student life

The Balancing Act: Part I--Life as a Student Athlete

Grace Peterson, a junior flight major, talks about her first semester as a student athlete. Here's a little glimpse into what her life is like.

Tuesdays are my longest day, period. The day technically started at midnight, trying to get some last bits of information in my head for my 7a.m. test. At 6:28a.m. I already felt like I was starting my day late as I climbed out of bed. The test went fine; it was all fill in the blank which was new for this professor. Since then I have had 3 classes and two labs. Tonight after my 6-9 class I will head to the soccer fields to finish practice with the team, tonight practice is from 8-10. So by far and away, Tuesdays are the longest, a 15 hour day, but who’s counting?

As a junior and this being my first year playing soccer I think my experience is different from most student athletes at LeTourneau. But despite this deviation from the norm there are some things that will ring true regardless of major, year, position or your original stomping grounds. Balancing athletics and school is hard (granted for some majors, or brains, this task could be easier or harder). My body is tired in a way that it has not been in my past 4 semesters. Time that had previously been used for studying or social time is now spent on the soccer field or the gym. Sophomore year I was taking 18 hours and going through a rigorous flight syllabus, that semester I redefined social time as homework time with friends. I guess this is a similar semester; social time is now hanging out with the team. Honestly that has been my favorite part of joining the soccer team. My world of airplanes and fellow classmates opened to freshman, sophomores and seniors from all over pursuing different majors.
Everybody talks about the bus trips; this is definitely prime time for team bonding and making memories. Our first road trip I felt like a little kid again, had I packed everything? Who would I sit with on the bus? The questions were goofy but I still had to work through them. Actually one of my favorite memories was on the first road trip. We were in Arkansas, we passed out pretty early at night but the next morning me and my roommates just goofed around before our game that afternoon. It was fun getting to know them, laughing together and growing close as a team.

I am glad I chose to play soccer this semester. Yes it has challenged me in new ways, but my experience with the team has been priceless.

 

 

Grace (#18) fighting for the ball during a home game. Go YellowJackets!!

 

LETU Experiences--A Whole New World

Trang Tran (Jane) shares her experiences looking back on freshman year at LeTourneau University. While the adjustment to college life is already big enough, her transition also consisted of moving half-way across the world to a new land, new people, new culture, and a new life.

I was born and raised in Vietnam, a tiny little country in South East Asia.  17 years-old, I made the biggest decision to leave home for college in the US. Everyone was shock. Some are excited for me; others are skeptical. For months, I spent most of my time after school reading online forums and panels about studying abroad. Many of them have great experiences, but there are also stories about
students who could not handle culture shock. After all, it is a completely different world. The fact made me nervous because unlike most others I have no family or friend here. However, I was too urgent to go and see the world then. I somehow convinced myself that it wasn’t any big deal.

Everything hit me all at once when I got to college. I’m an adult now, no more orders from parents. I started to set up my new life. I never knew it could be that hard. For the first time, I realize how
much I have at home. For the first time, I wished mom and dad were there to tell me what to do. Fortunately, I didn’t have much time to be homesick. International-Student Orientation quickly took me away to all kind of wonderful things about America and LeTourneau University. I was amazed by the beauty of campus, and Wal-mart is just unbelievably huge. Through the orientation I got to know and became good friends with some of the most amazing people from all around the world. We had a great time just sharing about personal experiences coming to the US and cultural diversity. It is fascinating how the world can be so similar and different at the same time.

Besides the international group, my floor is another family I have at LeTourneau. For the first time ever, I get to live with around 100 brothers and sisters. We have meals, do homework, and hang
out almost every day of the week. Conversations and fun never end. The best thing about college is that you don’t need a reason to do anything, including late night Wal-mart trips. I love Wal-Mart. We went and had a ton of fun taking pictures with their stuffs. One of the staffs there even joins us for several pictures.

Over all, I am having a great time at LeTourneau. It’s totally is the place God calls me to be; and I’m excited to see what is he bringing me next.

   (Jane and her new college friends on their adventure to Wal-Mart)

From a Freshman, Life at LETU-part 2

Anne Shippy, Nursing freshman from Arizona, shares her thoughts and experiences on being a new student at LETU going to classes, adjusting to roommates, and yes, even cliff diving.

