Each one help one - part II

Venturing into life outside of the “Bluffton Bubble” can be a bit unnerving. Do you remember that day, sitting with friends and classmates in hot, black robes, listening to someone give inspiring and motivational words and all you can think is “Oh crap! I’m not a college student anymore. Now what?”

Those of us who have adapted to life after Bluffton have the opportunity to ease the transition for others through by mentoring through the College Central Network offered by Bluffton’s Career Development Center.

What qualifications does one need to be a mentor? I’ve heard mentors be described as “not an expert – but somebody willing to share the journey.” What a great definition. Share the journey. That I can do. Just please don’t look to me as someone who has all the answers.

Mentors can be older – sharing what they are looking for in an employee, a colleague, how to network, etc. Mentors can be fresh out of college – sharing how they started over, made new friends, found a job, selected a graduate school, etc.

What’s nice about the Mentoring Network is that you say how involved you want to be. You can post “words of wisdom” for others to read or make yourself available to allow someone to job shadow, provide networking contacts, agree to visit with Bluffton students or even serve as an internship host… If you don’t feel comfortable with any of the options, you just don’t select it. Mentors share only as much information about themselves as they are comfortable sharing.

There will even be an option for Program H.O.M.E, the second part of the student-of-color mentoring program mentioned earlier in this blog. Juniors and seniors who serve as mentors to incoming first-year students will themselves be mentored by alumni of color.

Kathy Dickson, director of the Career Development Center, is excited about the possibilities of the Mentoring Network. Interested students can search the mentors by career interest or location, and make connections based on what the mentors are willing to do. “It will basically run itself. It has amazing potential.”

Professors, parents, staff can all give students suggestions when they start their job search. “But to hear it from someone in the field,” said Kathy. “That’s priceless.”

Interested in signing up for the Mentoring Network? Contact Kathy Dickson at dicksonk@bluffton.edu to receive the password.

Why are buzzards circling Centennial?

Guest post by Dr. Bob Antibus, professor of biology

Growing up in northeastern Ohio I came to associate the start of spring with the arrival of buzzards back to rocky ledges near the small town of Hinckley. Folks around Hinckley celebrate their annual return with “Buzzard Day” - the first Sunday after the birds return on March 15. This event is celebrated with plenty of pancakes, maple syrup and music.

In recent years I have been asked often about the apparent rise in frequency of buzzards in trees along the Little Riley Creek and on the rotunda of Centennial Hall. In point of fact the birds of interest are not buzzards but turkey vultures. Turkey vultures (Carthartes aura) get their common name from the featherless reddish head and neck which resemble true turkeys.

One of the fascinating aspects of turkey vulture biology is their roosting behavior. Nonbreeding birds assemble in “roosts” or social gatherings. During the winter in southern states these roosts may consist of thousands of birds, but during summer months in the north they typically host a dozen to a few hundred birds. They prefer to roost in trees along streams or in high places like rocky ledges in places with a mix of forest and open fields.

One can see why when Centennial Hall was built it became an ideal spot.

A recent study in Iowa suggests roosts might provide several advantages including: allowing birds to better control body temperature, protection from predators or social communication for food location. If you watch a roost you will sometimes see birds standing awkwardly with spread wings. Biologists think the birds are drying their wings or warming up and call this a “horaltic pose.”

Surviving in nature is all about conserving energy (a lesson humans could learn). Turkey vultures do this by letting their bodies cool down at night. But to fly they must warm up. This explains why they often perch in high places that face east. They catch the early morning sun, again think about this when you see them basking on Centennial Hall.

My favorite aspect of turkey vultures is their flying or more precisely their gliding skills. Being large heavy birds they like to glide into flight rather than lift off. If you have ever seen a turkey vulture fly up from a road kill you know they are clumsy on the ground, especially if they have just eaten a heavy meal.

Hence these birds use their large wings to soar long distances on air currents. I try to get students in my climate change class to observe these birds in the early fall. In fall and spring when we have cool nights the rising morning sun quickly heats open fields and parking lots. This heating leads to columns of surfaced-warmed air rising. Airplane pilots know about these so- called thermals and so do turkey vultures.

