What started out as a simple hobby for Garrett Bock ’18 has recently morphed into a full-blown passion and creative pursuit. As a Wellsville native, Bock and his brother grew up skateboarding and snowboarding, all the while making videos to capture their experiences.
Bock was first drawn to Houghton because of the opportunity to learn more about film. As a communications major with a concentration in media arts, Bock has been continuously refining his creative style. “I was kind of the nature photographer at first. Now I’ve tried to find my style a bit more, which is more towards fine arts and conceptual works,” he said. Anything involved with the psyche, Bock continued, “is fascinating to me. I mean, we have this gift to think, so we should use it.”
Many of Bock’s photography classes have been formative in his maturation as a photographer, especially Introduction to Digital Photography with Professor Ryann Cooley. “I learned all the technical aspects, but it was also cool learning the formal elements of photography, like what should be in an image, what makes it meaningful, and how to create a concept,” Bock said. “Before, I would just point and shoot a camera at something because it looked really cool, but it didn’t really have a meaning. Now, I’m finding things that have meaning. It means something to me, but I also want it to have that same feeling for someone else.”
Bock’s professors and classmates have been extremely influential and supportive in all his endeavors. “Before I came to Houghton I was homeschooled, so it was a huge change for me because I had to go to class every day and communicate with these people all the time,” he said. “But it was actually really helpful because everyone has all these different ideas, so being able to get some critique on ideas steered me in the right way of my style which I’m still working on. I probably will be working on it for a long time,” he added. “You just never stop creating things.”
For aspiring photographers, Bock advised, “Bring your camera wherever you go. Shoot something every day whether it be self-portraits or nature, or something that really inspires you. Eventually you’ll find out exactly what you love to do and you’ll meet so many new people that way, and have all these new connections just through doing something that you absolutely love to do.”
Bock is also the president of the Houghton Ski Club, an adventurous crew that travels every Sunday to Holiday Valley for a day of skiing or snowboarding. Bock has been snowboarding since he was twelve years old and has always seen it a way to escape for a while from everything going on in his life by getting outside and enjoying nature with friends.
The Houghton Ski Club is open to anyone who enjoys being outdoors in the winter and is interested in either learning or improving in their skiing and snowboarding skills. “If you’re still not sure how to ski or snowboard, there are people will will help you,” Bock said.
Just like artistic sensitivity, Bock has found that these adventurous pursuits are best developed in tandem with others.“Spending time trying to figure it out on your own is difficult,” he said. “Honestly, it’s open to anybody who’s interested in those kind of activities. I highly encourage it.”
“I have been very involved in research here at Houghton,” Gildemeister began. “I did Science Honors here my freshman year, and then over the past three summers, I’ve done research with one of my professors through the summer research institute. That was super cool.”
As he recalled his freshman and sophomore years at Houghton, Miner explained that he struggled to find helpful resources as he was “coming to terms with my sexuality and how that would play a role in my faith.” He decided he would share his experience in the hopes that other people would find it helpful, too. “I figured there was probably a lot of people who were in my shoes, so even though I didn’t have most of the answers, I was just going to say what I was thinking and hope that would open up more conversation,” Miner said.
Richardson has also gleaned wisdom from observing various teachers in their different areas of expertise. “The most helpful part of this experience has been getting to observe teachers outside of our content area,” she said. “It has reminded me of the connections between subjects as well as allowed me to see master teachers that I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to learn from if I only observed English teachers.”
Sebian is in his second year of working with the youth at Houghton Wesleyan. As an intern, his responsibilities include involvement in morning Sunday School, Sunday night youth group, and weekly visits to Fillmore Central School. Through this experience, Sebian has learned the importance of being aware to the needs around him. “I think the biggest area of growth for me has been needing to be aware, and needing to be bold in that awareness,” he said. “It’s not something you can just turn off. It’s a practice that needs to happen all the time. I might not ever know the effect I have on the students I’m interacting with, so I’m just free to love them.”
Nikki Garns ’18 explained that this new program “gives students access to increase their involvement at Houghton” as well as enhancing their “communication skills” and developing “their professionalism as someone who is representing a professional institution.”
Nicole Jennings ’19 echoed Strom’s statements. “We had a rocky start, but partway through the season we all came together and decided to play for God and for each other as a family, rather than for ourselves,” Jennings said. “This caused us as a team improve tremendously from the beginning of the season. We are playing games together as a unit, which contributes largely to our success!”
Within the culture of each athletic team, there is a unique emphasis placed on intentionally engaging faith with sport. Darcy Mitchell ’19, a member of the men’s soccer team, said that this integration is most clearly seen in the way that he and his teammates conduct themselves. “After every game, we ask the other team to gather with us to pray and thank God for the gifts and abilities that he has blessed us with,” he said. “That act alone is a witness to other teams and fans, and represents who we are truly playing for.”