In the News

The legacy of a teacher: Closing a 50-year career

Dr. Jim Yoder’s legacy at Hesston College could easily be described as a rare and striking occurrence to which 50 years of students, faculty and colleagues were connected. Always hungry for increased knowledge and understanding, Yoder is a lifelong learner, transferring his passion wherever he is. But soon, at the close of the 2017-18 year, Yoder will close out his Hesston College chapter as he retires from teaching and leaving behind the longest teaching legacy to date.

As the son of a college professor, Yoder always knew he wanted to be a teacher. His father, Paton Yoder, was a founding faculty member of Westmont College (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and taught history at four different liberal arts colleges throughout his career.

“I was quite clear I wanted to be a teacher,” Yoder said. “I wanted to be a college teacher like dad. But what I was going to teach didn’t become clear until I was a junior at Goshen.”

Starting as a college freshman at Taylor University (Upland, Ind.), Yoder transferred to Hesston College for his sophomore year as his dad stepped into the role of academic dean. But it was at Goshen (Ind.) College, following completion of his year at Hesston, that Yoder chose from among his interests in the sciences, literature and drama, to pursue his passion for chemistry.

“Chemistry made so much sense,” Yoder said. “I think it was partly because literature was too nebulous for me. I wanted things more crystal, more sorted out.”

The bond was instantaneous, and Yoder dedicated the rest of his life to the sciences, graduating from Goshen College in 1964 to go on to obtain his Ph.D. in organic chemistry with minors in physical chemistry and philosophy of science from Indiana University (Bloomington, Ind.) in 1969.

“I went to school twenty years in a row, from kindergarten to graduate school,” Yoder said.

Then it was straight to Hesston College, where he actually began shortly before completing his doctorate program, and where Yoder has been ever since.

“When it came to Hesston, I found out what a blessing it was to have my weekday community and my Sunday community the same,” Yoder said. “There was a coming homeness when they were the same.”

Yoder began at the college in September 1968 with the start of the 1968-69 year, teaching General Chemistry I and II alongside Organic Chemistry I and II. Later, because of his interest in the universe and cosmos, Yoder launched an astronomy course that scores of Hesston College students – even those who are not science majors – have been through as a general education science option.

In the classroom, a commitment to science alongside faith was always an important topic to Yoder.

“Studying creation is a worship experience, and that’s what we do in chemistry and astronomy and everything else,” Yoder said. “For a Christian, we believe in creation. What is science? The study of creation – it is as important as scripture.”

Sophomore Curtis Oesch (Caldwell, Idaho) appreciates the willingness Yoder has to tackle difficult topics such as this with his students.

“In places where many people see conflict between Biblical teaching and science, Jim sees logical explanation that allows the two to be in agreement,” Oesch said. “He has told me more than once that there doesn’t have to be conflict and it doesn’t have to become a choice whether to believe the Bible or science. The two can coexist and even support each other if you read each one in the appropriate context.”

Throughout his fifty years on faculty, Yoder took several sabbaticals. Under Mennonite Central Committee, Yoder and his family traveled to Swaziland from 1979 to 1981 where Yoder taught at the University of Swaziland. He was then named a Fulbright Scholar in 2007 and returned to Swaziland. He also spent several summers and periods of sabbatical as an adjunct instructor at Bethel College (North Newton, Kan.), Tabor College (Hillsboro, Kan.) and Wichita (Kan.) State University.

But Yoder always returned to his home in Hesston.

“A teacher can only have an impact on a limited number of people no matter where they’re at, a big university or a small one,” Yoder said. “And so, if that’s the goal then it doesn’t matter where you teach.”

Yoder has seen many transitions during his time at Hesston, but the biggest changes? The students and technology.

In 1968, Yoder began teaching with slide-rules, the “old-fashioned calculator,” as Yoder called them, and mimeograph-graded tests. But with the introduction of calculators and advancement of computers, student interactions with science transformed. Yoder has also seen the effects.

“I don’t have to spend so much time in the lab or the classroom on tedium things and the details,” Yoder said. “Now I can focus more on concepts, on the bigger picture.”

As technology has changed, so too have Hesston College students.

