Pacific Union College expands its educational offerings in health care with two new programs designed to help pre-professional and allied health students advance their careers.The Bachelors of Science in health communication is designed for students who wish to combine a pre-professional track and a communication degree. Housed in the communication department, the degree will offer students a broad background in interpersonal, intercultural and organizational communication, as well as communication research. This concentration will be useful to students who intend to pursue health-related careers requiring broad knowledge of scientific concepts, as well as the strategies and technologies for designing and delivering effective communication. “We are on the forefront of a growing field,” says Michelle Rai, chair of the communication department. Most health communication degrees are only available in masters-level programs, but PUC faculty wanted to equip students with health care-specific skills before they began their graduate programs. Although the major will be available in fall 2013, its pre-registered ranks are already growing. Linda Lumintaintang, ’14, a student who plans to pursue a career in pharmacy, is one of many students excited to enroll in “a major that has both science classes and communication classes as requirements.”Recent PUC alumni note the benefits...

Former Miss America Angela Perez Baraquio Grey presented the Colloquy Speaker Series May 30, celebrating Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month. Grey was crowned Miss America in 2001, as Miss Hawaii. She made history by becoming the first and only Asian-American to hold the position. Grey was also the first teacher to earn the title, as an elementary school physical education teacher. During her year as Miss America, her platform was “Character Education.” Grey grew up in Hawaii. Her family moved to America from the Philippines in 1970. “Like so many others, they were trying to achieve the American dream,” she said. Thinking back to her childhood, Grey remembered feeling excluded because she was different. “It wasn’t long before I began to look for way to make a space for myself in the world that was mine alone,” she remembered. “Eventually I was able to come to terms and embrace my multiple identities—as an American, a Filipina, a Catholic girl raised in Hawaii, and the eighth of 10 children who was often referred to by number rather than name.” She consciously recognized that she didn’t look like the women in the Miss America pageant, or even other women in magazines and on...

The last and largest REVO event of the year took place Sunday, May 19. The day’s festivities included a rummage sale, a live benefit concert, and a fashion show. REVO, a student-led philanthropic movement, first came to PUC in the spring of 2008. Each year since, students have chosen a different organization to team up with in support of a worthy cause. This year, all proceeds of REVO-related events went to Love146, an organization working to abolish child sex-trafficking and exploitation, while also providing aftercare to victims. Senior nursing student Brittney Foldvary was involved with this year’s event by overseeing publicity about REVO’s charity. “I love children and believe strongly in the protection of their vulnerabilities,” said Foldvary, “so knowing that I could be a small part of contributing to the lives of these children by providing information about these issues was extremely rewarding.” One significant addition to this year’s setup was Spring Fest. Traditionally, Spring Fest is held in the gymnasium on a different weekend than REVO, but this year the two were combined outdoors. According to REVO’s student leader Kristianne Ocampo, the idea was first proposed to benefit both events. Because Spring Fest is generally less popular than...

For the sixty-students who attended one of four mission trips this spring break, their evangelical and humanitarian work was preceded by hundreds of other Adventist students who came before them and worked in the same location. As the current students of PUC toiled in tropical heat and lay foundation at construction sites in foreign lands, they may not have known that their predecessors had laid a different type of foundation during the mission trips of previous years. Fabio Maia, the Service and Mission Coordinator for PUC, explained that returning to familiar work sites is part of greater mission strategy for the college, one that develops stronger relationships between locals and PUC volunteers, as well as allowing for better quality work to be done on location, work that has an increased chance of meeting the physical and spiritual needs of the mission population. “We decided to continue going back to the same sites and build relationships with the communities that we are serving,” Maia said. “That’s our goal. We go, become friends, and then it's easy to introduce Jesus.” During just one week, four separate mission trips took place. In the South American nation of Brazil, 22 students joined Maia on...

Over a span of six days, May 6 – May 11, students, faculty, and staff gathered together as a school family to take a break from classes and studying. During the week, thirteen students shared the ways God has brought them “out of the darkness.” PUC hosts a week of prayer every quarter. Something is different about the week during spring quarter, because fellow students share their faith. “I really like that each student has a different story to tell, so it’s really relatable to a lot of people,” said sophomore Alana Muller. “[The speakers] are going through issues that college students are going through. I really like that.” Students shared amazing stories of God’s faithfulness as He pulled them out of dark periods in their lives. Shared themes of faith, surrender, and love ran through these stories. A pivotal point in nursing student Tad Worku’s journey was when he surrendered control. “I was no longer writing my own story,” Worku remembered. “From that point on, I said, ‘God, You know what, whatever You want to write in my life, whatever that means, the pen is Yours. You can write whatever story You want.’” For Halstyn Hart, one of PUC’s...