**** Producer's Note: The following is a general transcript of LCC Connect's weekly radio program. Contents include but may not be limited to podcasts, program imaging, announcements, and PSAs. More detailed and accurate transcripts of the podcast episodes featured in this broadcast can be found at LCCconnect.com or by following the links provided in the show notes of this episode. ****

It's time for Stars on Sports, a.

Podcast radio show dedicated to sharing stories about our athletic program at lcc. Past and present.

Lansing Community College athletics has a strong tradition.

25 national championships, over 190 all Americans, 19 MCCAA all sports trophies.

Stars on Sports will introduce you to individuals that have contributed to our program success and give you the backstory on what it takes to develop it.

We'll also dive into and break down the topics and issues facing athletic departments across the nation. Right here at lcc, this is Stars on Sports.

Hello and welcome to another episode of Stars on Sports. I'm joined by our assistant athletic director, Steven Cutter, and our producer, Dadalion Lowry. And gentlemen, over the last week, as we wind down a semester, it just keeps coming back to me about fairness. And, you know, we've talked a lot about consistency and trust, and those, again, are at the forefront of what I deal with every day. And fairness seems to fit right in there with those two. And again, reviewing budgets for the year, making sure we're all set for moving forward with a plan, dealing with some discipline issues as we wind down, and just thinking how fairness fits into leadership. A lot of different directions, because they're the discipline component of it. They're the management component of it. I always live by life not fair and embrace it. I don't like adversity, but it does challenge and grow you. And I like how educational, athletic teaches you how to handle adversity. So I like the mantra, life is not fair and just embrace it, fight it, and, like, compete against it, like that's your opponent. And like, I always think of Big Ten basketball whenever you. You're playing a Big Ten basketball game, they always think you get gypped on the road by officiating. And, you know, I think, embrace it, because if you win a Big Ten game on the road, it's like two wins. It's like, you know, one you. You're not supposed to win and get there. So. But as a leader, I try and live by fairness. One of the best compliments I ever received is a kid would come up and go, I thought my sport was your favorite sport. Because I try and treat all sports as their number one. To me, I try and help every sport be the best they can be, and we can dive into that. So, Cutter, what do you think of fairness?

Well, I love the life is not fair. I use that in my own house all the time.

Me too, as a parent.

Sometimes it's a great excuse excuse. So sometimes it's very true.

True.

I Think as far as, like, from the coaching standpoint, fairness is giving everyone the opportunity to succeed. Fairness is not guaranteeing the outcomes.

Yeah. Again, just like we've talked about in this podcast, the outcome is.

It comes down to byproduct.

Yeah.

What you do basically.

Right.

When I researched for this podcast, it talked about having transparent communication, consistent standards, inclusiveness and decision making, balancing equality and equity, and bias awareness. I'm gonna start with transparency, because that's something I think we've tried to do here when we came to LCC at similar times, is make our athletic department more transparent. And I still struggle with it because one of the parts of being transparent is being clear. And sometimes in my own life, I sugarcoat things. I'm too positive and try to find a positive outcome. And everything that I've had to learn to be more direct and more clear. And some of it goes to the second thing of standards. But I do like to explain decisions. I do like to share information. It goes back to truth. Like my former principal always told me, like when you had to respond to an angry parent or angry kid, start with the truth. And I know you're big on the truth, but it's hard to go wrong there if you give the truth, and we know if you don't give the truth, how many issues that can create down the line. But I also think in sports, when lineup changes or suspensions, as we talk about, it's not easy, but being clear, focused, it builds the trust that set the foundation for future decisions and for people thinking that you lead fairly.

Yeah. I think with the players, I'll tell them to not ask for fairness, but ask for a shot and then prove that you're someone that you can count on and bet on yourself. And so instead of talking about fairness, we talk about coaches don't necessarily have favorites. Fairness and favoritism gets confused a lot of times, but it still comes back to what I said in the beginning of the show. It's about what you do. And if everybody is giving an equal opportunity, then it comes down to what you do, and you've got to be able to bet on yourself for that.

Yeah, I think actions do speak volumes here with fairness and what your patterns have been been, which leads to even having those standards. I know, again, you're excellent at having standards for your program. And you taught me, like, again, back to me being too nice at some times that it's okay to be kind, but if they're not meeting the standards, you can be kind and let them know that they're not meeting the standards where if you don't have standards, that's where inconsistency comes. That's where a lack of fairness can lead to inconsistency. That. That key word. And in our sports, dealing with star players or bench players, dealing with men's teams or women teams or teams that win at a high level or that team that don't is having that standard for your program that you can go to and it's nice to look at, hey, point right to this doesn't meet our standard. And that if we're not meeting this standard, there's consequences for that being consistent with that.

When I think about fairness, I think about last season's team. We won 35 games in the regular season and we were one of a handful of teams across the country at any level in baseball that did not make the postseason. Is that fair? No. But we didn't meet the standards of what the qualifications were to get in the post season by being one of the top two teams in our division. So instead of saying it wasn't fair, we just understood we did not meet the standards of what was required. Which has then helped this year's team immensely.