“I walk around campus, and I hear the birds, and I see the trees, and I wonder how many students notice birds singing and the trees,” Yoder said. “Students don’t notice those things as much, and they’re not out as much as they used to be.”

While this changes the interaction of students in the classroom, Yoder still finds ways to connect with them in other areas on campus.

“Year after year, the flow of really nice students are gracious, friendly, forgiving people,” he said. “I just wish I could remember more of them.”

Oesch is one of those students fortunate enough to have Dr. Yoder as a teacher in his final year.

“Jim has taught me that the world that we live in is magnificently astounding simply because it works,” Oesch said. “In the classroom setting, Jim always wants to see his students succeed and so challenges them to achieve their full potential. This willingness to sacrifice time to ensure my success has helped me realize my potential and find passion in learning.”

Beyond the classroom, Yoder has had opportunities to maintain his love for theatre from his younger undergraduate days, as he has played a variety of roles in Hesston College Theatre productions, his final role being that of Dr. Stokes, a medical doctor who observes and checks on all contestants, in the college’s spring 2018 production of Hands on a Hardbody.

Perhaps the most meaningful culminating event for Yoder’s last year was leading a group from Hesston College to Shickley, Nebraska on August 21, 2017, for the total solar eclipse. There, in a village of 337, 450 people, including 75 Hesston college math, science, education and music students and about 90 college alumni and friends, joined students, faculty and staff of Shickley Public School and Shickley community members for an eclipse presentation that paired scientific explanation from Yoder with choral pieces by the Hesston College Bel Canto Singers.

“This rare, striking event that we were so fortunate to experience helps us recognize our place in the cosmos and that we are a part of, and connected to, the rest of the solar system, the Milky Way, and the universe,” Yoder said.

The mark Yoder has left at Hesston College that reaches so many from the past, will also continue to live on for future generations through the excellence he established in the chemistry program. But his decision to retire has not come without some hesitation in the last year.

“I get done with class and think, ‘Wow, why am I leaving?’ This is just so good,” Yoder said. “I’ve always preached this to people and myself: when you retire you should have something to retire from and something to retire to. I don’t have either one!”

As he continues to discover what the next chapter holds for him, Yoder notes that the impact of his work is seen best through his students, many who have established notable careers in science-related fields.

“That’s the legacy of a teacher,” Yoder said. “No matter where they are, their students go on and become bigger and better than they are.”

See more of Dr. Yoder’s legacy:

• Final chapel presentation: “Integrating the Rainbow,” April 30, 2018
• Tribute video from retirement celebration

Story by Mackenzie Miller ’18

Golf benefit gives opportunities for community support and mutuality

Hesston College Athletics will host its annual Lark Open Golf Benefit on Saturday, June 2, at the Hesston Golf Course, giving participants a chance to show their support for the local collegiate athletic programs.

Proceeds from the event will benefit Hesston College Athletics for facility improvements, professional development opportunities and other departmental needs.

Teams of four will compete in the benefit, and registration can be found here. Participants are welcome to register a team of four or as individuals to be placed on a team. The cost is $100 per golfer, and includes green fees, a cart, gift bag, raffle tickets and a meal, which will follow the afternoon benefit.

Hole sponsorships are also available for $150 for individuals or $450 for corporate sponsors, which includes a team registration.

Lark Open organizers hope potential participants recognize the mutual benefits of having a college, and thereby, local collegiate sports, in small communities.

“We view ourselves very much as a part of the wider Hesston community,” said Rob Ramseyer, athletic director and vice president of Student Development. “Not every town the size of Hesston could sustain a college, but we have a supportive community that takes an interest in our student-athletes, and we want to make sure that for as much as we hope to have that community support, we’re also giving back.”

Hesston College Athletics has 14 varsity teams – women’s basketball, cross country, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field and volleyball, and men’s baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis and track and field. Student-athletes represent 41 percent of the college’s student population, making the athletic program one of the two largest programs for Hesston College.

