These Are Reports That I Had To Go Out And Actually Find People To Interview :) ---All Rights Belong to Me with Credited Sources Disclosed :)

Just An Act

As she had her music playing loudly, she sang to the top of her lungs, while listening to her Glee soundtrack. She hit every note, singing and dancing along with them.

Katelyn Bowman is a Musical Theatre major at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO. However, her hometown is Louisville, Kentucky. She came to Missouri on an academic scholarship and decided to go to Lindenwood because it was one of the only schools in the Midwest that had musical theatre.

“I never think of myself as an icon. What is in other people's minds is not in my mind. I just do my thing,” she says as she quotes Audrey Hepburn.

Audrey Hepburn, is one of her favorite icons. Katelyn also enjoys learning Spanish, which she is teaching herself to become fluent.  She watches a lot of Spanish Novelas and listens to a lot of Spanish music. Her favorite Spanish singer was Selena.

“I take dance classes three days a week from Jazz to Ballet”, she says while she demonstrated a Ballet move.

The summer before coming to Lindenwood, Katelyn took part in a big role, Hair Spray the musical, as Little Inez.

“After I perform I have a lot of energy, however sometimes I am overwhelmed,” she says with hand gestures.

She then explained to me how she has to change up her appearance for the shows. “Now that I have really short hair there is not much to do with it so I have to use a lot of different wigs and hair accessories to fit the part,” She said as she pat her short brown fro. “I guess no one likes the natural,” she then joked.

She has participated in other plays at Lindenwood such as “Once upon a Mattress”, “Urine Town”, “One Act” and “A Christmas Carol”.

“I recently auditioned for The Muny in Forest Park, I’m anxious for the results,” she says sighing.

When she is not doing homework or at rehearsals, Katelyn is acting as a host for shows that she did not make the cut for, that way she can sit and enjoy the plays as well.

“I don’t know how she does it all” Her Roommate Jessica says, “She never has time for herself; it’s always work, rehearsal, and school”.

Katelyn gets up every morning for class at eight a.m. and is attending classes until four p.m. Then she’ll do Work and Learn, which is an on-campus job that helps pay for your tuition. After that it’s straight to rehearsal.

“She sings very loud when she is in the shower, the neighbor always knocks on our door asking if we could be quiet, “says Jessica playfully teasing Katelyn.

When asked about whether her parents are supportive or not, Katelyn told me that both are her parents are very supportive.

“My mom gets a little scared sometimes about me going to different auditions around St. Louis, with me being four hours away”, Katelyn says.

Her dad is oversees, in the military stationed in Europe. With the time zone being different, and her busy schedule, she has to find time to talk to him because she’s pretty much a daddy’s girl.

“I try to go home every holiday, to relax and just enjoy time with my family,” she says.

Her future plans are to move to a big city like New York after college, perform in Broadway shows, and get hopefully make it to television.

“Hopefully all of her hard work will pay off and we will she her on our televisions in the near future. I wish I was not so shy because I would love to perform in big shows like she does”, says Jessica.

“As for right now, I’m currently trying to find different jobs in St. Louis, while I focus on school” she says smiling.

A Princess Escapes Death

A prince escapes death from a witch after jumping down from a tower where his wife was last seen. Then he led her to his kingdom, where they were received and welcomed with great joy, and they lived happily ever after.

Rapunzel, the Prince’s wife, was allegedly held in the middle of the woods, and in a tower that had neither stairs nor doors.  She had beautiful long hair and whenever the witch wanted to get in and out the tower she would stand underneath.

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel,

Let down your golden hair,” she reportedly said.

Rapunzel and the Prince agreed to get her down from the tower by building a ladder made from skein of silk for her to escape. They arranged that till the ladder was ready, he was to come to her every evening, because the witch was home during the day.  The witch knew nothing about their plan until Rapunzel told her.  “How is it, good mother that you are so much harder to pull up than the young Prince? He is always with me in a moment, Rapunzel reported.

