Moriah O'Neal: Firefighter, EMT, and Police Officer

Moriah O'Neal is a junior here at Frostburg State University, and is aiming to get her degree in English (business writing) with a minor in public relations.  Sounds like a pretty normal student right?  Moriah does it all though.  Seaman Moriah O'Neal is a part of the fairly new program geared towards college students called College Student Pre-Commissioning Iniative (CSPI) with the United States Coast Guard.

Left to right: Father Mr. Joesph O'Neal Jr., Seaman Moriah O'Neal,
Brother Joesph O'Neal III, Mother Mrs. Yolanda O'Neal

Moriah comes from a military family where her mother is very encouraging of her joining the coast guard.  Mrs. Yolanda O'Neal is also a civilian in the coast guard.  Moriah was initially not interested in joining the coast guard, but when she found out all of the benefits of joining through CSPI she decided to reconsider.   “When my mom told me about joining, I was like ‘no’, but then when I found out about all of the money, I was like ‘Yes!”  Moriah continued to explain to me that CSPI allowed her to join the Coast Guard last year, and she then went to basic training this past summer.

When Moriah asked all of her friends and family how basic training was everyone gave her soft responses, "Oh it's not that bad" or something along those lines.  After doing it Moriah said "They were all absolutely wrong."  Basic training put so much stress and pressure on her so she could experience what she would be doing once she was commissioned. "It was physically demanding, and mentally demanding."  The Coast Guard trains to be a firefighter, EMT and police officers all in one, so she has to do it all, literally.  Now that Moriah has successfully graduated basic training, she receives a paycheck every month, and will get to finish her undergraduate degree.

After Moriah earns her undergraduate degree she wishes to attend officer candidate school so she can commission as an officer.  This means that she will go back to what is like basic training but longer and much harder.  After talking with Moriah she described it as a big mental game now that she knows what to expect.
Once she completes officer candidate school she will then get an assignment to be stationed at a base or on a cutter.  Moriah has no preference, but she does say that her assignment will have an influence on where she will go to get her master's.

Either while in the Coast Guard or after, Moriah wishes to get her masters.  The goal is to earn her degree while she is still in, so the Coast Guard will pay for it.  The Coast Guard has a requirement of being active duty for 20 years and then being able to retire to keep all of her benefits, and that is what Moriah is leaning towards.  "If I am enjoying what I am doing, I see no reason to leave."

Once receiving her degree Moriah wants to teach English at a collegiate level preferably at a historically black college/university (HBCU).  She then hopes to eventually become a dean at a school.

 To find out more about the program that Moriah is in you can visit the United States Coast Guard website for CSPI.   "What's great about the Coast Guard is that they have programs for all people."  Even if you are just curious, check it out.  Moriah has great things to say about the program, and it might be just what you are looking for.

TJ Awad: The Man in Charge

TJ Awad is currently a mass communication major, focusing in audio and video production while attending Frostburg State University. TJ was born in Richmond, Virginia on New Year’s Eve, then the family relocated to PG County in Maryland. An interesting fact about the day he was born is that he was born the “day before my mom turned 21.” TJ is the oldest of four children, he has a sister, brother, and an even younger half-brother. Throughout the years TJ has traveled to a panoply of places over the world. Some of those places would include the Netherlands, Paris, Rome, Madrid, and Lebanon TJ mentioned his dad “made sure we traveled a lot.” He also travels now for different martial arts events. Even though he may not wrestle or play rugby anymore, he tries to continue on with his passion for martial arts.

               

          Once TJ had time to play Rugby at Frostburg, but now most of his time is dedicated to his organizations. TJ is now the President of Frostburg State’s chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, INC. This comes as no surprise once learning that he is a legacy to this fraternity, since his father joined Phi Beta Sigma when he was in college as well. His mother is also a member of Greek life as well, she is a member of the sister sorority to Phi Beta Sigma. TJ and his father had the chance to share a great father-son moment as his dad was the one to pull off his mask at the end of TJ’s probate for Phi Beta Sigma. One day soon TJ would like to be branded with his fraternity’s letter, as many men have been branded before him. He is also dedicating the whole left side of his arm to his fraternity, while his right side will be about his heritage and his back will be dedicated to his love for martial arts. Even though in the beginning he may have wanted to be anything but president within his fraternity, TJ is making the best of it. His father had cautioned him about the amount of responsibilities that come along with the job of being President for this organization from personal experiences.

