Dave by the Bell

Appalachian State University

University Communication’s own Dave Blanks wanders the earth over in search of answers to all of life’s questions... great and small. Okay, so he mainly stays on Appalachian State University’s campus... he still wanders though... and he definitely wonders as he wanders. Listen for silly asides and revolutionary revelations. Priceless. read less
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051 Fall Orientation 2024
Jul 30 2024
051 Fall Orientation 2024
Dave Blanks from University Communications hosts an orientation edition of Dave by the Bell, where he crashes an ice cream party on Sanford Mall to interview incoming students and their parents about their expectations for the first month of college. Excitement about meeting new people, participating in clubs and sports, and experiencing independence abound!          TRANSCRIPT Dave  Hey folks, how's it going? I'm Dave Blanks from University Communications back with another Dave by the Bell. This is an orientation edition of Dave by the Bell. First day of fall semester is about a month away. August 19th. Students and their families have been hanging out on campus. They got in yesterday and they spent the night in some residence halls, checking things out. So we're going to talk to them a little bit about their experience and also what they're looking forward to, what they're expecting for their first month of their collegiate career. And also hopefully talk to the parents about what they think their first month with their student in school will be like. So that's the plan. Let's do it. Hey, I know that person. That's Sarah Garrow. Hey, Sarah Garrow. How's it going?   Sarah  It's going so well. We've got ice cream, we've got Inflatable Block A's out here on Sanford Mall, rain free, just enjoying the sun. Got a couple sessions in August, so two in Hickory, August 9th and 14th. And then our final Boone main campus session on Monday, August 12th.   Dave  Is there going to be ice cream again for that one?   Sarah  Always. It's not orientation season without ice cream.   Dave  I feel the same way. Thanks Sarah. I really appreciate it. Yeah, thanks for being here. I'm going to talk to some people.   Trey  I'm Trey Craven. So once I get my schedule together, which is probably going to be the first week, trying to get that situated, that first month is just going to be getting used to my schedule and getting used to walking around and figuring out when I need to leave my dorm. Just getting used to meeting new people because where I'm from, everyone knows me. I know everyone. It was a very small area outside of Wilmington's where I'm really from.   Dave  Well represent, where is it?   Trey  Leland, North Carolina.   Dave  Leland, shout out. Alright, cool. Hey, did you go to orientation?   Katie   I did.   Dave  Okay. Are you Katie Cooper?   Katie  Yes, I am. Katie Cooper.   Dave  Oh hey. How's it going? I don't know how I knew that. Maybe your name tag. So how did orientation go?   Katie  It was great. I am five hours away, so I was really scared because I only know one person coming here. I did the overnight orientation and last night was a lot of fun. It was also, I'm happy I got to see the dorms because I didn't get to go to open house. So it's like, okay, this is my first experience seeing the dorms. Yeah. But it was a lot of fun doing that and I'm happy I was able to meet people. So now I know. Okay. I have some people I'll know when I come here and I won't be totally alone.   Dave  Good. So what do you foresee your first month being like?   Katie  The one thing I'm trying to avoid is feeling like I'm stuck in my dorm. I really don't want to feel like I'm stuck. I want to go to the library, things like that. I am looking forward to just kind of being on my own for a little bit and seeing how that works.   Dave  You mean away from the fam?   Katie  Yeah,   Michael  Right. Yeah. I'm Michael Caro, and this is my son Roman.   Dave  Roman. What's up man?   Roman  How you doing?   Dave  Hey, I'm good. We'll talk to you first and then I want to talk to your dad. So Roman, how was orientation?   Roman  Orientation was fun. So I did the overnight orientation. When you got there, you had a schedule and out at the courtyard there was all these games and stuff. And all of the sophomores and juniors, they were trying to kind of forcing people to socialize, which is good   Dave  Because some people need urging.   Roman  Yeah, I needed urging. It's like once you have one or two friends it's so much easier.   Dave  So did you know anybody coming here to App?   Roman No, I'm actually from Pensacola, Florida.   Dave  Oh Sweet. Good to have you here. What is it you're looking forward to?   Roman  I'm looking forward to settling in. I'm looking forward to the scenery that App State has. I'm very much an outdoorsy person and I love the mountains more than anything really. But...   Dave  Even though you grew up in Pensacola,   Roman Even though I grew up in Pensacola, and if you know anything about Pensacola, it's the most flat place,   Dave  Not too mountainous.   Roman I really just came to App State for a big change.   Dave  Nice! Well, I'm sure your first month is going to go smooth, dad. I hope so. Michael, what do you foresee your first month of Roman being in school like?   Michael Well, we'll be officially empty nesters, so I'm pretty excited about that.   Dave Congratulations.   Michael  I'm really looking forward to his experience here at App State. We're excited to actually spend a lot of time coming to visit him.   Dave  Oh yeah.   Michael We told him that you're not coming home for the holidays. We're coming to see you. We're excited to really just enjoy this area as a family vacation spot for the next four or five years.   Dave  How do you think Roman's going to do?   Michael  I think this is really going to be a great fit for Roman. He wanted Colorado and I said, no, that's too far. I said, Boone is a great area. Let's see how that goes. And he loved it. We were only here once before and he fell in love, got accepted, and we are here today.   Carlos  I'm Carlos Villalta .   Dave  Carlos, who's this right here?   Carlos  My Mom.   Dave  Hey. Hey, Carlos's mom. What is your name ma'am?   Ingred  Ingred Perez.   Dave So Ingred and Carlos. So Carlos, how was orientation?   Carlos It was great. I loved it. Got to meet new people. Get a little familiar with the place. I loved it. Yeah, I love the campus, the people. I'm looking forward to getting to know my roommate, get the dorm life setting and then just exploring my classes and campus more.   Dave Mom, Ingred, if you could give Carlos some advice, what would you tell him to do?   Carlos (translating Ingred's Spanish)  That I be well behave and I take care of myself.   Dave  Is he going to do it?   Dave  That seemed like she said yes. All right, good. Alright.   Olivia I'm Olivia Sweden.   Dave  Okay, Olivia, who's this?   Olivia This is my mom.   Dave It's your mom. Hello Mom. What's your name?   Marian Marian Sweden.   Dave Marianne Sweden, and Olivia Sweden. Nice to meet you. I'm Dave Blanks. How was orientation?   Olivia  It was good. I got to meet a lot of people. I didn't really know what I was doing and I'm still kind of lost, but I feel more assured.   Dave A little less lost maybe. Yeah. What's you’re feeling about that first month of school?   Olivia I feel like it's going to be very nerve wracking. I've never lived with another person before, so it's going to be learning how to share space, how to manage time myself, how long do I sleep, when do I eat? And how do you deal with classes and with your social life being entirely at school, getting out there, meeting people, joining clubs.   Dave  So mom, what do you envision your month with Olivia here at App State to be like?   Marian  We'll see, let's see. I am hoping that she'll respond to my text messages so that I know she's alive. Some proof of life, texting and making sure she's got what she needs and that she's doing all those things that she said she's worried about.   Dave  Absolutely. So what are you doing with her room?   Marian  Oh, I have three new people moving in. I'm renting it out!   Dave  Oh, side hustle. Good idea. Olivia, how do you feel about this?   Olivia  It's basically my dog's room already. So...   Cyrah  I'm Cyrah Cirineo   Dave  Cyrah. How's it going?   Cyrah I'm doing good. How about you?   Dave  I'm good. I love your name.   Cyrah  Thank you.   Dave  Beautiful name. How was orientation?   Cyrah  It exceeded my expectations. I'm surprised that a lot of people showed up. I really did enjoy my experience here. Pretty good way to meet new people.   Dave  Excellent. So you made some friends? Yes,   Cyrah I did. Okay, good. I'm really looking forward to being away from my parents, but also scared of being away from my parents. Okay,   Dave Alright.   Cyrah But I think that it's going to be good in the long run.   Dave  Your App State family's here for you.   Cyrah  That's right. I'm looking forward to the people here. I would say this is very diverse. There's many people that have many interests that go to App State, so I'm looking forward to that too.   Dave Good. I was going to try to talk to your dad. Do you think he'd be willing to talk to me? Yeah. Alright, let's try to talk to your dad too.   Cielito  I'm Cielito Cirineo II.   Dave So what are you looking forward to for her in her first month at school?   Cielito Hopefully she's not going to call us. Pick me up. Dad,   Dave  Are you going to do that?   Cyrah Maybe. I don't know.   Dave  Oh No. She said she was looking forward to trying to be on her own and be out, but she was also going to miss y'all.   Cielito Yeah, of course. Because yeah, absolutely. We're looking forward to this for, she's our first daughter to be in a college. Oh,   Dave  This is your first time doing this?   Cielito  First time. Yeah. So yeah, today is overwhelming information for us. But anyway, we will get through it.   Dave Alright, let's find some other parents and children. Maybe these are some.   Steven I'm Steven Harris.   Dave  Alright, Steven. And who is this?   Steven This is my mother, Hope Harris.   Dave  Hey Hope Harris. How's it going?   Hope Doing good.   Dave  Alright, good. So y'all finished orientation. How was it Steven?   Steven It was amazing. It was everything I expected and more.   Dave Aw, that's great hope. Hope, what do you think? What was the experience like?   Hope It was wonderful. It was a great experience and overall just felt like a home environment.   Dave Good. So Steven, what are you looking forward to?   Steven I'm looking forward to just see how big this community actually is. I'm always looking forward for football games and band.   Dave Are you part of the band?   Steven I very much am.   Dave  Sweet. What do you play?   Steven I play mellophone. I will be on that field marching with the marching mountaineers? Yes.   Dave  Sweet. Congratulations. North Carolina's Band of Distinction. So Hope, what are you looking forward to for him?   Hope Just him making new friends and him having the college experience.   Evelyn I'm Evelyn Meericle. I'm excited for fall in the mountains. I love fall. I'm nervous about probably just being homesick. I've never been away from home. I honestly just don't know how I will feel. But yeah, I'm also excited for the sports, like intramural sports. Watching sports.   Dave  Are you going to play intramural?   Evelyn Yeah, definitely.   Dave Oh nice. What are you going to play?   Evelyn  I don't know, there's so many options. I could do basketball, soccer, volleyball, or just trying something completely new.   Dave  Alright, so mom, when you think about her first month at Appalachian State, what are you looking forward to for her?   Mama  I'm looking forward to her falling in love with the mountains like her mama.   Dave Here's a parent and a student. He's a Braves fan.   Henry I'm Henry Abbott.   Dave  And Henry, this is your mother?   Carolyn Yes it is.   Dave  Hey, Carolyn Abbott.   Carolyn  That's right.   Dave  This is the first time I've ever interviewed a big group of people that all had name tags. It makes it very helpful. So Henry, you're done with orientation. What was the experience? How was it?   Henry  My experience was pretty great. I liked the campus a lot and the tour is really helpful. Yeah, I'm looking forward to meeting a lot of people and joining some clubs.   Dave  So mom, when you think about Henry's first month at Appalachian State, what do you think it'll be like for him?   Carolyn Looking forward to him meeting some new people, enjoying this amazing campus and outdoor life.   Dave  What are you looking forward to now that Henry is going to be at school?   Carolyn I'm going to be sad.   Dave  Oh, oh, okay. So it's either...   Carolyn It's going to be hard.   Dave  Are you going to be an empty nester?   Carolyn No. I've got two more at home.   Dave  Alright, but you're quite fond of Henry you're saying?   Carolyn Of course, yes.   Kristen  I'm Kristen Burns.   Dave  Okay, Kristen. And who is this?   Kevin Kevin Burns,   Dave Also known as mom and dad?   Both Yeah.   Dave Alright, cool. So who's y'all student?   Kristen  Megan. Megan Burns.   Dave  Megan, alright. What are you looking forward to for Megan?   Kristen  Well, I was actually, I had apprehensions. I was worried that she was going to be homesick and wasn't going to adjust well. But then from this orientation, I see that she has a group of 12 friends. She's having a great time.   Dave What? She has 12 friends.   Kristen Yes. So we're just sitting back and watching her thrive and it's just,   Dave  She's right over there.   Kristen  It's just amazing. Yeah. So I'm just excited for her.   Dave  Unbelievable. Alright, so you had some concerns initially, but   Kristen  They're gone now. So I just am excited for her to get into the college life and get into her classes. She is an excellent student, so I think she's just going to have a great time and get into learning and decide exactly what her major's going to be.   Dave  Right. She's got time. Dad, what about you?   Kevin  I'm excited for a lot of opportunity, big change. But my wife said she's adjusting well already and the sky's the limit for her.   Dave  Alright, so y'all going to come visit? Is she going to come home?   Kevin  A little bit of both. Yeah,   Kristen  Probably a little bit of both. All right. We have dogs that she likes a lot. Probably more than us.   Dave  Right.   Kristen She's going to come back for the animals.   Dave She'll come home to see the dogs. I don't want to tear her away from her friends, but Which one? Which?   Kevin  She's probably the only one with the pants on the colorful pants.   Dave  Alright, I'm hunting Megan down. Hey Megan. Hey, how's it going? So I know you because I just met your parents. So I will talk to Y'all. I would love to. So Megan, I was talking to your parents about also. Hello y'all. Hello. Greetings. I was talking to your parents about what they're looking forward to for you when you're coming to App in the first month or so. So how was orientation? It   Megan  Was great. Better than expected?   Dave  What were you thinking it was going to be like? I   Megan I thought I would be alone for most of it because I'm kind of shy usually. But it just kind of happened that we met a lot of people and it just   Dave  Look at you go, oh, good for you. Alright, so what are you looking forward to for your first month or so at App State?   Megan Honestly, getting back together with the people that I met.   Dave  Aw, is that true? Yeah. That's so sweet. Sweet.   Megan I love these people.   Dave  Oh my gosh. Alright, well I got to talk to some of these people too.   Megan  Yes you do.   Dave Megan, thank you very much. So let's talk to you. My   Nicole My name is Nicole.   Dave Alright, Nicole, how was orientation?   Nicole  It was a lot of fun. I had a great tour guide and it was her first tour and she did amazing.   Dave  Knocked it out of the park.   Nicole  Shout out to Catherine.   Dave  What are you looking forward to for your first month or so at App State?   Nicole  I think it's going to be a lot of getting into a schedule. I'm nervous about if I'm going to like my classes or not, but she said I'm excited to meet everybody back here in three weeks. So I'm also really excited to decorate my dorm and that's my roommate.   Dave  Oh really? Alright, let's talk to your roommate. Hello roommate. How are you?   Kate  Hello!   Dave  What's your name?   Kate My name is Kate.   Dave  So Kate, how was orientation?   Kate  Oh, it was so fun. I had a great time.   Dave  What did you think it was going to be like?   Kate I was convinced I was going to be sitting alone in the room talking to nobody, but that didn't happen.   Dave  No, that's not what high school was like. I'm pretty sure right? That wasn't like that. No, no, no. And college won't be like that either.   Kate  Okay, Thanks!   Dave I promise it won't. So Kate, what are you looking forward to most about your first month or so at App State?   Kate  Well, I'm just excited to obviously get back with them and then meet new people and for the football games, I'm excited for those.   Dave  Awesome, cool. What is your main concern and how can we solve that now?   Kate  My main concern is going to class. I'm afraid if I skip one class, I'm afraid I'm going to get in the habit, but I'm really going to try not to. That's my goal is to not skip class.   Dave  Yeah, you have people to hold you accountable now. Right. Alright, good. And you also hung out with these people, right? Yes I did. So what is your name? I'm   Clara  Clara.   Dave  Clara. How are you?   Clara  I'm doing really good.   Dave Well, so you heard my question. What do you think? How was orientation?   Clara  Orientation was a lot of fun. I didn't expect it to be, I was really dreading being by myself all weekend.   Dave That's exactly what Kate said.   Clara But as soon as I got here I found myself among 10 other girls and I was like, oh my gosh, this is so cute. And then we hung out with each other basically the whole time and it was nice. I'm looking forward to a lot of the social aspect of being in college, being able to choose where I go and what I do and all the people I hang out with.   Dave Sweet freedom.   Clara  Yes exactly.   Dave  Alright. What are you concerned about?   Clara  Just like what they said, getting to class. I'm just worried that maybe I won't get along with my professors. They won't be able to. I don't know if I'm going to be in big classes or anything. They won't have a personal relationship with me.   Dave  Go talk to 'em.   Clara  Yeah   Dave That's what you do.   Clara I know I'm supposed to go to the office hours and everything, do it, but I'm not too worried. I feel pretty good after this weekend.   Dave Good. Thank you for taking a minute to talk to me. Yeah. Thank you so much. Yeah, have a good day. And yeah, you too. Safe travels back.   Dave Orientation rules. Everybody had a big old time, people met friends. Parents are sad, parents are excited. Sarah Garros is very confident. Everything went smooth. I almost want to go back to college just so I can participate in orientation. Thank you so much to all the parents and all of the soon to be mountaineers and we can't wait to see you on campus come August. I'm Dave Blanks and this has been Dave by the Bell, Dave by the Bell, D-B-T-B. Hey, if you want to reach out to me, you could email our podcast email address, which is podcasts@appstate.edu. Like subscribe, do all these things. Tell your family, tell your great Aunt Mildred. Thanks so much. Alright, I'm going back to my building.

Episodes

051 Fall Orientation 2024
Jul 30 2024
051 Fall Orientation 2024
Dave Blanks from University Communications hosts an orientation edition of Dave by the Bell, where he crashes an ice cream party on Sanford Mall to interview incoming students and their parents about their expectations for the first month of college. Excitement about meeting new people, participating in clubs and sports, and experiencing independence abound!          TRANSCRIPT Dave  Hey folks, how's it going? I'm Dave Blanks from University Communications back with another Dave by the Bell. This is an orientation edition of Dave by the Bell. First day of fall semester is about a month away. August 19th. Students and their families have been hanging out on campus. They got in yesterday and they spent the night in some residence halls, checking things out. So we're going to talk to them a little bit about their experience and also what they're looking forward to, what they're expecting for their first month of their collegiate career. And also hopefully talk to the parents about what they think their first month with their student in school will be like. So that's the plan. Let's do it. Hey, I know that person. That's Sarah Garrow. Hey, Sarah Garrow. How's it going?   Sarah  It's going so well. We've got ice cream, we've got Inflatable Block A's out here on Sanford Mall, rain free, just enjoying the sun. Got a couple sessions in August, so two in Hickory, August 9th and 14th. And then our final Boone main campus session on Monday, August 12th.   Dave  Is there going to be ice cream again for that one?   Sarah  Always. It's not orientation season without ice cream.   Dave  I feel the same way. Thanks Sarah. I really appreciate it. Yeah, thanks for being here. I'm going to talk to some people.   Trey  I'm Trey Craven. So once I get my schedule together, which is probably going to be the first week, trying to get that situated, that first month is just going to be getting used to my schedule and getting used to walking around and figuring out when I need to leave my dorm. Just getting used to meeting new people because where I'm from, everyone knows me. I know everyone. It was a very small area outside of Wilmington's where I'm really from.   Dave  Well represent, where is it?   Trey  Leland, North Carolina.   Dave  Leland, shout out. Alright, cool. Hey, did you go to orientation?   Katie   I did.   Dave  Okay. Are you Katie Cooper?   Katie  Yes, I am. Katie Cooper.   Dave  Oh hey. How's it going? I don't know how I knew that. Maybe your name tag. So how did orientation go?   Katie  It was great. I am five hours away, so I was really scared because I only know one person coming here. I did the overnight orientation and last night was a lot of fun. It was also, I'm happy I got to see the dorms because I didn't get to go to open house. So it's like, okay, this is my first experience seeing the dorms. Yeah. But it was a lot of fun doing that and I'm happy I was able to meet people. So now I know. Okay. I have some people I'll know when I come here and I won't be totally alone.   Dave  Good. So what do you foresee your first month being like?   Katie  The one thing I'm trying to avoid is feeling like I'm stuck in my dorm. I really don't want to feel like I'm stuck. I want to go to the library, things like that. I am looking forward to just kind of being on my own for a little bit and seeing how that works.   Dave  You mean away from the fam?   Katie  Yeah,   Michael  Right. Yeah. I'm Michael Caro, and this is my son Roman.   Dave  Roman. What's up man?   Roman  How you doing?   Dave  Hey, I'm good. We'll talk to you first and then I want to talk to your dad. So Roman, how was orientation?   Roman  Orientation was fun. So I did the overnight orientation. When you got there, you had a schedule and out at the courtyard there was all these games and stuff. And all of the sophomores and juniors, they were trying to kind of forcing people to socialize, which is good   Dave  Because some people need urging.   Roman  Yeah, I needed urging. It's like once you have one or two friends it's so much easier.   Dave  So did you know anybody coming here to App?   Roman No, I'm actually from Pensacola, Florida.   Dave  Oh Sweet. Good to have you here. What is it you're looking forward to?   Roman  I'm looking forward to settling in. I'm looking forward to the scenery that App State has. I'm very much an outdoorsy person and I love the mountains more than anything really. But...   Dave  Even though you grew up in Pensacola,   Roman Even though I grew up in Pensacola, and if you know anything about Pensacola, it's the most flat place,   Dave  Not too mountainous.   Roman I really just came to App State for a big change.   Dave  Nice! Well, I'm sure your first month is going to go smooth, dad. I hope so. Michael, what do you foresee your first month of Roman being in school like?   Michael Well, we'll be officially empty nesters, so I'm pretty excited about that.   Dave Congratulations.   Michael  I'm really looking forward to his experience here at App State. We're excited to actually spend a lot of time coming to visit him.   Dave  Oh yeah.   Michael We told him that you're not coming home for the holidays. We're coming to see you. We're excited to really just enjoy this area as a family vacation spot for the next four or five years.   Dave  How do you think Roman's going to do?   Michael  I think this is really going to be a great fit for Roman. He wanted Colorado and I said, no, that's too far. I said, Boone is a great area. Let's see how that goes. And he loved it. We were only here once before and he fell in love, got accepted, and we are here today.   Carlos  I'm Carlos Villalta .   Dave  Carlos, who's this right here?   Carlos  My Mom.   Dave  Hey. Hey, Carlos's mom. What is your name ma'am?   Ingred  Ingred Perez.   Dave So Ingred and Carlos. So Carlos, how was orientation?   Carlos It was great. I loved it. Got to meet new people. Get a little familiar with the place. I loved it. Yeah, I love the campus, the people. I'm looking forward to getting to know my roommate, get the dorm life setting and then just exploring my classes and campus more.   Dave Mom, Ingred, if you could give Carlos some advice, what would you tell him to do?   Carlos (translating Ingred's Spanish)  That I be well behave and I take care of myself.   Dave  Is he going to do it?   Dave  That seemed like she said yes. All right, good. Alright.   Olivia I'm Olivia Sweden.   Dave  Okay, Olivia, who's this?   Olivia This is my mom.   Dave It's your mom. Hello Mom. What's your name?   Marian Marian Sweden.   Dave Marianne Sweden, and Olivia Sweden. Nice to meet you. I'm Dave Blanks. How was orientation?   Olivia  It was good. I got to meet a lot of people. I didn't really know what I was doing and I'm still kind of lost, but I feel more assured.   Dave A little less lost maybe. Yeah. What's you’re feeling about that first month of school?   Olivia I feel like it's going to be very nerve wracking. I've never lived with another person before, so it's going to be learning how to share space, how to manage time myself, how long do I sleep, when do I eat? And how do you deal with classes and with your social life being entirely at school, getting out there, meeting people, joining clubs.   Dave  So mom, what do you envision your month with Olivia here at App State to be like?   Marian  We'll see, let's see. I am hoping that she'll respond to my text messages so that I know she's alive. Some proof of life, texting and making sure she's got what she needs and that she's doing all those things that she said she's worried about.   Dave  Absolutely. So what are you doing with her room?   Marian  Oh, I have three new people moving in. I'm renting it out!   Dave  Oh, side hustle. Good idea. Olivia, how do you feel about this?   Olivia  It's basically my dog's room already. So...   Cyrah  I'm Cyrah Cirineo   Dave  Cyrah. How's it going?   Cyrah I'm doing good. How about you?   Dave  I'm good. I love your name.   Cyrah  Thank you.   Dave  Beautiful name. How was orientation?   Cyrah  It exceeded my expectations. I'm surprised that a lot of people showed up. I really did enjoy my experience here. Pretty good way to meet new people.   Dave  Excellent. So you made some friends? Yes,   Cyrah I did. Okay, good. I'm really looking forward to being away from my parents, but also scared of being away from my parents. Okay,   Dave Alright.   Cyrah But I think that it's going to be good in the long run.   Dave  Your App State family's here for you.   Cyrah  That's right. I'm looking forward to the people here. I would say this is very diverse. There's many people that have many interests that go to App State, so I'm looking forward to that too.   Dave Good. I was going to try to talk to your dad. Do you think he'd be willing to talk to me? Yeah. Alright, let's try to talk to your dad too.   Cielito  I'm Cielito Cirineo II.   Dave So what are you looking forward to for her in her first month at school?   Cielito Hopefully she's not going to call us. Pick me up. Dad,   Dave  Are you going to do that?   Cyrah Maybe. I don't know.   Dave  Oh No. She said she was looking forward to trying to be on her own and be out, but she was also going to miss y'all.   Cielito Yeah, of course. Because yeah, absolutely. We're looking forward to this for, she's our first daughter to be in a college. Oh,   Dave  This is your first time doing this?   Cielito  First time. Yeah. So yeah, today is overwhelming information for us. But anyway, we will get through it.   Dave Alright, let's find some other parents and children. Maybe these are some.   Steven I'm Steven Harris.   Dave  Alright, Steven. And who is this?   Steven This is my mother, Hope Harris.   Dave  Hey Hope Harris. How's it going?   Hope Doing good.   Dave  Alright, good. So y'all finished orientation. How was it Steven?   Steven It was amazing. It was everything I expected and more.   Dave Aw, that's great hope. Hope, what do you think? What was the experience like?   Hope It was wonderful. It was a great experience and overall just felt like a home environment.   Dave Good. So Steven, what are you looking forward to?   Steven I'm looking forward to just see how big this community actually is. I'm always looking forward for football games and band.   Dave Are you part of the band?   Steven I very much am.   Dave  Sweet. What do you play?   Steven I play mellophone. I will be on that field marching with the marching mountaineers? Yes.   Dave  Sweet. Congratulations. North Carolina's Band of Distinction. So Hope, what are you looking forward to for him?   Hope Just him making new friends and him having the college experience.   Evelyn I'm Evelyn Meericle. I'm excited for fall in the mountains. I love fall. I'm nervous about probably just being homesick. I've never been away from home. I honestly just don't know how I will feel. But yeah, I'm also excited for the sports, like intramural sports. Watching sports.   Dave  Are you going to play intramural?   Evelyn Yeah, definitely.   Dave Oh nice. What are you going to play?   Evelyn  I don't know, there's so many options. I could do basketball, soccer, volleyball, or just trying something completely new.   Dave  Alright, so mom, when you think about her first month at Appalachian State, what are you looking forward to for her?   Mama  I'm looking forward to her falling in love with the mountains like her mama.   Dave Here's a parent and a student. He's a Braves fan.   Henry I'm Henry Abbott.   Dave  And Henry, this is your mother?   Carolyn Yes it is.   Dave  Hey, Carolyn Abbott.   Carolyn  That's right.   Dave  This is the first time I've ever interviewed a big group of people that all had name tags. It makes it very helpful. So Henry, you're done with orientation. What was the experience? How was it?   Henry  My experience was pretty great. I liked the campus a lot and the tour is really helpful. Yeah, I'm looking forward to meeting a lot of people and joining some clubs.   Dave  So mom, when you think about Henry's first month at Appalachian State, what do you think it'll be like for him?   Carolyn Looking forward to him meeting some new people, enjoying this amazing campus and outdoor life.   Dave  What are you looking forward to now that Henry is going to be at school?   Carolyn I'm going to be sad.   Dave  Oh, oh, okay. So it's either...   Carolyn It's going to be hard.   Dave  Are you going to be an empty nester?   Carolyn No. I've got two more at home.   Dave  Alright, but you're quite fond of Henry you're saying?   Carolyn Of course, yes.   Kristen  I'm Kristen Burns.   Dave  Okay, Kristen. And who is this?   Kevin Kevin Burns,   Dave Also known as mom and dad?   Both Yeah.   Dave Alright, cool. So who's y'all student?   Kristen  Megan. Megan Burns.   Dave  Megan, alright. What are you looking forward to for Megan?   Kristen  Well, I was actually, I had apprehensions. I was worried that she was going to be homesick and wasn't going to adjust well. But then from this orientation, I see that she has a group of 12 friends. She's having a great time.   Dave What? She has 12 friends.   Kristen Yes. So we're just sitting back and watching her thrive and it's just,   Dave  She's right over there.   Kristen  It's just amazing. Yeah. So I'm just excited for her.   Dave  Unbelievable. Alright, so you had some concerns initially, but   Kristen  They're gone now. So I just am excited for her to get into the college life and get into her classes. She is an excellent student, so I think she's just going to have a great time and get into learning and decide exactly what her major's going to be.   Dave  Right. She's got time. Dad, what about you?   Kevin  I'm excited for a lot of opportunity, big change. But my wife said she's adjusting well already and the sky's the limit for her.   Dave  Alright, so y'all going to come visit? Is she going to come home?   Kevin  A little bit of both. Yeah,   Kristen  Probably a little bit of both. All right. We have dogs that she likes a lot. Probably more than us.   Dave  Right.   Kristen She's going to come back for the animals.   Dave She'll come home to see the dogs. I don't want to tear her away from her friends, but Which one? Which?   Kevin  She's probably the only one with the pants on the colorful pants.   Dave  Alright, I'm hunting Megan down. Hey Megan. Hey, how's it going? So I know you because I just met your parents. So I will talk to Y'all. I would love to. So Megan, I was talking to your parents about also. Hello y'all. Hello. Greetings. I was talking to your parents about what they're looking forward to for you when you're coming to App in the first month or so. So how was orientation? It   Megan  Was great. Better than expected?   Dave  What were you thinking it was going to be like? I   Megan I thought I would be alone for most of it because I'm kind of shy usually. But it just kind of happened that we met a lot of people and it just   Dave  Look at you go, oh, good for you. Alright, so what are you looking forward to for your first month or so at App State?   Megan Honestly, getting back together with the people that I met.   Dave  Aw, is that true? Yeah. That's so sweet. Sweet.   Megan I love these people.   Dave  Oh my gosh. Alright, well I got to talk to some of these people too.   Megan  Yes you do.   Dave Megan, thank you very much. So let's talk to you. My   Nicole My name is Nicole.   Dave Alright, Nicole, how was orientation?   Nicole  It was a lot of fun. I had a great tour guide and it was her first tour and she did amazing.   Dave  Knocked it out of the park.   Nicole  Shout out to Catherine.   Dave  What are you looking forward to for your first month or so at App State?   Nicole  I think it's going to be a lot of getting into a schedule. I'm nervous about if I'm going to like my classes or not, but she said I'm excited to meet everybody back here in three weeks. So I'm also really excited to decorate my dorm and that's my roommate.   Dave  Oh really? Alright, let's talk to your roommate. Hello roommate. How are you?   Kate  Hello!   Dave  What's your name?   Kate My name is Kate.   Dave  So Kate, how was orientation?   Kate  Oh, it was so fun. I had a great time.   Dave  What did you think it was going to be like?   Kate I was convinced I was going to be sitting alone in the room talking to nobody, but that didn't happen.   Dave  No, that's not what high school was like. I'm pretty sure right? That wasn't like that. No, no, no. And college won't be like that either.   Kate  Okay, Thanks!   Dave I promise it won't. So Kate, what are you looking forward to most about your first month or so at App State?   Kate  Well, I'm just excited to obviously get back with them and then meet new people and for the football games, I'm excited for those.   Dave  Awesome, cool. What is your main concern and how can we solve that now?   Kate  My main concern is going to class. I'm afraid if I skip one class, I'm afraid I'm going to get in the habit, but I'm really going to try not to. That's my goal is to not skip class.   Dave  Yeah, you have people to hold you accountable now. Right. Alright, good. And you also hung out with these people, right? Yes I did. So what is your name? I'm   Clara  Clara.   Dave  Clara. How are you?   Clara  I'm doing really good.   Dave Well, so you heard my question. What do you think? How was orientation?   Clara  Orientation was a lot of fun. I didn't expect it to be, I was really dreading being by myself all weekend.   Dave That's exactly what Kate said.   Clara But as soon as I got here I found myself among 10 other girls and I was like, oh my gosh, this is so cute. And then we hung out with each other basically the whole time and it was nice. I'm looking forward to a lot of the social aspect of being in college, being able to choose where I go and what I do and all the people I hang out with.   Dave Sweet freedom.   Clara  Yes exactly.   Dave  Alright. What are you concerned about?   Clara  Just like what they said, getting to class. I'm just worried that maybe I won't get along with my professors. They won't be able to. I don't know if I'm going to be in big classes or anything. They won't have a personal relationship with me.   Dave  Go talk to 'em.   Clara  Yeah   Dave That's what you do.   Clara I know I'm supposed to go to the office hours and everything, do it, but I'm not too worried. I feel pretty good after this weekend.   Dave Good. Thank you for taking a minute to talk to me. Yeah. Thank you so much. Yeah, have a good day. And yeah, you too. Safe travels back.   Dave Orientation rules. Everybody had a big old time, people met friends. Parents are sad, parents are excited. Sarah Garros is very confident. Everything went smooth. I almost want to go back to college just so I can participate in orientation. Thank you so much to all the parents and all of the soon to be mountaineers and we can't wait to see you on campus come August. I'm Dave Blanks and this has been Dave by the Bell, Dave by the Bell, D-B-T-B. Hey, if you want to reach out to me, you could email our podcast email address, which is podcasts@appstate.edu. Like subscribe, do all these things. Tell your family, tell your great Aunt Mildred. Thanks so much. Alright, I'm going back to my building.
