Author: Sophia Ross

While students at Houghton’s main campus seldom have the opportunity to interact with students at Houghton-in-Buffalo’s campus, Professor Laurie Dashnau and her Literary Non-Fiction class have spent the past semester challenging this division. On Wednesday, November 18th, she and five students from the class traveled to Houghton-in-Buffalo’s (HB) campus to meet with a Writing 101 class, and to see how Houghton’s mission extends beyond the Genesee Valley.

The partnership between Dashnau’s writing class and the HB class has been in the works for the past three months. As a project for the duration of the Fall semester, Dashnau assigned her Non-Fiction students to write to students in Anna Matejova’s (‘11) HB Writing 101 class as pen pals.

“The idea came from me already working with the Writing 101 instructor in Buffalo and having met last year’s students and wanting to seize the opportunity of encouraging them to connect more strongly with Houghton College in general, as well as with our residential students,” said Dashnau.  

She consulted with Matejova, a former student of hers, in mid-August about the idea, and Matejova responded enthusiastically. They tried to mostly pair male students with male students and female students with female students. Several of the Non-Fiction students were assigned two pen pals, as there are twelve students in Dashnau’s class, while there are twenty-two in Matejova’s. The letters would be posted to Moodle on a regular basis, and the students could write back and forth. Over the course of the next few months, they gave their students writing prompts for each letter that included topics such as a favorite memory, a historical event or country of interest, and a discussion of a character in a work of literature. According to students in Dashnau’s class, these assigned topics often branch out into other areas as they discover things they have in common despite their differences.

On November 18th, Dashnau and students Carina Martin ‘18, Bonnie Huegel ‘19, Jordan Trautwein ‘19, Alyssa Rogan ‘18, and Andrew Meyers ‘18 all traveled to Buffalo and sat in on an HB Writing 101 class. In the classroom, each Non-Fiction student was assigned to a group of five or six HB students, and instructed to interview one another with questions they had prepared beforehand. Rogan’s group was mostly interested in what her life was like on Houghton’s main campus, while she asked them about their lives in the United States compared to their lives in their home countries. Huegel and her group talked about how they are different and similar, their home lives, their friends and their families.

“Their life experiences are so different from my own, yet really, we are the same,” said Huegel. “It was exciting and eye opening to talk to them and get to know them.”

After writing to one or two of the HB students throughout the semester, it was especially exciting for the Non-Fiction students to finally meet their pen pals. According to Martin, the experience was somewhat strange, but still enjoyable.

“When you’re communicating virtually with someone for a long period, you sometimes formulate an idea of them in your mind that turns out to be very different from the way they really are,” said Martin. “In general, I found that my pen pals’ letters had clearly reflected their interests and personalities, enough that I felt upon meeting them as if we already knew each other. It’s amazing how much of someone’s personality and individuality can be conveyed through a thoughtfully written letter.”

 Overall, the pen pal program has proved a success. Not only do students in both classes have the opportunity to practice their writing skills on a technical level, but, according to Rogan, the writing project has enhanced her abilities to relate to and understand people of different cultures through her writing.

“It isn’t often that I connect with people from cultures so vastly different from my own,” said Rogan. “The whole experience has given me a deeper appreciation for diversity.”

Dashnau echoed Rogan’s words, saying that the experience was designed to accomplish this.

“My students have been challenged to think about crafting their writing for students with a different level of experience with the English language as well as cultural knowledge,” she said. “Mother Teresa is quoted as saying, ‘I am a small pencil in God’s hands.’  I think many students feel the same way in regards to their pen pal experience.”

From career workshops with VOCA to Dean Jordan’s “Beyond the Bubble” chapel series, Houghton students are frequently reminded that they will not be college students forever. The prospect of leaving Houghton for the working world may seem as daunting as it does exciting. Fortunately, there are recent graduates setting an example by establishing themselves in career paths related to their work in college. Brady Robinson, Moeun Sun, and Kevin Miranda, graduates of Houghton’s class of 2015, have each found employment in fields that they were prepared for by their experiences at Houghton.

Robinson, a former Media Communications and Visual Arts major, now works on contract as a Media Specialist in the marketing department for the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, Colorado. During his junior year, Robinson says he was specifically looking for an internship in Colorado in which he could work in videography and photography. He found such a position with the YMCA of the Rockies through the online job board Cool Works, and worked for the organization in the summer of 2014. At the beginning of the spring 2015 semester, Robinson informed his former supervisors that he was interested in returning to the YMCA. By the end of February break he had completed the job application process.

“I accepted the position shortly after returning back to school from break,” said Robinson. “Knowing that I had a job after graduation took a lot of weight off my shoulders and allowed me to concentrate on coursework.”

Sun, another a recent graduate, also found her current position through an internship she worked during the summer before her senior year. Sun now works in Washington, DC as a Communications Fellow at the Alliance to End Hunger, a coalition that works with institutions to address world hunger. A double major in International Development and Business Administration, Sun gained a lot of work experience during her time at Houghton through positions as an RA, an ARD, a TA, and as a student coordinator for the Faith and Justice Symposiums. It was ultimately her position as an intern for the Bread for the World Institute, an organization that works also works to end hunger, that helped her find the position she holds now at the Alliance, a sister organization to Bread for the World.