And that great example. Exactly. Because it was. When you look at overall, it is unfair, especially again, especially when you look at teams that just, you know, in tournament that have selection processes that might not make it or have a higher ranking or a better strength of schedule. That's where you see a lot of unfairness in sports. And again but switching it or the. The narrative to your own standard or these standards as they weigh to help navigate forward in a positive response, which is a good time to plug ero because how you handle your response gives you an outcome that's led to everything. But that's tough because the one thing about sports we've talked about too is it's public. Everyone's watching, everyone sees your decisions you make. So you have a lot of outside noise or even noise from your. I mean our kids are smart. They know the. That where we belong or don't belong. I think that's hard. But if you can get your leaders to lead that way too and walk the walk, that that helps them move forward and help them grow and compete and be fair in the future on the handle things. And that includes captains, leaders, having kids on your team that are leaders and lead fairly and lead with trust and lead with consistency because that helps manage the team when. Because we're dealing usually with things that go wrong or things that there's a Lack of fairness or a lack of communication, that having the kids be able to understand fairness or that life isn't fair as our parents have taught us to manage, that helps that narrative and moving forward. Another thing that I think big in fairness too, that I've also tried to incorporate is inclusiveness. And that leads right into a captain. I've had coaches tell me before that I'm good at leading when I need to leave, but I'm also good at letting them lead if they need to leave. And an example is like if we were hosting a wrestling tournament, I would do all the office stuff and management stuff, but the specific wrestling part of the tournament, I would let my wrestling coach do it. And I felt comfortable stepping back. But the other side of that too is even with this really happened in our league, if there's going to be a decision made, I try and get feedback from those that are affected by the decision, whether it's a student athlete, our student athlete advisory council or our captains on our team, but even a coach because they're the expert in that particular sport. For me that I try and gather information before I make that decision. And I think that's worked well for me in leadership and showing that I try to be fair. Whether you agree or disagree with that final decision, still I think helps with buy in and accountability by giving people a voice that might be impacted by that decision. You have a leadership team and a council. Do you give them the help on decisions or more just dialogue?

Yeah, I think there's bumpers there for sure. But you know, leadership is something that you learn how to do. And with 18 to 21 year olds, you know, they're learning how to do it. They weren't necessarily born like that. When I think about fairness in our program, we often talk about the word entitlement and a lot of times entitlement sometimes gets bled into fairness. And so we somewhat try to teach them that they are not entitled to anything. That includes playing time. And everything that you get is not always going to be what you deserve, but everything you get is going to be a byproduct of what you do and who you are.

I don't like the word entitlement, but I like because I do believe that can determine fairness and whether it's happening or not. And it goes back to even leading right into. Our next topic is self awareness. Implicit biases. The biases we all bring to the table. Equity, you know, equal versus equity. I always like the chart on the wall that shows equal being like three people standing On a fence and one short, one tall one. And a short person can't see it where equity is more. The short person gets the tallest bench, the tallest person gets the shortest bench and they're the difference there. And that's similar to the fairness that it should be more equity than equality. And that's something we deal with a lot as a team. But even me more as an athletic leader when trying to manage our sport, especially resource wise, I try and communicate regularly because it's about meeting the needs and giving everybody the same thing that I try and use a rotation pattern. I try and be clear on what they need. And again having a plan and working hard on executing that plan so that each program has what they need to be successful. And in some years it might be a set of uniforms, other years it might be equipment, in other years it might be staffing. But, but just managing that, but having that self awareness or even knowing what you bring to the table. I've seen a lot of accusations when a ad they coach of that same sport that oh, that board always gets the majority of funding or the more majority of the attention or even some of the high level sport. And again, working hard at being present at every sport or showing the providing resources for every sport helps the develop that pattern of fairness and equity. And the same with each kid on the individual team. I mean even communication. I encourage our coaches to talk to every kid every day. So that's not only your best player, but maybe your least talented player or you're a player that's struggling.

But that's also the beauty of sports is because it parallels life. And we were all taught that life was not fair. And if you can go in with a mindset of not having entitlement, you're gonna see that in sports are not fair either. And you may have 15 kids on the roster and only five play at one time. And they're all given opportunities typically before the games start, even at the highest levels. But coaches are gonna put the best team on the field. At the higher levels, maybe the little league, the coach's kid plays shortstop and you know all that stuff. But at the higher levels the best players play.

