Volume 124 Issue 84
kansan.com
Friday, January 27, 2012
WHAT IT'S LIKE... to find out you're pregnant in college
// NAKAI MARR AS TOLD TO NADIA IMAFIDON
Nakai Marr, a junior from Lawrence, discovered she was pregnant a week and half before fall semester of 2011.
She and her boyfriend of four years, Eric, decided to keep the baby, and Marr is continuing to pursue her plans of graduating in four. Her due date is April 16, and she graduates in May.
My body works like clockwork. I was leaving Wal-Mart with a box of
tampons in my bag when I realized I hadn't gotten my period that morning. I always get my period first thing the morning. I quickly turned back to buy a pregnancy test and rushed home.
This wasn't the first time I'd taken a pregnancy test. I've been sexually active since I was fifteen, and if I ever missed my period, I took a pregnancy test, and the negative results gave me relief. This was a different experience entirely.
My mom had stopped by my house that morning. I rushed to the bathroom and told her I'd just be a second. My mom yelled at me from outside the door to hurry up. I peed on the stick and anxiously looked at the test window. Shit, I had never seen these two lines before. Turns out the
scariest thing in the world were these two little lines. I started bawling and walked into the hallway carrying the test. My mom looked at it and the first thing she said was abortion.
She told me wed take care of it like it was any other job. No one would have to know. My mom got pregnant in college, dropped out, and ended up divorcing my dad later, supporting our family without a degree. It wasn't until I was in high school until she could go back to complete her medical degree. My mom just wanted me to finish school. So did I.
I had to call Eric at his internship, and ended up telling him through sobs. The line went dead silent. He told me he would be home during lunch, and came home to down a bottle of whiskey. Eric ended up throwing up more than I did that day
Adoption wasn't an option; I didn't want to feel a baby move inside of me, carry it to term and have to give it away. Until now, I had always thought if I ever had an unplanned pregnancy, I'd choose abortion. I didn't realize
how devastated I'd feel just thinking about getting rid of the baby's existence. And honestly, we didn't need to choose that option.I love Eric.I want to have his children,and we already have a home to take care of a child. This pregnancy wasn't planned, but who is ever ready to have a child.
Now I wake up feeling like crap, and go to campus where I get judged. I get looks from the skinny bitches that think I'm just getting fat or the people who know I'm pregnant and judge me because I'm 20 and not married. What they don't see is that I took the pill every morning after I brushed my teeth for six years, and I still got pregnant.
I'm a pregnant student taking 17 credit hours and waitressing nearly 30 hours a week. It sucks to be the girl the professor calls out for falling asleep, but then I think "I'd like to see you build a person and come to class every day." But I'm self-sufficient and I plan on graduating next year. My whole life has changed for something that isn't real to me yet.
face.
"I wasn't meeting people," she said. "I was kind of going through people withdrawals."
Determined to overcome her situation she turned to the Internet. Jankord began to scour through blogs and websites in search of a solution to her problem. Her search first brought her to the 365 Project, an initiative in which participants take one photograph each day for an entire year.
"A lot of people I knew were doing the 365 Project so I decided to do something more original," she said.
Relentlessly, she continued to search until finally she came across something that was new to her and grabbed her attention.
Unlike the 365 Project, 100 Strangers is a project that requires socialization. The first objective of
DUDE.
WLING
She had hoped to be admitted to the School of the Arts to study photography,but was declined.100 Strangers became an opportunity for her to pursue her love of art as well as to build confidence and overcome the difficulties of meeting new people.
Setting out and onto campus
The second half of the project is taking the photo (with permission) of the strangers who shared their story. While meeting new people and collecting the stories of strangers was appealing to Jankord, it was the second half of the project that intrigued her most of all.
Often times it is this fear of rejection that stunts our bravery and keeps us from meeting new people. Overcoming her nerves, Jankord has continued to collect strangers and has now documented the photographs and stories of nearly twenty strangers.
"This project stood out to me because I wanted to do something that involved photography," Jankord said.
class," Jankord said. "An elderly couple that I met by Potter Lake told me their life story."
"It was when I got my first rejection that I first got nervous," she said.
"I think what she's doing is pretty courageous, daring." Teron Gaumer said after sharing a story with Jankord and becoming one of her strangers.
"It really helped me get out there and meet people," she said.
She remembers not being very nervous in the beginning.
Jankord is not the only student on campus participating in the project.
"In day to day life you walk past so many people and you just have a brief encounter, you don't even notice them," he said. "Now I'm stopping people and getting to know them and it's interesting because they're often a lot more friendly than you would think."
According to the 100 Strangers page on Flickr, there are currently more than 7,000 participants.
For more information about 100 Strangers, including portfolios of the project's participants, you can visit www.100strangers.com and www.flickr.com/groups/100strangers.
Collin Baffa, a senior from
Baffa, much like Jankord, began the project as a way to grow as a photographer and to break out of social timidity.
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from them."
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OPINION 5
Edited by Anna Allen
TYLER RIERWIRTH/KANSAM
Kody Collins, a sophomore from Overland Park, enjoys a non-alcoholic White Russian while dressed in character as "The Dude" during The Big Lebowski night at Jaybowl on Thursday. Students enjoyed free popcorn and bowling while watching the movie
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SUDOKU 4
contents, unless stated otherwise. © 2012 The University Daily Kansan
Don't forget
They've got shoes, but if you've got your own, bring 'em. Cosmic bowling at 10 p.m at the Jaybowl in the Union.
Today's Weather
Forecasts done by University students. For a more detailed forecast
see page 2A. Break out those wellies!