GCU News

GCU News Bureau

U.S. Sen. John McCain, who died Saturday after a long battle with brain cancer, was a frequent visitor to Grand Canyon University and was greatly admired by GCU executives, staff and students.

The University released this statement:

“Our thoughts, prayers and deepest sympathies go out to the family of Senator John McCain. He was a true American hero and one of the most influential people in Arizona’s history. During Senator McCain’s visits to Grand Canyon University, our students, faculty, staff and veterans treasured the time spent with him. We are forever grateful for his service and leadership.”

John McCain, who died four days short of what would have been his 82nd birthday, liked visiting GCU, and students benefited greatly from his wisdom.

McCain particularly enjoyed sitting courtside for basketball. One of his last campus visits was on Aug. 11, 2016, when he stopped by during his re-election campaign and said, “the greatest event I’ve had so far is attending a Lopes game.”

Three GCU students who worked in McCain’s office as interns were there that day, sitting in the front row and wearing their McCain T-shirts.

“He’s got a great personality,” said one of them, Isaac Steiner. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him not smiling. He definitely has a great spirit about him.”

GCU President Brian Mueller, who estimated he had visited with McCain at least a dozen times, said on that day, “Obviously, he’s a successful politician, but he’s just a good person. I think that’s how you last in that business for that long. He’s very genuine. He’s authentic. He’s a family guy. He’s lived a very honorable life, obviously.”

Almost six months earlier, on Feb. 22, 2016, McCain attended the GCU basketball game. The night before, he did a special roundtable discussion before a live audience in the Student Union with another man who’s among the most famous Arizonans ever, Jerry Colangelo.

McCain’s visit in August 2016 drew a big crowd to the Student Union.

Of his failed presidential runs, McCain joked, “Arizona might be the only state in the Union where mothers don’t tell their kids that someday they’ll grow up to be President.”

He also told a story from his days as a prisoner of war in Vietnam that says a lot about American sports passion. When a new prisoner of war arrived in 1969, McCain said the first question everyone asked was whether the New York Jets had won the Super Bowl a few months earlier.

McCain said of GCU basketball, “Haven’t we got a gem here with Dan Majerle and the Lopes? I really appreciate the Havocs.”

That was before the Havocs displayed huge cutouts of McCain and the GCU Dance team did a special number in his honor at the basketball game the next night. He sat in the second row close to the Lopes’ bench after meeting with the University’s executive team and with the GCU students who are interns in his office.

On Feb. 21, 2014, McCain was in Ethington Theatre for 90 minutes in the morning to address a standing-room-only audience of more than 400 students, many of them veterans. He praised GCU for offering expanded opportunities and quality education at a lower cost to many students who otherwise could not afford college.

“This is a great experiment in education,” he said. “It should be an example to other institutions, not only in Arizona, but throughout the country.”

****

GCU Today: Slideshow: McCain greeted by big crowd in GCU campaign stop

GCU Today: Internship in McCain’s office gets their vote

GCU Today: McCain/Colangelo ‘team’ entertains, educates

GCU Today: McCain visits GCU, meets with students, veterans

The post John McCain leaves a legacy at GCU, too appeared first on GCU Today.

GCU News Bureau

Welcome Week at Grand Canyon University always is a win-win – students get incredible, friendly help moving their belongings into their residence halls and apartments, then spend the rest of the week enjoying a wide range of informational, spiritual and fun activities.

But Welcome Week 2018 was such a hit, it was a win-win-win-win-win.

News flash: Students use their cell phones a lot. Now they can stay in touch with what’s happening on campus through the new GCU Engage app. (Photo by Ralph Freso)

Win: It set records for the number of students both arriving and volunteering at Move-In.

Win: The two biggest events of the week, New Student Worship Night/Ignite and Lope-A-Palooza, drew huge crowds and made an equally huge impression on newcomers looking for connections to campus life.

Win: Other events, such as the Out-of-State Social, were packed and went on longer than anticipated because students were having such a good time. Organizers said the new GCU Engage app played a big role in keeping students informed and, well, engaged.

Win: Welcome Week, and especially Move-In, has been featured for years by Phoenix television stations, but the three-hour visit by 3TV on Friday morning broke new ground. Viewers got a thorough tour of what makes the campus so vibrant.

Win: Maybe the biggest win of all, if you’re scoring at home, was the exciting 2-1 men’s soccer victory over No. 12-ranked Wisconsin on Friday before a record crowd (yes, another record) at GCU Stadium. In terms of the setting and the opponent’s status, it’s GCU’s biggest victory since moving up to NCAA Division I in 2013.

There are so many fond memories, they’re worth another look in words, photos and the video above. Here are some things that caught the eyes and ears of GCU Today reporters as they roved around campus. Since we’re on the subject of winning, we’re giving these items the appropriate awards:

Wild Gaming Award

Gertrude the Giraffe spent part of Thursday in front of Chick-fil-A. (Photo by Ryan Kryska)

We don’t know who, we don’t know why and we don’t even know where most of the time. But a large giraffe statue kept showing up around campus all week. The thing feels as if it weighs about 100 pounds.

On Thursday, it was outside Chick-fil-A, donning a dog tag that hinted at a game and told us its name — Gertrude. The tag said, “This is a game. Do not throw away,” on one side and “To join game add me @calling-colin” on the other side.

An insider to the Snapchat game told GCU Today that the rules are as follows: “Whenever you see the giraffe, if you choose, take a photo of where you found it, and then put a clue of where you left it.”

Where will Gertrude make her way next? Will she become a campus fixture? GCU Today will continue this high-level investigation.

Move-In Mania Awards (10-way tie)

Gertrude the Giraffe wasn’t the only unusual object student volunteers saw. Talking to them about the wackiest things they moved in produced these gems, with some of their comments:

An old mahogany dresser. “It must have weighed 500 pounds.”
A full-size tree. “I guess they wanted to make the room feel more nature-y.”
We give up — what is that round object for? Is it part of a piece of furniture? Is it decorative? But it’s hardly the strangest item that was unloaded. (Photo by Theresa Smith)
A giant cutout of Justin Bieber.
A giant cutout of John Cena’s head.
A whole collection of vinyl records.
A giant couch that looked like a pair of lips.
A huge massage chair. “Like the ones you see at the mall.”
A car that had four big boxes just for shoes.
A car that was full of food. “Makes sense when you think about it.”
A trunk full of water bottles. “That makes sense, too.”

In some cases, the volunteers were left to wonder how their fellow students were going to fit all those items in their room. There were three U-Haul trailers for one apartment; for another, there were two U-Haul trucks.

And then there was the serious gamer who brought three televisions and a giant chair … and his room was on the sixth floor.

The Lonely Guy Award

To Taylor Potter, the club sports employee who directed traffic on a quiet corner leading to The Grove. “I think I have been here for three hours, but the concept of time is starting to slip,” Potter said on Day 2 around 10 a.m. “It is organized well, so it is easy on us.”

Most Enthusiastic in a Solo Situation Award

Selena Nguyen never lacked for enthusiasm. (Photo by Theresa Smith)

Many GCU volunteers feed off each other’s energy while making Herculean efforts to greet every family arriving on campus for Move-In. Selena Nguyen, a sophomore from Phoenix, was stationed just past one of the main entry points, leaving her without a posse with whom to cheer and dance. Undeterred, Nguyen raced along with many vehicles carrying family members, offering warm greetings and essential information. Nguyen was joined by many other staff volunteers who are out there in the heat for five straight days cheerfully directing traffic and making sure the cars flow as smoothly as possible.

It’s a Small World Award (Domestic Division)

Sophomore biology major Andrea Broyles was out with her fellow Lopes on Wednesday morning helping students move into Sedona Hall. She was surprised when she started unloading one particular vehicle: “I saw a friend from high school I hadn’t seen for a while. I didn’t think I would be one of the ones moving him – so that was kind of fun,” said Broyles, who, like her friend from high school, is attending GCU far from home. They’re both from Oregon.

It’s a Small World Award (International Division)

Junior business major Libbie Jones, when she wasn’t going all Hercules and using her muscle to haul boxes up flights of stairs and down hallways as a volunteer Move-In Week mover, works at the Antelope Reception Center. It’s where prospective students go to get the biggest welcome ever – and to learn about GCU and see if this might be their future college campus.

“I remember giving a tour to a girl who was visiting from Hong Kong.”

Many parents took delight in the wild reception for them and their children. (Photo by Ralph Freso)

Lo and behold, Jones said during Welcome Week she was helping a new student move in, and it was that girl from Hong Kong. She didn’t know she had picked GCU.

“She remembered I was her tour guide. She remembered me from then,” Jones said.

Best Parents Award

One parent brought coffee and donuts for the student volunteers. Many others (including drivers) recorded the scene on their cell phones as they drove up. There even were parents sitting on top of their vehicles upon arrival – hey, you’ve got to have a good view, right?

And then there was the guy who had massive horns on his truck and took delight in blaring them at the students – who took equal delight in going appropriately crazy.

A Load of Laundry (Basket) Award

Monicah Mwaura (left) and Eunice Ishimwe were pressed into some tough duty by, of all things, a laundry basket. (Photo by Theresa Smith)

Student leaders Monicah Mwaura of the Associated Students of GCU and Eunice Ishimwe of the Worship Team arose at 4 a.m. Monday for breakfast and started unloading cars by 5:45 a.m., yet they were not overly fatigued with one exception – a weighty laundry basket that required them to channel the Incredible Hulk.

“It looked super light, but then it was so heavy and we had to carry it up six flights of stairs,” Ishimwe said. “So we are working out, basically.”

Instant Connection Award

Junior sports management major John-Marc Boucher said one of the most memorable items he moved in was a 75-inch television. He laughed and said he didn’t know how anyone could sit back far enough in their room to actually see the screen without their eyes bugging out.

But his most memorable Move-In story was meeting a student sitting in his truck waiting in line.

Sign of the times: Some vans came with decorations. (Photo by Lana Sweeten-Shults)

“We got to talking,” Boucher said. “He started a club in high school to go pray over children that have cancer. I thought, that’s so cool. It was one of the most heartwarming things. There was an instant connection with me and the guy.”

Boucher said he’ll be joining that new student to go the hospital and pray for those children.

