Category: Wolf Life

Greetings from your new Editor in Chief

My story starts in Marysville California where I was raised until my graduation. In a quick decision that only took 2 weeks. I was wicked off to live with my grandparents in Durango Colorado. It was in Durango that I did what every lost 20 year old does… I screwed around. Being a homeschooled child of a very religious family, I went out and enjoyed life, fell in and out of love, got into trouble, had some adventures.

This was when I found what was to become my calling in life, Video production. I found out that the local cable access television station (DCAT), was providing basic production skills to the public for a small membership fee. While at DCAT I took simple classes that outlined the bare-bones essentials of filmmaking. It started with a few live concerts, then moved on to weddings and then shorts. I was hooked. I started getting better, soon the station started to become my clubhouse. The actually paid workers started to involve me in station projects which I willingly volunteered for like the addict I was becoming. However, this was short-lived due to me being a late bloomer in life and still having some stuff to work out. Like a lot of dreams it got buried and shuffled around but I never quite forgot the thrill and fulfillment of creating.

In 2012 I decided to jump on an opportunity to move to the Denver area for a fresh start. With excitement, I jumped at what Denver has to offer, with this new burst of energy I revisited old passions, one of which was video production. I started slow and had a few missteps and false starts, however, my persistence led to my first solo project in the form of a music video, this then led to me earning a position on the Denver Comic Con Media team which I am currently a veteran cameraman of 7 years for. With a growing portfolio. This however has always taken a backseat to some kitchen job that I’m good at but ultimately hate. I have repeated patterns for far too long and wish to have a destiny that I know that I can achieve. So at forty years old, I have chosen to act out. Not by getting a motorcycle, or trying to be younger than I actually am. But To finally realize my dream… To uncover that masked vigilante Spider-Man!!!

The Impact of COVID-19 on FRCC Students

Written by Ilya Kogan

Since the arrival of COVID-19, many people were forced to shift their daily routines into a more remote friendly setting. Not only has COVID-19 impacted businesses, but it has also impacted the local community, including the students of FRCC Westminster. With the mandatory shutdowns, educational institutions scrambled to find an optimal way to continue to educate their students. These institutions turned to Zoom and Discord to connect students to professors. With these changes come a new set of benefits and drawbacks. 

For most students, one of the benefits of remote education was that it was flexible with their schedules. Many students have part time jobs which can sometimes make the commute difficult. These recent changes have helped students save a lot of time. The biggest drawback noticed was the lack of social interaction amongst students. Due to these remote classes, it made it hard for students to build relationships with each other making a lot of them feel isolated. 

“I like remote classes, but it was hard for me to make friends. I could see the benefits of it, but I prefer going to class in person,” stated one FRCC student. “It’s just easier to network that way and make friends with other people. I also felt like the classes were a bit harder. The lack of office hours made it feel like I had to do a lot of self-learning to understand the topics.”

“With remote classes you could get a lot more work done, but I can also see how a lot of students miss out on the social aspect of going to college,” stated another FRCC student.

This last year and a half have been very difficult for many people, with COVID-19 forcing schools to shift to remote learning and the many changes that have taken place. These college students have been faced with never-before-seen challenges. While there are benefits to remote learning, many students are forced to face the drawbacks as well. Although schools are finally beginning to open their doors for in person classes, it is difficult to imagine remote classes becoming obsolete. With the direction the future of education is heading in, it will most likely consist of a combination of both.

Collectors of Cobwebs

Enjoy our first place winning story for our annual Halloween short story contest!

Written by Megan Cruz

Our elderly neighbors, Bill and Kay, jam-packed their property with junk. Dad called them collectors.

Collectors of cobwebs, maybe.

Halloween nights, they passed out expired cans of Pepsi instead of candy. So, most trick-or-treaters skipped the hoard.

Dad requested that I still drop by.

“They look forward to your visit.”

Ding Dong

Inside, Kay approached the rusty security door in a stained nightgown.

“Trick-or-treat!”

The door creaked open.

Slumped behind her, enveloped in dust and gnats, Bill rested in an antique recliner. A maggot tumbled from his ear.

She smiled. “How precious you look!”

They never got rid of anything.

A Scientist in Limbo

Enjoy the second place winning story for our annual short story Halloween contest.

Written by Anna Lee

The chatter stirred the cortex of my memories, the existence of the conversation seemed far too bizarre, and I began to wonder if a lobotomy was a rational solution to this unmethodical problem.

Bizarre did not even touch the surface—every tone, every hair, every wrinkle in my forehead stared back at me.

Perhaps this experiment is wrong. Perhaps altering reality is immoral—even despicable. Perhaps I have a phobia of myself. Perhaps insanity has consumed me.

“As I was saying doc, I highly doubt that I’m your doppelganger. No, I think you’ve opened a portal between our dimensions.”

Getting Ready

Enjoy this third place submission for our annual Halloween Short Story contest, written by Luke Mott.

“Why are you dressed like that?” My little brother asks. 

“It’s how you’re supposed to dress for these things,” I answer, tightening my tie. 

