Blog

Written by: Elizabeth Patrick

I am excited and proud to introduce you to Taylor Day. Taylor is currently a senior at Defiance College and is from West Mansfield, Ohio.

She currently has a major in business administration with a minor in sports management. After finishing her undergrad, she plans to continue at Defiance College to get her MBA.

After she graduates, she plans to get a job in marketing for a sports team or coaching. Taylor’s dream job would be to live out in Los Angeles, California, and be part of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team.

She decided to commit to Defiance College because of the people; she came to a different town and felt like she had never left home.

Some advice she has for the first- and second-year students include: attending every one of your classes and developing time management skills early on so you can get a schedule for yourself that allows you to do what you want to do.

Taylor is involved in the women’s basketball team and Student Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC).

Taylor’s favorite part of being a member of SAAC is that it allows student-athletes to have a voice in what goes on around them and how students can make improvements to make being a student-athlete better while being on campus. As a result of also being on the basketball team, she has learned many lessons such as controlling the controllable. Taylor believes that there are so many situations that a student-athlete can be placed in but if you control what you can control, you can then make the best out of it.

Being on the basketball team here at Defiance College has led Taylor to make some memories that she will never forget. One of her favorite memories is that her first year, they were playing Anderson, and they won the jump, and she was so excited that she went the wrong way and ended up turning the ball over to them as a result of the over and back violation.

Her whole team and she joked about that for a while, but then her sophomore year, when she played against Anderson, it was a close game to the end, and there were ten seconds left on the clock in the fourth. They had the ball and were running a play called Strong and ended up messing it up a little bit but eventually figured it out.

Taylor got the ball on the free-throw line and made the game-winning layup to put them up by two points, resulting in a win rather than playing overtime. Taylor believes that her whole team celebrated after the game accordingly, and it ended up being a better highlight than her first year incident with Anderson.

Some of Taylor’s favorite non-sport memories here at Defiance College are the friends that she has made. In her first year, she met Briawna Francis. On the first day in McReynolds, they walked up and down every hallway and said hello to everyone and anybody they saw or encountered. They still talk about it to this day how open they were to make new friends on the first day.

To conclude, by being involved in the basketball team and SACC, she has made memories that will last a lifetime.

Written by: Emily Vargo

Kellemes Ünnepeket, or in English, Happy Holidays.

Something that many don’t know is that I am Hungarian-American. Many years ago, my great-great-grandfather and great-great-grandmother came to the United States from Hungary in hopes of a better life, not only for themselves but for their children and the generations of children to come.

In Hungary, our family’s last name was Varga, but when they came to America, they changed the name to Vargo to fit in and not stick out like a sore thumb. Over the years, traditions of our culture were lost and forgotten, but my father was determined to show me my Hungarian heritage.

December 5 and December 6 is a very exciting time for many people, especially in Europe and those of the Catholic faith. Growing up, I was told that on December 5, you put your shoes out on the windowsill. While you are sleeping, Szent Mikulás, also known as Saint Nicholas in English, comes door-to-door and puts chocolate, small toys, and fruit in your shoes if you were good, but if you were bad, he would put coal, onions, and potatoes in your shoes.

It wasn’t uncommon to find a potato or onion in your shoe besides a bunch of goodies to symbolize that no one is really good all the time. I decided to do some research, and I found some things left out in the childhood stories. Many countries celebrate Saint Nicholas Day in Europe and around the world.

Each country has different traditions, which makes finding information quite difficult because the traditions start blending together, but in reality, each country is different. In some countries, if you were bad, you receive a stick painted in gold paint rapped in a red paper that was put in your shoe with coal. In others, the children had to clean their rooms and polish their shoes before they could be placed on the windowsill.

When I was looking at traditions in Hungary, I found that there are old tails of an evil devil that accompanies Saint Nicholas called Karampuz, who takes away the bad children. I knew growing up that in other countries, especially in Germany, Karampuz was an evil devil, but I had no clue this was a thing in Hungary.

