Author: elizabethdiane6

Elizabeth Pruitt

It seems so strange to say, but in just a few short days, I will be a college graduate. There were moments throughout my time at SAU where I was convinced I would be a college dropout, yet here I am. I have made some of my best memories while at SAU, but have also experienced things I wouldn’t even wish on my worst enemy. Through it all, my friends and SAU family helped me through it all and I am eternally grateful. I wanted to write a short thank you to all the people who helped me throughout my SAU career.

My four years at SAU have been anything but normal. Freshman year, I enrolled in SAU just two weeks before the semester started. I met my roommate, Faith Skidmore ’19, on move-in day. The next year, Faith and I moved onto Beta One in Lowell and became members of the “Beta Onesies,” a group of girls who had all lived on Beta One their freshman year. This group welcomed us in with open arms and they have become some of my favorite people and closest friends. The first two years at SAU were where I really found my people and grew to love the SAU campus, which is exactly what I needed to prepare myself for what junior and senior year had in store for me.

Fall semester of junior year, just two weeks into the semester, I took a medical leave. In a previous article, linked here, I wrote about my experience with my diagnosis of endometriosis. The pain was unbearable and attending class was just completely impossible. My professors, academic advisor, and the staff here at SAU made these medical leave and my transition back to campus the following spring so easy. Knowing they were all praying for me eased my mind on my hard mental health days. When I did return in the spring, I got into two car accidents within six days of each other. My professors were kind enough to allow me to miss classes as I healed.

On April 26th, 2019 my father passed away unexpectedly. My roommate, Hayley Wiseley ’21, left her class to drive me home. Many of my friends and even Brian Kono drove to my home town to attend the funeral and Dr. Chuck White gave me an extremely generous extension on my COR 300 coursework. My professors allowed me to miss my classes. My partner for a final assignment was kind enough to take on the brunt of the project work as I grieved. We received flowers from President Ellis. Every single person I spoke to about the situation was completely understanding and offered me prayers, assistance, and a shoulder to cry on. The SAU community allowed me time to grieve but also allow me to finish my semester. I am eternally grateful for that.

In the fall of 2019, the second semester of my junior year, I realized I was not happy in my major. I was an elementary education major and I realized I simply did not have a passion for it. The Education Department was understanding and helped me make the switch to the Communications Department. My advisors and professors helped me dive into the major. Making this switch was hard for me, as it was late in my college career and I felt like changing my major made me a failure, but it instead opened my eyes. I started enjoying my classes a lot more and I was actually excited to go to class. Professors like Mary Darling, Paul Patton, Jen Letherer, and Wally Metts pushed me to become a better writer and communicator. College was becoming fun in both my academic and social life for once.

Now, as I go out into the dreaded real world, I am so excited to see what community I find myself in next. SAU has taught me the value of surrounding yourself with good people and finding a community no matter where you are. Without the help of the SAU community in some of my darkest days, I do not know where I would be. It was hard to speak up sometimes about my struggles, because I thought no one would care or I was exaggerating my pain, but the help I received was worth it. If you are a student who is struggling, please speak up. There are people that care about you and want to see you succeed. It may be embarrassing or hard for you to admit that you are not okay, but I can promise you that it is absolutely worth it.

Thank you, SAU, for the most interesting four years of my life.

By: Elizabeth Pruitt

Besides germs from hundreds of other students and improper diets, college students are meant to be relatively healthy. We are young and often think of ourselves as invincible. Many college students, however, are suffering from a wide range of chronic illnesses.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) defines chronic illnesses or diseases as “conditions that last 1 year or more and require ongoing medical attention or limit activities of daily living or both.” They estimate 6 in 10 adults in the United States suffer from a chronic illness.

College students are not immune from being diagnosed with a chronic illness, and I, like many other students, had to learn that the hard way.

Since my junior year of high school, I have been in immense pain for days on end. My sophomore year of college, I began experiencing sharp pain in my lower left abdomen. Consultations with doctors, MRIs and CT scans, and emergency room visits were no help at diagnosing me.

After dealing with this pain for six months, I received an unofficial diagnosis of endometriosis. According to endometriosis.org, endometriosis is a disorder in which tissue that normally lines the uterus grows outside the uterus. It affects about 176 million people throughout the world.

I took a semester off of college after my diagnosis because I was in too much pain to continue attending classes. The severity of my symptoms vary depending on the day, but I can always guarantee some sort of pain and exhaustion.

