In the fall of my sophomore year my parents moved away from the town where I graduated from high school. Visiting them didn’t feel like home anymore and Brookings suddenly felt like my hometown. When I would leave campus for a weekend, getting back in South Dakota – or back in the 605 as I liked to call it – was a fantastic feeling.

I think the people and places are what made SDSU and Brookings feel like such a great community. The people I met while at SDSU shaped my college years and my life. If I hadn’t become a community assistant with Residential Life and if I had chosen a different major, I wouldn’t have met some of my closest friends.

Places like Nick’s Hamburger Shop and the Nine Bar & Nightclub will always hold a special place in my heart. The first time I went to Nick’s was the spring of my junior year. Clearly, I was missing out in the years prior. If you haven’t gone to Nick’s yet, go right away. You will not be sorry.

Thinking about the Nine brings back a lot of fond memories. I think of going there every Monday night of senior year to have a beer or two with a friend. We called ourselves the Monday Night Club. I can’t help but smile when I think of those Monday nights and how I miss them. Mondays are rough and the 9 eased that. It didn’t hurt that I was hanging out with a great friend.

On campus, Yeager Hall was important for me because I spent countless hours in that building over the course of my four years at SDSU. The residence halls where I lived, and then worked, also hold many memories. They were my home for four years and I would not have it any other way.

All of these memories contribute to that home feeling Brookings held. Of course there are things I don’t miss, like homework and walks across campus in sub-zero temperatures.

I’ve visited Brookings three times since graduating almost two years ago. It still feels like home, a little, but that home feeling is starting to subside. It is a bittersweet feeling. I still haven’t found places to replace the home feeling of Nick’s and the Nine in Saint Paul, Minn. I think those spots are irreplaceable.

When your time at SDSU has come and gone, you will look back and have fond memories of places that were important to you. Those years will come and go in a flash. Everybody says that, but it is so true. College flew by in an instant. Create those memories and make Brookings feel like home. You will be happy you did.

Ah, it is that time of year again: Valentine’s Day. It is a day which is both dreaded and loved. I think Valentine’s Day is a bittersweet holiday, and it has a deeply rooted mysterious history: a history which intrigues me.

According to History.com, Feb. 14′s St. Valentine’s holiday is a combination of both Christian and Roman traditions, and there are three different legends about the beginning of Valentine’s Day. Also, the Catholic Church has martyred three different saints named Valentinus or Valentine.

The first legend suggests Valentine was a priest in the third century in Rome, and during Emperor Claudius II’s reign, Claudius had outlawed marriage for young men. Claudius believed men who were unattached without wives and children made the best soldiers. This legend says Valentine performed marriages for young men and women in secret, which defied Claudius’s orders. Eventually, Claudius discovered Valentine’s marriages and ordered him put to death.

Another legend says Valentine may have helped prisoners escape from Roman prisons. During Valentine’s time, the prisoners were often tortured and beaten.

A third, and more romantic legend, says Valentine sent the first “valentine” greeting, thus the name. It is believed while he was in prison, Valentine fell in love with a young girl with who is thought to have been the jailer’s daughter. She visited him during his imprisonment. This legend suggests before his death, he wrote the girl a letter signed, “From your Valentine.”

History.com says Valentine was one of the most popular saints in France and England during the Middle Ages. The real beginning of Valentine’s Day is a mystery, but St. Valentine was believed to be a heroic, sympathetic and romantic figure.

There are people who believe Valentine’s Day is celebrated on Feb. 14 to mark the anniversary of Valentine’s death, but there is also some debate over that as well. Some believe the date was chosen to “Christianize” the pagan Lupercalia festival. February marked the beginning of spring and purification in ancient Rome. Lupercalia was a fertility festival that began on Feb. 15. Along with other traditions during the festival, all young Roman women would put their names into an urn and the unmarried young men would draw out of the urn and be paired with the women for the next year. According to the legend, the pairings often ended in marriages between the couples.

St. Valentine’s Day on Feb. 14 was declared by Pope Gelasius around 498 A.D. Also, Feb. 14 was believed to be the start of the bird mating season, and during the Middle Ages, it was thought Feb. 14 was “a day for romance.”

Today, we do not celebrate Valentine’s Day with a Roman lottery. Instead, cards, gifts, candy and flowers are exchanged between loved ones. It seems we don’t celebrate the day with as much romance as there was in the Middle Ages during St. Valentine’s time.

