Hype music and large glow sticks pounded the air in the Kiva as Nov. 8’s I AM FIRST celebration marked the middle of I AM FIRST Week at Kent State University. The weeklong series of events honors first-generation college students, those students who are or will be the first in their family to complete a bachelor’s degree. While it can be difficult to navigate college as a first-generation college student, attendees like Ivory Kendrick, a first-generation sophomore public health major from Ravenna, look at it in a positive way. “Use it as a way to embrace where you came fro...

For many students, especially Lilly Kensicki and Nina Lozada, Kent State’s University Summer Advantage saves time and money – but it can also make dreams come true. Kensicki, a senior mechatronics engineering technology major, got the opportunity to be part of Summer Advantage in summer 2023. The program helped Kensicki complete a class required for her major and gave her the opportunity to go to Walt Disney World to take her dream for a test drive.   “My dream job is to be an Imagineer with Disney. I completed all the workshops, and I did well in my class, so I could apply for ...

The Flash Activities Board (FAB) organizes more than 100 events for Kent State University’s students throughout the academic year.   FAB plans exciting new events each semester, from trivia, karaoke, bingo, and movie nights to large-scale festivals. The student organization also hosts annual events, but the group changes the concept each year to keep students interested.  FAB’s Instagram account is the best resource for students to know which and when events will occur. Their social media posts include the necessary details about the events, such as what the giveaways might...

Kent State graduate Daniel James dreams of biking across all seven continents. It has taken him several years, but he is halfway there.   James has crossed three continents on his bike – North America, South America and Australia and he does so barefoot.  “You've got to have a dream,” said James, who set out on a bike ride through Central America after his 2022 graduation. “If any of you are considering going on a road trip, or backpacking trip, or visiting that country you always wanted to go to, do it. Don't wait, there is no perfect time to go. You will never be 100% re...

One day in 1997, a man named Rick Wilson passed a woman on the side of the road while driving. He stopped to help her, thinking her car had broken down, only to discover she was dragging a dead buck to her car to take home, desperate to feed her hungry family. It was in that moment that Wilson saw a need that he could not overlook. And in that moment 26 years ago, the idea for Farmers & Hunters Feeding the Hungry (FHFH) was born. Since then, Wilson’s mission – “transforming a God-given resource of deer and livestock into food for those in need” – has grown into a multistate operati...