“There’s an old family video of me as a baby at my brother’s baseball game, sitting on a pile of dirt,” Hope said. “My dad laughs behind the camera as I dig away into the earth. Thirty years later, I’m proud to say I’m still barefoot outside, playing with mud and turning it into charming ceramics.”

Waters is now a local potter making mugs and cups out of her home in downtown Bowling Green. She sells her pottery through her website and local events.

Two years ago, Hope took a ceramic class and was an “absolute nightmare” on the wheel. After, she self taught herself how to create bowls and cups using her hands.

“I decided to stop dreaming and start trying,” she said. “I’d never sold a piece of work until December of 2022, where I listed a handful of winter mugs inspired by my friend Laura’s hometown Ketchikan. They sold within hours and I was giddy to create more.”

During December 2022, her cauldron mugs had received a lot of attention so Waters signed up for her first market at the local Community Farmers Market.

“Some customers had seen my Instagram, others were surprised that all my pieces were handmade,” Water said. “Because of this, I plan on making ceramics on site at my next event. After the market I gained more local supporters and started romanticizing the idea of my own small business.”

Waters said she desired the freedom of working for herself, but she had no idea what she was getting herself into.

“I’m in charge of marketing, production,” she said. “I recently launched my website and it’s scary as hell. Chase your dreams but brace for the grind. I use Instagram to promote my work. When you start a small business, it’s no longer a hobby; it’s your life.”

Her most popular creation was inspired by her “pappy,” Wendle King, a “famous outlaw” from Stearns, Kentucky.

“I did a small series on Instagram documenting the process of making him his very own travel cup,” Waters explained. “It included a sketch of him wearing a cowboy hat, riding his horse. It’s definitely the most special thing I’ve made. After gifting it to him, I received countless messages about the cup, asking when they’d be for sale. Pappy Cup’s are now my signature product.”

Part of her inspiration for her storytelling through her ceramic pieces is from the childhood stories of her pappy’s, Waters said.

“My Pappy is a natural storyteller and I could listen to him talk for hours,” Waters said. “I like to think my ceramics tell stories through movement. Carvings and illustrations, fingerprints on the surface of a mug; clay holds memories and a piece of me is infused in everything I create.”

Now, her studio is a corner of her kitchen, and her supplies rest in her grandmother’s cabinet that has been in her family for generations. Each day, she starts her morning with a coffee from Spencer’s Coffee downtown and gets to work alongside her “pawtery assistant,” Pippin.

“To put it lightly, she saved my life,” Waters said. “Behind the scenes you can find her sunbathing, gathering sticks, and sniff testing all Big Nose Clay products. Pippin hairs cling to clay and get burned off in the kiln, but her love is permanent with every finished piece of pottery.”

From start to finish, the whole process can take up to three to four weeks.

“It takes four days to build a piece, and that includes trimming, attaching handles, painting. Then there’s drying,” Waters said. “You want to slow dry everything. This gives your piece a better chance at surviving. My work goes through two kiln fires; a bisque and a glaze. And I use a community kiln that fires once a week. Considering this, it can be 3/4 weeks to finish altogether.”

She runs an Instagram account – or her “muddy diary” – @bignoseclay, where she posts “day in my life” vlogs and updates her pottery journey.

“Over time I slowly found comfort in filming small moments and simply learning to romanticize everything (even if I spend a lot of my time at home),” she said. “I’m a bit of an enigma; I guess it’s the cowboy in my blood. I used to think I didn’t have anything really exciting or valuable to share online but connecting with everyone through my videos has genuinely made me feel less alone.”

Most recently, Waters has been working on her Spring collection – a number of whimsical pieces, fairies and more.

“At the end of the day, I’m just a gal growing her wings,” she said.

Reporter Debra Murray can be reached at debra.murray940@topper.wku.edu. Follow her on X @debramurrayy.

In another recent commentary piece I wrote, I reference how I think that TikTok and the media in general have taught young women, and people collectively, that aging is bad. 

​​According to a 2017 survey of 2,000 U.S. women conducted by Statistica, around 42 percent of respondents aged 25 to 44 years reported that they regularly worry about signs of aging, compared to around 28 percent among women aged 18 to 24 years who reported the same.