I found out that during the 1800s, late into the night on December 5, men would put coal on their faces and walk down the streets with shackles to scare the women and children. This was eventually banned because too many kids thought they would die, and people saw how terrified this was making the children. When it comes to the holidays, every family celebrates them differently. Everyone has the traditions that make the holidays special to them.

This year my family and I will eat chocolate and fruit on December 6 as our way of celebrating Saint Nickolas day. Then on Christmas Eve, we will eat a traditional Hungarian fish soup called halászlé and many Hungarian baked goods. After dinner, we will then go to the Christmas Eve church service. When we get home, we will watch Mickey Mouse Once Upon a Christmas.

On Christmas day, we will open presents, eat a bunch of food, and watch a bunch of Christmas movies. The Christmas holiday has always been special to me. Especially when it comes to learning about my Hungarian heritage. This holiday season, spend it with those who you love and hold dear.

If you can, take the time to ask questions about your family heritage and cherish the beautiful traditions that your family has created. I hope that everyone has a wonderful and happy holiday, and I hope it is filled with joy and happiness.

Written by: Elizabeth Patrick

Did you know, according to Firstcry Parenting 24 Interesting Facts and Information About Christmas for Kids states that “Alabama was the first state in the US to recognize Christmas as a holiday in the year 1836?”

Christmas Day has been a federal holiday across the United States since 1870. As Americans began to embrace Christmas as a family holiday, old customs and traditions were changed. People started to look towards immigrants and Catholic churches to see how the day should be celebrated.

Throughout the next several years, Americans built a Christmas tradition all their own that included pieces of many other customs, including decorating trees, sending holiday cards, and gift-giving.

To celebrate Christmas in other countries, people give gifts to friends and loved ones, symbolizing the original offerings by the Magi of Gold.

In Mexico, during the several days leading up to Christmas, there are reenactments of Mary and Joseph’s search for an inn where they believed Jesus was born.

On Christmas Day, children throughout Mexico take turns batting a pinata stuffed with toys and holiday-themed candy. Even though Christmas is celebrated all over the country, different countries celebrate Christmas in different ways based on their beliefs and traditions.

In America, Christmas is celebrated annually on December 25 and is both a religious holiday and a worldwide cultural phenomenon. Christians worldwide celebrate Christmas Day as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus.

Some popular traditions that Americans will celebrate Christmas include exchanging gifts, attending church, sharing meals with family and friends, and most importantly, waiting for Santa Claus to come.

Christmas in America is a time of year for families and friends to get together and put up Christmas decorations, have gift exchanges, go Christmas caroling, go Christmas shopping and watch Christmas movies. Some of the most popular Christmas movies include National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Home Alone, The Santa Claus, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Elf, A Christmas Story, and Frosty The Snowman.

There is also a wide variety of different Christmas carols that are popular. Some of the most popular Christmas carols include White Christmas, Jingle Bells, The First Noel, Away in a Manager, This Christmas, Jingle Bell Rock, Feliz Navidad, Rockin Around the Christmas Tree, All I Want For Christmas Is You, and Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer.

To conclude, Christmas is a time of year where families and friends gather to celebrate Christmas and their beliefs.

Written by: Amber Baldwin

What is the best way to get in the spirit of Christmas? According to Elf, “The best way to spread Christma cheer is singing loud for all to hear!” There are many types of Christmas music you should check out to help get in the spirit of the holiday season!

Carols
Carols can be traced back to the 12th century in Europe. They also began as folk songs and hymns that observed winter and were not religious pieces.

In the 1400s, Jon Audelay created a list of 25 Christmas carols, and this list would be sung by people who would go around and sing to others, also known as carolers. Eventually, these songs were published, and the music became more accessible to everyone.