They launch from high places in the morning, locate thermals and slowly circle up to much higher elevations. From such high vantage points they spread out in search of food, mostly dead animals. Contrary to my favorite movie westerns, vultures don’t circle dying animals.

In general it appears that turkey vulture populations are on the rise in North America, however some other species in this family are endangered in other parts of the world. If you wish to learn more about these interesting birds I suggest the website of the nature writer Marcia Bonta.

This could be the year

Wonder how long it would take to walk four miles? The annual May Day 4-mile Run/Cabin Walk is about 6 weeks away – May 8. I’m half tempted to register for the “run” but actually power walk it.

Having worked behind the scenes for the run in years past, I’m always amazed how many people come out on a Saturday morning to run four miles. There are alumni, current students, graduating students, incoming students, faculty/staff, children, community members who like to run… It’s quite a unique gathering of people with ages ranging from 10 and under to 70 and over.

The reasons they come out are as varied as the people; to stay in shape, to get in shape, to prove they can do it, to socialize, to reunite…

A few years ago a 5k walk was added as an option to the 4-mile run. Courses were set up through the Nature Preserve (complete with a refreshment stop at the College Cabin) and through town (to accommodate those pushing strollers.) The walk is not timed. It is purely for enjoyment. The first year the walk was included, I was surprised the number of young alumni pushing strollers, chatting and completely enjoying themselves.

This year the walking course has been changed so that it it’s less than 5K; hence the new name – the Cabin Walk. But it is still a great opportunity for spending time with friends in a low-stress environment.

Myself, I’d rather be timed; to know how long it took me to officially power walk four miles, then to compare that to next year’s time. Looking at last year’s times, the highest was just over 60 minutes. My best time in a 5k run/walk (3.1 miles) is 43 minutes and some. So, in theory, I could do this and not hold up the schedule.

What do you say? Want to join me? I won’t hold it against you if you actually run and beat me!

Preregistration is available online, with reduced early registration fees and t-shirts available if you sign up before April 23.

A story that needs telling

It’s a heart-wrenching story. But it’s a story that must be told. It’s a story that puts a very human face on what is often discussed in impersonal terms: immigration, illegals, border, them, us, ours.

Enrique’s Journey is the story of a young Honduran boy who traveled to the U.S., mostly on top of trains, to find his mother who had migrated North to find work years before. This book was required reading for Bluffton first-year students and for seniors in the Capstone course.

Now alumni, parents and friends are invited to join with Bluffton students, faculty and staff for a discussion of Enrique’s Journey with author Sonia Nazario at 11 a.m. April 7.

Just having read the prologue, I am so intrigued. It’s going to be one of those books that I won’t be able to put down once started. It tells of the desperation mothers feel to justify leaving their children to find work in order to support their children and the abandonment children feel without their mother’s presence.

Lazario wrote in the prologue, “Latina migrants ultimately pay a steep price for coming to the United States. They lose their children’s love… People are losing what they value most.”

It would be a great story if it was fiction. The bond of a mother and son and the lengths they go to show that love, the intrigue and danger encountered on top the “Train of Death,” the kindness of strangers along the way.

Unfortunately it’s not fiction. It is all too real. And it is an important part of the “immigration issue” which should not be overlooked.

Join us for the book discussion on April 7, either in person or online.

Seven more Mondays!

Would you believe that Bluffton’s seniors only have seven more Mondays until graduation? (Eight weeks minus the Easter Monday break)

Depending on your viewpoint, that’s either cause for great celebration – or great anguish.

I posted on Facebook a few days ago about how the time between spring break and graduation becomes a mad sprint to the finish line. I’m sure we can all list projects which ‘must be done’ this spring. If we let it, those lists can become overwhelming. It can block our view of the emerging beauty around us.