050 Big Summer Plans
May 7 2024
050 Big Summer Plans
Dave interviews App State students to discover what their plans are for the summer. Will they study abroad? Will they work retail? Will they go to summer school? There is one sure fire way to find out. Listen to the podcast!      Transcript: Dave Hey, friends, it's me, Dave Blanks, and I'm back with another Day by the Bell. I'm joined by our photographer, Kyla. Hello, Kyla.   Kyla Hello, Dave.   Dave And so today what we're going to talk about is, we're going to interview students, asking them, what are you doing this summer? It's reading day. There are students on Sanford Mall, so hopefully we'll find some people to talk to. Let’s do it   Caroline Allred I’m Caroline Allred. So, when I go home, I'm going to be doing an internship with my church and babysitting and taking some summer classes.   Becky Foley I'm Becky Foley,   Dave And who do we have here?   Sean I'm Sean.   Becky Foley I'm going to stay in Boone. Go on a couple of vacations and swim in rivers.   Dave Cool. what about you, Sean?   Sean Pretty similar.   Dave Also swim?   Sean Yeah. Take a summer class.   Dave You know what you're taking?   Sean Differential equations.   Dave All right. Is that something you have to take or something you want to take?   Sean No. I have to take it. So, yeah.   Dave Well good luck with differential equations.   Abigail McDonald I'm Abigail McDonald. I am taking summer classes.   Dave What!? Are you excited about the classes?   Abigail McDonald I'm excited to be learning new stuff.   Dave Cool.   Abigail McDonald I'm kind of done with the section of classes I'm in.   Abigail McDonald All right.   Abigail McDonald I'm ready to pivot and learn new things.   Madison Swink I'm Madison Swink. I'm going to go to Colorado for a week and then the beach and then just work and some online classes.   Dave Nice. What about you? Can you tell me your name?   Enid Walker Enid Walker. I'm going to work.   Dave Where are you working?   Enid Walker Aerie.   Dave What is Aerie?   Enid Walker It's like a women's athleisure store. Yeah.   Dave Where's that?   Enid Walker In Raleigh.   Dave So are you going? Is that where you're from?   Enid Walker Yes.   Dave Okay. So you're going back home?   Enid Walker Yeah. And I think that's all I'm doing. I might go to a concert.   Dave Just working? Okay. Concert. Do you know what show?   Enid Walker Hopefully the Pixies/Modest Mouse show. Fingers crossed.   Dave Oh, that's. That would be amazing. I've seen Modest Mouse, but I've never seen the Pixies. I love the Pixies. Where are they playing?   Enid Walker I believe Charlotte, my mom told me about it, so.   Dave Yeah, right. Is your mom a Pixies fan?   Enid Walker Big time.   Dave Are you going with her?   Enid Walker Yes.   Dave Oh, that's so cool. You got a cool mom.   Enid Walker Yeah, I do. I have cool parents.I   Katie Rogers I'm Katie Rogers. I'm working two jobs, so...   Dave Like, right now while you're in school, you're working two?   Katie Rogers No. I have two jobs over the summer, so I'll be working at a shoe store and then a local coffee shop.   Dave Are you doing anything fun over the summer? Because maybe your jobs are cool.   Katie Rogers I was gonna try to plan to go to the beach with some friends.   Emma Rogers I'm Emma Rogers. So hopefully a summer internship, and I'm hoping to work for a nonprofit and help with homelessness in Boone as well as food insecurity.   Dave Nice. So you're staying up here and you're doing some good. Yeah. You know, the internship.   Emma Rogers At the Hospitality House in Boone.   Mefer Yzaziga I am Mefer Yzaziga. This summer, I'm going back home for 15 days, and then I'm coming back and I’m going to work in Boone and do some research.   Dave Nice. Well, where's home?   Mefer Yzaziga Peru.   Dave Oh, cool. I've been to Peru.   Mefer Yzaziga Really?   Dave Yeah, I've been to Cusco and we went to the top. I went with, the geology department of Geology.   Mefer Yzaziga Oh that's awesome. I study environmental science and geology.   Dave Oh, cool.   Mefer Yzaziga I’m from the capital. So...   Dave I loved Peru. I thought it was fantastic. So you get to spend 15 days there? Yes.   Dave Nice.   Xaviera Rodriguez I'm Xaviera Rodriguez. I'm going back to Charlotte and work and be with my family. Yeah, my plan is to work.   Dave Nothing fun.   Xaviera Rodriguez probably.   Dave Maybe a couple of fun things?   Xaviera Rodriguez Yeah, yeah.   Dave Okay, cool. Well, thank you all for your time. I really appreciate it.   Artie Bradley I'm Artie Bradley. I have a fellowship with Equality NC that I'll be working on. So that's probably mostly what I'll be doing.   Dave So what does Equality NC do?   Artie Bradley So, it's an organization based in North Carolina. They’re largely focused on policy work and policy advocacy and education for the LGBTQ plus community in North Carolina. So they do a lot of ground work in that area.   Dave Right on. Well, it sounds like you have a very effective summer on tap.   Artie Bradley I hope so, yeah. I hope it works out.   Dave What are you doing this summer, Kyla.   Kyla I'm staying here and working.   Dave Are you doing anything cool?   Kyla Traveling with the solar vehicle team.   Dave Well, that's very cool. Where are y'all going this year?   Kyla We're going to Bowling Green, Kentucky for the track race.   Dave Okay.   Kyla And then for the cross-country race, we're going to Nashville, Tennessee, all the way up to Casper, Wyoming.   Dave Cool.   Kyla I'm stoked to be gone and doing that for three weeks.   Dave Where do you find out more information about the Solar Vehicle team at App, Kyla?   Kyla You could follow @appstatesvt on Instagram.   Dave All right, do it.   Markell Samuel My name is Markell Samuel. My plans for the summer is I will have an internship with Watauga Rec Center.   Dave Nice.   Markell Samuel And I'll also be doing football. So, I’ll have workouts, player led practices and stuff like that.   Markell Samuel Do yall workout all summer long?   Markell Samuel All summer.   Dave Dang! So, you don't get a break, man.   Markell Samuel Not really!   Dave Oh, no. Are you doing anything fun? I mean, Parks and Rec is cool and the internship is cool. Are you going anywhere? Are you traveling anywhere?   Markell Samuel Not really. I'll just probably go home, see the family right before we get back into the swing of things with football and my internship.   Alexis Chavez Gonzalez I'm Alexis Chavez Gonzalez. It's mostly work and probably, like, have, like, a little vacation for myself. Maybe go to the beach.   Dave What beach do you go to?   Alexis Chavez Gonzalez I'm not really sure. I think my family is planning to go to Florida. I'm not sure where.   Dave Okay, so you're going with them there?   Alexis Chavez Gonzalez Yeah.   Dave Nice. We're going int the library. What floor is the “you can talk on it” floor?   Kyla First and second.   Dave Okay.   Audrey Reeb I'm Audrey Reeb. This summer, I'm probably just going to work a lot. I’m going to work with some kids, and I'm going to go visit my family in California. I work at a preschool. It's in Greenville, South Carolina.   Dave So you work at a preschool in Greenville, South Carolina, but your family's in California, and you go to school at Appalachian State.   Audrey Reeb Yeah, yeah, I've moved a lot.   Dave That’s stressing me out, man!   Audrey Reeb I know! Yeah. Uh huh. Three different high schools.   Dave Wow! Geez. Louise.   Emma James I'm Emma James.   Dave Emma. James, what year are you?   Emma James I'm a senior. Just going to work up here, probably in Blowing Rock. I want to go to grad school. I haven't decided if that will be next year or the next. Taking my time.   Dave What have you been studying?   Emma James Psychology.   Dave Okay. Yeah, right. So where do you want to take that?   Emma James I want to be a school counselor.   Corin Palmer Corin Palmer, I got a study abroad internship and summer school.   Dave Where are you studying abroad?   Corin Palmer Portugal.   Dave What makes you want to go to Portugal?   Corin Palmer Sustainable living. Very interested in that.   Dave Yeah. Okay. You have an internship. Where is that?   Corin Palmer It's through the UNC system doing PCI security protocols.   Dave Right on! And then the last thing was, what was the last thing?   Corin Palmer Summer school.   Dave Summer school. All right, so, when are you going to graduate? You're going to school in the summer. That must be pretty soon. Feels like.   Corin Palmer It’s supposed to be December 2025, but I’m double majoring now, so you got to see how that's going to look.   Dave Okay, so you're a double major, so you're tell me what it is. What are they?   Corin Palmer Computer information systems and then a bachelor of science in cybersecurity.   Dave Do you want to keep it in North Carolina? Would you be willing to go anywhere when you graduate? What do you think?   Corin Palmer I'm just going to go where the money is.   Dave Yeah, right.   Alex Powers I'm Alex Powers.   Dave Okay. So what are you studying for? We're here in the library. I assume that's what you're doing.   Alex Powers we are currently working on a geography project on the new River Gorge National Park.   Dave Right. that's the the newest national park in existence, right?   Alex Powers I believe so.   Dave Yeah, I was just reading about the new River. It goes so far, it's like 300, and I don't know how many miles, but. Okay, here's a here's the question. What do you do in the summer? You're almost done with the school year. So what you got? What you got coming up?   Alex Powers I'm going to go kayaking, and I'm going to work.   Dave Nice. Where where do you want to go kayaking?   Alex Powers mostly around the new river places in blowing rock.   Dave That checks out! Yeah.   Angel Dominguez I'm Angel Dominguez...just working.   Angel Dominguez That's it?   Angel Dominguez Just working alot...Yeah.   Dave That's the only thing?   Angel Dominguez Yeah. pretty much.   Dave Angel, you you got to take it easy a little, man. Where are you working?   Angel Dominguez I work in retail.   Dave Okay? Are you staying up here in Boone?   Angel Dominguez No, I'm moving back home.   Dave Okay. Where's home?   Angel Dominguez Asheboro.   Ellie Bartis My name is Ellie Bartis. I am studying abroad in Italy this summer, so I'm really excited about that.   Dave Yeah. What are you going to study?   Ellie Bartis I'm studying communications, so I'm an advertising major, and we're studying, basically just international communications. And how they differ from communications within the United States.   Dave Is this something you have to do or something you just wanted to do?   Ellie Bartis This is something I just wanted to do for the communications major. You don't have to study abroad. It does count as an elective.   Dave Nice.   Ellie Bartis But obviously you don't have to if you don't want to. It is kind of expensive, but I've just really wanted to study abroad my whole college career and now seems like the perfect time.   Alex Brand I'm Alex Brand. I’m traveling with my mom.   Dave Cool. Have you ever done that before?   Alex Brand Oh, yeah. Every summer. Yeah, she takes me out since I was little. We'll go out west and, go to the national parks.   Dave Nice. What's your favorite national park?   Alex Brand I'd have to go with Arches. The whole landscape is orange, which is really different from anywhere else that you go. Like, it's just the formations are really, unique and not like, anywhere else. And so I like being there.   Luke Reed My name is Luke Reed. I'm, senior here at App State. To start off this summer, I'm going on a trip for, I'm going to Alaska for a week. It's like a little abroad thing, and, it counts as three credits for my, electives in, the business school, which is pretty cool.   Dave Nice. That's really cool. We're in Alaska are you going?   Luke Reed Anchorage. Anchorage. Yeah.   Dave So, what are you doing up there?   Luke Reed So we're going up there as a class, and it's, it's a leadership class where you develop your leadership skills and how you can apply them to real world and the job force and team environments, things of that nature go in with about eight other students, and we're all going up there spending a week and a half up there.   Luke Reed And so yeah, I'm super excited about that.   Dave So yeah, that's great.   Jaeda Harris I'm Jaeda Harris. This summer I will be working here and also training for track season. Cool. Yes. So I’m a athlete here.   Dave What do you, What what are you working? Where are you working is what I'm trying to say.   Jaeda Harris To be working with university housing. I'm going to be a conference assistant.   Dave Okay, cool. So what do you do on the track team?   Jaeda Harris I'm a thrower on the track and field team.   Dave Okay. What's your favorite thing to throw?   Jaeda Harris Hammer throw. That's my favorite.   Dave Hammer is so cool.   Jaeda Harris Hammer is cool. It is. The reason why it's my favorite is because it's something that I just learned. I've been doing track since I was three, so it's kind of rare for me to learn something new, and I turned out to be pretty good at it.   Dave Excellent. Do they have hammer in in, like, high school?   Jaeda Harris No they don't actually. So I'm from North Carolina. In some places, like in South Carolina, they do have hammer, but unfortunately we don't.   Dave Awww, man. Well, enjoy your hammer time. Thank you. Is that what you call it?   Jaeda Harris I mean, I guess you could put it that way.   Dave Don't. Lets don't. Let's agree not to.   Maggie Slade I am Maggie Slade. Yeah. So I am going to be working, at Over Yonder restaurant over the summer while I'm applying for some salaried jobs. and kind of just taking a little bit of a break from academics while I kind of replenish, like, my soul a little bit, and then go into the workforce and see how I feel about where I'm working.   Maggie Slade And if I want to go back to grad school, and possibly try to find a position that might, like, fund grad school for me.   Dave Cool! Yeah, yeah. So, are you from Boone?   Maggie Slade I'm not from Charlotte, North Carolina.   Dave You're sticking around and working over yonder? Yes, I am, oh, well, good for you.   Dave So we got so many good answers. Kyla, don't you agree?   Kyla I agree, especially that one guy who said he's, interning, studying abroad and then doing summer school. That's a lot.   Dave And he's. And I was like, where where you hope to take this? And he's like, wherever the money is. So he's got his eye on the prize for sure. But, some exciting summers for all of our mountaineers that we spoke to today. Thanks to everyone. Thanks to Kyla so much for taking pictures. All right. And we'll do it again.   Dave I'm Dave Blanks and this has been Dave by the Bell! Bye!