Most Spirited Van Award

The gray minivan that brought sophomore transfer Chris Parker to campus was fully in the Move-In spirit when it arrived at Saguaro Hall. Written all over the windows: “GCU, here he comes! Bye-bye, California, Hello Phoenix” with an accompanying map of sorts dotting the way from California to Arizona with the words, “College bound: 1 mom, 2 kids.”

Rick Vacek, Lana Sweeten-Shults, Theresa Smith and Ryan Kryska contributed to this story.

The post Welcome Week just kept making memories appeared first on GCU Today.

Dr. Laura Chesniak speaks to her psychology students on the first day of class. (Photo by Theresa Smith)

GCU Today

College of Fine Arts and Production voice professor Rachel Velarde, seated at a hallway table with a stack of colored Grand Canyon University campus directory maps at the ready, directed students like the guru of orientation that she is.

A student had a little fun on his first day of class, posing for the classic first day of school portrait. (Photo by Gillian Rea)

“Do you know where my classroom is?” “Can you tell me where to find the College of Education?” “My schedule says my class is in this room but online it says it’s in another room — what should I do?”

It was a scene repeated throughout the morning as students, gripping their schedules, oriented themselves to the always evolving campus. It’s been a summer of change, as it always is at GCU, with colleges such as the College of Nursing and Health Care Professions and the College of Theology switching spaces, the massive new Colangelo College of Business Building (CCOB) opening, a new Lope Shop relocating to its five-times-larger-than-before space in the old Fleming Building on the Promenade, a new Canyon Activities Center, garage, residence halls and more.

But it was an especially robust morning at COFAP.

Just a few months ago, fine arts faculty and students were peppered throughout campus in different buildings – the costume shop in the Media Arts Center on the Promenade, many faculty offices and music practice rooms in the onetime Colter Complex, a faculty office or two and classes in the Ethington Theatre building.

CSET academic program manager Melissa Davis (left) directs a student to her classroom. (Photo by Lana Sweeten-Shults)

But on Monday, the fine arts and production college opened in the old CCOB facility, where many faculty found themselves under the same roof for the first time.

“We’ve had new instructors who have said, ‘This is SO exciting!’ Every year is exciting,” said COFAP film professor Lisa Tervo. “Most of our officers were in Colter. … But having so many kids come through here – fine arts or business — it’s a much different feel,” she said. “I feel like we’re at the heart of campus. It makes it more exciting.”

Sophomore worship ministry major Joseph Vaught, who took voice classes in Colter in 2017-18, was waiting in one of the hallways for his private vocal instruction class in the College of Fine Arts and Production: “It just feels nice and fresh,” said Vaught.

Freshman worship arts major Jacob Holleman said he is still getting a feel for where everything is on campus but already feels at home.

Freshman worship arts major Jacob Holleman, who’s from Dallas, was bright-eyed on his first day. He moved into his residence hall Tuesday and already was feeling welcome and right at home.

“GCU’s really cool. I’m still getting a feel for where everything is. But my RA and Spiritual Life leader already have reached out to me and brought me to church, brought me to dinner.”

Holleman said you have to try hard NOT to make friends at GCU, he said, after a week of welcome activities, such as Lope-a-Palooza and the Glow Party.

“I attended them all,” he said with a laugh.

Across campus, College of Science, Engineering and Technology Academic Program Manager Melissa Davis was making her rounds on the fourth floor, stopping into classes to welcome students and to remind them to check into LoudCloud, the University’s learning system, to make sure they’re enrolled in the class and all is good in the scheduling world.

From left, ACE student workers Charlotte Barber and Jeanette Evins prepare to help students. (Photo by Theresa Smith)

Davis, wearing a big purple “Ask Me” button, arrived on campus at 4:30 a.m. to print schedules and get everything ready for the day. She is part of the three-team member Success Patrol for CSET today and tomorrow.

“I direct everybody in Building 1 to their classrooms,” said Davis, who on Friday visited the classrooms with other team members to make sure professors had a supply of markers and other teaching tools they might need.

Paige Gutierrez, a junior pre-physical therapy major from Palm Springs, Calif., who works in the cadaver lab, was one of the students who stopped Davis for help.

“I had all my classes written down on a piece of paper. I went to LoudCloud and everything was changed,” said Gutierrez, who by 9 a.m. already was done with her first class – at 7 a.m.

Like Davis, ACE (Academic and Career Excellence Centers) student workers Charlotte Barber and Jeannette Evins also spent time directing students. They worked a table on the north side of campus, answering questions, primarily from freshmen who wanted to clarify class locations. But they also gave them information about academic help, career excellence, resume reviews and more.

Dr. David Jackson, meanwhile, was teaching his first class in CSET as a new full-time faculty member, though GCU isn’t brand new to him. He was part of the adjunct faculty for three years.

Dr. David Jackson teaches his first class as a full-time CSET faculty member. (Photo by Lana Sweeten-
Shults)

He spent part of his medical physiology class time talking about why humans shiver (when muscles move, they generate heat).

He said his class was attentive, despite the 8:25 a.m. start time, and he was happy to be a part of the biology department: “They don’t want to leave,” he said with a smile of the rare spot in the department that opened up and allowed him to become an even bigger part of the University. “They like it here,” he said.

Honors, nursing students hit ground running

Fifty-three of the 60 freshmen in Dr. David Dean’s Monday morning course were sitting in the first classroom of their GCU career.

Only one of them became lost on the way to the Natural Sciences second floor and strolled in after the 8:25 a.m. start — a minuscule tardy percentage to be expected from a bunch of Honors College students.

Dean’s UNV106HN class, “A ripple on the Pond: From Idea to Impact,” is a University introductory course made up of all honors students. It’s a bit more extensive than the general University introduction as the students learn such concepts as the Honors College’s five pillars: ethics, leadership, service, research and cultural awareness.

“Greater than the tread of mighty armies is an idea whose time has come,” reads a slide from Dean’s first-day presentation.

Freshman Jared Reidl, an accounting major, said he was a bit nervous for his first day. Reidl’s older sister attends GCU and he followed suit.

Senior nursing student Kaylin Nickerson (left) practices for an upcoming assessment as professor Michael Hart observes. (Photo by Ryan Kryska).

“I love it here. Out of all the schools I visited, I felt most at home here,” Reidl said. “I want to help more in the community. There was mandatory community service at my last school, but here there is more opportunity.”

Up on the third floor of the building, Professor Michael Hart was teaching nursing courses NSG430 and NSG320.

Senior Kaylin Nickerson, a level three nursing student, was visiting the lab on her day off to practice medication administration.

“And that’s why she will be a great nurse,” said Vanessa Slaughter, clinical nursing simulation lab director.

Nickerson has an assessment coming up that she must pass to make it to the next phase of learning. She said she is looking forward this year to learning how to take care of laboring patients and children and how to deliver babies.

First-day chemistry in CHSS

Junior pre-med major Grace Bolton patiently waits for class to end to search for her missing laptop. (Photo by Theresa Smith)

Grace Bolton was relieved to learn that organic chemistry might not be as difficult as she feared. In fact, she felt quite comfortable with the molecular structure part of the lecture. But not everything went well on the first day of classes for the junior from Jasper, Indiana – she left her laptop behind when she left Room 101 in the North Lecture Hall Building. By the time she made her way back to the lecture room, another class had started. Rather than interrupt, Bolton patiently waited in the hallway, sipping on a GCBC drink and recalling her first class of the 2018-19 academic year, a required class as a premed major.

After only 15 minutes of covering class expectations, assignments, grading, policy and professor biography, the lecture began.

“They mean business,’’ she said, laughing. “I was pleased to understand what was happening. It is important to me to get a good grade. I know if I dedicate a lot of time during the week and stay ahead of things I’ll do OK.’’

Down the hall, freshman Matthew Mudrow was 40 minutes early for his first class, Christian Worldview. He wanted to make sure he was in the right place.

Freshman Matthew Mudrow arrived 40 minutes early for class. (Photo by Theresa Smith)

“I guess that says something about my approach to school,’’ he admitted with a grin.

Mudrow’s Houston roots were evident in his polite manners, peppering every answer with ‘’Ma’am’’ but he is quickly making a transition to GCU as evidenced by his GCU hat, Lopes T-shirt, and Welcome Week engagement. The water slide last Monday and the Friday night soccer matches – including storming the pitch after the men’s team upset 12^th-ranked Wisconsin 2-0 – are the highlights so far for the informational technology major who plans to play club soccer.

Inside an adjacent lecture hall, Maddie Worley, a freshman commuter from Glendale, found a seat near the front of her Psychology 102 class and readied to take notes from Dr. Laura Chesniak.

“There’s nerves but I’m also excited to start a new chapter,’’ said Worley, who felt a different vibe when she walked into the 100-seat lecture hall as opposed to her high school experience. “It’s a lot bigger and the energy is a little different,’’ she said. “Everybody has their own agenda, and they are all going different places. It is a little busier.’’

To start on a personal note, Professor Chesniak and her two Instructional Assistants (IA’s) asked each student to create name placards. The class filled quickly and at the exact start time, 9:25 a.m., Chesniak told her students the most important information for Day 1: the importance of attendance.

Freshman Maddie Worley listens attentively in her psychology class. (Photo by Theresa Smith)

As she reiterated, the class is not all lecture, it includes hands-on activities and participation points add up, so being in class is paramount.

“No. 1, just show up,’’ she said. “You will have to read. You will have to write papers, but just show up.’’

Another first-day order of business was making sure every student was in the right place. She told students not to be embarrassed if they were in the wrong room and needed to leave immediately, recalling the time a student took one of her classes for six weeks before she realized she wasn’t in it.

After asking psychology majors to raise their hands, she pointed out the need for the class for non-psychology majors.

Chesniak said, “You might ask, why do I need psychology? It will help you your own life and other careers.’’

The fifth-year professor in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences also showed an instant knack for relating her subject matter to students’ lives by using the morning weather as an example of different perception with the same sensation. All students sensed the 95-degree weather on their way into class, but students from Minnesota would likely find that to be an incredibly hot, skin-melting feeling, whereas Phoenix-based students would find that to be a perfectly temperate sensation.