TJ pictured above with brothers of Phi Beta Sigma

Cassidy Zagone: Leadership At Its Finest

Cassidy Zagone, right, with her mom, Cindy Zagone, outside Bobcat Stadium before the first home football game of the season. Cassidy's fraternal twin, Zach Zagone, plays left tackle for Frostburg State.

Cassidy Zagone: Leadership At Its Finest

By: Terra Sheppard ENGL 336

                Being a leader at a college can be challenging for some people. It means stepping out of your comfort zone and doing things that you probably wouldn’t do before.  Being a leader means being a role model for others and paving the way for others to follow. My father always told me “Always lead with grace and dignity”. Being a leader can open so doors for someone who is about to graduate from college and land themselves a job somewhere. Being a leader can guide more students in college. However you look at it, Leadership comes with big responsibilities but also has great benefits. Cassidy Zagone is someone who strives to be a leader at Frostburg State University.

Cassidy Zagone is a senior at Frostburg State University. She is originally from Silver Spring Maryland .She first went to West Virginia University but within her first few weeks at West Virginia, She decided to transfer still in her freshman year. Just by happenstance Frostburg state was stilling rolling admissions, so Cassidy went up for an interview and got accepted. “Coming from Silver Spring, Md to Frostburg, Md was a big adjustment for me” Cassidy explained. She had challenges adjusting at first to Frostburg just like any regular college student would. Cassidy also has a twin brother who attends Frostburg State as well. He’s on the football team.” He’s already making friends and I’m kind of the one that was by myself when I first got to Frostburg” Cassidy told me. Cassidy was always in her dorm her first year at Frostburg and was unhappy. Her second year, Cassidy decided that was going to at least join something at Frostburg. Cassidy decided to join a sorority called Alpha Sigma Tau. It’s an on-campus sorority here at Frostburg State. Once Cassidy joined her sorority, she got handed a lot of opportunities. She was vice president of her sorority and president of her pledge class. Later, she joined the university programming council. Cassidy Zagone went from a loner who didn’t really do much around campus to someone who plays a major part in some of the organizations you see around campus

http://alphasigmatau.org/

Who is Vaughn Wallace

  Vaughn Wallace is a 20-year-old junior here at Frostburg State University. He is in pursuit of a major in Mass Communication with a minor in Journalism where he ultimately wants to become a sports journalist when he graduates in 2018. His parents fully support his decision of pursuing this career in journalism. He may love what he is here to study but Frostburg was not his first choice. Fortunately for Vaughn he has had a long history in sports to help him achieve his goal. Although he currently lives in Baltimore, MD, he has made a life all around the state of Maryland. He attended Cross Country Elementary and Middle School where he played many sports including chess, baseball and fencing. Vaughn attended Boonsboro High School. When Vaughn is not busy checking in on his family, he spends his time playing sports games such asNFL Madden and NBA 2k and watching sports on ESPN. When he is not watching sports, Vaughn likes to watch First Take and Power. Vaughn is a Virgo and his favorite color is gray (he was wearing a gray shirt the day of the interview). His favorite genre of music is R&B and tends to listen to a lot of Usher, who he says is his favorite artist. It is easy to see that sports had a great impact of who Mr. Vaughn Wallace is today.

High School where he played lacrosse, track and field and football until he graduated that same high school in 2014. He excelled at track and field in high school well enough to go on to Nationals his junior and senior year. Unfortunately, Vaughn was hit by a car while riding his bike some time ago and tore his MCL which put him out of the sports field for some time, thankfully he healed well enough so he can still play the sports he loves today. While interviewing Vaughn, he describes himself as a family man who takes pride in being close to his family. He has one older sister who is in college and two younger sisters who are in high school with a dog named “Finleigh”. 

  

Terra Sheppard, The Girl With A Powerful Purpose

Terra Sheppard, The Girl With A Powerful Purpose

Terra Sheppard is not your average college student she lives every day with a mission and has a focus to fulfill her purpose every day! Many college students go through the motions of college not really knowing who they are or what they want to be but this girl knows who she is and has a strong passion, which shines through everything she does. Bowie, Maryland native, Terra Sheppard is a transfer student here at Frostburg State University. She is technically a second-semester sophomore due to credits, majoring in mass communication with a minor in public relations. Life after graduation consists of returning back home in hopes of landing a job at a Public Relations firm. Terra transferred from Alleghany College of Maryland and before that attended Bowie High School where she was involved in her church community as well as a member of the poetry club. This new bobcat is already thriving on campus, as she is involved in the FSU marketing club as well as heavily involved in the organization ‘Generation Investigating in God’ also known as GIG. All throughout Terra’s life, she has always had  church to keep her centered. She recently found GIG through friends and has found her home away from home within it. Finding something to call yours is really important in college and in Terra’s case it helped her find out who she is and how to go about living every day. The organization, G.I.G. is in conjunction with the Baptist Student Ministry and gives students involved a place where they can be accepted and talk about God in a safe environment with fellow members with similar values and beliefs. Terra talked a lot about how being a member of this organization comes with a lot of stereotypes and how when you look at the organization people may not think they are whom they say they are but in reality Terra said, “we are students who love God and we just live our life through that.”

