Tag Archives: POV

Project Open Voices: “There are Thirty-Five Calories in a Serving of Carrots”

May 4, 2016 By in Features, Personal Tags: , , , Leave a comment

The Thrill is proud to feature personal narratives courtesy of Project Open Voices, a coalition of students providing a platform for open dialogue on campus. Today’s submission, which focuses on body image, was authored anonymously. POV is always accepting submissions, so if you want to share your story, email openvoicessubmissions@gmail.com. If you would like to remain anonymous, you can submit by signing into a second email account: projectopenvoices@gmail.com (password: kenyoncollege).

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When I was younger, I thought I was one of the few that could escape society’s trap. I thought I could be one of those girls that orders a burger and doesn’t think twice about it. I thought that if I was good at basketball and soccer and softball, I would not think about what my body looked like. I was wrong. Continue reading →

Project Open Voices: “On Feeling Like a Phony Queer”

October 6, 2015 By in Features, Personal Tags: , , , , 1 Comment

The Thrill is proud to feature personal narratives courtesy of Project Open Voices, a coalition of students providing a platform for open dialogue on campus. Today’s essay is titled “On Feeling Like a Phony Queer” and was authored anonymously. POV is now accepting new submissions for its gender and sexuality special edition, so if you want to share your story, email openvoicessubmissions@gmail.com. If you would like to remain anonymous, you can submit by signing into a second email account: projectopenvoices@gmail.com (password: kenyoncollege).

I should begin by saying that I’m blessed to know many wonderful people in the queer community. As a whole, I have been met with widespread acceptance, even at the times that have been most confusing in the process of coming to terms with my sexuality. But I’m writing this now as more of a reminder to everyone, even those in the queer community, to be empathetic of the experiences of those that identify differently than you. Continue reading →

Project Open Voices: Why I Am Happy The Man Who Raped Me Still Has Female Friends

September 16, 2015 By in Features, Personal Tags: , , , Leave a comment

In honor of Take Back The Night, The Thrill is proud to feature personal narratives courtesy of Project Open Voices, a coalition of students providing a platform for open dialogue on campus. Today’s essay is titled “Why I Am Happy The Man Who Raped Me Still Has Female Friends” and was authored anonymously. If you want to share your story, email openvoicessubmissions@gmail.com. If you would like to remain anonymous, you can submit by signing into a second email account: projectopenvoices@gmail.com (password: kenyoncollege).

Trigger Warning: This piece contains graphic depictions of rape and sexual misconduct.  Continue reading →

Project Open Voices: Here Is A Story About My Body

September 1, 2015 By in Features Tags: , , , 2 Comments

The Thrill is proud to feature personal narratives courtesy of Project Open Voices, a coalition of students providing a platform for open dialogue on campus. Today’s essay is titled “Here Is A Story About My Body” and was authored anonymously. POV is always accepting new submissions, so if you want to share your story, email openvoicessubmissions@gmail.com. If you would like to remain anonymous, you can submit by signing into a second email account: projectopenvoices@gmail.com (password: kenyoncollege). POV meets Saturdays at 4pm in the Bemis music room in Peirce; new faces are always welcome. 

Kenyon was the first campus I visited. Immediately, I had a sense that I could find my own place here. No other school gave me that gut reaction; it felt like fate had handed me my choice.

I carried a lot of things with me on the plane as I flew back home. I had a vision of my future, a mixture of excitement for college and ennui for high school, and small, hidden behind everything else, a nagging feeling that I wasn’t going to fit in. On my visit, I had noticed a few things about Kenyon students: they were smart, outgoing, creative and fashionable, but most of all, they were skinny.

Continue reading →

Project Open Voices: “Parents’ Weekend”

April 29, 2015 By in Features Tags: , , 1 Comment

The Thrill is proud to feature personal narratives courtesy of the Project for Open Voices. Today’s essay was authored anonymously, in October of this year. 

Flashback to freshman year, October—my friends and I are finally starting to figure out how things work here. Settling into a routine hundreds (sometimes thousands) of miles away from home is never easy, but this had been much more difficult than I would have liked to admit. But despite the stress of academia and the fluid social circles, everything is starting to make sense. Parents’ Weekend is here. We’ve all heard about it—it’s a Kenyon tradition! Parents come to Kenyon, join our little bubble for a couple days; everyone puts on their best, happy, sober faces and seeks to assure their families that the investment they made in this little school was a wise one.

My parents, of course, couldn’t make it. I’m definitely not alone in that. I had done my best to make sure they didn’t even find out that Parents Weekend was a Kenyon “thing.” But they did, and sure enough, my Father called me that day to half-heartedly let me know how sorry he is that they couldn’t make it. I’ll never forget how defeated he sounded.

Continue reading →