Hannah Hecht's Blog

At a small school like Morningside, it’s really easy to think that everyone knows everything about all the people on campus. By the end of the year, most people get to the point where they recognize every single person that they see every day in their classes, in the caf, and on the way across campus.

This morning, I went up to someone who I don’t really know in the cafeteria and struck up a conversation. At first, she looked a little taken aback, but when I explained that I was working on an assignment, she relaxed. My target was Alyssa Nehring,18-year-old freshman education major. She wore a glossy, pink Under Armour sweatshirt, athletic shorts, and purple Asics. Her hair was wet from the walk from Dimmitt in a downpour, and her eyes were a little lined, as were most people’s at 7:15 A.M. on a Monday.

When I walked up, Alyssa’s friends at her table were talking about traveling. One student, Michael, was telling everyone about how his parents were going to take a road trip to California.

“That would just be terrible,” Alyssa said.

Another student, a senior boy with long brunette (if I can ever use this word for men) hair, said that he would do the same thing to avoid riding on a plane.

Somehow the conversation shifted, and I ended up learning a few things about Alyssa. She was a lifeguard over the past summer in her small hometown of Humbolt, Iowa, but it was pretty boring, and she never had to save anyone. She also has one kidney that doesn’t work very well.

“My two kidneys pretty much work together to equal one,” she said, “The doctor told me that one kidney can put out about 93% effort, while the other one only does about 7%.”

A nursing student at the table assured everyone that people’s bodies can work pretty well with just one kidney. And, I guess that was my whole scavenger hunt conversation.