According to authorities, the Witch seized Rapunzel’s hair then cut her plaits with scissors, than took her to a lonely deserted place, and left her to live in loneliness and misery. That same evening the Witch fastened the hair onto a hook on the window, and when the Prince came he climbed up to find the Witch evil eyes.

“You thought to find your lady love, but the pretty bird has flown
and its song is dumb; the cat caught it, and will scratch out your eyes too.
Rapunzel is lost to you forever -- you will never see her more” said the Witch according to the Prince.

According to the police report, the Prince was beside himself with the thought of his wife being murdered and jumped right down from the tower, and, though he escaped with his life, he fell on some thorns, that pierced his eyes out. For years he wandered around the woods blind and miserable, mourning the loss of his beloved wife until he wandered into the desert where he heard a voice that seemed familiar, and started walking towards it.

  Police reported recognizing him; Rapunzel fell into his arms and wept. Two of her tears touched his eyes, and in a moment they became clear again. The case is still being investigated.

Aspiring Musician on the Rise : JerMarco Britten

As the curtain close and the room is filled with applause, he smiles and thanks all in attendance before exit the stage to go mingle with the crowd.

 That’s the often reaction that follows after inspiring artist, JerMarco Britten, performs.

  Standing at 5'7, with brown eyes and wild hair, the 20 year-old,  St. Louis native is a part of the music group, MME (Musicals Masterminds Entertainment), which strives to show the different aspects of creativity as they are unique personality wise, religiously, and musically all in one.  

“I get nervous every single time I perform, even though I’ve been performing for years, “Britten says smiling. “However, when I start performing all of my nerves go away, and it’s like I’m in a different place, somewhere I belong”.

  Not that Britten is new to the craft, or that he doesn’t already have plenty of experience.

 At age 8, he began doing music. With his inspiration being his grandfather, a collector of old soul and R&B records, which he lived with while growing up.  Since then, he has attended sung in church choirs, the Honor’s Choir at Career Academy High School, and major in Business of Music and Music Technology at Loyola University in New Orleans.

He also received voice lessons at CHIPS where he worked for four years as a peer counselor teaching about health, sexuality, and wellness through theater.

“JerMarco is a sweet, humble, goofy, optimistic guy” Jasmine Blue, friend of Britten says. Music wise, “He is the definition of a true soul singer, from the heart through and through”.

  Like many aspiring artists, they come across struggles that make striving for success even more worth wild.

  “Becoming a musician anywhere can become hard. It isn’t just St. Louis, but I will say sometimes the lack of unity makes St. Louis a place where artists would rather escape” Britten states very reserved.

 Having to take off a year of school, for financial reasons and to work, Britten began on another project. Pushing his own project that he initiated called Sing for Free, Sell for Food. Which is a music album that was released in Sept. 2011, in hopes to help assist in his college funding.

“Sing for Free, Sell for food, is a music album I released that was made in hopes to help assist my college funding, “says Britten.

The summer of 2012, he will also be going on tour with a fellow musician named Julain Keaton apart of his “RISE” initiative which is music to raise awareness of the common and rare issues, African Americans face daily in their communities.

“In high school I would love to listen to JerMarco, sing solos at concerts, his voice is so soft and soothing,” said classmate Jessica Jones.

  With inspiration from his grandfather to do music and after that artists like Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, and Prince, inspired him musically. Not only does he sing, write, plays the piano, and is learning the guitar, hoping one day to learn every instrument.  

 Volunteering and the problems of the community is also what make Britten happy.

 While in New Orleans he volunteered in various places helping to rebuild areas destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Back home in St. Louis, he periodically volunteered for Studio STL speaking at events about his experience with the organization.

“I’ve been blessed to make it thus far in life, and if it had not been for the blessings of music and God constantly singing in my ear to keep going I honestly wouldn’t know where I would be” says Britten.