049 What's in? | What's out?
Mar 8 2024
049 What's in? | What's out?
Before the start of spring break, Dave headed out to talk to Mountaineers who always seem to know what’s up, what’s in and what’s out! Listen as they discuss what they’re bringing with them into the second half of the semester and what’s getting left behind. We are talking about energies, habits and yes, you guessed it… water bottles!           Transcript   Dave Hey, Kyla! Kyla Hello. Dave How's it going? Kyla Pretty good! Dave That’s good. It's a beautiful day, right? Kyla Yeah. Dave Nice day for a Dave by the Bell. So we're talking to students about what's in and what's out since it's halfway through the semester. And let's talk to this group of people. Jocelyn I’m Jocelyn, what's out is those...do you know those like, Lululemon shorts that were, like, really puffy and, like, super high waisted? I hate them. They're out. Dave Yes, all right. Jocelyn They've been out. It's time to wear shorts again. And those are still they're still not. Okay. And what's in for me is probably I mean, honestly, just like tank tops, like it's time for my body to get some more sun. Dave It feels really good today. Jocelyn Yeah, it really does. Anne Carol Sheely I'm Anne Carol Sheely. What's out is social media TikTok even though I'm still on it. And then the new one this semester is hydration. Kaleb Neal I'm Kaleb Neal. Well, I would say I'm trying to change my habits so leaving out old habits and bringing in new ones. Dave Nice! Well, so what are the new ones we're bringing in then? Kaleb Neal Turning in assignments on time and staying ahead. Owen Roberson I'm Owen Roberson. Well, for me I'm trying to get out of being lazy I guess and try to be outside more. The winter season for sure is a bit of like the seasonal depression kind of thing. So trying to get back into being outside, being social a bit more. Nathan Care I'm Nathan Care. Caffeine. Dave Caffeine is in? Nathan Care Yes. Red Bull. Monster. Dave Caffeine. Don’t matter. Dave So did you did you previously not have caffeine? Nathan Care Oh! No. Dave Caffeine has been a consistent companion. Nathan Care Yes.  Dave All right. Well, continue with the caffeine. Thanks, Nathan. Dave We got to stop following these babies. Kyla You should get the baby. Dave We can't interview babies. Stroller offerer  Do you want to grab my stroller? Stroller denier  He wasn't holding on to the stroller. Dave Okay, we got to get away from these babies. Awww no. That one's really upset. It's okay. Little babies. Abby Van Kula I'm Abby Van Kula Dave Let's start with what's out. Abby Van Kula The cold, the snow. I'm over that. I love how everybody's sitting outside. Dave I know, Right? So many people on Sanford. Abby Van Kula It's nice. What's in? Hanging out outside. Going on hikes. Going to the parkway. Jack Scales I'm Jack Scales. What's in? Jack Scales Ummm staying hydrated. Dave Where's your water, man? Jack Scales I got to go get one I guess! Dave Hydration…so important, right? Kyla Got two water bottles on my desk right now. Dave Oh, do you really? Well, you're on it. Sierra Focazio I'm Sierra Focazio. Dave And what is your name? Apprecia Lassiter  Apprecia Lassiter. Dave So we'll start with Sierra and then go to Apprecia. What is out and what is in? Sierra Focazio Bad weather. Dave Yeah ok! Sierra Focazio Thirty degrees and wind. Dave What is in for you? Sierra Focazio This weather. It’s so nice out. Dave All right. Dave Apprecia, what is out for you? Apprecia Lassiter  My peace. Dave Your peace is out?! Apprecia Lassiter  My peace is out. Dave What’s happening to you? Apprecia Lassiter  Interior design, major. That's all I got to say about it. Dave All right. So was the previous semester peaceful or the previous half was peaceful? Apprecia Lassiter  No, but I had my dignity at the very least. Dave Oh no! All right, so what's in for you, then? Apprecia Lassiter  Hmmm, I guess chaos. We’ll it embrace it. Dave I'm hopeful it won't be super chaotic for you, but I don't know. Apprecia Lassiter  I don’t know either. I paid for it...so. Dave Yeah! You’re the one that came here! This was your idea! Apprecia Lassiter  I literally did it to myself. Self inflicted. Dave Well, hey, y’all enjoy the weather and have a great day. And good luck. Arianna Diaz I'm Arianna Diaz. Dave So what is out? Arianna Diaz People being mean to me. Dave Ok! All right. All right, So you're leaving some some negative people behind. Arianna Diaz Yeah. Dave So what's in? Arianna Diaz Being nice to me. Dave People being nice to you is in. You're going to will this and it's going to be so right? Arianna Diaz Yes. Dave All right. I like it. Get those negative folks out of there. Kyla She seemed so sweet. Dave I know. Kyla I couldn’t imagine anyone being mean to her. Dave Why would he be hateful to her? Emily Daggerhart I'm Emily Daggerhart. Dave Daggerhart! Awww man, that is a cool name! So here's the question, Emily. What is out and what is in. Emily Daggerhart Just in general? Dave It could be anything. Emily Daggerhart Out? social media. I'm so tired of being on my phone all the time. I'm over it. I want to be more present in the next half of the semester. Like, be outside, do things. Not scrolling through TikTok or Instagram. I feel like it takes up a lot of my time and it's not productive. Dave So what are you looking to bring in to your life? Emily Daggerhart Better grades, better relationships, better attitudes.  Regan Petto  I am Reagan Petto. Dave What are you going to start with what's out? Regan Petto  I'm going to start with what’s in. Dave Okay, Reagan, what's in? Regan Petto  Snacks. Dave Okay. What kind of snacks? Regan Petto  Anything mid-day when you're, like, feeling kind of sad and you don't know why. Dave Wait, is that eating your feelings. That's not what that is. Regan Petto  It’s not. It’s is keeping your body fueled. Dave Yeah. All right. I like that. Good. All right. And Reagan, what is out? Regan Petto  Crying over your to do list. Dave Does it really bring you to tears? Regan Petto  Sometimes. Dave Awww man. Dave Dave Yeah! Don't do that anymore. Regan Petto  No, I won't. Dave Maybe eat a snack instead. Regan Petto  Yeah, we both should. Ben Brenner I am Ben Brenner. Ben Brenner Definitely missing class. Dave Missing class is out. Ben Brenner I could definitely be better about that. Dave All right. And what is in? Ben Brenner I'd say wearing shorts. Dave Shorts are in? Ben Brenner Yeah. Dave Look he's got shorts. Lionel West I’m Lionel West. Dave So what's out for you, Lionel? Lionel West I'm going to say the snow. I'm ready for the perfect weather. Dave The snow is out. All right, So what is in? Lionel West Good weather. Dave All right. Yeah, It's a lot of people have answered that because, I mean, it's such a beautiful day. Lionel West Exactly! Dave So I'm noticing that you have one of these water bottles that I feel like is kind of in. Is that particular water bottle in? Lionel West Yes, they're called Owala. Like everyone has them. Dave Okay. All right. So what's out? Lionel West Maybe Hydro Flask? Dave See you later, Hydro Flask. Owala for life. All right, cool. Lionel, thanks for your answer. I appreciate you very much. Can you tell me your name? Hello. How's it going? La'guyia Carver Good. My name's La’guyia Carver. Dave So can you tell me what is out for you, La’guyia? La'guyia Carver Mean spiritedness, hate, jealousy. All the negativity is gone. I don't want it anymore. I'm a being of light now. Peace. Prosperity. Dave As of today. La'guyia Carver Yes. As of today. It's so sunny I’ve been improved! Dave Starting now! Yeah. The weather helps, right? La'guyia Carver Yeah, for sure. Dave Okay, so what is in for you? La'guyia Carver Well, off the bat, sunscreen. You need that also because I do have a tattoo that is healing and I did forget it. So there's that. Dave But you're in the shade. La'guyia Carver Yeah. Quickly came over here. I'm also staying hydrated. Water bottles of course. I have my Nalgene actually, that's going to be my baby for life. But I do...I am a sheep. I do want an Owala so bad. All right, But the Nalgene is here to say. Jackson Winther I'm Jackson Winther. AirPods are in...walking around campus. What's out, I would say, is sweat pants. It's getting hot. Dave Sweat pants are out. Paige Kaine I am Paige Kaine. Dave All right. I'm just going to just lay it out there. Paige Kaine All right. Dave What's in? What's out? Paige Kaine What's in: being nice to people, hanging out outside, cats. Dave Cats are in. Paige Kaine What's out: Any winter clothes, being inside and skipping class. Taneille Jordan I'm Taneille Jordan. My grades. Dave Your grades are in? Taneille Jordan Yes. Dave Oh, Like a focus on them? Taneille Jordan No, My grades are going to be in for next semester. Dave Okay, that's true. Taneille Jordan And out? Well, I can't say procrastination, because then I'd be lying. Dave Thank you for your honesty. Taneille Jordan Old notes. Dave Old notes? You're getting rid of them. Taneille Jordan Well, I don't use them. Kiera Williamson My name is Kiera Williamson. Dave What's in and what's out? Kiera Williamson We're going to bring in time management, and we're going to leave out bad time management and no sleeping. Dave Yeah. Did you get sleep last night? Kiera Williamson I did, actually. Dave Awesome. Okay, you're on a great start. Okay, cool. Grace Cannone My name is Grace Cannone. Ohhh! Ins and outs. What's in is gospel from the 1930s. What's out...sitting in your room and sulking. Dave Is that something that you've been doing? Because I don't think you have. Grace Cannone If I'm going to be honest...yes. Dave You have?! Over what? Grace Cannone Seasonal depression. It's real. Dave Yeah, it is a real thing. All right. Thank you for your answers. Grace Cannone Of course!  Dave I really appreciate you. Okay. Tell me your name. Sasha Fuellhart Hi. My name is Sasha Fuellhart. Dave So, Sasha, what is in? What is out? Sasha Fuellhart Okay, I actually have a really extensive list. Dave You have a list of what's in and out? Sasha Fuellhart Talking to random people in public. Dave So that's in? Oh! Okay. All right. That’s in. Sasha Fuellhart Red wine is in and fish. Dave Red wine and fish and talking to people in public. Sasha Fuellhart Honestly, I don't have anything that's out. Dave Okay. Sasha Fuellhart Except for sulking. I'm done with sulking. Go play outside. I love playing with my friends outside. That's in. Dave Is that what you're doing right now? Sasha Fuellhart Yeah. Honestly, we're just. We're kind of, like, just waiting and then I'm going to walk to my car and we're going to do homework. Dave But that doesn't sound fun at all. Sasha Fuellhart We're standing outside. Dave That's true. Sasha Fuellhart ...so I guess it is like playing outside. Dave I will count it in your win column. In your in column. Thank you for your answers, y’all. I really appreciate. Grace Cannone Is a beautiful Monday in Boone. Sasha Fuellhart It is a beautiful Monday in Boone. Dave It is. Grace Cannone It's a beautiful Monday to be alive. Grace Cannone It is! Dave Kyla, I think we found a lot of what's in and what's out. So what is the one what's in that sticks with you the most? Kyla Probably everyone's focus with being better, with their schoolwork. Dave ....and 1930s Gospel music. Kyla 1930s, gospel music. Dave Thank you. Thank you for hanging out with me. I appreciate the pictures very much. Kyla Of course! Dave We’ll do it again, hopefully on as beautiful a day as this. I'm Dave Blanks. This has been Dave by the Bell. Thanks Kyla! Kyla You’re welcome. Dave Bye.
048 What I Wish I’d Known: College Applications
Oct 25 2023
048 What I Wish I’d Known: College Applications
Dave and App State's social media manager Ginny Scheer roam about Sanford Mall interviewing App State students to find out what they wish they had known way back when they were applying to college. Maybe don't procrastinate but chill out and follow your heart while not stressing...something along those lines anyway.       Transcript: Dave  Hey folks! I'm Dave Blanks from University Communications back with Dave by the Bell. It's October. It's chilly. I'm out here with Ginny. She is the manager of our social media. We're interviewing App State students. We're talking to them about advice during the application process. What do you know now that you wish you knew then? Ginny Scheer Mmhmm Dave  So we’re out here on Sanford Mall. All right. Well, let's find somebody to talk to. Sarely Zavala-Duran I'm Sarely Zavala-Duran I'm from Indian Trail, North Carolina. Dave  Saley? Sarely Zavala-Duran Sara Lee like the bread company. Dave  Sara Lee! Nobody doesn't like Sara Lee! All right. Sara Lee, are you a freshman here at App?    Sarely Zavala-Duran Yes.    Dave  You are. Okay. Well, when you were trying to choose a college, would there be a piece of advice that you might give to yourself, Sarely? Sarely Zavala-Duran Yeah. It’s not that deep, honestly. You make a choice, choose what school you think is right, and if it doesn't work out, just change it. I know people that have dropped out from schools already that didn't like it. Just choose a school and go with it. Don't force yourself, but also just try to enjoy the time that you have here. Dave  Nice. But we got you, right? I mean, like, you're officially a Mountaineer and you’re gonna stay? Sarely Zavala-Duran Yeah I am! Right here on Sanford! Group Roll Neers! Dave  Roll Neers! Absolutely. All right. So I guess next, we'll ask you. Hey, what is your name? Maya Tongue Maya Tongue. Dave  Maya Tongue! Hey, nice to meet you. Where are you from? Maya Tongue Canton, Georgia. Dave  You heard my question to Saraley. Maya Tongue Just know that it like not getting into a college doesn't mean you're stupid. I didn't get into UGA, and, like, that was really hard. But I love it here and I love the people I've met and it just makes me... Dave  Look at em! They’re awesome! Maya Tongue It’s the right thing. It's meant to be here so... Dave  What about this person looking at their phone? Maybe I could talk to them. Sam Crabtree My name is Sam Crabtree. I was clueless. All of middle school, all of high school. And it wasn't until senior year when the pandemic hit, when I was like, okay, this is where I want to be. Dave  Okay, so if you could talk to yourself back then your senior year. Sam Crabtree Don't overthink it and ask for help. There's always people around to offer some advice. I think I was like really scared about jumping into it, but it was a really simple process and as long as I had my parents and I know I could reach out to like admissions people and knew that they would offer some advice. Dave  So this is Kaitlyn Witte. Kaitlyn, it's nice to meet you. Where are you from? Kaitlyn Witte I'm from Charlotte. Dave  Okay, cool. How long have you been here at App? Kaitlyn Witte I'm in my freshman year, so only like two months. Dave  So if you, Kaitlyn, could go back and give yourself a piece of advice, what would it be? Kaitlyn Witte I say just follow what I wanted to do versus what my friends want me to do and where they wanted me to go and just doing it for myself versus my friends. Dave  Alleah, Hello. Alleah Trunzo  Hi. Dave  How's it going? Alleah Trunzo  Good! How are you? Dave  I'm good. Dave  You got some Chick fil A? Alleah Trunzo  Sustenance. Dave  Need your sustenance. Dave  So if you, Alleah, could go back and give yourself some words of wisdom. Alleah Trunzo  I knew I wanted to go to an NC public university and I think I really did choose the best one for me because I really do love living here. I think even beyond being a student and just living here as an adult would be really nice. Dave  It is nice. I do that all the time, like every day. Matthew Paulino My name is Matthew Paulino. I was very stressed. I didn't know if I was going to be able to get into college, but I guess my advice for myself would just be like, calm down, relax, focus on your mental health. Everything is going to be okay and it's going to go great. Ginny Scheer What about soccer people? Dave  Soccer people? Walk out into the soccer game? Ginny Scheer Mmhmm Dave  I could do that. Which one? Which one you want to single out? Marcus Zagorski Marcus Zagorski. Dave  Marcus. Hello. So if you could go back and give yourself a piece of advice, what would you tell yourself? Marcus Zagorski Just follow your heart. Don't think about it too much because I love it here. And this is my first choice. And it seems to be like the place that I want to. Dave  Nice! It was the right choice. Marcus Zagorski Yeah. It was the right choice. Yeah. For sure. Dave  So was there something you were worried about when you were coming to college? Marcus Zagorski Not really, because in my case, it was different because I lived in New York for 18 years. And this August, me and my family, we moved down to Morganton, which is like an hour from here. Dave  It's like one of the boroughs. Totally! Right? Marcus Zagorski Yeah uhhhh...No, not at all, actually. But, you know, I have my family, just an hour away and I'm here. Dave  Well, thanks for the advice. I appreciate it, Marcus. And I'll let you get back to your soccer. Marcus Zagorski Of course. Dave  What about this person? Excuse me. Douglas Landry Douglas Landry. Just get into it, man. There's so much to do here. There's so many good people here. Extracurricular activities you can get into. It just took me a little while to figure that out. A couple of cold winters and just being like, “Man, what am I going to do?” And so now I'm just busy, busy, busy. But in a good way. Dave  Perfect, man. Well, enjoy some music. Why don't you? You know, you could. It's right there. Douglas Landry Exactly. Dave  Thanks for your answer. Douglas Landry Thank you, Dave. Dave  Yeah, man. Hey, how are you? Isabella Thornley Good how are you? Dave  I’m good! Can you tell me your name? Isabella Thornley Isabella. Dave  So, how long have you been at App? Isabella Thornley This is my first year. Dave  Cool. Welcome. What piece of advice would you give yourself back then? Isabella Thornley Trust your instinct. Go where you feel is right for you. Because when I toured... As soon as I got here, I was like, “Yeah, this is where I’m going to be. Yeah.” Dave  What was it about the place when you got on the campus that you were like, “Yes.” Isabella Thornley It's just where I feel like I’d thrive. Like it's like my environment, the mountains, like fresh air. There's a lot you can do here. Dave  Sure. Thank you, Isabelle. I appreciate it. Andrew Johnston Andrew Johnston. Dave  What would you tell yourself that could help you back then? What was the process like? Was it smooth? Andrew Johnston It was pretty smooth. I just procrastinated everything. I got my App State application in last minute. So, I'd probably just tell myself to not do that. Like to really just be on top of it a bit more. Dave  Sure. Andrew Johnston Yeah. Dave  Thanks for that answer. What is your name? Serenity Hopkins Serenity Hopkins. Dave  So if you could give yourself a piece of advice, tell yourself something that would help you. What would it be? Serenity Hopkins Probably do my essay a little bit before, like the last month that I was due. Dave  What does that entail? All right. The essay itself like. What are you doing? Serenity Hopkins I did it on, like, my social anxiety and how I overcame it. I can't remember what the question was, but it wasn't, like, super complicated. I was just procrastinating. Dave  Well, look at you here. You're doing great. We're interacting socially. Fantastic. Ian Daniel  I'm Ian Daniel. Dave  Ian, it's nice to meet you. Ian Daniel  Nice to meet you, too. Dave  Yeah. Yeah. If you could go back and talk to the Ian back then and give him a piece of advice, what would the piece of advice be? Ian Daniel  UC Boulder would not be a good fit for you. Dave Okay. All right. You were torn. Ian Daniel  Yeah, I don't know why I thought that would be fun. Dave  So why is App State a good fit for you? I'm assuming it is. Ian Daniel  Yeah, I think it is. I didn't really realize how much being, like, able to go home and visit family and home is. Dave  So you're not far off. Ian Daniel  Yeah. So I live in Charlotte, so that's close. And then I also think that I'm not really like much of a big partygoer, and I think that that would have been like a big part of the culture there. So I like that here. I can like...I have friends that would rather go like sit in the woods, hang out in a hammock, then go....I don't know...to a frat or something. Dave  Yeah, absolutely. That's a great answer. Ian Daniel  Like the people at App are down to earth like I would like to be or I strive to be. Dave  You're coming across like that to me. That's good. Ian Daniel  That's good. Dave  Yeah. Yeah. Hey, thanks for your time. I really appreciate it. Ian Daniel  Yeah of course. Thank you guys! Dave  Have a good day. Ian Daniel  Yeah, y'all as well. Dave  Ginny, we got so many good answers! Ginny Scheer So much advice and wisdom. There are a lot of Mountaineers with good heads on their shoulders. Dave  I get that vibe, too. Yeah, absolutely. And I think that nobody regretted their decision. Like, hands down, like, we're not editing out all the ones who were like, “ I should have gone to wherever,” you know? Ginny Scheer Yeah, but everyone saying, don't overthink it. Yeah. Some people get that magical, glittery feeling, that they know that they’re supposed to be here. Dave  Right when they step on campus. Ginny Scheer Other people don’t and that's okay. Dave  Right? Yeah, it's okay. Ginny Scheer Don’t overthink it! Dave  That's great advice. Ginny Scheer But, trust your gut. Dave  Thanks, Ginny! Ginny Scheer Yeah. Dave  All right. Well, I'm Dave Blanks. This has been Dave by the Bell. See you next time, folks. Bye Ginny. Ginny Scheer Bye.
047 What’s Next Graduate?
May 11 2023
047 What’s Next Graduate?
Dave fumbles about campus somehow managing to find a bunch of seniors who are about to graduate. Dave grills them on their plans for the future! It's every new graduate's dream come true!     Transcript:  Dave Blanks: Hey friends, on this Dave by the Bell, I'm going to talk to seniors who are graduating and ask them what the heck they got planned next. Stick around, won't you? Jenna Michalski: I'm Jenna Michalski. Dave Blanks: You're graduating, correct? Jenna Michalski: Yes. Dave Blanks: Congratulations. Jenna Michalski: Thank you. Dave Blanks: What have you been studying here at Appalachian State? Jenna Michalski: Commercial Photography Minor in English. Dave Blanks: Cool. So what do you plan to do with that? Be very creative, I would assume. Jenna Michalski: I'm trying to get paired with a video production company. Dave Blanks: Cool. Jenna Michalski: Either start off as an editor or some sort of an assistant. Dave Blanks: What are you doing on campus? Jenna Michalski: I have a final in about 30 minutes. Dave Blanks: Oh, snap. Are you ready for it? Jenna Michalski: Yeah, it's my last one so it's getting real. Dave Blanks: Is it sad? Jenna Michalski: A little bit. Dave Blanks: Yeah, you liked App? Jenna Michalski: Yeah, I did. Dave Blanks: You could still be here. You could study more. Jenna Michalski: I'm good on that. Dave Blanks: All right. Well, you can at least come back and visit? Jenna Michalski: Yes, absolutely. Dave Blanks: Okay, please do that. All right. What about girl with a dog? Do you think she's a senior? Hey, excuse me. Are you a senior graduating? Girl with a dog: No. Dave Blanks: Do you have a dog? Hello, dog. Oh, my gosh. What a nice puppy you have. Well, have a good day. Girl with a dog: Thank you. Dave Blanks: All right, bye. That was a friendly dog. Anyway, still heading down toward the sign Founders Plaza. I see some people. There are people getting pictures over here. I knew it. You look like you're graduating. Val Moscoso: I am. Dave Blanks: All right, cool. What's your name? Val Moscoso: Well, I'm Val Moscoso. I'm graduating with Exercise Science and a minor in Psychology. I'm taking a gap year, but I will go into occupational therapy school. Dave Blanks: So what are you doing with your gap year? Val Moscoso: I think the goal is definitely to explore a little bit. Dave Blanks: Cool. Are we talking worldwide or are we talking US? Val Moscoso: Definitely worldwide. But I mean, I'll definitely start out slow with the US something. Dave Blanks: Sure. Val Moscoso: But yeah, I definitely want to go backpacking in Europe or something like that. Dave Blanks: Nice. I was going to say, what's one place that you've never been, that you're sure you'll go specifically. Val Moscoso: I definitely want to go to Italy at some point. Dave Blanks: Okay, all right. Val Moscoso: For sure though. Dave Blanks: I love it. All right. Well, Val, the sky's the limit and congratulations. Val Moscoso: Thank you so much. Aru Hopper: I'm Arou Hopper. I want to go to PA school, and I have to get a bunch of clinical hours for that. So I have a job lined up for me as a CNA, and I'll be working either in Charlotte or in Boone. I'm trying to figure out which one. Dave Blanks: Thank you for your time and congratulations. And you have a friend here as well. So what is your name? Morgan Smith: Morgan Smith. Dave Blanks: So Morgan, you're also graduating? Morgan Smith: I am. Dave Blanks: All right. Excellent. What are you graduating with a degree in? Morgan Smith: Exercise Science. Dave Blanks: All right. Same as this. Cool. Are you all headed like to ... Morgan Smith: We're heading to the same exam actually. Dave Blanks: Oh, no, wait. All right. Okay. When do you have to be there? How much time do you have? Morgan Smith: 20 minutes. Dave Blanks: Okay. All right. You're good. All right. All right. So Morgan, what's next for you? Morgan Smith: Same thing, just working to get clinical hours after I graduate. Dave Blanks: Do you know where you're doing in your clinicals? Morgan Smith: I'm heading back home to do a CNA clinical back home. Kind of want to travel a little bit, so we'll see. Dave Blanks: Excellent. Well, you all, thank you so much. Aru Hopper: Thank you so much. Morgan Smith: Thank you. Dave Blanks: Very much. And please come back and visit us. Morgan Smith: Thank you. Aru Hopper: [inaudible 00:03:33]. Morgan Smith: Appreciate it. Dave Blanks: All right. See you later. Are you a senior maybe? Freshman: Huh? Dave Blanks: Are you a senior? Freshman: I'm freshman. Dave Blanks: All right, man. Keep at it. He seemed like a freshman. We're in the student union now, looking for seniors. Is either one of yall a senior? Foster: We are. Dave Blanks: Can I ask you a question for my podcast? Foster: Of course. Dave Blanks: Real lighthearted. Okay, cool. Who are you, sir? Foster: My name's Foster. Dave Blanks: Cool. Foster: Like the beer or the child. Dave Blanks: And what is your name? McKenzie: McKenzie. Dave Blanks: Okay. So Foster and McKenzie. So Foster, what have you been studying here at App? Foster: I'm a Sociology major. Dave Blanks: Where's the next step for you? Where are you going with this? Foster: Oh, that's a great question. I'm actually doing an internship this summer with the courthouse, so we'll see if maybe local governments- Dave Blanks: Here in Watauga? Foster: Yep, absolutely. Here in Watauga. Dave Blanks: Oh, nice one. Cool. Well, thanks Foster. Hopefully we'll see you under good circumstances at the courthouse. Foster: Fingers crossed. Dave Blanks: Hope so. And what is your name again? I'm sorry. McKenzie: McKenzie. Dave Blanks: Okay, McKenzie. So what have you been studying? Also Sociology? McKenzie: Also sociology. Dave Blanks: I could have guessed. Where are you going after this? McKenzie: I enjoy that Sociology is very broad. Dave Blanks: It is. McKenzie: You know what I mean? So I feel like I can go into a bunch of different things. Dave Blanks: Right. McKenzie: But I do think HR is pretty interesting. Dave Blanks: Okay. I can't go into Crossroads because they're cranking music. I can't afford to pay for all that Dua Lipa. Excuse me, are you a senior by any chance? Jana Bowman: I am. Dave Blanks: You are? Jana Bowman: I'm Jana Bowman. Dave Blanks: Jana, how's it going? Jana Bowman: Good, how are you? Dave Blanks: I'm good. Where did you ... Did you get some at Cascades? Jana Bowman: No, I was coming from the Office of Community Engaged Leadership. Dave Blanks: Okay. Is that what you do at App when you're not studying things? Jana Bowman: Yeah, I hang out there all the time. I work there. I volunteer. It's just a great place to be. I always pitch it as like, if you care about anything, our office is a great place to be. Dave Blanks: If you care about anything. Jana Bowman: Anything at all. We do everything from voter engagement to environmental justice to volunteering with nonprofits in the community, leadership. Dave Blanks: What if you care about animals? Jana Bowman: Animals? We I'm pretty sure just did a day of service to the local animal shelter. Dave Blanks: Oh really? Oh, that's cool. I thought I was going to get you because you're naming all people stuff but yeah yeah. Jana Bowman: No, it's like I said. If you care about anything, our office is a really great place to be. Dave Blanks: All right. How do we find out more? Jana Bowman: The best ways to go to our office, which is I believe PSU 138. It's all the way at the end of the Union on the first floor. Dave Blanks: All right, cool. Well, thank you very much. So here's my actual question. So, you're graduating. What did you study here at App? Jana Bowman: I studied Sustainable Development. Dave Blanks: Do you feel like you've learned a lot? Jana Bowman: Yeah, definitely. I think specifically within my major, it shifted my entire mindset of how everything is connected. Because I think beforehand you just think about one problem and then another problem. But then within the Sustainable Development major, you kind of learn how everything is a feedback loop and how everything's connected and there are drivers and symptoms of problems, and that really helps you to understand how to fix the overall issue. Dave Blanks: Right, cool. What is next for you? Jana Bowman: I have a job actually working at a nonprofit in the triangle called The Hunt Institute. It's a nonprofit and they basically advocate for just really progressive public policy agendas for K through 12 education in North Carolina and nationally. Dave Blanks: Nice. Jana Bowman: I'm connecting policy makers and leaders in education and really just trying to get the conversations about how we can help schools and teachers and communities and kids. Dave Blanks: What a great mountaineer you are. Jana Bowman: Thank you. Dave Blanks: Yeah, keep at it. Jana Bowman: Thank you. Dave Blanks: Man, I'm sure you'll do great things. I appreciate your time. And congratulations. LA McGee: I am LA McGee. Dave Blanks: LA, What did you study here at Appalachian State? LA McGee: Exercise Science. I'm actually moving to Wisconsin to work at an adventure resort as a raft guide. Dave Blanks: That sounds so cool. So what's the river that you'll be on? LA McGee: I honestly can't remember what it's called. Dave Blanks: No, shameful. How did you even get the gig? How did you get the job? LA McGee: I found it on a website called Cool Works. Dave Blanks: All right. Cool works with a C? Not like so cool that they have to spell it with a K. LA McGee: I know, they should do it that way honestly. Dave Blanks: Come on. Cool works. Let's listen to LA here. All right. So cool. So do you know anybody out there? LA McGee: I do not. Dave Blanks: Wow. Are you nervous? LA McGee: I am very nervous. I leave in three days. Dave Blanks: Oh my gosh. Have you finished all your exams? LA McGee: I'm actually about to finish one now. Dave Blanks: Good luck. LA McGee: Thank you. Dave Blanks: And we'll see you on the river. LA McGee: Perfect. Dave Blanks: All right, thanks. Well, I've actually managed to find a pretty good number of seniors. Hey, excuse me. Hey, are any of you all seniors who are about to graduate? You are? Can I ask you a question for my podcast? Ivy Crist: Okay. Dave Blanks: Is that okay? Ivy Crist: Yeah. Dave Blanks: All right, cool. So where are we? I'm in Club Hub. So what is this place? Ivy Crist: So Club Hub is a resource for clubs and organizations on campus. We have physical resources like outdoor games, board games. Then we also do funding for clubs through Club Council. Dave Blanks: Cool. Who are you? You're so informative. Ivy Crist: I'm Ivy Crist. Dave Blanks: All right, Ivy. So are you graduating? Thank you for that information about Club Hub. I appreciate that. Ivy Crist: I work here. Dave Blanks: Okay, all right. It makes sense that you're in here. What are you graduating with a degree in. What did you study here at App? Ivy Crist: Political science. Dave Blanks: So what does the future hold for you, Ivy? Ivy Crist: So I'm not entirely sure yet, but I would love to work for a non-profit. Not a specific mission, more just like advocacy. Dave Blanks: A voice for people who maybe aren't being heard. Ivy Crist: Yes. Dave Blanks: So do you know geographically where that might occur? Ivy Crist: Probably to start somewhere in North Carolina or close. Dave Blanks: Keep it here. All right. Keep it in the state. Well, Ivy, thanks for your information. Thanks for your time, and congratulations on graduating. Ivy Crist: Yeah, of course. Thank you. Dave Blanks: I don't know why I'm in the student union. Most of the time I'm outside for these. Only in the student union when it's raining, but it's actually a really pretty day so maybe I'll just go back outside. Excuse me. Are you a senior here at App by chance? A Faculty Member: No, I'm a faculty member. Dave Blanks: Oh, are you? For real? Oh, right. Well, I've been, most of the time when people say no, that means they're younger. So I'm like, well hang in there. But I mean, hang in there if you're grading stuff maybe. A Faculty Member: Grading, yeah. Dave Blanks: All right. Hang in there. I mean, a pretty good number of seniors. Right? A lot of me babbling to myself too. There's like a weird dinosaur shrine out here. Sort of weird. Looking for seniors. Maybe this is one. You know people ask me, Dave? No, they don't. Just kidding. Lauren Niedzwiecki: I'm Lauren Niedzwiecki. Dave Blanks: You're graduating? Lauren Niedzwiecki: Yes, I am. Dave Blanks: What have you been studying? Lauren Niedzwiecki: Biology with a concentration in Environmental Science. Dave Blanks: Cool. All right. So what has been the most memorable part of Biology here at Appalachian State? Lauren Niedzwiecki: Probably just the field work. I really love doing field work and being outside. That's really heightened my passion. Dave Blanks: Did you have a wow moment when you went out anywhere up here. Lauren Niedzwiecki: Probably just the New River. It's so abundant in species. Dave Blanks: Can you tell me where you're headed next? Lauren Niedzwiecki: I'm going to be working with the Watauga Riverkeeper. Dave Blanks: Nice. Lauren Niedzwiecki: So I'm very excited about that. And then I think the possibilities are endless from there. Dave Blanks: Absolutely. So are you from the area originally? Lauren Niedzwiecki: No, I'm from Pilot Mountain, North Carolina. Dave Blanks: Okay, all right. But you're sticking around here to work for Watauga Riverkeeper? Lauren Niedzwiecki: I am, yes. Dave Blanks: Cool. Well, we're happy you're staying. Lauren Niedzwiecki: Oh, thank you. I appreciate that. Dave Blanks: Absolutely. And congratulations. Lauren Niedzwiecki: Thank you. Yep. Dave Blanks: Gross. There's somebody's handkerchief. What an old time-y word. Hanky. All right, Yosef statue, don't let me down. I mean, where else? There's the Appalachian sign and the Yosef statue, right? Peacock traffic circle. Nobody's at Yosef. Going through. Echo-ey tunnel. Now I'm sweating. There's a person I can ask. Let's ask them. I see you have a name tag, Emily Pittman. So I'm Dave Blanks here. You can see on my name tag. Emily Pittman: I see it, yeah. Dave Blanks: Hey, nice to meet you too. So you're graduating as a grad student. Emily Pittman: Mmm-hmm. Dave Blanks: So what have you been studying here at App? Emily Pittman: Social Work. Dave Blanks: Okay, all right. So what part of society do you want to work with? Emily Pittman: I want to work with students. Dave Blanks: Okay. Emily Pittman: I really like working with other college students, so I'm excited to do that after graduation. Dave Blanks: Nice. Do you know where you're going to do it? Emily Pittman: Yes, I'm going to Elon University to work as an academic advisor. Dave Blanks: Well, Emily, thank you very much for your answer. I really appreciate it, and congrats on graduating. Emily Pittman: Thank you so much. Dave Blanks: Thanks, Emily. Oh, thank God. All right, I found the last one. I don't know why that had to be the last one, but mostly just because I'm tired of talking and walking. Congratulations seniors. We're proud of you. You'll always be mountaineers. You'll always have a place up here with us. Come back for homecoming. Come back for 4th of July, for whatever holiday, for all the holidays. I'm Dave Blanks. This has been Dave by the Bell. Bye.