A code of conduct, known as the Athletic Core Covenants, was adopted by Hesston College Athletics in 2016, outlining expectations of accountability, joy, engagement and community for Hesston College student-athletes, coaches, staff and administration. Lark athletic teams are also expected to perform acts of service in the community and beyond, and in the 2017-18 year have collected items for hygiene kits to be sent to countries in need with relief agency Mennonite Central Committee, hosted Special Olympics coaching clinics for soccer and basketball, completed projects at Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp in Divide, Colo., and partnered with the Hesston Recreation Commission to operate a spring soccer clinic for area children.

Students recognized for academic and leadership achievements

Hesston College students were recognized for their achievements in academics and leadership at the annual Larkfest Awards ceremony, April 27.

The top award, the Lark of the Year award, went to sophomore Luke Hertzler (Harrisonburg, Va.) for excellence in leadership, academics and service. Students are nominated for Lark of the Year by faculty and the recipient is chosen by the Hesston Experience Team, which is made up of faculty representatives and Student Development staff.

Other award winners include:

• Admissions Unforgettable Host Award for Student Ambassadors recognized as exceptional hosts, freshmen Ivonne Ledesma (Wichita, Kan.) and Arbis Vraja (Lezhe, Albania).
• Admissions Say “Yes” Award for Student Ambassadors recognized as always being willing to help, sophomore Jenna Ratzlaff (North Newton, Kan.) and freshman Chris Lichti (Shickley, Neb.).
• Admissions Best Tour Guide Award for Student Ambassadors recognized for giving outstanding campus tours to prospective students, sophomores Keegan Cook (Whitewater, Kan.) and Emma Eitzen (Lititz, Pa.).
• Admissions Top Notch Award for Student Ambassadors recognized for exceptional overall service to prospective students, sophomore Luke Hertzler (Harrisonburg, Va.) and freshman Armelda Xhari (Lezhe, Albania).
• Behavioral Science Award, sophomores John Ebaugh (Holtwood, Pa.) and Payton Yehnert (Parker, Colo.).
• Bill Mason Business Scholarship recipients to receive a $2,500 scholarship for their sophomore year, Cal Hartley (Benton, Kan.), Laura Huang (Sanming, China), Audrey Kwee (Semarang, Indonesia), Taylor Longenecker (Rockingham, Va.), Sunghyoun Nam (HwaSung-si, South Korea) and Zack Smisor (Valley Center, Kan.).
• Business Award, sophomores Kylie Brenneman (Hesston, Kan.) and Zac Neely (Ada, Okla.).
• Student Development Officer Awards for students who call alumni during Phonathon, freshman Lindsey James (Black Hawk, Colo.) for the most money brought in, and freshman Jola Ceca (Lac, Albania) for the most completed calls.
• Clayton V. Beyler Award for Bible and Ministry students, sophomores Luke Hertzler (Harrisonburg, Va.) and Elizabeth Miller (Archbold, Ohio).
• Daniel Gerber Peace and Service Award, sophomores John Ebaugh (Holtwood, Pa.) and Mackenzie Miller (Lancaster, Pa.).
• Art Award, sophomore Brenna Peters (Hesston, Kan.).
• Music Award, sophomore Sarah Miller (Freeman, S.D.).
• Mariann Martin Theatre Award, sophomore Mariah Trible (Valley Center, Kan.).
• Standing “O” Theatre Award, sophomore Caitlin Waits (Newton, Kan.).
• Peer Educator Award, sophomore Emma Eitzen (Lititz, Pa.).
• Physical Education Award, sophomore Ricardo Pineda Moreno (Ancon, Panama).
• Nursing Award, seniors Crystal Burgess (Los Angeles, Calif.), Brooke Hershberger (Goshen, Ind.) and Taryn Wallace (Hesston, Kan.).
• Science and Math Awards, sophomores Levi Litwiller (Hopedale, Ill.) and Curtis Oesch (Caldwell, Idaho).
• Yoder/Zaid Scholarship, awarded to chemistry students who show promise, freshmen Sam Hunsberger (Hesston, Kan.) and Kaylen Lassley (Salina, Kan.).
• Leadership Program Award to students who completed the college’s new leadership program, sophomores Keegan Cook (Whitewater, Kan.), John Ebaugh (Holtwood, Pa.), Sarah Miller (Freeman, S.D.), Jaelyn Rufenacht (Pettisville, Ohio) and Kyle Stucky (Moundridge, Kan.).
• Outstanding Academic Achievement Award, given to graduating international students with a 4.0 GPA, sophomore Gaitan Lleshi (Lezhe, Albania).
• Resident Assistants of the Year, sophomores John Ebaugh (Holtwood, Pa.) and Sadie Winter (Newton, Kan.).