Bluffton’s campus is gorgeous in all seasons, if we slow down enough to enjoy the view. Daffodils are starting to show signs of life in the flower beds across campus and I’d totally missed them until a colleague drew them to my attention.

Students will be back on campus Monday. I am so looking forward to the sounds of spring - the radio playing from the ball diamonds during pre-game, the distinctive thump of tennis ball golf - with any luck those sounds will pull me away from my lists and remind me to take time to “smell the roses.”

Here’s hoping that you do the same.

Thanking God for His Faithfulness

March 2.

For those affiliated with Bluffton University in 2007 – March 2 will never be just another day. I know when I turn the calendar to March 2, there’s heaviness in my heart even though I didn’t personally know anybody on the baseball bus when the accident happened. I still remember exactly what I was doing when hearing about the accident (cleaning the stove on a random vacation day taken to play “domestic goddess.”)

From the chatter on Facebook and Twitter this morning – many of you feel the same way. “03.02.07...never forgotten....” “Thinking about baseball players in busses today.” “Proud of all of the 2007 baseball men.. 3.2.07, never forgotten” and more.

It’s hard to believe, but the first-year students in 2007 are now seniors. Approximately ¾ of Bluffton’s current student body were not Bluffton students when the accident happened. They weren’t on campus to share in the grief, nor to experience the outpouring of support.

It was that outpouring of support that sustained the players and coaches on the 2007 team, the friends and family of Zachary Arend, David Betts, Scott Harmon, Cody Holp and Tyler Williams and the entire campus community through that spring and beyond.

Campus pastor Tig Intagliata led a litany based on the 23rd Psalm today at the Circle of Remembrance. Two stanzas in particular from the reading grabbed my attention:

I will fear no evil. For you are with me.
Even when we have not been able to feel your presence, you have been by our side holding on to us, carrying us through the deepest valleys of darkness.
We find courage in the midst of our fear because we know you are with us. We can face the future with hope, knowing that we do not have to face it alone.

Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
We thank you for our families, friends and strangers who have reached out to us and comforted us with your love and kindness.

Let us pray that in time March 2 will become a day, yes to acknowledge our loss and our experiences, but also a day to give thanks for God’s faithfulness and comfort.

Making time to relax & reconnect

So what is it that draws alumni back to campus – for Homecoming, May Day, Athletics Hall of Fame or team alumni games?

That’s an easy one – it’s the chance to visit with friends you haven’t seen for a while. The planned activities – the luncheons, picnics, banquets, exhibits and presentations – are just to make sure a critical mass of alumni gather at the same time and place to provide the opportunity to reconnect.

With this in mind, the Women’s Council has scheduled lots of free time in the inaugural R&R (Reconnecting & Reaching Out) alumnae event on March 6.

Women will gather in Ropp Hall to pick up a box lunch, meet up with friends and go wherever they’d like to eat, visit, laugh, reconnect, for the majority of the event. For those who want something “to do,” there will be campus tours, shopping in the Bookstore and a presentation on Bluffton’s Web site and social media.

This presentation is where I come in. Carrie (Holcomb '99) Phillips and I will be joining forces for this presentation. Have to admit that I’m struggling with the request to “show us how to use Bluffton’s Web site.” A good Web site should be intuitive. Something is wrong if one needs to be shown “how to use it.”

So, I’m planning to highlight features of interest to alumni, but then use this session as a type of focus group. What is it that this group is interested in, but cannot intuitively ‘find?’ I’m looking forward to hearing their ideas (and yours - comments are always welcome!) Carrie will address what social media is and how professional women can use it to their benefit.

The day will conclude with a benefit concert by pianist Dr. Lucia Unrau, professor of music and music department chairperson. Women’s Council is providing Professional Enrichment Grants to support female Bluffton students attending professional conferences. A free-will offering will be accepted at the concert to support these grants.

No matter the amount of preparation that goes these presentations, I realize that the highlight of the day will be visiting with friends. And I’m totally OK with that.

So make a few phone calls, encourage your friends to gather for a day of relaxation on Bluffton’s campus. Can there be a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon?