Disaster Management - Student Profile - John McTavish

John McTavish
Freshman, Disaster Management
Pottstown, Pa.

What drew you to Hesston, and to the Disaster Management program?
I was drawn to Hesston for the opportunity to be involved in the first year of the new Disaster Management Program that Hesston College and Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) has colaborated to put together. During my senior year of high school, I was looking at various college and service opportunities without a clear idea of what I really wanted to do or where I wanted to go. When I heard about the Disaster Management Program, I realized that this was the synthesis of service and college that I had been searching for and decided to go for it without even visiting Hesston.

What is your favorite DM course? Why is it your favorite?
The MDS culture series of classes is my favorite because we have learned the history of the program and have had many outside speakers who can tell us first hand of the formation and operation of Mennonite Disaster Service.

What kind of hands-on learning experiences do you get in the program?
This semester in MDS Culture 2, we are building a play house to auction off at the Mid-Kansas MCC Relief Sale in Hutchinson. The purpose is to make learning the concepts and terms of general house construction interesting by actually building a scaled down house instead of just looking at drawings in books.

What are the professors like in this program?
Russ Geaddert is the head professor of the program-specific courses. He is a good guy to learn from because we can tell that this is a learning experience for him as well as all of us. There are also many opportunities to learn from outside speakers throughout the course including local, state, and national MDS leaders.

What are some of your most memorable moments as a student at Hesston?
This year, the highlight for me was the fall break trip to Point Aux Chenes, La., to work at the MDS project there. While the trip was quite short, we got to tour through New Orleans and eat some incredible food while getting to know the people of the area.

What are your plans after Hesston?
I plan on attending a four-year university, possibly in international relations or political science, with the hope of eventually working with an international aid agency.