Fall 2013 Issue 7 - Feature Section

FEATURE

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4

OCT

23 2013

Welcome to

Walla Walla University

JumpStart program prepares incoming students for college

by Karah Kemmerly Feature Editor

W

alla Walla University (WWU) first organized the JumpStart orientation program in 1999. This September, firstyears gathered on campus for the 14th annual JumpStart week.

The WWU Academic Advisement Office designed JumpStart to help incoming firstyears prepare for the transition from high school to college. During the week of Sept. 22 to Sept.

28 this year, 26 groups of approximately 15 first-year students each got together with upperclassman JumpStart leaders to find out more about life at WWU before classes officially began.

Throughout the week, firstyears attended information sessions about various aspects of life at WWU. Some session topics included campus safety, overcoming computer addiction, the benefits of liberal arts and the importance of academic honesty.

Additionally, students took part in break-out elective workshops and large group games and social events. These elective workshops are a chance for students to gain advice from WWU staff members about practical aspects of college life. Discussion themes range from learning about careers, to getting prepared for college-level academics, to exploring relationships in a college setting.

Junior health sciences major Ryan Thornton, who worked as a

JumpStart leader this year, participated in a money management workshop when he participated in JumpStart as a first-year. With his group, he talked about making frugal financial decisions, particularly while grocery shopping.

“Some of it was just funny, but some of it was super helpful stuff I hadn’t thought of before,” said Thornton.

In addition to gaining tips from these sessions, first-years attending break-out workshops also learn a little more about navigating the campus. JumpStart leader Shannon Gaskill, a sophomore in the nursing program, emphasized the importance of activity locations.

“The break-out sessions are purposefully spread out so you could see where each building on campus was and get acquainted with them before school started,” she said.

According to JumpStart leader Justin Mock, a junior health science and business double major, learning the ins and outs of a new place is one of the most valuable effects of the JumpStart program.

“JumpStart gave you the chance to learn outside-theclassroom details. You got to learn how to use the cafeteria and how to find buildings.

If you had to wait until classes started, that first week would be really stressful,” said Mock.

JumpStart also gives firstyears the chance to get to know one another. Director of Academic Advisement Betty Duncan believes this opportuni-

ty to socialize with other firstyears is an invaluable one.

“It helps them meet other students, and it introduces them to their academic departments and faculty ... We believe that getting connected to each other and to the university is very important,” she said.

Thornton created bonds of friendship during JumpStart that have lasted his entire WWU career.

“It was a great experience.

I kept in contact with my JumpStart leader throughout the year,” said Thornton. “Three of my best friends now, I met in JumpStart.”

Of course first-years do not only interact with other students.

They also have the chance to meet with faculty members and other important members of staff.

“The faculty and financial aid people are all there for you.

Everyone is available that week if you need help figuring out your finances or figuring out how to register for classes,” said Mock.

Students pay a flat fee of $200 to participate in the JumpStart week. The fee covers all activities, materials and meals in the school cafeteria. JumpStart students also move into their dormitories early with no extra cost.

Overall, students are extremely happy with the experience.

“We always do a survey of the participating students at the end of the week, and the students are very positive about JumpStart. This year, 87 to 90 percent of students said it was well worth their time.”

Rikita Patel ‘15 and Jonathan Simons ‘16 study for their Spanish and public health classes on a fall afternoon. Photo by Sloss ADVERTISEMENT

WWU by the Numbers 12

1892

the year in which Walla Walla University was founded

75

the percentage of WWU students living on campus in 2012

$24,822

the estimated WWU tuition cost for the 2013-2014 academic year

90

the approximate percentage of WWU students who qualify for some form of financial aid.

the number of study abroad programs available to WWU students

230

the total number of graduate students at WWU in 2012

$21,566

the average annual undergraduate financial aid award package for 2011-2012

83

the first-year retention rate in 2012

12

the number of degree types offered at WWU

1,710

5

78

53

the total number of undergraduate students at WWU in 2012

the number of undergraduate programs offered at WWU

the number of varsity sports teams at WWU

the percentage of WWU students who are female SOURCE: WALLA WALLA UNIVERSITY WEBSITE

Walla Walla University volunteers get involved on Fall Service Day

by SERENA runyan Staff Reporter

B

y participating in community service, students at Walla Walla University find a chance to break out of their routines and get involved within the community.

