Archives for kvarney

The Great Power Outage of 2015

April 5, 2015 by Kiley Varney in Campus Life | Comments Off on The Great Power Outage of 2015

We never expected it to happen. But it did. And we were all unprepared.

My friends and I were sitting around chatting on Thursday night, looking forward to not having school the next day — as it was Good Friday — when all of a sudden, the room went black and we lost all electricity. None of us even knew a storm was headed our way, but we opened the door to find hurricane-like conditions outside.

The power didn’t come back on for another 24 hours. In the meantime, we had to find a way to entertain ourselves without TV or wi-fi (that meant no Netflix!). So we spent our Good Friday walking aimlessly around Walmart, getting fro-yo from a restaurant that somehow still had power and playing board games by the luminescent glow of our phone flashlights.

Part of me was a little disappointed that the power came back on late Friday night. At that point, there was no longer any hope of classes being cancelled the following Monday because of a lack of electricity. With the wi-fi working again as well, I could no longer put off doing my online homework. 🙁

On the bright side, it was kind of fun to experience a little taste of what life would have been like before electricity. However, this power outage taught the majority of us that we depend on electricity for more than we thought, and we are bored out of our minds without it.

And backup generators are good.

 

Kiley

Newton’s River Walk

March 24, 2015 by Kiley Varney in Campus Life, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Newton’s River Walk

I recently took my dog on a walk along the river that runs through Newton and eventually turns into the Sand Creek that lies just east of Bethel. The city of Newton has done a great job with providing sidewalks, dog pick-up bags and benches along the length of the walking path. The scenery is unexpectedly serene and beautiful, especially with the heart of Newton being just a block away.

One small thing was missing from the lovely path though — sufficient lighting! I went walking around 8:30 p.m., and there was an obvious lack of lighting on the sidewalks along the river. With the temperatures warming up, people are going to want to be walking, running or riding their bikes in the evening, and the sidewalk is far too dark to be considered safe for nighttime.

I would highly recommend taking a stroll down the path along the river. It’s a perfect study break and a change of scenery that’s only about a mile from campus. However, if you’re going at night, be sure and take a flashlight!

 

Introducing Kiley

March 11, 2015 by Kiley Varney in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Introducing Kiley

Hello Bethelites!

I just wanted to write a post introducing myself.  I am one of Bethel’s newest bloggers.

My name is Kiley Varney.  I am a freshman here at Bethel.  I run cross country and track, and I am a freshman representative on our Student Government Association.  My major is biology, and I’m also minoring in chemistry and art.  My hope is to be accepted to medical school after graduation from Bethel.  Besides classes, sports, and extracurricular activities, my jobs keep me pretty busy.  I currently work at the Citizen’s State Bank in Hesston, where I’ve been a customer service representative for almost a year and a half.  I also work as a chemistry department assistant and I’m an office assistant for our Department of Counseling, Career Services and Experiential Learning.

I am originally from Hutchinson, Kansas, but I moved to Hesston, Kansas, when I was 9 years old and graduated high school there.

In my free time, I love to bake and cook, as well as spend time with my 3 dogs.  I also love meeting new people and making friends!

 

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