by Phil Richard
Jocelyn Forshee, a sophomore from Concordia, a small town in northern Kansas, has moved on to her next challenge.
She began February 5 as a student at Bethel College, North Newton, Kan., aiming for a bachelor’s degree in business administration, with a concentration in management.
Forshee said she grew a lot during her three semesters at Hesston College. “It was an opportunity to go to college to grow into the person I am,” she said. “I started to do things that I wanted to do and enjoy.”
For instance, prior to coming to Hesston College, she went to a Catholic church every Sunday. “We did it as a family,” she said. “My time at Hesston allowed me to see that I want to go to church every Sunday. That was an area of spiritual growth for me.”
Forshee said she appreciated the small class size at Hesston College. “It was easier to be on a one-to-one basis with the teacher,” she said, “and the teacher always knew when you weren’t there. So usually they would check to see if I was okay or if I needed something.
“That’s why I moved on to Bethel College,” she said, “because I should have a similar experience there. I’m not much for big classes.”
Forshee will continue playing volleyball at Bethel. “Being on a team at Hesston helped me move into college life,” she said. “I had people I knew right away and they were always there to turn to.”
Occasionally, she remembers that last December, she was named as a volleyball Second Team All-American for Division II, National Junior College Athletic Association. She admitted that the honor produced some worries. “I found myself hoping that I could live up to that standard and play like an All-American,” she said. “But I was honored to have been chosen when many other women deserved the honor, too.”
What will she miss at Hesston? “One thing definitely will be not being around my twin, Jessica (a sophomore on the Larks women’s basketball team). This will be the first time in our entire lives that we’ve been separated.”
Last fall, the twins spearheaded a fund-raiser for Susan G. Komen for the Cure, an organization dedicated to breast cancer research, and to support women with breast cancer. During an invitational volleyball tournament hosted by the Larks September 21-22 as part of Homecoming Weekend, $715 was raised in honor of their mother, Debra, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer in August.
Forshee said things are back to normal after her mother had a double mastectomy in early October. “It definitely brought our family closer together,” she said. Debra and her husband John also have an older daughter, Jonelle, who is a senior at the University of Kansas.
The effort was also an eye-opener for Forshee. “I started to notice things that I can do to help fight breast cancer and raise funds,” she said. “What we did was so small compared to what others have done, but we made a huge impact. It shows that big or small, you can do things for the good.”