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Today's Poll!Senior headed for big city
Senior Brian Oxenhandler (center) presides over a student council meeting May 4 at Helias. The senior plans to attend college in New York City. Photo by Kelley McCall.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Growing up in Jefferson City, Brian Oxenhandler knew he would attend a college far away.
“I love the bright lights and hustle and bustle,” Oxenhandler said. After visiting New York City twice in the last year, “it’s so true, you can hear the heartbeat of the city,” he said.
Only blocks from notable places like Greenwich Village and Union Square is Eugene Lang College: The New School for Liberal Arts in New York City.
“It’s a really artsy, avant-garde, liberal school with a new-age learning atmosphere,” Oxenhandler said. “I am ready to go there, to learn new things, to see the world, to get a dose of different.
“I love Jefferson City, but I’m ready to try some new stuff.”
Marry Me
Comments
2warped757 1 year ago
You go, Brian! You will do great.
JCLifer 1 year ago
The smart kids at JCHS and Helias cannot wait to get out of this town. Once they leave, they will never come back. Who can blame them? The only thing this town has for younger people is to GET DRUNK.
centerguy56 1 year ago
amen
MO4LIFE 1 year ago
@JCLIFER don't let the oldheads get you down! This city is stuck in the 80's and 90's they want young professionals to come back but there is nothing to come back to because the younger crowd wants to blow off steam and party but the oldheads in this town would get rid of the tvs if they could there idea of a good time for the young professionals like myself is for you to go to the library or hang out at the eagles or vfw halls and play bingo. They just refuse to let the city grow into this century. Jefferson City is a dead town with nothing to do for the kids or the young adults which is why with jobs not available this summer is going to be high crime, rampant drug abuse and who knows what else will happen when teens are out of school and have absolutely nothing to do. Can't hang out at the mall unless you have a parent with you. Can't really go in to the parks because if you get a big crowd of teens anywhere the police show up and they will break it up even if you are not doing anything.!!!!!
JCLifer 1 year ago
They don't want to build bingo parlors. All they do is promote the bars in this area for drinking. They want to buy a fleet of trolleys to help the bar-hoppers. Young professionals want more than just to get drunk every night.
The funny thing is that if you go to these bars up town or in the Festival District or the Old Munichburd District, you never see any young professionals. All you see are young lower income, no college-educated kids dressed in T shirts and jeans drinking beer and smoking cigarettes looking for something to do. You never see any of the so-called young professionals. All the young professionals go to Columbia or the Lake. They don't stay in JC to get drunk eating bar food and listening to country-rock bands playing Sweet Home Alabama over and over.
This town will always suckle until we get rid of the rich old guard with their outdates ways of thinking, and until we get some fresh thinking entrepreuners who are supported and not run off trying to start some new businesses. We also are going to have to enforce building codes and get rid of the drugns and crime.
MO4LIFE 1 year ago
@JCLIFER I fully agree with you!!!!
centerguy56 1 year ago
how do you know what a Young Professional looks like!!??.....LOL
JCLifer 1 year ago
Google has about 4,070,000 hits for "young professional appearance" if you need some help understanding.
centerguy56 1 year ago
Seriously???? thats the dumbest thing i ever heard. So you go to the Bars and do a visual survey of Young Professionals vs Young Drunks!?? Based on a google profile??....Lifer get real man! Is there a google search for "fresh thinking entrepreneur" or "rich old guard"! Man this is really tired!
asb 1 year ago
As a marketing term, which is all it is, RYP's are indeed easy to spot. They're the lawyers, doctors, PhD's and highly trained IT and science folks with recent credentials. They do dress better than our local bar crowds, and there are only so many of their jobs here. That's not because of the local mentality, it's because those jobs don't exist in economically important numbers once you get past the tenured lawyers and docs. A surplus of professional jobs only follows growth, very strong growth . . . not a thing seen here since the 60's. The lack of growth IS a mentality thing, our state government has stagnated under fundamentalist profiteering leadership and JC's economy can only reflect that.
centerguy56 1 year ago
ASB: I think i agree with you? But what is the R for?....I believe the JC definition for YPs is somewhat different than u describe!!
JCLifer 1 year ago
JC definituion includes having most of their teeth? What are you trying to say?
JCLifer 1 year ago
BTW: At the rate Jeff City is going, they should be happy to get anybody who wants to live here. I don't get why they only want certain kinds of people- probably the ones that look just like the old guard folks.
This is 2012. Time for sleepy little Jefferson City to wake up and start accepting folks who are different. Diversity is not necessarily a bad thing. Might want to ppen up your thinking a bit and be happy that anyone wouild want to live here where the wages are extremely low and the amenities are not very diverse, and where most people who are different are quickly made to feel unwelcome.
JCLifer 1 year ago
You are the one obsessed with what they look like. However, since there are so few of them around here, no doubt you probably don't know what they look like.
You are welcome, by the way.
centerguy56 1 year ago
YOU are the one who says that YOU could just walk into a bar and do your self survey on YPs!! You are the one who posted about the Google description! LOL. YOU were the one the one with the stupid comment about TEETH!! LOL I think it is silly like most of your posts! So lets get to the real discussion, OK? I am an middle aged entrepenuer who WANTS to make this place attractive so that It can grow. I AM a chamber member and proud of it. I want to assist whoever wants to grow the economy, the mayor, the council, the county commission, the chamber and anyone else. BTW i happen to agree with much of your post about infrastructure, schools ect and hope you will provide those with ideas on the tools to make some of those improvements.
viktorkowski 1 year ago
I think I was in that crowd. hangs head. pay myself 7 figures and still can't get any respect
viktorkowski 1 year ago
patience, they will eventually die off.
spelchek 1 year ago
The truth hurts.
Forest 1 year ago
Best wishes to Brian. Not to be disparaging of his achievement and ambitions, but why are his plans noteworthy? Did he overcome a significant obstacle? He's not the first Jeff City kid to go to the 'Big City.'
Also, when did the News Tribune stop requiring its 'journalists' to use complete sentences? Or are complete sentences too 'Big City.'?
kentheco 1 year ago
Google his last name and you'll see. It's not what he's done, but who those with his last name are. Of course, we didn't see this much when Governor Nixon's son was caught with pot (sure, it belonged to someone else), did we?
director 1 year ago
I too say, "best wishes Brian!" I agree with Forest that there are many Jefferson Citians who have gone to school in New York, and I was wondering what the theme or the point of the story was? On the other hand, It's good to hear about an average citizen with plans for the future. There should be news stories on all kids who are not in trouble for something, and NO stories on all the ones who do cause trouble. If you started now, let's see, there are 500 or so JCHS graduates with good plans this year alone, you'd have to do two stories a day to get them all written in one year.
JCsleeper 1 year ago
Run children, run !
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