And that's an interesting. I wasn't even thinking about that as I prepared for this podcast, but I have dealt with that a lot actually because in youth sports I believe everyone should get the same opportunity. Everyone should play every position. It's about developing and having fun. Because I think we lose kids if we don't help them get better and have or have Fun. Now, having said that, I still believe it's always about developing and having fun. But as you move up to higher competitive levels, it becomes more about competing. And coaches get accused of a lot of playing favorites. And, you know, one of the excerpts I saw is, yeah, they do play favorites. Favorites are the kids that come to practice every day, work hard every day, do what the coaches ask, listen, and are they good teammate. And those kids usually are the ones that end up performing better. But over time, when playing time becomes separated and more, you start to lose that fairness perception. And coaches are playing favorites. And I hear it even at our level of those issues. And I truly believe. And there's issues. And that's why I don't mind meeting with parents or talking to people, because maybe we're missing something or maybe we do get focused that we forget to give some kids an opportunity that might be working hard because we also go with what we're comfortable with and feel like. But for the most part, coaches are trying to put the best kids out there. I had one baseball coach tell me in the past what a parent wants is the eight best kid to play, and their kid, that'd be the ninth one. And that's true. And you gotta understand where they're coming from and that they're an advocate for their kids. But yeah, another truth of playing time and showing favorites by who might get more playing time or get more opportunities. But overall, I believe the averages show that most coaches, almost all coaches, look for the one that give them a best chance to succeed. And that's as you go at a higher level. Again, I would think the use level, it should be more. Everyone gets that opportunity. But that also leads to frustration and how you handle that. And like when we dealt with kids that might not be given the opportunity, we say, obviously, the easy answer is work harder. I would encourage our coaches to be clear and communicate on what they need to do to get better.

That's a great spot when you can just start with personal accountability.

Yeah. And it is like day after, are you staying after practice every day to get better? Are you in the weight room longer? Are you doing the little things? Are you eating better? And there's so many things that you can hopefully do that again, back to life. It's not fair. There are some kids that work really hard that just don't break that lineup. And that's not fair. But that's reality in a certain extent.

In the game in general, is not fair. It's not who has the most talent when they line up, you know, on the court or on the field, it's who plays the best that day. So in a lot of ways, it doesn't matter if the team that's on the right side of the field, you know, practice seven days for three hours and had the best lifting and, you know, mental performance and nutrition, and the other team didn't have any of that. It's who plays the best that day. And so a lot of times that fairness can get looked at. Like, are you. You know, are you kidding me? But that's also the beauty of sports, is you can see what shines through on that certain day, and that's why the game's not fair either.

And that back to a point you kind of talked about a little bit earlier, taking advantage of your opportunity. If you are given that opportunity, take it and run with it. And we've seen throughout the history of sport people that have done that and never have looked back.

And we've had players that had sporadically played through a season play in College World Series and just go off. So it's. It's about taking advantage of the opportunities you're given. And then when the lights come on on you, if you put in the work and you've been diligent and intentional with what you've. Your processes, then you have a great opportunity to succeed. That doesn't mean that you're going to succeed. That's why quotes are like, hard work does not equal success all the time. You're going to fail still, but you're given a better opportunity. And so that's kind of why sports and life are really similar, because you're going to find a lot of things in life are not going to be fair, but it's going to be about, you know, how are you, what are you doing? And if you keep working, you're going to be given opportunities.

Yeah, because some of those opportunities are tough situations, bases loaded and two outs, or you're going against the best pitcher of the other. Obviously, the coach needed a change. That. That's when that opportunity comes. That. But it's consistency over those opportunities, not maybe just one opportunity. And also back to something I wanted to elaborate a little farther on is frustration. The motto I see a lot nowadays is us versus the world, Lansing versus the world, or Michigan versus Everybody. And it's because of fairness, you know, like, everyone's against us. You know, the rules only, you know, they're only applying to certain rules.

Sounds like a true Cleveland fan talking right now.

You know, it seems like a lot of my sports teams do have that motto. So, man, yes, Cleveland is against the world. We're going to beat them too, sometime.

But.

But you see it in a lot of, you know, that seems to be a cliche nowadays of what each team uses that frustration of not being treated fairly against that. Oh, they're against us that.

Well, I think that plays into the. Tim Grover, who trained Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant and really was cutting edge and has, you know, talked a lot about those times and what he did to help them become basically extra special. And he said the, the world is not fair and that's your, that's your advantage and most people aren't ready for that. And, and so that, that somewhat comes from the us against the world.

And that's what I back to the original premise of I like the life that's not fair. If you know that heading into it, bring it on, you know, and yeah, maybe I have to go four miles and you only have to go two miles, but when I accomplish that, it means so much more. So, yeah, I think that's a nice way to kind of, to wrap this up. But again, it's so important in our world because of, again, us being a public entity and us having to navigate resources of making sure everyone is getting, you know, what they need, not necessarily what they want. And so it's something I feel like I deal with every day, whether it's, again, we didn't even talk much about the discipline aspect of dealing with student athletes that might break some of those standards, or we probably didn't dive into enough about, again, just managing the resources so that, you know, we have Title IX parameters we have to follow to make sure our men and women's sports are treated equitably. But in the end, it's about, I don't want to think it's a bad thing either it's not being soft or not embracing the life is not fair thing. But the more you can show that you're being fair by being intentional, consistent, I think it helps lead to success, helps lead to accountability by people and it helps, you know, with the experience of you as a leader of getting buy in, which we all know helps be successful. Anything. You're awful quiet today.

