Category: Stories In Focus

On Saturday, November 4, four Houghton students will present their personal research projects at the 18th Penn-York research conference. With the opportunity for a poster, twelve-minute oral, or artwork presentation, these Houghton students have the opportunity to present alongside fellow undergraduates from the surrounding area at Hilbert College. The conference is an annual opportunity, although this year’s students Annetta Snell ’18, Rachel Zimmerman ’18, Anna Schilke ’19, and Katherine Stevick ’19, are all attending for the first time.

Presenters have the chance to present from any academic discipline, and undergraduates benefit not only from hearing a wide variety of topics, from the science of teeth-whitening to immigration policy, but also from engaging with other students within their own disciplines. “I’d really enjoyed meeting other students in my field and hearing what they were working on,” says Sophia Ross, who attended the 2016 Penn-York conference the fall of her Senior year at Houghton.

The students look forward to the conference not only as an opportunity to interact with other undergraduates, but a chance to gain experience and prepare for their various fields. Schilke, who hopes to work in the journalism field, notes, “it seemed like a perfect opportunity to gain experience in the world of academic presentations and to add some substance to my job applications.” Ross confirms Schilke’s expectations, reflecting, “I worked at my presentational speaking skills, and also gained experience in networking with my peers at Penn-York.” She presented literary research from her English Senior Capstone last fall, which centered on Elizabeth Bishop. Her project, entitled “Remembering Mother and Motherland: The Experience of Loss in Elizabeth Bishop’s Nova Scotia Prose and Poetry,” explored the two years of Bishop’s childhood in Nova Scotia and their effect on her later writings.

Schilke, Zimmerman, and Stevick share with Ross a literary emphasis in their research. Schilke’s presentation centers on Margaret Gaskell’s North and South, “a famous Victorian novel,” and the role of its protagonist, Margaret. “Some scholars think she’s trapped by her society and the way it limits women, others think she’s an example of a woman with unusual agency for her time,” Schilke explains. Her analysis of these opposing views concludes “that both are legitimate.” Zimmerman, too, explores the Victorian era through the children’s fairy tales of George MacDonald. She concludes that both Victorian and Romantic are present in these stories, and “connect, contrast, and overlap.”

Stevick, however, departs slightly from the literary emphasis in analyzing a work of literature through a Political Science lens, and Snell’s research is actually Psychology based. Stevick explores Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure to discern Shakespeare’s approach to “the proper relationship between church and state” in his context. Snell…

Ross emphasizes the importance of the conference as a chance for “students in the humanities,” noting that “there are so few chances for us to present our work at undergraduate conferences.” Schilke shares Ross’s appreciation of the opportunity: “Even if the presentation itself does not go well, the process of preparing for it develops necessary skills for anyone interested in academia.

The Houghton Highlander field hockey team is making history this weekend by qualifying for the Empire 8 tournament for the first time.

Although they began their season with a few tough losses, starting out in the conference at 0-3, the team came together at a crucial moment to turn the rest of their season around. “Beating Hartwick was definitely the turning point in our season,” Alyssa Strom ’18 said. “After that, won our next three conference games which were Stevens Technical Institute, Elmira, and Nazareth.”

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!”

For the senior class, qualifying for the Empire 8 tournament is an especially significant accomplishment. “When I came in as a freshman, we only won five games the whole season, and we were last place in the conference,” Strom said. “For the seniors, this season is especially huge for us because we’ve seen this team improve so much within the past four years. Making it to the Empire 8 tournament is a big deal for us.”

Aly DeMerchant ’18 reflected on what this season has meant for her. ”When I look back at my time at Houghton playing field hockey, it’s easy to see that each year’s has built upon the previous year,” she said. “Going to playoffs this year is a testament to the hard work that everyone has put into this team over the last four years. Each year we have improved and grown closer together and it feels like it was all culminating to this opportunity: making it to post-season for the first time ever and we are so thankful for this opportunity.”

Coach Hannah Ogden is proud of her girls, who have “put a lot of hard work into making this happen.” She recognized the importance this feat holds for the team. “I am so excited to go to playoffs this season, it has been a goal for our program the last few years and we finally made it! It’s a well deserved opportunity for this group.”