Now, there are Facebook groups and pages about hating Valentine’s Day. Yes, “they” say Valentine’s Day has become a Hallmark holiday, but I do not know who the mysterious “they” are, so I don’t know how credible “they” are. I agree with people when they say, “Why should we celebrate our love only one day a year?” but I still believe in the magic surrounding Valentine’s Day. I think it a special day, one for both single and coupled individuals to celebrate the loved ones in their lives. I know that is what I intend to do.

As a child, I loved winter and snow, simply because I always hoped for snow days at the sight of the first fallen snowflakes. Snow days were those rare, fantastic days when school was canceled and my brother and I were allowed to play outside all day long. Snow days are some of the best days in my childhood memory.

My mother worked at the school, so we knew when there was a snow day right away, sometimes even before the news stations would broadcast it. My brother and I would sleep in, and then we would find all the other kids that lived on our block to play outside. Snowball fights and building forts were always snow day favorites. It seemed that we would play outside the entire day. It would be getting dark by the time we would finally go inside.

There is something wonderful about snow days. For me, it was a day when time seemed to stand still. There was nothing better than being outside in the freshly fallen snow. And there always seemed to be a lot more of it than there has been in recent winters. I thought snow was the greatest thing when I was a child, but I grew up, and the magic of snow has somewhat faded.

It seems there were a lot more snow days when I was a child than there are now. I can only remember once in my collegiate career when school was canceled due to inclement weather. It was my freshman year in the spring of 2007, a mere two days before spring break was to begin.

A winter storm was about to hit Brookings, and Interstate 29 was closing. It was about 11:30 a.m. on a Thursday when I found out that classes had been canceled for the remainder of the day. At the time, my parents lived five hours away, and the roads I had to take home were closing because of the storm. Classes were canceled on Friday as well. I, along with about a quarter of the girls that lived on the third floor in Pierson, was stuck there until Saturday, like many other students on campus.

A snow day at SDSU was fantastic, just as great when I was a child. Sleeping in, scooping cars out of the snow in the parking lot and just being with friends were some of the best memories I have from my time at SDSU.

Snow days will always stick out in my mind as some of the greatest days in my memory. Between spending them with my brother and then later with my friends, I will always remember the magic of snow days. Now, if we could only have a few more at SDSU this spring, that would top off my last semester here.

Snow. Cold, white, fluffy snow. Insert sarcasm and disdain here. Although I like snow more than rain, I still don’t like precipitation in general, especially cold precipitation.

I will admit though, the big white snow globe-type snowflakes are beautiful and I do love seeing them. I would prefer to have a window between those snowflakes and me, of course. I also am excited for a teensy millisecond when the first snow fall of the year occurs, but then I remember I will have to walk to class in it and the excitement quickly fades.

I am a girl, and I get cold. I am cold for the better part of the six horrible months, or what most people call winter. Six months may be an exaggeration. My dislike for snow is not an exaggeration.

I am already sick of wearing sweatshirts to class. And I’m not ready to give up wearing my Converse All Stars for winter boots just yet. I don’t like having cold feet, but I will most likely keep wearing inappropriate shoes until the day I am sure my toes are going to fall off. When that day comes, I will welcome the snow boots, but I won’t welcome them with open arms.

I’ve heard people say we have been very lucky with a long and warm fall, but I firmly believe winter should begin on Dec. 24 and end Jan. 2. That would be perfect. Just enough cold and snow for Christmas and New Year’s Day, and then it can be gone. I would thoroughly enjoy that.

I know, I know. If I dislike snow so much, maybe I shouldn’t have picked South Dakota to go to school. I thought I could handle it because I have lived in various parts of Minnesota my entire life, but it is just windy and cold here, which I cannot withstand for too much longer. At least this is my last year at SDSU and my last winter of walking to class in the frigid weather.

I look forward to the day it begins to feel like spring and the snow melts. Dealing with mud and slush is much more pleasant than cold flakes falling from the sky.

It seems as though I rant, rave and generally complain about the weather a little too much. That is probably true. To all of the snow lovers out there, I commend you for being able to withstand and love this weather, you crazy people.

I like small towns. There, I said it. I enjoy the small town life. Those hailing from these small towns know what I am talking about.

There are many reasons why I thoroughly enjoy small towns. My favorite thing about them is going to the grocery store and it’s basically a guarantee that I will see someone I know and want to stop and talk to. Also, there is a good chance the check-out girl is a neighbor of my parents.

