Try this recipe: at least 1 human, 1 cup of knowledge of one’s environment, 1 cup of perspective on a person or event, ¬ cup of surprise, and a dash of irony. Mix it altogether and get Ida Kay Jordan’s recipe for her articles and columns. This recipe is what made Jordan notable among journalists in the Hampton Roads area. “For the best stories, you have to understand where you live,” said Jordan.
Jordan, an Elizabeth City, N.C. native, recently gave a speech at Virginia Wesleyan College to students in Dr. Bill Ruehlmann’s Introduction to Journalism class.

She talked to students about her professional career and gave advice about working in general. “Whatever job you have, go out and talk to people on the street,” said Jordan. For Jordan, working on a newspaper started in 1947 on Elizabeth City’s Daily Advance. Since 1947, Jordan has worked on a variety of newspapers, including The Independent Star, Raleigh News and Observer, Research Triangle and The Virginian- Pilot. When she started writing for The Virginian-Pilot, Jordan was the only female reporter. “[I] got some of the best stories,” said Jordan.

One project that Jordan could call her own was the Research Triangle. The Research Triangle had stories from Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, N.C. Prior to the Research Triangle, these three areas had not provided news or information about each other. “It made up for the fact that Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill did not cover each other,” Jordan said. In addition to telling about her experience, Jordan also emphasized the connection between the readers and viewers. She noted that the journalists often cover topics of their own interest. “We do what we think that makes a big splash,” said Jordan. “I hope you would get to know enough readers and viewers and know their interests.”

According to Jordan, newspaper work is a last resort for some people. Those who have the dedication and interest will prevail. “Only go into newspaper work if you can’t do anything else.”

HIV-positive? That doesn’t come in the mail every day-especially when the recipient is 17. However Adrienne Johnson, now a freshman at Virginia Wesleyan, received a letter with this very diagnosis during her junior year in high school. “It was a huge shock,” Johnson said. “I couldn’t believe it.” The letter had come from the American Red Cross a few weeks after she had donated blood at a drive held in her high school.

“I was really excited about donating because you needed to be at least 17 and I had just had my birthday,” said Johnson. She and some friends, along with almost 100 others, had all come out for the drive. After reading the letter, she immediately showed it to her mother, hoping she had read it wrong. “I panicked,” Johnson remembered. “I just sat there crying while my mom tried calling the American Red Cross to find out what to do.” The Red Cross told the Johnson’s they would re-test Adrienne, but instead of waiting, the family went to the Naval Base to have it drawn the next day. All my dad said was that “It’s wrong,” said Johnson. Johnson wanted to believe it was wrong also, but she had had surgery in eighth grade and the possibility that she had contracted it then, although unlikely, lingered over her like a black cloud.

“We didn’t tell anyone because we didn’t want them to worry,” Johnson said. “We figured it was better to wait until we knew for sure.” It was hard keeping the news a secret though. Many of the family’s close relatives knew something was wrong. “My mom told them that I was pregnant because they wouldn’t leave us alone about it,” said Johnson. The new results took two and a half weeks to come in. They were negative. “We were all so relieved,” said Johnson.
Once things had been cleared up, the Johnson’s let friends and family know what had happened.

“My friends couldn’t believe they could mess up that bad,” Johnson said. The American Red Cross told Johnson that something as simple as the flu or any other type of virus in the body could have caused the results to read wrong. Others in the school may have tested positive, but Johnson never heard of any. The Red Cross also told her that some people don’t even bother to be re-tested. People just like her, who are not HIV-positive, are living their lives, thinking they are. “It made me see life completely different,” said Johnson. “Not like someone who was in a bad car accident, but it definitely made me a stronger person.” Johnson’s results came in on Dec. 23, two days before Christmas. Johnson said, “That was a really good Christmas present.”

How would you like to scuba dive, snowboard, surf, sky dive, sail, sand board, kayak, and bungee jump while living in a foreign country, immersing yourself in a new culture, and earning credit towards your degree at VWC? That is what junior Craig O’Neill did, through Virginia Wesleyan College’s Study Abroad program.

Craig returns to Virginia Wesleyan this semester after spending 5 months in Queensland, Australia. Craig had always intended on studying abroad at some point in his college career, but as a biology major, he had little interest in learning a foreign language. As an English-speaking country, Australia was quite appealing. Moreover, Australia’s unique biology allowed him to study foliage and fauna he could have never experienced in the United States. Craig lived in Brisbane with four other American students from July to December. While he was there for the Australian winter, the Florida-like temperature was fairly constant at 75 degrees. Still, Craig did need to adapt to his surroundings: “I missed my car. Learning to adjust to the public transportation schedule was very difficult for me.”

