Author: saupulse01

SAU’s Storytelling Class Visits Jackson’s Abandoned Prison

Professor Gwen Hersha had the opportunity to take her storytelling class on a tour of Jackson’s historic abandoned prison.

Professor Gwen Hersha had the opportunity to take her storytelling class on a tour of Jackson’s historic abandoned prison. Students had the opportunity to learn about different aspects of the prison and what life was like for the inmates. Students could ask questions and got a first-hand idea of how the prisoners lived.

Two students that went on the field trip, Emily Selby and Sarah Williams, share their experiences:

Emily: This field trip was a fascinating experience for me. I enjoyed the trip and got to learn things that I had not known before. The tour guide seemed very knowledgeable and was able to tell us a lot about what the prison was like back when it was functioning. It was interesting to be in the same areas where actual prisoners lived.

Sarah: I went to Jackson’s prison with my Storytelling class and learned so much. I didn’t know anything about Jackson’s prison before we went. I am shocked that the prison was so corrupted in its time. Prisoners were put in terrible conditions. Prison cells were small and the room holding the cells was known for smelling so bad guards would vomit! Then there were factories. The prison exploited the prisoners by forcing them to work in dangerous factories that were similar to death row. My favorite part of the tour was when we went down to the basement and saw the tunnels. They were so creepy. The tour guide said people saw ghosts down there! I had a great time!

Short Film Production Spotlight

By: Hanna Ritchey

Short Film Production (VID372), is a class/club here at Spring Arbor University open to all students. Short Film Production is a class/club for any student interested in creating a film. Whether a student is interested in directing, script-writing, acting, manning a camera, VID372 has a wide range of positions for all skill sets.

This week VID372 has their bi-annual Will Shoot For Credit viewing, where all films created this semester, along with previous productions will be played for the school. Some students like Kyle Koerner, had the pleasure of directing a film this year. “My film Safe and Sound is set in a post apocalyptic future, where the air is toxic and monsters run amuck. Our male lead is on a mission to reclaim supplies from their old shelter, with a romantic subplot. It’s a bit of a western, a bit of a drama. It has a little bit of everything for everyone.”

When asked what his favorite thing about directing was, he had this to say. “It was the first film I ever directed. I enjoyed working with everybody. It felt nice to truly work with a team and for us all to come together to make a product. To see the process from a higher point of view was nice.

Overall I just really enjoyed working with my crew.” I asked Kyle what his favorite on set moment was. “For one of our scenes we were out on a trail by the baseball field. As I yelled action, letting my crew know it’s time to record, I noticed everyone was standing at attention. I looked around and realized, the baseball game began playing the National Anthem. All of the crew besides the actors took off their hats and we stood at attention until the song stopped playing. Once it stopped, we all laughed at the fact that the National Anthem interrupted the film process.”

I finally asked Kyle why someone should consider joining VID372 as a club or credit.

“It’s a great experience to know what it’s like to make a film. We don’t go through the entire process, but it’s very eye-opening to what a real film production would look like. It’s fun, there’s something for everyone, and I think it’s something more people should try out and see what it’s like.”

All films shown at the Will Shoot For Credit viewings are available for the public on Vimeo at vimeo.com/wsfc. This fall semester viewing is limited due to Covid.

If you’re interested in joining as a club or for credit, email Clayton Saren (csaren@arbor.edu) or Dorie Shelby (dshelby@arbor.edu) for more information.

Meet Sarah: Staff Writer and Copy Editor

By: Sarah Williams


I am excited to work for the Pulse! It has grown so much over the years from a newspaper to a website. My favorite part of the Pulse is turning new information into an engaging story for students to read. My main responsibility this year will be copyediting, and I can’t wait to start. I hope to have a wonderful time along with my staff members.  

Meet Hanna: Staff Photographer

By: Hanna Ritchey

I’m Hanna Ritchey, a sophomore here at Spring Arbor and I’m a photographer for the Pulse! I’ve always had an interest in photography and generally felt drawn to art ever since I can remember. I first started to experiment with photography when I was a freshman in high school. I entered my first photo competition the same year. I’ve entered photos in my hometown fair every year and even worked for my high school yearbook as a photographer. My favorite part about the art of photography is being able to share your point of view to your audience. With photos, you can truly capture the essence of your subject matter. I hope to gain some more photo journalism experience with Pulse and really strengthen my skills as a photographer. I’m so excited to share my passion and continue my journey of photography here with the Pulse!