Among her other points of emphasis: the class will be a tech-free zone, as in no cell phones or laptops with rare exceptions when they are needed in class.

“Technology is a distraction,’’ she said, noting that students have watched movies or baseball games in class, thinking they are on task, but missing information and distracting students around them.

Chesniak, who earned her master’s degree and doctorate from Wichita State, also spoke of the importance of students respecting her, the IA’s and each other.

“I find students to be very respectful at GCU,’’ she said — and after the first day of class, also very ready to tackle the academic year.

GCU writers Theresa Smith (theresa.smith@gcu.edu), Ryan Kryska (ryan.kryska@gcu.edu) and Lana Sweeten-Shults (lana.sweeten-shults@gcu.edu) contributed to this story.

Ray’s path

As a kid, Carawan was removed from the abuse of his biological family, only to be shuffled through foster care and then finally placed with a family that treated him no better than the last family. But somewhere along the way, he met at least one family that introduced him to the Lord.

“I remember the first place that I really saw any love in the world. And they introduced me to Christ,” he said. “Granted, I was too young to understand my own sin and why I needed to be saved from my own sin, but I saw enough to learn the world was wicked and full of challenges. And I saw with the Lord the exact opposite of that.

“Nobody raised me but God’s word.”

At 18, Carawan left home, boarded a Greyhound bus and ended up working for a carnival. He set up rides and said he prayed to the Lord that his beaten shoulders and back wouldn’t give out.

Sometimes they did. But what never gave way was his faith.

“I didn’t have a whole lot of work experiences,” Carawan said. “It is what it is, and these trials and tribulations definitely have been a constant grind.”

Carawan now lives by himself in a small town in Wisconsin. He doesn’t walk as well as he used to, so he uses a wheelchair to get around. He spends his time studying for his GCU coursework but also has a passion for writing, which emerged as a way to share what was on his mind.

In seventh grade, a special form of writing crossed his path – poetry.

“Something will just hit me and I’ll just sit down and write a poem within a matter of minutes,” he said. “I started using that as a way to relate to some friends of mine, to put myself in position to use my voice in a way that I couldn’t at that time.”

Carawan took his poetry a step further with the help of one of his closest friends, who told him he needed to step outside his comfort zone and offered him $50 if he shared his work with three people. Six years later, his Facebook group has more than 800 members.

“Initially, I had told myself I’d be happy if it reached 50 people and impacted their lives,” Carawan said. “One of my biggest hopes is to actually get some of my work published. I just don’t have the finances to self-publish — it’s just something that’s a little foreign to me.”

Carawan wants to pursue an education beyond a bachelor’s degree and said he would like to spend some of his future studies on campus so he can get involved in student groups.

But overall, he just wants to help people. He views disability ministry as something that’s needed to keep others motivated.

“The reality is there are so many of us not only fighting for our lives but fighting for the greatest sense of normality we can find. Society needs to help make it less of a grind to benefit everybody,” he said. “Just the fact that I’m in school and God has created this (GCU) family for me … I know there’s a lot more that the Lord has in store for me, but this is the thing I’ve wanted all my life and now I have it. It’s very intriguing to see what is next.”

Contact Ryan Kryska at (602) 639-8415 or ryan.kryska@gcu.edu.

****

GCU Today: Online nursing student earns Daisy Award

GCU Magazine: GCU: Voice of authority in online education

The post Online student aims to be pastor for the disabled appeared first on GCU Today.

From left, Tristyn Torbio, Emma Pilotin, Cherise Magsanide and Rachel Kawakami set up a welcome table for students interested in Hui Aloha Club.

Story and photos By Theresa Smith
GCU News Bureau

There is a paradox about Hawaii: It is simultaneously a paradise and an isolated island. The increasing number of Hawaiian students who attend Grand Canyon University frequently experience the conflicting emotions of yearning to meet new people and exploring new places, yet missing their beautiful home. Those feelings were exacerbated in recent days. As Lopes from Hawaii were settling into campus life, their islands were hit by Hurricane Lane and torrential rainfall that set off landslides, flash floods and power outages.

“My anxiety kicked up right away,’’ said Oahu resident and GCU junior Kama-Lei Santiago. “I checked my phone, checked the weather reports, checked on my family. The best thing I could do was pray. We all did, and they are perfectly fine now.’’

The students who prayed with Santiago comprise her GCU “family’’: fellow Hawaiians with a common concern and friends from Tucson, Buckeye, Utah and California. The second family she established at GCU eased her concerns about her first family.

“I take a lot of pride in my island because not all Hawaiians have the opportunity of leaving loved ones behind to better ourselves,’’ Santiago said. “It takes so much strength and courage to do that, but with the support from our Ohana (family), we can do it.’’

GCU’s own Pikai Winchester was the Little League World Series Most Valuable Player in 2008.

That Hawaiian pride was apparent all over campus at watch parties for the Honolulu team, which claimed the Little League World Series on Sunday with a victory over South Korea. It also provided a welcome distraction from the storm.

“I made sure I kept up to date with all their games,’’ Santiago said. “I told whoever I was with, ‘Look, Hawaii scored again.’ It is awesome. I don’t know the players, but they are still my family. To see 12-and 13-years-old doing big things like that, I love it.’’

The last time a team from the islands won the LLWS, Pikai Winchester was the most valuable player — the same Pikai Winchester who wears board shorts to class, majors in sports management and is an infielder for the GCU baseball team. His love of surfing also is evident in the “hang loose” shaka symbol he flashes when he passes fellow Hawaiians on campus and socializes at Hui Aloha Club events. Among the surge of GCU students from Hawaii, Winchester stands out. People still remember his star turn in 2008.

“It happens a lot, I’m not gonna lie,’’ Winchester said with a shy grin. “Once they hear the name, a lot of them remember me. And with the Honolulu team winning on Sunday, it brought up more memories.’’

As a junior college transfer last season, Winchester was a hitting machine for the WAC champion Lopes, reminding foes from Fullerton to Champaign, Ill., of the precocious Little Leaguer from the 2008 Waipio (meaning curved water) team.

The sweet left-handed swing of Pikai Winchester.

A decade later, Winchester gathered with fellow Lopes from Hawaii, new friends he met at GCU, to cheer on the Little Leaguers from his native land.

“We watched the championship game together in one of the dorm rooms,’’ he said. “It was very loud.’’

Pipeline from Hawaii expands

Across campus, three freshmen from Maui showed their island pride by hanging the Hawaiian flag in their suite. High school pals Kahai Bustillos, Kaimana Gerard and Ronson Iniba decided to enroll together and arranged to room together, along with a transfer from Kansas City.

Michelle Bustillos, Kahai’s mother, leaned on other parents for the best strategy to move her son’s belongings 2,820 miles.

Ronson Iniba, a freshman from Kamehameha High School in Maui, unpacks his Hawaiian flag.

“There are a lot of Maui students here, and their parents told us to buy things here instead of shipping them,’’ she said. “But it is still a process, an expensive process, knowing you can’t just drive across state lines. There is a lot of unknowing, but I am not the first parent and not the last parent to be in this situation. I feel good about Kahai being here. I think GCU is a good fit. I think it is very affordable.’’

Kahai believes the attraction of new experiences at GCU will outweigh possible bouts of homesickness.

“I am OK with being so far from home because I know a lot of people who go here, so it makes it a lot easier,’’ he said.

Being greeting by strangers who moved his pillows and pajamas into his room was a novel experience.

“It was kind of awkward for me,’’ he said. “But I thought it was really cool; it was a nice gesture.’’

Michelle Bustillos helps her son, Kahai, unpack his belongings during Move-In.

Inclusiveness is part of the attraction of GCU and the motivation behind the club that will remind Kahai of home, the Hui Aloha Club, previously known as the Hawaii Club.

“We wanted a name that was more welcoming to students outside of Hawaii, so we changed it to Hui Aloha, which means group Aloha or team Aloha,’’ said senior Cherise Magsanide, club vice president. “You can be from anywhere and be in the club; you don’t even have to be from the United States.’’

One of the club activities is cooking, which Winchester greatly appreciates, since he misses the rice, pork and poi dishes from Honolulu.

Freshman Teah Van Berden was dining at Chick-fil-A with her California suitemates when she was asked about her home on the Big Island, where rolling green hills dramatically decrease in elevation, dropping to the ocean blue.

A surfer since age 10, Van Berden won’t allow Arizona’s landlocked nature to keep her off a monster wave.

“That was actually my biggest concern coming here, but I am really hoping to make some road trips out to California every once in a while,’’ said Van Berden, who was attracted to Lope Land because of the friendly atmosphere.

“Everyone is so nice and welcoming here,’’ she said.

Positive word of mouth and fun Discover GCU trips have enlarged the pipeline to more than 100 students from Hawaii.

Kama-Lei Santiago is all smiles on campus and is also known to offer air kisses and shakas — the Hawaiian hang loose sign — to passing peers.

“There are more Hawaiians here,’’ Santiago said. “My freshman year, I felt like I was the only Hawaiian here, but then I got into sports and I was introduced to two Hawaiian men that play volleyball, and that felt so welcoming. So my sophomore year, I tried to dig deep and meet people around me and link up and let them know we are still here, family is still here. It could be the Big Island, Maui, Oahu, Kauai, they are still family, no matter the island where they are from. There are a few new people from my (Waianae) high school, so seeing that they enjoyed the Discover (GCU) trip is amazing. They are here now and I am so grateful that GCU is going so far to get those kids.’’

Paradoxical feelings

Santiago freely admits to being torn between the islands and a life on the mainland, assimilating in the heart of Phoenix.

“It is paradise, I’m not going to lie,’’ she said. “I miss it. I don’t get to see the beach and the beautiful sun going down into the ocean, and I miss my family and the food. But after 18 years there, I wanted something new. I wanted to meet new people and I wanted to see the world.

“With softball, I’m able to travel to places I have never been before. It is always a great place to visit, but I will never live back in Hawaii. It is too expensive. Being here, I can travel to places like Seattle and Kansas City. I can bring my family here to visit and I can always go to Hawaii to visit because Hawaii will always be there.’’

As a member of the Lopes softball team, Santiago has traveled to road games all over the western part of the mainland. Moreover, she established close connections with an entire team of people. She calls all of them “sisters,’’ and several are among her closest friends.

