A Cast of Characters

Truman has brought such a variety of new people into my life! I've been amazed to see the many relationships God has built in the few months that I've been here. Let me introduce you to a few of the main characters in the story of my life these days:

This is Liz Hoffman. She plays the role of the Person I Spend the Most Time With. We’re planning on rooming together next year. Liz is also a nursing student, and is actively involved in the Newman Center (the Catholic student org. on campus). My favorite things about her are how honest and loyal she is. And, she’s the only one of my friends who gives as much as she gets from me when it comes to “mothering.” :)

 

Here, we have Virginia Hiendelmayr. She plays the role of Diversity in my life, because life is always different and fresh and new with VA around. She’s studied abroad and worked in both Austria and Spain, and is taking 3 foreign languages this semester alone! I love her cheerful spirit – she always makes me laugh. I’m hoping to bring her to CCF with me sometime soon. She used to be part of the Christian Science church, but is looking for something else right now. . . and I just so happen to think I know One who can satisfy that search. :)

 

This is the lovely Laurel Bellamy.  Her role in this story is Adventure Buddy – just yesterday we braved the cold for a shopping trip to downtown Kirksville! Laurel also comes to CCF with me on a regular basis, and has just joined the nursing program this semester. I love how goofy Laurel can be, and also how much she honestly desires to pursue God in the way she lives her life here at Truman.

 

This lady is Gretchen Smiles. She’s a grad student here, and although I don’t really hang out with her very often, she’s been a big part of my life here. I cast her as The Encourager. She was my small group leader last semester, and it was so great to spend time talking with her about our faith. I’m going to miss her when she moves back to Chicago and starts teaching next year! She’s going to be a Special Ed. teacher too, which is very near to my heart.

 

This is Amanda Schaffner. I find her to be the Constant in my life. She’s always good for a laugh, someone to talk with, hanging out. . . really just whatever I need. She’s a Bio major, and  is athletic and beautiful and fun to be with. I started the year out going to CCF and she started out at Campus Crusade (CRU), but now we both go to both. :) I love her SO much and I’m looking forward to having 3 more years around here.

 

It is quite natural to follow Amanda with this young lady, Shandra Sheaffer. They are rarely seen apart, and I suspect that Shandra spends over 90% of her time in Amanda’s room. She is undoubtedly the Princess in this tale. What a sweetheart! We have a lot of fun watching her in the many boy-chasing escapades she gets into. I can’t wait to see which of these guys she actually ends up with. :) Shandra is a Linguistics major, and just enjoys life and the fact that she’s a girl. She comes to CCF and CRU as well, and lights up everything with her cute comments. You should have seen her trying to give Liz a makeover last weekend. It was a sight. ;)

 

Here we have Katherine Kennison. She is the Twin, or so we’ve been told. Apparently, if we’re both wearing our glasses, we look quite similar. I am about 3 or 4 inches taller, and she has red hair, but those are just small details in the grand scheme of things. Katherine is Amanda’s best friend from back home, and just transferred here this spring semester. She and I have connected really well, and enjoy working out together. I’m looking forward to getting to know her a lot better in the coming years!

 

Isn’t she gorgeous? This is my friend, Audrey Adams. She takes the role of Spiritual Partner here at school. We met early on at a CCF event, and have enjoyed spending one-on-one time together every since. She’s also a nursing major, so we talk about that sometimes. . . but more importantly, she’s someone who I’ve found I can be completely open with about all things faith-related. What a blessing she is to me!

 

This is Blair Ballard aka The Best Roommate in the World. She quite literally rocks my socks. She was gone all last semester due to an unfortunate accident, but she has moved back into our room on the fourth floor this semester, and I couldn’t be happier to have her here. We don’t hang out much outside the room, but in the room it’s never tense or uncomfortable. She is understanding, and lovable and we mother each other a whole lot.

 

If you know me personally, you might be confused about the fact that I have not yet featured any guys friends. In high school, I seemed to spend most of my time around guys, and trust me, coming to college and developing mostly girl relationships has been weird! A good weird, but still weird. However, there are a few guys who hang around every once in a while, and here they are all together. This picture is pretty accurate depiction of these kids and how I see them (okay, not the shirtless part) – ridiculous! From L to R, we have Greg, Alexander, Joey, and Joseph. They are all CRU guys, and each one of them unique and fun-loving. They aren’t like the guys I’m used to (engineers), but I still have greatly enjoyed spending many early mornings(8:00 am breakfasts in Ryle) and late nights(when they drag me out of bed at 10:30 or 11:00 pm to watch a movie) with them. :) They keep me from being lame, and provide me with people to mother and make food for. A win-win situation.

So there you go! Those are the people who have blessed my life these months at Truman, and helped me make a home away from home for myself. I love them all, and feel like my heart has expanded greatly to make room for them among the many friends that I still cherish from back home.