Bridging divides and discovering purpose through universal language

While many students rely on textbooks as a key tool for learning, Hesston College sophomore Aya Iseki (Tokyo, Japan) prefers to look to the sky.

Only sixteen years old when she first arrived at Hesston College, Iseki knew she had to continue her studies in science and math in the United States. This was the way to get to space. That, and the fact that Iseki had just passed Japan’s government-issued exam to skip high school, but was still too young to attend college in her home country.

“I realized I wanted to go to space when I was a junior high student,” Iseki said. “And I decided to come to the United States to learn about it. If I went to high school in Japan, many teachers would say you don’t need to understand it, just memorize it. I don’t like [learning] that way.”

While not all schools in Japan are the same, Iseki notes that general education in her junior high school was slower than average. Her school emphasized life skills such as sewing, cooking and self-management.

But now at Hesston, Iseki finds the Kansas sky to be the best classroom for her career passions.

“When I was in Tokyo, I could only see a few stars and the moon,” Iseki said. “Tokyo is too bright and there are too many buildings. This is my first time to see the horizon in my daily life. I can see beautiful skies at night.”

Iseki may be an especially young student at Hesston College, but among her seventeen college credits, which include Physics I and II, Calculus I and II, Astronomy and Introduction to Computers, Iseki has straight A’s.

“I don’t understand everything in class,” Iseki said. “But it is not because of my age, but because of my English skills.”

The universal nature of science and math is one reason Iseki excels in those areas here in the United States.

“Science classes are different,” Iseki said. “I usually use numbers and function equations for physics and math, so that is not language. I can understand them without English.”

“Learning for Aya means imagining the physical concepts in her mind, and she easily draws pictures of these phenomena,” physics and engineering professor Joel Krehbiel said. “One of Aya’s best qualities is that she is self-motivated. While grades are important to her, it is more important that she understands the concepts. She doesn’t compare herself to others; rather she always seeks to improve her own knowledge.”

Iseki’s dream is to one day go to space, though she has yet to choose which path she will take to get there. When she makes that decision, she knows it is one she will make for herself.

“If I talked about my dream to my parents, friends or teachers, they will respond with their opinion or what they think,” Iseki said. “But I want to think by myself, only me. I know my determination won’t waver if someone gives me advice. My dream is ‘my space.’”

Though her composed demeanor and mature mind would hint otherwise, Iseki is still only seventeen years old. Thousands of miles away from her home country of Japan, Iseki faces challenges like anyone else her age.

Iseki notes that the English language as well as social expectations, such as making friends, are the hardest aspects of being an international student. But that hasn’t stopped her from experiencing college to the fullest. Iseki is taking as many STEM courses – Science, Technology, Engineering and Math – as she can fit in, and is a tutor for physics. Over spring break, she did service with Mennonite Disaster Service in Texas.

All these activities, as Iseki said, help her find a healthy balance.

With only one more semester to go at Hesston, Iseki plans to return to Japan for a period of time after graduation to discern which path of study she will choose next. But Iseki knows for sure that she will return to the United States.

In the meantime, Iseki is a diligent student. Her face lit up as she discussed the quantum mechanics unit she is currently studying that closely ties into her interest with space and astronomy.

“I am a curious person, and when I was a child, I liked to consider why and what,” Iseki said. “There are a lot of mysteries in the universe, and I want to know about that. It is different to see and feel by myself than to read books or watch it on TV. I want to see and know by myself.”

Krehbiel notes that her strong organizational, relational, and mathematical skills will equip her well for whatever life brings her. And right now that passion is physics and mathematics.

“For curious souls like me, the universe is filled with wonders that stimulate my curiosity,” she said. “Every time I know something new about the universe, I am amazed to find the existence of an unknown world. It attracts me. I wish to study the universe seriously.”

by Mackenzie Miller ’18

Students, faculty and staff prepare for service assignments

During an April 25 Hesston College chapel, 24 students, faculty and staff were commissioned for Christian ministry and service for summer and fall placements.

