student life

Preparing for Spring Break Missions

Spring break is usually seen as a much needed break from school and a time to sit back and relax for a week.  Or it means spring break missions!!  LeTourneau students have the option of going on one of 12 mission trips over their break, five in the US and seven to Mexico.  The trips inside the country vary from college student beach reach in Texas, aviation maintenance in Ohio, or college student outreach in Utah.  The Mexico trips include construction work, putting on VBS, or ministering to college students; there is something for everyone.  I personally am going on one of the Mexico trips and cannot wait to go!

One way for the LeTourneau Student Ministries (LSM) group to raise money for these trips is by having each team put on a carwash.  They split the groups up and take two Saturdays at the end of February to do this.  The groups are usually partnered with one other group and sent to a local restaurant, where they set up their carwash in the parking lot.  Some of the locations included Chic-fil-a, Bodacious BBQ, and Olive Garden.  My group was partnered with the airplane maintenance group going to Ohio, and was stationed at Bodacious.  Luckily it was a nice sunny day out, which made it nice for us and brought in a lot of cars.  We advertised that this was for LETU missions and that it was by donation.  After five hours we had washed 30 cars!!  It was a really great experience and allowed us to grow closer to our team members.  It also proved to us once again how faithful God is and how he provides for our every need.

Spring break is here and I can’t wait to see what God has in store for me!

- Katya Rempel
Early Childhood Education Major

Snow Day

February 12th marked a day that every child wishes for and every parent dreads in which all of America gets to enjoy…well, except Texas usually. However, Texans got to experience the wonderful joy of six whopping inches of snow! As a native Coloradoan, I was able to bask in the memories of snow days from home. I was also very excited to see how excited everyone else was getting about this frozen water. Back home, people are not quite as excited about seeing the snow only because when it happens every day for four months straight in the spring, you begin to see it as a pest rather than a pleasure. But my joy was restored with the smiling faces and laughing students on LeTourneau’s campus as they took pictures, built snowmen, and even took turns sledding down the Berm. Our R.D.’s wives and children were also out playing in the snow it and having a great time! It brings out the inner child in everyone! I was even privileged to be invited to go sledding down the Berm on a surprisingly incredible sled: a trash bag. Not only is it super cheap, but it makes you go incredibly fast!  With classes cancelled that Friday, not only did I sleep in, but I was also able to experience something which I had not found joy in for a long time because of the stereotypical days in Colorado: sledding and laughing at yourself incredibly as you and your friends try to help each other back UP the hill after you have gone down. In rain boots and as many winter clothes as we could find, we found ourselves first at the top of the hill then laughing in a pile at the bottom. Even for those who experience it every day back home, a snow in Texas amongst friends sheds the stresses of homework and brings hearts closer together as you either experience something for the first time, or relive the memories of childhood. It’s worth reliving those memories again…..

- Megan Hillman
English Language and Literature Major

Berm Rollin'

 

 LeTourneau University is a campus where the students feel right at home in the dorms.  The guys I stay with have become almost like family. They are some of my greatest friends, and I am certain these friendships will continue to develop even after I graduate next fall.  Campus life, and dorm life is what has allowed me to make such amazing friends here at LETU. Believe me when I say we have quality dorm life here. I am a transfer student and have been to two other Christian Universities.  The dorm life here is awesome. There is always something to do, and because most of our students are from out of state there are always students to hang out with especially over the weekends.

A good example of a recent experience that I had with friends was what we call "Berm Rollin'".  The ordeal requires nothing other than a large tire, a good steep hill, and good friends.  To accomplish this rollin’, one, or even two of us would climb into this very large tractor tire, while the others pushed the tire over the hill.  The crazy ride was over when the tire finally stopped.  It was one crazy night of fun, and one crazy ride. 

   

This is only one example of the experiences I have shared with the guys on my floor.  We are loving our time at LeTourneau. I couldn’t ask for a better dorm experience, or better friends.

- Caleb Obholz
Mechanical Engineering

Valentine’s Day at LETU!

I entered LeTourneau last semester as a transfer student from a local community college that I attended for a year. I am grateful for the experience and the credit hours I got out of the way at community college, but I wasn’t able to easily connect with the rest of that campus because of the large number of students that attended. When I was finally able to visit LeTourneau last summer, I immediately knew that this is where God wanted me to be. Small classes, professors who love God and have a passion for teaching, and the beautiful campus were all major deciding factors in my decision to come to LeTourneau.

