GALLERY: Bearstock day bands and After Dark artists take the stage
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Delta Sigma Pi, Mercer’s professional business fraternity, is hosting their annual Business Week celebration this week. Delta Sigma Pi is a professional business fraternity that aims to encourage students studying business to foster relationships with like-minded individuals while making business connections. Julia Blasi, a member of the fraternity and Business Week chair, said that she and her committee have been planning the event since August. This year’s theme is the art of business and highlights the different paths that students can take in the business world. “We're featuring speakers who are experts in psychology, music, and even makeup, to bridge the gap between students studying different disciplines related to business,” she said. “People usually imagine business as a group of men in suits discussing the stock market or finance, but business is so much more than that. There is business in every industry, and a lot of students don't realize how some of their skills can be applied. Business is a diverse field because it's both a science and an art.” While Business Week is a celebration of business, the daily events are open to all students. Delta Sigma Pi will host different business leaders who discussed their business strategies and how they’ve built their brand. “We wanted to highlight diversity to reflect Mercer's diverse campus,” Blasi said. “All kinds of people attend here, each with their own interests, skill sets, and passions. It's easy to compartmentalize ourselves as students, so we wanted Business Week to bring students together instead.” Blasi highlighted three events that students should keep in mind. At 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Geico's corporate selection manager, Nick Simmons, will be giving a webinar about the psychology of hiring. Finally, on Friday at 4 p.m., Joey Stuckey, Macon's official music ambassador, will be speaking about the music business. As a result of his experiences as a brother of Delta Sigma Pi, sophomore Justin Hanson said he has become a more well-rounded and confident leader. Through events like Business Week, Hanson said has learned important lessons, like business etiquette and resume building. “DSP has helped me in every aspect of college life . . . I was struggling to adjust my freshman year, but as I got more involved in DSP, it became my core group of friends and a really good way to develop professionalism,” Hanson said. Editor's note: This article has been updated since its initial publication with quotes from Julia Blasi, a member of the fraternity.
For many college athletes, getting injured can damage their career and personal identity. Not only does an injury greatly affect their ability to play a sport they love, but it also can be vastly damaging to their mental well-being. The methods of coping are solely dependent on the individual. For some athletes, mental recovery often takes longer and is more strenuous than physical recovery. Yet this, too, is somewhat dependent on the type of injury and its severity. Kyle Trammell, a sophomore outside linebacker on the football team, tore his MCL during the fourth game of the season. Although he continuously worked to play again soon, the injury was more serious than he initially thought. He didn’t play another down that season. “Being injured obviously affects you physically, but on top of that is the mental weight of continuously trying to get out on the field. It really gets to you. The mental can really be worse than the physical,” Trammell said. “I was going to class, paying attention, but I didn’t feel truly present.” Many athletes rely on the support of teammates, family and friends to aid them in coping with the reality of an injury. Demi-Shay Watchorn, a member of Mercer’s sand volleyball team who injured her ACL, was able to lean on her family, friends and boyfriend to get her through the inability to play volleyball. “When I was injured I found distractions . . . distracting myself with other things was the only way I got through it, she said. “You identify yourself as a player for so long, and then when it's taken away from you, it creates a crisis.” Brooke Hartstock, a freshman on the soccer team, tore her ACL on the second day of preseason. The severity of the injury caused great distress as it was the second time she would need surgery. Harstock said the the mental effects were rough on her. “I was crying to my dad saying I wasn’t going to play soccer anymore because I’d had two surgeries in two months,” she said. Yet she was able to find comfort in her parents and was recently cleared to begin playing again. Hartstock cites her injury as a means of instilling a deeper love and appreciation for the game. “I really look forward to playing . . . I got a glimpse of what life would be like without being able to play, and it sucks,” she said. Many athletes find solace in their sport and being unable to play inhibits both their love of the game and their identity as athletes. However, with the support of loved ones and encouraging coaching staff and teammates, the road to recovery can be made a little easier to deal with.
Anastasia Winfield, a freshman art major on the pre-med track, is an artist who uses her talent to provoke conversation through addressing politically charged social justice issues. Winfield began painting when she received her first easel and paint set at age 7. “When I first started, I just painted a lot of ugly things and mixed the wrong things, but I just wanted to be an artist,” Winfield said. She began taking traditional art classes as a sophomore in high school, and her classes allowed her to hone her talent. “Looking back at my work when I first started, it looks really bad to me,” Winfield said. She noted that years of practice, learning from different teachers and continuously practicing different techniques aided her growth as an artist. Winfield uses art as an escape, but she said it doesn’t take away stress because she is a perfectionist — it just allows her to take her mind off of school. She said she sees art as a way for her to channel how she feels about events in her life. While the transition to college can often be difficult, the transition has only helped Winfield to evolve as an artist. Taking an art class from Professor Eric O’Dell allowed her to learn the basics again and improve upon her form. The art class also provided a source of inspiration, as watching her fellow classmates grow as artists was exciting to Winfield. In college, Winfield has also experienced more freedom artistically. When taking classes in high school, she said her art teachers would often encourage her to shy away from more controversial pieces. Knowing that her work was going to be judged by someone who could potentially be offended by her message made her anxious while producing her artwork. Being in college has allowed her to expand her range and freely express her feelings without fear of being judged. Winfield wants to be a neurologist, yet she still has a fervent passion for art. While she is unsure of where her art will take her due to its unpredictability, she has set goals and aims to continue creating. Her next endeavor is to establish her own style of painting. “When people see my paintings, I want them to know that I created that,” she said. “I want to create more pieces continuing with the social justice theme,” Winfield said. Winfield is also considering starting a series highlighting influential African American change-makers of the past. Winfield sells prints of her “Black Lives Matter” series and custom portraits. To learn more about Anastasia’s art, follow her on Instagram at @anastasiawhitfieldart.