“The day I made the team was probably the best day of my life,’’ said Santiago, who made the team even though she was not recruited.

Blessed by a sisterhood

From left, Kama-Lei Santiago, Loriann Olson, Brianna Aguilar-Beaucage, Hailey Freeman and Jordan Keeton are in the sisterhood of GCU softball.

“Coming out of high school, I prayed that I could have a sisterhood,’’ she said. “I was searching for it by looking at videos on YouTube of different teams. I saw a GCU softball video and I saw how happy they were, playing in the mud on the lacrosse field. I could feel that sisterhood from the video. And now being here and feeling that in real life is amazing, knowing I can be a sister to them is amazing. It doesn’t matter where we are from, who their mom is, who their dad is, we are family.’’

A communications major, Santiago traverses campus in a floral dress and a backpack filled with books, exchanging greetings with a variety of students. Among the Hawaiians, a loud air kiss is common.

“When you hear the kissing noise, you know that’s them and they look back at you and give a little wave or a shaka and you will know that it is family,’’ she said.

Non-Hawaiians don’t get bussed, but they are curious.

“They get so excited when they hear I am from Hawaii,’’ she said. “They are from Canada, Italy, and Australia, and I am excited to meet them. We are able to talk, combine similar things and different things. They will say how much they wish they could go to Hawaii. I love meeting new people, and GCU is the perfect place for that.’’

Contact Theresa Smith at (602) 639-7457 or theresa.smith@gcu.edu.

***

The post It’s ‘Aloha!’ to Hawaii, and to GCU appeared first on GCU Today.

Corporate Chaplain Jim Miller

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)

By Pastor Jim Miller
GCU Corporate Chaplain

We do a lot of hiking out in the desert, and every once in awhile we’ll come across a spider web that, when the sun is hitting it just right, is just awesome in how intricate the webbing is and how interconnected every strand seems to be. Fortunately, we don’t see the critter who made it very often!

But it always makes me think about the webbing of relationships we have in our lives, an interconnection of friends, family, coworkers, neighbors, that web out from us. And in one way or another, I have an impact on this web. These are the people over whom I exert some kind of influence. The question is, “What kind of influence will that be?”

At one point in the gospels, Jesus says that He is the light of the world, that He comes as a light in the darkness of a fallen world. And then He turns around here in Matthew 5 and says that not only is He the light of the world, but we too are the light of the world. In the same way that He has come to reveal and heal the effects of the darkness of the fall in our lives, we also are to have that kind of influence in the lives of the people that surround us. Sometimes that feels a little overwhelming: “How can I be light to the entire world?”

But what we need to do is to bring this down to the webbing of our lives, that we don’t necessarily have to be a light to countries or nations or continents. We just need to bring the light of Jesus to the relationships in which Jesus has placed us. To light a candle in our cubicle that will provide some light to the six or eight people surrounding us. To light a lamp that will dispel the fear in our families. And if we all do that, if we all think in terms of how will we be light to those within our webbing today, we’ll suddenly see that an entire room is lit up because we are so interconnected. And that is a lit as it gets!

The next employee Chapel at Building 71 is from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, September 19. Pastor Jim Miller will be the speaker.

The post Theology Thursday: The light of the world appeared first on GCU Today.

First of a series

Story by Rick Vacek
Photos by Slaven Gujic
GCU News Bureau

This was going to be a challenge, kind of like trying to win another championship.

The Canyon Worship 2017 album was a hit, following up on the success of the first try, Canyon Worship 2016. The talent in the Center for Worship Arts at Grand Canyon University is so deep, both albums showcased a wide variety of genres, voices, sounds and messages.

Eric Johnson, who manages the GCU Recording Studio, helped coordinate the selection of the songs and the production of the album.

But now that Canyon Worship 2018 is here – it’s set for a Sept. 10 release (price: $9.99) on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify and Shazam and also in the Lope Shop on campus – the feeling among the people who put it together is that the students have done it again. Call it a three-peat.

“Last year’s was so good that, coming into this project, I actually was a little bit concerned that we may not be able to bring it up to that level,” said Eric Johnson, manager of the GCU Recording Studio and the album’s main coordinator.

“But I think we hit the mark and maybe even passed it a little bit because we’re shifting the focus to the corporate worship side. There are a lot of good songs that you wouldn’t necessarily sing as a group in church, but there are songs that you can sing in church.”

“Corporate worship,” also known as congregational worship, is the term used for songs that can be incorporated more easily into a church setting. It’s the direction the Christian music industry is headed.

For the second consecutive year, the album was produced by two music industry veterans, Geoff Hunker (Satellites & Sirens) and Billy Smiley (The Gaithers). Like Johnson, they’re delighted with how it turned out.

“It’s very different,” Hunker said. “As the industry changes, there are new trends that happen. I feel like this record has new trends that are taking place in the industry. The last one, which was a great record, fit that time and there are some great songs on it.

Geoff Hunker produced five of the songs and said the album has a 1990s rock flair of worship.

“It makes the Canyon Worship project special. From year to year, you’re getting what’s going on in the industry because you’re bringing on people like me and Billy. I worked in the music industry for a while, so I always have my finger on the pulse of it. We’re paying attention to what music is doing and then instilling it in this stuff so it feels current when this record comes out. It’s going to feel like, ‘This is the stuff that’s popular right now.’”

Hunker likened it to the 1990s rock flair of worship, and while the move toward congregational worship music was intentional, Smiley emphasized the artistic side as well.

“On all of the songs, I tried to do different styles so as not to limit it to one thing,” he said. “The approach was to make it more congregational, worship-based. We tried to not so much find artsy songs but to find some that might have artistic goodness or greatness to them but also can connect with congregations or the Chapel worship service. That was the goal, but also keeping some creative artistic influences in the songs and the writing.”

Another change in this year’s album is the way the songs were chosen. This time, because he felt so many good songs had been submitted, Johnson had the idea of including Hunker and Smiley in the process. The College of Theology whittled the songs submitted by students to 18, and the two producers then listened to all 18 and picked five apiece they’d like to do.

That’s quite a change from the way a producer normally does business.

“A lot of times when I work with artists, I get a chance to develop the song and go through that process,” Smiley said. “Here, they had a process to vet the songs, and then I got a chance, as Geoff did, to go through them and pick the ones that we connected with. It’s not seeing their faces or anything; it’s just hearing the music. That was kind of a cool approach to what we do.”

Billy Smiley, who joined Hunker in producing the album for the second consecutive year, said that while many of the songs are for congregational worship, there is a variety of styles.

The 10 songs and the authors are:

“Rhythm” (Harrison Russell)
“Goes Before” (Katie Brown)
“You and I” (Mallory Denson)
“Make Yourself Known” (Kristyn Marie)
“Witness” (Aaron Bolton)
“Come to Me” (Harrison Russell)
“Free Me” (Courtney Welker, featuring Mallory Denson)
“Hear Me” (Chris Calderon)
“My Only Truth” (Logan Myers)
“Still Love Me” (Johnny Harris)

“It’s bringing in a lot of pieces,” Hunker said. “I don’t think it’s one specific corporate worship record, but there are corporate worship songs. There are songs that would be great specials at churches, something that would fit a moment. There’s the electronic side of some of the songs. There’s the more rock side of things.

“I think it has an array. I don’t think people are going to get bored listening to the record, for sure. But it also isn’t just a straight worship record. Every song is God-focused, but it’s not necessarily a worship song.”

Leading up to the Sept. 10 release date, GCU Today will publish a series of stories highlighting the student artists, the level of collaboration that went into the album and how the Worship Arts program makes it possible. Russell will perform “Rhythm” in Chapel on that day.

“I love the idea of what the Canyon Worship record is,” Hunker said. “There are so many creative and talented students here. To take all these different people and allow them a place where they can release their own original music that’s produced professionally, it’s all of the avenues that any artist would want their song to be on.”

So did those student artists meet the challenge?

“We’re blown away,” Johnson said.

Contact Rick Vacek at (602) 639-8203 or rick.vacek@gcu.edu.

****

GCU Today (2017 album): Students, genres band together in Canyon Worship

GCU Today (2016 album): ‘Amazing’ Canyon Worship album to be released

The post Coming soon: Canyon Worship 2018 shines bright appeared first on GCU Today.

Among the former Lopes baseball players in the Phoenix Fire Department, (standing from left) Harlyn Griffiths, Joey Bristyan, Ryan Holtorf, Mike Quill and Joey Reiman and (sitting from left) Troy Holtorf, Trent Otis, Brian Imboden and Austin Moreland.

Story by Theresa Smith
Photos by David Kadlubowski
GCU Magazine

Fire engines and uniform-clad Phoenix firefighters are a common sight beyond the right-field wall during games at GCU Ballpark. Other firefighters who are off duty observe from the stadium while their children hit on the mini turf field, pitch on the concourse and chase foul balls on the berm.

But these are more than avid GCU baseball fans. They are former GCU baseball players.

More than a dozen are firefighters in the Valley, and they say the lessons learned as student-athletes have transferred exceptionally well to their service-oriented and challenging career. They are drawn to the plethora of similarities between baseball and firefighting: Both require long waits followed by intense stress and physical movement, and both require teammates/co-workers to live and work in close proximity while collaborating and accepting their roles.

From captains Brian Imboden, Jeremy Neville and Austin Moreland to newcomer Harlyn Griffiths, “the culture of the fire department is that you have to be able to make good decisions, to be accountable and to work well with others,” Moreland said. “It is all about your ability to make your team better. I think that’s why athletes transition into firefighting very well.”

Joey Reiman, a GCU catcher in 2002-03, played four years in the Toronto Blue Jays organization, finished his physical education degree while serving on the Lopes coaching staff, and then made a smooth transition into firefighting, joining his father on Big Red. It was a move Griffiths made in 2016 following an unfulfilled post-graduate stint in technical support.

“After spending time out of baseball, I missed being in the clubhouse,” Griffiths said. “I have that now with the fellas and gals in the fire service, that camaraderie and having something that is definitely bigger than yourself.”

Former GCU baseball players Brian Imboden and Austin Moreland are captains with the Phoenix Fire Department.