Before coming to LeTourneau, Valentine’s Day was just another day. I think I actually officially named it “Single-Awareness Day.” I currently live in Tyler Hall East, on the 3rd floor (most commonly known around campus as “3B”). During the first few days, I immediately felt a great connection with my floormates. We all got to know each other really well, especially with our sister floor that lives on the 1st floor of Evelyn LeTourneau Hall (known as ELH1). All throughout last semester and this semester 3B and ELH1 have done many activities together. But by far, the best thing we’ve done so far has been celebrating Valentine’s Day together.

We wanted to go all out for ELH1 for Valentine’s Day, so we did. Forget the expensive gifts, the flowers, and the cards. How about balloons? Not just ten, twenty, or even one hundred balloons. Try 2,637 balloons. For about three days, every guy on 3B was blowing up red, pink, and white balloons. We eventually filled two different rooms, from floor to the ceiling, with balloons. We got clearance from campus security and at about 4:00 A.M. Valentine’s Day morning, we hauled all of the balloons from the 3B to ELH1 in about an hour. We filled ELH1’s hall from end to end and was about waist high deep. ELH1 knew about us doing this, so they were told to stay in their rooms while we did it. They awoke the next morning to their doors hard to push open and having to take at least 2 minutes to be able to walk through their entire hallway. Fortunately for 3B, ELH1 loved our Valentine’s present so much, they even let us enjoy it as well. So we went over to ELH1 during open dorms and ran up and down their balloon-filled hall for about thirty minutes. It was probably one of the most fun experiences of my life. Everyone should try this at least once!

 

The thing I love most about LeTourneau is that the whole campus is more of a community, rather than just a bunch of students going to college. It’s so easy to get to know fellow students, as well as the professors and staff. And if you’re lucky enough, you might just get to celebrate Valentine’s Day with an amazing sister floor!

God Bless,
Matt Barr
Sophomore, Political Science Major

SAINT’S Valentines Day

For those guys who grew up without sisters, LeTourneau has the solution. Often, a guys’ floor on campus will adopt an entire girls’ floor as their "sister floor". For those who don’t like the idea of adopting an entire floor, some guys’ floors will adopt "floor sisters" instead. That’s what we on Quad 1 have done. Rather than befriending an entire girls’ floor, a floor sister can be from any girls’ floor on campus. She starts out as a friend of only one of the guys, and ultimately, she is accepted throughout the entire floor and becomes a floor sister. Of course, a nickname and complimentary Quad 1 Saints T-shirt are part of the deal as well.

Even though we may not have as many sisters as other guys’ floors, we still appreciate our floor sisters and like to show them that a few times throughout the year. This year, we decided to throw a Valentines’ day party for them. (If you’ve never seen a bunch of guys try to plan a Valentine’s Day party for girls, let’s just say it’s a terrible mix of ‘cluelessness’, confusion, and chaos.) Eventually we settled on buying small white teddy-bears and sewing a green Quad 1 Saints T-shirt for each one. What girl doesn’t like teddy bears, especially with a shirt hand-sewn by a guy?

 

The gifts were complete; now we needed a fitting Valentine’s Day party so we could present them. First, we decided to play a brand new game, known simply as Saints Trivia-Land. (Some would say it vaguely resembles Candy-Land.) Moving down the hallway with number cards and skip cards, the girls had to answer a rather trivial question about Quad history before they could move on. At the end of the hallway was their final task: guess under which of three bowls their teddy bear was, as the bowls were quickly shuffled. Sadly for us (or much to the relief of the girls), our game was no match for them, as they made quick work through the hallway and got their teddy bears. After the ice cream and cake (a vital part of any Quad 1 party), we all watched Lady and the Tramp. It’s safe to say this was a Valentine’s Day like none any of us had ever experienced before.

His Servant,
Elias Naatz (aka Trigger)
Engineering Technology, B.S. Aeronautical-Mechanical Concentration

Life in Married Student Housing as Parents

My name is Faith Soles and my husband Zach and I became parents on November 6th to a handsome little boy, Levi Jedidiah. Zach has been here at LeTourneau since Fall ’07 and we were married June 21st, 2008. Levi is obviously our first child and with our family all the way up in Michigan we knew that we would be relying on the Lord for more than just spiritual guidance and support, we needed wisdom from those who have had children and knew how the system worked: how to prepare the house, the finances, the medical details, etc. At first, to me it seemed like there were a lot of tasks to be done before we were ready, but that is because I am kind of what you call a detail worrier. But God definitely took all our worries and used our spiritual family here on campus and our church family to encourage us and direct us in those little details. God is good and so faithful! (Ps. 100:5) We do our best, pray that it is blessed, and trust God to care for the rest.