I'm just taking in everything you guys are telling me, man.

That's.

That's it.

Well, hopefully it's something worthwhile.

So that's. Yeah, that's fair.

I had four different food questions here.

Man.

He's hard on me today. I mean, I think it's because I.

Think it's because you're always food centric here.

I think they're fun. We could talk.

I know.

Everybody likes food, right? Yeah. I mean, we could do favorite song or something, but what do you got? Let's go with food fusion. If this one doesn't go well, we'll go on to the next one. Like, I eat Mac and cheese, and I put ketchup on my Mac and cheese.

Oh, okay.

And I just always have. And my family has. But some people, like, get grossed out by me putting ketchup on my Mac and cheese.

See, I'm not a huge ketchup fan, but I do put mustard on my Mac and cheese.

Well, that's interesting. That kind of grosses me.

Yeah, and your ketchup kind of grosses.

Me out, so there's that.

But I'm also the guy. I will put mustard on my fries. I prefer mustard on my fries than I do ketchup. Okay. I mean, I'll eat ketchup. I just don't really dig it.

Okay, is there another food? Like, two food combinations you put together.

That I'll toss it over to cut. And let me think about that for a half moment.

Okay, Got.

Man, that's a tough question. I. I'll go back to pizza and definitely, like, ranch. So there's some.

Okay. That's becoming more.

I learned that back in college. Yeah, that became a thing ever since then.

Yeah. I have one kid that I think he. He had more ranch than pizza when he dips it in and. And eats it. But now, what do you think of the Mac and cheese and ketchup thing?

That.

That kind of.

Like, I grew up with a mother who just put ketchup on everything. So I became accustomed to it at a very early age. So I do not put ketchup on everything but ketchup with steaks, you know, just the whole nine yards. But I don't mind ketchup by any stretch.

It became a ketchup question instead of food fusion question.

And I know there's other stuff I do it with, but fries are what I think of the most because I also. I've actually been known to be. Put mayonnaise on fries.

Okay.

I'll put ranch on fries, barbecue sauce, you know, just all sorts of weird things. But I don't really care for ketchup on fries.

Interesting, because some people put ketchup on, like, their breakfast potatoes on everything.

Makes sense.

I'll do salsa on related. One of my questions was salad dressing. So we'll do that next week.

But French.

But fries. Because I think of salads. How bizarre salad that come and they put so many different ingredients in salad, which some are really good. But same with fries. How many different things people like. Do you like vinegar? I do not like vinegar on my fries. But I have one kid that does like vinegar.

See, that's funny because I don't like vinegar on my fries except for one place particular. And actually I'll name it. It's Penn Station subs. Their fries are awesome. Awesome with. With vinegar. And actually that would be a point where I also use ketchup because I'll take it. I'll dip it in the. In the vinegar first and then I put it in the ketchup and it adds to the flavor.

You like Pen Station fries?

I think for every home game.

They're easily my. They're easily. Yeah, they're easily my favorite fries before every home game.

So that's what tradition for you close to muni, you get something else besides or just fries subs. So that's like your meal is a sub. And Plantation fries. So my son, he likes them with five guys have great fries too. But he always puts vinegar with his five guys fries for some reason.

The other thing I thought of is I do have a jalapeno chip dip that I will put on almost everything. Yeah, it's called Helluva good dip. And it's like jalapeno, jalapeno cheddar. And I will put it on like tons of stuff just because it's good.

Again, another nice compliment that we use some of those we like like queso and chips and cheese in our family. So we like. My wife is big on using those dips for a lot of her ingredients too.

So I still think we ought to change it to Stars on Food. I'm just saying.

Well, still not meeting our time quota. It's not fair. It's not fair right now because it's only a quarter of the show. When it becomes a half a show, then we'll switch it.

Nice that you ended on it's not fair.

Until next time, go Stars. Stars on Sports is recorded live at the WLNZ studio. Engineering and production assistants are provided by D'Dalia and Lowery. And you can listen to the episode and other episodes of Stars on Sports on demand@lccconnect.org to find more information about our athletic program, visit lccstars.com thanks for listening. Be sure to join us next time for more Stars on Sports.

Go Stars.

Go out. Oh, I'll have a real good time.

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Lansing Community College Performing Arts presents the Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon by Don Zelaidis the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm are turned on their heads in this fast paced, rollicking ride as two narrators and several actors attempt to combine all 209 stories, ranging from classics like Snow White and Cinderella to more obscure stories. A wild freeform comedy with lots of audience participation and madcap fun. Featured at LCC's Black Box Theatre February 20th through the 22nd and February 27th and 28th. Recommended for ages 11 and up. All performances are free to attend. Visit LCC.edu showinfo for showtime information.

