Writers’ Club Fiction and Poetry Contest

The Writers’ Club is hosting its annual Fiction and Poetry Contest! The contest runs until April 15th, see flyer for more details.

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MCCC Writers’ Club featuring Grant Clauser

The Writers’ Club is having its spring coffeehouse featuring local Montco poet Grant Clauser. The event will start at 12:45 PM in Science Center 214 on MC3’s Central Campus. Free refreshments provided. All members of the MCCC community welcome!

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Congratulations, Justin!!!

The Montgazette is excited to announce that one of our staff writers, Justin Patrick Oakes, has won a Pennsylvania News Media Association Award for his Outstanding Editorials this past year. Congratulations Justin!

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From the Editor

by Sara Wilkerson
The Montgazette Editor-in-Chief

Fly Eagles Fly
On the road to victory
Fight, Fight, Fight
Fight Eagles Fight
Score a touchdown 1-2-3
1-2-3
Hit ‘em low
Hit ‘em high
And watch our Eagles fight
Fly Eagles Fly
On the road to victory
E-A-G-L-E-S! Eagles!

For years, the Philadelphia Eagles fight song has remained a beacon of hope for fans, young and old, hoping that someday soon the Eagles would become Super Bowl champions. On February 4, the fight song of hope became the fight song of celebration as the Philadelphia Eagles won their first Super Bowl in franchise history.
As someone who joined Americans across the country to witness history on television, I was immensely proud of the underdog team who rose up from numerous adversities and odds against them to become champions. Throughout the season, many doubted that the Eagles would ever have a shot to become NFC, much less, Super Bowl champs. Yet, the team defied the odds, and they, the team’s players, coaching staff and owners, all fought for the Lombardi Trophy for one reason and one reason only: for Philadelphia.
As Eagles champ starting center, Jason Kelce, said in a passionate speech on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art to millions of fans during the victory parade, “Any of you know who the biggest underdog is? It’s y’all, Philadelphia. For fifty-two years, y’all have been waiting for this. You want to talk about an underdog? You want to talk about a hungry dog? For fifty-two years you’ve been starved of this championship.”
Starved indeed.
There’s something to take away from the Eagles’ historic win. That grit, determination, sacrifice, perseverance, and supportive group systems all play into a successful outcome. This successful outcome, for the Philadelphia Eagles at least, was their Super Bowl win. However, to others who are also starved, starved of what they want, what they desire, what they work hard to achieve, the Eagles’ win serves as a reminder to press forward in every endeavor no matter what it is.
Within this issue, our staff writes about a lot of instances of underdogs rising above and pressing forward.
April Harvey describes the challenges she faced growing up with scars on her body after being born four months early, and yet she rose above her selfdoubts and became the confident, outgoing woman she is today.
Alonso Barrantes describes the odds of Oscar nominees winning Best Picture.
Bridget Depew and Justin Patrick Oakes describe the courage of people standing up in marches for those whom they believe are underdogs.
Within this issue, you’ll read about the underdogs in the College’s community and abroad. Just like the Eagles have proven with their win, anything is possible and that anything is achievable.

An Eagles fan proudly wears an underdog mask during the Super Bowl victory parade in Philadelphia on Feb. 8 ~Photo by Justin Patrick Oakes