Craig enrolled for the semester at the University of Queensland. “The higher education system in Australia is very different from what I was used to here.” Each of his classes was taught by a group of professors, each an expert on a particular facet of the course. Since the lecturer changed every few days, there was no personal interaction between the professors and the students. “I was just a number. After five months of studying abroad, I have learned to appreciate what I have here at VWC.” As with most study abroad experiences, the best memories were made outside the classroom. He jumped out of two planes, each time from a height of 14,000 feet.

“Skydiving was thebiggest rush of my life,” said Craig. But he thought scuba diving was amazing as well. Now a certified scuba diver, Craig swam with eels, rays, sea turtles, manatees and sharks along the Great Barrier Reef. Traveling was a huge part of his trip. Craig spent his spring break sailing for a week through the Whitsundays a group of islands ten hours north of Queensland. As an avid snowboarder, he took a break from classes mid-semester to visit Mount Hotham. Before returning to the States, he stopped in Fiji and New Zealand. In Fiji, he stayed in a hut on the beach, and had the oportunity to attend a worship service with an indigenous tribe. Afterwards, he joined their kava kava circle and drank the root-derivative from a hollowed out coconut shell.

Even though Craig was far from the United States, the events of September 11th had a profound effect on his visit. “That was the only time during my trip that I wished I was home,” Craig said. For the first few days after the terrorist attacks, he was able to watch American broadcasts, like CNN. But after a few days, Australian broadcasts resumed, and thereafter the news embodied a more Australian perspective. Craig’s experience in Australia has fueled his desire to travel. In particular, he would like to take an African safari, or snowboard in Europe. However, he doubts that he will live abroad again. “Why spend five months in one spot when there is a whole world to see?”

Angels. Such common figures during the holiday season — atop trees dressed with ornaments and twinkling lights, smiling from the fronts of Christmas cards, lingering around the mangers of nativity scenes --- the divine beings seem to be everywhere. But it is in the everyday occurrences, it would seem, that the wings of real angels are revealed, and we find that angels truly do exist, regardless of whether or not they do so as we once imagined. Sometimes we find ourselves reliving the skepticism we have all once felt regarding Santa Claus — sure, it makes a nice story, but does it end there? Are angels real, or another fairy tale that makes the world a little brighter?

The truth of the matter is that yes, there are angels. And whether you’re Christian, Jewish, atheist, or any of the other hundreds of religions, it is undeniable that, at some point in your life, you either have found or will find one. Now, at nineteen, I have met one. As a matter of fact, I’ve met a few. I lost my father four months ago, and ever since, my life has been graced with the presence of true angels. My mother, sister, and I have had an outpouring of support from people — the PTA at the elementary school where my mother works and my sister and I attended; the PTA’s at the middle and high schools in the same district; kind words and offers of support from faculty and students here at Wesleyan; family who flew in from London and South America as soon as they heard; friends of the family and of my father. And yet, it didn’t stop there.

It seemed, all of a sudden, that the world had become somehow kinder, despite the harsh reality of what had happened. When my mother had to call to explain why bills had been late, there were more than a few operators who offered condolences, and said such kind words that she got off the phone with tears in her eyes, marveling at how people who were generally so formal were suddenly so warm. The florist who made the wreaths for the funeral, and from whom my Dad always used to buy flowers for my Mum, sent me home with more than one vase of beautiful flowers simply to cheer her up. Our next door neighbor who, when I got home one afternoon, was mowing our front yard. We hadn’t asked him to, he hadn’t offered — he had simply finished his own and started on ours. The man in JCPenney who, when I told him that the black dress I was buying was for a funeral, gave me twenty percent off my purchase and a smile, asking me to please come back and see him.

And, of course, we each had our own special Aangel during those days and weeks. My Mum’s best friend who used the spare key to get into our house while we were out and put up a fake Christmas tree and decorate it for us, knowing that we couldn’t handle doing it ourselves. My younger sister’s circle of friends who were like her little posse, seeming to be her bodyguards wherever she went. As for me, I had my share: my best friend from high school who called me up, almost as upset as I was, and drove the four hours home from college the next morning. My cousin, who is, in all reality, more like my brother, who flew across from England to be with us and to say goodbye to his A second dad. My coach, who has let me cry on his shoulder so many times over the past months and let me lean on him so heavily that I know I will never be able to adequately thank him.

Life would have been so much harder during the past few weeks were it not for these Aangels. Regardless of what you believe in, it is during times like these that you realize that there is a presence of them in the world, and while, at times, we may doubt it, they come out of the woodwork when we need them the most. And so, as life’s little glitches come and go, as obstacles affect you, your family, your friends, and people you know, remember that whether you know it or not, not only do you have your own angels, but you just might be one of them to someone else.