Before leaving my home for college, I was given a mountain of advice on how to handle
the “big adjustment” to life at an out-of-state university.  My parents had multiple conversations with me about what to do and not to do once living in a dorm and on a campus with a community of people.  While I can say that all of the advice did help, I honestly haven’t experienced the torrid of
emotions that I was warned would come over me once moving out of my home.  I have not wept once, felt overwhelmingly homesick, moody, or swept under by the workload that the college life
brings.  Go figure, right?  Isn’t that all a part of transitioning from one mode of life to another?

It has been four weeks to the day since my dad and I packed up and headed east towards the Lone Star State and the fair city of Longview.  This was a pretty cool experience for him, as a graduate of LeTourneau University, to now bring his firstborn to study at his alma mater.  Seeing his old campus changed so much, and the different “feel” of the university.  Yet he said that so much of the same integrity of the school is exactly the same, as is the faith-centered heartbeat of the school.  I was just excited to finally be moving into my new home, after so many months of preparing to get here.

As soon as we found out we were roommates, my roomie Kathryn and I have been chatting and getting to know each other.  I was ecstatic to be sharing in these new experiences with her, and learning to live with another girl for the first time in my life.  There are nine freshmen on our floor, and eight of us are all across from each other; we form a kind of “quad”.  Between us we have four cars, one longboard, one piano, and enough popcorn to sink a ship.

Coming from a K-12 homeschooled background, being in the classroom setting was a new
experience for me.  Even going to a classroom was totally foreign.  Thankfully my roommates and I had scouted out our class locations over orientation weekend, so I was ready and rearing to go
on the first day of class.  All of the professors were very welcoming, but still kept the dignified sense of formality that a university classroom deserves.  They all wore suites or skirts, and made their expectations for their class very clear.  When it was all over, I was a little more than slightly overwhelmed.  But that night the entire campus got dressed up and shared in a communion ceremony.  Our brother floor “escorted” us to Chapel.  There we were challenged
to live a life of trust in God; to grow our spiritual foundations.

What I have found in these four weeks – the longest I have ever lived in one place besides
home – is that I am thriving and flourishing at this school!  Not a day goes by when I don’t meet someone new and deepen friendships.  Everything that my parents have been done during my childhood has prepared me for this moment; from learning to have a sharing heart to how to develop good study habits.  A lot of my bad habits have followed here though too; especially my tendency to “forget” to wear my retainers at night.  Not every moment has been peaches
and cream, and every day I face new challenges and obstacles.  But I am ready for them.  I take each day minute by minute, trusting in the Lord and learning to relax in those precious moments when they come along.

A favorite memory for the last couple of weeks would be the day we went cliff jumping with
our brother floor.  It was amazing!  We drove to nearby like inside of an old rock quarry.  The owners of the quarry had hit the water table several decades ago, creating a pure and natural lake.  The water was bluer than the Caribbean (at least I thought so), and the lake was probably 70 feet deep.  There were varying levels of jumps, the smallest being about 10 feet and the largest around 50. 
I went on the 30 foot jump first, and am so glad that I did.  All of my adrenaline was drained in an
instant, and I am still recovering my nerve.  But it was an amazing experience, taking a literal leap of faith with my friends.

 

 Anne and her sweet suitemates.

From a Freshman-Life at Letu

Erin Patterson here...

Two weeks into college and I’m still alive! It’s been a
little hectic settling into my schedule, but I think I’m starting to get used
to it. It’s definitely different than high school! But everyone has been super
helpful getting us freshmen set up. My roommate Taylor is so sweet! Everybody
says we look like sisters, but we don’t think so. We get along really well and
since we’re both on the softball team we help each other remember when we have
practice and stuff like that. We also have a lot of the same classes so we can
do homework together. She’s really good at math, and I’m terrible at it, so she
helps me out. GILBERT TWO IS THE BEST FLOOR EVER! All the girls are so much
fun! We had our naming ceremony last night, and Anna(our resident advisor)
decided that my floor name should be Nutmeg. We do a lot of cool stuff with our
brother floor too. 

So far, my homework has been manageable. As long as I stay on top of it, and make a little time
every night I shouldn’t get behind. One of my classes meets Monday and
Wednesday at 8:40 am, but not Friday. So last Friday, I woke up at 7:00, got up
and got ready. I walked all the way over to Solheim where my class is, and
there was nobody in the classroom! It took me a little while to figure it out,
but once I did it was pretty funny. Now I appreciate the extra hour to sleep in
on Fridays!

So far, my best memory was when our brother floor, the 41’s took us
all out for frozen yogurt! It was a lot of fun! They are such polite gentlemen
but also very funny guys. We love hanging out with them. So excited to see what
this year has in store for us!!