SAU’s sophomore, Arielle Knight, struggles with two chronic illnesses: ulcerative colitis (UC) and stage four kidney failure. UC is a chronic, inflammatory bowel disease that causes inflammation in the digestive tract and affects an estimated 750,000 North Americans. After a diagnosis in March of this year, Knight has been struggling with a myriad of symptoms, such as kidney stones, flare-ups of pain, and rapid weight loss.

Although our diagnoses are very different, we share things that those without a chronic illness would often not be able to understand. Loss of friendships, a change of diet, a severe lack of energy, and cancelled plans due to a flare-ups are just to name a few.

As college students, struggling with a chronic illness can be tough. Assignment deadlines and absence policies often are a source of anxiety for those with chronic illnesses, as we never know how our bodies will feel that day. Thankfully, the professors at SAU have been extremely kind to both myself and Knight. They have offered extensions and virtual class attendance.

The social lives of college students with chronic illnesses are also affected. As previously stated, Knight has lost friends because of her diagnosis, and we both have had to miss out on plans with friends because of a bad flare-up, or just pure exhaustion.

“I don’t know when a flare up is going to happen. I don’t know how I’m going to feel 10 minutes before I’m going to have to leave my house. I used to be able to hang out with my friends for hours and hours on end and go fun places with them. Ever since I got diagnosed, one hour into hanging out and I want to go home and go to bed,” said Knight.

Knight has a close friend who recently got diagnosed with endometriosis. My best friend was recently diagnosed with the chronic illness laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR). We both are able to have a friend who understands what we are going through.

Although there are no cures for our illnesses, we do our best to manage pain and other symptoms through medicine, homeopathic treatments, and self-care. Knight has created an Instagram to document her journey with UC and kidney failure and you can follow it at @aknightucfight.

If you have a friend with chronic illness, please be patient with them. Know that the things they are feeling are out of their control, and often cannot be helped. Although you cannot cure them, offer them a shoulder to cry on, grace and understanding when they cancel plans, and a prayer for peace and relief.

For more information and resources on battling a chronic illness in college, check out this link.

By: Elizabeth Pruitt

As podcasts grow in popularity, it is not surprising that some creative Spring Arbor University (SAU) students have begun to create their own. One of these student-produced podcasts is Seth Gorveatte and Kyle Koerner’s Big Brain Time Debate Podcast. The podcast, which features a rotation of five hosts and guest hosts, centers around semi-seriously debating frivolous topics. Some topics they debated include pineapple on pizza, the morality of the campus squirrels, and if cyclops wink or blink.

The regular hosts of the podcast are SAU students Seth Gorveatte, Kyle Koerner, and Ira Thiessen, as well as former SAU students Joey Sass and Jared Boekenhauer. As a way to breathe new life into the podcast, guest hosts have been invited to participate in these debates. So far, SAU alumni Luke Richardson and Liz Pence have made appearances. 

Big Brain Time Debate Podcast started as a creative outlet for Gorveatte. 

“A little over a year ago, I was frustrated that I wasn’t making anything outside of class. I just didn’t feel like I could commit to some new project, but it felt wrong to only do what classes required,” said Gorveatte. 

After a lengthy debate over Star Wars with his friends, Gorveatte realized how easy it would be to record and edit these debates for other people to listen to. This idea resulted in their first episode: Is Jar Jar Binks a Good Character? Quite a few of their episodes revolve around film and other pop culture references.

“I find pop culture’s impact on people really interesting,” said Gorveatte. “Like, movies like Star Wars become centerpieces of weird college conversations, but what are these movies even about? “The Force”? And which movies become popular can be such a random thing. I think that’s why I like these debates. They expose some sort of endearing absurdity about how humans interact with the imagination.”

“Are BIRDS government SPY Drones?” is the first Big Brain Time Podcast to feature a video, as Gorveatte is attending SAU remotely from Canada. The hosts recommend first-time listeners begin with this episode, as it is a perfect mixture of an absurd topic and semi-serious debate. 

Gorveatte does all the editing and social media management for the podcast. While the project is mostly for fun, the experience has helped him gain valuable career skills.

“It’s been a good experience because I currently intern doing social media-content creation for a local business,” said Gorveatte. “The same principles from running the podcast often apply to real companies, so this has been a good introduction. I’d recommend people who want to work in media make something like this. My only word of advice would be to not take it too seriously. Make it simple so you don’t find yourself dreading the extra work. Don’t be disappointed if people don’t listen.”