Secondly, I like to be able to walk or drive down the road and wave to about five people. This past summer, I did an internship in a town with about 2,100 people in it. While making the one-block walk in the mornings to the post office, I said “hello” or “good morning” to at least five people and waved to another three. At the beginning of the summer, I had no idea who the people were that were greeting me. By the end of the summer, I learned who they are, or waved and greeted them back anyway. I don’t think that is something that is found in a large city.

In small towns, it generally seems like they never change. Maybe that is some of their appeal to me. It can also be a downfall, but in my mind, it feels like I haven’t missed anything. I have lived all over Minnesota and each small town I lived in was a little different, but they each had their own unique qualities that I loved nonetheless.

The idea for this column sprouted when my boyfriend and I were driving from Sleepy Eye, Minn., where my parents live, to the Twin Cities. He mentioned how he liked the larger city because it didn’t seem like vast nothingness. I like the excitement and the endless possibilities of things to do in the Cities, but I feel much more at home in a small town.

I know if I lived in a small town forever, I would most likely go crazy. I enjoy visiting my parents and seeing that nothing changes too drastically. I like visiting over holidays and while hanging garland on the front of their house, someone my father knows will drive by and honk. My mother tells me to just smile and wave because they work with my dad, go to their church, are a neighbor or have some other sort of connection.

Although larger cities have more to offer and a lot of more things to do, there is that small town feeling that I don’t think large cities can ever replace. I know there are parts of St. Paul, Minn., that have that small town feeling, but it just isn’t the same. In small towns, traffic (generally) isn’t a problem. The largest traffic problems most small towns in this area have are trains going through or tractors on the road, which are minor problems compared with rush hour traffic in the Twin Cities.

Small town living isn’t as bad as some people may think. At times, it can be quite relaxing and friendly. I do want to live in a larger place after graduation in May, but my heart will always be in small towns.

A song can evoke a memory. A memory so strong that it takes your breath away, takes you over until you are completely lost in the moment. For me, there are a few songs that stick out in my mind and take me down memory lane.

“Let it Be” by the Beatles will always remind me of my mother. She used to play it on the guitar and sing it to me when I was a child. To this day, the song brings a smile to my face. When I hear it, I can’t help but think of my mom, the smell of her perfume and the innocence of being a child. Life seemed so much simpler when “Let it Be” could solve everything.

When I hear the beginning beats of “Wonderful Tonight” by Eric Clapton, I am taken back to the summer before freshman year at SDSU. I was dating a guy from my hometown who, at the time, I thought was the greatest guy to walk the earth. I was mistaken about him, but when I hear “Wonderful Tonight” I can’t help but remember the smell of sunscreen, movie watching and slow dancing. For the longest time, I wasn’t able to listen to this song I love so much because of the memories.

The Spill Canvas has been one of my favorite bands for about five years. In May of 2008, my boyfriend moved to Washington, D.C., after his graduation from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. The weekend of his graduation, when we went anywhere in my car, a mixed CD of The Spill Canvas was playing. The day he left, I got in my car to drive home and The Spill Canvas’s “Self Conclusion” was playing. It is one of my favorite songs and every time I hear it, I remember driving down Interstate 94 through St. Paul and Minneapolis crying. Now, when I listen to the song, it is bittersweet. I still love the song, but it makes me a bit sad hearing it.

My absolute favorite song is “Better Together” by Jack Johnson. I can be having a horrible, stressful day and if I just listen to that song, it puts me in a better mood. The song reminds me of when I first bought Jack Johnson’s In Between Dreams album in the spring of 2005. I was a barista at a coffee shop in my hometown and people always knew when I was working because Jack would be playing. I know every word to “Better Together” and it has ranked highest on my iTunes top-played list for four years.

Music is able to ignite emotions and memories within me. I think it is truly amazing a song can flood my soul and bring a memory back so strong, it feels like it is happening all over again. I don’t always want to remember everything associated with a particular song, but it’s nice to have a mental flashback for three or four minutes.

I hate rainy days. I know hate is a strong word, but I dislike rainy days so much I think the word “hate” is very fitting for my disdain of rain, or precipitation in general.

Let me explain my reasoning for my hatred.

For the most part, rain is cold. Yes, it rains when it is warm out, but usually it is cold, or at the very least cool. I do not like being cold either. That could be why I am dreading winter so much this year. This is going to be my fourth and final winter here at SDSU and I am a little tired of walking to class in a 20-degrees-below-zero wind chill. That is a different matter entirely.