046 The Most Romantic Place on Campus
Feb 14 2023
046 The Most Romantic Place on Campus
In this Valentine’s Day edition of Dave by the Bell, Dave and University Communications intern Madi chat it up with friendly passersby to get at the heart of this question — “What is the most romantic place on campus?”     Dave Blanks: Hello, friends. I'm Dave Blanks from University Communications, and I was going to talk today about Valentine's Day. What we're going to do is ask students what the most romantic place in all of campus is. I was going to go see if Madi , our intern, wanted to come along. So, let's go do that. Hello.   Madi: So, jacket?   Dave Blanks: I'm not wearing a jacket, based on what you said. You said you got hot.   Madi: Fine. We won't wear jackets.   Dave Blanks: Madi , no jackets for this one. There are romantic places on campus. We're walking right now by the-   Madi: By the hand statue.   Dave Blanks: ...church hand statue thing with the wheelbarrow. I don't think that's a place.   Eliza: My name's Eliza.   Dave Blanks: So Eliza, Valentine's is coming up. Did you know?   Eliza: Yes, it is.   Dave Blanks: Yeah, it is. Is that an exciting thing for you? A positive thing?   Eliza: It is exciting.   Dave Blanks: Yeah?   Eliza: We're going to go up here.   Dave Blanks: Okay, let's go up here.   Eliza: I got my first boyfriend a couple months ago, so this will be... We're going to go this way?   Dave Blanks: Yeah, let's go this way.   Eliza: This will be my first Valentine's Day with someone.   Dave Blanks: Very sweet.   Eliza: So it'll be fun.   Dave Blanks: Cool. Yeah, yeah. Are you a freshman at App?   Eliza: Yes, I am.   Dave Blanks: All right. Excellent. You're doing the whole college experience thing.   Eliza: Yes, I am.   Dave Blanks: Yeah. Good for you. Okay, so if you had to spend it on campus somewhere, where's the most romantic place?   Eliza: I really like the duck pond.   Dave Blanks: Yeah.   Eliza: That little shelter.   Dave Blanks: Oh, yeah.   Eliza: I think that's fun.   Dave Blanks: All right.   Eliza: Get bagels or something.   Dave: Dude…the duck pond!   Savannah: Savannah.   Dave Blanks: If you had to pick one?   Savannah: The duck pond.   Dave Blanks: The duck pond?   Savannah: I think it's cute.   Dave Blanks: You think the duck pond?   Savannah: Could be kind of cute. Yeah, you could do a little picnic or something.   Dave Blanks: Oh, okay. That's good. That was a good answer.   Jacob: I'm Jacob. The solarium, maybe.   Dave Blanks: You think the solarium?   Jacob: Yeah.   Dave Blanks: All right. Why the solarium?   Jacob: There are a lot of plants and sunlight, I guess.   Dave Blanks: Right?   Jacob: Yeah.   Dave Blanks: What about outside?   Jacob: It's cold.   Derek Carter: I'm Derek Carter. A romantic place on campus?   Dave Blanks: Right.   Derek Carter: I'd probably just take her to my job, the cafe. Cascades.   Dave Blanks: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Cool. Right on.   Derek Carter: They have a Valentine's Day drink, so I'll probably give that.   Dave Blanks: What's the Valentine's Day drink?   Derek Carter: It's like chocolate and strawberry.   Dave Blanks: That sounds good. Is it expensive?   Derek Carter: It's like $6.   Dave Blanks: College student can swing that for Valentine's Day, right?   Derek Carter: Yeah.   Dave Blanks: All right. All right. Excellent.   Evan Rice: I am Evan Rice. Okay. This is a curve-ball. Me and my girlfriend just broke up a week ago.   Dave Blanks: Oh. I'm sorry to hear that.   Evan Rice: I'll probably just go for a picnic. I'd start here.   Dave Blanks: We're on Sanford right now.   Evan Rice: Yeah.   Dave Blanks: Okay.   Evan Rice: Maybe a walk on the trail back there. End up at the baseball field.   Dave Blanks: Yeah. Yeah.   Evan Rice: What have other people said?   Dave Blanks: Duck pond. How do you feel about duck pond?   Evan Rice: That’s gross. Like you just get like wafts of smell. Does Gastown...   Dave Blanks: Yeah. Go to Gastown, dude.   Evan Rice: Yeah, I'd probably stack up on some stuff there. Right?   Dave Blanks: Excellent. Yeah. Slim Jims, Munchos.   Sam Vanderkin: Sam Vanderkin. Maybe over by the bell.   Dave Blanks: Durham Park there.   Sam Vanderkin: Yeah, there's cute picnic areas. Yeah.   Dave Blanks: Yeah. That's cool.   Sam Vanderkin: Pimento cheese sandwiches-   Dave Blanks: Yes.   Sam Vanderkin: ...cut into little triangles.   Madi: Pimento cheese sandwiches in triangles?   Dave Blanks: Little triangle pimento cheeses.   Anthony Coriali: I'm Anthony Coriali. Ooh, that's a tough one. I might just hang out in the solarium student union. Peaceful atmosphere, running water.   Dave Blanks: Nice.   Anthony Coriali: Yep.   Marissa: I'm Marissa.   Dave Blanks: Hey, Marissa. How are you doing?   Marissa: I'm exhausted.   Dave Blanks: Oh no. What's going on in your life?   Marissa: Homework.   Dave Blanks: Oh, that's the worst. You'll get through it.   Marissa: Thank you for empathizing.   Dave Blanks: Yeah, I feel for you. So Valentine's is coming up, right?   Marissa: Oh God.   Dave Blanks: Yeah.   Marissa: I can't.   Dave Blanks: Valentine's is coming up.   Marissa: Yes.   Dave Blanks: So if you had to pick a spot on this very campus here where you attend school to have a romantic Valentine's Day experience, where would you pick? Where's the most romantic place on campus?   Marissa: The study room by yourself, because you should focus on your grades and not boys so you can make your own money.   Dave Blanks: Nice.   Marissa: Or with your friends.   Dave Blanks: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Study room with friends.   Marissa: Yeah.   Dave Blanks: Thank you for your answer. Have a good day.   Diana Cooper: Diana Cooper. Does none of the above count?   Dave Blanks: You have to pick somewhere.   Brandon Wayne: I'm Brandon Wayne. The duck pond, probably.   Dave Blanks: Yeah. Okay. All right.   Brandon Wayne: I'd feed them grapes.   Dave Blanks: Yes.   Brandon Wayne: I'd feed the ducks grapes.   Dave Blanks: I was picturing that your person that you were spending the time with, you were feeding them grapes.   Brandon Wayne: No, all those grapes got to go to the ducks.   Dave Blanks: Right. The ducks need the grapes. Yeah.   Hadley Siefert: I'm Hadley Seifert. Sanford.   Dave Blanks: Sanford? Yeah. Yeah. We're at Sanford right now. So what would your romantic Sanford date be?   Hadley Siefert: A picnic.   Dave Blanks: What kind of food are you serving at your picnic?   Hadley Siefert: Grilled cheese.   Dave Blanks: Cheese, excellent. What kind of cheese?   Hadley Siefert: American. Maybe some strawberries.   Nikki Coddle: I'm Nikki Coddle. I'd like to say something nice outside, but it's a bit too cold for that.   Dave Blanks: Let's assume the weather's going to be nice.   Nikki Coddle: Okay.   Dave Blanks: All right.   Nikki Coddle: Then maybe a little picnic outside on Stanford. I think that'd be really cute and romantic. I like to bake, so maybe I could bring the baked goods, the sweets, and then they could bring whatever the savory option is.   Dave Blanks: Nobody said Crossroads. What if we went into Crossroads? Do you think people would say, "I'd come to Crossroads."   Madi: It's nice in here.   Dave Blanks: I know. I like Crossroads. We could ask her.   Katie Carpenter: Hi, I'm Katie Carpenter. I don't know. I feel like Sanford Mall would be kind of cool.   Dave Blanks: Sanford.   Katie Carpenter: Have a little picnic.   Dave Blanks: Yeah.   Katie Carpenter: That'd be cute.   Dave Blanks: Yeah. Yeah. What would you bring on your picnic?   Katie Carpenter: I don't know. Little sandwiches, some sparkling cider.   Dave Blanks: Oh.   Katie Carpenter: Yeah, I get fancy.   Dave Blanks: Let me ask this. What's on your sandwich?   Katie Carpenter: I like chicken salad.   Dave Blanks: All right.   Katie Carpenter: Yeah.   Dave Blanks: That's the first meaty protein we've had. Everybody's going with cheese.   Katie Carpenter: Ew. No.   Dave Blanks: Is cheese romantic to you?   Katie Carpenter: I don't like cheese that much.   Dave Blanks: Is chicken more romantic than cheese?   Katie Carpenter: Yes.   Dave Blanks: Yeah? You think?   Katie Carpenter: Yeah.   Dave Blanks: All right.   Emma: My name's Emma. I would say maybe the solarium or if it's nice outside, Durham Park. Yeah, I think a little picnic. Maybe take a book, read a little bit. Maybe paint. I don't know. I don't know.   Dave Blanks: Wow, that's cool. All right. Yeah, that's very active. I like that.   Dave Blanks: Okay. Who am I speaking with?   Steven: Steven.   Dave Blanks: Steven. Hello. I've interviewed you for Dave by the Bell before.   Steven: Yes, you have.   Dave Blanks: What question did I ask you?   Steven: I think it was about Thanksgiving. It was around that time. What are you thankful for?   Dave Blanks: And I was taking a knee and it looked like I was proposing to you in the picture. Yeah, yeah. But you didn't accept. That's all right. We can still move on with our lives. So where's your spot?   Steven: It's not part of App State's campus, but it still feels very App State.   Dave Blanks: Maybe I'll allow it. We'll hear it.   Steven: I'm trying to think of somewhere on campus, and it's just not coming to me right now.   Dave Blanks: I know. It's challenging.   Steven: But somewhere on the parkway. I know that's kind of basic, but it is very nice.   Dave Blanks: No, it's incredible. It's epic.   Steven: I'm trying to think of on campus, and-   Dave Blanks: You got to do it. A beautiful spot here.   Steven: A sunset at the stadium.   Dave Blanks: Yeah.   Steven: While it's completely empty. That'd be really nice. Hanging out with friends and stuff.   Dave Blanks: That's like the end of a romantic movie right there.   Steven: Yeah.   Dave Blanks: Yeah, yeah.   Steven: Very much.   Dave Blanks: Okay. That was a good answer. Excellent.   Conner Higgins: I am Conner Higgins. Personally, I've never really liked Valentine's Day just because I feel like it's a weak excuse to have to do something for your partner when you should just do that whenever. That and I know it puts a bunch of single people down, which I don't know. I feel like Valentine's Day should be a day to celebrate being single.   Dave Blanks: Yeah.   Conner Higgins: You should be like, "Absolutely. I'm living my life and I'm free."   Dave Blanks: I like that.   Conner Higgins: Yeah.   Dave Blanks: Cool. All right. Well, if you were going to celebrate being single on campus, where would you go and what would you do?   Conner Higgins: I'd say if you're single and you're either trying to look to meet people, I know the student union's always great, the mall always has a ton of people out there, and I met my girlfriend freshman year in the dining hall, so honestly, even there you could find a little romance in the dining hall.   Dave Blanks: Awesome, man.   DJ: I'm DJ. If it's warm out, I'll probably say Sanford Mall, a little picnic. I just feel like that's cute, you can people watch a little bit.   Madi: So the moral of the story, there's going to be picnics all over campus.   Dave Blanks: Dude, the picnic business is exploding.   Madi: The picnic business is booming.   Dave Blanks: Put your money in picnics right now.   Madi: Invest in picnics.   Dave Blanks: Invest. Buy, buy, buy! Well Madi , thanks for coming along with me for this Valentine's Dave by the Bell.   Madi: Thanks for having me.   Dave Blanks: Yeah, I don't know. Yeah. You said solarium, right?   Madi: Yeah. A little coffee date in the solarium.   Dave Blanks: Yeah. I like that.   Madi: Maybe pick up coffee from Crossroads.   Dave Blanks: Then go to the solarium.   Madi: But then take it to the solarium.   Dave Blanks: Madi , I hope you have a fantastic Valentine's Day.   Madi: Thanks. I hope you have a great Valentine's Day as well.   Dave Blanks: Thank you very much. I hope I do too. I'm Dave Blanks. This has been Dave by the Bell. Bye.
045 Location! Location! Location!
Nov 2 2022
045 Location! Location! Location!
In this only just barely adjacent to homecoming edition of Dave by the Bell, Dave and University Communications intern Madi chat it up with almost always friendly passersby and pose the question, "If you could live anywhere on campus that was not a residence hall, where would you live?"        Transcript:   Dave Blanks: Madi, you're our intern.   Madi: I am.   Dave Blanks: And we're going to do a Dave by the Bell.   Madi: We are.   Dave Blanks: What are we talking about?   Madi: Well, did we decide what we're talking about?   Dave Blanks: Yeah, yeah. I think we finally landed on an idea.   Madi: Did we land on the roommate idea?   Dave Blanks: No, we're not doing the roommate idea.   Madi: Oh.   Dave Blanks: But we will do that one in the future.   Madi: Okay.   Dave Blanks: No, no, no. We're not going to do the roommate. We're going to do-   Madi: If you could live anywhere on campus.   Dave Blanks: Yes.   Madi: That's not your residence hall/dorm room...   Dave Blanks: Right.   Madi: ...where would you live and why?   Dave Blanks: Yeah, that was it. Good job. Perfect. So, yeah. Do you want to go to Sanford Mall?   Madi: I sure do.   Dave Blanks: Okay, let's do that. I usually just find a person and go, "Hey, excuse me." Like this guy.   Madi: Hey, you want to be in our podcast?   Anonymous Solarium Lover: No, that's okay.   Dave Blanks: Oh, come on man. Do you want to hear the question and then say yes or no.   Anonymous Solarium Lover: Okay.   Dave Blanks: All right. All right. So the question is, if you could live somewhere on campus, where would it be and why? So is there a little spot that's your spot? That's your go-to?   Anonymous Solarium Lover: Oh, God. The Solarium.   Dave Blanks: Yeah. Okay.   Anonymous Solarium Lover: I love that.   Dave Blanks: Why would you live in the Solarium?   Anonymous Solarium Lover: It's very peaceful.   Dave Blanks: Right?   Anonymous Solarium Lover: I really like it.   Dave Blanks: Right.   Anonymous Solarium Lover: It's very calming.   Dave Blanks: It's like the opposite of this moment.   Anonymous Solarium Lover: Yes, exactly.   Quin Hernandez: I'm Quinn Hernandez. There's a little lookout up by Greenwood.   Dave Blanks: Okay.   Quin Hernandez: I like looking over it, specifically in the wintertime, because the snow makes it really bright and you can ... The stadium lights up everything.   Dave Blanks: Okay. All right. You would live up there?   Quin Hernandez: Yeah.   Dave Blanks: Because it's beautiful.   Quin Hernandez: Yeah, it's really pretty up there.   Madi: What a lovely answer.   Dave Blanks: I know. That was so good.   Madi: She was ready.   Andrea Martinez: I'm Andrea Martinez. Ooh. I would probably live at Walmart.   Dave Blanks: Wait, wait, wait. That's not on campus. Andrea.   Andrea Martinez: Technically it's not, but it is   Dave Blanks: It's on the Appalcart stop.   Andrea Martinez: Yes.   Dave Blanks: So in that respect, I mean, it is definitely a part of your student life, right?   Andrea Martinez: Yeah, definitely.   Dave Blanks: Okay. But with all the options, explain to me why you would live at Walmart.   Andrea Martinez: Well, I mean, it's just a place I frequent a lot.   Dave Blanks: Okay.   Andrea Martinez: But it's also got everything.   Dave Blanks: Okay.   Andrea Martinez: You've got a TV.   Dave Blanks: Yes.   Andrea Martinez: You've got blankets, you've got food. It's the perfect place.   Dave Blanks: I knew you were thinking like that. It's very practical of you. All right. Well, thank you for your answer and have a great day. Are you headed ... Where you headed?   Andrea Martinez: I'm heading to the bus stop, actually.   Dave Blanks: Are you going to Walmart?   Andrea Martinez: I am going to Walmart.   Dave Blanks: No way. Oh, my. That's funny.   Phillip Lavey: I'm Phillip Leavy. Chapel Wilson, second floor, I guess. That's where the theater department kids seem to hang out. That's most of my friends here at App State, so.   Dave Blanks: Right on.   Phillip Lavey: All the professors are super welcoming. All the students, it's like a big happy family there.   Dave Blanks: Nice, man.   Phillip Lavey: Yeah, so.   Dave Blanks: Well, good.   Phillip Lavey: Without a doubt. Plus the benches are pretty nice to sleep on. Pretty comfy. So, yeah.   Dave Blanks: From personal experience?   Phillip Lavey: Personal experience, yeah.   Dave Blanks: All right.   Meredith Kaiser: I'm Meredith Kaiser. Okay. I'm honestly going to go with living in the library.   Dave Blanks: Yeah.   Meredith Kaiser: Low key, because there's a coffee shop in there.   Dave Blanks: Right.   Meredith Kaiser: There's a lot of good study spaces.   Dave Blanks: Right.   Meredith Kaiser: There's books. There's a lot of just cool things in there. So, yeah.   Dave Blanks: What floor in particular? Any ideas?   Meredith Kaiser: Definitely not the second, because it's kind of loud.   Dave Blanks: Okay.   Meredith Kaiser: Probably the third.   Dave Blanks: All right. Peaceful.   Meredith Kaiser: Yeah.   Dave Blanks: Yeah.   Meredith Kaiser: Very peaceful. Yeah.   Billy: Oh, man. That's a tough one. Probably up there in that tower right up there.   Dave Blanks: What? You'd live in the Steam Tower?   Billy: Oh, is that a steam tower?   Dave Blanks: Yeah, dude. I don't know if you want to live in the-   Billy: What's at the very top though?   Dave Blanks: Steam. Just steam.   Billy: No, it's not. It looks like somebody out there right now, kind of.   Dave Blanks: Whoa. Are you for real?   Billy: It looks like a lookout post.   Dave Blanks: Oh, my gosh.   Billy: Is it not? Is it not?   Dave Blanks: No, it's a steam-   Billy: You can't get up there?   Dave Blanks: We call it the Steam Tower. Yeah, you can get up there.   Billy: Well, I don't know.   Dave Blanks: I mean, not you.   Billy: I kind of want to live up there. Maybe the room below it, but that'd be my upstairs deck.   Dave Blanks: That would be super cool. Do you think people would come visit you if you lived in-   Billy: No. People don't come visit me anyway.   Dave Blanks: But if you lived in the Steam Tower, they might be like, Come on, let's go to Billy's house, man.   Billy: You know what? You know what? Being right here, people would come visit. Because I'd be right here.   Dave Blanks: Yeah, I think they would. Great idea.   Billy: Yeah.   Dave Blanks: Thanks for your answer, man.   Billy: That's it?   Dave Blanks: That was it. That was all.   Billy: Did I pass?   Dave Blanks: Yeah. You passed with flying colors. Yeah. Thanks, Billy. Madi, would you live in the Steam Tower?   Madi: Probably not.   Dave Blanks: I don't think so. I think I might come visit Billy, though.   Madi: I might visit Billy for sure.   Dave Blanks: Yeah, just to see if he was okay, because I'm not sure you can survive up there. But he was like, "There's somebody up there right now." And then I thought I could kind of see them. It was sort of weird.   Madi: No, I kind of did too.   Dave Blanks: Did you see them?   Madi: He tricked me.   Dave Blanks: He totally pulled one over on us.   Lily: I'm Lily. The Student Union.   Dave Blanks: Okay.   Lily: The arboretum-type room.   Dave Blanks: Oh yeah, Solarium.   Lily: The Solarium.   Dave Blanks: The Solarium.   Lily: Yeah.   Dave Blanks: Yeah. Caitlin, what do you think about Lily's answer?   Kaitlyn: It's a good answer, but I would probably say the library, because it's open most of the time.   Dave Blanks: Right?   Kaitlyn: 24 five, and they have some comfy chairs up there.   Dave Blanks: Wait, did you say 24 what?   Kaitlyn: 24 five.   Dave Blanks: 24 five? I've never heard that.   Kaitlyn: 24 five. It's open 24 hours, five days of the week.   Dave Blanks: Five days of the week.   Kaitlyn: Right.   Dave Blanks: Wow. You're very accurate with that. I was like, wait, did she mess that up? But no. You said it very specifically. All right. So what floor would you live on?   Kaitlyn: I think the second, but I haven't explored the third or fourth before.   Dave Blanks: All right. Well, the second floor, from what I've heard, is a little louder.   Kaitlyn: That's true. I could always go up to the quiet floor if I need some quiet.   Dave Blanks: Yeah. Yeah.   Kaitlyn: I do think the chairs are very comfy on the second floor, and you could definitely sleep on one of those.   Dave Blanks: Excellent. All right, so now we're in the Student Union. Do you actually want to interrupt somebody who's doing something in the Student Union? Hey, excuse me.   Eva Morgan: Hi.   Dave Blanks: Hi, I'm Dave. I have a podcast called Dave by the Bell, where I interview App State students.   Eva Morgan: Yeah.   Dave Blanks: Are you an App State student?   Eva Morgan: Yeah.   Dave Blanks: Could you hear out my question and maybe answer it?   Eva Morgan: Mm-hmm!   Dave Blanks: All right, cool. I like your energy. Very positive.   Eva Morgan: Thanks, man!   Dave Blanks: This is Madi.   Eva Morgan: Hello.   Dave Blanks: She's our intern.   Madi: Hi.   Dave Blanks: So the question for today pertains to the fact that it's homecoming this weekend.   Eva Morgan: Yeah?!!!   Dave Blanks: Are you excited?   Eva Morgan: No, I'm not even going.   Dave Blanks: Okay, fair enough. Home is the word that we honed in on. If you could make your home somewhere here at App that wasn't a residence hall?   Eva Morgan: I'd live in the gym.   Dave Blanks: Where would you ... You'd live at the gym?   Eva Morgan: I'd live at the SRC.   Dave Blanks: All right. Why would you live there?   Eva Morgan: I work out every day.   Dave Blanks: Okay.   Eva Morgan: So I'm kind of obsessed.   Dave Blanks: What do you like about the SRC?   Eva Morgan: That's a solid question.   Dave Blanks: Yeah.   Eva Morgan: That I do not know the answer to.   Dave Blanks: They have equipment that you can use there?   Eva Morgan: Yeah. I mean, they have machines and free weights, so.   