Meet Emily: Lead Editor

By: Emily Selby

I am thrilled to be working on the Pulse again this year. Serving as the editor has been such a fun and rewarding experience. I am looking forward to sharing the stories of the people on this campus and hope to lift others up as I do that. Although we are starting a little later than we had hoped, I think we will make a great impact on SAU for the remainder of this semester and Spring semester.

The Night the Stars Were Born

By: Lydia Hall

Seniors Chris IIvory and Tabitha Sterner hosted their first art exhibit at the Ganton Art Gallery on Friday, October 29th, 2021. The night was cold and rainy without a star in the sky, but once you stepped into the gallery, the presence of two stars illuminated the room. The essence of purity led to the right, the atmosphere of unity swayed to the left, creating a harmonic journey around the ring of art.

Photo by: Hanna Ritchey
Photo by: Hanna Ritchey

Chris’s photographic exhibition was a reintroduction to the purity of women. Although many view Eve as the woman who led to the fall of humanity, this showcase of artwork reframed the broken image of women, picking up the pieces of eloquence, vulnerability, imperfection, and the influences of life, creating a masterpiece that reflected a moment that was simply pure.

Photo by: Hanna Ritchey

Tabitha’s combination of color, shapes, lines, and brushstrokes are prime examples of her inspiration for connectedness and relationships. Many pieces of her artwork were created differently, intended to portray a message saying, “there is not a single human that is exempt from their personal biases, which have the ability to inform different interpretations and perspectives of reality. However, despite our differences, I believe that there are almost always underlying parallels that inspire a sense of unity and gratifying completeness.”

Photo by: Hanna Ritchey

With two brilliant stars among us, these two artists individually illuminated parts of life that the darkness of today’s troubles can sometimes overshadow. If there had to be a theme song for this gallery, it would be “Masterpiece” by Deitrick Haddon. This gallery is the true definition of a “picture is worth a thousand words,” and in this case, a thousand words are not enough to express the meaning of each unique piece of art.

With the essence of purity leading to the right and the atmosphere of unity swaying to the left, a missed opportunity to experience this harmonic journey is an opportunity that was not valued.

However, there is still time! Chris and Tabitha’s combined gallery will be open to students, faculty, and even the public until December 3rd, 2021! Also, did I mention that this journey does not have a price tag: in other words, it is free!!!

Come and support two artists in the making, where the price is right, and most of all, experience two stars, and their artwork light up.

To visit the gallery yourself, here are the hours:

Monday through Friday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm

Saturday and Sunday 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm

The gallery will be closed for Thanksgiving break.

Farewell Tribute and Senior Spotlight from The Pulse Leaders

Caralyn Geyer

As a senior that would have “graduated” last week, I look back fondly on my time as a Cougar, English major, and member of The Pulse. Many nights were long and I cried a lot of tears over Brent Cline’s classes, but when I look back on my four years, I don’t see those exhausting, sleepless nights. Instead, I remember the times like winning Arbor Games, eating pizza with my Alpha 1 floor at 1 a.m., seeing the elephant on the library roof while walking to class, the first Almost Chapel video, getting hit in the face by a hotdog at Porchfest and so much more. It brings tears to my eyes knowing that the next stage of life does not include Spring Arbor University (SAU) anymore, but what I’ve learned from this place, the professors and my friends will never leave my head nor my heart.

At first, I struggled to figure out why embracing new beginnings was so hard and realized that this time, it was because moving out meant moving on too. Moving on means change, and personally, that’s not something I do very well with. This year, it means a real, full-time job (which I still do not have), more expenses, a working schedule, less free time, and not seeing the people I have made such deep friendships with every day. But changes like these, whether big or small, aren’t always a bad thing. While I’ll miss being able to lead newspaper meetings and eat cinnamon pizza during Pulse production nights while laughing at nerdy English jokes, I’ve been prepared by the entire campus in some way to go on and make an impact in another place. Staying would mean not embracing this fully, and as hard and scary as it is to go, I cannot live life in my comfort zone.

While times may be uncertain and the future is unclear for now, I leave you with the reminder that we do not need to fear the what-ifs. If Jesus says “do not be afraid” 365 times in the Bible, we really don’t need to worry about the future when we are only able to see such a fraction of the overall perspective. I want to give my sincere thanks to every faculty member, fellow student I never knew personally, every Dining Commons worker, and especially every one of The Pulse leaders, whether I worked with you or not over the last four years. I have been shaped in some way by your influence and I leave changed because of you. Thank you, SAU.

 

Jared Boekenhauer

I am not a graduating senior. I am a transferring sophomore, so do not think I’m trying to steal the attention of graduating seniors. I congratulate all who are graduating this year, and will be praying for your future jobs, further education or whatever else you plan to do. However, I would like to put a few thoughts out there to those facing transition decisions, as I have, while I still have this platform.