Classical Music
Some examples of classical Christmas music songs are “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night” and “Joy to the Word.” Many classical Christmas music songs were commissioned by the church to be used for their services. The songs were also written by many classical music composers like Bach, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, and Vivaldi.

Contemporary
During the 1800s, carols and classical music were still very well-liked. Then, from the 1930s to the 1950s, Christmas music went through its kind of revival or rebirth. Songs began to shift from a religious point of view to other holiday themes. These themes included Christmas trees, Santa Clause, snowmen, and more. Christmas music during this time also started to be performed by well-liked musicians like Bing Crosby and Judy Garland. This led many musicians like Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, The Jackson Five, The Supremes, and Wham! to record Christmas songs after the 1950s.

Check out this recent list of the 70 best Christmas songs of all time
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/christmas-ideas/g2680/christmas-songs/?slide=1

Written by: Elizabeth Patrick

Thanksgiving is a day for spending time with family and friends while being grateful for what they have.

Thanksgiving is a national holiday and is annually celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November.

This year Thanksgiving will be celebrated on Thursday, November 25.

In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies.

For more than two centuries, days of Thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states. This changed in 1863 during the Civil War when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday that would be celebrated annually each November.

In 1817, New York was one of the first of several states to adopt Thanksgiving as an annual holiday. Throughout the years, the original Thanksgiving celebration has lost most of its religious significance; now it is centered on cooking and sharing a meal with family and friends.

One of the most popular Thanksgiving traditions is to eat turkey whether it is roasted, baked, or deep-fried. Other common dishes include stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, corn, dinner rolls, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. 

To go along with cooking meals and enjoying them with family and friends, volunteering is also a very popular activity. Communities often hold food drives and host free dinners for the less fortunate.

Throughout the years, parades have also become a very popular Thanksgiving day tradition. One of the most popular and famous Thanksgiving day parades is the Macy’s Day New York City parade. This parade attracts two to three million people every year along its 2.5-mile route. This famous parade typically features various marching bands, performers, elaborate floats containing various celebrities, and giant balloons shaped like cartoon characters.

Another popular Thanksgiving day tradition is to watch an American football game. The tradition of watching football on Thanksgiving day dates back as early as 1876.

Running turkey trots is also a very popular Thanksgiving day tradition and people run anywhere from a 5k to a half marathon.

The day after Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday and is one of the biggest shopping days of the year. The term “Black Friday” was first used on September 24, 1869, when two investors, Jay Gloud and Jim Fisk, drove up the price of gold and caused a crash that day. As a result of the crash, the stock market dropped 20% and foreign trade stopped. On this day farmers also suffered a 50% dip in wheat and corn values.

Stores all across the country have some of their biggest sales of the year. While this tradition has changed over the years due to online shopping, millions of people will still stand in lines for hours early in the morning to get great discounts and start their Christmas shopping.

To finalize, throughout the years, Thanksgiving has turned into a very famous holiday with a wide variety of different traditions including eating a feast, watching football, and going shopping on Black Friday.

Written by: Amber Baldwin

According to Instagram, in November 2020, the pie found the most in Ohio newsfeeds and stories was sweet potato pie. A traditional southern pie that has been becoming more and more popular during the holidays.

Pumpkin pie is another type of pie that is thought of when it comes to Thanksgiving. Even though many people believe that pumpkin pie was eaten on the first Thanksgiving, it actually wasn’t.

Pumpkin pie did not become a Thanksgiving tradition until the 19th century. Pumpkins were, however, a part of the first Thanksgiving. They would empty the pumpkins and put milk, honey, and spices in them. Then, they would bake it over a fire.

A third popular Thanksgiving pie is pecan pie. No one is for sure who created it, but it is most likely a recipe from America. Some of the first recipes of pecan pie published were printed in the late 1800s in Texas. The pecan pie that is thought of today was first found in an 1898 cookbook made by a church in Missouri. The recipe was sent in by a woman from Texas. It wasn’t until the 1920s when pecan pie became super popular. This happened because Karo corn syrup started putting a pecan pie recipe on their packaging. Many recipes today still follow their method.