Secondly, while walking to class, or anywhere outside, my jeans get wet on the bottom. Also, my shoes get wet. That is very annoying. I have a pair of Pumas that seem to get soaked beyond belief and I dislike wet socks. Nothing is worse than sitting through class with wet socks. Usually, by the time my 50-minute class is over and I have to trek back outside, my shoes and pants have dried.

When it is rainy, gray and ominous outside, I want to get right back into bed. Rainy days make me want to curl up with a good book, a warm cup of herbal tea and Jack Johnson playing in the background. Also, watching a cheesy ’80s movie would be a fantastic idea.

There is just something so horrible about going outside when it is raining. Some people actually go outside on purpose because of the rain-and they actually enjoy it. I think those people are crazy.

Have you ever looked, and I mean actually looked, at someone walking with an umbrella? There is nothing so odd-looking. It is like when a word is said over and over about fifteen times and then it begins to sound so strange and wrong. I think an umbrella is that kind of awkwardness.

I have an umbrella that I have had since freshman year. It is an ugly-looking green and brown plaid color. I hate lugging it around to classes when it is raining, but I dislike getting rained on even more, so I use it.

Rain is nice when I can stay inside, or it is pouring down late at night when I am sleeping. Then I have no problem with the rain. I welcome the rain then. I only like it when it is convenient for me. I thoroughly enjoy the sound and smell of the rain, as long as I do not have to be out in it.

Soon, the rain will turn into snow and sleet. Oh joy. I am really excited – not.

“Gay? Fine by me.” Those are words that resonate strongly with me. Last spring, I bought a T-shirt that reads that from the Gay Straight Alliance. I did not buy the shirt because I am gay, but rather because I care about humanity and have love for a fellow human being.

I know this YouTube clip is a little outdated, relatively, but it still resonates with me. Keith Olbermann, a MSNBC anchor, made a special comment on Nov. 10, 2008, about California’s Proposition 8 which banned gay marriage. Olbermann’s very emotional six-minute speech ignited the activist in me.

I think the following is the most powerful quote out of his whole speech.

“You are asked now to stand, not on a question of politics, not on a question of religion, not on a question of gay or straight. You are asked now to stand, on a question of love,” Olbermann said.

It is true. Gay marriage and gay rights in general, are things which I think should be granted and expected. Love is a natural human right. Who am I to tell you who you can and cannot love? And who are you to tell someone else that they legally cannot be with the person they love? I think it is cruel and unfair to everyone involved.

Seriously, watch Olbermann’s special comment. Every time I watch it, I get more and more worked up about the gay marriage issue, which I think should not be an issue at all in 2009. When Olbermann pointed out that it is a question of love, it made me think. It made me question the religious beliefs I have, or had. After listening to Olbermann’s compelling speech, it changed my mind forever about gay marriage.

I applaud the states that have legalized same-sex marriage: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa and Vermont.

Maine’s same-sex marriage laws were supposed to take effect on Sept. 11, but now will be on the ballot in November. In New Hampshire, same-sex marriage will be legal on Jan. 1, 2010. In New York and Washington D.C., same-sex marriages are recognized, but not performed. I look forward to the day when same-sex marriages are at the very least recognized, if not legal, in all 50 states.

What I do not understand, is how can people have such dislike and hatred for a group of people of their own humanity?

As Olbermann said, it is love for your fellow person because this is the only world we have. And he makes a good point. This is the only world we have, so why not accept it?

When we as a society hate on each other, on our own human kind, what kind of hatred are we teaching future generations? Are we teaching tomorrow’s future leaders that it is okay to be horribly cruel to one another? Is that what you want the next generations to learn? I know I do not wish for that to happen.

It is completely fine to voice opinions, but when voicing those opinions attack other fellow human beings and begins a horrible cycle of hatred, that is when opinions go too far. That is when the peace and well being of other people are at stake and, in my opinion, that is most alarming.

There are over six billion people in this world. With that many people, we are bound to have our differences. What I would like to see is a little peace. Like John Lennon said, give peace a chance.

“Buy ‘em by the bag” is the tagline of Nick’s Hamburger Shop, a restaurant that is uniquely Brookings.

Dick Fergen, current owner of the shop on the corner of Main Avenue and Fifth Street, said his favorite thing about the restaurant is the people.

“It’s where everybody comes back to,” he said.

There is no other Nick’s Hamburger Shop in the country. In the 1930s, though, there were 77 hamburger shops like Nick’s in the Midwest. According to the restaurant’s Web site, Harold and Gladys Nikalson opened the restaurant on Nov. 2, 1929, that year’s Hobo Day.

