The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
BY: Donna Pindell-The Quill
ARYANNE WESTFALL
Aryanne was born in Burlington, IA and raised in Stronghurst and the surrounding area.
She is the daughter of Melissa Cheely, whom she currently resides with in Oquawka except during the time she lives in the dorm at Bradley University in Peoria for college.
Aryanne has one younger brother, Jonathan Westfall. He will be 17 on August 6th and will be a junior in high school. He lives at home with his mom and Aryanne.
Aryanne is a sophomore at Bradley University in Peoria. She is working towards a BS in Animation with a minor in theatre arts. This school year will be a lot different with Covid-19 becoming more and more prevalent in America.
For her minor specifically, all theatre productions have been cancelled for the fall semester. The acting class she was scheduled to take has also been cancelled and replaced with scriptwriting.
As for animation, this is already a digital medium, so it will be easy to do while social distancing. Aryanne and her fellow classmates will sit six feet apart in classrooms and wear masks where social distancing is not possible.
She has yet to hear how the university will plan to handle the dining halls on campus. However, she assumes they will become "to-go."
Aryanne will live in the dorm which brings up another issue, communal bathrooms and showers which makes it impossible to avoid fellow students. She knows that Bradley University is doing everything they can to provide on-campus learning this year, so she appreciates that she will soon be in a classroom again.
Aryanne has been working and saving to go to Bradley University since she turned 16. Her employment history includes jobs at a small pretzel shop at Westland Mall in West Burlington, IA, Riverland FS in Stronghurst, The Hancock-Henderson County Quill in Stronghurst and currently, Aryanne works at Oak Wood Estates in Stronghurst.
When Aryanne goes back to college, she will be working with Bradley Dining Services. She is a barista in the new business building.
Aryanne spends much of her free time drawing. She is very interested in digital art, so she likes to work on webcomics, sticker designs, and she even does commissions on the side.
It is rewarding to be able to profit off something she loves to do. She is even considering taking up an apprenticeship for tattooing. She knows there are many possibilities in art. Besides drawing, she also likes to cook and tend her garden. She has many wild berries that grow in her yard, so around this time of the year, she makes a bunch of jam.
When asked for an important quote or outlook on life, Aryanne replied, "In life I think it's always important to be kind to each other. We all have bad days, but that doesn't mean we should take that out on others. Consider the fact that it's impossible to know what someone else is going through behind closed doors, so it's best to not be judgmental."
Aryanne believes everyone should do something nice for themselves every now and again, and stay safe!