Pie, in general, can be traced all the back to the ancient Greeks. Historians think that they were the ones who created crusts. The Romans are known for creating the first-known pie recipe. The recipe included honey and goat cheese. These pies, however, did not look like the pies that are made today. Pie crusts were referred to as “coffins” because the filling would go inside the crust to cook it.

With all this talk on pie, here are some recipes to consider using this year for Thanksgiving https://www.delish.com/holiday-recipes/thanksgiving/g2574/holiday-pies-desserts-recipes/

Written by: Emily Vargo

Growing up, if your childhood was anything like mine, then you watched a ton of Disney princess movies. A movie that most people know is Pocahontas. However, Pocahontas was an actual person, but her story is much different than the Disney version.

Pocahontas was born in 1596 and was the daughter of Chief Powhatan. Her father was the Chief of Tsenacommacah.

Pocahontas is linked to John Smith in serval versions of her story. There was no love story between them like the Disney movie portrays, but she did save John’s life. The Native Americans captured John, and right before he would be clubbed to death, Pocahontas threw herself onto John and wrapped her arms around him so her father wouldn’t kill him.

In 1613 Pocahontas was captured by colonists, where she was held for ransom. The ransom was that she would be returned to her father if he released colonial prisoners. While in captivity, she was taught about Christianity, learned English, and changed her name to Rebecca upon her baptism.

In 1614 Pocahontas had a chance to talk to her tribe during a violent confrontation between the Native Americans and colonists. She told her tribe that she didn’t want to go back and that the colonists loved her.

On April 5, 1614, Pocahontas married John Rolfe, who was an English man. Their marriage created peace between the Native Americans and the colonists for eight years. The couple had a child named Thomas in January 1615.

However, their marriage was controversial in the British court at the time because a commoner dared to marry a “princess.” Pocahontas is referred to as a princess in serval accounts by the British, but it’s all meant in a demonizing way.

On June 12, 1616, Pocahontas was taken to England to be brought before the king to be shown as an example that the so-called “savages” could be tamed.

On January 5, 1617, Pocahontas and her husband were presented in front of King James. In March 1617, Pocahontas and her husband boarded a ship to go back to Virginia. Unfortunately, they didn’t make it far till Pocahontas became gravely ill and was taken to shore, where she died at the age of 21.

Today she is known as one of our beloved Disney princesses, and in my book, she deserves the right to that title.

Written by: Elizabeth Patrick

I am excited and proud to introduce you to Kaylee Dunkle. Kaylee Dunkle is currently a senior here at Defiance College and is from Columbus, Ohio.

She is currently majoring in exercise science and will be graduating a semester early this December. Kaylee can graduate a semester early because she took 16-18 credits each semester and took prerequisites for grad school. As a result, with the help of her advisor, they were able to come up with a plan that allowed Kaylee to graduate early. After she graduates in December, she will be attending grad school starting in January at Wilmington College for Occupational Therapy.

Kaylee chose Defiance College because she wanted to be on a small, close-knit campus that felt like home. She also really liked the staff and all of the opportunities she had to become involved; she also continued her softball playing career.

Some organizations and activities that Kaylee has been involved in since she has been here include: softball, cheer, ambassador, orientation leader, admissions student worker, honors program, honors program executive board, service leadership, and a McMaster scholar.

Some things she likes to do for fun include painting, camping, boating, hiking, and dancing around.

Kaylee’s favorite memory from her time here at Defiance College was from her freshman year. The Service Leadership students and she threw a holiday party for children in foster care. As a result of doing this, they could get them gifts, wrap them, plan, decorate and throw them a huge Christmas party. Seeing how happy those children were made it the best memory, she has had yet.

Another one of her favorite memories was going to Florida with the softball team. Going to Florida was always so much fun, and she and her teammates made endless memories.