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Alumni stories a show dedicated to highlighting the amazing alumni of Lansing Community College. I'm Steve Robinson, President of lcc, and on each episode I have the awesome privilege of getting to know one of our many inspiring alums and hearing about their experiences at and since leaving lcc.

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This is Bob Myers from the Historical Society of Michigan with a Michigan History Moment. Anishinaabek children living throughout the Great Lakes region learned from adults and from the environment. Family members and friends taught children skills needed to survive. Like all children, Anishinaabek youths loved to play games. Some games were individual, such as foot races or wrestling matches. Others were team games, such as bagittaway or lacrosse, which was created by indigenous people. The name lacrosse originated with a French Jesuit missionary, Jean de Brebeuf, who saw Huron tribesmen playing it in 1637. He called it lacrosse, French for the stick. The name seems to have had its origins in the French term for field hockey, Le Joux de la Crosse. Native Americans played bagittaway on a somewhat grander scale than the lacrosse games of today. Native American teams could number as many as 1,000 men, and the playing fields could be anywhere from a quarter mile to two miles in length. Native Americans also referred to Bigetaway as the little brother of Western War because it often resembled battle. Younger men learned the skills of war, including agility, endurance, and the use of a war club, by playing, but getaway games sometimes resulted in injuries and even deaths and could last for days. Children would not play with adults, but they could practice on their own until they grew older. Many of the games Native children played prepared them for for future roles in the tribe. For example, a boy who won many foot races might become a runner for his community, covering long distances to carry important messages to other villages. Young children would also compete in bow and arrow contests, which taught them critical hunting skills. Among the Native American tribes throughout Michigan and the Great Lakes region, learning was a way of life. Euro Americans in Canada adopted bigaway in the 1830s. In 1856, William Beers, a dentist, founded the Montreal Lacrosse Club and soon codified the rules. By 1900, lacrosse had spread to the United States, England, Australia, and New Zealand. Rosabelle Sinclair started the first woman's club in the United States at Bryn Mawr School in 1926. Today, more than 800,000Americans play lacrosse. This Michigan history moment was brought to you by michiganhistorymagazine.org.

Examining the issues and topics that affect our lives from the local level to the world stage. Listen to the programs of LCC Connect anytime@lccconnect.org.

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Lansing Community College Performing Arts invites you to the Music Faculty Concert and scholarship fundraiser Friday, March 6 a special evening showcasing LCC's music faculty. This concert also serves as a fundraiser supporting the endowed Music Scholarship Fund, helping future students pursue their musical education. Seating is limited. Join us for a dessert reception at 6:30pm followed by the concert at 7pm in the Gannon Building at LCC's downtown campus. For more information, visit LCC. Eduardo ShowInfo hey parents Finding it hard.