Life for us as married students is busy, but it is best described as BLESSED! The community here at LeTourneau and in Longview, TX is so amazing. They threw us baby showers and even a “Dad Party” to celebrate and encourage us as new parents entrusted by our Lord to raise this precious child. The night I went into labor our pastor and his wife came the moment we called. A big group of campus friends were there to welcome me and Levi when we come out of the delivery room. And all that weekend and the following weeks we had numerous excited visitors to share with us in our joy. Zach is anaeronautical science majorand at the end of the Fall semester, Zach was a bit stressed with responsibilities, but he was able to relax with us and enjoy time with Levi during our dinners that were generously provided by our church andLETU Married Student Housingneighbors for the first three weeks.

With Levi, every day is similar but different too because he is a growing baby who needs constant attention. Diapers, naps, feedings, baths, burping, increase of laundry with a decrease of sleep. Getting Levi into a routine so that Zach and I can return to a routine isn’t as easy as we had hoped. I’ve learned that expectations are logical and somewhat necessary, but enjoying every minute of Levi in this young stage is important as well as fun. It’s a new life being a parent (of course, haha) and not really one that we expected for while we were in school, but we know that God is going to teach and equip us, His children, with what Levi needs from us. I love that there are other mothers here on campus that have experienced all this before me, and some even with me, so I have a community of mentors among friends to answer any questions. We love it here! But we pray each day for wisdom in how to prepare for the next season of our life- nine months came so quickly and babies grow up quickly too. God keeps us on our toes and knees almost simultaneously, but gifts us with joy that imprints a permanent smile on our hearts. We don’t know where we will be going after LeTourneau, but what we have learned in our 18 months of marriage is that a lot can happen/change in a short period of time. If we abide in Jesus, we will be ready for the next season, whatever and wherever that may take our family.

- Faith Soles
LETU Married Student Housing Resident

Christmas with AO

Thanksgiving had just barely ended, but already the Christmas bug had bitten the members here at the Alpha Omega society house. As the last week of classes took place and finals loomed in the distance, the membership still took time out of their busy schedules to honor the timeless tradition of decorating the house. Its hard not to be infected with the Christmas spirit as carols on the radio mixed  with the sweet scent emitted by a freshly cut Douglas fir in our lobby floated through our hallways.

Christmas At AΩ is not celebrated like Christmas at home. First, we sing several Christmas carols followed by a Christmas Devo given by our house Chaplin. Then, instead of giving each other traditional gifts you might typically expect to receive, we give gag gifts to each other, poking fun at specific traits that the recipient has exhibited throughout the year. This exchange is always a time filled with laughter and the sharing of good memories together, as we are all humbled for things we have done in the past and reminded of what we can do better in the semesters to come. I loved being at home this Christmas break celebrating with my family, but I am so thankful to God for the opportunity to celebrate Christmas here at LeTourneau University alongside my brothers at Alpha Omega.

- Paul Christophersen
2nd VP Alpha Omega
 
 
 

Experience the Flavor of East Texas!

 When I decided to come to LeTourneau, one of the things I wondered was what students here did in their free time.  Coming from the Washington DC area, I was used to a lot of cultural activities and things to do on the evenings and weekends.  What I didn’t realize was that LeTourneau University and the area of north-east Texas has its own exciting and interesting culture.

 

Besides spending time with friends and classmates on campus, there’s a lot to do around Longview.  The closest Sonic is open 24-hours so it’s always available for a snack after late-night studying, and there’s a multitude of fun and affordable restaurants like Double Dave’s Pizza and Bodacious Barbeque.  Around town, there’s bowling alleys, a laser tag compound, and of course shopping.  And I’ve been surprised at how many festivals there are in this corner of Texas!  I was curious about exactly how many events were held throughout the year, so I went to the website of the North East Texas Tourism Council.  I counted up all the entries on their “Festivals and Special Events” page, and found almost 170 events listed for 2009.  That’s a lot to do!

One Sunday afternoon in mid-September, four of my friends and I drove out to the East Texas State Fair in Tyler, TX.  It was an incredibly fun evening!  We got to see some prize-winning artwork that one of the girls on my floor had entered.  We saw goats and sheep in the livestock show, sand sculptures, and of course we tried the fair food and rode some of the rides!  The food at fairs never ceases to amaze – at this fair, I saw not only the usual funnel cakes, hot dogs, and fried oreos, but also some things I had never seen before.  One vendor was selling personal-sized pies, filled with everything from berries and puddings to mincemeat and chicken.  I witnessed what fried cheesecake looked like, as well as fried butter.  I can’t imagine who would eat fried butter, but I guess someone likes it!