At the suggestion of a fellow travel ball coach who was a firefighter, Griffiths went on a ride-along and found his purpose. The next day he registered for EMT (emergency medical technician) training, then gained his certification, enrolled in the Phoenix Firefighter Recruit Training Academy, passed all his exams and was hired.

“For me, it is like being on a baseball team,” Griffiths said. “Everything we do in a fire department is together, whether it is cooking, cleaning or working out. Everyone is helping.” Unlike other sports, in which athletes retreat to the locker room after competition, every baseball player has a post-game job: raking the field, tamping the mound, sweeping out dugouts and laying tarps.

“It took the selfishness out of the team — you just did the work that had to be done,” Moreland said. “It is the same at a fire station. Everybody pitches in to get the work done.”

Similarities abound

Five players from Moreland’s era, 2002-04, became firefighters thanks to the influence of Neville, who juggled firefighting and a GCU assistant coach schedule.

The adaptation to co-workers for 24-hour shifts, including trying to sleep in close quarters, was eased by the experiences of traveling with the same teammates on long road trips, from bus to hotel to three-hour pregame sessions. Moreover, the mental challenges are similar. “It is like dealing with a bad at-bat or booting a groundball. You move onto the next play,” Reiman said.

“Stank (GCU baseball coach Andy Stankiewicz) said to us, ‘You can’t play this game like a middle linebacker, out of control and really fast,’ ” Griffiths said. “When I say fast, I mean mentally fast. To me, when we are going on a call, it is about slowing down my emotions and my thoughts so I can effectively do my job, whether it is taking a set of vitals or setting up a back board, or pulling lines (hoses).”

Joey Bristyan never forgot his first at-bat as a Lope in 2009 because the bat flew out of his hands and landed down the first-base line.

“To get over my nerves as a college freshman, I talked to older players,” he said. “As a rookie firefighter, I did the same thing. I picked the brains of the veteran firefighters.”

Former GCU baseball players display a sticker on their Phoenix firefighter helmets.

Imboden, one of those veterans, has experienced numerous medical emergencies during his 25-year firefighting career, which includes 13 years as a captain.

“If something is going wrong, a drowning or a code (cardiopulmonary arrest), you have to manage your emotions and do your job,” said Imboden, who earned a degree in public administration with a minor in psychology in 1991.

The Cortez High School graduate followed his dad into firefighting, cementing a lifelong commitment to west Phoenix in general and GCU in particular. After all, his station is less than two miles from campus.

Similarly, his fellow Lopes baseball alumsturned- firefighters have maintained a close connection with GCU. Firefighters have been welcomed on campus for years to participate in physical training, including lifting weights, swimming and playing basketball. When Moreland’s future wife, Krista Jacob, was a volleyball player at GCU, the players posed on a fire truck for their team photo.

“I feel like the fire department has always been a part of Grand Canyon,” said Moreland. It has come full circle: Occasionally, Stankiewicz suggests fire service for specific players, and Neville and Imboden, who remain involved in baseball through coaching Warriors Baseball Academy, periodically recommend players to Stankiewicz for recruitment.

Staying close to home

Like the laces of a tightly wound baseball, the ties among the alums, the west Phoenix community and the University are binding.

Phoenix firefighter and former GCU baseball player Joey Reiman plays with his son Jace.

“I knew Grand Canyon was a Christian school, but I was going there to live at home and try to walk on the baseball team,” Troy Holtorf said. “Little did I know that I would go there and end up receiving the Gospel.”

The professors at GCU, particularly the late Malcolm “Mack” Sloan and College of Science, Engineering and Technology professor William Kuehl, made a profound spiritual impact on Holtorf, while Neville and Holtorf’s cousin Ryan Holtorf, another baseball player-turned-firefighter, cultivated his interest in fire service.

“I prayed a lot about becoming a firefighter,” Holtorf said. “I didn’t know if I could handle the blood and guts, I didn’t know if I could handle the physicality and I still get nervous going to work.”

Indeed, those who answer the call to serve the community through firefighting are a special breed.

“Working for the fire department is physically, physically, physically demanding, so it helps that we are all in great shape and we all know how to work out and adjust to the heat,” Moreland said. “But, really, it is mentally taxing more than anything else, so going to Grand Canyon and being a student-athlete prepared us for mental pressure.

“You really don’t know what you’re going to get on a game day. It’s the same thing for the fire department. You don’t know what you’re going to see. Sometimes we see tragic, sad things. We see sick, injured people and we deal with pretty extreme emergencies.”

Communities, particularly west Phoenix and the GCU campus, rely on physically fit and mentally tough men and women to answer their calls for help, and often the firefighters coming to the rescue are former Lopes baseball players.

As Stankiewicz concluded, “We are very proud of the alums who are giving back.”

Sampling of GCU baseball players who became firefighters:

Name	Fire Department	Years in GCU baseball
Joey Bristyan	Phoenix	2009-12
Ryan Freeburg	Scottsdale	1990-92
Harlyn Griffiths	Phoenix	2012-13
Ryan Holtorf	Phoenix	1995-97
Troy Holtorf	Phoenix	2002-03
Brian Imboden	Phoenix	1989-91
Tait Mitton	Sun City	1988-91
Austin Moreland	Phoenix	2002-04
Jeremy Neville	Phoenix	1992-93
Trent Otis	Phoenix	2001-02
Mike Quill	Phoenix	2001-04
Joey Reiman	Phoenix	2002-03

Contact Theresa Smith at (602) 639-7457 or theresa.smith@gcu.edu.

***

Related content:

GCU Baseball 2018 roster: Jake Wong

GCU baseball: Stankiewicz returns to D-backs’ diamond

GCU Athletics: Lopes in the pros

The post It’s clubhouse to firehouse for former GCU players appeared first on GCU Today.

Second of a series previewing Canyon Worship 2018, which will be available on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify and Shazam and in the Lopes Shop on campus beginning Monday, Sept. 10.

By Rick Vacek
GCU News Bureau

Every music album needs a good first song, of course, and the people who managed and produced Canyon Worship 2018 were in tune with “Rhythm” right from the start.

“It’s just upbeat and makes you want to dance,” said Eric Johnson, manager of the GCU Recording Studio and coordinator for the latest album by Center for Worship Arts students at Grand Canyon University.

“When I heard that, it captured my heart with the rhythm of it,” said Billy Smiley, the producer who chose the song to be one of the 10 on the album and then worked on it with its author, senior Harrison Russell.

But here’s what’s really interesting: Russell, the only student to write two songs chosen for the album, was trying to put together a song that sounded like nothing he had ever done before. First, he came up with the verse. Then, out came “Rhythm,” which he calls “more of a poppy song with just a little hint of gospel.”

The song’s message:

“I got inspired by a book I was reading and by some messages I heard about identity. So often the world tries to tell who you are. I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to listen to who God says I am, and I’m going to live the life that He’s called me to live, and nothing’s going to stop that. You can throw whatever you want at me, but I’m holding strong to that, marching to the beat that He’s drumming.’”

Canyon Worship 2018 is scheduled to be released Monday, and Chapel attendees can get a free mini-preview of the album that day when Russell sings “Rhythm” at 11:15 a.m. in GCU Arena.

But GCU Today readers don’t have to wait until then to find out more. Over the next three days, we’ll profile three songwriters a day and detail how their songs came to be.

Following are an inside look at Russell’s other song, “Come to Me,” and the work of two repeat Canyon Worship contributors, Katie Brown and Kristyn Marie.

Johnson described Russell’s other entry, “Come to Me,” as “introspective and worshipful – it makes you want to put your hands up.”

There’s irony in that: That also describes the way Russell was feeling when he wrote the song during his freshman year. Here’s how it happened:

Harrison Russell

“We had a songwriting project that was due at midnight, and it was about 10 o’clock and I had completely forgotten everything. I was having a lot of anxiety about what the future would hold – I wasn’t sure if I could continue with the school year.

“The song was supposed to be based on a passage in Scripture. I fully intended to just write a song as fast as I could. The first verse I grabbed was Matthew 11:28 – ‘But come to Me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.’ I started writing as fast as I could on that.

“All the stress I was having, I had to put that aside and spend time in God’s presence and ask Him to give me the comfort and give me the strength. I felt the Lord speaking to me and saying, ‘Hey, lay your head down here. You have comfort, you have a place of rest, you have a place of hiding.

“That became the song – it was written in a matter of minutes. ‘Just come to Me, and I’ll give you everything you need. Tomorrow’s not promised; nobody would say it’s a good day or good circumstances. But even if it’s the worst, you still have Me.’”

The fact that Russell found his way to GCU is a miracle in and of itself. The North Little Rock, Ark., native first heard of the University when he attended a worship conference in Florida with his dad, but he didn’t commit to a college right away. A few months later, he found himself without any viable options – but remembered the feeling he got from GCU representatives at that conference.

“I didn’t have a plan anymore, and God put it (GCU) back in my heart,” he said. “I signed on before I set foot on the campus.”

He has continued to feel God’s hand.

“Absolutely, 100 percent, especially with ‘Come to Me,’” he said. “That was in no way, shape or form my intention or doing. It was literally just an outpour of worship time in a hectic and stressful season. Most of the songs I’ve done are not my doing.”

Brown is so talented, she’d be a top pick if the co-producers used a draft to decide which students’ songs they want to do. Smiley worked with her last year, and this time it was Geoff Hunker’s turn.

Brown had two songs on Canyon Worship 2017 and is in the mix this year for “Goes Before,” which, she said, is written from the perspective that we are restricted by time but “God has been in the past and also knows the future and created all of it.”

Katie Brown

“There is a piece that comes from that knowledge and understanding that He is in control of my future and He is leading me in it, and I don’t have to strive to create my own, but He is always with me and walking in front of me, so I can follow Him,” she said.

“It’s different because I think it’s less focused on myself, it elevates His sovereignty and is less a prayer and more congregational. It’s a song that a lot of people could sing together to proclaim that truth.”

The Peoria native is fresh off a summer doing an internship at a church in Santa Ana, Calif., and is back for her senior year at GCU, where she serves as one of the leaders on the Worship Team – the three bands that perform at Chapel.