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Founded in 1957, LCC has addressed the needs of Michigan industries through education for more than 65 years. Anchored by the downtown campus located in the heart of Lansing, LCC serves Mid Michigan communities with additional campuses in Delta Township and East Lansing. The college offers more than 200 degree and certificate programs and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Those interested in learning more about LCC may visit lcc. Edu Ubelong, LCC Connect Voices, Vibes Vision hello there. This is Terry Denise, a Lansing Community College student and your host of Ripper, an LCC Connect podcast where I interview others and ask about their unique efforts and connections in around and beyond the community of Michigan's capital city. Hello. Well, how's everybody out there today? This is Terry Denise on Ripper through LCC Connect. It has been quite a day. I am just getting over the hump of not feeling very well and I've got some gripes. So not grapes. I've got grapes. I was looking for cold medicine not once but twice and Felt the. I haven't actually bought cold medicine in a very long time because I usually have my own, like, remedies that I do. And my remedies are like, not available anymore. I don't know for how long the time being. There's like usually this juice that I'll get that it's ready made, can go grab it. It's a product that comes in like a glass bottle. So it's from a company that gets distributed across the nation and whatnot. But I can usually find it and apparently it has gone missing from the shelves. Usually when you start seeing a closeout or mass clearance pricing, then that's like, oh, this product might not be available anymore for very long. So this is a particular kind of juice that I love. It's not just a juice though. It's an echinacea lemon ginger juice. Okay. It's the best thing in the world. It's one of those comfort items along with, you know, like tomato soup or something like that. It's just one of those things that helps clear things up and helps drive whatever's going wrong in my body out. And for whatever reason this thing is, I can't find it anywhere on the shelves. I mean, I only looked in a few places, but I didn't look everywhere is what I'm trying to say. But while I was looking online, nothing was popping up in any other of the zip code areas that are adjacent. I even went as far as to look at other adjacent cold still regions like Chicago and yada yada yada, and I did not find it was just not there. So I went to the website of this brand and looked at some of the reviews and it was just like nothing but like four to five stars on this particular drink. And I'm like, I know, I know. I already know that. That's one of the best. And then I started reading some reviews and they said, not available. Why not available anymore? I can't find it anywhere. And I was like, oh, we wanted the like last regional spots where this thing was even being distributed at all because all of a sudden now we don't have it. And I'm very worried because some of the ingredients are like, you know, I mean, you got. Honey, you got echinacea. So actually, I don't know, maybe some of these things are getting too expensive to even and have these mass distributors even manufacture these things anymore right now. And I'm actually kind of worried. But that's just when these are those times where we all hone in on where our great grandparents like had this skill set that was coming off of the war time. And it's like, you gotta make your own darling. You know, you just get out of bed, jump into something, you know, it's time, it's time to make things work. It's time to make it all work. We have to make it work or the world isn't gonna work for us. We've got to work for the world. You know, it's just one of those things where you gotta. Okay, for whatever reason, with me personally, that's a snap too. Like I legit have that drive within me. I don't know, it's not that it doesn't necessarily come from any particular parent or anything like that. It's just my own particular drive. That's weird. Actually. It's weird to other people. I've noticed the strange pull at motivation for when it's like, oh, okay, I can't count on anybody right now. Okay, well, I must be pulling myself through. I didn't realize I was counting on people at all in the first place. So, I mean, that kind of certain awareness about. So where can I find the echinacea, you know? Oh, okay, well, I can't find it, just ready grown and everything like that. Okay, well, where are the seeds? Where is the soil? What kind of is the best soil? What is the ph balance of the soil I need? What is the best water? What is the best kind of sunlight? Should it be in the east? Should it be in the west? Should it be in the northern or southern sun? You know, once you start gardening, you understand that there are some places that things should not be in the sun for, or everything's going to die or not grow the best. So yeah, you, you start going through these factions of like how to do things and how to diy. Well, where are the books then? If I, if nobody can tell me where and I can't find anything online, where are the books? Because there's obviously books written. Somebody wrote about this at some point in time, took pictures about something. And yes, people do. People have. And that's where you can. Farmers almanacs are treasure troves, if you can find almanacs. I have a couple of almanacs that I've sourced out. Some of them are actually just specifically for the Astros, the cosmos and everything like that. Whether it's just where the sun is going to be, where the sun placements are going to be, or where the moon is going to be. And then you go on to like, well, what Should I grow during this time? And it's like, well, actually, because the sun levels are going to be like this, typically they're peaked around this time. So it's a good time to plant. Plant sunflowers, seeds maybe about four weeks out from this particular kind of sun that's coming, because that's when they'll grow the best or something. Or if you have ones that are already sprouted, this is the time of the year that you would want to plant. And everything that's based on tradition, that's based on oral tradition. It's based on people taking their little notebooks out and going like, oh, I see. And dedicating some portion of their daily lives to writing out and observing and recording and then handing that on to others and going like, oh, hey, I just noticed that over here the soil is. It needs toiling a little bit more than, you know, a couple years at a time or something like that. But it's only that one patch. And in that patch we just so happen to grow like sweet potatoes or something like that. So I noticed that sweet potatoes particularly need this kind of regular toileting. Other than, you know, not the shards or something that are growing over there, the Swiss chard. It's just, it's a lot of that stuff is the things that have kept us alive as humans. Because really humans, what are we, what are we out in the animal world, in the kingdom of animals? We are very weird, strange looking creatures. Have you ever looked at other mammals or other species and then looked at yourself and are just