Fresh Faces: Meet your fellow students

In a few square miles more than 20,000 young people, of totally dissimilar interests, gather in one place to learn, grow, party, plan, play and love.

Where else can you stumble into a biologist barista serving coffee to accountants, philosophers and artists?

Anyone invested in the university experience would do him or herself a disservice to not stop and enjoy the company of these myriad strangers.

With that goal in mind, consider the profiles presented herein as a starting point in discovering not just CMU’s campus but also your fellow travellers on it.

Chris Strobel an equestrian trainer

By Maria Leone

Chris Strobel may come from a set of quadruplets, but definitely has shown his individual talents and personality.

When he’s not studying or working, the Stephenson senior enjoys studying business, painting and riding horses.

Strobel said he first learned to ride in sixth grade when his neighbors invited him to try it out. He enjoyed it, but had to be extremely careful because he found out he was allergic to horses.

“After a day of grooming the horses,” Strobel said, “my eye started to swell up and that’s when I found out I had an allergic reaction.”

Now when he rides, he said Zyrtec becomes his best friend.

He sees riding as a great way to relieve stress and likes to focus on all parts of the horse’s moving muscles.

When he was younger, an American Saddlebred bit down on his arm. That didn’t stop him from moving on with riding.

In spring 2010. Strobel began working at Enshallah Acres in Shepherd. He helped at the stables and also served as a trainer and assistant for students.

Strobel helped to train Sisco, a horse that had not been ridden in a while and needed a bit of a tune-up, said Diane Oyster, co-owner of Enshallah Acres.

“We were looking for somebody to help and Chris came at just the right time,” Oyster said.

After two months of not riding, Strobel got back on a horse and spent his Labor Day weekend on the saddle.

Last year, he was a member of the equestrian team, but said he is not on it this semester because of a busy schedule. He hopes to rejoin the team soon.

“It feels good to get back on,” Strobel said.

Dennis Oyster, co-owner of Enshallah Acres, said he has seen great improvement with Strobel’s riding.

“Chris is a very good rider and knows what to do in certain situations,” Oyster said.

In addition to riding, Strobel also went to the Glen Beck Rally in Washington D.C., where he said he learned how to change himself for the better of the country.

The rally took place on the same day and spot of the Martin Luther King Jr. speech.

“It was really a great rally that helped people learn to be better for them,” he said.

Adam Ignacio discovers latent love for opera

By Rachel Mater

Adam Ignacio didn’t think he was going to fall in love with singing when he entered his freshman year.

“If I would have told my friends three years ago that I was going to be a vocal major they would have laughed at me,” the Florida senior said.

Ignacio, a voice performance major, said he was originally a music education major, but switched to a vocal performance major when he was a sophomore. He said he felt the spark for singing when he had to enroll in a vocal performance course to complete his major.

Ignacio said his family was surprised at his major switch.

“They didn’t see it coming, but they were supportive of the change,” he said.

Ignacio was in the opera “Don Giovanni” at Central Michigan University last spring. He said it was his first experience singing in a lead role and it was a lot of fun despite the hard work.

The opera was an important point for him and his father, he said.

“Doing the opera was the first opportunity my dad heard me singing classically, it was a big moment,” Ignacio said.

Eric Tucker, an associate professor of music, has really helped him throughout college years, he said.

“He’s been my best friend and mentor and he’s the reason that I’ve been able to accomplish what I’ve accomplished as a singer,” he said.

Tucker said Adam’s best quality is his persistence.

“He’s quite persistent at achieving his goals,” said Tucker. “He’s full of energy, passionate about singing, goal orientated and a hard worker.”

Tucker said he thinks if Ignacio sticks to the path he’s on he’s going to be successful.

Ignacio said his other interests include guitar, ultimate Frisbee and riding his bicycle when the weather warrants it. He is also active as a lead worshipper at the First United Methodist Church, 400 S. Main St.

