In Focus: Students

Senior Spearheads On-Campus Video Production Group
by Jessica Prudhomme '08

"As Christians we are called to be leaders in our fields. For me this field is video production. I don't believe in sub-par Christian media, but in achieving a higher standard of excellence." --Chris Peters

Many Gordon students have been known for their juggling skills--multitasking class work, community service, campus clubs and jobs, and internship positions, to name just a few. Chris Peters, a senior communication arts major from Bangor, Maine, is one such juggler. What makes him stand out is a unique commitment he's added to his responsibilities: GO FILM. His student-run, on-campus video production team was started last fall to network communication students and use the powerful medium of film to create a higher standard of excellence for Christians in this field.

"Gordon doesn't have a fixed curriculum for advanced video production," said Peters. "GO FILM is a great way for people to get involved. The experience is intensive, but students involved in GO FILM gain practical, hands-on experience and training in video production. It's like having the LA Film Studies semester right here on campus."

GO FILM's projects have included a Martin Luther King tribute video for the Community Minority Cultural Center in Lynn, viewed by city officials and hundreds from the community. Other projects included promotional videos for the Academic Support Center as well as trailers, promotional videos, and animation for GCSA's We Are Gordon event. The videos for this event consisted of three mini-documentaries about the past, present and future of Gordon College. Seventeen minutes in total, these documentaries were boiled down from over 15 hours of interviews, available on the Gordon iTunes U sites this summer.

With a three-year startup plan, Peters has recently proposed a GO FILM practicum program to the College. His hope is that this for-credit course, which will be available in the fall semester, will be the catalyst that will help the Communications Department establish full-time video faculty, more advanced courses, and higher-quality production equipment.

Frost Recycled
After recent renovations in Frost Hall, students in Jim Zingarelli's Advanced Sculpture Class--Abby Marstaller '08, Danielle Hurley '09, Annika Knibbe '09, Mary Johnson '08 and Susie Sawyer '08--used marble from the building to recreate what was once marble floor into various masterpieces.

Homeless at Gordon
by Anne Taylor '10

In the warm light of community--a theme that the recent We Are Gordon event celebrated--I am reminded of Yegue Badigue, a senior international relations major from Chad. In the early weeks of February his family in Chad was forced to flee from rebel gunfire in the capital of N'Djamena to the neighboring country of Cameroon. Communication between Yegue and his loved ones was stifled for weeks. Once they returned and he finally spoke with them, he learned the government had ordered their family home be leveled to the ground, with no explanation or compensation given. The home was destroyed on March 5, Yegue's 28th birthday.

Yegue has kept high spirits, requesting prayer and encouragement from his fellow students and sharing his story with newspapers. His faith in his community to encourage him through this difficult time is something that all of us who proudly proclaim "We are Gordon" should remember, for though we may never step foot on Chadian soil, our mission to love as Christ loved and to care for those in need will be carried to every corner of the planet, and all the way to Yegue's family in the country that he loves.

A Lithuanian Exchange

This spring Gordon began an exchange program with Lithuania Christian College (LCC), Klaipeda, Lithuania. Two students from LCC share their perspectives.

Yuliya Prysyazhnyuk '09
I am from Rivne, Ukraine. Because of our Communist background, we still know what's going on in the lives of our neighbors; and we love borshch (beet soup) and kalach (baked rolls with poppy seeds and jam).

I've experienced great things here including a trip to New York City; volunteer work in Lynn with Russian, Ukrainian and Belorussian immigrants; working with the Global Education and Physical Plant Offices; reading Russian literature in English; and enjoying relationships with professors on campus, many friends and International Student Advisor Arlyne Sargent.

Altynai Kudaibergenova '09
I was born in the U.S.S.R. and attended kindergarten in Frunze, the capital of Soviet Kirghizia. Now Frunze is Bishkek; Kirghizia is now Kyrgyz Republic; and the Soviet Union no longer exists.

Though I come from a nominal Muslim background and knew little about Christianity, God led me to study in the U.S. Both of our cultures wear Nikes, watch The Lord of the Rings, and have had to face terrorism. We don't have McDonald's yet, and we drink kymys--fermented mare's milk.

Two favorite classes here are Paul Borthwick's World Religions and Ivy George's Women and World Development. Borthwick's class makes me aware of challenges I'll face when I go back home. George's class makes me look at gender issues closer than I did, examining things I took for granted as a young woman from a developing country.

Before I came to Christ I knew what I wanted in life and had everything planned. Now I have little idea of what awaits me, but I've found comfort in trusting God and His surprises.

Yuliya (pictured left) is studying business administration and minoring in English. Altynai (pictured right) is studying English/Russian translation/interpretation and sociology.

LCC International University--Lithuania
www.gordon.edu/lcc

Student Made Playwright

In early February Sasha Irish '11, a theatre arts major, was one of two winners of the playwriting competition at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region One Conference in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Her 10-minute play, Black Fly Season, qualified her to become one of the four national finalists.

Sasha received the Excellence in Theatre award this spring for her many contributions to the Theatre Department--as a main part in major productions but also serving in the booth, backstage, in costumes and in the tech area, consistently modeling servant leadership.

Cadets on Campus

As an ROTC cadet, Joshua Bailey '11 goes on multiple-mile runs while classmates play frisbee on the quad. "Being a Gordon student and an Army cadet is a great combination," he says, "because students see that I can be a Christian and a soldier; in ROTC the other cadets see that it is possible to live a life in service to my country and dedicated to God." He hopes to either go into the Infantry or the Chaplain Corps.

Joshua is one of eight cadets on campus. Cadets can choose which branch of the Army they would like to join after graduation from college. John Bradley '11 would like to join the Civil Affairs Branch because it "works with development and reconstruction, and generally serves as a liaison between U.S. military forces and village leaders. It would involve a lot of work with the local people." Joshua Broughton '11 comments, "While a lot of cadets are taught by the book, our instructors teach us what is going on in the world today and how the military adjusts."

The Gordon ROTC program is part of the North Shore Company, which belongs to the larger Paul Revere Battalion, which includes MIT, Harvard, Wellesley, Tufts, Endicott and Salem State.

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