like, what, how did we though, what did we do to do this, to be this? We're very, very like, we don't have shells, we don't have like fur. We might be hairy, but we don't have, you know, coats of thick fur or anything like that. We're really just like out here all on our own. We're kind of like very raw out here, you know, as beings, you know, we've taken it upon ourselves to make sure that the progenitors, the next of our kind, can take some knowledge and put that to use and go like, hey, for the very bare minimum of what you get from us, here's a couple of things that you might remember on how to survive. Maybe, I don't know, try. I actually over Covid the lockdown that we had because we are in the state of Michigan, so we are under great lockdown. And many of, I want to say my kind, I don't know how to put it plain. I'll put it Plainly, there's four letters that we're heading into on the generational scale that we have been, I guess, inundated under. There's the last letters of the Alphabet, X, Y, and Z. And I'm right there smack between the X and the Z. And we are just the generation Y. And I often wondered why they named us Generation Y. Is it because you think we whine all the time or something? I don't know. Are we always asking why? What's wrong with that? What's wrong with asking questions? How else am I gonna find out how to grow echinacea for this product that I can't find on the shelves anymore? How else am I gonna make my own? You know, I love the product, but now I've got to rely on my own ability to try to make and suffice and think of my own that won't hopefully kill me or something like that or make me sick. That produces the same or better quality of a response and reaction out of my system. Oh, really? The millennials are technically generation Y. And people don't say that anymore. And it's really strange because all I hear all the time are X, zed, or Z. And then Alpha, which is the very, very next generation, which is already underway doing things. I don't even know what they're doing anymore. They're being loud, which they should be because they're kids. They should be out playing and being loud. And I'm glad. I'm glad they're out on their bikes. It seems like Alpha has gone the way of being very exuberant about being outside and playing outside. And, like, there are things. Why am I in here? Why am I in a caged box? I need you to be outside being wild and loud. And it's like, absolutely. Thank you so much. So, yeah, this oral tradition coming through, you know, the gates and everything like that. For whatever reason, during COVID many of my generational kind got into a lot of gardening and canning and collecting of things. I mean, this was obviously an anxietal reaction, but it's not a bad reaction. It wasn't a bad reaction because many of us went into, okay, it's time to plan, strategize. And definitely we're not going the way of Y2K there. I'm not gonna buy, like, you know, 50 boxes of beans or anything like that and store them till now. No, not gonna do that. I'm gonna learn how to grow the beans, and then I'm gonna store myself. That's what I'm gonna do because what if we don't have these cans anymore to put anything in? What if we can't go to the store anymore? I'm just gonna learn how to do this myself. Thank you. So we're looking for old recipe books. We're sharing things online. This is when a Pinterest like, took. Took off. Etsy took. Took off. And they were already things that people were sharing online and everything like that. But, man, lots of quilting, lots of makers of a lot of different. Different kinds of things. It's just like I'm brewing things. I don't know what's going on. It's like the days of the yonder. And it's like, yeah, we're like our great grandparents. Great grandparents, children or something. They say things skip generations. They say certain things skip generations. I hope it's the best of the best because if that's what it was, I am very appreciative to my ancestors generations for passing those things on. The Farmer's Almanacs, those great recipes, this skill set that just suddenly comes out of you out of nowhere. How to know how to dress up a dish or something like that. It's like, how did I know how to do. I don't know how I knew how to do that. I'm just going for a taste or something. But for the most part, these are great things to hone in on. I think that learning how to make this drink is going to be one of these things that I'm going to get into over this, over these next few months. Because what else am I going to do? A bunch of schoolwork? Yes. Actually, I'm going to be doing a lot of schoolwork. I'm going to be very, very busy. But I'm looking forward to, you know, like, being able to, I guess, put in place those things that are not helping or that I can't find right now. You know, there's this draw that I had to a particular artist. Sometimes once in a while it's just like. It's all I'll listen to. And that. It's a band called Queens of the Stone Age, Coatsa. Whatever you want to call them. And one of the songs that they have is called Fair Weather Friend. And that song is from like, Clockwork. I believe it came out in like 2013, something like that. But Fairweather Friend, I remember hearing that, that phrase and I had to look it up a couple of times. And while I was looking it up, I was like, oh, wow, there's a. Not only the phrase, but I was looking up the song itself, and when you, you know, plug in and there's the algorithm that comes out, there's a bunch of different songs named Fairweather Friend, both with Fair Weather as one word and as two words. So there's actually multiple lists that you. You have to find and you have to scrounge under. It just so happened that a few of my favorite artists have a song called Fair Weather Friend or Friends. Queens of the Stone Age was one of them, Johnny Gill was another, and then Johnny Cash had one. I'll go over some of those lyrics here in just a second. But Fair Weather Friend, I'm not going to take a direct quote from a dictionary, but it means that those that aren't there for you, unless everything is, like, great and grandstanding and perfect and just without an issue. So when you've got problems, it's just like, where's everybody at? Where is everybody? Why can't I find anybody? When I'm like, down in the dumps? I feel like I'm always the person that's like, how are you doing? Is everything going okay with you? And then when it's like all of a sudden, I realize at times, who asks me that I had to stop a few years ago and just start wondering. I'm like, does anybody ever ask me the things that I ask them? It wasn't in a way that was coming from a narcissistic thing. It was from going to therapy and realizing that I hadn't had people ask me questions about myself in a very long time, maybe ever in the way that a therapist asks questions or a counselor does. And you have to sit there and you have to scrounge, and I'm like, the only way that I've ever felt like this is when I'm in theater. Not only when I'm just doing theater, but when I am character developing. What am I? What am I? What is my character asking for? What am I trying to set up here? What's the vibe? Where's my character coming from? And then trying to transcribe who your character is coming up with your