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NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
AWARD
MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2008
Journey to hell and back ends in accolades
Alumnus's article detailing his battle with mental illness wins Rolling Stone's writing competition
BY JOE PREINER
jpreiner@kansan.com
Thor Nystrom was sitting in a movie theater with a few of his friends when his phone vibrated. His mom was calling. Not wanting to distract others, he ignored it. Seconds later, he received a text message from his mom asking him to call her right away. His first thought was that a family member had died.
It turned out to be better news for the Spring 2008 graduate. Nystrom had won first place in the feature-writing category for Rolling Stone magazine's 33rd annual College Journalism Competition. He is featured in the October issue of Rolling Stone, which hit shelves nationwide last Friday.
Nystrom's story, "To Hell and Back," chronicled his emotional struggle with, and eventual overcoming of, mental health issues. Kevin O'Donnell, assistant editor for Rolling Stone, said Nystom's piece edged out about 150 other stories from students across the country.
Nystrom said he remembered sitting in his Depth Reporting class last spring and being the only student without an idea for the class's major project. His inspiration finally came after stumbling across
a story of a girl's personal struggle with an eating disorder. He said he started thinking about his own story and thought it would translate well to a broad audience.
"I had never really spoken about it with anyone," Nystrom said, "not family, friends or anyone. I just kind of let all those emotions fester. I had to get it out eventually. I had to write it for myself."
In writing the story, Nystrom said, he was able to purge the emotions he had held on to for more than a year. For his own sake, he made a deal with himself to tell the story 100 percent truthfully. Telling the story became more a personal necessity and less a class project. He said if he had considered the fact that friends, family and complete strangers would be reading the story, he probably wouldn't have been able to be as honest.
"It was too important and too personal at that point in my life," Nystrom said. "I was going to go 100 percent, or I wasn't going to write it. I would have taken an 'F' in the class. That's how important it was."
One moment while writing the story will stick with Nystrom forever. After recounting his experiences and writing the last two paragraphs, he broke down.
ROLLING STONE
Northern Thystrom's article, "To Hell and Back," chronicling his boots with mental illness, won Rolling Stones annual feature-writing contest and is featured in the magazine's October issue.
Emotionally shattered, he couldn't help but cry. He said that, in retrospect, being able to conjure up those emotions led him to believe he was doing something right. At
that point, Nystrom said, he had no conception that other people would be reading his story.
Other people did.
After the story was printed in
the May 5, 2008 edition of The University Daily Kansan, Nystrom received more than 100 e-mails from readers, most of whom he didn't know. Expecting criticism, he was overwhelmed by the response.
"Oh my God it was amazing," Nystrom said. "I didn't get one negative comment. It was validation that I had written it the way I needed to."
Ted Frederickson was the journalism professor who taught the Depth Reporting class for which Nystrom's story was his major project. He praised it as "a goosebump-inducing narrative that followed Thor from the dark depths of despair to a personal triumph that left me with tears in my eyes. I have never found it easier to read such a long piece in a newspaper."
The Rolling Stone editors who judged Nystrom's piece agreed, awarding him the $2,500 prize for his winning story.
Eric Bates, executive editor for Rolling Stone and director of the College Journalism Competition, said the story accomplished something many feature stories do not.
"The piece pulled off one of the most difficult feats in feature writing — telling a compelling and
Nystrom's award-winning story was originally published in the May 5, 2008, edition of The University Daily Kansan. Nystrom describes writing the story as an emotional experience.
hearttending story in the first person, one with broader relevance to all readers, without succumbing to pathos or sensationalism" Bates said.
Nystrom's name and picture appear on Page 8 of the edition of Rolling Stone.
EMPLOYMENT
Students get help in navigating competitive job market
BY AMANDA THOMPSON
editor@kansan.com
Meghan Canipe thought she had gotten on the ball early. A month before the Fall 2007 semester began, she started applying for jobs. Canipe, Overland Park junior, estimated that she picked up 40 applications for places around
Lawrence.
As the first day of the semester approached. Canipe, still jobless, called her prospective employers to check on the status of her applications but to no avail.
"They all told me the same thing, that they'd put my application on top." Canipe said. "But I never heard back from any of
The search for on-campus jobs was no easier for Canipe. She applied to 10 more places on campus before getting a job at Watson Library.
Ann Hartley, associate director of the University Career Center, said job searches this fall weren't likely to be easier. In August, online applications submitted for campus jobs
SPECIAL ADVANCE SCREENING
increased by almost 15 percent from last year. For the 227 on-campus jobs posted online so far this year, 6,151 applications were submitted in the month of August alone.
The national unemployment rate rose to 6.1 percent in August, its highest in five years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This trend may make it harder for students to find a job.
University libraries also experience an application increase in the fall. Courtney Foat, administrative associate for libraries, said fall was always the busiest time for applications. Foat said the libraries received anywhere from 50 to 300 student applications for one library position.
One reason students such as Canipe can have a difficult time finding jobs is because they're inelegible for the Federal Work Study program. Based on financial need, the work study program provides funding to universities that goes toward the wages of part-time students who qualify. Students eligible for work study have 75 percent of their wages paid for by the program, and 25 percent paid for by the University.
Mary Chappell, director of University Recreation Services, said the Student Fitness Recreation Center employed about 300 students during the year.
"Just recently we had 77 applications turned in to fill two positions in facility management." Chappell said. She said that for other facility positions, such as working the front desk, it was not unusual to get 100 applications or more for one position.
"Campus employers really like to find a student who is eligible for Federal Work Study because they can really save money or stretch a thin budget," Hartley said.
"Sometimes it's just a numbers game," Harley said. "You just have to keep applying, keep applying, keep applying."
The work study program offers another program that benefits all students, regardless of financial need. This program, called the Job Location and Development program, was implemented at the University in January and has increased online postings of off-campus jobs.
"The idea is to increase the number of job postings available to students through marketing to employers and getting them to post to our HawkStudent employment Web site". Hartley said. "This is the first year that we have been able to really promote and increase the number of postings."
These increased opportunities don't necessarily mean jobs will be easier to find off campus. Nick Wysong, manager of Ingredient, 945 Massachusetts St., said he didn't need to advertise because of the many applications he had on hand.
Job postings of companies looking to hire KU students at the career center's part of HawkStudent employment Web site, KUCareerHawk.com, increased dramatically in the last year, climbing from 481 to 827.
— Edited by Adam Mowder
GEORGE H. NASH The Post-World War II Conservative Intellectual Movement in America
Oct. 7 | Hall Center Conference Hall | 6:30 p.m.
Nash is the author of The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945. He is also a co-editor of Province in Rebellion:
A Documentary History of the Founding of Massachusetts, 1774-1775 and the author of Books and the Founding Fathers. From 1987 to 1990 Nash served by presidential appointment on the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, an independent, permanent agency of the federal government which advises the President and Congress on library and information issues.
Nash is a member of the editorial advisory board of Modern Age and a Senior Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal. Since the Spring of 2004 he has been an Associate of the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies at Grand Valley State University. His articles and reviews have appeared in National Review, The Wall Street Journal, Policy Review, Modern Age, The New York Times Book Review, The University Bookman, and many other publications.
Supported by the Friends of the Hall Center.
This event is free and open to the public. No tickets are required. 785-864-4798 • hallcenter@ku.edu www.hallcenter.ku.edu KU HALL CENTER FOR THE HUMANITIES The University of Kansas
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