Placements span the globe in positions from camp counselor to supervisors at disaster sites to formal international mission experiences.

Doing an eight-week Disaster Management field experience at Pine Ridge (S.D.) Indian Reservation with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) are Peter Harris, Lititz, Pa.; Jonathan Landis, Sterling, Ill.; Joel Plank, Syracuse, Ind.; Samantha Rossin, Castle Rock, Colo.; and Keiko Ujiie, Osaka, Japan.

Matthew Glick, Bird In Hand, Pa., is planning a year of service with Mennonite Mission Network.

Luke Hertzler, Harrisonburg, Va., will serve for one week with Mennonite Central Committee’s (MCC) Sharing With Appalachian People (SWAP) program.

Rachel Horst, Food Services staff member, will serve with MDS in a destination yet to be determined.

David Ladwig, Wichita, Kan., will lead two weeks of camp for at risk youth with Legacy Ministries.

Elizabeth Miller, Archbold, Ohio, will serve as a teacher and assistant at a school in Honduras through MCC’s SALT (Serving And Learning Together) program.

Mackenzie Miller, Lancaster, Pa., will work and study Mandarin Chinese in Nanjing, China, during the 2018-19 year through Mennonite Partners in China.

Morgan Sterner, Lehi, Utah, will do 18 months of service at a destination yet to be determined with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Students serving as staff or counselors at camps include:

• Brielle Baucom, Lee’s Summit, Mo., at a Lee’s Summit community summer camp.
• Savannah Bontrager, Milford, Neb., at Spruce Lake Wilderness Camp, Canadensis, Pa.
• Jeff Kauffman, Hutchinson, Kan., at Camp Mennoscah, Murdock, Kan.
• Morgan Lantz, Goshen, Ind., at Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp, Divide, Colo.
• Sophie Miller, Goshen, Ind., at Amigo Centre, Sturgis, Mich.
• Jaelyn Rufenacht, Pettisville, Ohio, at Little Eden Camp, Onekama, Mich.
• Jared Schlabaugh, Wellman, Iowa, Crooked Creek Christian Camp, Washington, Iowa
• Angus Siemens, Newton, Kan., Philmont Scout Ranch, Cimarron, N.M.
• Carissa Slabach, Newton, Kan., at Ponca (Ark.) Bible Camp.
• Addie Swartzendruber, Henderson, Neb., at Crazy Head Springs Camp in Lame Deer, Mont.
• Hannah Yoder, Freeman, S.D., at Swan Lake Christian Camp, Viborg, S.D.
• Noah Yoder, Harrisonburg, Va., at Highland Retreat Center, Bergton, Va.
• Anna Zehr, Tiskilwa, Ill., at Menno Haven Camp and Retreat Center, Tiskilwa.

Softball, volleyball and nursing bring Californian to Kansas

Coming from southern California (Highland), Sierrah Long thought twice about attending college in the middle of Kansas. Turns out Hesston College had a lot more to offer her than she originally thought.

As a nursing major, most schools, such as California State University-San Marcos and California State University-Monterey Bay, didn’t give her the option to do sports in addition to her rigorous career path.

“The schools said I can’t be an athlete and a nursing major at the same time,” Long said. “They thought it was too much work, and at bigger schools, athletics would come first. If I had a clinical or a class that overlapped into practice, I’d miss the class. They wouldn’t accommodate for my academics while I was playing on their team.”

Luckily, head softball coach Andrew Sharp ’99 offered her the chance to do both. And soon after that, head volleyball coach Deedee (Martin) ’02 Landes wanted Long on her team as well. Landes saw her potential even after Long had been passed over by Hesston’s previous coach.

“One day in July before coming to Hesston, Deedee called me and said she saw my recruiting video in a pile of turned away athletes,” she said. “Deedee said, ‘I don’t know why you were turned away! I want you to play for my team.’”

After consulting her parents and Sharp, Long said yes and joined the volleyball team at the beginning of her freshman year.

“I was doing both sports during the fall semester of my freshman year,” she said. “Coach Sharp would schedule softball after volleyball practice so I would always be at practice. Before volleyball games, I would have batting practice.”

