There are few experiences most people can relate to, but arguably, everyone has some childhood memory of a cherished picture book. Whether you read the book independently or it was read to you by a parent, grandparent, teacher or sibling, the experience of being encapsulated by a story in a book full of pictures and few words is one that often gets left behind, only to reside in childhood memories. Picture...

In August of 2023, I texted a friend of mine, “I think I’m gonna go to a meeting for The Appalachian tn. The marketing desk sounds interesting, so I’m gonna go and see.”  As a sophomore advertising major, I was honestly just looking to add to my resume. Little did sophomore year Nora know she would be writing a farewell column as the Digital Marketing Director of The Appalachian nearly...

I haven’t been with The Appalachian very long. A little over two years ago I attended my first meeting, a general interest meeting. I was a nervous sophomore with no idea what I really wanted to do with my life.  However, this is not a story where The Appalachian magically fixed all of that. I will say that at that meeting, I was struck with such awe and reverence for the staff of this paper...

Being an actuarial science major who is used to working on complex mathematical formulas, finance concepts and endless spreadsheets, I never imagined that the newsroom would become the place where I’d feel most at home.  As a sophomore searching for a deeper sense of community and belonging, joining The Appalachian never crossed my mind — that was, until my close friend, Kayla Masterman, introduced...

When I first came to App State in the fall of 2022, I was as much running away from my own mistakes and regrets as I was running toward some ill-defined goal that didn’t really suit me. I didn’t have a clue what I wanted to do with my life, and I felt completely and utterly purposeless.  It only took a month after I started for me to realize that I’d made a mistake and needed a change....

While I don’t write very often for The Appalachian, if you walked into the newsroom at all this year, you’ve seen me editing. You may have seen me close my laptop and smile after a writer spelled “fiance” as “feyonce,” or laugh about Emily Simpson using Roman numerals for sports stats. But as much as Jenna Guzman hates the word, my “journey” as Chief Copy Editor has come to a close.  Through...

The mission of the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) in the University Libraries is to collect, preserve and share original materials related to four primary collecting areas — one of those areas is the University Archives.  The purpose of the University Archives is to document and preserve the history of App State. Like other universities in North Carolina, App State is required by...

Open letter to my students and anyone else, I have struggled to find the right words to talk to my students about these chaotic times. This is my attempt to do that. It represents my personal beliefs and not those of my department or others. As a professor of sustainable development here at App State, this has been a whirlwind of a semester. In the first month, we have seen the federal government...