WWU Community Service Coordinator Ellie Veverka helps to organize one big service event during each academic semester. Fall Service Day is set up specifically for WWU students, and Spring Service Day brings together volunteers from WWU, Whitman and Walla Walla Community College.

Veverka begins calling local agencies during the summer to line up service day projects. After that, she and her office staff publicize each event on campus and online. She also coordinates with the church staff to prepare a free breakfast and lunch for all WWU student volunteers.

Fall Service Day 2013 took place on Wednesday, Oct. 16. To make it easier for students to participate, all WWU classes before 2 p.m. were canceled for the day.

Service day participants could choose from 40 different service projects. These projects included rebuilding water stations at Mill Creek, cleaning up Pioneer Park and helping administer vision tests at Davis Elementary School in College Place. Other agencies involved were the Blue Mountain Humane Society, the YMCA and Country Estates Housing Community.

Veverka believes that student volunteers are extremely important to the local agencies and individuals they serve.

“The community agencies and elderly residents count on student groups each year. It really saves them money when they don’t have to hire some-

one to do the work,” she said.

Working on projects often gives students valuable opportunities as well.

“Sometimes students can connect to the agency they volunteered with and continue to volunteer there throughout the entire year,” said Veverka. “It’s a good connection all around.”

Students at Whitman College have gained valuable experiences by working together with Walla Walla University students in various community-oriented activities.

Whitman junior Nicholas Win gained a better sense of the greater Walla Walla community when he participated in Spring Service Day 2013 with WWU and WWCC students. Together, these students helped clean houses for members of the community who are unable to do so alone. “[It was a] great opportunity to learn the cultures of other schools in the area, in addition to those in need in Walla Walla,” said Win. Win saw WWU volunteers engaging with their faith while they worked for local agencies and residents.

“The WWU students I met seemed devoted to what they believe in. [They] carefully and thoughtfully performed mundane tasks [and] prayed before service began,” said Win. In addition to providing him with an opportunity to get to know other students, community service helped Win to see beyond his typical environment and to think more about the ways in which he could engage with locals. “[It] reminded me how ... [bad] it is just a couple blocks off campus — made me want to ... actually do something about it during my one-class days,” said Win. “[It] definitely made me feel like I transcended the Whitman bubble.”

FEATURE

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23 2013

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Students like Lisa Reeves ‘15 (above left) strengthen their spirituals beliefs and practice their faith within the community with help from Walla Walla University Chaplain Paddy McCoy (above right). Photos by Sloss

University staff aids students in spiritual growth on campus

by Isabel Mills Staff Reporter

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alla Walla University is just a quick car ride from Whitman College, but so many of us seem to be unaware of what the university is really about. Most of us know it is a private university affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, but what does that mean?

According to the WWU website, one of the university’s most basic goals is creating an environment in which students can understand and further develop their spiritual beliefs by taking religion classes, doing volunteer missions and community service, attending worship services and working in small groups.

Campus Chaplain Paddy McCoy helps students through their personal religious discoveries and in their community outreach projects.

“One of our core elements at the university is that we are committed to faith in God, so part of my job is to provide opportunities for the campus to worship, to connect with God and to challenge them to go deeper into that journey. I’m really there to be a care provider and a teacher,” said McCoy. Building a personal relationship with God An important part of students’ personal relationships with their faith is observation of the Sabbath day every Saturday. On the Sabbath, believers are supposed to refrain from all secular work.

“It’s just a way to spend the day differently than we do the other days and kind of [to] unplug from the business of the week and plug in to community, time together, time to worship, time to rest and sleep,” said McCoy. WWU senior theology major Jesse Churchill explained how he observes the Sabbath in his own way.

“I’ve come to my own view of what the Sabbath is. I believe that there are radically different ways to think about it. You don’t really watch secular TV or listen to secular music. When I thought why that is, I realized that Sabbath is a time not to just keep yourself from doing the things you normally do, but rather a time to focus on God. So I’ve come to the point where I participate because I want to do it, not just because it’s expected of me,” he said.

