Presented in chapel August 29, 2005
Hesston College years
After high school I attended Hesston College. The photo at right is from the 1972 Hesston College yearbook. I am seated third from the right. Jim Yoder, then a chemistry instructor and the student government advisor, is the next person to the left. Jim continues to teach at Hesston College.
During my student years at Hesston I was very active in student government. I was also quite active in drama. A couple of things stand out in my memories of my Hesston experience. One is that Tami and I became serious about our relationship here. We met at Bible Memory Camp, but we became very serious here. I asked her to marry me during our sophomore year and our wedding took place two weeks after we graduated from Hesston.
I also remember the quality of mentoring that I received from faculty members in all of my activities and classes.
People like Clayton Beyler, Gerry Lichti, John Lederach, Jim Yoder, and many others gave
of their time, experiences, and faith to shape my life and the lives of my classmates. I remember
that and treat that as a gift.
I had a Living Bible and during my student years at Hesston I began to read that Bible in ways that I never had before, partly because I was being challenged to think a bit differently in my classes. New ideas were coming to me and I began to go back to my dorm room in the afternoons and read the Bible more intensely in new ways. My high view of Scripture, a product of my family and church life in Michigan, contributed to and interacted with my experiences as a student here.
Tami and I were married in June of 1972. Tami is from the Fisher, Illinois, area. We married at an age that I discourage people from getting married at now. We were 20 years old. But it worked out well for us. We grew up together and if I had the same choices to make again, I would do it again.