While she has been here, she has learned a lot about Defiance College and the unique opportunities it has. First, she was able to further her education. She also grew so much as a person. She is also way more open minded and looks at things from a different perspective. She learned how to work with people with many different backgrounds and found a passion for helping others. As a result of her time here at Defiance College, she feels very prepared to take on grad school and the world.

Some advice she has for students is to make a plan, use a planner and use all of the resources on campus you can. She also recommends if you know what you want to do, make it happen, and do not be afraid to ask for help.

To conclude, Kaylee has had a very successful career here at Defiance College. She cannot wait to graduate and attend grad school in January to pursue her goal of becoming an occupational therapist.

Written by: Emily Vargo

Since it is Native American Heritage Month, I wanted to talk about someone I grew up hearing about and someone I always found fascinating. This person is Tecumseh.

Tecumseh was born in 1768 in Ohio. Tecumseh was born in the Shawnee territory and into the Panther clan of the Kispoko division of the Shawnee tribe. Tecumseh was named after a shooting star that appeared during his birth. Tecumseh’s father was a war chief, and he was the fifth out of eight siblings.

Most of Tecumseh’s childhood consisted of fleeing for safety. First, there was a conflict with the British. The British were trying to take over territory but eventually quit and forced on the American Revolution. The Native Americans ended up pairing with the British to push back the Americans from their land, but they lost. This caused them to keep retreating more and more into Ohio to try to survive.

After the American Revolution, the Americans focused on one tribe at a time and getting the Native Americans to sign treaties to give up their land. In 1788 Tecumseh and his family moved westward to avoid conflict. Settlers ended up following them and kept pushing the Native Americans out. Tecumseh eventually returned to Ohio in 1791 and helped fight in the Northwest Indian War as a minor leader who was led by the Shawnee Blue Jacket.

Tecumseh fought in many battles, including the Battle of Fallen Timbers. After Blue Jacket agreed to make peace with the Americans, the Native confederacy fell apart. By 1796 Tecumseh was both the civil and war chief of the Kispoko band. Tecumseh was able to build another confederacy and fought many battles to gain and defend the land. On October 5, 1813, Tecumseh died in battle, and his remains are still lost to this day. After his death, the confederacy ended. Even though the confederacy ended, Tecumseh was known as a fighter who was fair and had honor.

Written by: Amber Baldwin

Whether you are ready or not, the holidays are upon us which means holiday drinks are here.

A place right here in Defiance that is severing holiday drinks is Biggby Coffee. Their menu includes Peppermint Stick Mocha Latte, Snow Mint Mocha, Winter Wonderland Latte, Cookie Butter Latte, Snowball Latte, Sweat Foam Cookie Butter Cold Brew, Eggnog Crème Freeze, and Eggnog Latte.

McDonald’s is bringing back their Toffee Latte and Peppermint Mocha. They also have two new drinks coming out this year along with the new Celebrations McFlurry. These drinks are the Hot Chocolate Deluxe and Choco Fudge Latte. They will also have holiday cups.

Tim Hortons is another place that will be having holiday cups this year. They are serving Candy Cane Hot Chocolate and Candy Cane White Hot Chocolate. The Black Forest Filled Ring Dream Donut and Chocolate Hazelnut Filled Muffin will also be a part of their holiday menu.

Dunkin Donuts is adding three new drinks to their holiday menu this year. These drinks are Holiday Blend Coffee, Toasted White Chocolate Signature Latte, and White Mocha Hot Chocolate. They are also bringing back their Peppermint Mocha Signature Latte.

Starbucks is known for its holiday cups. Here are the beverages they are serving this year: Peppermint Mocha, Iced Sugar Cookie Almond Milk Latte, Toasted White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino, Chestnut Praline Latte, Caramel Brulée Latte, and Irish Cream Cold Brew. They also have their Christmas Blend Whole Bean Coffee and Cranberry Bliss Bars.