First, transferring is not a failure move. It does not mean you have made some wrong and costly mistake that will haunt you your whole life. Transferring means you have decided your college education will be better continued elsewhere. That is why I am transferring. The SAU community has nourished me and given me personal confidence in my ability to question God and the universe. Dr. Moore’s World Literature class has given me a passion for old books, like the Odyssey and the Aenied. I have even kept every book from that class to return to at some point in life. Chuck White’s J-term New Testament class (yes, I took that class) was challenging and exhausting, but taught me so much about the Bible, and gave me a new found love for the books of Acts and Roman. I could go on, but the point is, SAU transformed me into a more thoughtful person, teaching me ideas and practices that I will take with me to my next destination.

Second, we learn best from the people we disagree with. I came to SAU with the mindset that people would disagree with me on many political issues, and I was right. Instead of ignoring these people, I challenged them, and they challenged me. Through this, I developed a better understanding of other people’s opinions. Also, this practice doesn’t just have to be political, it can be about anything. If you are Protestant Lutheran, talk to a Roman Catholic. The point is to challenge each other and see why someone believes what they believe. This creates empathy and understanding. It will make debating less personal, and more issue driven, and you will be friends with those whom you couldn’t personally agree with about anything.

Last, don’t be afraid of change. Change can force us to rely on God because it is uncomfortable. If you are unsure of if God is calling you to change, pray, fast and read your Bible, but also question your motives and perceived outcome. Having a perceived outcome will give you steps, and lay out a map for you. My choice to transfer did not come without long nights of thought, but God was calling me to that choice.

The long nights working to edit and design the Pulse were stressful, but they confirmed that I was going in the right direction. Thank you to the Editor-in-Chief, Caralyn Geyer, for working long and hard to assure this magazine would be published timely. Thank you to Dr. Baker and Dr. Moore for helping me enjoy old books. Thank you to Dr. Dan Runyon for making my writing better (no matter how frustrating it got), and to Mark Edwards for your well-taught history courses that contributed to my understanding of thought and analysis.

Editorial- Helping From Home With a Christian Attitude

 Co-written by Caralyn Geyer and Jared Boekenhauer

Covid-19, or the coronavirus, is dominating the news cycle and has put a halt on a large portion of the international economic system. The United States recently took the lead in confirmed coronavirus cases, with Spain and Italy close behind. 

South Korea has flattened the curve. According to CNBC, flattening the curve means lowering the amount of confirmed coronavirus cases and thus avoiding overwhelming a healthcare system. According to the New York Times, South Korea has done this through a jump start in testing and treatment, restrictions on people with confirmed cases –– including an app that can tell when coronavirus-positive patients have left quarantine –– and fines for those who leave quarantine after testing positive.  

Polls have shown an overall support and respect by the South Korean people for the efforts of their government to combat this illness. 

While in the United States, cases are still rising as many people are racing out to aid medical workers, the most vulnerable and the sick. Some have worked to make face masks for doctors and nurses, others are coming out of retirement from careers in medicine to fill the need for nurses and doctors among shortages. Others are taking up jobs at grocery stores to handle the larger crowds and make extra money during an increase in job loss. Even some plants that would normally make different products have temporarily stopped production in order to accommodate greater needs and produce things like hand sanitizer and masks. These are all honorable and positive acts that benefit society in its present dilemma.  

Unfortunately, organizations like some churches have chosen to stay open and worship in crowded spaces, directly violating the temporary law banning larger public gatherings. Some Christians have cited that the banning of public worship is “oppression” and “Christian persecution.” The belief that temporary government intervention on daily life is oppression, even though it is in order to prevent the spread of a pandemic, is wrong. Following the law, and avoiding public gatherings for now, is what a Christian should do.  

The Bible teaches to follow the law, as long as the law is not leading one to sin. “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God,” (Romans 13:1, New International Version).  

With bans on public gatherings in place, the government is not telling Christians to avoid worshipping, it is telling Christians to specifically avoid public gatherings. To stay in accordance with the law, many churches now worship, preach and run Bible studies online. Just because Christians cannot worship in the ways they have before does not mean it has to be limited. It just means that different measures must be taken in order to go along with the temporary laws set in place, which are ultimately for the safety of everyone. 

The Bible also says to aid the poor and sick. Quarantine and social distancing especially help the sick and vulnerable. Though it may seem to be an inconvenience for the time being, doing these two things actually help prevent spreading to those who could be more susceptible to the virus. Christians should be thinking with others in mind, especially those who are more at risk.  