Dave Blanks: Perfect. SRC?   Eva Morgan: Yeah.   Dave Blanks: Yeah. Good answer.   Eva Morgan: Thank you.   Dave Blanks: Hey, can you tell me your name?   Eva Morgan: Oh, Eva Morgan.   Dave Blanks: Thanks, Eva.   Eva Morgan: Of course. You have a good one.   Dave Blanks: Yeah, you too. Are you going to workout?   Eva Morgan: Nice to meet you too. Oh, I already did my round today.   Dave Blanks: Already did it.   Eva Morgan: Yeah.   Dave Blanks: Nice. Nice work. Nice work. Have a good one. Madi, you're on the cross country team, right?   Madi: Yeah.   Dave Blanks: Do you work out every day?   Madi: Unfortunately, I don't have a choice if I work out every day.   Dave Blanks: You're forced to work out every day?   Madi: I'm not forced every day.   Dave Blanks: What way do you want to go?   Madi: It's a forced decision. Bookstore?   Dave Blanks: Yeah. Okay. We could do the bookstore. A forced decision.   Madi: Oh, maybe these fellows.   Dave Blanks: Yeah. Do you think they work here?   Madi: Yeah.   Dave Blanks: So we actually here at App State, do you have a Apple Store? What do you call it? An Apple Store. They're an authorized campus store.   John Paul Hansen: That's the magic of it.   Dave Blanks: There we go. You don't live on campus currently, correct, sir?   John Paul Hansen: No, sir. I do not.   Dave Blanks: All right. Did you ever live on campus?   John Paul Hansen: I did.   Dave Blanks: All right. Where were you? What residence hall?   John Paul Hansen: Bowie Residence Hall.   Dave Blanks: You were in Bowie.   John Paul Hansen: Yes. Getting knocked down currently, right?   Dave Blanks: You're right. I'm sorry. Are you dealing with that okay or?   John Paul Hansen: Yeah, a little bit sad. I'd like to go over and get a brick. I don't know what the legalities of brick taking from a active construction zone are, so.   Dave Blanks: Yeah, I think first degree brickery.   John Paul Hansen: Yeah, first degree brickery.   Dave Blanks: It could ruin your job here.   John Paul Hansen: True. True.   Dave Blanks: So what is your name, sir.   John Paul Hansen: John Paul Hansen.   Dave Blanks: Okay. So John Paul Hansen, it's homecoming weekend. Did you know that?   John Paul Hansen: I did, yes.   Dave Blanks: All right, all right. So if you could live and make your home anywhere on Appalachian State's campus, that wasn't Bowie. Okay? And that wasn't a residence hall.   John Paul Hansen: Yes.   Dave Blanks: Where would it be and why would you live there?   John Paul Hansen: Inside of the Founder's Bell. It's nice and cozy. You can really get inside of it. Once the metal kind of heats up to your body temp, it's cohesive. You're in there. You can't get much colder or warmer. It's a perfect environment.   Dave Blanks: Right. You would have a lot of interaction because apparently if people rub it or something like that, they do good on their examinations.   John Paul Hansen: Yes. yeah. And then I kind of crawl out like a hermit crab and just really, you are at my home. Really give it to them. So, yeah. Yeah, absolutely.   Dave Blanks: John Paul, you're a silly fellow. You know that? Did you know the podcast is called Dave by the Bell?   John Paul Hansen: Yes.   Dave Blanks: Yeah.   John Paul Hansen:  And so I know this because probably four years ago, I was walking to one of my freshman year classes, and I was stopped by you, Mr. Dave.   Dave Blanks: No way.   Madi: Wow.   John Paul Hansen: Yes. I had a previous appearance.   Dave Blanks: You're one of our first multiple episode people.   John Paul Hansen: Yeah.   Dave Blanks: Yeah, yeah.   John Paul Hansen: This was fun. It's coming full circle.   Dave Blanks: Yeah, I know. Well, come visit John Paul, who's in the ... What's the name of your store?   John Paul Hansen: Oh, University Bookstore Tech Center, rebranded from the Computer Shop.   Dave Blanks: All right. Okay.   John Paul Hansen: Yep.   Dave Blanks: All right.   John Paul Hansen: Yep.   Madi: What if I go rub the Founder's Bell before finals, and then he just like jumps out-   Dave Blanks: And he's like. I never rubbed the Founder's Bell, but when I think about my GPA, maybe I should have. I also never exercised while I was at Appalachian State.   Madi: Hey, this person's watching right now.   Dave Blanks: That guy. Excuse me, Mr. Flannel. Hey. Hey. I have a podcast called Dave by the Bell, where I interview App State students. Would you mind if I ask you a question? I don't think your name is really Mr. Flannel either.   Ben Perkins: Oh, you don't? Well, that's good.   Dave Blanks: No, I'm not aware of your name, but I would assume it's not Mr. Flannel.   Ben Perkins: Well, if you knew, it'd be weird, because I don't think we've ever met.   Dave Blanks: That would be crazy, right?   Ben Perkins: My name is Ben Perkins.   Dave Blanks: All right.   Ben Perkins: I'd probably live in the Union. Location-wise, I think it's the best.   Dave Blanks: Fair enough.   Ben Perkins: Yeah.   Dave Blanks: So what part of the Student Union would you live in?   Ben Perkins: Well rest in peace to the Whitewater Lounge, but that's where I'd live.   Madi: That's what I said.   Ben Perkins: Yeah.   Dave Blanks: So I asked Madi this, and she said ... Now why did you like the Whitewater? Let's ask you first, Ben.   Ben Perkins: Yeah.   Dave Blanks: And then, Madi, we'll get your take on why the Whitewater was awesome.   Ben Perkins: Well, I think originally it was had this classy lounge kind of vibe.   Dave Blanks: Okay.   Ben Perkins: And I don't know. It was really secluded, so not a lot of people went there. So I thought that was really cool about it.   Dave Blanks: Yeah. Yeah. Well, good choice. Ben, thank you. Madi, tell us why you liked the Whitewater.   Madi: I just have good memories of escaping to there. Well, I remember my freshman year, I was really bored, and I was like, I'm going to just go explore the Student Union. And I felt like I went in there, and it was like a secret hideout almost. And it was just nice and dark, and they would sometimes play music in there. If only it still existed, that's where I'd choose.   Dave Blanks: Listen, I think I want to encourage y'all to go back to where it was, because now it's the Career Development Center. Okay?   Ben Perkins: Yeah.   Dave Blanks: So take charge of your future.   Ben Perkins: Oh, yeah.   Dave Blanks: Okay? All right, please.   Ben Perkins: I will.   Madi: Oh, yeah.   Dave Blanks: Ben. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Ben, thanks for your answer.   Ben Perkins: Absolutely.   Madi: Okay, we're at the Alpha Phi Omega table, and we have four students here. Why don't you all introduce yourselves in a row?   Jenn: Hi, I'm Jenn.   Chris: I'm Chris.   Gigi: I'm Gigi.   Skyler: And I'm Skyler. I would live in the Solarium. It's just the ambience and all the plants and stuff. I feel like it's so lively and fun in there.   Madi: Awesome. Thank you. Moving on to Chris.   Chris: Yep. That's my same answer. I would live in the Solarium. Honestly, it's one of the most peaceful places on campus.   Madi: For sure. What about you?   Gigi: Same. Same here.   Madi: Same?   Dave Blanks: Gigi's there.   Madi: Skyler?   Skyler: I've got to say the garden near the LLC.   Madi: Okay.   Skyler: I love doing garden work there. It's so much fun. I think I'd make a little home in the little greenhouse with the solar panels on top. I think that would be really cutesy. Yeah.   Madi: Yeah. That's a great answer. Very unique. Thank you, guys.   Dave Blanks: Thank y'all so much.   Skyler: Thank you.   Ashlyn Benzel: My name is Ashlyn Benzel. Sanford Mall! Right here! I would set up a tent and just stay here. There is, I mean grass. There's trees to climb. My friends. The dining hall's right over there. I mean, you can't-   Dave Blanks: Nothing wrong with that.   Madi: Can't go wrong.   Ashlyn Benzel: Can't go wrong.   Madi: Great answer. Thank you so much.   Ashlyn Benzel: You're so welcome.   Dave Blanks: Maddie, we're done. What did we learn today?   Madi: Today we learned that Walmart is on campus.   Dave Blanks: We also learned that if you're going to live in the Solarium, you better like other people, because everybody else is living in the Solarium too, right?   Madi: Yeah.   Dave Blanks: Thanks for taking the time. Thanks for coming along with me. You did a great job. Was it fun?   Madi: It was a great time.   Dave Blanks: Let's edit this podcast.   Madi: Sounds good.   Dave Blanks: I'm Dave Blanks, and this has been Dave by the Bell. Bye, Madi.   Madi: Bye.
044 Move in Vibes 2022
Aug 19 2022
044 Move in Vibes 2022
Dave and photographer Kyla strike out to interview first year students and their helpful parents as they move in to Thunder Hill Hall on the beautiful campus of Appalachian State University.     Transcript: Dave Blanks: Hey folks, how's it going? I'm Dave Blanks from University Communications. Today on Dave by the Bell, I'm going to be talking to people who are moving into Thunder Hill, trying to figure out what the moment's like for them. Maybe talk to parents, maybe talk to students. Also, get an idea of what their aspirations and hopes are for the coming year. That's the plan. Let's do it. All right. There's a lot of folks in here. We're actually going in one of the residence halls. This is Thunder Hill, I do believe. Yeah, that's correct. We have a lot of folks. You've been taking pictures of move in day, Kyla, and those will probably be some of which will end up on our Facebook page. Kyla: Facebook and Instagram. Dave Blanks: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I don't like it in here. Kyla: It is chaotic. Speaker 3: Excuse me. Kyla: Yeah, no problem. Yeah, let's go upstairs. Dave Blanks: Let's go upstairs. Tia Proctor: I'm Tia Proctor. It is so exciting. I'm just ready to get everything in and get everything sorted and stuff. And then just go explore the campus and just go to King Street- Dave Blanks: Yeah. Tia Proctor: ... and just have fun. Dave Blanks: When you look forward to the coming year, what is something that you're anticipating? Tia Proctor: I'm excited for game days. Dave Blanks: Yeah. Awesome. Tia Proctor: And learning about business and going through the business college and stuff. Dave Blanks: Cool. Tia, thank you so much for your answers. I really appreciate you. You passed with flying colors. Good job. Yeah. Tia Proctor: Thank you. Dave Blanks: Yeah. Tia Proctor: Yeah. Good one. Dave Blanks: Okay. And who is this? Your roommate? Tia Proctor: Yes. Dave Blanks: Hello? What is your name? Maddie Henry: Maddie Henry. Dave Blanks: Hey Maddie, how's it going? Maddie Henry: It's good. How are you? Dave Blanks: I'm good. How's your room? It looks pretty cool to me. Maddie Henry: It is amazing. Dave Blanks: Yeah. Maddie Henry: I was expecting so much less actually. Dave Blanks: Right. Maddie Henry: And I'm so excited that we got our own bathroom. Dave Blanks: Okay. Maddie, what's the moment like for you right now? What's the feeling? Maddie Henry: Nervous, excited, everything. I just want to get everything unpacked and be settled in, have everything go smoothly. Dave Blanks: Yeah. Well, has it been so, so far so good? Maddie Henry: So far so good except for the rain. Dave Blanks: I know, but at least you're inside right now. Right? Did you get everything in before it started really coming down? Maddie Henry: My parents are actually out there. Dave Blanks: Oh no. Your poor parents. All right. Well, shout out to Maddie's parents. Maddie Henry: Yeah. Dave Blanks: Be strong. Maddie Henry: I'm from Pennsylvania, so I'm very excited to just meet new people. Get a fresh start and make a lot of friends. Dave Blanks: Tia and Maddie, good luck. We're happy to have you as new Mountaineers. Maddie Henry: Thank you. Dave Blanks: All right. Bye y'all. Silas Dickerson: I am Silas Dickerson. I got here about 15 minutes ago. It feels great. Yeah, I'm ready to be here. I'm just ready to be more independent. Jennifer Leaver: Hi, I'm Jennifer Leaver. Dave Blanks: Who are you helping move in here today? Jennifer Leaver: My daughter, Lauren. Dave Blanks: Is this your first kid to come to college? Jennifer Leaver: No, I have a son in Boulder, in Colorado. Dave Blanks: All right. Jennifer Leaver: It's been nice to have her close by. Dave Blanks: When you look forward to Lauren's first year, what is it that you're excited about for her? Jennifer Leaver: Just meeting new people, finding her tribe of friends, and big football games, because she didn't have a school that was oriented around that and- Dave Blanks: Yeah. She's definitely got that to look forward to. Jennifer Leaver: Yeah. Yeah. Dave Blanks: Well, thanks so much for helping out and thanks for letting me talk to you. I appreciate you very much. Jennifer Leaver: Yeah. Sure, sure. McKenna Guard: I'm McKenna Guard. A mix of excitement and nervousness. A good healthy mix. I'm excited for the new community, and my friends last year went here and I just got to see them grow. Dave Blanks: Hold on, hold on. Let's let the train pass by. All right. What else was it? McKenna Guard: Because my friends, I got to see them grow here in Boone last year, and so I'm really excited to do that too. Dave Blanks: Awesome. I'm sure you will. McKenna, thanks for your time. I really appreciate you. Welcome to Boone. McKenna Guard: Thank you. Dave Blanks: Yeah. Spencer Daniel: I'm Spencer Daniel. Dave Blanks: Hey Spencer. Spencer Daniel: Hey. Dave Blanks: Your girls are here? Spencer Daniel: I have one daughter here and then her friend is her roommate. Dave Blanks: Oh, that works out well. Cool. What's your daughter's name? Spencer Daniel: Her name is Allie. Dave Blanks: Okay. All right. Is this your first child to come to college? Spencer Daniel: First child to go to college. Yes. Dave Blanks: All right. What's the moment like? Allie's in her room now. Spencer Daniel: Yeah, it's real. It feels real. Dave Blanks: Yeah. Spencer Daniel: It's exciting. She's so happy to be here. She's been looking forward to this since probably her junior year of high school. And so it's a really exciting time. I feel good that she feels good about it. She's just so excited to be here and have the opportunity to go out on the Parkway and go hiking and do all the outdoor things. And I think that part is what I'm most excited for her to be up here and to experience everything. Dave Blanks: Well, let's talk to her. Is she inside? Spencer Daniel: Yeah, she is. Yeah. Dave Blanks: Okay. Cool. Spencer Daniel: Come here. Dave Blanks: Hey. Alice Daniel: Hi. Dave Blanks: How's it going y'all? I was just talking to Spencer here. Alice Daniel: Yes. Dave Blanks: And Spencer, this is your daughter. Spencer Daniel: Yes. Dave Blanks: Okay. Who am I speaking with? Alice Daniel: Alice Daniel. Dave Blanks: Alice. How's it going? You go by Alice or Allie? Alice Daniel: Well, so my nickname has been Allie growing up. Dave Blanks: All right. Alice Daniel: But I decided I wanted to go back to my real name. Dave Blanks: All right. Cool. Alice Daniel: Yeah. Dave Blanks: Well that's what college is all about, right? Alice Daniel: Yes. Dave Blanks: Okay, cool. You were moving into Thunder Hill? Alice Daniel: Yes. Dave Blanks: You're in your room. What's going on in your head? Alice Daniel: Yeah, I'm really excited. I thought I was going to be more emotional, but I'm actually... I feel like my happiness is overshadowing my sadness about leaving them right now. Dave Blanks: Nice. Percentage wise. Good. Alice Daniel: Yes. Dave Blanks: Yeah. Alice Daniel: Yes. Dave Blanks: Excellent. Well, I hope it continues to tip that way, the scale. Alice Daniel: Yes. Yeah, I do too. Dave Blanks: When you look forward to your coming year, what is it that you're most excited about? Alice Daniel: Definitely. I have two things. I think one, I'm really excited to meet new people and just do Young Life or RUF, some kind of campus ministry. And then two, just being in the mountains and doing hikes and just being in the beauty of it. Dave Blanks: Nice. Oh, that was perfect. Alice Daniel: Yeah. Dave Blanks: All right. Well thank you so much for your time and welcome to Boone. We're glad you're here. Alice Daniel: Thank you. Vrishank Thombare: My name is Vrishank Thombare. I just moved in right now. I just dropped off all my stuff, said bye to my parents. Dave Blanks: Oh, man. Vrishank Thombare: Just came back. Yeah. Dave Blanks: You just said goodbye to them? Vrishank Thombare: Yeah. I just said goodbye. I just came back from the rain. Dave Blanks: Were they sad? Vrishank Thombare: My mom was crying. Oh, my mom was crying. Dave Blanks: Oh, no. Oh, man. Vrishank Thombare: She was like, "Give me a hug," and all this. She hugged me three times in the rain. Dave Blanks: Did you expect that? Vrishank Thombare: Yeah, I did. I expected it. Dave Blanks: Did you get emotional? Vrishank Thombare: I did get emotional, but it's like, I got to start this chapter. Dave Blanks: It's true man. Vrishank Thombare: New opportunities, new people. Dave Blanks: Absolutely. Vrishank Thombare: I'm really looking forward to the clubs because they have a lot of nature clubs that I wanted to look at to check them out. Dave Blanks: Yeah. Vrishank Thombare: I'm also interested in meeting new people from all types of backgrounds and building relationships, creating a network with people, so when I go into my career field I'm able to communicate with people that may have an advantage of something else that can help me. Dave Blanks: Whoa, This Hall's all decked out. Kyla: People are still moving in. Dave Blanks: Somebody decked the hall. It's got balloons and streamers and stuff. This RA really cares. Do you remember your move-in day, Kyla? Kyla: Yeah. Dave Blanks: Yeah. Was it hard? Kyla: Not really. Dave Blanks: No. It was pretty smooth? Kyla: Because I didn't have whole load of stuff. I had really small room. Dave Blanks: Nice. Kyla: And I lived on the second floor of Eggers. Dave Blanks: Oh perfect, so you didn't have to climb floor after floor after floor? Kyla: Yeah. Dave Blanks: Oh, that's a nice feeling. Vrishank Thombare: Hey. Dave Blanks: Hey dude. What's up Vrishank? Good man. How are you? Vrishank Thombare: Just getting to my room. Dave Blanks: All right. All right. Enjoy. Hey, guys. Guys: Hey. Dave Blanks: Well everybody in Thunder Hill seems to have a pretty good attitude thus far. Father of student: Sorry. Dave Blanks: Oh no, you're good. Come on past. Okay. All right. Kyla: But all of these people have moved in. Dave Blanks: That lady had a plunger. Did you see that? Kyla: Yeah. Dave Blanks: She's a vital member of the team. Jack Bryan: I'm Jack Bryan. Dave Blanks: Okay. Jack Bryan. And your name, sir? Tim Johnson: I'm Tim Johnson. Jack Bryan: Just feeling things out right now. I've been here for a little over 24 hours, so everything's still pretty fresh. Yeah. Dave Blanks: Room looks good. Jack Bryan: Yeah. Thank you. I appreciate it. Dave Blanks: Yeah. Yeah. Jack Bryan: Just getting used to the campus and everything. Exploring a little bit. Dave Blanks: And Tim? Tim Johnson: I'm not going to lie, I was a little nervous, but then I got everything in place and I just did my own thing, and I feel fine now. I can't wait for it. I know it's going to sound cliche, but I can't wait for all the friendships we're going to make with other people. I'm actually really excited for that. Dave Blanks: Nice man. Tim Johnson: Yeah. Dave Blanks: That's nice. It's cliche for a reason, man. That's a good thing. Tim Johnson: Mm-hm. Dave Blanks: All right. And Jack, what about you? What are you looking forward to for this year? Jack Bryan: Got to be the football games. Dave Blanks: Yeah. Jack Bryan: Got to be. Dave Blanks: Awesome. All right. Are you stoked for Carolina? Jack Bryan: Yeah, absolutely. Dave Blanks: You're going to be there. Jack Bryan: Absolutely. Dave Blanks: All right. Absolutely. Well, thanks guys. I appreciate your time and welcome to Boone. Jack Bryan: Thank you. I appreciate it. Kyla: Stairs is all the way down. If you pass... They're right across from the elevators. Mother of student: Okay. Dave Blanks: Thanks, Kyla. You're so helpful. Kyla: I get so many questions. Dave Blanks: Oh, I know. People are like, "Hey, help me put together my bed. Where's the door? Where's my child?"             Hopefully everybody's moved in by the time you're listening to this. Thanks so much to everybody who let me barge in on them. I really appreciate it. Kyla, thanks for taking pictures. I'm Dave Blanks. This has been Dave by the Bell.
Special Video Edition: Spring 2021 Commencement
May 12 2021
Special Video Edition: Spring 2021 Commencement
In-person commencement ceremonies are back at Appalachian, and so is Dave! Witness the sights and sounds of Spring 2021 Commencement as Dave asks parents what they're experiencing as their graduates walk across the stage, and stick around for some celebration as the graduates fill in the blank of "My time at Appalachian was _______."
Special Video Edition: App State's Community Vaccine Clinic
Apr 7 2021
Special Video Edition: App State's Community Vaccine Clinic
Dave's back, and he's ready to talk to you! This episode, Dave visits with Appalachian State students after they receive their vaccine, as well as the volunteers and staff who help the clinic run smoothly.
Special Video Edition: Where's My Bell? | Founders Day Edition
Sep 22 2020
Special Video Edition: Where's My Bell? | Founders Day Edition
In this video edition of Dave By The Bell, Dave goes in search of the bell that used to sit in front of Anne Belk Hall. Learn about App State's Special Collections Research Center from university archivist Kim Sims, and catch a glimpse of interesting historical items from Appalachian's past! Listen to other Dave by the Bell episodes here: dave.podcasts.appstate.edu