WWU students are not thinking of their spirituality only on the Sabbath, however. They try to incorporate their faith into everyday life. Part of that project is blending fairly conservative Adventist beliefs with the freedoms available to students in college.

Unlike some college students, senior English major Rachael Coon avoids drugs and alcohol in an effort to keep a close relationship with God. According to her, some WWU students do drink alcohol, but partying is not the norm.

“A lot of the things we put in our body cloud your mind, especially things like smoking or alcohol, and something God has given us is the ability to think and to reason, so

when you put things in that hinder that, you’re also hindering a gift God gave you and your ability to listen to God,” she said.

Churchill believes that different generations approach this balance between religion and everyday life in very different ways. He cites feelings about tattoos as an example.

“There are people who have tattoos, but it’s just not really flaunted. There’s a potential for it not being accepted. People my age are usually OK with it. But if you walk into church, there will be older people judging you,” he said.

He said Adventist beliefs could definitely change in the future.

“Church in general is dying. I want to have a church that can actually reach people where they are, here in this culture, rather than try to revert back to the ‘60s. The religion of our parents and grandparents tended to accept the beliefs a little more, whereas our generation questions everything,” he said.

Bringing faith into the wider community WWU students often explore their faith within the community through mission trips. There are opportunities to help out all over the world and here in Walla Walla.

Jeanne Vories, the director of student missions, is in charge of sending students to countries in need. Sometimes they need teachers, and other times they need someone to work in an orphanage or in a medical setting.

While on a mission, stu-

dents sometimes have to get creative in order to fulfill themselves spiritually.

“Sometimes [the students] might be the church. Sometimes they might have to organize story hours and times where they invite the children, and so there’s often not really church per se for them because they’re it. Either that, or church is in another language. When they’re alone and in another culture, God is their friend,” said Vories.

The students on these missions accomplish a lot while they’re gone, but they also face challenges while abroad.

“Some of them will have reverse culture shock. Some of them go down to Walmart and just cry because there’s so much stuff, and for the last year they were in a place where there just wasn’t anything,” said McCoy. In spite of this, the students come back to the supportive community at WWU where Vories and McCoy are there to help them readjust. Sharing stories about their mission experiences with friends helps too.

Coon had a great time on her year-long mission trip this past year.

“I took this last year off and I worked in an orphanage in Belize.

That was an incredible life experience. Life is raw there. It is what it is. There’s no fluff. There’s no mask to put on,” she said.

Churchill has been on four short mission trips to Mexico, Honduras, Fiji and Mozambique. Each trip was just a few weeks long, but they inspired him to change his ma-

jor from engineering to theology.

More than a religion Although being Christian is an important part of the identity of WWU, the students there get a liberal arts education. In other words, the university is not the type of school McCoy called a “bible college,” and students learn much more than religion. In fact, some of the most popular majors are nursing, business and engineering.

Coon talked about the value of the experience students receive at WWU. “My parents say they’re investing in more than [my] education ... in [my] future, spouse, spiritual life, eternity, in a sense.

So to them the money is worth it, because they’re looking at a bigger picture, which I think is what a lot of parents do,” she said.

While religion obviously plays a big part in the lives of students like Churchill and Coon, it doesn’t necessarily have to.

“If you’re looking for something else in life not religiously based, you’re going to find it. That’s how it is all around the world,” said Coon.

McCoy aims to help the students get the experience that they want, whatever that may be.

“My hope is that Walla Walla University is a good neighbor not only to the schools, but to our community, and that our students have a positive experience that leads them to go from here to be a change agent in our world,” he said. “And to go in and make a difference.”

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Dana Leighton ‘01 Real Talk With Professor Leighton

Major: Psychology

Monday, October 28 12 p.m. in Reid *E-mail Noah Leavitt, leavitns@whitman.edu, to be notified of the location and to reserve yourself a spot and lunch.

The Injustice of Threat: How Perceived Threat Shrinks Our Scope of Justice

4 p.m. in Kimball Theatre *Programs sponsored by the Student Engagement Center & Office of Alumni Relations

*

Professor Leighton is a Whitman Alumnus and 2013 Recipient of the Pete Reid Award for Young Alumni presented by the Alumni Association for outstanding work in his chosen field, commitement to serving others & significant contribution to the college.