The Empire 8 tournament is another opportunity for the team to demonstrate the disciplines they have cultivated throughout the past few months. “This season had its ups and downs but we stayed committed to taking things one game at a time and focusing on the details,” Coach Ogden said. “We often say, ‘the small things make the big things happen.’”

Tanya Hatton ’18 provided more insight for the upcoming game. “Earlier in the season, we lost to this team 1-0,” she said. “But both teams have improved over the course of the season, so I think it will be another competitive match.” Houghton will play at noon today at Washington and Jefferson College in the first round of the Empire 8 tournament.

A recent, anonymous donation of $2.4 million to Houghton’s Equestrian Center will allow for the expansion of new facilities, and greatly impact the community. Both students and faculty are excited about this “huge step” for the Equestrian Center and highly anticipate how it will help continue to grow the program.

Larissa Ries (Strappello), Instructor of Equestrian Studies and Equestrian Facility Manager, is looking forward to the many opportunities this new expansion will bring to the community. “The new arena will allow us to offer more events for the Equine community, such as clinics, shows, etc., providing more learning opportunities for our students. It will allow us to host events for organizations such as Pony Club and 4H. We have been approached by these organizations about using the facility, but have struggled to have the time and space with all of the programming we have going on for the college students,” she said. “Hosting more events will allow our college students to have more real life experience of planning and running equine events.”

Ries (Strappello) also commented on how the arena will directly impact the Equestrian students. “The arena will also give our students who board their horse here more time to ride. Currently, in the winter months they are limited to riding when classes or community lessons are not going on,” she said. “It will provide more year-round use space for our students to practice and hone their riding skills as well as provide more year-round space for the local equestrian community to get involved in our clinics and shows.”

Macy Baumgarten ’19, an Equestrian Performance major, anticipates taking advantage of the benefits that come along with having a new arena. “With the new arena we will have another indoor space and will have more opportunities to ride, which means that we have more opportunities to further our education as Equestrian majors and minors,” she said. “I think I am most looking forward to the fact that we will have more space. It is always so hard to find ride time in the winter because we only currently have one indoor arena.”

Not only will this expansion bring more opportunities for students and community members to ride, but it will also provide more space for classroom learning. “I am also looking forward to having a larger classroom, that will allow our lecture classes to have more space, space that does not have multiple uses,” Ries (Strappello) said. “Our current classroom is also the lunch room, tack room, cleaning room and hang-out space (because it is the only room besides the tack rooms and restrooms that is heated).”

Jordan Smith ’20, a double major in Business Management and Equestrian Management, is counting on the new expansion to capture the attention of those in, around, and beyond Houghton. “This expansion is definitely bringing more attention to the Houghton Equestrian program, so it is nice for people outside of Houghton to be able to see what our program is all about,” she said. “With this expansion we will be able to have bigger shows which will attract other equestrians to our school and program, which is always exciting.”

The Equestrian Program is thriving, and it will continue even more so with these new developments. “Each year we get more and more Equestrian students because of the amazing program we have. I think that because we are growing it is important for our facilities to grow as well,” Baumgarten concluded. “With another barn, we will finally have more room to expand and grow as an Equestrian Program.”

Global Christian Fellowship (GCF) has big plans for this year, and they want everyone to be involved.

A fixture on Houghton’s campus for over fifty years, Global Christian Fellowship is committed to increasing global awareness, action, and prayer at Houghton. “GCF coordinates weekly prayer topics that focus on one campus issue and one global issue and that are prayed for by the campus community daily,” according to the description on Houghton’s website. They meet weekly to pray and fellowship together, while taking a look at global issues and events. Anne McConnell ‘19, President of GCF, said, “The role of GCF on campus is to connect our daily lives here to the global church and God’s global mission for the world.” Global Christian Fellowship is one of the longest lasting clubs at Houghton, being formerly called Foreign Mission Fellowship.

Julia Chamberlain ‘18, a leader for GCF, said, “We want to help students use their passions and discover where the Lord is calling them to go. When we meet it is really a time to reflect on how we can serve the Lord today and in the future.”

