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The first rainstorm of the season carefully timed its debut to correspond with the annual PUC Parents’ Weekend. As wind scattered the water that seeped from low-hanging gray billows, a record number of parental guests flooded the campus to experience Dining Commons fare, a sprightly vespers, fine performances from the music department ensembles, a volleyball game, and a comedy improv program. Though the temperamental weather caused some re-thinking for the outdoors Sabbath lunch, it didn’t keep the parents out of the scene; they enthusiastically perused the Pirkle Jones show in the Rasmussen Art Gallery, participated in the highly popular improv program presented by BATS (Bay Area Theater Sports) in the Campus Center, and took advantage of college-hosted meals. A cheering sense of family pervaded the campus as new and “old” students puttered around with their parents and siblings....

In a program complete with bell-ringing, the school song, and a telephone conversation with a 99-year old gentleman, PUC celebrated its rich history in a special colloquy on October 21. Faculty and staff who were once PUC students gathered on the stage and led in an animated rendition of the PUC school song. Snippets of PUC history followed, along with a personal interview of president emeritus Malcolm Maxwell, a special music (also with historical significance), and religion professor Myron Widmer’s sharing about his journey, as a PUC student, from “an inherited religion” to “an owned religion.” One of the classic moments of the program was when President Dick Osborn made an on-stage phone call to Ray Fowler, the oldest living PUC president. Dr. Osborn experienced some confusion as to the dialing procedure; Dr. Maxwell went up to assist, and together the two presidents spent several moments intently trying to figure out how to make the call—while the student body enjoyed the moment fully! The ensuing conversation with Mr. Fowler was a pleasant conclusion to the incident. The colloquy program, which concluded with the ringing of the historic Healdsburg Bell, was coordinated by PUC student Morgan Wade, one of the college’s...

When a campus building makes students say, “This is so nice—can we just study in here for awhile?" you know you’ve done something right. And when just months ago that building was an old, ugly metal shed, you can’t help but think there’s been some sort of magic at work!It began with the vision of Pacific Union College’s Student Persistence Program leaders, who wanted to see the centralization of academic support services on campus. The dream was brought to possibility by the gift of Rosemary and John Collins, assistant professor of communication and vice president for financial administration, respectively. And transformation came through the magic (also known as hard work) of several months spent resurfacing walls and floors and doing extensive interior decorating. Now the building, called the Student Success Center, has a modern, industrial chic motif that makes “Awesome!” the most common word for students to utter when they first walk in.The mission of the Student Success Center, which provides such services as academic advising, mentoring, tutoring, freshman success seminars, and learning disabilities testing and accommodation, is “to see each PUC student able to persist toward his or her academic goal with confidence, and not to lose sight of...

“I realize each day that teaching is my passion,” says Lauryn Wild, a PUC SM in Thailand – an impressive statement, considering that she has spent the first school term teaching spelling to 260 4th-6th graders and English to a 12th grade language class, in addition to working in the high school English department, grading papers for other teachers, and coaching the girls’ volleyball team! “I am really discovering that this year I will be stretched in so many ways as a teacher!” Lauryn admits. Meanwhile, she has been experiencing the Thai culture. “If there is one thing that I want to take back with me,” she says, “it is the feeling of complete peacefulness that can be found here in the middle of a busy city. Thai people have perfected the art of simply “being” and taking breaks to enjoy life’s small treasures.” On the other hand, Lauryn has found that some Thai parents create “an immense pressure cooker” for their children. “The parents here will push their kids so much, because they want them to be successful,” she explains. One day, Lauryn partnered up her 5th graders to work on spelling words. Noticing two boys struggling to work...

Summer is the blonde American mother of 41 El Salvadorian children. Living in one of the four “houses” of the orphanage called Hogar Escuela Adventista, this PUC student missionary takes cold showers (with frogs), washes her clothes by hand, and is sung to sleep at night by bats hanging from her ceiling. It’s far from a plushy life. In addition to the hundreds of duties that come with parenting 41 children ages five to 20, Summer oversees a work crew of 11 little boys, heads planning for the 12-week summer program for the kids (remember, their summer is our winter!), plans worships, and life-guards at the pool. “I have never been so tired!” Summer says. And of course there’s the language barrier. One of Summer’s most difficult groups consists of several teenage girls who stay up in the bathroom an hour after bedtime. “One night I tried to ask them if they were sick, and I accidentally called them ugly instead, and they agreed with me,” Summer recounts. “When I realized what I’d done, my heart felt as if it were going to break.” Despite challenges, exhaustion, and the rocky transition time, Summer is certain that God is present: “I...