 

A bunch of us hanging out at the soccer game. Go Yellowjackets!!

Being a Newbie

At the beginning of every fall semester, students pour onto campus: some returning, some new, but all ready for adventure.

This summer began my first year in the Office of Admissions. That's right. I'm a newbie, too! Having just graduated from LeTourneau University in May, I accepted a full-time position as an Enrollment Officer (previously referred to as an Admissions Counselor) for the School of Business. I am so blessed  to be working at the very place that provided me with such an amazing, quality, Christ-centered education. Now, I have the joy of helping bring in students to have that same experience!

Being the new-kid-on-the-block comes with an array of emotions and experiences. It's great being able to have that fresh start, meet new people and coworkers, and figure out your place on the team. However, there are those times when being the new one (kind of like being a freshman all over again) can simply be hard. You're in a new place having to learn the lingo, the culture, and the chemistry in your environment. You're the one who's got a huge learning curve, with the occasional curveballs, to tackle while everyone else seems to be cruising right along with their daily list of duties. And all the while, you're missing the comfort of the known since everything seems to be unknown! Whew, it's a hard, exhilarating, exciting, and crazy thing being the newbie, isn't it? Oh, and to add onto all this newness, I'm recently married! Talk about another major change! Not that I would trade it for anything in this world, but being a new wife comes with a million experiences in itself.

Because I'm one of two new employees here in the Office of Admissions since the summer, I've been able to watch and understand some of the major changes the incoming freshmen are currently experiencing.

For some, this is the first time away from home. Home may only be down the road or a few hours away, but nonetheless, they are in a totally new place. Yet for others, home is all the way across the country or the world. They have to learn not only how to fit in on campus, but adjust to a new culture or country, tackle a potential language barrier, and figure out the conundrum of college life.

As new students have infiltrated the campus this fall, adjustments have been enormous. Meeting and living with a new roommate, sitting in class with a range of ages, background, and experience, and learning how to keep up with their own schedule, classes, and time management are just a few scattered around in that massive learning curve.

But from what I've seen, these students have handled being the newbies with poise, maturity, and complete pride while making their presence known on campus. Every day is a new opportunity to learn, grow, and adjust a little more until life here starts to become "home."

So, three cheers for the newbies! Let the learning curve continue throwing curveballs, and let each and everyone one of us catch them with our heads held high. Before you know it, we'll be the ones teaching a new group of students and coworkers the rounds, the traditions, the culture, and the LETU way.

 

Enjoy your Friday!

 

AnaLisa Rogers, Enrollment Officer for School of Business

A Message From Your Friendly Admissions Counselor!

I want to share with you readers an opportunity that is going on this week. This opportunity could land scholarship money for some 2012 college freshmen out there! 
Below is the description of the events going on this week. Yes this is last minute, but perhaps if you are a high school senior in the area, this could be your chance!! 

Barnabas Bridgman
LeTourneau University Admissions Counselor
________________________________________________________________________________________ 

The LeTourneau University Department of Theology is offering two scholarship opportunities for high school seniors who want to attend classes at LeTourneau University in the fall.  To compete for the new scholarships, high school seniors must apply for acceptance to LETU (applications will be available on site) and must be graduating in Spring 2012. These scholarships are exclusive to this department, and are offered only during the dates and times listed below.

Scholarships will be offered at voice and instrumentation tryouts beginning at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 25, in the S.E. Belcher Jr. Chapel and Performance Center on the LETU campus in Longview.

Students auditioning must provide their own accompaniment (iPod, CD, pianist) and will sing (or play) in front of a panel of judges. Students will be free to leave after auditioning their songs. Scholarships will be awarded according to talent and need. Accepted students will be notified when scholarships are awarded. Students who win the scholarships will be expected to be involved in the university’s new choir. This competition is open to students of any major.

The Theology Department will also be awarding scholarships for theology majors during a preview and scholarship competition from 9 to noon on Saturday, April 28, in Room 104 Health-Hardwick Hall. This is specifically for students interested in pursuing a career in theology, Christian ministry, youth ministry worship arts and biblical studies.  The preview event will include a full campus tour, information session with department faculty members, scholarship competition and lunch.  The scholarship competition will consist of writing samples and faculty interviews. Scholarships will be awarded directly from the events of this day.

Students interested in these scholarships need to register and can get more information by contacting Barnabas Bridgman by email at barnabasbridgman@letu.edu or by phone at (903)233-4336.

