Something you often hear on the campus of 日韩AV is the term “world changer,” which is a name and call bestowed upon any individual who is associated with the institution. Depending on the student, they may choose to remember this duty while they are pursuing their academics, and some, while they know the phrase, may not think about it twice. No matter which side of the coin students fall on, each is given the opportunity to embrace the “world changer” mindset and participate in the annual university-wide Change Day. This event is a day in which individuals can sign up for a service project in and around Berrien Springs and follow the call of Matthew 22:37-39 to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” In the interest of learning what it means to be on the ground serving, “world changers” were asked to talk about their personal involvement in changing the world on Change Day.
“For Change Day, I helped out with Christmas Behind Bars, which is a huge organization that creates gift bags to hand out to those in prison. This acts as a form of ministry by giving people in jail something to look forward to and has even been shown to lower suicide rates in prison. I really enjoyed helping out with this project because it showed how something so small can make a huge impact on someone’s life. Also, it was an opportunity to meet other students and faculty from around campus by creating a shared environment of service. This experience was also incredible because we kept making bags until we ran out of supplies and ended up making over 9,000 bags in just a few short hours.”
Kenzie Fossmeyer (sophomore, nutrition and dietetics)
“For Change Day, I worked with the St. Joseph SDA Church to paint fire hydrants in neighborhoods of St. Joseph. With our small group of four, we worked on a designated section of a neighborhood. First, we had to clean the fire hydrants by scraping off the grime and old paint chips. After it was buffed, we started painting. Our group rotated who was the painter since we only had one paintbrush. This experience was unexpectedly a lot of fun since I was able to work with a team of new people and do something I’ve never done before. I really enjoyed getting to know my group and bonding over this new experience.”
Trista Braithwaite (junior, exercise science)
“I led the group for ‘Our House of the Way,’ and what we did was we helped organize a food drive by going door to door and leaving information at people’s houses. I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect going into the project but Stella, the organizer from Our House of the Way, was super sweet and shared the story with us about how she got into this work. After hearing more about Our House and their various other projects, I would really like to get more involved with them and possibly help out with their tutoring services or their Saturday community centers.”
Maia Hamstra (senior, speech-language pathology)
“I helped out with the Christmas Behind Bars Change Day group and it was pretty cool because I finished the day early and not only was I able to help people out but I got ramen too.”
Ember Clark (sophomore, English education)
“I helped with the “Paint ‘em red” project in St Joseph, where we painted old fire hydrants in need of care. I really enjoyed helping the community and it was a fun experience with some of my friends.” Rod Olofernes (sophomore, medical laboratory sciences)
“I helped out at the career fair for high school students, repping the Physics department! It did seem like there was a general lack of enthusiasm and engagement from the high schoolers across all booths, but we were able to captivate some with our Van de Graaff generator, which they used to zap their friends!” T Bruggemann (senior, computer science and math studies)
“This year for Change Day I participated in Christmas Behind Bars. This is a local ministry that provides goody bags, Christian books, and cards to those who are incarcerated. These packages provide them with hope and the comfort that someone is thinking of and praying for them. I enjoyed participating in this project and working together with others on campus to help make a difference.” Symone Caruthers (junior, biology)
“I worked at Your Story Hour. Our group was clearing out decades worth of accumulated boxes and other waste materials. The whole experience was ultimately uneventful aside from the chipmunk nest we found. One of our group ended up taking a baby chipmunk to the vet by virtue of an injured foot. Ultimately our hosts were very hospitable and our group performed to expectation at the very least.” Johann Cheng (sophomore, digital communications)
“For Change Day I helped the community in Saint Joe by painting faded fire hydrants. It was tough buffing out the old paint but I still enjoyed being able to go out and help the community together with friends!” Charisse Lapuebla (junior, speech-language pathology)
“I helped out with the Michiana Fil-Am SDA Church cleanup. Our group split into teams to do yard work around the outside of the church, clean windows, and clean up some of the classrooms and closets inside. Although it didn’t really feel like I was doing a lot of work myself, I know that to the church members, it makes a big difference. As the saying goes, many hands make light work, so these jobs that might’ve taken one person a whole week only took us a couple of hours to do.” Sara Hamstra (junior, medical laboratory sciences)
Clearly, Change Day was a way for Andrews students and faculty to enjoy having a positive impact on our community …..
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of 日韩AV. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, 日韩AV or the Seventh-day Adventist church.