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Home About Academics Admissions Athletics Events Ministries Offices Philadelphia Campus | MCSquare | Give to Messiah Home About StoryLink Article Guidelines Contributors’ Corner Submissions & Usage Contact Us Homepage Feature Stories Login A passion for science and a heart for patient care help alum excel in medical school “As I completed high school and started college, I realized that there is no connection as intimate and life-changing as one can have with another human being,” reflects Naomi (DeYoung) Wiens ’10 on her decision to become a physician. “I loved building a foundation in science, physiology, anatomy and chemistry in college, and I was hard pressed to see myself feeling fulfilled in any other field.” Read the rest of this entry » Posted in 2010 , Alumni , Biology , Majors & Minors , Scholarship , Study Abroad | Comments Off Posted on May 20th, 2014 Chinese program helps student advance study Keterly Steyer ’15 is from Brazil, grew up in Chicago, and spent 3.5 years in Shanghai before moving to Buffalo, N.Y., for her final years of high school. Steyer is bilingual, learning both English and Portuguese as a child, and when her family moved to Shanghai for her dad’s job in 2005, she quickly had to pick up the basics of the Chinese language too. Read the rest of this entry » Posted in Chinese , Class of 2015 , Nursing , Study Abroad | 1 Comment » Posted on April 14th, 2014 Student researches pancreatitis at Hershey Medical Center A biopsychology major, Michael Skolka ’14 wants to influence science and human health care through medical research. For the summer of 2013, he garnered one of the 24 spots in the undergraduate research fellows program through the American Physiological Society, which allowed him to research pancreatitis at Penn State Hershey Medical Center with Alberto Travagli, professor of neural and behavioral sciences at Penn State. Read the rest of this entry » Posted in Biochemistry , Class of 2014 , Grad School Bound , Honors Program , Internships , Majors & Minors , Scholarship | Comments Off Posted on March 17th, 2014 Scholar, educator, social worker and program manager—all as a college senior Kaitlyn Zook ‘14 Social Work Manheim, Pa. In case life as a college senior isn’t busy enough with finishing classes, completing internships and preparing for graduation, social work major Kaitlyn Zook takes a busy schedule one step further and also works as a project manager leading Project Ubuntu for the humanitarian nonprofit 2 Seconds or Less . Zook first heard of the organization during a semester in Philadelphia. After longing to get involved with an organization she felt really met the claims they were making, Zook was eager to see how she could help. Read the rest of this entry » Posted in About Service , Class of 2014 , Majors & Minors , Social Work | 1 Comment » Posted on February 17th, 2014 Teaming up in television- alum leads broadcast operations for local station Keith Blaisdell ‘82 Communication Harrisburg, Pa. On any given day, you can find Keith Blaisdell ’82 bustling around the WHTM-TV (abc27, a local abc affiliate station) studio in Harrisburg, Pa., doing everything from finding new on-air talent, to researching and purchasing equipment, to making sure reporters’ microphones work for their live shots. Those are just a few of the many things that Blaisdell gives oversight to as the director of broadcast operations for the station. Read the rest of this entry » Posted in 1982 , About Leadership , Alumni , Broadcasting , Communication , Humanities , Majors & Minors | 2 Comments » Posted on January 13th, 2014 Two grads, two coasts, one shared love for animals Lindsey Jett ’12 Lizzie Miller ’12 Lindsey (Hayes) Jett ‘12 and Elizabeth (Lizzie) Miller ’12 both knew from an early age that they wanted to be veterinarians. For Jett, it was her passion for animals. For Miller, it was a natural progression from her inclination towards the sciences and insatiable love of animals. Read the rest of this entry » Posted in 2012 , Biochemistry , Grad School Bound , Majors & Minors , Molecular Biology , Scholarship , Study Abroad | Comments Off Posted on December 13th, 2013 Professor’s student teaching experience leads to invaluable partnership Don Murk’ 79 Professor of Early Childhood Education Mechanicsburg, Pa. What makes a kid who grew up in rural, eastern Pennsylvania interested in teaching in a city? That’s the question Don Murk ’79, professor of early childhood education asked himself more than 30 years ago as student at Messiah College. Murk, who was an early childhood and elementary education major, decided he wanted to complete his student teaching experience in an urban school and spent his student teaching semester at Downey Elementary School in the Harrisburg School District teaching kindergarten. Read the rest of this entry » Posted in 1979 , About Leadership , About Service , Alumni , Education , Majors & Minors , Scholarship , Service and Learning | 1 Comment » Posted on November 15th, 2013 For the love of the game Silalei (Shani) Owuor ’09 Human Resource Management Nairobi, Kenya What does it take to be a professional athlete? Silalei (Shani) Owuor ’09 is learning that like any other professional pursuit, it takes time, commitment and hard work. However, for Owuor, not only is she pursuing a sport she is passionate about, she is making a name for the sport and its popularity across Kenya as captain of the Kenyan Women’s National Basketball Team . Read the rest of this entry » Posted in 2009 , Alumni , Athletics , Business , Intl' Students , Majors & Minors | Comments Off Posted on October 4th, 2013 Using local resources, alum creates one-of-a-kind furniture Rick Dohler ’93 Marketing Nashville, Tenn. As a full-time contractor in Nashville, Tenn., Rick Dohler ’93 comes across a variety of buildings every day. From updating existing structures to building something from the ground up, one thing he continually runs into are people who desire custom furniture, and a lot of discarded materials from old buildings that are being torn down. Inspired by that increasing demand for unique furniture and his own interest in up-cycling materials that could very easily be thrown away, Dohler created a small business selling reclaimed wood furniture on Etsy. Read the rest of this entry » Posted in 1993 , Alumni , Arts , Majors & Minors | Comments Off Posted on September 13th, 2013 Alum named new program assistant for the Middle East Studies Program Sari Heidenreich ’12 Journalism Jerusalem, Israel Over the past year, journalism alumna Sari Heidenreich ’12 became very familiar with asking the right questions. After all, as senior social media producer for WHTM-TV (abc27) in Harrisburg, Pa., Heidenreich was responsible for reporting breaking news at a moment’s notice and keeping online information accurate, concise and relevant. It’s no surprise then, that when Heidenreich heard about a job opening with Best Semester’s Middle East Studies Program (MESP), a program in which she participated in during her junior year at Messiah, she started questioning if it was the right opportunity for her. Read the rest of this entry » Posted in 2012 , Humanities , Journalism , Majors & Minors , Study Abroad | Comments Off Posted on August 12th, 2013 Philosophy, biochemistry alum serves as cardiology fellow Kevin Driver ’03 Philosophy/Biochemistry Charlottesville, Va. Coming to Messiah College as a first-year student, Kevin Driver ’03 knew he wanted to pursue a career in medicine, so he declared a major in biochemistry. He had many family members and friends that served as mentors and helped him find his passion for medicine. What he didn’t know, however, was that he would spend as much time buried in books about metaphysics and epistemology as he would in the lab. Read the rest of this entry » Posted in 2003 , Alumni , Biochemistry , Honors Program , Humanities , Majors & Minors , Philosophy | Comments Off...