Other than their weekly meetings, GCF has invested in fundraisers for missionaries and relief organizations. Last year they hosted a pancake breakfast to raise money for One Day’s Wages, which fights to end extreme poverty. They also had a staff and faculty talent show that raised funds for scholarships to support Houghton students going on missions trips this past summer, and plan to have that show again in the later months of the spring semester.

For this fall, GCF has exciting events planned. On Saturday, October 22nd, they are putting on a Frisbee tournament to raise support for a global church planting organization, Alpha Ministries. Chamberlain also mentioned their plans for New Vision Week, which is from October 23rd to the 25th. She said, “We will be having a GCF Koin the Sunday before New Visions Week begins and will be selling artifacts that Papa Shea [Paul Shea] has received from Africa at a booth in the CC.” Chamberlain also added her excitement about New Vision Week, “There are so many awesome missions groups coming, and it will be encouraging to hear how the Lord is working through them in their impact through their ministry.”

About GCF, McConnell said, “It has been very important in my personal journey as a follower of Christ, as it reminds me of the many Christians around the world who are my family.” She added that GCF helps to remind her that many people in the world have never heard the name of Christ, and that she is encouraged to share the love of Christ wherever she is placed.

Madeline Chesbrough ‘18, who attends GCF, said that what she likes most about GCF is the atmosphere. “I actually have just recently started attending this semester and I instantly felt right at home,” she said. Chesbrough also added, “GCF opens your eyes to the world outside of our little Houghton campus.  It inspires people who are looking into missions, or who have a heart for the world.”

GCF meets on Wednesday nights from 8 to 9 pm in the Alumni Dining Room.

The Chapel Deacon Program was originated by John Brittain, Dean Jordan’s predecessor, and continues to flourish many years later. This year, the chapel deacons are Daniel Hodge ‘18, Silas Philbrick ’19, Alanna Paris ’18, Miranda Hayes ’19, James McLean ’19, and Joshua Emel ’21.

Miranda Hayes ’19 applied for the chapel deacon position after being prompted by Houghton representatives from Campus Target, a missions organization based in Lima, New York. “I applied for this position because it was something that God had laid on my heart in the middle of my sophomore year,” she said. “After pushing it aside for a whole semester, pretending that I couldn’t hear the clear calling that he had put on my heart, I finally applied after speaking with a couple of Houghton representatives from Campus Target. They encouraged me and helped me to better understand that God will use my feelings of inadequacy through this experience. I’ve always had a passion for loving people, so the idea of being in a position that could open doors for me to invest in others sounded intriguing to me.”

For Silas Philbrick ’19, the position was attractive because he felt it would enable him to both grow and be challenged in his faith. “It’s also a good opportunity to meet with the other deacons during our small group time to talk and pray about things going on on campus,” he said. “I am hoping this position will help me to be more bold in my faith. I’m excited to be able to lead a campus-wide spiritual life project that will, with God’s guidance, impact many people.”

Throughout the semester, the chapel deacons are required to coordinate and execute a spiritual life project on campus. In the past, students have planned worship services, fundraisers, coffeehouses, Bible and book studies, dorm events, and more.

After spending a semester in Costa Rica, Alanna Paris ’18 discovered a new interest in how other cultures perceive Christianity. “This semester, I would love to have some of the international students on campus host a coffeehouse or in some way speak up about how they perceived Christianity up to coming to Houghton, and what made them want to interact with Christianity here.” Paris is passionate about unpacking “the real story of Christianity abroad, not the one we’re fed.”

Joshua Emel ’21 would like to see the community “come together” and encourage one another in Christ. Daniel Hodge ’18 is interested “systemically” in “helping people become aware” of “the internal and external forces that can destroy us, or bring us together.” “I would like to see people step out of their comfort zones, and to have the strength to do that,” he said.

Dean Jordan centers the program on mentorship, inviting the deacons to meet with him once a week for a one-on-one conversation. “John Brittain more often had students plan actual chapel programming, whereas I do a bit more of a mentoring focus,” Jordan said. “Rather than help to plan chapel, I like giving students a chance to think a bit more widely about campus spiritual life and plan some sort of program that helps spiritual life on campus.”