Aging isn’t bad. It is natural and happens to literally everyone, except vampires and other supernatural beings I know nothing about. 

But, there are a few TikTok creators who I think re-inspire the importance of self-acceptance especially around fears around aging. 

One is Jennifer Latch. She runs a creative agency, but also has experience working with holistic health brands. On her TikTok, she has a series titled “19 vs 44” where she shares wisdom about things she knows now at 44 that she wishes she knew when she was younger. Some of her sentiments are about relationships, understanding your body,  and the importance of investing in yourself.  Some sage wisdom from her videos include: “Your value is not based on the size of jeans you fit into.” “Your value is not in your appearance but in the way you contribute to the world around you.”

To me, Jennifer Latch feels like a cool, wise aunt. She reaffirms your life decisions and lets you drink wine at Thanksgiving. When her videos pop up on my for you page, I know I will scroll away feeling slightly better about myself, but also reassured that any feelings I’m struggling with, I am not the only one experiencing it. 

A 63-year-old fashion influencer, Heidi Clements, @welcometoheidi posts videos of her outfit of the day and shares stories throughout her life. She has posted a video every day for over a year. In one video talking specifically about fashion, she talks about fashion inspiration for women over 50 is considered “classy and elegant.” She wants to wear racing jackets and leopard print because to her, fashion is a source of self-expression.

She also talks about being happy as a single woman. In one video, she discusses being a single woman deciding to upgrade her queen size bed to a king size bed. 

“It is a metaphor for the life I have chosen as a woman: to take up the most space as possible,” Clements said in the video. She also explains she never decided not to get married or not to have children, but that those things simply didn’t happen. 

I found Clements when I was trying to find another fashion influencer I adore, but her video talking about not wanting to have to look “classy” just because she’s over 50 caught my attention. Watching her videos over the past few months, she has reminded me that even though life may not look like how I imagine it should, it doesn’t mean that it’s bad. Her being a childless and single woman is a nice reminder that life can always be whole without a husband or children. (In fact, statistically single women are happier than married women, likely for many reasons including division of labor and more self sacrificing). 

Marcia Boudreau is a 50-year-old content creator who shares videos on wellness and maintaining a balanced lifestyle. She said that agining should be seen as a “badge of honor” and everyone should embrace aging because it is a natural part of life. 

Boudreau is also a mother of two, but she frequently talks about the importance of building a life outside of motherhood. Most mothers tend to obviously carry the weight of taking care of their children and building their life than their male counterparts. Obviously that is different for every parent. However, I think that Boudreau is pushing an important narrative that you are a person separate from your partner, your children and doing things to keep and develop your identity separate from them is so essential. Boudreau also shares that her recent separation allowed her to find herself separate from her partner for a long time. 

Not that TikTok creators the end all be all for being confident in growing old, but choosing creators who are honest and embracing themselves instead of rather than selling you wellness bullsh*t and making you feel worse about yourself. You don’t need to get your buccal fat sucked out or have a 12 step skincare routine.

Engagement Editor Debra Murray can be reached at debra.murray940@topper.wku.edu. Follow her on X @debramurrayy.

If you would like to submit a reaction to a piece, Letter to the Editor or other submission, please send it to commentary editor Price Wilborn at herald.opinion@wku.edu or edwin.wilborn835@topper.wku.edu. 

Video by Debra Murray and Caroline Chubb.

Video by Debra Murray.
Edited by Caroline Chubb.

Throughout the night, groups chanted “Kyle is a killer,” “for the people,” “no justice, no peace” and “whose streets? Our streets.”

Rittenhouse shot three men — two of whom died —  at a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, using a semi automatic AR-15 style rifle purchased for him by a friend. He was acquitted in 2021 after he testified that he had acted in self defense. 

For The People, a newly-formed student advocacy group, hosted a sit-in earlier today. Following the sit-in, the group marched through campus and protested outside DSU Nite Class. 

Imanii Giles, a senior political science major, is a member of For the People. They said they found the university and faculty lack of response to the TPUSA event “eye opening.” 

“It has been incredibly eye opening on multiple levels, not just on the student level, but seeing how faculty don’t even watch a fight for us,” Giles said. “It’s very disappointing, but also not surprising, because at the end of the day, this university has never been for us and will never be for us. And it’s painful … This is the life of a black student on WKU campus, and they can’t deny it, because we’re here and we’re talking about [it] and we all have similar lived experiences of racial violence.”