“I really like that the album has gone toward congregational worship because I think it would be really cool to incorporate some of the songs in Chapel and in The Gathering, and that is something we can do now,” she said. “I also think there’s still a lot of variety within the artists, and so it’s still not one specific genre, but all the songs have the possibility that they could be done in church.”

Brown’s goal after she graduates: She wants to start a music school for foster children. If and when that happens, they no doubt will enjoy her instruction as much as her producers enjoy her work.

“Make Yourself Known” was called “Searching for Your Heart” when Marie first wrote it during her sophomore year for a group assignment to produce a hymn-style song, then refined it in conjunction with two other students.

Kristyn Marie

Based on David’s biblical journey, “each verse tells a different story of someone’s journey of coming to Christ and laying their burdens at Jesus’ feet,” she said.

Smiley thought it needed a chorus, so they carved that out of the third verse and changed the name of the song. Voila.

“It didn’t take too long – just one session with Billy and we wrapped it up,” she said.

Marie, who also writes country music and estimates that she has crafted at least 50 full songs, released an EP, “Find Me,” last spring.

“I do have different writing processes for worship music versus secular music,” she said. “Country music is more like a story – personal. With the worship, I start off with the theme or one line I want to say and from there just build a beginning, a middle and an end.”

Marie has thought about moving to Nashville and trying to start a music career, but her heart also feels tugged by something else she loves: She is a student worker in Event Services at GCU and is looking at having the best of both worlds — going into event planning and doing music on the side, maybe as a volunteer at a church. Her minor is in advertising and graphic design.

“Even though I’m not doing this for my career, I still feel like I learned so much about myself, so much about God, so much about music,” she said.

Like David, she’s on the journey.

Contact Rick Vacek at (602) 639-8203 or rick.vacek@gcu.edu.

The post Upbeat ‘Rhythm’ sets tone for Canyon Worship appeared first on GCU Today.

Third of a series previewing Canyon Worship 2018, which will be available for $9.99 on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify and Shazam and in the Lopes Shop on campus beginning Monday, Sept. 10.

By Rick Vacek
GCU News Bureau

Students in the Center for Worship Arts program at Grand Canyon University know all about the mysteries of writing … how sometimes the words just don’t want to come out and other times they flow like a raging river …

… Most important, they know what to do when inspiration makes the songwriting process a wild ride.

“I was walking back from a class, and the melody of the chorus popped in my head,” Aaron Bolton said. “I did what I always do – I popped open my voice memo. But then I was sitting in my room later, still struggling. College is definitely a struggle. There are times for me so often where I feel like everything’s falling apart. I was sitting there stressed about money, feeling not good, all these different things. So I started writing words down.

“I thought, ‘Wait a minute, I’m freaking out about what’s around me. But I’ve seen these giant mountains of things that were ahead of me that I thought could never move, never fall, I’ve seen them move before. I’ve seen situations that were dead that God raised back to life. People who were not saved and dead in their sin – me, all of us, everybody. God raises them back to life in these situations that we think are impossible.’”

Out of all that came his Canyon Worship 2018 song, “Witness.”

“My God does the impossible,” he said. “It says it over and over.”

Mallory Denson also was struggling when she wrote “You and I.”

“As a songwriter, you really get stuck in ruts sometimes,” she said. “I was writing so much music but not lyrics. It was late at night and I was struggling to come up with stuff, and the next morning I was just honestly praying about it. I had an idea of what I wanted to write about, and literally the next day, at midday, words just started flowing out and they wouldn’t stop. I wrote the song in 10 minutes, which is very surprising.”

Even more surprising was the topic her song addressed. More about that next as we dig deeper into the work of three more student artists on the album – Denson, junior Courtney Welker (whose song was performed by Denson) and Bolton.

“You and I” is about marriage, which Denson finds interesting since she isn’t dating anyone at the moment.

“It is about what I would like my marriage to look like,” she said. “The beginning of it focuses on the feelings you have when you meet that person, the middle of it says I can’t wait for that to happen, and then the end of it is just like, ‘This is God’s plan, your hand in mine.’

Mallory Denson

“Whoever hears it, they have that assumption, ‘Aw, they got married.’ It’s definitely storytelling.”

And why did she write that when she wasn’t in a relationship?

“Seriously, no reason at all. I listen to a lot of Josh Garrels – I think his genre inspired it a lot. But I have no idea why I’d write anything like that. It’s definitely not a corporate worship song. I would never lead this in a worship setting. It’s that raw folk sound. That’s the genre I listen to a lot of the time. It’s definitely a song you listen to on the radio, on a car ride.”

Denson graduated from GCU in April and is the Worship Pastor at Paradise Church in Phoenix. It was the first time one of her songs was chosen for Canyon Worship.

“I was kind of shocked,” she said. “I just felt it was ironic that the song that gets chosen is nothing like my writing style. It’s hard for me to write worship songs. A lot of what I write is R&B but more of a jazz taste. It’s very groovy.”

Welker, who made last year’s album with “Prodigal’s Lullaby,” wrote “Free Me” while she was at home for the summer in 2017. She was mesmerized by how it blossomed when co-producer Geoff Hunker started working on it and Denson sang it.

“I knew that I wanted someone else to sing it,” she said. “I heard Mallory singing at our student leader retreat when she was leading worship, and at one point she was singing a song that showcased how well she can sing.

Courtney Welker

“They took it from this simple piano and vocal melody that I had written to this really cool, guitar-based, dynamically grown song that Mallory sings super well. I got to sing some harmonies on it and Geoff added some harmonies on it, too. I’m really happy with how it turned out.”

The message of “Free Me” – to avoid complacency and man-made traditions – is just as important in today’s world as it was in the era it was borrowed from, when Christ walked the earth 2,000 years ago.

“I was struck by Matthew 15, where Jesus condemned the Pharisees for being stuck in their own traditions,” she said. “I’m a person of routine, so I was personally affected by that. I don’t call them traditions, but I have lots of habits that I excuse just because I’ve always done them.

“Even in the church, I think we have things we excuse because we’ve done them habitually, but that doesn’t mean that they’re right because we are not our standard of right and wrong – the Lord and His word is.

“I wrote the chorus just as a prayer to not be like the Pharisees, to not be stuck in tradition, and I saw that Jesus’ response to hurting people in the very next chapter was to have compassion on them. You can’t have compassion if you think you’re right and if you’re stuck in your own ways.”

The song changed her habits, too. Here’s one: She appreciates community more.

“People are there for a reason, and they’re not there just to say hi and bye, but to be honest with and to be there for you,” she said. “Habitually, there are people I just say hi to every week. But now I choose to seek out how I can be praying for them and to open the door to relationships – being willing to go deeper if the Lord opens the door to that instead of sticking with my own circle.”

Bolton’s “Witness” fits the mold of so much of Canyon Worship 2018 – it’s a corporate worship song.

“I think it’s really just like a declaration of who God is and a helpful way to remind myself, even personally, when I’m in those moments where I honestly don’t believe the things that I want to believe about God’s promises and what He says He’s going to do and who He is,” Bolton said. “I love the idea of singing over yourself of God’s promises and who He is – it gets you back to believing.”

Aaron Bolton

Like Denson, Bolton graduated in April and is working in the local church community – he leads worship at Gateway Church’s new Tempe campus and also fills in on its Scottsdale campus.

He’s from Spokane, Wash., but has spent all of the last four years – including summers – in Phoenix. And here’s the most impressive testament to his perseverance: His car didn’t have air conditioning a year ago.

The coolest aspect of the Worship Arts program, in his opinion, is that it is infiltrating the Valley and churches elsewhere with well-trained worship leaders. In the past, this wasn’t something you learned in college.

“The Worship Arts program is taking people who wouldn’t necessarily go to college because they used to think, ‘Oh, I just want to be a worship leader at my church. All the other worship leaders at my church don’t have degrees,’” he said.

“The way I think about it is, ‘How much more should people in the church be equipped and educated? We want the church to be excellent. We want the church to be the place that the world looks to to find God, to find, ‘What is my purpose in life?’”

Inspiration strikes again.

Contact Rick Vacek at (602) 639-8203 or rick.vacek@gcu.edu.

****

GCU Today: Upbeat ‘Rhythm’ sets tone for Canyon Worship

The post Inspirational stories behind Canyon Worship songs appeared first on GCU Today.

Dr. Deb Wade

Dr. Deb Wade
GCU Vice President, Counseling and Psychological Services

Have you felt burdened lately? Have you felt sluggish or slow or slovenly? Why not check that box of rocks you may be carrying?

You see, I believe that if we are not careful, we could be unknowingly carrying a big ol’ box of rocks right in the basket of the belly! What ARE these “rocks” that seem to be so heavy, cumbersome and difficult? I’m glad you asked!

The Burning Embers of Anger and Resentment – The reality is that when one feels anger and it is not addressed, it becomes buried alive in the gut! In other words, it will continue to burn you, agitate you, bewilder you and antagonize you. And the even stranger notion about buried anger and resentment is that the longer it burns in your belly, the bigger the burn becomes!
“Pie in the Sky” becomes “Stuck in the Mud” – Are you a master of great ideas but a “doer” of none of them? How frustrated are you then? General Patton once said, “A good plan executed right now is far better than a perfect plan executed next week.” (The emphasis is mine.) The reality is that when great ideas and unfinished business merely sit in the gut, they resemble another boulder the size of your house!
Unrelenting Guilt and Shame – Sometimes we need to feel these emotions so that action can be taken toward forgiveness, reconciliation and self-care. BUT … when those qualities just sit and stew in the belly of discontent, they can be paralyzing and debilitating in their scope. We have a forgiving Father; let’s take that example and begin the process of self-forgiveness and remedy! If not, you will continue to carry the rock in your belly, and it will keep banging against and bruising your heart.
The Mirrored Image of Self-Condemnation and Self Image – One of the heaviest and most debilitating boulders in the gut consists of the distorted/negative/defeated/disgusted view that one often sees of self. Look at yourself in the mirror! If all you see is distaste and disgust, whew! Your hardened box of rocks in the belly just fossilized! YOU are made in the Image of the God of the Universe … try that on for size!

Yes, that box of rocks in the belly can be labor-intensive! Just imagine how light on your feet you could be, if only those rocks didn’t weigh you down!