“The Greatest Show on Earth” was there performing at the fair, so some of us got to see one guy swallow a sword, and another guy eat fire and have a rope pulled straight through his neck!  The last show we got to watch was a unicyclist achieving multiple and seemingly impossible tricks on his unicycle.  He juggled balls, canes, and hats, sang, and danced, all while seated on his unicycle.

One of the unforgettable moments of the night was when my roommate announced that she had never ridden a roller coaster.  All of the rest of us were shocked and convinced her that she needed to go on at least one of the thrill rides.  We chose “the Kamikaze,” a ride that went up high as well as upside down.  She thought it was awesome, and was laughing the whole time.

 

We spent about five hours there at the fair.  On the way home, I thought about how I had worried that there would be little to do in East Texas, and I realized just how wrong I was! Part of the culture here is an abundance of fairs and festivals that offer some pretty amazing things.  As a student, I’ve been delighted that it’s incredibly easy to get some friends together and go take advantage of the many special events presented by the local area.

- Trisha DeGroot
Accounting Major

A Lesson in Time Management

One of the first things they tell you about college is that it will be the time of your life.  True.  The second thing is that it will teach you time management.  Also true.  You have to learn to prioritize your time between classes, homework, friends, sleep, sports, dorm activities, a job, workouts, keeping up with people back home, Facebook, and whatever hobbies you have in addition to those. (Whew!)

Upon entering college freshman year, I felt more than prepared to take on the time-management challenges that college would through my way.  I had always been a good student, very active in school and church activities, and played 3 varsity sports.  And indeed, I found that I was able to mostly keep that precarious balance between all the activities college threw my way (although, admittedly, sleep was the first sacrificial offering).

And so it came to pass that my senior year arrived this fall (it’s been three years already?!?).  Time to get involved in all those things that I always wanted or needed to do before I graduate from college.  Of course I could handle it all … I considered myself a pro in the art of time management.  And so somehow I found myself embroiled in all of the following activities: 22 credit hours, 2 part-time jobs, bible study, LEGS internship, developing a non-profit company, Investments Club, job-searching, a new marriage, and a puppy.  That’s not to mention the normal activities like sleep and trying to make it to the gym, spending time with the Lord, and not dropping off the face of the Earth socially.
 
I guess that doesn’t sound like much on paper, but let me tell you—there just have not been enough hours in any day.  Although I’m making it through, it has not been without major sacrifices to some of my relationships, to my sleep schedule, and to the quality of the work that I have turned in.  Needless to say, I’m counting down the days until Christmas break!!!

Regardless of time management skills (even if you had an overly high opinion of yours, as I apparently did) there comes a point when it’s just too much and you have to say “no” to some activities.  It’s an age-old lesson that suddenly hits home when it happens to you.  Get involved in school and thrive to be active, but not to the point where all you are doing is barely surviving.  Honor God with your time and activities.  Sometimes that means taking on a few less things to be able to do your best in everything you do.

- Kalyn Stralow

Get involved!

This is my third year living on the second floor of Gilbert Hall, also known as G2 M.E.D.S. I have never been involved with my floor as much as I have been this year, and it has been filled with days and weekends of fun and spontaneous activities. The girls on my floor are very friendly and caring for each other. I have never had any sisters, but if I had, I would imagine it being like living on G2!

 

Having an amazing brother floor 41 (second floor of Thomas Hall) only adds to the fun. I’ll be honest…my first impression was that they were nerdy and really yellow (floor t-shirt color). My first impression wasn’t wrong, but I have learned that nerdy guys can be fun (not all guys on the floor are nerdy), and yellow isn’t such a bad color after all! Since the beginning of this semester, we have gone out to Shreveport and Dallas on weekends and breaks; 41 threw a party for us in their lounge; we have gone outside randomly to play frisbee or volleyball together; and every Thursday night has been “Man Your Mug” where we have a brother-sister floor coffee/study party.

 

LeTourneau, or any university for that matter, can be tough, filled with days and nights of hard studying, difficult classes, and times when we just want to give up. But that shouldn’t be an excuse not to hang out with the people around you. Some of the huge encouragements during the tough times for me have been the girls on the floor and the guys on my brother floor. I am excited to spend the rest of the school year with these amazing people surrounding me!

- Maasa Magita
Accounting Major