Humans of terre Haute
Coming Clean
By Steve Wininger
She takes a cigarette from her pack her hands aren’t shaking, but one gets the sense of a nervousness that stops just short of trembling. Taking a puff, she begins speaking. Her voice is so soft it is difficult to hear her over the occasional train, siren and other students conversing nearby.
Freshman psychology major Mariah Rowley began taking drugs when she was in high school. It was after her first year at IUPUI when she realized her grade-point-average was under 2.0 and that she couldn’t continue at IUPUI that Mariah said was her “wake up call.”
Mariah knew the drugs were slowly robbing her of her ability to think clearly and it was destroying her health. Mariah was starting to realize there was going to need to be a change in her life.
“Before I began doing heroin, I weighed around 150 pounds; when I hit bottom, I weighed 113 pounds.”
After leaving IUPUI in fall 2014 a good friend of Mariah’s encouraged her enroll at Indiana State University, which was the change she needed to turn her life around.
“I have had relapses since I have been here,” Mariah said, “but they were brief.”
Every day is a struggle for Mariah. She said that getting off heroin was the most difficult thing she has ever done.
The first week Mariah was clean was the worst. Besides the immediate withdrawal issues, there were lingering effects of coming clean, one of which was unexplained and vivid nightmares.
“It has been awhile since I had any nightmares, but at first they really freaked me out because I had never experienced anything like it.”
Mariah has flashbacks sometimes that causes panic attacks. When she faces something similar to events in her past she said that it is almost like reliving those experiences.
“I know drugs are wrong, but I also know that is the life I don’t want to go back to.” Mariah said.
Mariah explains how much she looked up to her older brother and when he began doing drugs she followed in his steps. She said she just wanted to be “one of the guys.”
Mariah said being at Indiana State has been a blessing, like a new start. She knows the drugs are here, but she has a new focus in life and that is the reason she is pursuing a degree in psychology.
“You can’t stop kids, especially my generation, from going down that path,” Mariah paused while taking another puff from her cigarette, “I know what it is like, and I want to be there to help kids get out of that life.”
When Mariah saw her GPA was over 3.0 at ISU she said it gave her confidence she had not had in a long time.
She knows the road will be difficult, and that anytime she could have a relapse. She said staying focused on her dreams and avoiding the people and things in her past that influence those bad days is helping her keep clean.
“I also have a friend who knows my whole story and she can sense when I am struggling and is there to help me.”
Coming to America, A Saudi Student’s Perspective
By Steve Wininger
She does not fit the stereotypical picture that most Americans have of Muslim women. She does not wear the hijab (scarf) on her head and she drives her own car. One of her greatest anxieties before coming to America was not being able to speak English well. However, with a soft voice, she is not difficult to understand.
Junior legal studies major, and political science minor Amjad Alrehaili is the oldest of three siblings attending school at Indiana State University. Amjad is not the first person in her family from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to attend school at ISU. Her uncle graduated from the Terre Haute University when she was sophomore.
ISU has many students from Saudi Arabia, and word of mouth is a great marketing tool. Amjad’s dad made the decision to send Amjad and her siblings to ISU based on the experiences and testimony of her uncle.
In addition to her insecurities about her ability to speak in English, Amjad was concerned about the American perceptions of Muslims.
“I thought American people did not like to be friends with Muslims or they don’t want to talk to women with hijab,” Amjad said.
Even though the Saudi Arabian religion is Wahhabi, which is a stricter form of Islam, Amjad said she is not religiously connected, which is part of the reason she does not wear the hijab. Most of it is tradition and her family is not as strict in their religious practices as one may think.
“I used to wear hijab, but I wore it because my family and friends wore it.”
Since being in America Amjad has noticed that people do not say much about Muslims, but she also admits that she is mostly in a campus environment and she has not been outside that environment to know how Americans in general treat Muslims.
Amjad is majoring in legal studies, and said her dad would like for her to be a lawyer. Minoring in political science, Amjad wants to be more involved in politics and work for the Saudi embassy in Washington DC.
“I really want to go to graduate school and major in political science,” Amjad said.
Not just anyone can come to America from Saudi Arabia. After high school everyone attends college and after one year if your grades are good then you can choose what you want to do, but if they are not, then the government chooses for you.
Amjad’s grades were good enough that she was able to choose what she wanted to study and chose, at the urging of her father, to study in the United States, specifically, ISU.
“My dad had to sign a paper for me and my brother and sister, and even my mom for us to come to America, otherwise we could not have come here.”
Her dad visits them in the summer and then he goes back to Saudi Arabia where he works as a lawyer.
As for Amjad, she wants to stay in the U.S. to continue her education, but is still not absolutely certain of her future.
“I want to work at the Saudi embassy in Washington DC, but that could change. I am not sure yet. I would still want to go back to Saudi Arabia and at least visit.”
School of Life
By Steve WIninger
Life as a college student can be stressful, especially as the end of the semester draws nearer. When Indiana State University freshman Cheyanne Hill and Ivy Tech sophomore Andy Walter found out they are going to be parents, their stress increased tremendously. Cheyanne explains at first she was terrified, but has since calmed down. Andy has mixed feelings.
“He’s more excited than I am.” Cheyanne said.
Both of the parents to be think the reality hasn’t totally set in yet.
“I think when we see the ultrasound and what is growing in me, then I will be more excited,” Cheyanne said.
“I think once we see a picture of the baby, and see it… I think reality will set in then,” Andy said.
In addition to the stress of school, finding out they are going to be parents, and worrying about the future, Andy and Cheyanne also had the anxiety of telling their parents.
Andy said he hasn’t told his yet.
“I want to make sure we got everything figured out, or a plan, and see the ultrasound before I tell mine,” Andy said.
“I was so nervous I could only tell my mom,” Cheyanne said, “She told the rest of the family.
Andy is currently pursuing a degree in automotive technology, and plans on finishing his degree program at Ivy Tech in May 2017 as planned.
Since their child is due in November of this year, Cheyanne is planning to transfer to Ivy Tech so she can still pursue a degree. Currently she is pursuing a degree in public health, but since Ivy Tech has no degree program like she is in now so she is planning to pursue an associate’s degree in nursing.
“At Ivy Tech I can take online classes and should still be able to do school work,” Cheyanne said, “Maybe after the baby is born and we are financially stable, I will come back here to get a bachelor’s degree in nursing.”
While Andy and Cheyanne’s life path has taken an unexpected turn, they are hopeful. They weren’t expecting to be parents, but are happy and have made adjustments in their lives to include a new addition later this year.
