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could get advice on our own careers. I was definitely inspired to hear from all these awesome people. 3. What excites you about serving on the ASPLU? I am so grateful for being here in that I can tangibly make a difference that I wanted to make when I first came to campus. I feel like with the nature of the smallness of the PLU student body I feel my voice can actually be heard. My favorite thing from last year was learning that I am not alone in that. There was an amazing influx of freshmen who

, communication, and applying a host of analytic methods as they ask questions, recognize complexities, and consider the ethical implications of stewarding and learning from data. Past partners who have donated and supported the competition include TicketMaster, Expedia, eHarmony, the microlending organization Kiva, and several organizations related to mental health and social justice.  In 2021, there wasn’t a single university in the Pacific Northwest hosting a DataFest competition. PLU hosted its first

. What’s your favorite memory from your time at PLU? Within the past year, there have been a lot of fun beach trips I have got to go on through the geosciences department. Those are always fun to hang out with kids in the class I would not normally be around. I have enjoyed getting to go and discover new things at Manchester State Park in the fresh air, out of the classroom and doing some fieldwork. What makes PLU impactful to you? The small class sizes and learning aspect is really unique to PLU. If

generosity of an anonymous donor deeply invested in PLU’s commitment to global education and international partnerships, Wells and her peers returned to Namibia as seasoned teachers, four of them national-board certified. Each teaching pair focused their dialogue on a pedagogical issue they faced—such as learner engagement, classroom management or social-emotional learning. But nothing can quite replace seeing these strategies in action, Wells said. When Eva Dumeni, a first-grader teacher at M. H. Greeff

. Growing up in Texas with family hailing from Long Beach and New Orleans, Thompson knew she wanted to experience the different ways of communicating, learning, and artmaking that come with being in a different place. The daughter of two educators, Thompson took her first college tour as a seventh grader—and it happened to be at PLU. And though she was “super small with four pigtails, just walking the campus,” something about the place stuck with her. × × × Graduating high school in 2020 meant that

counseled with family and academic advisors before deciding to pursue a biology major that would put her en route to becoming a doctor. For Ash, this felt like the right fit. Ash Bechtel answers a question from a first-year student during the Welcome to PLU panel on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. “I’ve always been attracted to the sciences – especially those that have to do with the human body,” she says. Because Pacific Lutheran University expands learning beyond concentrations, Ash enrolled in biology classes

of his junior year, Gavidia’s career took another significant step forward when he joined Cannon as a full stack software engineer, working on an open source tool for managing smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain. Gavidia’s internships allowed him to establish mentors, something vital to his learning, and something he recommends to other students. At PLU, his mentors were Professor Jeff Caley, assistant professor of computer science, and Professor Justin Lytle, professor of chemistry.Why

classes aligned to pursue the chemistry degree. What did you learn as a biology TA and chemistry stockroom worker? As a TA, I found myself learning new ideas from students that I might not have thought of, on the same question I had a couple of years ago. I love working with Marlys [Nesset], she puts me on dish duty, but that is what I choose to do. It humbles you. If I did not do this, people would not be able to do their lab experiments. Tell me about your interest in medical school. When I was a

political science major, so learning about the political process was helpful. Another thing that helped me a lot was doing the legislative internship for my capstone project during the spring semester of my junior year. Why was that such a big help? It’s just a really awesome program and definitely something that lent itself to my career. I learned about the legislative process. I learned how to read and interpret statutes — something I now do every day as a part of my job. I mean, seriously, you can

, let us also celebrate the unique bond we have shared with Norway for 125 years.  We honor our place and our heritage, our first inhabitants, our Norwegian founders and our globally engaged present, as well as Lutes from across the nation and around the world who have left their mark on PLU, as you – the Graduates of 2015 – have done as well.  Thank you for learning with us, for challenging us to think in new and different ways, and for your commitment to making the world a better place for all