The Nikalsons ran Nick’s Hamburger Shop until 1947, when their son, Harold, Jr., took over the restaurant. The busiest day in Nick’s history was on Oct. 18, 1947, a Hobo Day when the Jackrabbits played USD. That day, Nick’s Hamburger Shop sold 4,450 hamburgers.

In 1947, one Nickburger cost 10 cents. Today, a Nickburger sells for $1.48.

Harold Nikalson, Jr., sold Nick’s Hamburger Shop in 1975 to Duane Larson. Larson had worked at the restaurant for seven years during high school and college. During the years that Larson owned the burger shop, The Washington Post named Nick’s Hamburger Shop as one of the top 82 most popular hamburger shops in the United States.

In 2004, Fergen bought the business. His father owned Fergen’s Men’s Store downtown, so he grew up around Nick’s Hamburger Shop.

“I needed a job, so I bought one,” he said.

Fergen went to high school and college in Brookings. Prior to purchasing Nick’s, Fergen lived in Texas but spent a couple months every year in the South Dakota college town. To him, Brookings was always home, he said.

“It was something I thought about for 10 to 12 years before I came back [to Brookings],” Fergen said about buying Nick’s Hamburger Shop.

Linsey Zafft, an interior design major, said she orders the same thing every time she goes to Nick’s Hamburger Shop: a double cheeseburger with ketchup.

“I like the small burgers, and that they are not too greasy,” she said.

Sophomore Mitch Popko said his grandparents live in Brookings, so he has been going to Nick’s since he was 8 years old. Like Zafft, he always orders the same thing, he said: three cheeseburgers with ketchup and mustard.

Popko likes Nick’s Hamburger Shop because of the old-fashioned feel and the ambience of the restaurant, he said. Nickburgers are still served on a square of waxed paper, the same way they have always been served.

“I like that you sit at the bar, and they serve you and it’s so quick, not a lot of waiting time,” the chemistry and biochemistry major said.

#1.881471:711353826.jpg:IMG_4811.jpg:Nick’s Hamburger Shop has been a landmark in Brookings since its founding in 1929. It is well known for its bite-sized hamburgers served on wax paper instead of plates.:Robby Gallagher
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A new leadership program for sophomore students, called Lead State, began its inaugural term on campus this fall.

The program will help develop leadership skills in rising sophomore students at SDSU, said Tim Nichols, Dean of the Honors College and one of the 10 faculty members on campus involved in Lead State. The program began this fall and involves about 50 SDSU sophomores.

Nichols said there were multiple reasons why sophomores were selected for the leadership development programs.

“The university has ramped up services to freshmen, and juniors and seniors are already involved on campus and in their majors,” said Nichols. “There is a niche or need at the sophomore level.”

In addition to helping sophomores develop their leadership skills, the program also provides the students with a way to network among their peers.

“I’m excited about where the program goes throughout the school year,” said Mary Christensen from the College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences, who is also on the Lead State faculty team.

Sophomores were chosen across campus collectively. Nichols said a team of faculty members volunteered to assist with the selection process for Lead State. In the various departments on campus, Nichols said the team asked for nominations to the program. Sixty-five sophomores were invited to participate in Lead State, and about 50 accepted.

“We wanted to reach out to students who had leadership potential, not necessarily people who are already involved in leadership roles on campus,” said Nichols.

Before classes began, Lead State went on a retreat at Camp Lakodia on Lake Herman, near Madison, S.D.

During the retreat, Nichols said students began networking, learned about the program, took a strengths-based leadership assessment, learned about the social change model of leadership development and outlined a personal leadership development plan.

“I thought it was an exciting program to get in on the ground floor of,” said Kim Buehner, Lead State sophomore biology major.

Nichols said each student involved in the leadership development program has a one-on-one relationship with a leadership coach. The leadership coaches are the 10 faculty members directly involved with Lead State. The Lead State sophomores will meet with their leadership coaches throughout the school year.

The 50 students are also divided into 10-student groups, called clusters. Each of the clusters will do various activities throughout the school year.

The logistics are still being worked out for next year since the program is new and a lot depends on this year’s participant feedback, Nichols said.

There could be a possibility for a continuation of the program with the sophomores involved right now.

“There’s a need for more leadership – to learn about leadership on campus,” Christensen said.

#1.881543:2407198896.jpg:DSC02113.1.jpg:Sophomores in the Lead State program attempt to form a letter as part of a group activity during their weekend retreat to Camp Lakodia near Madison, S.D.:Pavan Kulkarni