Thanks for the memories!
By Parker Rose
Knightly News Reporter
Editor’s note: This story was originally published in January, 2021.
Wow. It’s hard to believe that my college career at the bachelor’s level is completed.
I remember clear as day my first day at Central Penn College. It was a warm weekend in April 2018 when I moved into Central Penn housing. The first suite I lived in was suite 181, room 2. My first RA was Malcolm Fox.
I will be honest that I was nervous my first day because I did not know anyone from my high school at the time I began attending Central Penn College. I was also a late starter to college because I was at boot camp and other training with the military before I started.
My first weekend at the campus started off with a lot of orientations to learn about being a Knight at Central Penn College.
Then Monday rolled around. I was in the cafeteria for the first time, working on assignments, and that is when I met my first friend on campus: Brian Christiana. Brian approached me and started a conversation. He showed me the ropes of the college. That day led to the start of many opportunities for me.
On Tuesday, I woke up for my first class. It was my 8:40 a.m. class with Dave Baker. I will say by the end of the day, it was a success.
Wednesday was the first club fair I attended and at the time, I just attended to get credit for class because my first mindset of college was to get my degree and graduate. That was until I bumped into the first club that caught my attention.
I approached the CP Players table and I started to look at some of the materials displayed. That was when Theater Director Janet Bixler started to talk to me and asked whether I was interested in theater. I told her I did stage crew in high school and was not sure if I wanted to get involved again. She convinced me to attend the club meeting to be held later that day and I am glad that I decided to attend the meeting because I enjoyed being a part of the drama club.
Those few initial involvements on campus opened up opportunities that helped lead me to the person I am today.
By the end of my first year at Central Penn, I was an officer in a few clubs on campus, and was the representative for Central Penn College for the Real Man Wear Pink Campaign – and I realized that being more involved would help prepare me for the future, and to succeed in it.
During my second year at Central Penn, I began to look for more opportunities, like becoming a residence assistant, stepping up as an officer in The Knightly News Media Club and bringing the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes Campaign back to campus.
Joining The Knightly News Media Club opened many opportunities for me. I remember writing my first few stories and thinking they were not the best, but with the help of Professor Paul Miller and Professor Michael Lear-Olimpi, my writing continued to improve.
Being involved in the club then led me to being a part of podcast episodes. I remember being asked to do my first show on the “Fantasy Football Strategy Guide.” At first, I was really nervous and not sure what I wanted to say. I then settled in and felt comfortable doing podcast. From that first podcast, I was a part of at least 25 more podcasts.
My two favorite memories of being part of The Knightly News was the College Series game at the Philadelphia Phillies, and to be able to be in the booth to call a Knights’ baseball game for the club’s Facebook Live broadcast.
The Phillies game was a great game with friends and great learning opportunities. I had the chance to write a story about it with fellow Knightly News member and CPC alumni Christian Fulp. That day, we had the opportunity to talk to the Phillies broadcast and front office teams, Phillies all-star second baseman Mikey Moradenni, and Phillies centerfielder Adam Hasley.
Later on that day, I saw my first Phillies game under the lights, which was always a goal I wanted to see. I remember telling Professor Tom Davis, an instructor of English who was helping the club with game coverage and had attended the Phillies outing, that there is no better way than watching a baseball game than under the lights.
The last memory from The Knightly News was calling a Central Penn Knights baseball game. It was a cold march night and Central Penn was playing Williams Trade, where the Knights played a great game. The offense was clicking and the defense was in rhythm. I was able to call a game where freshman pitcher Hayden Fox threw an amazing game, only allowing one earned run, and seeing Max Thorpe get his first college-level win as a pitcher. I want to thank The Knightly News Media Club for all the memories and opportunities the club offered me.
The next club from which I have so many memories and am glad I was part of is the CP Players. While part of the CP Players, I was a participant in a handful of theater events – whether as an actor, emcee, stagehand or member of the house crew. My favorite theater event that I was part of was the second student-created play I participated in. That play was “Twisted Fairy Tales.”
That was the play where I was considered a ninja actor. A ninja actor plays multiple roles in a show. In that student-created play, I played 10 different roles where I sent mix emotions to our audience. I had a few characters, like Goldie Locks, The Vegas Showman and the Jester laughing – with some audience members laughing along with me, in tears.
I then had other characters, like the wolf, and I had the audience truly disliking my character and I caused many emotions.
My favorite memory with the CP Players was going to New York City to see a Broadway show. I remember waking up at 4:30 a.m. to meet Janet at the train station to take the train up to New York. We arrived at Penn Station, which is right next to historic Madison Garden. We then ate lunch and toured the city until it was show time.
The show we saw was the play where everything goes wrong, and I must say I never laughed as hard as I did watching that show.
With everything I was involved in – from being an officer in clubs, being an RA/SRA and being involved in the community – the most important memory I will always have is the friends I made on campus.
I will always miss the days of playing football up on the second-tier parking lot behind the apartments. Sitting in the underground on a Sunday afternoon with Jared Rivera, watching the Steelers and Ravens games, is also a special memory.
The bond I built with my residents when I was an RA will remain. Lastly, doing so many activities with the friends I made, I am glad I made the friendships I did, and I will continue to have, after graduation.
Last, want to thank the faculty and staff of Central Penn College for guiding me to become successful in my future endeavors.
For now, this is a goodbye, but this is not a goodbye forever.
Thank you, Central Penn, and GO KNIGHTS!!!!!
Rose was Knightly News president for the fall 2020 term.