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An Underdog is a Hungry Dog

by Justin Patrick Oakes
The Montgazette Staff

There’s a little over two minutes left in the game. I’m on my knees in the living room, quietly doing a prayer, maybe to comfort myself, maybe to ease the tension, maybe just out of old habit, maybe because sometimes you have to have a little faith in the underdog.
“Dear God, if you’re up there, let them win this for my dad. He’s waited too long, I don’t want him to have to wait anymore.”
I haven’t believed in a long time. But I was willing to pull out all the stops that day, anything in hopes that the Birds would bring the Lombardi Trophy to Broad Street. Then the play happened. Tom Brady steps back for a pass as the pocket collapses around him. Brandon Graham is there, and the ball that was in Brady’s hands just… isn’t. The Eagles have the ball in what became a definitive turnover that all but sealed the game for Philly. I leaped off the floor, screaming my full head off, waving my old Eagles beanie around, and shouting a few too many expletives at a befuddled Brady… all in good jest, of course…
There’s nine seconds left, and the Pats are about to start the final play of the game. I can barely watch, my heart doing summersaults inside of my chest as a thought crosses my mind: “Today may have been the wrong day to forget to take my anxiety meds…” The ball is out of Brady’s hands. I close my eyes, unable to watch.
The pass is incomplete.
The Eagles win the Super Bowl. For the first time all season, my dad fell silent. He’s been watching the Eagles since the 70s, has seen two Super Bowl losses, countless staff changes and player trades, and I don’t think once has he fell silent. He later told me that he was beginning to think that he might not see a Super Bowl win in his life. To my dad, a man who’s just a tad shy of being overly emotional, that silence was like him crying tears of joy.
There is something about this win that is so uniquely “Philadelphia.” New York has rich people and artists. Los Angeles has rich people and reality stars. Philly has blue collar underdogs. That’s just what this city is made up of. For the entire season, despite having the best record in the NFL, the Eagles were the underdogs, so much so that offensive tackle Lane Johnson and defensive end Chris Long donned German Shepard masks after playoff games. So, to the blue collar working class of Philadelphia, this win truly was for them. It wasn’t another ring to further inflate Tom Brady’s ego (ironically, that seems to be the only thing of Brady’s that’s inflated…), it wasn’t another stone-faced Bill Belichick celebration, it was a win for every person in Philly who has waited 52 years for a Super Bowl win.
The Eagles’ win reminded every hard-working person in Philadelphia, every person that’s down on his or her luck, every fighter, contender, challenger, and underdog that, if they just put their minds and hearts into it, if they just keep getting up every time they get knocked down, not only can they go the distance, but they can win. In his profanity-laced celebration parade speech, starting center Jason Kelce reminded us that underdogs are hungry dogs. We may all still be underdogs, and we may all still be hungry, but to the hard-working, loving, strong people of Philadelphia, this victory tasted oh so sweet. This win was for the Union worker who fights for his family, for the single mother who works three jobs for her kids, for the mechanics, like my father, who’ve worked every day of their life since they were eighteen just to provide. This was for the underdogs. This was for Philadelphia. This was Philadelphia. Youse guys did it!

 

Eagles fans gather outside Philadelphia City Hall for the Super Bowl victory parade on Feb. 8 ~Photo by Justin Patrick Oakes

Eagles Kicker Jake Elliot sings along to Steve Miller Band’s “Fly Like an Eagle”. ~Photo by Justin Patrick Oakes

 

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Defying Limits: The Life of an Overcomer

by April Harvey
The Montgazette Staff

During this academic school year, my goal is to improve my self-confidence. Self-confidence is an issue I have been dealing with for a while. It started in my early childhood and affected me through my teen years. Shyness affected my confidence in high school. My birth plays a big part in my low self-esteem. My mother was told that I would be “slow” and not “smart like other children.” She was told that babies do not live when they are born too early and weigh only a pound, as I did.
I was born four months early. My mom was told that I would be incapable of being normal. The doctor said I would be unable to do things that healthy children do, like walk and talk. Even to this day, I have scars on my arms and legs because I was born so early and my skin was so thin. The doctors put me on life support for many weeks. I left the hospital still on oxygen.
It was hard to make friends in my first years of school. I walked differently because I needed to wear braces on my legs. Children did not want to play with me because I was different. Even though I wanted to be around other children, I would not know what to say, so I stayed quiet.
When I started high school, I began feeling invisible. It was challenging for me in some classes. I thought something was wrong with me. My peers seemed smarter and looked like they had more potential.
I was only happy spending my high school years with my sister, Samara. Yet, some days I still felt invisible. I thought there was nothing special about me because I was not like some of my peers.
However, a scripture in my Bible helped me to remember I was “fearfully and wonderfully made.” I would think about my relationship with God most days. He never thought of me as invisible. My church family loved me. None of them made me feel invisible. In addition, my mom always said I could do anything that I put my mind to.
As I got older, I realized everyone is different. There is nothing wrong with me! I have potential too. Everyone had something special to offer in certain areas. Some peers have potential in math and history. Others are artistic or good with computers. Ever since that day that I’ve realized my potential, I never felt invisible again. I used to have trouble making friends because I was shy. Now it is easier because I am becoming more outgoing.
As time has gone by, my self-esteem has gotten so much better! I realize being myself is not anything to be ashamed of. I am beginning to enjoy having time to myself in school by doing things I love. My personal and social life started having balance. In my junior and senior years of high school, I made a lot of friends. During those years, I learned to accept myself no matter what anyone thought. I am in college now and have friends to talk to. Nothing can get in my way because I have confidence.
I want to help others have confidence in themselves. I want others to know they can be an overcomer, like me. A disability should not define anyone.

