INTERVIEW WITH SETH NYMEYER

Seth Nymeyer, Class of 2018, is living in Michigan near the Indiana border and teaching high school English in a public school. It was nice to see Seth back on campus recently.

Q: To start off, tell us one of your favorite high school memories?

A : One of my favorite collections of memories is preseason football. “Men” twice my size claimed to be my peers. Their beards, muscles and mustaches almost scared me out of playing entirely. I remember my first time getting hit, and the second and the third. I think it took me a month before I understood it was acceptable to hit back. My peers became savage warriors. It was the best thing for me. I saw biblical manhood on and off the field. Coach Swore and the rest of the coaching staff synthesized the hard work of the two-a-day’s practices with biblical discipleship. James 1 was always on Swore’s lips. The hottest days were his favorite because “adversity makes you stronger”. I love the moments that brought me to blood, sweat and tears—yes a few tears—because I know it created a good thing in me. Coach Swore’s mantra of “You know when you’ve given your all at the end and it hurts.”

Q: Seth, tell us where you are living and teaching and how long you’ve been there?

A: For the last six months I have taught 9th and 12th grade English in the small town in Southwest Michigan called Dowagiac (Da-wah-jack). The town has a population of 5,000.

Q: Which college prepared you for your career? And for our new alum in particular, when entering college, did you feel that NPC had prepared you well?

A: I am a Secondary Education alumnus of Michigan State University as of May 2022.

The structure of discipleship at NorthPointe is exceptional. The teachers build into the lives of the seniors. The seniors have the opportunity to apply what they are learning with their small groups. I experienced genuine fun while being discipled. Young men like Carter Miedema and Isaac Blickley modeled biblical discipleship while being in high school. Little did I know that their influence was coached/modeled by their teacher mentors. I have been able to carry this model into my personal and professional life.

Q: Since you’re teaching HS English, what effect did your high school English teachers have on you?

A: NorthPointe’s English department is college level. Anji Straayer and Don VanderKolk (DVK) are the two people I hold most responsible for my love of literature. My senior year at MSU was the first year where I was challenged. My English and Literature skills are where they are because of the teachers who drew them out of me.

DVK convinced me to become a teacher. After my freshman year at MSU, I was unsure of my original plan for a business degree. I was reaching the levels needed to be successful in MSU’s Business College, but I lacked any passion or desire to continue. In the spring of 2019, I made a visit to DVK. I watched him teach his junior honors English. Afterward, we sat in the Media Center teacher’s lounge as he made copies and finished lesson plans. He told me being a teacher is one of the greatest places to pour into people and study what you are passionate about. He ended the conversation with his usually facetious attitude, “Don’t make your decision to be a teacher for the summers off. It is a bad idea.” And with a pause he ended by saying, “I mean that’s why I did it, but you shouldn’t do that.” That was the last conversation we had. I am so thankful for teachers at NPC like him.

Q: What are your long-term goals for your students?

A: Simple; seek a life of learning and love to read. A well-read mind is a sharp mind.

Q: What is God teaching you these days?

A: “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” —Matthew 5:3 Being “blessed” begins by recognizing the reality of a broken, sinful world and going to God as the source of life. Putting on a smile doesn’t solve or even patch our broken world. Our God does. I am learning to start each day by recognizing the reality of my situation and then going to Him as my source of everything. Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in spirit, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Joy is doing your best vigorously in each moment God has given. I can entrust to my Savior the specifics; I know He is good and has a purpose for everything.

– Interview by Pam Lasher, Alumni Coordinator