Giles expressed they hope the university understands that FTP wants to make students of colors’ voices heard. 

“We’re not going to take threats to our community softly, we’re going to respond,” Giles said. “We’re going to have collective action and they’re going to hear our voice no matter what. Because we pay 20,000 damn dollars to go to this university. They’re gonna hear what the fuck we got to say.” 

At both the sit-in and the protest, FTP critiqued the Student Government Association for not responding about Rittenhouse speaking on campus. 

Tani Washington, a senior international affairs major, helped organize the sit-in and protest. 

“They’re [SGA] the only major student body that has enough coordination and power to be able to condemn this on the institutional level,” Washington said. “Obviously, if the administrators are not going to do anything, the next best shot is the student government, but they don’t seem to be doing anything.”

She said she hopes the university is willing to work with students about how to create “concrete change.”

“I’m hoping that the university will see that we’re essentially not playing around, that the demands that we’re asking for are not something that we’re just flippantly wanting, but these are demands that we’d like carefully crafted and policies that we carefully analyze,” Washington said. “We’re hoping that this demonstration will be able to get us a seat inside of the administration’s offices in order to actually talk about and enact some, like, concrete change.”

Dana Beasley-Brown, a Bowling Green city commissioner, spoke at the protest. 

“Use your voices to come together today but not just today,” Brown said. “Use it to continue to form organizations like for the people and to move for positive change here at WKU”

BG Freedom Walkers is a local social advocacy group that formed in 2020. The CEO and founder of the group, Karika Nelson, a 37-year-old Bowling Green resident, organized the protest. 

“We want to let Kyle Rittenhouse know that he’s not welcome inside of our community in Bowling Green, Kentucky,” Nelson said. “And he’s not welcome here at WKU.” 

Students, faculty, staff and other community members who were not involved with either group gathered around the steps of DSU and at Centennial Mall during the protests. Residents of Minton Hall watched the events from outside the building and their dorm windows. 

WKU social work professor Jay Gabbard attended the protests due to his support of the Black Lives Matter movement, and to support the students.

“I just wanted to come and visibly show my support as a professor, because sometimes professors are afraid to lose their jobs,” Gabbard said. “I really couldn’t care less, because if I’m going to stand in front of students and tell them that they need to stand up for people, if I’m not out here, I’m a hypocrite.”

Thomas and Sharon Welborne live in Logan County, but work in Bowling Green. Sharon is originally from England, but has lived in the U.S. for 20 years. Both attended the BG Freedom Walkers protest.

“We don’t want his time here and I’m upset with the campus that they allow it,” Sharon Welborne said. “I know there’s free speech and everything, but I think they’ve gone to a lot of bother to protect a guilty person.”

Some were not participating in the protests, but were present to see the large crowds and speak with demonstrators.

Ben Leneave wore a sandwich board saying “print guns, not money” as he spent the evening recruiting people for the statewide libertarian organization, Young Americans for Liberty. 

“There’s definitely a big conservative crowd here,” Leneave said. “We’ve got messaging that we think kind of crosses the aisle, people on both sides can appreciate it a little bit. I’ve had some good conversations with people on both sides of the, you know, Kyle Rittenhouse opinions, and it’s a good crowd. It’s been going well as far as making connections and building our network out here.”

Jack McCain, sophomore economics major, was one of the 104 attendees allotted inside DSU Nite Class to watch Rittenhouse speak. He said he supported Rittenhouse speaking on campus, the second amendment and self-defense, but believed in the right for those who disagree to protest.

“It is important to share ideas, even if you disagree,” McCain said. “All that matters is that we see the humanity on both sides. We see everyone’s human. And when you stop talking about stuff, you get violence. And whenever people start to get violent, no progress is made and that’s how our country starts to fall.”

Tiffany Bell lives and works in Bowling Green, and attended the BG Freedom Walkers protest with her husband and one of their children. She explained that she wants a better future for her children, who are biracial, and that attending gatherings like this is important when thinking of the next generation.

“I don’t feel like that’s what Bowling Green stands for,” Bell said. “My husband and I have biracial children … I just want things to be better for them in the future. If we don’t stand up and say something when something’s wrong, then things will just stay the way they are.”

