MaryRose Clark
"I know it’s cliche to talk about maturing from high school to college, but reflecting on my 8th grade self makes me realize just how far I’ve come. At 13, I thought that I knew everything and was ready to fall in love with a guy, date him through high school, and settle down. I’m from a really small, rural town where that dream is normalized and fantasized. The summer before 9th grade I began dating a guy who I thought was going to be my forever (lol right). His devout Christian aesthetic drew me back into faith, which is something that I’ll always be grateful for despite our horrible relationship. I could go into the nitty gritty - but you’ll have to listen to our episode to find out more! What I imagine as the love of my life was just the love for the American hometown ideal - not to say that I never felt in love with him, because I sure did. The scary, deep love that follows you even when you’re 21, about to graduate, and in a very healthy, committed, over 4 year long relationship with the true love of your life. In the past 7 years, my stumble through love, sex, and religion created experiences that shaped me into who I am today and solidified my beliefs while questioning it all at the same time. I feel that I’ve come so far, but I know that this is only the beginning."
​
-MaryRose Clark
Erin (best friend & boyfriend’s sister), Sean (current boyfriend), and MaryRose at Prom (2015)
Erin, Sean, and MaryRose at a Western Michigan football game (2019)
Nick (right), Nick's Mom, Wanda (center), and Nick's best friend, Krystel (left) on U of M's move-in day (2017)
Nick
Lemaster
"Let’s preface this with the fact that I’m not great at talking about myself. Briana told me to make this between 150 and 300 words, so 150 it is. While I was involved in two relationships throughout high school, I never really gave my dating life much thought. I think it’s truly through reflection of events after they happen that we learn who we want to be and what we need in terms of our interpersonal relationships, be they romantic or otherwise, and this reflection has definitely shaped who I am in my current relationship with Briana. I also think that mental health, the topic of Briana and my’s conversation, is a salient aspect of every interaction we have with others, and as such plays an extremely important role in sex, love, and dating. Briana and I discuss the importance of this intersection, humor, identity, and more in our episode of Fleeting."
​
-Nick Lemaster
Nick (left) and Briana (right) at a coffee shop in Briana's hometown (2019)
Olliver Postill
"The idea of sitting down and writing a tiny bio about yourself sounds easy until you actually sit down and try to do it, but here we go. I very much so consider myself a romantic, talking about sex and love is very normal for me, and my friends and I are very open about these sorts of topics. When Briana asked me if I wanted to be on a podcast of with her about the aforementioned sex and love, and how our perceptions of them changed over time, I said yes without hesitation! Our conversation definitely went down paths I didn’t expect it to, but it was a good time and it was wonderful to get the opportunity to reminisce and chat with a long term friend. I promise I’m less of a weeb in real life than I sound like I am talking about Fanfiction on this podcast. I have almost no normal or professional photos of myself so uh, what you see is what you get?"
​
-Olliver Postill
Briana, Olliver (center), and their friend Gillian, at Senior Prom (2016)
Briana and Olliver, at the Raven Cafe in their hometown (2018)