043 In like a lion...
Mar 21 2020
043 In like a lion...
On this March-centric Dave by the Bell, University Communications' Dave Blanks asks Appalachian students to finish the old adage, "In like a lion out like a..." He also discovers what they are planning for spring break.     Transcript   Dave Blanks: Hey, folks, I'm Dave Blanks from University Communications back once again with a Dave by the Bell, and on this edition it's March, the month of March. In like a lion, out like a... Right? Out like a lamb is the saying. On this podcast we're going to talk to Appalachian State students and ask them to finish the sentence, "In like a lion, out like a..." and then hopefully they'll come up with something silly. I don't know. We'll see what happens. Dave Blanks: Well, so for today to be like a lion day, it's really nice outside. Whoop, I said that and then I got outside and it's a little chilly, but it's really pretty. A lot of people with short sleeves. Surely we'll find some people to talk to. Robert Armstrong: I'm Robert Armstrong. I'd say I'm a lamb. Dave Blanks: You think a lamb? And why do you believe you're a lamb? Robert Armstrong: A little meek, honestly. Dave Blanks: All right. Okay, cool. So also, what are you doing for spring break? Robert Armstrong: I'm going to Chicago and watching a hockey game. Dave Blanks: Sweet. Are you from Chicago? Robert Armstrong: No. A lot of my family is though. Dave Blanks: Oh, cool. Well, enjoy yourself. Robert Armstrong: Thank you. Dave Blanks: Hockey in Chicago for spring break. Emily Stasiak: I'm Emily Stasiak. Dave Blanks: In like a lion, out like a... Emily Stasiak: ... tiger. Dave Blanks: That's two tigers in a row. Yeah. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Maybe that's why. No, it's in like a lion, out like a lamb. Emily Stasiak: Oh. I would say I'm more of a lamb. More innocent and I don't feel like I'm big enough to be a lion. Dave Blanks: Do you think you'll grow into being a lion? Emily Stasiak: Maybe eventually, but not right now. Dave Blanks: Well, I hope you maintain your lambness for as long as you can. And where are you going for spring break? Emily Stasiak: I'm going home. I'm just going to work. Bryan Gertz: Yeah, I'm Brian Gertz. Dave Blanks: So Brian, it is March and there's an old saying that goes along with March, and I want you to try to finish the saying. You may be familiar. In like a lion, out like a... Bryan Gertz: ...lamb. Dave Blanks: Good job. The first one to get it so far. All right, a check mark for Brian. So would you say, Brian, that you are more of a lion or more of a lamb and why? Bryan Gertz: I'm a lion because I'm a go-getter. I'm always working. I'm always hustling, never really lay down for anything. Dave Blanks: What are you doing for spring break? Bryan Gertz: Oh, spring break I'm heading over to Wrightsville Beach. Heading down the mountain. Dave Blanks: Cool. What are your plans there, what? Bryan Gertz: I'm going to hang out on the beach, dip my toes in the sand. All the good stuff. Dave Blanks: Nice. You got to take a break from the hustling sometimes. Thanks, Brian. Bryan Gertz: Yeah, take it easy. Nikki Parker: I'm Nikki Parker. I don't know. A cat? I don't know. Dave Blanks: Out like a cat? Nikki Parker: I don't know. Dave Blanks: Okay. Well, okay. So, in like a lion, out like a lamb. Do you think that you are more of a lion or a lamb? Nikki Parker: I don't know. Probably a lion because a lot of people just say I'm intimidating with my personality, so I just feel like that's probably it. Dave Blanks: What are you doing for spring break? Nikki Parker: I'm just going home to spend time with my family. Tayah Hichue: I'm Tayah Hichue. I don't know. I'd say lamb. I'd like to think I'm more gentle. Dave Blanks: Yeah. All right, cool. And the last part, what's spring break look like for you? Tayah Hichue: I think I'm going to go cave camping. Dave Blanks: What? Where? Tayah Hichue: Worleys Cave. Dave Blanks: Where's that? Tayah Hichue: It's in Tennessee. Rachel Gains: I'm Rachel Gains. Dave Blanks: March, in like a lion, out like a... Rachel Gains: ... lamb. Dave Blanks: You did it. You got it. Congratulations! All right, so now would you say that you are a lion or a lamb? Rachel Gains: You know, I think I'm more like a lion. I'm pretty straight forward and pretty strong-willed so I tend to be more forthcoming and more of a ferocious person in my daily life. Dave Blanks: Last part, what are you doing for spring break? It's coming right up. Rachel Gains: I am actually going on visits to PhD programs to Illinois and then to Rutgers. So what do you want to study? I'll be doing bioengineering, synthetic biology type of stuff. Dave Blanks: Nice. What's a problem you hope to solve with bioengineering? Rachel Gains: I want to work in biosynthesis of petroleum alternatives. So oil, gasoline, plastics, anything like that. Dave Blanks: You make App proud. You are so very App. Rachel Gains: Thank you! Josh Hemphill: I'm Josh Hemphill. Dave Blanks: And can you give me your name? Jacob Gillard: I am Jacob Gillard. I think I'm more of a lion because I feel like I'm just strong and brave. Dave Blanks: Right on. Okay. And Josh, are you more of a lion or a lamb and why? Josh Hemphill: I think I see myself more as a lion because I'm aggressive and I always try to go get it any day. Dave Blanks: And what are you guys do for spring break? Do you know yet? That's the last part. Jacob Gillard: I'm going to Panama City. Dave Blanks: Woo! Yeah, all right! And what about you Josh? Josh Hemphill: Going home to Charlotte. Dave Blanks: Okay, cool. Y'all have a great spring break. Be careful in Panama City, man. Jacob Gillard: I'll try, I'll try. Dave Blanks: All right, thanks guys. Josh Hemphill: Thank you. Jackie Christ: I am Jackie Christ. Dave Blanks: All right, cool. So, Jackie, in like a lion, out like a... Jackie Christ: ... lamb. Dave Blanks: Good job. All right, you're the third one that's gotten it so far. So would you, Jackie, say that you identify more as a lion or a lamb and why? Jackie Christ: I don't really know how to answer that question. I guess I would try to be a lion, be the predator rather than the prey. Right? I don't know. Dave Blanks: But you feel as though you're more of a lamb? Jackie Christ: Yeah, I guess, but I want to be a lion. Dave Blanks: Right. You're aspiring to be a lion? Jackie Christ: Yes, I would say so. Dave Blanks: What are you doing for spring break? That's the last part. Jackie Christ: Oh, hopefully winning the Sun Belt Championship for our basketball team. Dave Blanks: Awesome. Well, good luck. Jackie Christ: Thank you. Dave Blanks: Thanks for answering my question. Jackie Christ: Of course, thank you. Beatrice Parker: Beatrice Parker. Dave Blanks: In like a lion, out like a... Beatrice Parker: ... bear? Dave Blanks: A bear! Beatrice Parker: Oh, really? Dave Blanks: No, it's not bear. It's lamb. It's in like a lion out like a lamb. All right. So do you feel, Beatrice, that you are more of a lion or more of a lamb and why? Beatrice Parker: Oh, just depends, man! I would say lamb, maybe. Dave Blanks: Okay, why? Beatrice Parker: I get more on doing my own thing, not out getting things done, just eating my grass. Dave Blanks: Yeah. All right, I get that. Okay. And here's the last part. What are you doing for spring break? Beatrice Parker: Spring break? I'm going to go take my boyfriend to meet my grandma. Dave Blanks: Whoa. Where's that? Beatrice Parker: Shelby, North Carolina. Dave Blanks: So he's never met your grandma before. Beatrice Parker: Yeah Dave Blanks: Is there anything special that you informed him about your grandma? Like, "Hey, heads up about grandma... This." Beatrice Parker: She likes to go to the bathroom with the door open. Dave Blanks: Is he prepared for that? Beatrice Parker: No, but it's okay. She's got a dog that humps everything. And she's going to offer him food 24/7 so... Dave Blanks: That sounds like not such a bad deal. Beatrice Parker: Yeah, she's a good lady. She's awesome. Dave Blanks: Well Beatrice, have fun on spring break. Beatrice Parker: Awesome. You too, man. Dan Davidson: Yeah. My name is Dan Davidson. Dave Blanks: March, in like a lion, out like a... Dan Davidson: ... elephant. Dave Blanks: I like that guess. It's actually "in like a lion, out like a lamb." Dan Davidson: Okay. Dave Blanks: So would you say that you're more of a lion or a lamb and why? Dan Davidson: I would say lamb in terms of the weather, because I love warmer weather. Dave Blanks: Nobody's worked it back to the weather. Everybody's made it about their personality. But you were like, no, weather-wise, this is what I like. This is pretty nice weather in Boone right now. Are you sticking around for spring break or going somewhere else? Dan Davidson: I'm going down to Florida. I'm going to Disney World. Dave Blanks: Cool. Have you been before? Dan Davidson: Yes, I have. My family actually has season passes so been few times this past year. Dave Blanks: Awesome. What's the best part of Disney World for you? Dan Davidson: Probably the Magic Kingdom just because if you go to Disney, that's the place that you have to go for sure. Dave Blanks: Right on. Okay, cool. Well, Dan, thanks for your answers. Dan Davidson: Thank you, have a good day. Dave Blanks: Thanks, Dan. You too. Have fun at Disney. Dave Blanks: Everybody on their iPhone. Devin Mullins: I'm Devin Mullins. Dave Blanks: Okay, so Devin. In like a lion, out like a... Devin Mullins: ... fish? First thing that came to mind. Dave Blanks: Are you into aquariums and stuff? Devin Mullins: No, I just really want some fish right now. Dave Blanks: So it's actually "in like a lion, out like a lamb." Would you say that you're more of a lion or more of a lamb? Devin Mullins: I'm more of a lion because of Game of Thrones. Dave Blanks: So isn't the lion the House Lannister? Devin Mullins: Yeah. There's a quote Tyrion's dad says which is, "A lion does not concern himself with the opinion of sheep." Which I know is not a lamb necessarily, but it works. Dave Blanks: It works. All right, that's great. I love Game of Thrones so much. And here's the last part is where are you going for spring break? What are you doing? Devin Mullins: I'm going to Washington DC to visit my sister. Dave Blanks: Cool. Well thanks for your answers so much. I really appreciate it. Devin Mullins: Where can I check out your podcast? Dave Blanks: Please check it out on iTunes or Spotify. Devin Mullins: I will, awesome. Dave Blanks: Thanks, man. All right. Game of Thrones. So awesome. Good answer like that. Danielle Lapensee-Rankine: I'm Danielle Lapensee-Rankine. Dave Blanks: So, Danielle. There's a saying that goes with the month of March and that saying goes "in like a lion, out like a..." Danielle Lapensee-Rankine: ... Mmm, I don't know. Kitten. Dave Blanks: Out like a kitten, all right. That's not bad. You got the sentiment right, but it's "in like a lion, out like a lamb." Danielle Lapensee-Rankine: Ah, okay. Dave Blanks: Would you say, Danielle, that you are more of a lion or more of a lamb? Danielle Lapensee-Rankine: I'm not sure. I want to say lion. Because everyone wants to be the lion. They want to be powerful and strong, I guess. Dave Blanks: I feel the same way. I want to say lion. Danielle Lapensee-Rankine: I want to say lion, but I guess I'd say lamb. I'm calmer and less outgoing, I suppose. Dave Blanks: Right. And the last part is what are you doing for spring break? Danielle Lapensee-Rankine: Oh, I'm helping my mom move into an apartment near her work. Dave Blanks: She could have hired somebody else but you were "like, no, I got you." Danielle Lapensee-Rankine: We're all going down to help her. Dave Blanks: Okay. It's a team effort. Oh nice. Danielle Lapensee-Rankine: My sister and my dad and I, yeah. Dave Blanks: Cool. Well, I hope it goes well. Don't pull anything and you should feel good cause you're a good daughter. Danielle Lapensee-Rankine: Thank you. Rachel Tilley: I am Rachel Tilley. Dave Blanks: Okay. And I want you to finish it. In like a lion, out like a... Rachel Tilley: ... light. Dave Blanks: Out like a light? That's pretty good. That's not bad. It's not accurate, but I like it. All right, you got the alliteration part right. It's "in like a lion, out like a lamb." Have you ever heard that? Rachel Tilley: No, I have not. Dave Blanks: Never before. Would you say that you are more of a lion or more of a lamb. Rachel Tilley: I'm more of a lion, because my personality is really out there and I would say I have a pretty aggressive go-getter nature. Dave Blanks: Right. Okay, here's the last part. What are you doing for spring break? Rachel Tilley: I'm going to go to New Mexico and Arizona to study on native American reservations. Dave Blanks: Oh, cool. Do you know the reservation you're studying at? Rachel Tilley: I'm going to Hopi, Zuni and Navajo. Dave Blanks: What do you want to learn there? Rachel Tilley: How their college process goes, their access to college. Why is the rate of tribal colleges they go to higher than universities like this one. Dave Blanks: I didn't know it was. Rachel Tilley: It is. They have a different access rate, basically, or they don't feel as comfortable coming to big public schools because a lot of people aren't familiar with native American history or their culture and things like that. Dave Blanks: Very interesting. Well, cool. I hope you have fun and learn a lot. Rachel Tilley: Okay, thank you. Dave Blanks: I don't know if like... Does lamb have negative connotations? I guess lamb kind of does. I don't think it does. Dave Blanks: Hey, excuse me. Hi, my name's Dave and I have a podcast called Dave by the Bell where I... It looks like you want to go. All right, she's leaving. People run away. Sarah: Sarah. Dave Blanks: So hey, Sarah. There's a saying that goes with the month of March and that is "in like a lion out like a..." Sarah: ... okay...it's..Dandelion. Dave Blanks: Out like a dandelion, that's good. So it's actually "in like a lion, out like a lamb." Would you say, Sarah, that you're more of a lion or more of a lamb and why? Sarah: Well, okay, so probably more like a lamb, I guess. Okay. So I wouldn't consider myself a lion because I wouldn't consider myself to have a fierce personality. So, I mean I wouldn't consider myself to be very direct or blunt or anything like that. Or how should I say? I guess if you think of a lion, in a sense, I guess you think of leadership also. But I mean I'm not the kind of person that likes to lead. I like to help those that are leading. Dave Blanks: Right, a facilitator. Sarah: Yeah, pretty much. Dave Blanks: Very helpful lamb. So what are you doing for spring break is the last part. Sarah: I'm going home to visit my family. Dave Blanks: Cool. Emma Frost: I'm Emma Frost. Dave Blanks: Okay. So Emma, there's a saying that goes with the month of March. Are we going in here? Emma Frost: Yeah. Dave Blanks: Okay, it's in like a lion, out like a... You don't know? Emma Frost: No. Dave Blanks: All right. It's in like a lion, out like a lamb. Would you say, Emma, that you're more of a lion or more of a lamb? Emma Frost: I feel like I'm a mixture, though. I guess a lion because I go after what I want, but then I'm also like a lamb. I'm a little bit shy about it, I guess. But I still really work for it. Dave Blanks: I think everybody is innately some kind of hybrid, but they think they're one or the other. So I feel like that's a very honest answer. Okay. And the last part is what are you doing for spring break? Emma Frost: I am going to the beach. It'll be a nice break. Dave Blanks: What beach? Emma Frost: Charleston. Dave Blanks: Yeah. Oh cool, right on. Good food down there. Lots of waves. Emma Frost: Shopping. Dave Blanks: A lot of shopping. All right, cool. Well, Emma, thanks so much for your answers. Emma Frost: Thank you. Jordan McKay: I'm Jordan McKay. Dave Blanks: So Jordan, it's March, in like a lion, out like a... Jordan McKay: ... tiger. Dave Blanks: In like a lion, out like a lamb. Jordan McKay: Interesting. Dave Blanks: It pertains to the weather. Do you think that you are more of a lion or a lamb? Jordan McKay: I'm more of a lion because that's my astrology sign as a Leo and I have red hair that used to look like a mane when it was really long. Dave Blanks: Right on. I love those answers. That's perfect reasoning. And then the last part is what are you doing for spring break? Jordan McKay: I'm going on an ASE program to DC to help out with some LGBTQ populations. Dave Blanks: What is ASE for people who don't know what that is? Jordan McKay: It's Alternative Service Experience and we do an alternative break, basically. Dave Blanks: Like you could go to the beach, but instead... Jordan McKay: Right, we're doing service. Maybe at the beach. Dave Blanks: Right. Okay, cool. Well I hope you enjoy yourself and help lot of people. Jordan McKay: Thank you so much. Dave Blanks: Yeah, thank you. Dave Blanks: Fantastic answers. Not many people know the old saying. Thanks to everybody who let me bother them. All the students. I appreciate your time. That's another one in the books, y'all. I'm Dave Blanks. This has been Dave by the Bell.
042 Valentine’s Dave 2020
Feb 14 2020
042 Valentine’s Dave 2020
On this Valentine's Day special, Dave interviews App State students to discover what they truly love.   Transcript Dave Blanks: February the 14th. Valentine's day, folks. So when I say that, does it strike dark, fearful, dread to the very core of your heart? Or, does it carry you away on a sweet zephyr with like chocolate whispers, and pink stuff, and red stuff, and stuff that smells good and that kind of you know lovey stuff? Love, right? Love is the topic for today, on the Valentine's Dave by the Bell. Dave Blanks: Ha ha. Dave Blanks: Yeah. I'm asking App State students about a love that they had back then. They still have it now. Come along with me, won't you? The answers are waiting for us right out on Sanford Mall. Lauren Stander: I really like going on outdoor adventures, like hiking. But also pretending along the way that I'm doing something else. Dave Blanks: Like what? Lauren Stander: Like I'm in Lord of The Rings or something. Dave Blanks: Heck yes. All right. So, I love that. Okay. And can you do me a favor and finish this sentence? Love is... Lauren Stander: Communication. Quinn Fisher: I'm Quinn Fisher. I'd say drawing. My sister one day came home from art class and she drew what she called manga. It was not manga, or manga. It was horrifying. But that started all four of us drawing and competing with one another. Dave Blanks: Was she your older sister? Quinn Fisher: Yeah. Dave Blanks: Okay. Quinn Fisher: She was in fourth grade, I was in kindergarten. Dave Blanks: And you saw what she brought home from art class, and in kindergarten you were so horrified. Quinn Fisher: Oh, I thought it was phenomenal at the time. Dave Blanks: Oh, you loved it? Oh. Quinn Fisher: Looking back, we all cringe at our old art though. It's like... Dave Blanks: Wait. So at the time you were like blown away? Quinn Fisher: Oh, I was totally impressed. Dave Blanks: Well, give your sister a shout out for being the inspiration for the thing that you still love. Quinn Fisher: Yeah. Dave Blanks: So, what's your sister's name? Quinn Fisher: Arafel Fisher. Dave Blanks: All right. Quinn Fisher: She's great. Dave Blanks: All right. Arafel? Quinn Fisher: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Dave Blanks: All right, cool. So now can you finish this sentence? Love is... Quinn Fisher: Fulfilling. It nourishes you. Dave Blanks: Ah. Quinn Fisher: It doesn't matter what you love, as long as it gives you that warm feeling and makes you happy. You don't have to love someone or be in a relationship. Just... Dave Blanks: Draw something cool for Valentine's day. Quinn Fisher: Draw something cool from Valentine's day! Clara Upsall: I'm Clara Upsall. Clara Upsall: Music. Dave Blanks: Okay. What was the first music that you fell in love with? Clara Upsall: Oh God. Taylor Swift. Dave Blanks: T Swizzle. All right. What song by Taylor Swift were you like, "Yes, this is my jam."? Clara Upsall: Our song... Dave Blanks: Our song? Clara Upsall: Yeah. Dave Blanks: Oh, is that... Is that the Tim McGraw thing? Clara Upsall: No. Dave Blanks: No, no. Clara Upsall: That's a new one, though. Dave Blanks: How does Our... Tim McGraw is really good. How does Our Song go? Clara Upsall: "Our song is a slamming screen door." Dave Blanks: Oh yeah. The slamming screen door song. Clara Upsall: Yeah, that one. Dave Blanks: All right, I won't make you sing anymore of it. Clara Upsall: Okay. Dave Blanks: That was great. That's a good one. So you still love Taylor Swift? Clara Upsall: No, I hate her now. Dave Blanks: Wait! No, the point was you've got to have something that you love. Clara Upsall: Oh, that I still love? Dave Blanks: That you still love. Clara Upsall: Oh, I said music. Dave Blanks: Oh yeah, that's right. And she was the first one. Clara Upsall: Yeah. Dave Blanks: Yeah, but music. Overarching, music. Clara Upsall: Yeah. Dave Blanks: Yeah, okay. All right. Fair enough. Fair enough. Clara Upsall: Yes, mm-hmm (affirmative). Dave Blanks: Okay. All right. Here's the second part. Can you finish this sentence just right off the top of your head? Love is... Clara Upsall: Hard. Dave Blanks: Love is hard. Clara Upsall: Yeah. Dave Blanks: Yeah. Okay. What's hard about love? Clara Upsall: Oh man. Finding it. Dave Blanks: Yeah? Colin Bokhoven: I am Colin Bokhoven. I loved my pets in the past, and I guess I love my new ones. Dave Blanks: Tell me about your pets that you have now that you love. Colin Bokhoven: Currently I have two snakes, but I used to own cats, dogs, birds. Dave Blanks: What are your snakes names? Colin Bokhoven: Apollo and Chupacabra. Dave Blanks: What kind of snake is Apollo? Colin Bokhoven: Corn snake. Dave Blanks: And Chupacabra, also a corn snake? Colin Bokhoven: Nope, he's a ball Python. Dave Blanks: Right on. How long have you had Apollo and Chupacabra? Colin Bokhoven: Apollo for 11 years. Dave Blanks: Whoa. Colin Bokhoven: And the other one for two and a half. Dave Blanks: So which one's your... I can't really make you choose favorites. Colin Bokhoven: Oh no, I have a favorite. Dave Blanks: Oh, Apollo's clearly your favorite. Colin Bokhoven: Yeah, the other one's a little mean. Dave Blanks: Okay. Well, you know, maybe he'll mellow out when he gets older. Colin Bokhoven: Hopefully. Dave Blanks: Well good luck making Chupacabra chill out. Oh Hey. And here's the second part. Finish this sentence. Love is... Colin Bokhoven: The death of me. Dave Blanks: "Our song is a slamming screen door... Cyndal Guffy: I'm [inaudible 00:04:17]. I'd have to say science. I like learning about planets and everything, and about animals and everything when I was younger. And as that sort of... I've gained more knowledge in that subject. It's just expanded how much there is to love about it. Dave Blanks: Do you want to give a shout out to somebody from your childhood that maybe supported you in loving the planets and learning about animals? Cyndal Guffy: Probably my mom. Just because... I know that's probably a generic answer, but... Dave Blanks: No, it was a great answer. Yeah. Not every mom is super supportive of that. So your mom was. Cyndal Guffy: Yeah, she always said that if you have something you want to reach for, always reach for it. Dave Blanks: I love that. Okay. Now finish this sentence, and then we'll be done and you can go on about your life. So can you tell me, finish this sentence. Love is... Cyndal Guffy: What you make of it. It's your actions. It's who you think about at the end of the day, or whenever you find something cool online that you want to share it with. It's small acts, and it's big things, too. Adam Zebzda: I'm Adam Zebzda. Adam Zebzda: I love procrastinating, back then and still today. Dave Blanks: What about procrastination do you love? Because it stresses me out when I do it, although I do it like I love it. Adam Zebzda: The adrenaline is worth the risk. Dave Blanks: Ah. You feed off the adrenaline. Adam Zebzda: I feed off the adrenaline. Dave Blanks: Do you feel like you're better because you're freaking out about it? Adam Zebzda: Who doesn't love a silent panic attack? Dave Blanks: I'm having one right now. Adam Zebzda: Exactly. Exactly. Dave Blanks: Can you finish this sentence? Love... Adam Zebzda: Fake. Victoria O'Conner: I'm Victoria O'Connor. I love horses. Dave Blanks: What was the first horse that you loved? Victoria O'Conner: This horse named Lady. Dave Blanks: What was so great about Lady? Victoria O'Conner: She was the first horse I ever road. Dave Blanks: That was it? That was all she had to do was show up and be the only horse there, and you're like, "I love you Lady."? Victoria O'Conner: Yes. Dave Blanks: Is there... Victoria O'Conner: I had low expectations when I was a kid. Dave Blanks: Yeah, well, you hadn't had any other experiences. This is the first horse you ever were riding. Okay, cool. So, here's the second part of the question. Finish this sentence. Love is... Victoria O'Conner: Kind. Dave Blanks: Oh, that's good. Jorma: My name is Jorma. Dave Blanks: And Yourma, who is this here? Jorma: This is my girlfriend Molly. Dave Blanks: Hi Molly. Molly: Hi. Dave Blanks: So Valentine's is coming up and it's all about love, right? Lovey-dovey. Jorma: Supposedly. Dave Blanks: You are holding hands, having a good time. Jorma: I didn't say I didn't love her, I just said Valentine's Day might not be... Dave Blanks: No, no. She's great. Feelings... So, Jorma, your feelings about Valentine's. Jorma: More of a corporate holiday than anything else. Dave Blanks: Gotcha. Jorma: But the girls like it. Dave Blanks: Molly? Molly: I just want him to buy me flowers. Dave Blanks: Yeah, perfect. Easy. You got this. All right. Jorma: Well, fair enough. Dave Blanks: So here's the question. Jorma... Jorma: Yes. Dave Blanks: Can you name something that you loved when you were younger that you still love to this day? Jorma: I love star Wars. Greatest thing ever. Dave Blanks: Right. Awesome. Molly? Molly: I love the Beatles. Dave Blanks: Yeah, Star Wars and the Beatles? All right, that's awesome. All right, finish this sentence. Love... Molly: Nice. Dave Blanks: It is nice! Jorma, you finish it. Love is... Jorma: Work. Dave Blanks: Love is work. Molly: Thanks. Jorma: But worth it, but worth it. Get that in there, but worth it. Dave Blanks: Work that's worth it. All right. All right. Excellent. Hey, y'all have a fantastic Valentine's day. Molly: Thank you. Dave Blanks: Thanks for your answers. Lauren: My name is Lauren. Dave Blanks: Something you loved when you were younger that you still love now. Go. Lauren: Cartoons. Dave Blanks: Okay. What's your favorite cartoon? Lauren: Scooby Doo. Dave Blanks: What monster do you think is the coolest monster? Lauren: Oh, you can't choose that. Dave Blanks: I'm putting you on the spot. There are so many monsters. Angel Martinez: Angel Martinez. I love cartoons. Dave Blanks: What cartoon do you love the most? Angel Martinez: Any of them. Dave Blanks: Scooby Doo. Your feelings about Scooby doo? Angel Martinez: Scooby Doo? I used to be big in Scooby Doo. Dave Blanks: That was what the last girl said. I was really hoping you'd be like, "Yeah, Scooby Doo is my favorite." And that'd be like "Go get her!" All right. That was a great answer. Okay. Can you finish this sentence and then I'll totally leave you alone? Love is... Angel Martinez: I have no idea. Dave Blanks: Star Wars, the Beatles, cartoons and cartoons. Jack Lusk: I'm Jack Lusk. I love discovering things. Finding out new things and going new places. Dave Blanks: Where do you think you got this need to discover and explore? Jack Lusk: I had some woods behind my house, some really tall trees. So, climbing trees, going in the woods, thinking I found something cool even though it might've been like a broken bottle or something like that. Dave Blanks: Do you feel like you've still retained this fascination with mystery like that? Jack Lusk: Yeah. I find I'm finding something new every day or learning something new everyday, it kind of takes away from mediocrity of doing the same thing. Dave Blanks: Are you studying to be a treasure hunter here at Appalachian State? Jack Lusk: Dude, I wish. But no, I'm astrophysics. Dave Blanks: Oh. Jack Lusk: So I feel like I can definitely find some new stuff out in space. Dave Blanks: Yeah. You can make some serious discoveries. All right. Finish this sentence. Love is... Jack Lusk: A treasure. Dave Blanks: Oh, Yeah. Love is a treasure. That's nice, that's a really nice. Kevion Chunn: I'm Kevion Chunn. I love McDonald's chicken nuggets. Dave Blanks: Do you remember when you first fell in love with McDonald's chicken nuggets? Kevion Chunn: Yes. Dave Blanks: When was it? Kevion Chunn: I was five. Dave Blanks: What happened? Kevion Chunn: I had honey mustard. Dave Blanks: Ooh. That's good stuff. All right. You still sticking with the same dipping sauce, too? Kevion Chunn: No, now I go for the McDonald's sauce. Dave Blanks: Everybody has their own specialty sauce now. Kevion Chunn: Yeah, it's all the same, though. Cook Out has the same one as like Chick-fil-A. And Chick-Fil-A had the same one as Zaxby's. It's all the same. Dave Blanks: Bo Jangles has one that's kind of slightly different, I feel like. Finish this sentence. Love is... Kevion Chunn: Complicated. Dave Blanks: Thank you for your answers. Kevion Chunn: Sorry? Dave Blanks: Have a good Valentine's. No, it's good. I appreciate you. Thank you. Kevion Chunn: No problem. Riley Caldwell: I'm Riley Caldwell. I love books. The first book that I really cried over was The Book Thief. And, it's really good. Dave Blanks: Yeah? Riley Caldwell: It's really sad, but it's really good. Dave Blanks: All right. What about a book recommendation in reference to Valentine's Day? Riley Caldwell: If you're alone for Valentine's Day... Dave Blanks: Right. Riley Caldwell: You're A Badass is a really good book. Dave Blanks: Okay. Riley Caldwell: It's good for self-confidence. So, if you are thinking really negatively about what's going on in your life right now, you just need to keep focusing and keep working on getting towards your goals, because you'll get there eventually. Dave Blanks: Awesome. Riley Caldwell: A lot of manifestation kind of stuff. Dave Blanks: Awesome. Cool. Riley, can you finish this sentence for me, and then I'll let you go? Riley Caldwell: Okay. Dave Blanks: Love is... Riley Caldwell: Special. Love is special. Dave Blanks: Thank you Riley. Kaleb Geisler-Zukaitis: I'm Kaleb Geisler-Zukaitis. Dave Blanks: All right, Kaleb. So, it's almost Valentine's. Did you know that? Kaleb Geisler-Zukaitis: I did. Dave Blanks: All right. How do you feel about Valentine's? Are you pro-Valentine's, anti-Valentines, or neutral? Kaleb Geisler-Zukaitis: I love it. Dave Blanks: What do you love about it? Kaleb Geisler-Zukaitis: Falling in love and seeing people in love. But unfortunately, I'm a single guy. Dave Blanks: Oh no, Kaleb. Kaleb Geisler-Zukaitis: So, if anybody's listening to this who needs a boyfriend, you have my name. Dave Blanks: How would they contact you? Kaleb Geisler-Zukaitis: Yeah, you can get my Instagram. It's a Laleb_and_Loki. L-O-K-I. Dave Blanks: You will certainly find someone, I'm sure. So, Kaleb, here's the question. Name something you loved when you were younger that you still love to this very day. Kaleb Geisler-Zukaitis: I love video games. Dave Blanks: What was your first video game that was like, "This one I love"? Kaleb Geisler-Zukaitis: I think, Legend of Zelda. Majora's Mask. Dave Blanks: What about Majora's Mask did you love so much? Kaleb Geisler-Zukaitis: That's a good story. You know that was back when you couldn't Google everything in video games. You had to figure it out for yourself. Dave Blanks: It was a different time, right? A simpler time. Kaleb Geisler-Zukaitis: It was. Dave Blanks: Finish this sentence and I'll let you go. It looks like your cold. Love is... Kaleb Geisler-Zukaitis: Great. Dave Blanks: Thanks Kaleb. Kaleb Geisler-Zukaitis: Yeah, thank you. Dave Blanks: You did great. Yeah, appreciate it. Kaleb Geisler-Zukaitis: Thank you. Dave Blanks: So the podcast is called Dave By The Bell. It's on iTunes and Spotify. Kaleb Geisler-Zukaitis: Dave By The Bell. When will you put this on? Dave Blanks: Soon. All right? Have a good day. Kaleb. You're in there, okay, don't worry about it. God, Kaleb. Dave Blanks: A lot of positive love vibes going on here for Valentine's day. Some people spending Valentine's a with the one they love. Some people spending it alone. But just remember, on Valentine's day you are a bad ass. Hey students, thank you for talking to me. I appreciate you bearing your heart and sharing what you love. Happy Valentine's, everyone out there. I'm Dave Blanks, and this has been Dave By The Bell.
