These are a collection of stories done by students in the Interviewing and Data class that were done as an exploration of diversity on the Kent State campus. The purpose of the assignment was to profile someone different from themselves and focus on that person’s lived experience as a student.
First Generation Sophomore business management student Kenderick Xongmixay has found a way to make Kent State a home. He might have grown up close to Kent, but his roots are from much farther. Kenderick was born and raised in Akron, Ohio where he shared his passion for soccer with his highschool teammates. He grew up with three half siblings on his dad’s side and two half siblings on his moms side. Kendericks parents gave birth to him in Akron but…
Abigail Kinney is a Kent State University student with Leber’s degenerative amaurosis. She is legally blind and is living by herself for the very first time while getting her degree.
Kent, Ohio – Third semester senior Megan Homison is a botany major at Kent State who has been interested in plants and conservation since she was a kid. When she first came to campus as a freshman, she was focused on finding a safe comfortable place where she felt she belonged. Thanks to a successful tour she found a home in the greenhouse that was on campus. She immediately wanted to get involved in any way that she could. One…
Helen Gaffney, 22, a proud Jewish woman and a deep feminist, finds a community that reenforces her activism and belief in her faith at Kent State. Most days Helen can be found on Summit Street at the Cohn Jewish Student Center, working late nights at the reception desk or relaxing in the lounge with two or three close friends. Helen is a minority on campus, because she is Jewish and a woman. Approximately 1,500 students make up the Jewish community…
Shakur Cistrunk started college last semester with high expectations for himself. Being a first-generation college student, he feels “the weight of the world” to achieve. Cistrunk grew up in Akron, Ohio with five siblings. Throughout his life, he found his community through music. He learned to play the trumpet in fifth grade. He first found a passion for the instrument when he discovered jazz. “Originally when I first started to play the trumpet, I really didn’t like it. It just…
How does a kid from San Diego end up in Kent, Ohio? The answer to that question is simpler than you may think. Kent State provided Heidi Marshall with something not a lot of people get: a second shot at her dream. “Growing up, I always played soccer and it was always my dream to play college soccer at a high level,” Heidi said. “Going into my freshman year of high school, I knew that was something I would be…
When fourth-year students Carina Joseph and Rebecca Mansour started their journey to Kent State when they boarded a plane in Lebanon. Adapting to the new culture has been challenging, but they have had each other to lean on. “Rebecca and I weren’t that close before, but because we knew we were coming here, we took this chance to get closer,” Joseph said. “Because of the same experience we are going through, we became closer, which made it so much easier.”…
From unwanted child to Kent State hockey player. For most children being in the adoption process can make you feel very uncertain about your future. It can also make you feel unwanted and not worthy to be here. However, that is the opposite for one Kent State student. Jacob Schaltenbrand was born in Guatemala and at the age of two his original birth parents did not want him anymore. He was sent to a foster care facility in Guatemala and…
In the fall semester at Kent State University in 2021, Kaitlyn Bittner, a freshman, made an impulsive decision that altered the course of her education. She chose to enlist in the army. At the time, her tuition being paid for was the only thing that impacted her decision. “I could not pay for school at all. No loans, no grants. Nothing was working out for me. I got an email one day from a recruiter, and I only know how…
Joan Steidl has worn a lot of hats throughout her life. She’s worked in public relations for the now defunct Richfield Coliseum and Cleveland Force soccer team, an aluminum siding company and the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland. She rubbed shoulders with the likes of Angelo Dundee as a boxing promoter, was the “Litter Queen of Cuyahoga County,” managed an assisted living center in Cleveland and who could forget that one time she worked in a rubber factory to fund her…