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PUC alum Justin Smith graduated in 2006 with a degree in business and a passion for sportscasting. The voice of the Pioneers during his college years, Smith developed a love of announcing that recently helped land him a position with the Sacramento River Cats as a regular announcer for their minor league baseball games.“I’ve been interested in announcing since my senior year of high school,” Smith explains. “My experiences at PUC taught me the basics of speaking loud and clear to a large crowd, and having an Adventist education is something that helps you wherever you go.”Each River Cats game requires five or six hours of intense focus, including time before and after the game to run through scripts, become familiar with the batting line-ups, and prepare for the first pitches, national anthem, and interactions with other announcers.When asked what his favorite aspect of announcing is, Smith said it was the fact that he could share his skills with his local high school, and contribute to their basketball and volleyball games.“I get the most joy from announcing at Sacramento Adventist Academy’s games. My primary focus is on that school. The River Cats position is a great opportunity, but I find...

For 24 years, PUC has hosted PacificQuest annually during the summer, inviting high-achieving middle school students to campus to participate in various STEM activities to enhance their knowledge and interest. The program was an instant success with both participating teachers and students, and has remained hugely popular over the years. The only downside? Once a student graduates 8th grade, they can no longer attend PacificQuest.“The PacificQuest students and parents have been asking for years for a similar program for academy and high school students,” says Aimee Wyrick, chair of the department of biology and event coordinator. “With the support of PacificQuest alumni and union schools, we finally had the resources to make it happen this year.”And so, in July, for the first time ever, PUC hosted PQ Rise, a similar program to PacificQuest, but for high school students.“I loved the three years of Pacific Quest I did so much, that when I saw an opportunity to do it for another summer, I was ecstatic,” enthuses Sofia Rasi, sophomore at Monterey Bay Academy.Though she wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, Rasi suspected the classes would be slightly more challenging and the curriculum enriched. She wasn’t disappointed.“I must say, our activities felt...

David Ruckle was born into a family of physicians: his dad, his mom, five uncles, and three aunts are all medical professionals. Needless to say, it was a path he found to be a natural one when he enrolled at PUC as a pre-med student. He chose business as his major.“Business taught me how to manage a team and my time, helped me improve my collaboration skills, and gave me the tools to successfully handle my personal and business finances,” he says.Ruckle recalls one experience stemming from a group project in a class taught by former business professor John Nunes. When Ruckle approached Nunes with frustrations about the project, Nunes talked him through the situation.“He coached me through how to work better with other people, and how to motivate a group,” says Ruckle. “He helped me find ways to inspire success and to encourage others to be contributing members of a team. This was helpful because medicine is a very team-based career, with several people all working from their specific areas to achieve the best patient care you can get. I won’t forget the lessons Nunes taught me.”After graduating from PUC in 2015, Ruckle went on to Loma Linda University....

Danielle Nelson, a psychology student from PUC’s graduating class of 2014, just received her Ph.D. from Palo Alto University after extensive hands-on training at Stanford University and the Los Angeles Children’s Hospital.Reflecting on her time at PUC, Nelson recalled the training she received in the fields of statistics, clinical work, and research as being on-par with the instruction her peers from Ivy League institutions received.“I worked closely with Dr. Bruce Bainum on a research project that examined social eating behaviors in women,” she says. “We went on to present the project at the Western Psychological Association Conference in 2014 and won the Psi-Chi regional award for the research. Many undergraduate students do not have the opportunity to helm research in such a substantial way, but PUC provided that opportunity, which helped me monumentally in my doctoral training.”In regards to her time at Stanford and the Children’s Hospital, Nelson quickly climbed the ranks to work as a neuropsychological assessor for children with learning disabilities in mathematics, and worked in the pediatrics department at the L.A. hospital in the Assessment, Consultation, and Evaluation track.Nelson’s choice to pursue a Ph.D. was also largely influenced by her experiences at PUC.“After working with my professors...

Biochemistry major and member of PUC’s graduating class of 2015, Daniel Amponsah has become the first Loma Linda University graduate to accept a residency at Harvard Medical School after completing his courses in medical school this year.Amponsah credits professors such as Aimee Wyrick in biology and Marie Pak in chemistry for preparing him for the challenges medical school presented. While at PUC, he also participated in a variety of non-academic activities that helped take his transcripts to the next level--extracurriculars such as participating in student government, being a chemistry TA, and working with the Gospel Sabbath School on campus.As he reflected on his time at PUC, Amponsah encouraged current medical school hopefuls to “always study hard and do well, as cliche as that sounds. Challenge yourself while in college, participate in events, and remember to have fun.”He continued, “Work hard, study hard, pray hard and everything will work itself out.”As he looks towards the future, Amponsah plans to complete his residency at Massachusetts General Hospital with the title of Harvard Clinical Fellow. He is currently focusing on internal medicine and hopes to specialize in interventional and structural cardiology.“I am looking forward to amazing learning opportunities from some of the top...