minutes from the Avila campus for practice. This occurs the whole fall semester and can take its toll on the players and their wallets.   The cost of gas is not figured in a scholarship and must come from the player himself. 

What if the student athlete is a full time student and doesn’t have a job or have enough money to pay for the gas it takes to commute, twice a day, every day. This goes without mentioning the baseball players who don’t live on campus and already are spending a fortune driving to and from school every day. Now they are responsible for paying out of their own pockets for an added 30-40 min drive to and from practice. When they could just get out of class and already be on campus and go to practice if they were to have their own practice field on campus!

When an anonymous baseball player from Avila University was asked what is the worst part of not having a practice field on campus? He answered with, “trying to hurry to my car, get dressed, and worrying if I had to take more time out to stop and get gas before I made the drive to Belton High School” he also said, “at my previous college it was very nice to have a locker room to change in, and I could be on the field within 5 minutes of notice regardless of where I was on campus.”

What about those students who have classes that don’t get out until after 3:15 and practice starts at 3!? They cannot simply run to the field on campus and because they must leave campus and make the trek to the facility in Belton, Missouri, they miss out on valuable practice time. Missing out on this much practice time throughout the week adds up. This makes the program and the player take a hit when it comes to the success that could be obtained by having practice on campus and spending the time wasted commuting practicing baseball.

How does one expect to build a championship winning program when that program doesn’t even have a place to call its own? Community Colleges have their own baseball facilities that are not shared with other sports, why is it that a four year university shouldn’t? 

Avila University's Multi-Sport Complex

We all realize that renovating and planning for a stadium or field is not an easy task, nor an inexpensive one, but at the university level, if they are going to offer a sport to students then they should be able to provide that student with the ability to practice, and play to the best of their abilities without the burden or cost some athletes at Avila have to endure.