By Caleb Welker
Being a freshman here at Houghton has been quite the experience, to say the least. These past eight weeks have had their fair share of highs and lows, but through all of it, I can say it’s been pretty fun. When I came here, I found myself almost instantly pulled right into the community. As a member of the baseball team at Houghton, I didn’t need to wait long to find people who I was going to be spending a lot of time with. I remember walking up to Lambein Hall and being instantly greeted by Coach Reitnour and an upperclassman baseball player. Being a student-athlete has already provided me with long days of practicing and class. I didn’t know how difficult it would be to balance my academic, social, and athletic life, but Houghton came to my aid very quickly.
In my first week of classes, I could already tell how much the professors cared. Their instant connection to us as students was evident in their opening lectures. Being at a school where the professors know you and truly want to help you succeed is an amazing thing that not many people get to experience. One of my favorite classes I have taken so far this year is Introduction to Communication Theory. I take this class with Professor Gaerte, who has made an 8 A.M class way more fun than it should be. Although I dread waking up and dragging myself to the library to sit in class, I’ve always been drawn in quickly by him. He also is a prime example of how much the professors here care, as he is constantly making conversation with me, whether it be about baseball or just how my day is going. He always seems to make an effort to talk to me.
Being a member of the baseball team here has provided me with so many opportunities in the last eight weeks alone. Team events have included meals together every day, trips to the weight room at six in the morning, and late night practices in the freezing cold. We have also participated in events such as sitting together, being very loud at volleyball games and working the Harvest Festival at Houghton Wesleyan Church. Whatever you want to do, there’s someone there to do it with you. After four weeks of practice, it felt very odd within the last few weeks not having to block practice out of my day, but I managed to figure some things out to make sure I wasn’t too bored.
With Houghton’s location, there’s not really a lot to do off-campus. First of all, before I got here, I got a job as the Women’s soccer team’s public address announcer and scoreboard operator. Throughout the season, I got to watch the team’s games, announce the goals and substitutions, keep track of the score and time on the board, and struggle to pronounce the names of the opposing teams’ players. I found myself becoming very invested in the success of the team throughout the season, at points having to contain myself after goals, remembering I have a job to do. The job gave me experience in the field of athletics, and I got paid to watch a sport, so that was pretty cool.
Another connection that I have here at Houghton is through my family. I don’t know if you have realized reading this yet, but I share a last name with the Opinions Editor of the Star. At first, I told everyone I wasn’t going to Houghton because I didn’t want to be at the same school as my older brother. Obviously, my opinions changed because, well I’m here, but having a sibling at Houghton has given me another connection. I was able to say hi to his friends and impress some other Freshmen by knowing upperclassmen. Plus, it hasn’t been anything like what I thought it would be like, we aren’t right on top of each other. It’s cool to see a family member here as I do miss my family, but we really do have separate lives here, and we can spend time together, but it’s not like we’re home.
Other Freshmen and I have had different experiences. I know that I’ve helped some people by telling them the things I picked up about Houghton before I even came here from my brother, and I know of people whose experiences here have been quite different from mine. Many people here at Houghton have different experiences and can answer the question, “What does Houghton mean to you?” very differently. I know people who aren’t athletes, who seem to be shocked when I tell them I had to wake up early for practice. But those same people are there to listen to me, when I’m annoyed with a class, not that that ever happens, or just need somebody to talk to. And that’s really what makes Houghton beautiful. Sure we spend a lot of our time with different groups of people, but we truly all come together to make the Houghton family.
All in all, Houghton has already been amazing in the short time that I’ve been here. The community here has shown me why the people I know who attended loved the school so much. The small closeness of this campus and the community of students, faculty, and staff really have made my time here special and makes me look forward to the rest of my four years here. ★