The protests ended shortly after the attendees left the event and Rittenhouse left campus from a service exit of DSU. 

“For Black people in general, protesting is such a valuable form of political expression that I feel like to not be here would be an insult to my community and my ancestors, because why would I not fight for what they’ve been fighting for for centuries?” Giles said. “I have the privileges I have because of their sacrifices in the fight that they fought.”

 Engagement Editor Debra Murray can be contacted at debra.murray940@topper.wku.edu. Follow her on X @debramurrayy.

Assistant News Editor Ali Costellow can be reached at ali.costellow453@topper.wku.edu.

Editor-in-Chief Alexandria Anderson can be reached at alexandria.anderson337@topper.wku.edu.

Kyle Rittenhouse will be speaking at Downing Student Union at 7 p.m. tonight. This is part of a speaking tour with Turning Point USA. A protest is being organized by the BG Freedom Walkers for outside of the event starting at 6 p.m.

Avenue of Champions will close at College Heights Blvd. at approximately 4 p.m., so the Avenue of Champions exit of Parking Structure 1 will be closed and traffic will be routed to College Heights Blvd or to University Blvd, according to an email sent by WKU PTS. However, vehicles will still be able to leave Poland Lot through Avenue of Champions, but will not be able to enter to park. 

Academic Complex Service Drive and Minton Lot close for entry at 4 p.m. Vehicles parked in this area will be able to exit, but no new entry will be allowed until approximately 9 p.m.

The email said alternative parking for WKU parking permit holders is available in the Mimosa Lot or Normal Street North until 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 28.

The email said alternative disability parking is available in front of Health Services and in the Regents Drive Loop.

Diddle North Lot outside E. A. Diddle Arena will close at 2 p.m. and all vehicles in this lot are expected to move by 3 p.m.

Transit on campus will also experience hour changes today. The bus stops at DSU and Douglas Keen Hall will close at 4 p.m. and remain closed for the remainder of the evening. Route 3 Campus Circulator will be unable to access Avenue of Champions and will detour from College Heights Blvd. to University Blvd. All other routes will remain the same. 

All restaurants in Downing Student Union will be closing by 4:30 p.m. today, according to an email sent by WKU Restaurant Group. Hours at Eiffel Pizza are extended to 9 p.m. today and the Spread will be open until 8 p.m.

The Spring Grad Fair is ending early today at 4 p.m. instead of 6 p.m.Engagement Editor Debra Murray can be reached at debra.murray940@topper.wku.edu. Follow her on X @debramurrayy

Black Lives Matter protests erupted in Kenosha, Wisconsin, following Jacob Blake being shot and wounded by a white police officer in August 2020. Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time, shot three men — two of whom died — using a semiautomatic AR-15 style rifle purchased for him by a friend. Rittenhouse had come from Illinois to Kenosha for the protests. He was acquitted in 2021 after he testified that he had acted in self defense. 

“The Rittenhouse Recap” is part of a speaking tour hosted through Turning Point USA, a nonprofit organization that advocates for conservative politics and has college chapters. Prior to speaking at WKU, Rittenhouse is slated to speak at University of Memphis on March 20 and recently spoke at East Tennessee State University. 

WKU’s Turning Point USA chapter shared the event on their Instagram, which was met with positive and negative comments from students including: “is he bringing his assault rifle with him,” “Looking forward to it! Defending yourself is a basic right,” “Ashamed to be a Hilltopper today,” “Awesome,” “Lionizing murderers. This is what tpusa stands for. Disgusting.” 

Jace Lux, university spokesperson, said this event is not affiliated with WKU. 

“Since this event is not sponsored by WKU, I do not have any additional details to share,” Lux stated via email. “I encourage you to contact the event’s organizers with any questions. While the commitment to free speech will always remain a hallmark of the WKU experience and we will continue to allow our community members to invite guests to campus, that does not mean that the university supports, endorses or agrees with the views of those individuals.”

WKU Turning Point USA was reached out to via their Instagram profile, but did not respond in time for publication. 

Rittenhouse will be speaking at WKU on March 27 at 7 p.m. in DSU Nite Class. 

Engagement Editor Debra Murray can be contacted at debra.murray940@topper.wku.edu. Follow her on X @debramurrayy