Heather Adcock: Full Speed Ahead with no Plotted Course

By Celina Bevington, ENGL 336:001

With an exasperated sigh, and the rapid blinking of bright blue eyes shadowed behind black rimmed glasses Heather begins her interview with the usual cliché answers to boring questions that everyone has heard time and time again. With her legs crossed at the ankles and dressed comfortably in a hooded sweatshirt and jeans, Heather finally cracks a smile when asked what she wants to do with the rest of her life.

“I have no idea,” she begins with a shrug, “I haven’t even thought that far ahead. I haven’t even thought about dinner tonight or the next week yet.”

The smiles come freely afterward as the reserved and the demure bloom into the vibrant and intelligent Heather.

The oldest of three children, Heather Adcock, divulges that her hometown of Shadygrove, Maryland has been her residence since her birth on March 11, 1991. She enjoys Frostburg weather and smiles while reminiscing about an incident with her friend and a freshman.

“My friend actually crushed a freshman’s dreams by saying it was going to start flurrying in five weeks. The Freshman was mortified,” Heather laughs!

In fact, the farthest place she has ever traveled is Louisiana. Heather’s desire to travel is evident in her excited descriptions of the places she would love to visit in Alaska and Scotland. She is drawn to the beautiful landscapes of both Alaska and Scotland, as well as their rich culture and history.

She reassures herself that her yearning for travel has nothing to do with the fact that she is a Lost fanatic. She watched the show from the beginning, becoming more and more of a fan as the seasons went on. Nonetheless she expresses her displeasure with the finale, which she says left more questions than answers. The laughs come again as she describes her excessive DVD collection.

She says, “I have over 150 DVDs and each of my DVD box sets only count as one. My friends say I have a problem.”

Heather is a self-described geek and dork which she illustrates by her love of Otakon and her hobby of making costumes for Frostburg State University’s resident Furry community.

“Yes, of course I dress up, I am a dork,” she throws in as she describes her Otakon experiences.

Heather’s love of making costumes seemingly stems from her love of animals. She herself has a cat, but her family owns a horse, two dogs, five indoor cats and five outdoor cats. Her rationale is that her family “live[s] in the middle of nowhere, so it’s ok.”

Majoring in English with a concentration in Creative Writing, Heather is just enjoying her life as a third year college student with no immediate plans to choose a set career path. The fact that there is still no decision on a life plan, Heather does not mind. Her belief is that she is still young, and in college, she can decide all these things later and enjoy herself by continuing to do the things she loves.

More of Heather's interests and amusements can be found on her DeviantArt site and at cracked.com

Alissa Unedited

By Marissa Nedved, ENGL 336.001

“I’m not good at things like this,” Alissa Perske said. She munched on some M&Ms (peanut butter, her second favorite) during the interview. She wore a “DREAM OUT LOUD” t-shirt and an easy-going smile. She is soft-spoken, but laughs often.

She began by explaining that although is now a Frostburg local, she is not native to the area. She was born over 500 miles away in Michigan, in a city called Battle Creek. Her hometown is significantly larger than FSU’s small college area. “Battle Creek is 10 times bigger than here. I loved it. I still do. Small towns are okay, but it’s not the same.” Alissa explained. She added that she finds Frostburg to be beautiful, but she prefers the flatter landscape of Battlecreek.

Alissa is currently perusing an English degree. She has a concentration in Literature, but plans to branch out to other areas with her elective credits. After graduation, she hopes to attend graduate school at Oxford Brookes in England. When speaking of the British school, she got a far-away look in her eyes, as if she could already picture herself there. When asked why she chose the European country as her destination, she gave a small shrug and answered that she has always had an attraction to the English culture. Her dream is to become an editor for a publishing company.

While nurturing her career in publishing, Alissa hopes to also nurture something of a different nature. “I want five or six kids. That has always been my number, ever since I was young,” Alissa said. Her parents both had many siblings and she enjoys the companionship she has with her numerous cousins as a result. She wants that same environment for her children.

After talk of school and the future was over, Alissa got a bit more personal. She revealed her love of a certain tree-grazing mammal. She boasts a collection of over 300 giraffe-related items, including stuffed versions, photo frames and pillowcases. “My friend even bought me a toilet brush with a giraffe on it. I don’t use it though! But giraffes are everywhere – everywhere,” Alissa said with a chuckle.

Alissa also explained that some jokingly call her OCD. She tends to stress over the little things. When picking out her clothing for the day, all of it has to match, down the socks. No one ever said such attention to detail was a bad thing, however, especially for an aspiring editor.

When asked her favorite quote, she pulled out her phone so that she could find the exact wording. After about ten minutes of searching, she finally recited a quote from the Harry Potter series: “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that.” Alissa takes such an ideology to heart. She has plenty of dreams, but her grounded personality keeps her in the here and now.

Battle Creek, Michigan’s official website: http://www.battlecreekmi.gov/site3.aspx

Oxford Brookes’ official website: http://www.brookes.ac.uk/