041 Turkey Day Embarrassment
Dec 19 2019
041 Turkey Day Embarrassment
Appalachian State University students share surprising and embarrassing moments from their recent Fall Break.   Dave Blanks: Hey folks, what's up? My name's Dave Blanks from University Communications and I'm back again with a Dave By The Bell. On this edition of Dave By The Bell, the students are smack dab in the middle of final examinations. They're walking around being stressed out, potentially. Maybe they're super prepared, possibly they are not super prepared. They're in final exams now, but they also just came from the holiday break, Thanksgiving. Many of them celebrated, so that means that they were in close proximity to their family and sometimes when you hang out with your family, maybe something embarrassing could occur, something surprising might occur. So we're looking for surprises or potentially embarrassing things that happened, because those are fun stories. Katie Hines: I'm Katie Hines, so my brother is a really big stickler on everything and he saw my grandma pour a glass of wine and he said, "How many is that?" Dave Blanks: Oh my gosh. Katie Hines: He's only nine. Dave Blanks: What? Katie Hines: He's a major rule follower. Dave Blanks: Yeah, a real rule follower. What do you think he's going to do when he grows up? Katie Hines: He wants to be a lawyer, it makes a lot of sense. Dave Blanks: What's his name? Can you say his name? Katie Hines: His name is Henry. Dave Blanks: Okay, how long has Henry been such a rule follower? Katie Hines: Always. He's always been like that. We're used to it, but we can break the smallest rule and it will not get by him. Dave Blanks: He's going to be like a hall monitor. Katie Hines: Oh yeah, he is at his school. Dave Blanks: Wow. Katie Hines: Yeah, he's on the safety patrol. Dave Blanks: I kind of respect that. He knows what he wants and he's doing it. Katie Hines: He does know what he wants. He's very set on everything. Dave Blanks: How did your grandma handle it? Katie Hines: We just laugh because we're used to it by now, it's like- Dave Blanks: Oh, Henry. Katie Hines: It's, whatever at this point. Avery Pope: I'm Avery Pope. Yeah, my cousin was kind of being weird and rude to everyone. Dave Blanks: Okay, rude cousin? Avery Pope: So we cut it short. Dave Blanks: So that was unexpected. Avery Pope: Yes, that was unexpected. Dave Blanks: All right, maybe he was having an off day. Avery Pope: Yeah, he just got a dog, the dog is really cute. Dave Blanks: Well then the dog should improve his mood. Avery Pope: Yeah, it didn't. Dave Blanks: It's a big responsibility too. Maybe it's keeping him up at night. Is it a puppy? Avery Pope: It is. Dave Blanks: Yeah, maybe that's it, he's cracking under the pressure. Puppy pressure. Avery Pope: Oh yeah. Dave Blanks: Thanks Avery. Avery Pope: Of course. Alex Lipovan: I'm Alex Lipovan. I choked. Dave Blanks: What? Alex Lipovan: I choked on my food. Dave Blanks: You did? Alex Lipovan: Yeah. Dave Blanks: What was it you were eating? Alex Lipovan: It was mashed potatoes. Dave Blanks: How did you do that? Alex Lipovan: I know, I think I was talking and then eating at the same time and just- Dave Blanks: How bad was it? Alex Lipovan: I was tearing up. Dave Blanks: Oh man, that's pretty bad. Alex Lipovan: Yeah. Dave Blanks: Did anybody try to help you? Alex Lipovan: No. Dave Blanks: What did they do? Alex Lipovan: They just kind of sat there and watched. Dave Blanks: At least they didn't laugh. Alex Lipovan: I got lucky it was mashed potatoes. Dave Blanks: Yeah, for real. I've never choked on mashed potatoes. Alex Lipovan: Yeah, I don't know how it happened. Dave Blanks: I figured you would say it's some kind of bone, or something like that. Alex Lipovan: No. Dave Blanks: Turkey bone. Alex Lipovan: No. Dave Blanks: No, taters. Alex Lipovan: Yeah, taters. Seth Douglas: My name is Seth Douglas. Well, most of my family's from Maryland, so we had a crab bake instead of a turkey dinner. Dave Blanks: That sounds awesome. Seth Douglas: And my grandfather made a very big mess under the table. Dave Blanks: How did he do that? Seth Douglas: Well, we were breaking the crabs and so most people were keeping it on the table, like grown adults. But I went to my grandfather's side of the table and I found it like what you'd expect like a little kid having. Dave Blanks: Did you call him out? Seth Douglas: Oh yeah, we called him out the whole entire rest of the vacation. Dave Blanks: Did he continue this kind of behavior throughout the rest of the vacation? Seth Douglas: Oh yeah, he's an ornery old man. Dave Blanks: Wow, he sounds like a character. So what's your grandpa's name? Seth Douglas: His name is Captain Dave. Dave Blanks: Captain Dave. Was he actually a captain? Seth Douglas: Yeah, he was a captain in the coast guard. Dave Blanks: Cool. Captain Dave. Here's to you. Eliza King: I'm Eliza King. No, my family's pretty embarrassing all the time. Dave Blanks: So you were totally not surprised by any of the embarrassing stuff that happened. Eliza King: Yeah. Dave Blanks: All right, gotcha. Hope Frohock: I'm Hope Frohock. I don't know, I guess ... We went to my sister's house for Thanksgiving. It was their first time hosting it. Dave Blanks: Oh, is she a new homeowner or something? Hope Frohock: Yeah, they just got a new house. Dave Blanks: Okay, do they have any kids, or just the two of them? Hope Frohock: Yeah, they have three kids. Dave Blanks: Three kids? Hope Frohock: Yeah, so pretty wild. Dave Blanks: So, they were always there, but it was at somebody else's house. Hope Frohock: Yeah, yeah. Dave Blanks: Okay, how did they do? Hope Frohock: It was interesting. Dave Blanks: Okay, what was different? Hope Frohock: It was just a little more chaotic since usually my mom is the one who sets up. So it was just all over the place. Dave Blanks: But mom was there? Hope Frohock: Yeah. Dave Blanks: How did she enjoy it? What was she like? "Not so easy, is it?" Hope Frohock: Yeah, exactly, yeah. Allison Eller: I'm Alison Eller. I don't know if anyone else does this, but we have the little poppers where you pop it open and you have the little colored crowns. Dave Blanks: Yeah. Allison Eller: So we all had colored crowns on and we're playing with our toys at the Thanksgiving table and I thought that might be a little odd. Dave Blanks: So what was your toy? Allison Eller: Oh, I had a little kaleidoscope. Dave Blanks: Oh sweet. Allison Eller: Yeah, it was cool. Dylan Coleman: I'm Dylan Coleman. I don't know, I was at the Thanksgiving dinner table and we were going around saying things we're thankful for. Of course, I'm a college student and I haven't seen my family for almost a semester-ish. So they're asking me college questions and just expecting very profound answers and immaculate experiences that I don't have yet. But yes, I just kind of told them vaguely of like how my semester's going. I don't know, I guess they were expecting something huge. Dave Blanks: How long have you been here? Dylan Coleman: I've been here for a semester, I'm a freshman, yeah. Dave Blanks: That's it? Yeah. Dylan Coleman: Yeah. Dave Blanks: Yeah, what do they expect? Dylan Coleman: Exactly, so yeah. Dave Blanks: It'll get profound, I'm sure. Dave Blanks: Or maybe not. Dylan Coleman: Yeah, maybe not. Mario Espinoza: I'm Mario Espinoza. I was with my girlfriend's family. They live in Valdez, which is close to where we live. Dave Blanks: Valdez, yeah, right? What's your girlfriend's name? Mario Espinoza: Shea. Dave Blanks: When you were hanging out with Shea's family, did anything unexpected, maybe embarrassing happen? Mario Espinoza: Absolutely. Dave Blanks: What? Oh, great. Do tell. Mario Espinoza: She has this cute little nephew named Lan and I love- Dave Blanks: Lan? Mario Espinoza: L-A-N, Lan. I love playing with him. He's only six years old, but I just accidentally pushed him. He fell back and hit his head on the couch. Dave Blanks: No, ow. Mario Espinoza: I was like, "I am so sorry." It was terrible. Dave Blanks: Oh, did anybody witness it? Mario Espinoza: No one else did, so I could just play it off. I was like, "Oh, he hit himself." You know? Dave Blanks: "Lan, I don't know, he just fell over." Mario Espinoza: No, but I was very apologetic. Dave Blanks: Is he okay? Mario Espinoza: He's totally fine. Dave Blanks: Well, thank goodness for that. Poor Lan. Mario Espinoza: Yeah. Grace Le: I'm Grace Le. Dave Blanks: So Grace, did you go home for Thanksgiving? Grace Le: Yes I did. Dave Blanks: Okay, cool. Did you hang out with your family? Grace Le: All the time. Dave Blanks: Constantly, right? No escape. Grace Le: No. Dave Blanks: So did anything unexpected or potentially embarrassing happen? Grace Le: Yeah, so Saturday I went to Concord Mills, it's like a mall. My sister lost her phone, so I was running around the whole place, trying to find it and then I ran into a kid, like the kid fell. Dave Blanks: How old was he? Grace Le: I don't know but the kid was probably around like toddler, I guess. I don't know. Dave Blanks: You smashed into a toddler? Grace Le: I felt so bad and then I was like, "I'm so sorry." And then the mom looked and then I just ran. I was like, "I can't, I can't do this!" Dave Blanks: You didn't help him up or anything? You just, "Run away." Grace Le: Yeah, because if I'd helped, I feel like the mom would've been like, "I can't believe ran over him." Dave Blanks: Oh yeah. So did you find your sister's phone? Grace Le: Yeah, we did. Dave Blanks: Thank goodness. I hope that kid's okay. Grace Le: Let's hope so too. Dave Blanks: I hope the cops don't catch up with you. Grace Le: I'm going home. Dave Blanks: Get out of here. Dave Blanks: I was looking for fun answers and I did get some fun answers. Thanks App State students. Hopefully you out there listening got sort of a vibe for what it's like as an App State student when you go home. Was that what the mission was? I don't know. I think that's what we accomplished. Either way, I'm Dave Blanks and this has been Dave By The Bell. Dave Blanks: You can listen to Dave By The Bell, wherever you get your podcasts like Stitcher or iTunes and on a Spotify. Yeah, so check us out. Search for Dave By The Bell. Tell a friend, write a review. I would be very thankful and if I saw you and you told me that you wrote me a review, I would give you a solid, super cool high five. Thanks very much to Pete Montaldi who handles our web stuff along with Derek Wycoff, also on the web team and Alex Waterworth, thanks to Chase Reynolds for additional photography. Thanks to you listener, for your time. Have a fantastic day and I will talk to you next time.
Special Video Edition: How Have You Changed | Commencement 2019
Dec 17 2019
Special Video Edition: How Have You Changed | Commencement 2019
In this video edition of Dave By The Bell, Dave talks to the Class of 2019 at Appalachian State's Fall Commencement and asks them, "What's the biggest change you've seen in yourself from your very first day on campus?" We are treated to heartfelt answers, reflective memories, and, of course...Dave being Dave. Listen to other Dave by the Bell episodes here: dave.podcasts.appstate.edu
040 Dave by the Bell: Is App State right for me?
Oct 25 2019
040 Dave by the Bell: Is App State right for me?
University Communications' Dave Blanks asks current Appalachian students what they would share about App State with a friend who is considering attending the university. Spoiler alert: Everyone loves Appalachian State University. Transcript Dave Blanks: Hey folks, I'm Dave Blanks, from University Communications back with one of them old, Dave by Bells everybody's been talking about all the time. On this Dave by the Bell, what we're trying to figure out is, if you are talking to a friend of yours from back home who's considering coming to Appalachian State, what do you tell them? What aspect of Appalachian State would you share with this friend to encourage them to come to App? So that's the question. Let's go ask some people and get some answers. Erin Moriarty: I'm Erin Moriarty. Dave Blanks: OK. Erin, so what year are you? Erin Moriarty: I'm a senior. Dave Blanks: Cool. So you've been here a little bit, you're familiar with Appalachian State? Erin Moriarty: I am. Dave Blanks: OK. So, if you were talking to somebody who was a senior, high school. Erin Moriarty: OK. Dave Blanks: If they were like, "Erin, why do you think I should come to App?" Erin Moriarty: If I'm trying to convince them? Dave Blanks: Yeah. I guess you are trying to convince them, if you, in fact, love App. I'm not trying to put that — Erin Moriarty: I do in fact. Dave Blanks: OK, good. Erin Moriarty: I like App for these reasons. Dave Blanks: Yes. Erin Moriarty: I think you can be an individual and there's groups for you to find your place. Dave Blanks: Mmm hmm (affirmative). Erin Moriarty: If you like sororities or frats, we have that. If you like hiking or mountains or fun stuff outside, we have that. If you want to go to school, we have that. Dave Blanks: Like, if you're educationally focused? Erin Moriarty: Yeah. We have that. Dave Blanks: Yeah. Erin Moriarty: And you can dress how you want, be who you want. There's not really a whole lot of judgment, I think. Yes, it's a good place to be. Dave Blanks: Do you feel like App's different from many other colleges in that respect? Erin Moriarty: I do. Dave Blanks: OK. Erin Moriarty: I think that's what sets us apart the most, is there's a unique feel in Boone for sure. Dave Blanks: Yeah, cool. Erin Moriarty: Yeah. Jamie Morales: I am Jamie Morales. One of my deciding factors for App, was just looking on campus. There's so many places that you can just hang out, and it's so chill and everything's so green. Dave Blanks: Yeah. Jamie Morales: So, I feel like you can't really get that in other campuses. I don't know, like NC State. Dave Blanks: Right. Jamie Morales: Would be a bunch of concrete, and here you can walk around and there's just a bunch of green. Kevion Chunn: I'm Kevion Chunn. Just an overall nice campus. The views are always nice, there's a lot of stuff to do. I can go hiking here, go to see the waterfalls. It's fun overall, and the classes aren't even that hard. Dave Blanks: What are you taking? Kevion Chunn: Gen eds right now, because I'm undecided for my major. Dave Blanks: Well, nice man. You're doing great. Good job. Keep it up. Devon Roddel: I'm Devon Roddel. I've lived for the most part in Florida. So I would tell them if they're from Florida, I know they're going to care that there's not mosquitoes up here. That's a big deal. Dave Blanks: Score. Devon Roddel: Yeah. There's a lot of appeal up here. You don't sweat just from being outside. Dave Blanks: Mmm hmm (affirmative). Devon Roddel: The environment's truly beautiful. But also, being in Boone and being on campus, there's a hospitality that's extended to everyone. And I don't know if that's unique to the university or unique to the town, but I think that's a really big draw that you don't see in a lot of other places. It's just an automatic communal feeling regardless of if you're actually involved in any of the tons of events going on campus, so — Austin Simmons: Hi, I'm Austin Simmons. Well, I have some friends — they're actually in other graduate programs at other universities. And they're actually having to take out about $30,000 in loans, just to go to school. At a place where they're going, like Wake Forest University, for example. Going to Appalachian State University .... it's number one affordable and they also offer teaching assistantships that you won't be able to get elsewhere. So it's really great financially for the student. Dave Blanks: Why wouldn't you be able to get the assistantships, like say at Wake Forest, or it would be harder to? Austin Simmons: Yeah. Well, Wake Forest University, it's a private school, so they don't offer a state-mandated teaching assistantship. So they're not able to because it's funded by the state. So, if you're in a UNC System school, you actually have that advantage. But it also differs by the college you go to and the amount of funds that are allocated to that specific department. Dave Blanks: Just one more question about it. What would be the benefit of getting that teaching assistantship? Why would you want that? Austin Simmons: Well, it covers all of my tuition, actually, and more. Dave Blanks: Wow. Austin Simmons: The more money the merrier, right? Dave Blanks: That's great. Phoenix Tefel: I'm Phoenix Tefel. I would say that it's a very unique campus. It's got a really good environment because it's not too big of a town, but it's still like a college town. Dave Blanks: Mmm hmm (affirmative). Phoenix Tefel: It's probably the most unique college, I would say, that I've at least been on campus for. Dave Blanks: So what are you studying here? Phoenix Tefel: I'm studying creative writing. Dave Blanks: Oh. What do you like about this program? I know you haven't gone to other programs, but what are you enjoying about App's creative writing? Phoenix Tefel: I really like all the other creative writing students. I've made a lot of progress here, within my own writing and the professors are all very salient and helpful. It's a really good supportive program. Regino Matos: I am Regino Matos. Mostly because of the environment. Dave Blanks: OK. Do you mean like the physical environment? Regino Matos: The physical environment. Dave Blanks: What do you — Regino Matos: The mountains. Dave Blanks: Yeah. OK. The mountains. Regino Matos: Yeah. Dave Blanks: So what do you like about the mountains? Regino Matos: I like that it's a cool area, is not real hot. When it gets here, there's always the wind coming through. Dave Blanks: Mmm hmm (affirmative). Regino Matos: I like hiking, so — Dave Blanks: Perfect. Where's your favorite spot to hit up? Regino Matos: Moses Cone. J.T Morris: I'm J.T Morris. It's a small-big school, I like to call it. It's got like a feel of like a smaller school, the campus size and everything. But at the same time there's a lot of amenities and clubs that you can join. So there's like something for everybody here. It's not really limited in the scope. Brittany A.: I'm Brittany Anderson. And I really like the mountains, but I've come to like it a lot more because it's really welcoming, and all the teachers and professors, so far, have been really helpful with everything, so ... Dave Blanks: Did you tour other colleges before you decided on App? Brittany A.: At UNCW, I went on a tour. ECU, NC state, the ones closer around home, but — Dave Blanks: I got you. Was there a difference in your tour at App versus those schools? Brittany A.: Yeah, they seemed a lot nicer. Dave Blanks: All right. Parker Hallman: I am Parker Hallman. It feels a lot more low-stress than I got on the other campuses, like the vibes from it. And it is honestly just a really great community. I feel like everyone really supports each other here and everyone's really connected on campus. Mattie Thomas: I am Mattie Thomas. It's such a happy environment. Everybody's so positive and happy and they don't judge, and it's just free spirit kind of. And you always learn new things around campus, which is really cool. Dave Blanks: What is your name? Lexie Green: I am Lexie Green. I was just going to kind of add onto what she said. Everybody that you meet, they always have a smile on their face, like — Mattie Thomas: And they're always so friendly, they'll talk to you. Lexie Green: Yeah. Students and staff — everybody is always so nice. Dave Blanks: Even Dave? Lexie Green: Even Dave, yes. Bethany Smith: I'm Bethany Rogers Smith. If anything, I'd have to say the experience of getting to know so many people of diverse backgrounds, people that come from different nations, different cultures and stuff. This place is so open to people that are of different origins and it's a good way to get to know the rest of the world, or at least take a step to it. And it's kind of fun just to get to see all the artwork and stuff. It's very artistic, very healthy environment kind of college, which is something that, personally, really draws me there. And I think that if you want to help make a difference to the world this is definitely the place to be. John Wynn: I'm John Wynn. Dave Blanks: OK, cool. And what is your name? Madison Taylor: I'm Madison Taylor. John Wynn: Well, I chose to come to App because it has a great community here, and the views are amazing. Dave Blanks: Perfect. Madison? Madison Taylor: I would say that just like everybody is really friendly here, and everyone's really inviting. And it's just a great school to be at, because everyone's just so open and you're easy to get along with everyone. Sarah Jones: I'm Sarah Jones. Your question kind of makes me think back about my first week coming to App. In the first place, I walked on campus and I was walking through Sanford Mall. Dave Blanks: Yeah. Sarah Jones: And I ran into about 20 people I counted, that looked me dead in the eyes and smiled at me. Dave Blanks: Aw. Sarah Jones: And That's how I knew I came to the right school. Then everyone was talking to me saying, "Hey," and it's very heartwarming. So I felt really welcomed. Dave Blanks: Well, you smiled at me when I first came up to you. And you were probably like, "You were like that when you came here," right? Sarah Jones: Yeah, probably. Dave Blanks: I think App does attract that kind of person. That's a great answer! Sarah Jones: Mmm hmm (affirmative). Yeah. Dave Blanks: So many fantastic answers from everyone I talked to. Sincerely appreciate everyone who answered my question, and yeah. How should I wrap this one up? How about, come to App, because it's exceptionally beautiful and everyone is very kind. There you go; that's a wrap. I'm Dave Blanks, this has been Dave by the Bell.
Special Video Edition: Did You Listen to Your Parents?
Oct 4 2019
Special Video Edition: Did You Listen to Your Parents?
