The Current Online

by Alex Greenlee

You’re standing by the water fishing with a top water plug. The Sun has just dropped beneath the horizon and the Earth is cooling off. Popping the lure several times, a “KABOOM” splashes the water.

Setting the hook to the right, you fiercely start to reel in. A succulent tug and tremendous weight appears on the end of the line. You know this is a big largemouth bass. He goes left, then right and you finally gain control of the fight. You see him flash close to the bank and say, “I cannot lose this fish!” You finally get him on the bank and it is a four-and-a-half-pound bass.

This is the exact feeling I had about a week ago. [...]

by Alex Greenlee

It is ten minutes until class and the anxiety hits. Pulling into the parking lot, it is apparent. There are no parking spaces. Anxiety worsens and a decision must be made: Wait for a student to leave campus or park far away.

These are the problems faced by MCC-Longview students on a day-to-day basis. [...]

by Timothy Long
Missouri College Media Award: First Place, Editorial

Enrollment at Metropolitan Community Colleges is at a standstill, and there is only one place for fingers of blame to point–MCC itself.

According to MCC, the Enroll Now Pay Now program is supposed to help students who are “serious” about taking classes, the opportunity to have their pick of classes without being limited because of less serious students holding on the classes without payment until the computer system drops them. [...]

by Timothy Long

Deafening quiet fills the classroom as final exams pass from desk to desk. Each student takes the heavy load with mixed feelings. With a clock speeding towards pencils down, tension sweeps across the room.

A student reaches in to his or her hoodie for a cell phone to text for answers. Another slightly moves his test up to read the notes covertly written on the desk the night before. Answers can be found scattered across the classroom, written on coke cans, pencils, hands and under the bill of ball caps. [...]