After graduation, Ignacio plans to continue to graduate school, get a masters degree in Voice Performance, and live his love singing in operas or musicals.

Tucker said he has high hopes for Ignacio.

“He’s very personable, I think the world is pretty much his oyster,” he said.

Rainbow locks keep Tarin Presler sticking out

By Michael Hoffman

Tarin Presler doesn’t want to get lost in the crowd.

The Prudenville freshman said she would rather stick out and make a statement.

One of the ways Presler makes that statement to the world is by changing up the color of her hair to include a prism of natural and unnatural colors.

“I started dyeing it because I wanted to make a statement,” she said, “because people often judge others who look different.”

Presler said it is important to be who you are. Though fellow high school students might have thought she was a bad student because of her appearance, she still graduated with honors, she said.

“She’s not afraid to stand out, but more importantly, she’s always positive about what people think about her.” said her boyfriend Sal Bammarito,

She believes self-expression is crucial to being happy — another reason she dyes her hair as often as she does.

“It was kind of my way of being who I am, accept it or don’t,” Presler said. “It doesn’t really matter because I’m going to be me and do what I want to do.”

Presler also has several tattoos — all designed by her mother. She spoke of one on her wrist which is the Irish word for “thought.”

“My mom has the same (tattoo) on her wrist,” she said. “It’s what we got when I went to college and means that you are always in my thoughts.”

Presler is also an avid photographer. Her pursuit grew from an interest in family vacation photography.

Currently she is waiting to hear back from a contest she entered several photographs into.

But aside from her constantly evolving hair color, snapshots and tattoos, Presler wants to make a difference in the world, if only one person at a time, which is why she is a psychology major.

And though she said she isn’t sure which direction to take yet, she knows she wants to help people.

“I had a lot of personal issues when I was younger,” she said. “And it made me want to help people, and help make themselves better.”

Bommarito said Presler will succeed in anything she does because of her positive attitude.

“She is not quick to give in,” the Houghton Lake resident said. “No matter what, she always stays positive.”

Caleb Ross learns for the love of it

By Mike Nichols

He wears the Star of David, the star and crescent and a cross pendant hanging united together around his neck.

Meet Caleb Ross.

A Harbor Springs junior, Ross transferred from North Central Michigan College to Central Michigan University in 2009. He came to study religion but had no intention of getting a degree to make money.

He just wants to learn.

“People take religion classes for two reasons,” Ross said. “Either they are trying to fulfill a university requirement, or they are trying to further their knowledge in religion. I am the latter.”

To Ross, religion is more than just a belief — it’s an attitude.

With the majority of the world’s population religious, he feels it’s something people should be more aware of.

“People’s personal convictions or lack thereof is behind everything,” Ross said. “For a lot of people, it’s a way of defining your life and that affects things like businesses, money, politics, and even sociological classes.”

Ross is a Rastafarian, which he came to understand through the music of artists like Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. He believes God’s diversity accepts all religions as just different formats for worship.

“The only mistake people make is when they say, ‘my way is right, yours is wrong,’” he said. “You can find some common ground about anything and I think that’s what God wants us to do: accept each other.”

One of his favorite pastimes is Capoeira, an African-Brazillian martial arts dance form.

He currently lives with his sister Sarah Koves, and works two jobs. Both his father and sister graduated from CMU.

“I’m glad one of my brothers is keeping the family tradition alive,” Koves said.

Four months ago, Ross became a father. He named his son Saul, after the biblical King.

“The Israelites asked for a king and it just so happens that Saul means ‘asked for,’” Ross said. I always wanted to have a child. It just fits.”

The responsibility has given Ross a constant anxiety for not only his child’s maturation, but also his own.

Ross hopes to one day become a professor of religions.

“I need to know myself, because if I don’t even know who I am, how can I expect my son to know who he is and where he is coming from?” he said. “I can’t be on the fence about anything. I need to have answers for questions.”