In this video edition of Dave by the Bell, Dave talks to parents and students during Family Weekend at Appalachian to ask them, "What is some advice you gave your Mountaineer before they came to college...AND...are they following that advice?" Check out other Dave by the Bell episodes here: http://dave.podcasts.appstate.edu All Dave by the Bell podcasts can be enjoyed at http://podcasts.appstate.edu or by searching for "Dave by the Bell" on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts! Appalachian State University | https://www.appstate.edu
Special Video Edition: The Strangest Thing
Sep 12 2019
Special Video Edition: The Strangest Thing
In this video edition of Dave by the Bell, Dave Blanks of Appalachian's University Communications interviews first-year students and their parents during Move-in Day 2019 to discover the strange and unusual things they've brought with them to the residence halls. Other Dave by the Bell podcasts can be found at https://dave.podcasts.appstate.edu or by searching for "Dave by the Bell" on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts! Appalachian State University | https://www.appstate.edu
039 Dave by the Bell: The Strangest Thing
Aug 30 2019
039 Dave by the Bell: The Strangest Thing
Dave Blanks of Appalachian's University Communications interviews first-year students and their parents during Move-in Day 2019 to discover the strange and unusual things they've brought with them to the residence halls.   Transcript Dave Blanks: And here we are at Hoey Residence Hall. Glorious Hoey, in all its splendor. This was my, we called it a dormitory when I was in school, way back in 2000, but now it's called a Residence Hall. And we're talking to students who are moving into Hoey. That's what we're going to be doing on campus today. Talking to Appalachian State students, who are moving in, and their parents. And we're asking them what is the strangest thing that you have brought with you to campus? So, let's do it. Dave Blanks: So you're a volunteer? Elizabeth: Yes. Dave Blanks: What is your name? Elizabeth: Elizabeth. Dave Blanks: Hey, Elizabeth. I'm Dave. Dave Blanks: So what's something unusual that you've seen somebody bring in? And thank you for volunteering, as well. Elizabeth: Absolutely. Dave Blanks: Yeah. Elizabeth: Ooh, one guy brought in four lemon trees. Dave Blanks: What, a student brought in four lemon trees? Elizabeth: Yes. He grew them from seed. They were two years old, and he said it would be another two years before they produce lemons. Dave Blanks: No kidding. Four of them. Which Residence Hall is this? Elizabeth: This is Lovill. Dave Blanks: Okay. So does Lovill have like, enough room, for four lemon trees per room? Elizabeth: I don't think so. Dave Blanks: Do you think he's going to plant them outside? Elizabeth: Maybe. Dave Blanks: Yeah. Elizabeth: I don't know where he's from. Dave Blanks: Yeah, yeah. Wow. Cool. All right, well that's- Elizabeth: That's definitely unusual. Dave Blanks: ... That was very unusual. Thanks Elizabeth. Elizabeth: Yeah, you're welcome. Dave Blanks: All right, cool. Kaylen Herba: I'm [Kaylen Herba 00. Dave Blanks: Kaylen Herba. Hello. Kaylen Herba: Hi. Dave Blanks: I'm Dave Blanks. Dave Blanks: So you just moved into, what Residence Hall? Kaylen Herba: Lovill Hall. Dave Blanks: How did it go? Kaylen Herba: It went good. I just checked in, but. Dave Blanks: Sweet. All right. Kaylen Herba: Got a few more things. Dave Blanks: So you've been to campus before, but- Kaylen Herba: Yeah. Dave Blanks: ... but move in day was, how did it go for you? It seems like, pretty smooth. Kaylen Herba: Yeah. Pretty smooth, so far. Dave Blanks: Good. Kaylen Herba: Because it's not crowded. Dave Blanks: And what's something strange that you brought with you? Something unusual. Kaylen Herba: I think everything's pretty normal. I brought a lot of mac and cheese, though. Dave Blanks: Mac and cheese. Like, excess mac and cheese. Kaylen Herba: Yeah. Dave Blanks: You're mom? Mom: I'm the mom. Dave Blanks: Okay. Did she bring a lot of things? Mom: Like, for 4 years. Dave Blanks: Whoa, you brought four years worth of stuff? Kaylen Herba: I've got to be prepared. Dave Blanks: Yeah, absolutely. See you later, you all. Thanks a lot. Mom: Thank you. Dave Blanks: That's a lot of noodles. A lot of carbs. Oops, sorry. Dave Blanks: Yeah, well, there's a futon, that's not that unusual. Nothing strange about a futon in a Residence Hall room. Aiden H.: I'm [Aiden Henderson 00:02:07]. Dave Blanks: Hey Aiden. How's it going? Aiden H.: It's good. Dave Blanks: How was move in? Aiden H.: I haven't gone there yet. I just- Dave Blanks: Oh, you're in the process, right this moment. Aiden H.: ... In the process, yeah, yeah. Dave Blanks: So what's your Residence Hall? Aiden H.: Doughton. Dave Blanks: Yeah. Yeah. Doughton. So what is something strange, that you brought with you? Something unusual. Aiden H.: I brought Christmas ornaments. Dave Blanks: All right. Are these Christmas ornaments special in some way, to you? Aiden H.: Oh, I just like Christmas a lot, so I just want to decorate with them. Dave Blanks: So are you decorating year round, with Christmas ornaments? Aiden H.: Yeah. Yeah. Dave Blanks: Okay. That was, that was unusual. Jacob: I'm Jacob. Dave Blanks: Hey, Jacob. John: John. Dave Blanks: Hey Jacob and John, all right. So you have- John: From Charlotte. Dave Blanks: ... From Charlotte. John: Yeah. Dave Blanks: And your sister is moving in, but you're here at App already. Jacob: Yes, sir. Dave Blanks: Cool. Cool. Does she have some unusual stuff, maybe, that she brought? Potentially? John: Hedgehog stuffed animals. Dave Blanks: Right, okay. She's got [crosstalk 00:02:53]- John: She has this thing with hedgehogs. Dave Blanks: ... Hedge [crosstalk 00:02:53]- Jacob: And she has like, a little- DAD: She loves hedgehogs. Hedgehogs. Dave Blanks: Yeah, that's pretty weird. How many hedgehogs would you estimate she has? You're dad? DAD: Probably about five hedgehogs. Dave Blanks: Five hedgehogs. DAD: Yeah. She wants a real one when she moves out of the dorms next year, so. Dave Blanks: Gosh, all right, excellent. Are you in favor of this, hedgehog? DAD: I, you know, I'm not sure. I'm not sure what to make of having a hedgehog. They seem really cute, but. Dave Blanks: They are, they are cute. How's move in day going? DAD: They have it dialed in. Dave Blanks: Yeah, they know what they're doing. DAD: They are machines. Jacob: Yeah, absolutely. DAD: It's very efficient. So. Dave Blanks: Well, you all continue to have a great day. Thanks for your answers. DAD: All right. Jacob: Thank you. DAD: Yeah, thanks. John: Not a problem. Dave Blanks: You all have a good one. See you John, see you Jacob. Jingleheimer. Right? This is a good spot. Right beside the dumpster. It's a good spot. Rick Camp: I'm Rick Camp. Dave Blanks: Okay, Rick. So, who is your student? Rick Camp: Emma Camp. Dave Blanks: Emma Camp. And Emma Camp is moving into Hoey? Rick Camp: Hoey, that's correct. Dave Blanks: All right, cool. So Emma is coming from where? Where's- Rick Camp: Raleigh, North Carolina. Dave Blanks: ... All right, Raleigh. So you made the trip up the mountain, and she brought a lot of stuff. Rick Camp: Too much stuff. Dave Blanks: Too much stuff. Did Emma bring anything unusual? Rick Camp: A goofy mirror. Dave Blanks: That counts. Okay. Can you describe the mirror? Rick Camp: It's round with these stupid sticks sticking out of. Dave Blanks: It's round with sticks, all right. That's pretty weird. Did she make it? Rick Camp: No. Dave Blanks: Okay. Did you make it? Rick Camp: No. Dave Blanks: Okay. Logan Graun: I'm Logan [Graun 00:04:12]. Dave Blanks: Okay, Logan. So you just moved into Hoey? Logan Graun: Actually, we're kind of moving in right now. I'm just kind of getting my stuff out of my car, and then- Dave Blanks: Well then, this is a little break for you. Logan Graun: ... Oh yeah. Oh, yeah. Dave Blanks: All right. So, you brought things from home. Where's home? Logan Graun: Cary, North Carolina. Dave Blanks: Cary, okay, well welcome to Boone. So is there anything unusual or strange that Logan brought with him? Logan Graun: I brought a cactus. Dave Blanks: A cactus? Logan Graun: I did. Dave Blanks: Yeah. Logan Graun: A succulent, I guess you'd call it, right? Dave Blanks: Do you think you'll name it? Logan Graun: It's already been named. Dave Blanks: Can you tell me the cactus' name? Logan Graun: It's the best name. It's called Pokey. Dave Blanks: Pokey is a perfect name for a cactus. Logan Graun: Yeah, I know, I know. Dave Blanks: Logan, thank you so much. Logan Graun: Thank you. Nancy Smoots: I'm Nancy [Smoots 00:04:45]. Dave Blanks: So, Max just moved into Hoey. Nancy Smoots: Yes, he did. Dave Blanks: So can you tell me something unusual that Max brought with him? Nancy Smoots: A banjo? And a mandolin and a guitar. Dave Blanks: Not super unusual for like, the Appalachian Mountains. Nancy Smoots: I know. Dave Blanks: Is there something strange maybe, that Max brought with him? Nancy Smoots: Oh, shoot. I'm sure if it's something really sketchy, he's buried it deep and I have no idea about it. Dave Blanks: So the sketchiest of things, you wouldn't be privy to that information? Nancy Smoots: I probably would not. You know. Dave Blanks: Yeah. All right. Understood. Nancy Smoots: Yeah, I'm the mom. Dave Blanks: Understood. I got you. I got you. Rainy B.: I'm [Rainy Baumgartner 00:05:18]. Dave Blanks: Hey, Rainy, what is something unusual, strange, that you brought with you to Hoey? Rainy B.: I brought my knitting needles. Dave Blanks: Yeah. Okay. So, is knitting something that you've done for a long time? Rainy B.: No. Dave Blanks: All right. Do you know how to knit? Rainy B.: Barely. Dave Blanks: Okay. It would be weird if you were like, "No, I'm not into knitting." Then the knitting needles would be particularly strange. Rainy B.: No, I can knit a little bit. Like, I'm knitting a scarf right now. Dave Blanks: Cool. Rainy B.: It's a pretty terrible scarf, but. Dave Blanks: It's going to get better. Will you knit me something? Rainy B.: Of course. Dave Blanks: Really? Rainy B.: Yeah. Dave Blanks: All right, cool. Can you knit me a hat? Rainy B.: I can try. Dave Blanks: An App hat. Rainy B.: I can try. Dave Blanks: Okay. I'm going to hold you to it. Rainy B.: Okay. Dave Blanks: Thanks, Rainy. Rainy B.: No problem. Dave Blanks: All right. Have a good day. Rainy B.: You too. Dave Blanks: See you later. Katie Smith: I'm Katie Smith. Dave Blanks: Katie Smith, you're trapped in your car, so you can't escape the microphone. Katie Smith: I cannot. Dave Blanks: So you're moving into, where? Katie Smith: Cannon. Dave Blanks: Hey, that's right here. So, you're a freshman? Katie Smith: I am. Dave Blanks: Okay, cool. Do you know what you're going to study? Katie Smith: Cellular and molecular biology. Dave Blanks: Did you come to App just for that? Katie Smith: Kind of, not really. Dave Blanks: Sort of? Katie Smith: Sort of, yeah. Dave Blanks: What brought you to App? Katie Smith: Well, I live about 30 minutes down the mountain. Dave Blanks: Perfect. Katie Smith: So, close to home. Love the view, love the scenery and love what you guys do up here. Dave Blanks: For sure, okay cool. So, are you bringing stuff in here? Katie Smith: I am. Dave Blanks: Is there something unusual, or strange, that you have brought with you? Katie Smith: Oh, I did. I brought a stuffed animal with me. Dave Blanks: What stuffed animal did you bring? Katie Smith: It's a bunny. Dave Blanks: What's the Bunny's name? Katie Smith: Bunny. Dave Blanks: Is there something special about Bunny? Katie Smith: My grandmother gave him to me. Dave Blanks: Aw, okay. Well that's very sweet. Katie Smith: Yes. Dave Blanks: All right, well that's not really strange, but it's very sweet- Katie Smith: No, I guess not. Dave Blanks: ... so it counts. All right, well have a good move in. Katie Smith: Thank you so much. Dave Blanks: See you later, Katie. Katie Smith: Nice to meet you. Dave Blanks: Bye. Nice to meet you too. Kim Reynolds: I'm Kim Reynolds. Dave Blanks: And you're the Board President, for the Parent Board? Kim Reynolds: Yes. Dave Blanks: Hey, Kim Reynolds. Kim Reynolds: Hey, how are you? Dave Blanks: I'm good. Is there something unusual that you have seen, that a student has brought? Something strange or unique? Because you're helping with move in day. Kim Reynolds: Oh yeah. Dave Blanks: So you've seen some things. Kim Reynolds: Well, people- Dave Blanks: Something that stands out. Kim Reynolds: Yeah. People think that they can bring entire beds and dressers. And they haven't seen the size of their room, and their side. Dave Blanks: Aren't there beds in there already? Kim Reynolds: Yeah, their beds are in there already. Dave Blanks: Okay. All right. Kim Reynolds: But they think they can bring their princess bed. Dave Blanks: Right. Kim Reynolds: And their duvets and their feather bed, and all that. Dave Blanks: Right. Kim Reynolds: Yeah, no. Dave Blanks: They can't bring that. Kim Reynolds: No, they can't. Dave Blanks: All right. Kim Reynolds: There's not enough room for two people to have anything, because they provide a bed, a dresser, all that. But yeah, we've had some funny things. Some contraband and stuff fall out. But, yeah, other than that, it's- Dave Blanks: Business as usual. Kim Reynolds: ... Yeah, business as usual. Dave Blanks: All right, cool. Well Kim, thank you so much for your answer. Kim Reynolds: Thank you. McKinsey Law: I'm [McKinsey Law 00:07:51]. Kim Reynolds: Okay, cool. McKinsey, and this is your roommate, and what is your name? Evie Davis: [Evie Davis 00:00:07:55]. Dave Blanks: Evie Davis. McKinsey Law. So you all are roomies here in East, you just moved in? McKinsey Law: Yes. Evie Davis: Yep. Dave Blanks: All right. Where did you guys meet? Evie Davis: At a haunted house. Dave Blanks: What? Evie Davis: We worked there together for three years. Dave Blanks: Oh wow. Where was this haunted house? Evie Davis: It's in Youngsville, North Carolina. Dave Blanks: Okay. All right. So you know that East is supposedly haunted? McKinsey Law: Oh, we know all about it. We've done our research. We live on the sub floor, too. Dave Blanks: Okay. Is that the one that's like supposed to be the most haunted? McKinsey Law: Yes. Dave Blanks: All right. McKinsey Law: Yeah. By the bathroom. Dave Blanks: Okay, cool. All right. All right. So you all are excited about it? McKinsey Law: Oh yeah. Evie Davis: Yeah. McKinsey Law: I mean, I'm pretty excited. Dave Blanks: Okay, cool. So is there something, I would wager that the answer is probably yes. Is there something unusual that either of you brought with you to your Residence Hall? McKinsey Law: I collect antiques and I have an old doll from an estate sale, from the 40s, that I kind of just like take with me, and he's kind of gross. And I also have like a Jack in the Box from the 70s, that was my dad's when he was little. And we have like a bunch of skulls that we brought. Just, you know, I have snake skins. Dave Blanks: This is the jackpot of strange things. McKinsey Law: Oh, our room is just- Evie Davis: Yeah. McKinsey Law: ... Yeah. It's like a treasure trove. It's like it's Halloween all the time. Evie Davis: Yeah. Dave Blanks: A 100%. Thanks for your answers. That was perfect. McKinsey Law: You're welcome. Dave Blanks: You all have a great move in day. McKinsey Law: Thank you. Evie Davis: Thank you. Dave Blanks: All right. See you later. McKinsey Law: Yeah. Dave Blanks: That was crazy, right? Man, that was like the mother load of super strange things. Skulls. Snake skins, haunted dolls. I think we're done. I really, I don't think we need any more.
038 Dave by the Bell: Why Choose App State?
May 1 2019
038 Dave by the Bell: Why Choose App State?
University Communications' resident goofy goober, Dave Blanks, and UComm intern Alyssa "The Juggernaut" Rodriguez interview students on Sanford Mall to find out why they chose to attend Appalachian State University.   Transcript Dave Blanks: Hi, Alyssa! Alyssa R.: Hi! Dave Blanks: Hey folks, my name is Dave Blanks, and this is Dave by the Bell, and we are — Yes! Alyssa's excited ... Alyssa our intern. On this edition of Dave by the Bell, we're going to ask people why they came to Appalachian State University. Why did you come to Appalachian State University, Alyssa? Alyssa R.: OK, so it was my senior year of high school, I was applying to colleges, and I got this email from App State, and it was like, "Hey, we'll waive your application fee if you apply," and I was like, "Wow, that's cool. Like, I'm broke. I'm totally going to apply". So I applied, but I didn't really know anything about App State. So I started researching. Dave Blanks: Because you're from the coast. Alyssa R.: Yeah. Then I started researching, and I visited App's campus and I just loved it, even though it was so far. Dave Blanks: Was your family sad that you were going so far? Alyssa R.: I think they were sad, but they were also really happy for me too. Dave Blanks: I'm happy for you. I'm happy you're here. Alyssa R.: I am too. Dave Blanks: I'm happy all the students are here. Let's go talk to some of them, because we're ... Alyssa R.: At the bell. Dave Blanks: By the bell. Alyssa R.: The bell. Dave Blanks: Alright, so Alyssa, we're actually doing something different with this Dave by the Bell because we're taking over the Snapchat with this Dave by the Bell. So you're actually snapping as we're doing this. Alyssa R.: Yeah, I'm snapping, I'm also taking pictures, too. I'm trying to be on my A-game. Dave Blanks: A-game! That could be the name of your podcast, because your name starts with an A. Alyssa R.: We'll think on it. We'll table that. Reese Kennedy: I'm Reese Kennedy. Well first it was the location. It's kind of hard to look around and not want to hang out up here. Then, you know, all the people that I met that guided me through and brought me on tours and orientation, they're all great people. Dave Blanks: So you like the people and obviously the location. Reese Kennedy: Yeah. Dave Blanks: So you don't regret your decision to come to App? Reese Kennedy: Not at all. Dave Blanks: You think anybody that I'm gonna interview is going say, "Yeah, yeah I regret it"? Reese Kennedy: No, nobody's going to tell you that. Dave Blanks: Thanks, Reese, I really appreciate it. Reese Kennedy: You have a good one. Dave Blanks: You too. McBarret Good: I'm McBarret Good. I wanted to study Russian history, and they have a Russian language program, too, or we have a Russian language program. Dave Blanks: Right. Now part of it. So it's we. McBarret Good: Yeah, so I got to do both. I got to study under ... my thesis adviser is actually a Georgian refugee from the Soviet Union. Awesome connection there. My Russian professor grew up outside of Moscow, so I'm just getting a great education from both sides, language and history. Dave Blanks: Awesome! Annika Merkh: I'm Annika Merkh. The mountains and the beautiful area ... I'm from New Jersey, so it's nothing like this, but it's beautiful here. So, that and academics. Dave Blanks: What are you studying? Annika Merkh: Marketing. Dave Blanks: Oh, OK. So did you consider other options and it was pretty much just how beautiful the area is that brought you here? Annika Merkh: Yeah, I had other options up north, but this just doesn't compare to any of them. It was an easy pick. Dave Blanks: Well, thanks. I'm glad you're here, Annika. Annika Merkh: Yes, thank you. Dave Blanks: All right, and what is your name? Markie Khan: My name is Markie Khan. Dave Blanks: So Markie, do you go to App? Markie Khan: Yes, I do go to App. Dave Blanks: So why did you choose to come to Appalachian State? Markie Khan: App was actually a last choice pick for me. I really wanted to go out west, I thought. I wanted to be colder and I wanted to be in the mountains, but I like wanted to get on the West Coast, and then I looked to run for App. We both ran. Dave Blanks: Runners! So the running thing brought you too, Annika. Annika Merkh: Yes. Markie Khan: I quit last year. I really didn't like App when I first came. It wasn't really where I wanted to be, but I love it. I have fallen in love with the mountains, and I really think about people who have gone to the other schools and I'm like, "What do you do on an afternoon? Like go out on Main Street?" There's no mountains or parkway, and the sun and snowboarding. Dave Blanks: Being outside, obviously, is a big part of your life. Markie Khan: Yeah, for sure. Dave Blanks: Makes sense. Well thank y'all both! Markie Khan: Yeah, absolutely! Aayanah M.: I'm Ayanna McCreary. I thought about going to Charlotte or Greensboro, but App was the most competitive school that I applied to, so I just came here. Dave Blanks: OK, cool. What are you studying? Aayanah M.: Film studies and East Asian studies. Lizzie Botwick: I am Lizzie Botwick. Honestly, it's three and a half hours away from home, and that's kind of what I wanted. My brother and sister both go to school close to home, so I just kind of wanted to get away. I didn't even come here until I moved in. Dave Blanks: So you took the plunge. Lizzie Botwick: Yeah. Dave Blanks: What are you studying? Lizzie Botwick: Elementary education. Dave Blanks: Oh, well App's great for that. Cool, so how do you like it? Lizzie Botwick: I love it. I feel like it's the perfect school for me. Dave Blanks: Good. I'm glad you're here. Lizzie Botwick: Thank you. Dave Blanks: Thanks for your answer. Lizzie Botwick: Yeah. You're welcome. Sydney Powell: I am Sydney Powell Jr. Dave Blanks: Oh, you're Sydney Powell Jr.? Sydney Powell: Mm-hmm (affirmative). I came to App State because I love the mountains, so I was deciding between the beach and the mountains, but I like the mountains better. I like to hike, and this is a place full of positivity, so I just felt like it was a good place for me to grow as a person. Dave Blanks: How long have you been here? Sydney Powell: Three years. Dave Blanks: Have you grown as a person? Sydney Powell: I have grown as a person, definitely. I definitely wasn't in touch with who I was back then, and I'm so in touch with myself and other people now. I found myself along the way, but that's definitely what I wanted to do. It took longer than I thought it would. It takes a minute, but once you finally get it, it's the best feeling ever. Dave Blanks: Awesome, well you seem happy. Sydney Powell: I am. Dave Blanks: Well thank you very much for your answer. Sydney Powell: No problem. Dave Blanks: Keep going on the journey. More to discover. Sydney Powell: I will. Dave Blanks: See you later. Alyssa R.: Is the wind messing up the microphone? Dave Blanks: It's not good. It's not going to be great. Actually, this way would probably be better. Alyssa R.: So we should go this way? Dave Blanks: Yeah, let's go this way. Jaylon Cureton: Jaylon Ciertan. I like the outdoors. I don't get enough of that back home and then I also have a bit of legacy 'cause my dad went here. Dave Blanks: What do you like to do here at App, outdoors? Jaylon Cureton: I like to hike. Go to the Parkway with friends. Dave Blanks: What's your like go-to trail on the Parkway? Jaylon Cureton: I don't know the name of it. I just know that I go right or left when I get to the exit. Dave Blanks: Which way is the correct way? Go left or go right? Jaylon Cureton: Go left. Dave Blanks: Go left. Left, all the cool stuff's left, right? Jaylon Cureton: Yeah. Dave Blanks: Well thanks J.C. I appreciate it. Jaylon Cureton: No problem, thank you. Gabby Romero: My name is Gabby Romero. Money. App gave me a scholarship. Dave Blanks: So how did you find out about the scholarship? Gabby Romero: One of the admissions counselors came to my high school and was like, "Oh, you should just apply for everything." So I did. Dave Blanks: Then you got it. Gabby Romero: Yeah. Dave Blanks: Cool. So your encouragement to a high school student is would be "Apply for everything"? Gabby Romero: Yeah. I think a lot of high school students self-select, and they feel like they're not good enough or they're not what admissions people are looking for, when it comes to apply to the Honors College, or applying for scholarships. If you don't apply, you're in the same boat as if you would've applied and they said no. So, just apply. Dave Blanks: So do it. Thanks, Gabby. Gabby Romero: No problem. Kelsey Lam: I'm Kelsey Lam. I wanted a change of scenery. I live in the city, and I always go to the beach, so I thought the mountains would be pretty cool. Dave Blanks: Right? Was this your first mountain sort of, trip? Had you been to the mountains before you came to App? Kelsey Lam: A long time ago. So, basically no. So it's my first time. Dave Blanks: So what do you like about it now that you're here? What year are you? Kelsey Lam: I'm a junior, and obviously the weather is always nice. Dave Blanks: How nice is this? Kelsey Lam: Yeah. I'm enjoying it. Dave Blanks: So you love the weather? Kelsey Lam: Yeah. Riley Cullen: My name is Riley Cullen and I'm a freshman, and this is actually my first semester here at App. Dave Blanks: Welcome, Riley! Riley Cullen: The reason why I'm here is actually because my mom told me she wasn't going to pay for me to go out of state, and this is the only in-state school I applied to, so I kind of got stuck here but, I'm actually really glad that's how it worked out because I think I've really found a community here and everyone's so nice. I just really like it so it's all good. Dave Blanks: Awesome. What are you studying? Riley Cullen: I'm studying ... so I'm double majoring in theater and political science. Dave Blanks: Wow. What do you hope to do with your theater–political science degree? Riley Cullen: I either want to be on Broadway or I want to be the president. Dave Blanks: Well, either way, I'll see you soon. Riley Cullen: Yeah. Dave Blanks: What show would be your dream show to be on? Riley Cullen: Oh my gosh, "Fun Home." Dave Blanks: "Fun Home." Riley Cullen: Have you heard of that? Dave Blanks: No, I have not heard of the "Fun Home." Riley Cullen: It's so good. Dave Blanks: All right, I'll check out "Fun Home." Riley Cullen: Do it. Dave Blanks: All right well, Riley, thanks a lot for your answer. Riley Cullen: Yeah, you're welcome. Tatiana McGee: I'm Tatiana Mcgee. I chose App because it was the only school in North Carolina I was interested in. I didn't apply to any other school in North Carolina. Yeah, App was the only one. So if I didn't get in here, I wouldn't have went to college immediately. I would have probably moved out west and gotten residency. I chose App not only because of its physical location, as a geography major, I do like the geography here. The activities that are present here, you can't find anywhere else. I know people who go to NC State or Chapel Hill and they're like, "I miss the mountains, like kayaking, climbing, everything." They don't have access to it. Dave Blanks: What's the last super cool thing that was outdoor related that you did? Tatiana McGee: I went climbing outside. I went to Blowing Rock Boulders, so not super extravagant, but it's something you can't do everywhere else. Dave Blanks: That's awesome. Tatiana McGee: Fifteen minutes-ish down the road. Dave Blanks: Cool. Thanks, Tatiana. Tatiana McGee: Thank you. Dave Blanks: I'm glad you're here at App. Tatiana McGee: I know. I love it. That's why I'm still here. Dave Blanks: Stick around. Ian Gungee: I'm Ian Gungee. Dave Blanks: So Ian, what made you choose App? Ian Gungee: Mountains and trees. Dave Blanks: As simple as that. Ian Gungee: That's about it. Dave Blanks: Nailed it. Well, you got them right? Ian Gungee: Yeah. Dave Blanks: How nice is today? Ian Gungee: It's perfect. Dave Blanks: Are you doing anything outdoorsy today? Ian Gungee: I'm about to go peep Sanford, maybe do some slacklining. Dave Blanks: Yes. Ian Gungee: Yeah, hang out with people. Dave Blanks: Well, thanks for your answer, Ian. Ian Gungee: Yeah, of course. Thanks for asking. Anna Matthews: I'm Anna Matthews. I chose to come to Appalachian State University because I've always loved the mountains. I grew up visiting the area, but ... Dave Blanks: Where'd you grow up? Anna Matthews: I grew up outside of Raleigh in a town called Apex. Not too far of a drive, about three hours, but I just visited and I absolutely fell in love with the campus and the area, and I love how there's always something to do when you're done with your homework and everything. Dave Blanks: Are you done with your homework today? Anna Matthews: I'm not. Dave Blanks: Oh, dang. I was going to ask what fun thing you were going to do, but it'll be homework, because you're responsible and you always do your homework before the fun. Anna Matthews: Yeah, totally. Dave Blanks: Well, Anna, good luck with your homework. Anna Matthews: Thank you. Dave Blanks: Alyssa. Alyssa R.: Listen to all these reasons to come to App. There's so many reasons. Dave Blanks: I know. Well, you know, it's a fantastic area. Alyssa R.: We have some really awesome programs. Dave Blanks: Yep, awesome programs, cool people. Alyssa R.: Mountains and trees. Dave Blanks: Right, we got mountains and trees and rivers and slacklining. Alyssa R.: We love outdoors. We love Boone. We love App State. Dave Blanks: Right, so we want you to come to App State too. So if you happen to be a high schooler considering what school to come to, then please consider Appalachian State! Put it in the running because it rules, and it's awesome, and it's wonderful, as you can hear. Alyssa R.: I rate it an A plus. Dave Blanks: It's on its A-game. Thanks, Alyssa. Alyssa R.: You're welcome. Dave Blanks: Alright, have a good one. Alyssa R.: You too, Dave. Dave Blanks: All right, bye. Oh, wait. Alyssa R.: You always say some ... Dave Blanks: Wow. I'm Dave Blanks, and this has been Dave By the Bell. Alyssa R.: Exactly, that's how you do it. Dave Blanks: Right? OK I'll do it like that. OK, let me, I'll do that.