Self-Injury Among Youth on the Rise

Typing seems so much easier than talking, and sometimes we take notice to things too late. "Life anit worth the pain" said 17-year old Ashley Duncan on her Tumbler website before she died by suicide.
On January 30, 2012 Houston teen, Ashley posted pictures of a gun and bullets on Twitter before walking to a reservoir near the intersection of Braes Forest Drive and Portal Drive with a gun and shot herself. She didn't attend school that day instead she posted on her Twitter, "I finally got a gun".

On her Twitter and Tumbler page the teen had been posting dark things, "So I’m asking why it can’t be my choice to die now? ... I'm miserable". With over 2000 friends on both Social Networks, no one suspected anything. However, her potential "cry for help" got likes and reposts without anyone suspecting any sign of potential tragedy. “She was a social butterfly, she always had a smile on her face, just a bright spirit, really smart, beautiful, and just a kind-hearted person everyone loved her and she loves everyone back” expressed her friend Ronald.

Ashley and Ronald have been friends since the sixth grade, and he never suspected anything wrong. “Sometimes she would say she was tired, and when I asked her what was wrong she would smile and tell me everything was okay”.  After asking him what he would suggest for others to do when they see random rants on social networks, he suggested that they reach out and tell someone. “I suggest everyone less text more talk so no one feels this again”.

Suicide is the act of taking one’s own life on purpose. People who try to commits suicide are often trying to get away from a life situation that seems impossible to deal with. According to suicide.org, suicide is the third-leading cause of death for young people ages 15 to 24. An increasing number of teens are engaging in self-injury. Many teens indicate they engage in self-injury activities to distract themselves from their problems and emotional pain. “Young people are particularly vulnerable to depression,” said Kevin Caruso, executive director of Suicide.org. “And untreated depression is the number one cause for suicide. So we need to do all that we can to reach these young people who are suicidal and ensure that they receive immediate, effectual treatment as well as long-term loving, caring support.”

Dr. Joseph M, Carver, PhD said, “That thoughts of preferring to be dead rather than alive, are thoughts one step above having suicidal thoughts. When we become depressed, our brain torments us with a variety of horrible thoughts”.  As stated in Mental Health American (MHA), teen depression is increasing at an alarming rate. Depression can be difficult to diagnose in teens because adults may expect teens to act moody. It is very important that depressed teens receive professional treatment. Each year, almost 5,000 young people, kill themselves. The rate of suicide has nearly tripled since 1960. Suicidal adolescents may view a temporary situation as a permanent condition, as said on MHA. However, Social Networking is affecting communications because more people prefer to type how they feel rather than talk. The internet has changed the way we communicate in our daily lives; everything we need to know is assessable within minutes.

“Social networking is a different way to socialize”, states Psychology Professor Amanda Pressman.  When on these social websites you can post anything you would like whether it is song lyrics, pictures, to suicide gestures without being taken too serious. “You can’t tell if a person is serious or not, you can’t determine a person’s tone, expression, or sense of seriousness from a social network” says Pressman. When asked what could be done to take a step at preventing suicide, Pressman suggested public service media wise, with careful handling on how the suicide news is distributed because of cluster suicides. Cluster suicide is a chain of completed suicides, usually among adolescents, in a discrete period of time and area, which have a ‘contagious’ element. “You want to break beyond “I’m fine”, you can’t see the social cues, face to face, people is exaggerating, today on the internet.” Pressman also says, “Parents should be connected to their kids, and spend time with their kids”.

 Clinical Psychologist Jeff Gardere explains to Julie Chen, on the Early Show, in 2008 how young people can be susceptible to suicide, especially when linked by the Internet or other factors. “There are no boundaries because of the internet and media. A lot of these kids are putting entries in before they die; certainly parents should know what’s going on these websites, kids are talking to one another and not their parents, glorifying their death and getting attention they wasn’t getting when they were alive Parents should be more involved in their children lives,” Gardere states.