Five Christian college students represent what the process of grief looks like for them through portraiture. Taking the viewers through the 5 stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

“I’ve experienced grief recently when my uncle passed away. It was the first time someone in my family other than a grandparent had passed. The grief and sorrow wasn’t because he died, but because I didn’t know where he was spending eternity. I didn’t know if he truly knew Jesus. It’s a different kind of sorrow when a loved one dies and you don’t know where they are going,” Katie Isenbarger said.

“Losing both of my cats in the same year was certainly unexpected. They were like family. The best thing to do to move forward was not to stay sad, but to be that they were apart of me and my family’s life,” Brad Wiggins said.

“I experienced grief when my granddad who lived at home with my family died a couple months ago. I allowed myself to feel sadness during that time but then I just looked at his passing as a celebration of life, that he isn’t suffering anymore, and he’s with Jesus in Heaven,” Reagan Potter said.

"I don't think I've experienced true grief. I have lost relatives and friends, and I've been hurt, but it's never hit me hard because I know death is not a sentence and pain is temporary. my faith is a stronghold in the face of adversity like loss," Daniel Franklin said.

“When I left all of my friends to go to college. I just remember seeing everyone pull away from my house the last time we all hung out, and I could literally feel the pain in my chest, and I just sat in my front yard and sobbed. I was grieving the end of the summer and the loss of memories we could have had if we had more time together. But, eventually, after a few months of being at college, I was able to meet more amazing people, which made me realize that my friends at home were not the only people I was meant to be friends with. There were so many more things and adventures to look forward to,” Keelin Elmer said.

Ashley Burdsall and her cat Darnell pose in the WKU Visual Journalism and Photography studio in Bowling Green, Ky., on February 19th, 2024. Burdsall is a WKU 2023 graduate and was a member of the WKU cheer team. She adopted Darnell while attending college and said, “It was the best spontaneous decision ever!” Darnell will turn 2-years-old this June. (Photo by: Madeline Powell)

42% of female athletes deal with an eating disorder defined by body image dissatisfaction and 70% of female athletes might participate in harmful behaviors that could lead to an eating disorder, such as food restriction or excessive weight loss, according to Mass General Brigham.

Sophia Roskoski, a pole vaulter on Western Kentucky University's Track and Field team and longtime athlete shares her journey of overcoming her eating disorder as a female athlete.

It started with restricting food intake and tracking calories which resulted in a significant amount of weight loss. At 17 years old, Roskoski was hospitalized for many months for anorexia/orthorexia.

"I weighed like 90 pounds, I was literally on my death bed…I couldn't even walk, I had to get wheeled everywhere," Roskoski said.

After being in the hospital for 10 weeks, she began a partial hospitalization program but during this time, her eating disorder started to get worse again.

When Sophia turned 18, she stopped going to her appointments and therapy.

"I was actually going to church and I don't know what brought me to church but I just started going," Roskoski said.

Sophia grew her relationship with Jesus and began praying. That's when things changed.

"I was instantly healed…ever since I gave my life to Christ, I haven't struggled with any of it and now I just try to help other people get through it," Roskoski said.