“That’s stupid. I want to go outside and play,” he whines. 

“We will later.” I straighten my collar. 

A knock comes from the door. 

“Come in,” I say. 

It’s my Dad, dressed in black, hair tousled, eyes puffy, stinking of booze. “Who are you talking to?” He asks, looking around the room. 

“No one, Dad.” 

“We better get going,” he swivels his jaw, “It’s best we don’t keep your mother waiting.”

Spring Poetry Contest First place winner, Who’s Missing?

Written By Mary Corro

Seated around the table

We are

Each with a place setting

Who’s Missing?

People who look like me

Experience life

Like me

Who’s Missing?

What’s on your plate

Who dished it out

Will you savor it or choke

Sometime we are fed

What we are

Supposed to swallow

Who’s Missing?

At times it’s delicious

Other times revolting

But we taste it, nonetheless

It doesn’t taste like

Any home cooking

I would recognize

Who’s Missing? 

Where are the foods

Of my childhood

Of my family gatherings

What do I answer when my son

Asks what to take to a White Thanksgiving

My reply is tamales and chile

Who’s Missing?

He takes my recommendation

But also prepares a salad, vegetable tray

And pumpkin pie

He returns with

A salad, a vegetable tray

And half a pumpkin pie

Who’s Missing?

Where are the tamales

And chile

I ask

They loved it

I felt included, he replies

We ate our family food

Who’s Missing? 

My son has found

His seat at the table

He plate contains 

His home cuisine and society’s dishes

His family has grown

He is allowed to be welcomed

He is no longer missing!

A review of Desire to Learn’s new app

Written by Rhiana Bilderaya

Photo by Andy Tucker

FRCC students who are tired of checking D2L for their grades on their phone’s web browser have a good alternative. D2L now offers an app called Pulse, that students can download and start using on both iPhone and Android. 

The app is straightforward to use, with a simple user interface. After downloading and logging in, you will see a list of your courses. Clicking a course will display the different weeks, and within each week, your course content for that week displays. There isn’t nearly as much navigation to get to “course content” using the app as there is using a web browser on phone or computer.

Students can also use the calendar view by clicking on “Upcoming” on the bottom of the screen. This view will have a week at a time with a graph feature, indicating which days have assignments due and what those assignments are. I found this feature particularly useful for the straightforward display and integration of all courses, instead of just one course. 

Clicking on the “Notifications” tab will let students know when their grades have updated. I found this feature to lack the information that logging into D2L on a web browser provides. On the web browser, it’s much easier to see individual assignment grades. On the Pulse app, there are fewer notifications and clicking on a grade update will redirect to the website within an app, which can be frustrating to interact with.

Overall, Pulse is useful for a snapshot of your weekly work using the “Upcoming” feature and a quick reminder of your weekly work. The app isn’t as useful for doing any assignments, but the web browser on the phone isn’t either. Students still need a laptop to successfully use D2L, but the app is a good complement.

What to do in Westminster and Denver during a COVID winter

Written by Rhiana Bilderaya

Photo by Joe Fisk

As we enter into the second year of the pandemic with a few months of winter left, we are all looking for activities to get us safely out of the house. Here are a few ideas that will keep us and others safe while also avoiding some stir craziness. 

  1. You can check out the Denver Botanic Gardens on a nicer day. Everyone wears masks throughout the Gardens, and it can be a nice place to walk around.
  2. We’ve been having an unseasonably mild winter, so if you want to do an outside but lower cost activity, you and some friends can have a picnic at a park. Wash Park in Denver or Westminster Center Park are both great options to have a picnic on a 50-degree or warmer day.
  3. If you’re feeling really adventurous, you can try snowshoeing or hiking 20 minutes outside of Westminster or Denver. There are a lot of trail options for this, available at All Trails.
  4. If you want to support local businesses, you can find a local coffee shop, grab coffee and pastries to go, and sit outside while you enjoy your treats. Navah Coffee House  or Zoe’s Coffee Shop  in Westminster both have great reviews. Coffee For The People in Denver is a nonprofit, and proceeds go to their owner Pangaea World Foundation, which works to help accelerate the rescue of people, animals, and natural ecosystems around the world.
  5. You can head to the 16th Street Mall or Broadway in Denver and walk around window shopping. Westminster also has a small downtown area worth checking out. If you like anything you see, it’s probably available, as long as you wear a mask!

Even though a COVID-19 winter can be challenging at times, there are safe ways to get out of the house and support some local businesses while we wait for widespread vaccination.

A Note from the Editor

Written by Joe Fisk

Photo by Mindy Kinnaman

With the start of the 2021 spring semester, The Front Page student newspaper will continue to bring readers relevant news to Front Range Community College. Classes at FRCC will continue to be taught over real time remote and online learning for the semester in order to adhere to COVID-19 protocol. The Front Page is excited to announce the return of the Wolfcast podcast, bringing listeners conversation, updates, news and events happening on campus. On February 4, readers will have an opportunity to meet the staff as well as sign up for The Front Page newsletter at the FRCC Westminster club engagement fair.