subconscious levels and your unconscious levels and your conscious levels of what you're going to be taking to the stage or in front of the camera, simply where you're going to bring to the surface yourself. If I'm performing or putting on a show or singing something, what. What are the lyrics that I'm driving for here? What is the ending and what's the beginning and what's the middle? What is this built of who are you? What are you feeling? Like, all these questions that I'm, like, used to doing, developing for a character, not that it's easy, but when you get into the practice and that's the craft of that art, it becomes one of those things that's just. It's a part of why you have learned the process that you're in. So you do these things, and you. You love it. And when I had to sit there and answer questions personally about myself, I'm like, there's not a character that I'm putting on here. I have to seriously question myself, and I have to use verbs and adjectives about who I am as a person. Scary. This is quite frightening. And it took me a while to actually get to the point of things, and. But it also took me a second to go like, you know, when you're sitting there with a therapist and you're going back and forth, and you're like, no, that's. That is not how I'm feeling. When there's somebody there that's suggesting, well, I'm pretty sure this is how you're feeling. You're like, no, no, actually, I disagree. And that's part of the therapy is, like, making sure you know that you are honing in on exactly what you're feeling and using our language. You know, we've got the English language here in America that, for the most part, I am using with others and letting them know. But there's sometimes when I'm like, get into the Yiddish, and I'm, like, feeling verklempt, and I'm gonna let a person know I'm feeling verklempt right now. You know, there's. There's other words in other languages, of course, that you can grab from and everything like that. But for the English psychological language field, there are these certain subsets of modes and everything that you'll put into focus. So when I'm describing how I'm feeling about a particular thing, I'm just like, it's not loneliness I'm feeling, but I am wondering, like, why there's a therapist here, why there's this person that's getting paid to, like, ask me these questions. But I do this to other people, and I'm not doing this for money. I genuinely want to know how they feel. I genuinely want to know that people are okay and everything. And then I started to wonder. I'm like, but nobody's asking me these things. Like, but nobody's sitting here talking with me and. And letting me know exactly like, that they feel the same way or I don't know. And then I had to go with that. And it's just like, well, I just don't know. I don't know what's going on in their lives. You know, they too have that. I mean, many people just have families and I don't. You know, we grew up, you know, most millennials, as generation Y and everything are grown. You know, I have to reach back and had to like, lean back, I guess you could say, because I don't have the kind of kids that they do. I don't have kids at all. I don't have a marriage. I don't have. I'm not a divorce. I don't have any of those things. I'm not just a person. But I don't have to think, think about asking other people these things in my lives that I see day and night all of the time coming in and out of my life. So I. They are the ones that were coming in and out of my life. So I had to ask myself and I'm like, am I being a fair weather friend? I'm like, you have to get into this area where you're just like, am I the one that's not answering people? And it's like, yes, yes, right away. Text, sometimes not calling people back. And it's. That would be stemming from a very, I have to say, millennia generation Y thing where it's just like, it is coming to that point where it's like, I know you're busy. I'm only going to ask you to speak with me about certain things when it's like desperate, when it's like, hey, we need to make sure we're on the same page about this thing. Because I know you've got your like 40 hour to 80 hour work week and I don't want to add to your stress level while I already have my stress levels. So if it's something that I pertinently need, I will let you know. And same for you to do to me. I know that's where we're at with a lot of things, but it's like, has that been one of the things that's hurting us all and making everybody go like, hey, I need to let you know that you're a good friend and I love you and I would be hurt if you're not in my life anymore? And then there's the people that aren't like that in your life, and those are the people that are fair weather friends. They don't feel that way about you. They don't care if you are not here tomorrow. They might tell people that, but the ones that are genuine about it don't have to to tell people at all. Because they already know. Because you already know. It's already there. It's in your heart for the Queens of the Stone Age Lyrics Is there anyone out there? It starts out with or am I walking alone When I turned around and found that you'd gone before the first rain could fall. The thing I love about the way that Josh actually, the writers of this song were Michael Schuman, Mark Lanigan, Dearly Daniel Departed, Dean Fertitta, Josh Hamm, and Troy Van Leeuwen. And before the first rain could fall. That is working on a pun. And not necessarily it's not a pun of the funny nature, but it's working with the weather. Fair weather, which goes into another area of if it's nice outside, if the weather is fair, then the sailors would put up their sailors and go like, hey, let's go sailing. Let's go out here. That's where the fair weather thing comes from. So then that became a language to use for how you feel with another friend or with another being at all. Part of that getting healthy moment. It's not just a mental health thing. It's your emotional health, it's your physical health. It's all of it. When all of those things start aligning and coming together and to a great place, then you just understand that it's going to shape up to be something that's beyond what you can really grasp onto. In a way, that's a good thing. There are these areas of life where you'll find a connection with others. You'll find a shared bond, you'll find that self connection with yourself and that self reliance with yourself. And that's that place where it's beyond being a fair weather to yourself even or to other people around you. I'm gonna stop right here. I'm not gonna be a fair weather friend. I'll be back with part two. And this is Ripper with Terry Janiece. Thanks for tuning in to Ripper. You can find more more about this and other LCC connect podcasts@lccconnect.com.

This has been a presentation of LCC Connect, a weekly program that features the voices, vibes and vision of Lansing Community College. All shows featured on LCC Connect are recorded at the WLNZ Studio located on LCC Downtown campus. Each program is podcast based and can be heard anytime@lccconnect.org if you or someone you know would like to be a guest on one of our shows, Connect with us by emailing LCC ConnectCC.edu.

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