 

College "Family" Time

In my group of friends, we represent 10 different states and 3 different countries…none of which are Texas. As you can imagine, this affects our ability to go home regularly. For some of my friends, it’s years in between visits home. The crazy part is…This is normal at LeTourneau.

Now, before you get all sad and say, “I’m never going to that school because I’ll never get to go home again!”…Hear me out. Because even though I rarely get to go to my parent’s house, I have made my own home here. And for me, it’s just as close as the family I have back home.

One of the best ways to demonstrate our family dynamic is at an event we fondly call ‘Family Dinner.’ LeTourneau’s cafeteria isn’t open for regular meals on Sunday nights, so students normally go out to eat or cook their own food. We decided to cook our own food every week as a family.

Seeing as we represent such a vast grouping of locations, including New York, Georgia, California, Wisconsin, Kenya, Indonesia and a variety of other places, we thought it would be cool if every week we made something that was special to one person’s home area. This was one of the greatest things we ever decided. I can’t even name what we had because half of the international food I couldn’t pronounce even when I ate it. It was awesome to get to see my friends making stuff that was their food. Stuff that they grew up eating.

Family dinner became the highlight of our week. Literally. The entire weekend was planned around this event. And We even talked about what we should make throughout the week. From 4pm-11pm or later was our time to just chill. We didn’t do homework (very often) and we never scheduled meetings. It was the time we were just with our friends. We’d always have music blasting out the speakers and the windows and doors in the girls on campus apartment open to let in the fresh air. The guys would either be helping the girls cook, throwing around a football or baseball outside, or just randomly inside chilling. The girls would be doing about the same. After dinner and cleaning up the massively dirty kitchen (imagine all the dishes it takes to cook a full course meal for 15 people or so), we’d all just hang out around the apartment. We’d start brewing some coffee or heating the tea pot so everyone could have their hot drinks after dinner. We’d normally, either move everything outside and chat on the porch, or all clump together on the couches and the floors in front of a laptop to watch a movie.

               
  (Ben the "Grill King")    (Kelly and the Squirrell)         (Haircut time)

 

Sometimes LeTourneau and all the schoolwork can make a person stressed. I know it does that to me. There were times that I was so tired, I was ready to quit. But then I saw a member of my ‘family.’ No matter what was going on, they brightened my day. They always offered a smile and a hug and a laugh. So even though my physical home is over 18 hours away, I was never without my family. 

(Group on porch)

 

Jen Leraaen

Senior, LeTourneau University

 

 

 

 

Bringing in the New Year!

The jingle bells have all been rung, and Auld Lang Syne has just been sung. We now welcome in a new year full of opportunity and possibility, yet as always, shrouded in mystery.

Here at LeTourneau we look back on a great Fall semester. Last semester was the first semester that the new South Hall was housing students. We also saw the end of the old cafeteria building, as it was torn down in preparation for new growth on campus.

  

LeTourneau always strives to get out in the world and participate in hands-on ministry. We have many groups of students that go out of the country year round to serve on missions trips. Not many people would choose to spend their Christmas vacation actually working, one of our students did! Check out this article describing the experience of a Sophmore here at LeTourneau, and what he did over the Christmas break. http://www.news-journal.com/features/religion/letourneau-university-student-spends-holiday-on-mission-in-peru/article_911ea489-848f-5a34-830b-5b871be2d16a.html

As this new year and new semester get going, I am reminded of the many blessings both large and unnoticed that have been given to us. There are exciting things coming up here at LeTourneau Universty this year. Now we begin the songs of encouragement to each other as we get back into the swing of things. It is my prayer that as you are looking for college for yourself or someone you know, that you come visit us out here. Maybe you will get a day like this one.



Happy New Year!

 

-Barnabas Bridgman

Nursing at LeTourneau University

Good Morning!

I was thinking today about all the excitement that there is currently around my life. I am a junior nursing student at LeTourneau University. However, it didn’t always start out that way. Originally I came to LeTourneau as a Biology Major looking at Pre-med. I took classes all of my freshman year with that in mind, but as the spring semester went on, I had less and less peace about pre-med. So I started praying about it (A LOT!) and God showed me how he had opened the door for me to study Nursing at LeTourneau University.

