Meeting at a Winthrop University Students for Change interest meeting last school year, sophomore music technology major Ravyn Rhodes, editor-in-chief of The Roddey McMillan Record and junior mass communication major, Ainsley McCarthy, news editor at The Johnsonian, connected about their passion for activism, accessibility and journalism. After Ainsley sent a message in the group chat about needing someone to just hang out with one evening, Ravyn decided to join her and they brought their guitar with them.
While they bonded over their shared love of music and activism, Ravyn remembers having the time of their life that evening and that they “felt comfortable in her presence.”
Ravyn says the first thing they said to Ainsley was, “You look like you belong on the bridge of a Star Trek ship.”
Ravyn says that they were “really drawn to her company .”
The couple remembers WUChella this past spring as their one of favorite memories
“I saw an amazing opportunity to get her in the hot air balloon and have that moment happen. And like seeing that look in her eye was one of my favorite things. It was awesome. You know, the hot air balloon didn’t go up like super high. But we could see a good chunk of Rock Hill from where we were. And she absolutely adored it,” Ravyn said,
Ainsley recalls one of her favorite memories with Ravyn was, “seeing (them) perform in concert for the first time. Like, front row and getting to watch you do your thing …. It’s just like watching you in your element and doing what you’re passionate about.”
Last year, Ravyn threw a big party for Ainsley. Before that, Ainsley never had a birthday party that wasn’t shared with her twin brother.
“Like, there were literally so many people and everyone dressed up like my, my current roommate, she said, when she was on the way to when she was on the way to the party.” Ainsley said, “She was there. There were so many there were so many people there. And they’re all dressed up that she said when she was on her way over here.”
“Like she got stopped and asked if there was some kind of banquet or something going on tonight because like droves of people were headed in the same direction all in, like, dressed up, you know, fancy clothes. And so, it just felt really nice to just, like, be with everyone at the same time. And, you know, laugh and be together,” Ainsley said.
Ainsley says that she is “more confident” and “more comfortable” talking to people because of how many people Ravyn knows on campus.
“So everybody that they know I’ve kind of like started to become acquaintances with and so it’s just really interesting like feeling a lot more open and like connected to the community now. It’s definitely for the better,” Ainsley said.
Ravyn says that since Ainsley and them have been together, they “feel more level headed.” And, she has taught them, “calming techniques”
In the past, Ravyn has been approached with questions about being in an interracial relationship.
Ravyn said, “And that is something that I find that we do not have any significant interactions with, like, I tend to tell people like, as might be an up their conversation, but I tend to tell people, you know, Ainsley does not benefit from white privilege, which I disagree with, in the same way an able bodied person might.”
Being with other white people in the past, Ravyn says their relationship with Ainsley has been different, “And for me, I can exist in this relationship, and blackness and all, and it not be an issue. And she can exist in this relationship, you know, with her obstacles, and, and not be an issue. We coexist in that way. And I find that a lot of interracial relationships don’t have that element.”
In terms of what drew her to Ravyn, Ainsley says, “personally, I’ve never felt so understood by another person ever. Like, just the willingness that you have to just listen, and not only to listen, but also to be there, right beside me when, you know, we’re trying to make this campus a better place and being right there with me when I’m, you know, expressing frustration about these struggles, like so many people that I’ve encountered, they empathize with me.”
*CUTE COUPLE ALERT* =)