Big Brain Time Podcast is currently available to listen to on their YouTube channel, linked here. You can also follow them on their Twitter, linked here. 

Have a podcast, YouTube channel, Instagram, small business, blog, or any other media project you’d like highlighted in The Pulse? Contact Elizabeth Pruitt at elizabeth.pruitt@arbor.edu. 

Elizabeth Pruitt

Each May, millions of twenty-somethings are thrust from the protective bubble of college into the so-called “real world”, where they must find jobs and navigate life on their own. 

But, the Class of 2020 was thrust into a world that was shut down due to COVID-19. Many businesses were closing their doors to new hires. The Class of 2020 was in for a wild ride, and Spring Arbor University’s graduates were no exception. 

Now that a few months have passed since their graduation, what did Spring Arbor University’s Class of 2020 do?

Despite the pandemic, many SAU grads were able to find careers post-graduation. Amy Montoya, a computer science major, found a job working for Hewlett Packard Enterprise in Atlanta, Georgia as a solutions architect. She was able to snatch up her job in November of 2019, so she was secured before COVID-19 hit the United States.

However, Montoya’s work days have still been affected as she works remotely every day. She has only met with her coworkers and bosses in person just two days out of the last few months she has been in the position. Montoya had to give up a semester abroad in Japan when COVID-19 struck and had to live alone in an apartment in a new city halfway across the country from her hometown. Still, she presses on and is optimistic about her future. 

“Although the class of 2020 had to make sacrifices for COVID-19,” said Montoya, “…I understand the sacrifices were made for the greater good. It’s easy to feel like COVID-19 has personally attacked you and ruined your plans, but the truth is, everyone has had to make sacrifices and adjustments for COVID-19; not just me and not just you. The sooner we begin thinking about others as ourselves, the sooner we can move past this unprecedented time and make way for a brighter future.”

Professional Writing major Libby Koziarski has started working remotely as a communications copywriter for the Orlando-based non-profit, Ligonier Ministries. The job she applied for was not originally a remote position. It was strictly for people who could work on location. Koziarski, who had always dreamed of working with Ligonier Ministries, applied anyway, and after a rigorous interview process over Zoom, got the job. 

“I was extraordinarily blessed when it came to finding a job during COVID-19. I got the job by God’s grace and I couldn’t be more grateful,” Koziarski said. 

Many students who graduated from SAU in May were not employed right away and some are still unemployed. Either way, they have not given up hope. Madilyn Nissley, a youth ministry major, has become a nanny for local families a few times a week as she continues to look for a full-time position in youth ministry. She is enjoying the time she gets to spend with her family after four years away from them.

Kaelyn Hale, a communications major, did some freelancing, such as designing a website for Branch Adventures Day Camp and doing SEO for Chrome21, a Down Syndrome Awareness store, until she found a full-time position. She recently has been hired as a marketing associate at Design Force Marketing in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She went on many job interviews before nabbing this position, but did not give up hope that she would find a job that was right for her.

Other students went the graduate school route. This past spring, health and exercise science major Megan Mitchell was dealing with the sudden loss of her senior year, her grandmother’s death, being wait-listed for grad school, and had no idea where her future would take her. 

“Yet through that time, I could feel Jesus holding me close and whispering, ‘I’m here. I know and understand everything that’s breaking your heart. I love you more than you can imagine and we’re going to get through this,’” Mitchell said. 

Megan was then offered a spot at Grand Valley University’s occupational therapy graduate school. Mitchell completes most of her classes online and through Zoom. She also meets in-person for some classes just three days a month. Although it was rough for her, she said she has learned a lot about herself and grew in ways she never thought she would have. 

Megan Brown, a biology major, moved to Arizona where she is attending the University of Arizona’s College of veterinary medicine. Brown is a part of the university’s first veterinary medicine class. Moving from Michigan to Arizona was a big step, especially in the midst of COVID-19, but Brown has been successful in her classes and is enjoying her time in Arizona.

SAU’s Class of 2020 is an example of the faith in God the university teaches students to have. In times of uncertainty, these graduates were resilient. Whether they have found a job or are still on the lookout, the class of 2020 pushed on. 

Check out what some of the other members of the SAU’s Class of 2020 are doing post-grad by checking out the Spring Arbor Student Alumni Council’s Instagram, linked here. 

Want more information regarding navigating life post-grad? Visit the Career Development’s website, linked here, or contact Chad Melton at chad.melton@arbor.edu.