So … here’s the deal. Unload them, dump them and choose to never again pick them up! I know it’s not easy, but it starts with a decision … then an action … then a refusal to reconsider … then a declaration that you are Boulder-Free!

What happens next? Getting rid of that basket of burden in the belly allows us to see things so much differently. Let’s examine:

Alerting the World – Here I Come! … (Box of Rocks GONE)

I have come to know that my Attitude and Belief System will help create, perpetuate or eliminate and disintegrate old patterns.
I know and understand that things rarely travel in straight lines – there will be setbacks and difficulties – but I will keep my eyes on the prize!
More important than adding minutes to my life is adding life to my minutes. I can’t forget the value of Serendipity!
My thoughts, when empowered, become who I am!
I will remember: The person who risks nothing does nothing has nothing and is nothing … and I am a SOMETHING!
My success will come, not from the things around me, but from the things in me!
Efficiency gets the job done right – Effectiveness gets the right job done!
If I’m not actively involved in getting what I want – then I guess I don’t really want it!
In order to grow, I must be open-minded, not empty headed!

Now … feel lighter? Didn’t it feel so good to unload that Box of Rocks?!

The post Dr. Deb’s Mental Health Vitamin: Emptying your ‘Box of Rocks’ appeared first on GCU Today.

Connie Colbert

By Connie Colbert
Director, Canyon Health and Wellness Clinic

Have you experienced pain in your big toe that came on suddenly and persisted?

If so, you may have gout.

The incidence of gout has risen greatly over the past 20 years and now affects approximately 8.3 million Americans. It is more common in men than women and more prevalent in people of African American descent. The chances of having a gout attack also increase with age up to 75 years old.

It most commonly appears in the joint of the big toe but can appear in any joint in the body, including the ankles, knees, wrists, fingers and elbows. It usually occurs in one joint at a time, but if it is chronic problem it also can affect multiple joints.

Gout is a type of arthritis that causes inflammation of the joints because of excess uric acid. This buildup of uric acid causes pain and swelling in your joints. The pain usually comes on suddenly and can become severe – it usually becomes most severe in the 12 hours of the onset of symptoms.

Other symptoms include joint swelling and redness of the joint, tenderness to the touch (sometimes so severe it is difficult to wear a sock or shoe) and warmth or heat to the joint.

What causes gout? Am I susceptible to getting it?

It may be a combination of factors to include:

Genetic predisposition
Drinking alcohol
Diet high in purines (these foods include: organ meats, bacon, pork red meat, shellfish, anchovies, tuna, beer and distilled liquor)
High blood pressure
Obesity
Certain medications (such as diuretics)
Decreased kidney function

What can I do to help lower my chances of an attack?

Eat foods low in purines. The exception is vegetables with elevated purines, such as asparagus and spinach. They do not increase risk.
Limit alcohol intake, especially beer and distilled liquors
Limit sugar-sweetened foods such as sweetened cereals, bakery goods and candy. Limit sweet fruit juices.
Take 500mg of Vitamin C daily
Add cherries to your diet. Evidence has shown that cherries decrease the risk of an attack.
And as always, maintain a healthy lifestyle by limiting calories and getting regular exercise. This can help you obtain a healthy weight and further decrease the risk.

If you believe that you have experienced or are experiencing the symptoms of gout, discuss the treatment plan with your health care provider.

This article is not a substitute for a visit to your provider to discuss the proper diagnosis and an individualized treatment plan.

The post Fitness Facts: How to prevent gout appeared first on GCU Today.

Over the summer, the College of Fine Arts and Production slowly made the move to its new space in the old Colangelo College of Business building. (Photo by David Kadlubowski)

By Lana Sweeten-Shults
GCU News Bureau

On most days, there’s no business like show business for the College of Fine Arts and Production. But there’s also the business of moving the department into the building that used to house the Colangelo College of Business.

Assistant Costume Designer Sarah Levinson unpacks items in the new costume shop in the Fine Arts building on Thursday. (Photo by David Kadlubowski)

The move consolidates most of the COFAP programs at Grand Canyon University. Previously, the college had space in several facilities: the Colter business complex on the east side of campus, which many of the music and dance faculty called home; the south end of Ethington Theatre, which included some theatre faculty offices; and the second floor of the Media Arts Complex, which housed the costume shop.

“It’s the first time for all of us to be under one roof together,” longtime COFAP Dean Claude Pensis said.

Film professor Lisa Tervo on the first day of classes said, “Most of our offices were in Colter. But having so many kids come through here, it’s a much different feel,” she said. “I feel like we’re at the heart of campus. It makes it more exciting.”

Boxes guarded by a stuffed animal prop from the design studio wait to be unpacked earlier this summer. (Photo by David Kadlubowski)

The COFAP outlook was very different a little more than a decade ago. In 2006, because of the University’s financial struggles at the time, music, theatre and other fine arts programs were eliminated. President Brian Mueller brought them back after he arrived in 2008, and the college has blossomed ever since.

In addition to offering theatre, music and dance, COFAP has incorporated into its academic roster digital film, digital design and advertising graphic design, which now encompass about half of the college’s 1,000-plus students, Pensis said.

Facility services helps the College of Fine Arts and Production make the move into its new home in the old Colangelo College of Business building. (Photo by David Kadlubowski)

Pensis sees COFAP’s move as a sign of the continuing bright future for the college, which had 100 students when he arrived at GCU in 1982.

“This is going to be a great growth opportunity for all our degrees,” he said.

The new space in the old CCOB facility features music practice rooms, a new recital and music classroom space, digital design classrooms, an improved black box space, a drawing and sculpture room, and an area for photography.

“All of the classrooms we had in Colter are in our new building in a new and improved fashion,” Pensis said. “We have a dedicated black box theatre lab, and all of our acting classes are there as well as the directing classes.”

Costume designer Nola Yergen and Assistant Costume Designer Sarah Levinson, who were queens of the castle on the top floor of the Media Arts Complex, are thrilled with their new costume construction and storage space. They also are happy to be in the same building as the rest of their colleagues instead of carrying their costume greatness across campus.

“It’s going to be a GREAT space. We’re incredibly excited about the move,” Yergen said.

A facilities worker unloads fabric from the old COFAP costume shop Thursday morning at the Media Arts Center as dress forms and mannequins fill the courtyard. (Photo by Lana Sweeten-Shults)

Previously, the logistics of transporting costumes from the Media Arts Complex across the Promenade to Ethington Theatre could be challenging. Now Yergen and Levinson are right next door to Ethington.

What was part of the former cadaver lab – the cadaver lab was housed in the business college for a time – now will be where a washer, dryer and sinks will await the next costume cleaning.

While much of the college is consolidated into the new space, not all of COFAP will make the move.

Some classes will remain where they have been. The two dance studios and digital film will stay on the first floor of Saguaro Hall. The Thundering Heard Pep Band will continue to make music in the Media Arts Complex, though not for long — there are plans to demolish that facility to make way for a new five-story Admissions and Student Advisement Building. The band will be making its new home in the under-construction, 135,000-square-foot Canyon Activities Center.

Students study in the Media Arts Center courtyard while workers load dress forms, sewing machines, ironing boards and more into a moving truck. (Photo by Lana Sweeten-Shults)

Assistant Dean Bill Symington, meanwhile, will continue to have his office at Ethington, where a small office is being turned into a design lab.

As for the Colangelo College of Business, it is occupying a new 150,348-square-foot, L-shaped structure at the corner of Colter Street and 30^th Drive.

Sophomore worship ministry major Joseph Vaught, who was waiting to start his private voice lesson in the new COFAP building on the first day of class, said he’s happy the Fine Arts department is in a more centralized space.

“It’s a lot nicer,” Vaught said. “It just feels nice and fresh. It makes you want to be here.”

Pensis and the rest of his colleagues, some of whom just wrapped up the first play of the season, “Ring Round the Moon,” are settling into their new space. The costume shop, meanwhile, got the green light to transport about five truckloads of costumes, shoes, fabric, props and the like last week.

Sophomore music education major Uri Ruiz spends time in one of the practice rooms in the new College of Fine Arts and Production building. (Photo by Lana Sweeten-Shults)

The COFAP dean, who is celebrating his 36^th anniversary at the University, didn’t quite know where to start when it came to packing up his office in Ethington over the summer. With shelves upon shelves of theatre books and a desk covered with layer upon layer of scripts and other paperwork, the office had been Pensis’ GCU home since 2010.

The move was a big one for him. And it also was a big move for the rest of the college, whose faculty, after all the boxes are unpacked and things put in their proper place, are getting back to business – dance, music, digital film, graphic design, show business and all.

Contact GCU senior writer Lana Sweeten-Shults at lana.sweeten-shults@gcu.edu or at 602-639-7901.

GCU Today: “GCU’s ‘Tartuffe’ earns multiple ariZoni nods”

GCU Today: “‘Moon is match(making) made in heaven”

GCU Today: “From parking to Pita Jungle, the build is on”

KTAR: “GCU spending $120 million on construction projects this summer”

The post New home sets stage for more Fine Arts growth appeared first on GCU Today.

GCU Robotics Club members — faculty advisor Ed Koeneman, robot driver Ryan Pilon, club president Makayla Jewell, chief programmer Anna Stair and driver Roman Kim (from left) — receive certificates from Guinness World Records. College of Science, Engineering and Technology Dean Mark Wooden (right) presented the team with the certificates recently.

By Lana Sweeten-Shults
GCU News Bureau

Grand Canyon University student Roman Kim wondered what it would take to be recognized by Guinness World Records.

Would he have to go all Evel Knievel? The pioneer of motorcycle long-jumping holds the record for the most broken bones in a lifetime.

Of the thousands of applications received every month, less than 5 percent make it to become an official entry in the Guinness archive.

Or might he have to grow his nails longer than Shridhar Chillal from Pune, India, who grew the longest fingernails ever recorded on a single hand? The last measurement was 29 feet, 10.1 inches before he had his nails cut in July 2018 at the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museum in New York.

As it turned out, all he had to do – and all the GCU Robotics Club had to do – was head to Louisville, Ky., to compete in the VEX Robotics World Championship this spring, which Guinness World Records certified recently as the world’s largest robot competition.