This year, she figured out a way to do only volleyball in the fall and only softball in the spring, making her schedule a little more bearable, she said.

Juggling two sports wasn’t completely foreign to Long.

“In high school, I played volleyball and softball all four years,” she said. “Those coaches were able to work with me, and we split our season in half. I was a fall athlete and a spring athlete. Even now, I only have one sport to play at a time.”

After two years of playing for two teams, Long has found value in her Hesston experience. Her greatest achievement comes from being a dependable teammate to other players.

“For the volleyball team, I don’t have a scholarship, but it didn’t take away from the love that I have for the game,” she said. “I felt like they looked up to me as a leader and asked me questions about things that they needed help with. I feel like that’s an achievement in itself, to be that person that people look up to.”

Her teams give plenty back to Long and help her outside of athletics. As a faith-oriented group, her volleyball team helped with classes such as Biblical literature, a subject Long had never encountered before. And with many nursing majors on the softball team, she has a go-to group to help in that subject area.

“The volleyball team is like a built-in family,” Long said. “They were the ones who pushed me into the Hesston Experience and had me try new things and showed me the ropes. The softball team is where a majority of my core friends are. They became my second built-in family.”

While her teammates greatly influenced her time at Hesston, her coaches also became a big part of her college experience.

“Deedee is my mom at Hesston,” she said. “If I have anything to deal with, I know I can go knock on her door. Coach Sharp is the guy I go to talk to if I’m struggling on the field or if something needs to be changed.”

Both of her coaches are impressed by the person and athlete Long has become.

“The word that keeps coming to mind is ‘presence,’” Sharp said. “Her position on the field is right in the middle of the action, and that is appropriate given her play-making ability and respect she has from those playing around her.”

Landes also sees her consistency and leadership qualities on the court.

“I have learned that sometimes the best leaders aren’t those that verbally state their expectation but that lead through example and positive spirit,” Landes said. “She also has shown me how to balance the things in life that matter. She isn’t caught up in her athletic ability. She is grounded.”

by Sarah Miller ’18, first published in the Hesston Horizon.

Campus disc golf course pays tribute to alumnus’ love for the game and college

Open to both the Hesston College community and the wider community, a newly installed disc golf course on the Hesston College campus honors the memory of an alumnus, his lighthearted personality and his appreciation for his alma mater.

The family of Doug Unruh ’74, used memorial funds to establish the nine-hole course as a tribute to their husband, father and grandfather who passed away March 27, 2014.

“Doug totally embraced the Hesston Experience,” said his wife, Patsy (King) ’75 Unruh of Perryton, Texas. “He really grew there as a person. He came from Lakewood (Colo.) High School – a big high school in a Denver suburb – and he loved the smallness of Hesston. He was big on relationships and having fun.”

As the family discussed plans for memorial funds following his death, they settled on three places they thought would please him, including Hesston College. A love for the game of disc golf grew from years of competitive tournaments at summer family reunions, so the ideas meshed to bring disc golf to the Hesston campus.

“Doug is still the overall family reunion champion,” noted Patsy. “He was competitive and loved games – we even had a disc golf course at our home.”

Doug’s fond memories from his time at Hesston College spilled over to his family as his children grew, and all three attended Hesston – a son Monte Unruh ’01, and daughters Lisa (Unruh) ’04 Beun and CJ (Unruh) ’07 Byler.

The course spans the north end of Hesston College’s campus, stretching behind the Keim Center for Performing Arts Education and to the northeast corner of the Main Street parking lot and campus entry. Details like tee pads and hole markers remain to be installed, with plans to do so over the next month or two, but with all the baskets in place, the course is ready for play, and Hesston College students have been more than happy to help break it in.

“We’re grateful to the Unruh family for giving this gift in memory of Doug to Hesston College and the wider community,” said Mike Zucconi, Hesston College Director of Development. “Students are already enjoying it and excited to have it on campus, and we anticipate that it will provide a fun source of recreation to others in the community as well.”

Along with the college’s Campus Facilities staff and a member of the Hesston College class of 2017 who was excited by the prospect of an on-campus course, the Unruh family helped plan the layout during a 2016 family reunion in Hesston where they played what would become the official course using trees and other bits of nature as makeshift holes.

