The Talisman staff traveled far and wide over spring break. Caden Rich traveled to the sands of Panama City Beach for a church reach trip. Preston Jenkins hiked in the rocks of Red River Gorge. Brett Phelps —ever the busy-body — drove 1,000 miles of road across Kentucky and Indiana. And Jeffrey Meyers, trombone in tow, followed Tops basketball from Indianapolis to Huntsville for the Conference USA and NCAA championships. All the while, Lindsey McIntosh, Arthur Trickett-Wile and Faith Connolly stayed home — still hard at work— to hold down the fort. Take a look at spring break through their eyes.
Jeffrey Meyers
Pictured is me celebrating the Hilltoppers’ 78-71 win against UTEP in the Conference USA championship, which was WKU’s first men’s basketball conference championship win since joining the conference in 2014. This spring break, I played trombone in the pep band for all three men’s games and the one women’s game in Huntsville at the tournament. I was so lively during that last game that the TV announcer said, “I know they’re gonna enjoy this win, not just the team and the coaches, but our favorite trombone player, the Western Kentucky fan with the beard.” I also got to travel to March Madness in Indianapolis, fulfilling a dream of mine to get to see that event in person, even though the No. 15 seed Hilltoppers lost to No. 2 seed Marquette 87-69.
Caden Rich
This past week I attended a ministry called Beach Reach, where many schools from across the country spend each spring break in Panama City Beach, Florida. I attended Beach Reach through the local church that I’ve been attending called Hillvue Heights Baptist Church. The goal of Beach Reach is to meet a physical need as well as share the love of Christ with people on spring break by offering free shuttle rides. This trip was one of the most incredible that I’ve been able to take part in during my time at WKU. It was awesome to get to connect with people on spring break as well as other people from my church that I didn’t know that well before going on the trip. This trip by far pushed me out of my comfort zone, as someone who is typically shy.
Preston Jenkins
I traveled to the Red River Gorge over spring break, and was able to experience many great hiking experiences. I rode a chair lift up a mountain and drank natural spring water. I enjoyed living in the woods all week!
Brett Phelps
Over spring break, I searched far and wide to find housing for my summer internship in Indianapolis, ventured to Lexington to film a video for the Down Syndrome Association of Central Kentucky, and took photos of a real-life cowboy! In total, I put over 1,000 miles on my car. Whooo! Throughout my travels, I tried a new photo app called Hipstamatic to document the break. At first, I was skeptical of using the app, as I am attuned to using my professional camera to take photos, but the more photos I took using the app, the better I liked the results. I found that it made taking photos fun and gave the images a distinctive style.
Faith Connolly
This handmade Eras Tour costume was made over 11 days. The pattern for the base leotard was drafted from an existing garment and modified. Throughout the week, I dyed the bodysuit twice: once to give it a pink tint and twice to give it a blue gradient. There are over 1,000 hand-placed rhinestones and hundreds of hand-sewn sequins.
Lindsey McIntosh
For St. Patrick’s Day, the Lost River Cave dyed the color of the river green with eco-friendly dye. I came the day before St. Patrick’s Day and thought I would capture a photo of the green waters while the guide talked to the tour group. I was actually surprised by how green it was. It seemed almost as though the river was covered in algae. It was very neat to see and it was a lot more interesting to look at than the usual blue and brown color.
Arthur H. Trickett-Wile
Clevie Garner, from Morgantown, lights up a hand-rolled tobacco cigarette on Friday, March 15 on the way to an overnight stay at the Salvation Army on Main Street in Bowling Green. Garner, who is homeless, says he struggles with bipolar disorder and has been in and out of jail for much of his life.
“I’ve always had an issue with authority — I like doin’ what I want,” he said. “I’ll do pretty good for about six months, and then I’ll make a mistake — either fightin’, my mouth, I push people away, I run from stuff . . . needless stuff.”
Garner is one of the many folks I’ve met while on assignment for my advanced photojournalism class at WKU this semester. I sincerely appreciate his openness and willingness to take the time and share his life story with me.