Hayes holds her deacon position as both a privilege and a responsibility. “As my own faith growth is an important goal for my position as chapel deacon, so is the faith of other Houghton students,” she said. “I would really like to use this experience to see others challenge themselves in their faith as well by working together to be involved in the spiritual life on campus.”

Philbrick hopes this semester is one of dedication and commitment for the chapel deacons. “I am hoping that this year’s chapel deacons can be prayer warriors for Houghton College,” he said. “I hope that every time we meet we can discuss the events that are happening on campus and pray for those that are hurting as well as the overall wellness of our campus, our community, and our nation. I would like to see that when events that threaten to cause division within our community, be resolved through the grace and peace of Christ.”

Homecoming has always  been a time of celebration when current students, family, and alumni gather to commemorate Houghton’s influence on their lives.

Today, Houghton alumni are dispersed all over the world, pursuing excellence for the glory of God in their respective disciplines. Two recent Houghton alumni, Sophia Ross ’17 and Olivia Graziano ‘16, have moved on to utilize their degrees in a unique, professional setting and impact many. Ross currently works as the Marketing Associate at Image Journal, a literary quarterly in Seattle, Washington. Graziano works as the Creative Director of Intermotion Media, “a group of creatives” that use video to tell “unforgettable stories.”

For Graziano, landing a job right after graduation was initially challenging. “I searched for about a year, applied to over forty jobs and got rejected by all of them,” she said. “By chance, Wesley Dean, another Houghton graduate, reached out to me and I ended up starting to do some contract work for him. He liked it so much that he wanted to bring me on full-time.”

As part of the interview process, Graziano traveled to Cambodia with the Intermotion Media team, partnering with World Hope International, an organization that works with “vulnerable and exploited communities to alleviate poverty, suffering and injustice.” “My experience alone in Cambodia really changed me as a person,” she recalled. “We were able to film the story of a woman that was a victim of severe domestic abuse. She is the first Cambodian woman to ever successfully file and win a domestic violence court case, resulting in her ex-husband’s imprisonment. World Hope is trying to create more awareness in global communities, so there’s a place women can go to seek help in cases like this.”

Graziano is passionate about filmmaking because it presents a unique opportunity to bring about cultural transformation. “The reason I got into video was because it’s a way that you can show others your point of view or tell them a story, and change how they think,” she said. “That’s what videos do—they have the power to change how people think.”

Currently, Graziano and her team are filming footage for Houghton’s IMPACT marketing campaign, which focuses on the impact that both current Houghton students and alumni are making around the world. Next month, the Intermotion Media team will travel to Kenya and Nigeria to partner with the United States Institute of Peace in making a video to “counter violent extremists and radicalization” and “promote rehabilitation and reintegration of violent extremists in East Africa.”

For Ross, her position as a full-time employee at the non-profit Image Journal enables her to fully pursue her passions. “Working at a literary journal means that I use both my majors (English Literature and Writing), which are also my passions, every day,” she said. “I get to continue learning from great writers, not only about my craft, but about the business aspects of publishing. I also get to read several pieces of great writing a day, and decide how to present them to our audience.” An average day includes “scheduling posts to social media and the blog, meeting with interns or the editor, curating content for the online newsletter and blog,” and also “proofreading manuscripts before they go to print,” all the while ending her day by “checking social media and interacting with the readers online.”

One of her favorite aspects of the job is how she is able to connect with the contributors to Image Journal. “I love that a big part of my job is engaging directly with writers and readers of the journal,” Ross said. “I manage Image’s website, blog, online newsletter, and social media accounts, which means that I’m constantly in touch with contributors, as well as readers who are engaging with posts.”

Ross was excited to learn more about how non-profit organizations function, and has directly experienced “just how vital every person is to the organization.” She has been challenged daily by the work environment, which has pushed her to stay constantly aware of how she uses her time.

For Ross, a Houghton education was excellent preparation for her position at Image Journal. “I can’t overemphasize how instrumental Houghton was in preparing me for this job. First of all, the professors I had at Houghton pushed me to pursue excellence in my writing and critical thinking, both of which are absolutely central to this position. I can’t thank them enough,” she said. “My roles as an RA and as an editor on the Star and the Lanthorn taught me how to prioritize my time, improved my communication skills, and gave me the tools I need to work in a professional environment.”