Back in high school I had applied to a variety of different schools, but when the decision came down to it, I had to choose between LeTourneau and the University where my sister attended. However, after much prayer (and a better financial package from LeTourneau) I enrolled here. Looking back, when I first applied to LeTourneau there wasn’t even an opportunity to study nursing at LeTu. Had I known that God was going to have me working in the field of nursing, I would have never applied to LeTourneau. I would have gone to the school my sister was attending, especially because that is where my aunt, my sister and my brother-in-law all went to study nursing. I am so thankful that God does things on his timeline: God had me pursuing the “wrong” major to get to the “right” school so that I could switch to the “right” major at the “right” school. I am so blessed to be studying nursing at LeTourneau.



So, what have I learned from the experience? Well, as it is a new major to LeTu, I have been exposed to a bunch of different opportunities. Most notably, this past summer I was privileged to travel with 5 other LeTu nursing students and our head of the nursing program to a rural missionary clinic in Honduras. Before traveling, we all took a course on doing effective missions and community building, both in the short and long term. This was probably one of the most applicable studies I have done recently, and it was a great eye opener to a different view on poverty and missions. The emphasis was on what is called “best practice”. This basically means that we wanted to use our resources in the best manner possible, impacting in a positive (and not detrimental or patronizing) manner that can be sustained over a long period of time, through follow ups and utilizing the assets that the communities themselves can provide.  

However, going farther than just studying the theories behind this all, we were able to see the application of it by assisting the Helping Hands Global Rural Clinic in Rio Viejo, Honduras. We worked alongside of missionaries in the clinic (packaging pills and vitamins, walking through a day with the patients – I got to help a little girl wash her arm for the first time after her cast was removed from a broken wrist) and in the schools (we taught in 5 different local elementary schools about the importance and techniques of hand washing, brushing teeth, nutrition along with a song about the Power of God). The trip overall was neat experience as we got to talk and learn from the missionaries and get to know each other better. I learned so much from our nursing advisor, Mrs. Kendra Ericson, on the trip about the different issues we may face as nurses. Growing closer on the trip really made me excited about what we are going to face this upcoming semester.

I am so excited about next semester. I get to start taking my nursing classes! I have registered for classes, sent over what seems to be a ton of paperwork (mostly shot records and fingerprinting stuff, not really a big deal), signed up for a CPR course, and now I am waiting in anxious excitement for this semester to end so the next one can start. I am so grateful for all of the other LeTourneau students who are sharing this journey together as we take nursing classes and clinicals. Some of my best friends are in the program with me. It’s hard to explain, but we seriously cannot stop talking about what next semester is going to be like and how much we are going to learn. We know it is going to be difficult and challenging at times, but we also know that God has brought us here from so many different places to study nursing here.

Hope you guys have a great day!

 

Jennifer Nelson

Junior, Nursing Student

LeTourneau University 

 

From an Athlete

As the Fall semester progresses, collegiate athletic teams are thinking about the conference playoffs that will come very soon. The LeTourneau Mens soccer team is in the top 7 of the American Southwest Conference. Of all the players on the team, one of the men just recently made Letourneau history.
Dillon Holt, a Senior from Boerne Texas, started on the team regularly in 2008 as a redshirt freshman. He has recieved a good amount of comendations for his skills including All-ASC First Team in 2008,'09,and '10, and also offensive player of the year in 2010. Though these are impressive, Dillon grabbed hold of another feat when early this season he became the all time leading scorer for LeTourneau University Men's soccer. Holt has had quite an experience as a student and athlete at LeTourneau University. When asked about his time here, this is what he had to say. 

"Coming to LeTourneau University as a freshman, I didn’t know what to expect.  I was really excited to start my college career as a student-athlete, but was nervous to come to a Christian university.  I grew up in the public school system, so this was going to be my first school that was based and run on Christian beliefs.  I had been a Christian since a very young age, but for some reason I didn’t know if I was ready to come to a school like this.  I quickly found out that LETU was the perfect place for me.  Now in my senior year, I have a lot of great things to say about LETU.  I have loved this place since the day I got here.  The students, professors and faculty & staff have been amazing.  Everyone is willing to help you out. 

The main struggle I have had during my time here has been with playing soccer along with doing schoolwork.  People would tell me that I should quit soccer, but for me that was not an option.  Thankfully, through my hard work, I have been able to get through this struggle.  My greatest experiences have come from playing soccer. Nothing is better than to put on that jersey everyday and represent God and LETU. 
My experience and time here has been a true blessing. The relationships I have made here will last forever.  LETU has also made me a stronger Christian. LETU is a great place to be and I would strongly recommend LETU to anyone looking to go to college."  

Dillon Holt
Senior, Mechanical Engineering
NCAA Athlete 

Check out Dillon's profile, and all other LETU athletics HERE!