The Works’ Best Work

My Story: Escaping Through Immigration, Building a Home at FurmanRead Oscar Guillen’s touching reflections on what Furman has meant to him over his four years at the university.

No Longer the Furman Feel?Everyone talks about the culture shock of going abroad, but few discuss the social adjustment of returning to campus. Owen Kowalewski brings awareness to this very real issue in his most recent article, making readers wonder: What are students truly returning “home” too?

The 5 Ws

The Who, What, When, Where, and Why You Need to Know

Who We’ve Got Our Eye’s On…

Once again. Furman athletes are showing out.

First up, we’ve got Track and Cross Country. Though unsurprising given their fantastic fall seasons, we are continually astonished by the dominance of the Paladin running squads. The teams are ruling the SoCon, with Megan Marvin and Cameron Ponder performing exceptionally well in their respective events. It’s a big weekend up ahead for our speedy Dins, as they look to break records and clinch titles at this weekend’s SoCon Indoor Championships — we will surely be rooting them on as they obliterate league opponents 😈😈😈

But it’s not only the runners who have been flexing their skills. Men’s and women’s basketball have been equally as successful this winter, and both look to extend their seasons next weekend at the SoCon Championships in Asheville (for those with no spring break plans, roadie soon 🚗??) A SoCon title for either team means a berth into the big show, so HUGE weekend coming up for the squads.

Also, shout-out to the men’s team for their 1-point win over Wofford last weekend — what. a. game. Luckily, it didn’t end like this Michigan-Wisconsin brawl…guess the Wofford coach knew that Coach Richey wouldn’t take a punch lying down 🥊🥊

What We Tuned Into…

I’m no comedy connoisseur, but I do enjoy a good belly laugh. Thankfully, that’s exactly what I got this weekend when I went to see Hasan Minhaj perform at the Peace Center. Some of you may know Hasan from his hit Netflix series, “The Patriot Act” — I, however, had never heard of the guy before Saturday night. Boy had I been missing out.

Hasan was downright hilarious. He spoke on contemporary political and social issues without sounding preachy or partisan, expertly utilized technology to augment his performance, and maintained a captivating stage presence that left you wishing for more when the show ended. Unfortunately, Hasan was in GVL for 1️⃣ night and 1️⃣ night only. However, his tour, “The King’s Jester”, will be running until June 11. I highly recommend trying to catch a show if you can and, if not, definitely giving “The Patriot Act” a watch – study break anyone? 📺

When We Did a Double Take…

Elton John + Figure Skating = Match Made in Heaven

The 2022 Beijing Olympics were, well, interesting. Given all the weird controversies (@RussianSkaters) and even weirder mishaps that accompanied these games, I honestly can’t say that I’m terribly disappointed the event is over. Then again, I am a general sports fan who favors the summer over the winter games so take my commentary with a grain of salt.

However, I do know d@mn good artistry when I see it, and Nathan Chen’s gold medal winning free skate was out of this world 🚀 #GOATstatus 🥇

Chen redeemed himself in 2022 after an uncharacteristic fall in the 2018 games left his medal-less #sad. Yet Chen obviously figured his stuff out over the past four years, as he won by a landslide this time around. And he deserved such a comfortable victory, as his free skate brought actual tears to my eyes 😭

Please watch Chen’s routine, and while doing so let it remind you of what the games were intended to symbolize — cooperation, passion, athleticism, and bravery. While this year’s games hardly evoked such themes, the athletes themselves demonstrated boatloads of these qualities and deserve all the kudos in the world for it.

Other top highlights of the games definitely included the 🍅 Flying Tomato’s🍅  last Olympic run (here come the tears again) and this reaction from a youth Slovakian hockey team after Slovakia’s victory over the U.S. Yes, we’re mad that there wasn’t another Miracle this time , but c’mon, these reactions are priceless 🏒

Where We Hung Out…

Old Europe Pastries. In the past, I’ve highlighted GVL’s best venues for coffee, tacos, sandwiches and more. But I have failed you, dear readers, as I have neglected to inform your taste buds regarding the most important meal of the day. Yep, dessert #SorryBreakfast

For those who, like me, consider daily dessert a necessity, you have to check out Old Europe Pastries. Tucked away on the more western end of Downtown, this adorable cafe offers a wide variety of pastries for any hour of the day and any type of craving. Want a flaky, buttery croissant at 8am? They’ve got you. Craving a dense chocolate cake at 11:49pm on a Friday? Head on over.

Bonus — they can provide you with your coffee and wine fix too (ah, the desserts of the beverage world), as they serve espresso beverages ☕️ and spirits 🍷 all day. So, want to feel European and fancy? Craving carrot cake? Just looking to eat your feelings? Sounds like it’s time for Old Europe !

Personal recommendation: the Black Forest Cake: Chocolate layers with some sort of wonderful cherry filling that I could eat by the bucket 🍒 Be warned: If there is only one slice left, you will likely have to fight someone for it. Then again, you shouldn’t worry, you aren’t someone to be ~trifled~ with #Bazinga.

Why We’re Looking Forward to the Coming Weeks…

If you haven’t checked the calendar recently you might wanna, because spring break is just one week away! I have mixed feelings regarding this year’s reprieve: my freshmen year, spring break turned into a seven-month “staycation,” and last year’s break was a random Wednesday of no classes #MajorL.

On the one hand, this is great because I have zero expectations for the week ahead. On the other, deja-vu be gettin’ me hard, and I just hope to make it through the week without a global shut-down.

With all that said, let’s get hyped because it’s almost time to PARTY. That’s right my friends, in just one week and a few hours we will be let loose into the world to relax, dance, and drink (water 💦 that is) to our hearts content. So, be safe and be smart, but also, within reason, be a little reckless and stupid — we deserve to cut loose.

One more week everyone. We got this.

One Last Thing:

I try and keep this short — nobody likes a lengthy read. But I could not bear it 🐻 if I didn’t mention Hank the Tank right now. Hank is a 500-pound bear who has been breaking into homes in search of food. So you think your roommate taking your leftovers is a bid deal? Imagine that being a 500-pound bear instead. Admittedly, Hank seems to be acting a lot like me when I’m feeling #hangry. The resemblance is over-bearing 🧸

​I’ll just leave you with that stellar pun.

This newsletter was originally released Friday, Feb. 25 via email and has been slightly modified.