 

April Harvey – Self Portrait

 

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A 52 Year Drought Comes to an End

by Rahul Thevar
The Montgazette Staff

The Philadelphia Eagles faced many obstacles throughout this season. First, they lost running back Darren Sproles to season-ending injuries of a torn ACL and broken arm early in the season. Then they lost one of their best left tackles, Jason Peters, in a Monday Night football game against the Redskins. They were also dealt a big blow with their star quarterback Carson Wentz going down in week thirteen against the Los Angeles Rams.
After Wentz went down with a torn ACL, many were sure the Eagles were done without him. Coach Doug Pederson brushed off losing Wentz in a postgame news conference by stating, “I hate [the injury] for the career and the season he’s been having. But at the same time, it’s been the ‘next-man-up mentality.’”
Once backup quarterback Nick Foles took over, no one picked the Eagles to win the Super Bowl. The Eagles proved all the doubters wrong. They were the only team from the NFC East to go to the playoffs. They gained homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.
Their first playoff game was a close win over the Atlanta Falcons. The Eagles held off a fourth-quarter drive to win 15-10. The NFC Championship game, their second in the playoffs, was where the Eagles shined. Nick Foles came up big against the Minnesota Vikings defense, throwing for 352 yards and scoring three touchdowns in 38-7 rout of the team whose home stadium hosted the Super Bowl.
The Super Bowl became a rematch from the 2005 Super Bowl against the New England Patriots, in which the Patriots won 24-21. The Eagles were underdogs once again against quarterback Tom Brady and the Patriots. But the Eagles became “wonderdogs” as they made many incredible plays against the heavily favored defending Super Bowl champions.
One of the greatest plays in the Super Bowl was called “The Philly Special.” Eagles running back, Corey Clement, moves to the left; Nick Foles slides to the right side near his offensive tackle. Starting center Jason Kelce tosses the ball to Clement, who then passes it to tight end Trey Burton. Burton throws the ball to Nick Foles for a touchdown.
Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham came up with a huge play in the end of the fourth quarter by stripping the Patriots’ Tom Brady of the ball, allowing the Eagles to later take a lead the Patriots did not come back from. The final score of 41-33 ended a 52-year championship drought, giving the Philadelphia Eagles their first-ever Super Bowl win.
After the Eagles won the Super Bowl, many fans ran up to Broad Street to celebrate. The biggest celebration day for fans was on February 8, when the Eagles held a parade stretching from City Hall to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. An estimated 2 million fans came to celebrate the Eagles championship.
William Martin, a Montgomery County Community College (MCCC) student and rabid Eagles fan, was at the parade. He said his favorite moment was when the confetti started coming out and Carson Wentz was holding the Lombardi trophy.
Jake Harrison, also an Eagles fan and student at MCCC, said his favorite moment was seeing all the Eagles fans together having a good time, listening to good music and seeing the players with the Lombardi trophy. Harrison said he hopes the Eagles repeat another win next year so he can go to another parade.

The Eagles’ Super Bowl Victory Parade passed in front of Philadelphia City Hall. ~Photo by Rahul Thevar