College of Science, Engineering and Technology Dean Dr. Mark Wooden recently presented the team with Guinness World Records official participant certificates for competing at the event, which ran from April 25 to May 1 at Louisville’s Kentucky Exposition Center.

A record-breaking 1,648 teams — that’s more than 30,000 competitors — converged for the weeklong celebration of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), with teams competing from not only the United States but Canada, China and the United Kingdom. The record was achieved by the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation, which exists to bring competitive robotics experiences to students around the globe through the VEX IQ Challenge, VEX Robotics Competition and VEX U.

“You guys are our showcase – you are our highlight,” Wooden said at his office Thursday.

GCU Robotics Club chief programmer and social media director Anna Stair’s mouth dropped open and her eyes lit up at the Guinness announcement as Wooden continued: “We’re amazed what you’re getting done, the fact that you did so well. I’m happy I have the opportunity to give you this award.”

In addition to Stair and Kim, who was one of the drivers of GCU’s competition robot, fellow robot driver Ryan Pilon and club president Makayla Jewell also received participation certificates, which proclaimed them “Officially Amazing.”

“When I was younger, I read the book about the Guinness World Records. I wondered what I could do to get in this,” Kim said with a smile.

Kim, Jewell, Stair and Pilon (from left) represented GCU in the spring at the VEX Robotics World Championship in Louisville, Ky., and came home with the Judges’ Award. The event was recognized by Guinness World Records as the largest robot competition in the world.

The Guinness organization has been measuring, verifying and recording the world’s achievements since 1954. Its mission is to maintain an archive of records “that inspires, engages and entertains people across the globe, and celebrates the world’s best.”

The Louisville event was one of the 40,000 world records in the organization’s database. Of the thousands of applications received every month, less than 5 percent make it to become an official entry in the Guinness archive.

“As a member of this select group, you should be extremely proud of your achievement,” Guinness conveyed on the official participant certificates.

GCU’s robot competition team, the Thunderbots, did not qualify in the regional competition last spring to make it to the finals of the championship. But judges and VEX Robotics were impressed enough to invite GCU to participate. The team translated that opportunity into an impressive accomplishment.

Although they did not win the title, ending up in the middle of the pack, the GCU students were surprised when the judges chose the team as its Judges’ Award recipient. It is given to the club that shows exemplary effort and perseverance, team accomplishments or endeavors that might not fall under existing awards but are deserving of special recognition.

GCU electrical engineering technology professor Ed Koeneman, the club adviser, noticed that the judges spent a lot of time with the students – about 30 minutes – asking them questions about their robot, their design process, their challenges and more.

“They were so enamored with Makayla and her team and how much they accomplished the first year,” Koeneman said after the club’s award win in the spring.

With such a strong first year of robotics competition behind them, the Thunderbots are gearing up for what they hope will be another great year.

The club’s first meeting was Thursday, though anyone who wants to join can drop in on future meetings. Get on the Remind list by texting 81010 with @gcurobots, Jewell said. The club meets in its new space in Room 349 of the Engineering Building.

Although topping that Judges’ Award at a Guinness World Records event will be tough to beat, GCU’s Thunderbots are gearing up to do just that.

Contact GCU senior writer Lana Sweeten-Shults at lana.sweeten-shults@gcu.edu or at 602-639-7901.

GCU Today: Thunderbots nail the nuts and bolts in 1st world finals

GCU Today: GCU’s competition robot gets a reboot

GCU Today: Robotics Club gets in gear with debut of robot

The post Guinness World Record honor thrills Robotics Club appeared first on GCU Today.

Carlos Macias, a former GCU soccer player, has earned three degrees from the University.

Story by Ryan Kryska
Photos by David Kadlubowski
GCU News Bureau

Grand Canyon University started as a place to play soccer for Carlos Macias, but it ended as a place to call home.

Macias emigrated from Venezuela in 2001 and went on to earn three degrees, start a Salsa dancing club, teach Spanish, work a landscaping job and meet a soulmate at GCU.

The land of purple and purpose was a final destination for Macias, who before arriving at GCU bounced between states in hopes of finding the right fit.

Macias coaches soccer at Millennium High School in Goodyear and also is the Kansas City Royals’ spring training pastor.

“Grand Canyon has been a blessing for my life,” Macias said. “GCU has great people who have been helping me through my journey.”

Macias said he left Venezuela with $60, “a bag full of clothes and a lot of dreams.” It took him six months of selling shoes, clothes and working at Wendy’s to save enough money for the plane ticket he had been waiting for his entire life — the chance to better the situation of his family, who lived in a country torn by corruption and violence.

Macias’ first stop was Arizona Western College in Yuma, where he would take classes, play soccer and drive to Phoenix once a week to also play for the semipro Arizona Sahuaros, previously coached by former GCU coach Petar Draksin.

“That was very scary, especially the first day when I was at the dorm by myself,” Macias said. “When I just got in the room and no one was around and because of the political situation of my country, in my mind I was like, ‘I will never see my family again.’ … But that was the first day.”

Macias said the move to Yuma was like culture shock. He had taken an English class in Venezuela to prepare for communicating but quickly realized he didn’t know many words.

“It was like the Charlie Brown teacher,” Macias said of his first-semester classes. “Second semester I forced myself to take regular classes. So I pushed myself very hard and I went to bed at 12 to 3 in the morning and tried to speak more English.”

Macias’ next stop was Bethel University in Tennessee, which led him back to Arizona to attend GCU and play for Draksin again.

Macias has been in Lope country ever since and has created a life that makes his mother, Maria Abello, extremely proud. She lives with Macias, his wife, Amanda, and their two children, 5-year-old Elena and 2-year-old Lucas, in Goodyear, where Macias teaches and coaches soccer at Millennium High School.

Staying onside

“If he had something in his mind, he had the determination to do it,” Abello said of her son growing up. “He would say, ‘One day I’m going to be big and I’m going to do it by myself.’ So it makes sense that he made it here by himself.”

Abello raised Macias on her own in the outskirts of Venezuela’s capital city, Caracas. She sent him to a private Christian high school, one that Macias said was the best in their area.

Macias has juggled a lot of balls, figuratively speaking, but his life has changed dramatically since coming to GCU.

“My mom got divorced when I was 2 years old, so she was a single mom,” Macias said. “I’m very proud of her. She helped me. She did her best. … I feel very happy that I can pay back her because she did a lot of sacrifices. When I was doing my doctorate she was battling cancer, so even through that she helped me to raise my two kids.”

Macias shined on the soccer field and at 17, he began to play professionally. He said he applied to nearby colleges for three straight years while playing but was not accepted. And then in 1999, the “political situation started getting very ugly” in Venezuela, leading his family to realize they had to leave. Most of them moved to Spain.

“The problem is if you go to the supermarket sometimes you don’t find things. Sometimes you don’t find meals, sometimes you don’t find bread,” he said. “So it’s a very bad situation. People are dying in the hospitals, starving.”

Macias reached out to a friend playing at the University of Missouri and earned a tryout in Caracas with a recruiter who connects players with U.S. colleges. Out of the 70 players who tried out, three were offered scholarships. Macias was one of them — and he credits a specific church service as the reason his life changed so drastically at that tryout.

“I remember that was December 2000 when I went to a celebration at the church to celebrate Jesus being born, there was one message that got in my head so strong about how God opens doors,” Macias said. “My mindset changed after listening to that message from that pastor.”

Finding his pitch

At GCU, Macias finished his bachelor’s degree in Spanish and physical education. He stayed for his master’s degree in education and recently earned his doctoral degree in education. He met Amanda through a Salsa dancing club he started at GCU.

“My life has a purpose and every single part of my life I see how God has opened and closed doors,” Macias said. “The teachers here at GCU have been like my family. I had the opportunity to invite people from here to my wedding. … They have been so humble and given me so much support. They were able to support me not only academically but spiritually.”

Macias said he started teaching Spanish at GCU after receiving his master’s degree, but his daughter inspired him to do more — so he pursued his doctoral degree.

GCU men’s soccer coach Schellas Hyndman with Carlos Macias

That ambition also led Macias to expand his spiritual outreach, and he started volunteering at his church by leading the Spanish service. Through that, Macias has made marvelous connections, including with multiple Major League Baseball players who attend the church during spring training. The Kansas City Royals have brought Macias on as the team’s official spring training pastor.

“I felt so special being able to connect them to God,” Macias said. “This has fulfilled more of my life. Not because it’s Major League Baseball players, but because I’m serving. He knows what you need and He gives you what you are missing.”

All the while, Macias continues working to elevate his coaching career to the next level. In July, he became certified to coach professional soccer by none other than GCU men’s soccer coach Schellas Hyndman.

Macias just happened to run into Hyndman on campus one day, and the former Major League Soccer coach invited him to his Premiere license coaching course in Denver.

Hyndman said the former Lope player “was one of the sharpest in the course.”

“He was there for one purpose — to get better and make his players better,” Hyndman said. “He is somebody that is important to GCU.”

The post Alum kicked down barriers to start a Lope life appeared first on GCU Today.

John McCain leaves a legacy at GCU, too

Welcome Week just kept making memories

First day of class makes the grade

Honors, nursing students hit ground running

First-day chemistry in CHSS

First-Year Experience, ACE Centers aid new students

Mueller’s talk provides Chapel with a care package

Dr. Deb’s Mental Health Vitamin: Friendship

Fitness Facts: Adjustment disorder

GCU theatre’s ‘Tartuffe’ earns multiple ariZoni nods

Online student aims to be pastor for the disabled

Ray’s path

It’s ‘Aloha!’ to Hawaii, and to GCU

Pipeline from Hawaii expands

Paradoxical feelings

Blessed by a sisterhood

Theology Thursday: The light of the world

Coming soon: Canyon Worship 2018 shines bright

It’s clubhouse to firehouse for former GCU players

Similarities abound

Staying close to home

Upbeat ‘Rhythm’ sets tone for Canyon Worship

Inspirational stories behind Canyon Worship songs

Dr. Deb’s Mental Health Vitamin: Emptying your ‘Box of Rocks’

Fitness Facts: How to prevent gout

New home sets stage for more Fine Arts growth

Guinness World Record honor thrills Robotics Club

Alum kicked down barriers to start a Lope life