Several of Doug’s family members who live locally to Hesston, including daughter CJ, her husband, Billy, and infant daughter, Hazel, (pictured) have also played the course in its first week as they remember their loved one, and Patsy looks forward to soon seeing it completed and providing fun. The course will be dedicated during Homecoming Weekend, Sept. 28-30.

“Jim Mason [Director of Campus Facilities] sent me pictures of the first students through the course on the first day it was in,” said Patsy. “It was so exciting to see. Doug would be pleased that something in his memory is bringing joy and fun to people.”

Retiring chemistry professor to present final public presentation

With a final campus- and community-wide presentation, longtime Hesston College chemistry and astronomy professor Dr. Jim Yoder will kick off his last few weeks at the college before his retirement.

Yoder’s final Hesston College chapel presentation, “Integrating the Rainbow,” will be at 11 a.m., Monday, April 30, at Hesston Mennonite Church on the Hesston College campus. The 30-minute presentation is free and open to the public.

Yoder has served at Hesston College for 50 academic years, teaching his first class on September 9, 1968, while still working to complete a doctorate in organic chemistry with minors in physical chemistry and philosophy of science from Indiana University (Bloomington).

He also attended Hesston College for a year in 1961-62, and completed a degree in chemistry at Goshen (Ind.) College.

Discovering Hesston, discovering opportunity

Nursing was always the profession Chloe McNiel knew she would choose. In fact, the call to the medical field was in her blood with a family of doctors, radiologists, dermatologists and nurses.

But coming to Hesston College was a path McNiel paved on her own.

“The idea my parents raised me in was to try to make it out of college with as little debt as possible, so I was looking at colleges around the area, colleges where I could live at home and work” McNiel said.

And she was all set to head off to Butler Community College (El Dorado, Kan.), living at home and working a job with her CNA qualification, while also attending the school on a choir scholarship. But her senior-year high school internship at Newton (Kan.) Medical Center changed all that.

“I started to notice that the nurses that were nicest to me had come from Hesston College,” McNiel said. “And even though I lived thirty minutes away from Hesston my entire life, I hadn’t heard of Hesston College until I ran into the nurses at Newton Medical Center. I thought I should probably apply.”

McNiel visited Hesston College, still not sure that attending a private school would even be financially possible. But she soon hoped it would be.

“I had been told that as soon as you step foot on a campus, you’ll know if it is right for you,” McNiel said. “And when we were on Hesston’s campus I remember my mom saying, ‘These seem like your kind of people, Chloe.’”

After being granted a theatre scholarship, McNiel could finally commit to becoming a Lark. But personal relationships and community were the reasons McNiel ultimately chose Hesston College, and they are the values that draw her to nursing as well.

“I like being able to be needed and to help,” she said. “I know nursing is hard, but it’s also rewarding. It’s neat to share intimate parts of people’s lives. That the patients let you into their world creates a deep connection.”

Amidst the microbiology and anatomy courses, McNiel finds time to participate in theatre productions, to serve as a Ministry Assistant on campus, to sing in choir and to work as a Hesston College Ambassador. She also works part-time providing home care.

McNiel plans to stick around for Hesston’s four-year BSN program, which is currently the only bachelor’s program the college offers.

“The nursing classes really challenge me,” she said. “There are people who are willing to help coach you and tutor you, teachers who are willing to work with you – they really do want the best for you.”

As someone who had never heard of Hesston College before attending, McNiel is taking it all in. She fondly remembers the Colorado camping trip and looks forward a three-week European tour with the International Chorale in May.

“Hesston has all these world travel options available,” McNiel said. “They are affordable and they allow for relationships to develop more quickly. I never imagined I could do those things alongside nursing.”

Yet McNiel is still focused on her end goal: nursing. She anticipates the next two years at Hesston to be intense, knowing nursing is a notoriously challenging program, but she’s ready for whatever challenges lie ahead.

“I’ve never imagined anything else for my life,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to be a nurse. So many of the people in my family that I’ve looked up to are nurses. I can see that I have whatever it is in me to be a nurse. This is my dream.”

by Mackenzie Miller