Terra’s journey to G.I.G. began while she was still a student at Alleghany College. Her long time high school friend Noelle, whom she has known since they were 14, introduced her to G.I.G. initially. Her story began when she attended G.I.G.’s international night which brings together many different countries cultures and food along with having different pastors come and preach. By attending that night she realized her purpose and found clarity into who she is and how she wants to live her life.  Terra said that before joining G.I.G. she wasn’t really strong in her faith but always was a Christian but never really used that to her fullest potential until G.I.G. and ever since joining she has been changed in the way that she has a better tolerance for people, she’s tried to love and forgive people and tried to do her best showing God through herself. She closed with this message saying that, “I think that everyone here on earth, we all have a purpose to serve God and I think that people don’t understand that or don’t see that cause of everything going on, but I just think that God loves us so much and we should show it everyday through our lives with how we treat people and how we talk to people.”

Dynia Walker, Woman of many Talents and Likings 



Dynia Walker; age 20, born April 24, 1996 is a Frostburg State University student who majors in Communications and is also a RA in Westminster Hall. She is originally from New Jersey but moved to Maryland at the age of 5. Dynia lives in Owings Mills / Baltimore Maryland. She has 5 siblings and they range from age 30 to age 14. She also has a dog that is a 3 year old yorkie named "lil boy" The dog got that name because he wouldn't answer to the name Dynia gave him, so she said little boy to get the dog's attention and the dog responded.

Dynia's zodiac sign is Taurus of course with her birthday being in April. Her favorite season of the year is spring. Dynia watched a lot of Disney channel and Nickelodeon with a little bit of cartoon network as a child. Her favorite movie director is Quinton Tarantino and with that her favorite movie is Pulp Fiction starring Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta. Dynia's favorite football team is the New York Giants and her favorite baseball team is the New York Yankees. Her favorite Tv Show right now is Dexter. She plays video games like Call of Duty, Mortal Kombat, Smash Bros. any Mario game, and Batman.  She played Lacrosse from sophomore to senior year of high school. Each year Dynia and her team would get to the semi- championship and then they would lose. Lacrosse was the only sport Dynia played.  Even though they loss she still would have high spirits and play he hardest the next season. Dynia hopes to graduate by spring 2018 and start her career. I asked her why she came to Frostburg and she said I came to Frostburg because it was cheap.

Shannon Farley is too Free Spirited for this country! By Melani Finney ENGL 336

It is by far, no accident that Shannon Farley chose the major she did. Majoring in Mass Communication along with minoring in both Public Relations and Communication Studies has instilled the love of writing in her heart. Her love of writing is the reason she is the Managing Editor of The Bottom Line here at Frostburg. Shannon has expressed how much she wants to work for a nonprofit organization and do Public Relations for that org. She loves to help people and would love to work in a career where she gets to do so.

Shannon has two siblings, a brother named Eddie that lives in Oregon and a sister named Chelsea that lives in Denver. Ever since Shannon was young her parents always had her and siblings on the road traveling to and from different states whether it was for a vacation or to a new home. Her parents sparked the love for traveling and she has taken that love of traveling out of the country. I asked Shannon what her favorite state is, and after a long thought process she revealed that was indeed New Mexico. “I just really loved the culture, history, and the weather!”

Just last Fall Shannon studied abroad in England and swore she never wanted to come back. Her favorite part about being in England for the Fall was her having the ability to travel anywhere she wanted and that it was very inexpensive. “I didn’t feel stuck!” she exclaimed when she told me she was able to hop on a train and go anywhere she wanted freely. 

Farley in front of Buckingham Palace

Shannon said she fell in love with England so much that a friend of hers came from home and they back packed throughout the United Kingdom all Winter. Through she enjoyed herself she made sure she back before her 21^st birthday.

Shannon still doesn’t know what career path she is going to walk down or when she is going to settled down. She just know that’s where ever she ends up she wants to write every step of the way!

Farley striking a triumphant pose in Switzerland