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Don’t Tread on woMEn

by Justin Patrick Oakes
The Montgazette Staff

For most of modern history, the entire United States has attributed its independence to strong, revolutionary men who dared, in the city of Philadelphia, to stand up for what they had believed was right, against the tyrannical rule of England’s king. But, what I saw on the day of the Women’s March challenged every history book I’ve ever read, every social studies class I’d ever taken, every story I’d ever been told.
I started off my day in Center City with my girlfriend, Leah, and some of our friends. We had arrived at the apartment of a friend of Leah’s grandmother, a real happening place where we could kick back for a little bit before the March and make some posters. Aging spitfires and mutineers sat around an oval dinner table sipping coffee and trading old war stories from protests of long ago. Like a little old band of rebels, they sat planning the day’s events, emblazoning poster board with clever rhymes and slogans, and reminiscing, as if history wasn’t in the making right before their very eyes.
After the meeting, a few of us had decided to take off early to help lead the March down the Ben Franklin Parkway to the Art Museum steps. As we walked, we could see bands of cohorts getting ready to march just as we were, excited and unafraid.
Walking up towards the parkway, Macklemore’s “Same Love,” a song about the beauty of love in the LGBTQ+ community, blared out of large speakers that had been set up.
People had shown up in droves, with high-heel clad men following Iron Jawed Angels into what would probably be the largest march of the year. Signs plastered with anti-Trump messages were proudly hoisted into the electric air by people of all ages, races, creeds, and backgrounds. It was at that moment that I became choked up. I’d never been to a protest before, and something about this one just really got to me. There we all were, in the most revolutionary city on the face of the earth, exercising our First Amendment right, a freedom guaranteed to some all those years ago, now given to almost all, thanks to the ancestors of so many of us who had shown up to continue to strengthen our democracy.
The March lasted for another few hours, with speeches and celebrations of equality and righteousness in the face of wickedness. Countless thousands chanted and clapped, whooped and hollered, fearlessly leading the charge. Some walked around singing songs of peace and tapping on tambourines like lost time travelers from the Summer of Love.
But, as the droves that had shown up began to clear, so had we, back into the revolutionary city. What struck me most of the whole ordeal was that in the piercing blackness of American midnight, it wasn’t the men, but the women, the unspoken, unsung, unpraised heroes of all revolutions, who had finally forged their way through to the foreground in order to flip the switch and offer a shimmer of light to even the darkest corners of the nation. With women
leading the way, it seems that our populace is incapable of achieving anything less than our best.

 

WoMEn Marchers in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on Jan. 20. ~Photo by Justin Patrick Oakes

Photo by Justin Patrick Oakes

WoMEn marchers in Philadelphia on Jan. 20. ~Photo by Justin Patrick Oakes

 

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CAPG: The News Team

by Matt Silverman
The Montgazette Staff

The Communicating Arts Production Group (CAPG) is an extracurricular television club at the College that broadcasts a weekly student-run news show called The Buzz Update. Perhaps you have seen the show on the big screens in Parkhouse, the Advanced Technology Center and College Hall. The club meets on Mondays and Wednesdays in the production room (ATC114) at 12:30 PM. Mondays are when the club tapes the newscast, which means everyone is in their position, whether that be in the studio or the control room. Wednesdays are when the production meetings occur. In these meetings, the club fills all the positions that it takes to create a successful show and assigns stories to writers. CAPG relies on anchors, reporters, camera and teleprompter operators, audio technicians, etc. to make the TV magic happen. CAPG has a position for everyone, even if you are not interested in production. CAPG is always on the active search for news writers, who are responsible for the content that is read on the air by the anchors. However, if you enjoy being in front of the camera, then anchoring the broadcast should spark your interest.
It is important to note that everyone in the club rotates between positions, so one person is not always doing the same job. Although learning the equipment can be daunting, CAPG Secretary, Rachel Darde, says new members should not be anxious because, “We have many experienced members that will show you the ropes on Mondays during production!” Many small television stations combine jobs, so the reporter is responsible for shooting, editing and producing their own stories. This is what makes the club such a valuable tool for students interested in entering the television production field.
Allan Schear, communications professor and co-advisor to the club, says, “CAPG has helped numerous [communications, or] COM, students get their start in the broadcasting and TV production field by providing handson writing, shooting and editing skills in a real-time news environment. This cocurricular club has sent many successful MCCC graduates into entry level positions in the Philadelphia broadcasting community.” Schear co-advises CAPG with Jeff Asch, who is also a communications professor at the College. Both have an extensive background in the broadcasting industry. Schear has worked for FOX and NBC, and Asch can be heard regularly on KYW News Radio.
In addition to the weekly broadcasts, the club also puts together a compilation of all the communications projects students have produced throughout the semester. The spring semester screening will be held on May 8th in the Science Center Theater at 6:30 PM., and everyone is welcome to attend. CAPG provides hoagies and other light refreshments before the show begins. In fact, non-communications members are encouraged to attend. According to Darde,“Most of the Communication classes are required to attend for their final, but it’s good for other people who might be interested in the field to see what the Communications program is all about.”

 

Matt Silverman reporting for CAPG ~Photo by Camille Hernandez

 

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The MCCC Central Campus Club Fair

Photos by Justin Patrick Oakes

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