Student fights back for Future

Driving to catch the bus for an away basketball game, a varsity cheerleader anticipated a Saturday night like any other.  Her high school team would probably lose—they always did. 

            The rain that fell earlier in the day was no concern for the senior driving along a familiar road in her ’91 Toyota Corolla that she affectionately named, “Golden Nugget.”

            Listening to the radio, excited about seeing her friends, the girl had no warning about the ensuing tragedy that would dramatically change the 2005 that she had envisioned.  And all that she knows about the disaster that occurred is what she’s been told.

            “The first thing I remember is that I woke up and I was in my car, but I didn’t know I had been in an accident—I don’t even remember turning onto that road,” said Emily Willman, a young lady who has traveled a long road of recovery to now be a student at Shawnee State University.

            Two and a half hours from her hometown of Springfield, Ohio, Willman is living on campus and taking a full course load—something that some might suggest is remarkable, considering that she underwent six surgeries on her feet and hours of plastic surgery as a result of a horrific car accident.

            The rain that Willman gave no thought to froze on a stretch of road forming an invisible sheet of black ice. She lost control and slammed into an oncoming car.

            “I thought that I was having a dream.” Willman said, remembering the day of the accident. “All I kept thinking was that I had to wake up and get to the game.”

            The athletic director of her high school came upon the accident and used his cell phone to call for help. The paramedics arrived and attended to Willman, helping her to maintain consciousness.  

            “The paramedic was holding my hand and saying, ‘Stay with us. Stay with us,’ ” Willman recalled. “When I heard that I thought that I was going to die, so I made my peace with God and thought about my family.”

            Willman didn’t wake up again until she was in the hospital surrounded by her family. In that first day, she underwent 11 hours of surgery on her face to repair severe lacerations caused by slamming into the steering wheel. She also had surgery on her feet and ankles which were broken in the crash.

            The long recovery process included five days in the Intensive Care Unit, and four more weeks of hospitalization.

            “They wired my jaw shut and sewed my eyes shut too,” Willman said. Revealing her quick wit and fun humor, she adds, “Kinda freaky!”

             “I found out later that there was a rumor at school that they peeled my face off—which they did during the reconstructive surgery—but the kids thought that they didn’t put it back on!”

            When she was finally able to go back to school, Willman was confined to a wheelchair, but she never lost her sense of humor. 

            “I think that jokes and laughter were one of the most important contributing factors to Emily’s recovery,” said Alli Voorhees, a freshman majoring in Education who went to high school with Willman. 

            Despite the hindrances that her injuries imposed, Willman was determined to attend her senior prom and walk at graduation.

            “I told the doctors, ‘Just to let you know: I’m going to prom and I’m not going in my wheelchair.’ ” Willman said. “I had crutches and two boots, but no one could see the boots because of my dress.”

            The day after graduation, Willman had another surgery; this one a bone fusion.

            “I told the doctors, ‘There’s nothing wrong with my hips!  Those are my money makers!’ ”  Willman said, recalling when she found out they’d have to take bone from her hip for the surgery on her ankle.

            The doctors, who expected that Willman would have to start college on crutches, were surprised at how well she healed after that surgery. 

            “I started physical therapy and now I can wear high heels but not tennis shoes,” said Willman.  “That’s because I walk on my tip toes.”

            She has limited flexibility in her ankles and feet and walking is tiresome, but she still planned on majoring in nursing.

            “No one said that I couldn’t do nursing and stand on my feet all day, but they said that I couldn’t do it,” said Willman.

            She has switched her major to Office Administration Technology and still hopes to work in a hospital.

            “I was thinking over winter break that since I can’t be a nurse and help people, that it would be cool to set up a dog rescue,” Willman said.  “That is where we got our dog, Webster.”

            Emily believes she survived 2005 through pure determinism and inner strength with a little splash of humor.

Choir Competition is more than singing

Sequins of every imaginable shade added excitement to the lobby of the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts (VRCFA) as high school students from hours away assembled in Portsmouth, Ohio to compete in the 17^th Annual Tri-State Show Choir Competition.

“Where’s the hairspray?”

“Do you have a brush I can borrow?”

Two male—yes male—members of the Ravenswood High School Show Choir frantically prepare as nervousness for their performance on the VRCFA main stage surmounts.

But don’t let the glitz and sparkle fool you.  This past Saturday marked a serious day of competition for choirs from Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky.

“This is definitely an athletic event,” said competition Director Sally Gower.  Gower is the director of all vocal music programs at Portsmouth High School, which hosts the competition annually at the VRCFA.

Competition Show Choir is not an activity that many people are familiar with. 

“I can’t describe to you in words what competitive show choir is.  If you have never seen a performance by a competitive show choir, you have to come out and experience it,” Gower said.

Feather boas, costume changes, props and complex dancing set off these performances from those of regular high school concert choirs. 

An entering high school prepared a co-ed choir of two to three dozen singers and dancers.  Preparations included a set, props and costumes to accent their theme as well as weeks of rehearsal of their performance, which consists of five to six songs. In addition, each choir brought a portion of their high school band to accompany the singing.

Students from Ravenswood High School in West Virginia awoke at 4 a.m. and traveled by bus three hours to compete. The early morning was no sacrifice compared to the effort their team had put in already.

“We had winter camp, which lasted from 8 am to 11 pm, Friday through Sunday,” said Kriston Van Horn, a member of the Ravenswood Choir.  “It was a lot of work, but we really bonded.”

The competition lasted well into the evening and was quite a display of entertainment—a surprise from young people participating in a co-curricular high school club. The complexity and professionalism of each act is undisputed.

“The success of the show can be completely attributed to the talent of the high school students,” said Gower.  “It’s a whole other animal than concert choir.”

CIPA offers chance to study abroad

            When asked, “do you like to travel?” what comes to mind? Trips across the country, or a two-hour drive to grandma’s house? What about going abroad? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to go to another country and to see what different cultures are like?

Shawnee State University’s (SSU) Center for International Programs and Activities (CIPA) has the answer.

            If you have ever wanted to travel to countries such as Ireland, Greece, Argentina, Venezuela, or France—CIPA offers short 10 day study tours to each of them that count as four credits toward different degrees depending on what the focus is on each trip. Each trip is held before and in between quarters.

            The next trip is going to Ireland in the early summer. These trips focus on different aspects of a degree, such as psychology or sociology, and students will learn about another culture while earning four credits.

            Jason Swier, a junior at SSU, said that he has always wanted to study abroad but just wasn’t sure how to do it.

            “I think it would be awesome to go to another country for awhile just to see what the difference is between cultures compared to ours,” said Swier.

            Students can sign up for CIPA trips by visiting John Lorentz, Ph.D., and director of international studies at the university. Lorentz’s office is located in the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts (VRCFA) building, and he will let students know exactly what needs to be done for them to attend a CIPA-arranged trip.

Some students may be concerned about cost, but the university has ways of helping student defray those costs. Scholarships are available for travel abroad, and Lorentz raises money for each trip to help students pay for the 10-day adventure.