While it may seem like this is government oppression of Christianity, this is not what is happening. True oppression would prevent any form of worship by law; temporarily pausing social activities to prevent the spread of a pandemic is not oppression.  

What Christians can do during this time of uncertainty is encourage those who are struggling to deal with or understand the pandemic, and follow local and national ordinances. Create prayer teams through Zoom or Webex, send out letters to people and continue to think positive. In a time where so many questions lie unanswered, the most we can do is not try to answer them, but point those to the one who can. 

Lending a Helping Hand

By Sarah Williams 

 During Spring Arbor University’s (SAU) spring break, SAU students went on mission trips to Guatemala, Las Vegas and North Carolina.  

Post-Undergraduate Outreach Ministry Intern (PUOMI) Cecilia Said, helped plan and coordinate SAU mission experiences and encourage students to become involved in the community.   

The mission trip locations were chosen based on different types of service opportunities provided for students. Guatemala was chosen for its relational ministry aspects, the Las Vegas trip focused on prayer and the North Carolina trip focused on service work.  

When Said was planning the trips, she wanted each student to deepen their understanding of their faith, understand how their presence can impact others and what it means to be a follower of Christ.  

According to Said, 38 students volunteered for the mission trips. Seven students went to North Carolina, 20 went to Guatemala and 11 went to Las Vegas.  

Johnathan Husted, student leader for the North Carolina mission trip, said he went on the trip for the manual labor.  

The main goal of the trip was to help Hurricane Florence victims get their houses up to code for an inspection so they can move in permanently. The campers provided to the victims by the government were being taken away at the end of March. 

“There is something about working hard for someone else with no expectations of getting anything in return that makes me feel fulfilled,” Husted said.  

The trip was one week. Excluding drive time, the students spent five days in North Carolina. They would get up at 7 a.m., have a devotion, work and then debrief during dinner. They had a recreation day where the students toured a battleship and watched the sunset on the beach.  

Kensington Thomas volunteered for the Guatemala mission trip. The students assisted with God’s Child Project, a center for malnourished babies, as well as Casa Jackson school and Obras Sociales hospital for people with severe disabilities. 

At the God’s Child project, the students fed babies, changed diapers, cleaned up around the facility, cleaned windows, folded clothes, moved heavy items and played with the children. At the school, they helped teachers grade assignments and played with the kids. At the hospital, they fed children and took a Zumba class with kids in wheelchairs. 

The volunteers would get to the facilities at 8 a.m. and stay until 12 p.m. They volunteered for four days. They also visited other places in Guatemala and learned Spanish. The students went to the Mayan village where they ate traditional food, made tortillas, drank coffee, acted out a traditional Mayan wedding and bought homemade souvenirs. They also went to Antigua where they did a historical tour of old cathedrals and buildings.  

The students stayed with host families during part of the experience. Thomas’s host house had six girls. Other houses had either seven or nine. The host families cooked all of their meals and provided them with a living space.  

“I learned a lot about the culture. The food was amazing, and the people were so kind,” said Thomas.  

Carol Nichol volunteered for the Las Vegas mission trip. She said she felt called to go when people from Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and Grace City Church came to her peer advisor meeting and discussed the trip.  

Nichol said the trip initially seemed out of her comfort zone, yet she trusted in God’s faithfulness and protection.

The students packed sack lunches and ate with the homeless. They led worship on the street outside the MGM hotel and offered testimony and the gospel. They went into gas stations and motels to pass out flyers of three missing children that were at risk of being trafficked. One of the children was found the next day.  

Co-leader of the Las Vegas Trip, Brandon Valentine, said they also provided worship for people on the Las Vegas strip, offering “Free Prayer” on Fremont St. and worshipping with middle schoolers on the week-long trip.  

“Our commitment statement toward one another was, ‘to have zero expectations but one: to serve wholeheartedly’,” Valentine said. 

According to Nichol, the trip schedule consisted of cleaning the YWAM base after breakfast. They had quiet time and evangelism training for their outreach. Then, they ate lunch, went out on their outreach, debrief and had dinner. Finally, they would have another outreach or team bonding experience.  

Nichol said her favorite moment was when they were worshipping outside the MGM hotel and some police officers told them they couldn’t have an amplifier resting on the ground as it was blocking foot traffic. The students picked the amplifier up and sang gospel music for another half an hour. Many people stopped and joined in. 

According to Said, SAU does mission trips for multiple reasons: Mission trips allow students the opportunity to broaden their worldview, give them the opportunity to engage with Christian organizations and ministries, give them a glimpse into the lives of others, provide love and encouragement and to allow students to participate in the world with Jesus at the forefront.