“My supervisor at Bread knew that I was looking for a job for after graduation,” said Sun. “He told me about an opening at the Alliance. When I interned, I worked really hard and tried to make a lasting impression on my supervisors. The staff at the Institute were able to provide good references, which I think is what helped me get this job.”

Miranda, who recently began his career in New York City working for the accounting firm KPMG, did not find his employment as the direct result of an internship. He graduated this past year with a degree in Business and Accounting, and while he never had an internship in his field, he says that he was able to interview for the job at KPMG with confidence due to what he had learned at Houghton. He also credits the connections his Houghton education provided him.

“I found my position through networking with professionals in the city,” said Miranda. “Most of them I found through Houghton alumni and they were very helpful in not only guiding me towards a good connection, but also towards God.”

Robinson also emphasized the importance of networking in order to find the right position. He highly recommends that any student looking for work start using a LinkedIn account as if it were Facebook.

“If networking hasn’t been drilled into you enough yet, I’d urge you to be intentional about your profile by posting content that displays your interests, skills and experiences,” said Robinson when asked what advice he would give current students. “I’ve been able to make connections with other creatives and learn from people who are doing what I one day hope to be doing.”

Sun recommends that students hoping to find work next year start building contacts now so that they will have someone on the inside to reach out to when organizations post job vacancies. She also encourages students not to feel discouraged when looking for jobs, despite how arduous the task may be.

“I applied to a ton of positions in DC before I even got an interview,” she said. “Even though it was really hard, you just have to keep applying without giving up. Something will come up eventually.”

As the season changes and the natural beauty of Houghton’s campus is transformed by autumn, one group on campus is working to ensure that the Houghton community cares for this vibrant area. The Eco Reps, the college’s student organization for sustainability and creation care, are now preparing for a full year of encouraging students to engage with the environment surrounding them.

The group, created by Sustainability Coordinator Brian Webb, started in the fall of 2013 as a way to engage students in environmental issues. There was previously a Creation Care Club at the college, but it never drew in large groups of students. Its lack of popularity motivated Webb to approach the concept of a student organization in a different way. Unlike a regular campus club, Eco Reps is a function of the Office of Sustainability. This allows for continuity year-to-year through Webb’s direct involvement in facilitating the organization, as well as for the use of the sustainability budget to aid in financing Eco Reps programming.

“This way there’s a synergy between students’ ideas and the sustainability goals that the college has put together,” said Webb.

Last year, members of the Eco Reps planned a coffeehouse campfire event in the woods, organized a Faith and Sustainability panel, and started the process for two long-term projects. One of these projects seeks to reform the college’s lack of institutional policy to use sustainably sourced paper, which Eco Rep Coordinator, senior Lauren Bechtel, is continuing to discuss with the administration. Another project will  attempt to raise funds to install an apple orchard in the green space between Steese Cottage and the tennis courts. While both Bechtel and her co-leader, Eco Rep Coordinator and junior Daniel Bellerose, look forward to pursuing these initiatives, their main goal for the year can be summed up in one word: awareness.

“Overall, the purpose is awareness,” said Bechtel. “Awareness of how you can make more sustainable decisions on an individual level, but also how we can work together as a community to be wise with what we’ve been given.”

In order to accomplish this objective, as well as to ensure that Eco Reps become a recognizable name on campus, the organization has put more emphasis on planning events to engage the Houghton community. As part of the Young Evangelicals for Climate Action fellowship program, Bechtel and Bellerose participated in a weeklong training program last August that readied them to take leadership positions this year.

“We were able to write down goals and build a solid concrete foundation to move into the school year with,” said Bellerose. “Our big goal for this year is to reach out to every discipline.”

To connect with every department, major, and campus group may seem like an intimidating task, but the Eco Reps are prepared for the challenge. Bechtel and Bellerose have set up monthly themes that will culminate in one event per month. For example, September’s theme “Get Outside” will end with a Trail Mixer this coming Saturday, September 26 in which the Eco Reps will provide free trail mix and guided walks through Houghton’s trails. Other events will include a panel on Faith and Sustainability to offer some philosophical and theological motivations for caring about the environment, and an Arts and Environment Expo next semester.

“Studies have shown that when it comes to environmental issues, people don’t respond to facts,” said Bechtel. “People respond to personal experiences or their previous background, whether that’s religious or political or geographical locations. We’re hoping to communicate the need for action on environmental issues in a way that’s not necessarily based on fact and reason, but on experience and how we perceive reality.”

Now in its third year, the Eco Reps program has grown to fifty-two official members. Thirty students attended this year’s first meeting, and all of them signed up to help plan this year’s activities and events. Webb is thrilled with the enthusiasm.

“It’s an answer to many years of prayer, for me,” said Webb. “Now, finally, large numbers of students are engaging with this and understanding how creation care interacts with our faith.”  

Thanks to the undertaking of Webb and this group of conscientious students, the Eco Reps are primed for another year of engaging in their own understanding of creation care. The Houghton community at large is set to benefit from their continuing efforts.