Morningside Connect

“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”  William Arthur Ward

Not all of us are teachers, but as alumni of the college, you all have the opportunity to mentor current students.

Mentoring, in a practical sense, runs very parallel to teaching.  In fact, the best mentors teach their mentees how to be successful personally and professionally, instead of just providing job leads and resources to students.   Mentors should provide information to mentees. However, they should also empower mentees to research and learn more about careers on their own, or to research industry or company problems and solutions.

Mentors have a lot of “street cred” with their mentees.  In many cases, a mentee looks up to and seeks the approval of their mentor.  Mentors can channel these feelings in a way that encourages the student to learn and grow, while also expanding their professional knowledge, problem solving, and critical thinking skills.

Mentors are very important to students.  The work they do helps to shape and develop students into the leaders of tomorrow.  It is important to take that work seriously and inspire in students the quest for life-long learning, which will impact them in a positive way for a life time.

Stacie Hays

Everywhere I go I hear folks say, “Where has the summer gone?” It’s so true. We already have students moving into their respective residence halls. It seems like just last week we had commencement. In that short period of time, a great deal has taken place on campus.

Dimmitt Hall has had a complete overhaul! It now has air conditioning, a fresh coat of paint, and many other updates. You will have to come see for yourself at Homecoming. (You’ll be receiving a brochure in the mail!)

We now have ownership of the tennis courts. The courts received quite a makeover. Thanks to the generosity of a number of our alumni – the tennis facility is one of the best around!

Resurfacing the Grace Church parking lot was another of those summer-time projects needing to get checked off the list.

Amongst all of this, Randy Peters, artistic director of the Betty Ling Tsang Fine Arts Series, has overseen a truly remarkable series of programs that have drawn huge crowds. As part of this series and what has become a near 4^th of July tradition, the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra performed in the Buhler Outdoor Performance Center before nearly 2,000 people. The evening was capped off by an amazing fireworks display accompanied by the orchestra.

As I commented earlier, summer is almost gone. Students are slowly making their trek back. Before you know it, Homecoming will be here! Please consider coming back for it! It’s October 9-11. Bring the family; everything we do is family friendly. In the next few days you should receive a Homecoming brochure in the mail. Attached to it is an RSVP card. Take time to fill it out and send it in. We’d love to see you again! Come see all of the changes on campus! Of special interest will be the tremendous changes in Dimmitt Hall. That alone is worth your coming back!

Before you know it, I’ll again be saying, “Where’s the summer gone?”

Gene Ambroson

The Betty Ling Tsang Fine Art Series recently had its last performance of the summer series, but not the last one of the year. The performance of “Oklahoma!” occurred on August 7th and 8th. Join us for the Waitt Lecture with Chuck Todd, NBC News political director and host of “Meet the Press,” at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 20 in Eppley Auditorium.

Sea had sent out many applications and resumes for summer research positions. She ended up receiving offers for research positions from University of Nebraska Lincoln, University of Wisconsin, Virginia Tech, and the Amgen Scholars Program. She chose to participate in the Amgen Scholars Program in Japan.

“I ultimately decided to go for this program because I was offered a truly unique cultural experience along with summer research,” said Sea.

This summer research opportunity for students is sponsored and paid for by Amgen, a biotechnology company. The program provides selected undergraduates with the opportunity to engage in hands-on research at some of the world’s premier educational institutions.

Sea is working in the lab of Professor Eiichi Nakamura, which is a synthetic and physical organic chemistry lab. Her work deals with synthesizing organic compounds for use in imaging biological materials with scanning electron microscopes.

“The stuff I’m learning about is pretty difficult, but the language barrier makes it even more challenging,” said Sea. “Definitely hard work, but very rewarding!”

This program runs for eight weeks. Her weekdays are spent in a lab from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. learning synthetic chemistry techniques and running different types of equipment. On the weekends, she travels around Tokyo taking in the sights and culture.

“Tokyo is divided into districts; so far I have seen Asakusa, Akihabara, Shinjuku, Ueno, Yushima, Kichijoji, and Shibuya,” said Sea. “I’ve seen a lot of temples and shrines, but also a lot of crowded cities. We even went to Tokyo Disney one day.”

Besides Tokyo, Sea is getting to learn about other cultures from the other students in the program. Her roommate is from Australia, and her classmates come from all over the world.

Her learning about cultures won’t stop after her internship in Japan. This fall she will be leaving campus to study in Panama for the semester.

Second floor is in it’s finally stages.

The Dimmitt Hall renovation is almost finished. The final coats of paint in the dorm halls are finished, floors are being cleaned, and wires are being run for Internet access. The furniture will be coming soon. Students are already starting to move in to the updated facility.

The following photos were taken on July 27.

Ground floor was the last of the floors to be completed.

With the remodel came more accessible entries throughout the building.

The building will now have a workout room for students to use.

All halls now have their final coats of paint. Third floor is a light blue, second floor is maroon, ground floor is grey, and Hidden Hall is the blue shown above.

The fireplace in the Informal Lounge is in.

In June of last year, the president formed a Task Force designed to explore just what the college ought to be doing between now and 2025. In the case of the Alumni Office – exciting additions that call for your help!

As you may recall, John Reynders, president of Morningside College, commented in his column in The Morningsider about a recent survey. The survey inquired about your satisfaction with your experience at Morningside College. The survey also explored ways in which you would like to be involved with us. Involvement is what I want to follow-up on.

Beginning this fall, the Alumni Office will be working with other college offices to build awareness of the alumni function among students. The idea is to build awareness of the Alumni Office throughout the students’ time at the college. Part of that building process will involve you.

We are investigating the following: 1) a simple mentorship program; 2) a series of alumni and student panels exploring pertinent things students need to know before they graduate; 3) a Friend Family program for international students; 4) a series of dinners with alumni at the president’s house for all first-year students; 5) a series of “fireside chats” with classes and affinity groups designed to keep them in the alumni loop. All of these programs are new initiatives that we are developing, more information to follow.

As I said, we will need your help in doing this! If anything at this point trips your trigger in any of the above areas, please get in touch with me right away. Would love to chat with you.

Gene Ambroson

At Morningside College, we strive to provide students with meaningful experiences, both inside and outside of the classroom, that will supplement their academic preparation, as well as prepare them for the ever-changing world of work.  Specifically, I love to see students experience Happenstance. Think back to your own time as a college student. Surely there were experiences you participated in that ended up being much more impactful than you thought they would be. The theory behind Happenstance is participating in random events, with little to no expectation, and then being blown away by the spark of a new career, interest, or academic major. You can be a part of Happenstance experiences for students as well, through a variety of opportunities, both on and off campus. Here are some ideas:

• Do you volunteer in the community? Find out what the organization’s specific needs are or if they need help for a large-scale event.
• Are you willing to mentor a student? Mentoring a student takes very little time, but it is very meaningful to students in learning more about the lives they want to live, both personally and professionally.
• Does your organization have job shadowing/observation activities or internship opportunities for students? Or do you know of organizations with these kinds of opportunities?

I’m happy to field these kinds of requests and make connections between students, alumni, and the community to build opportunities for Happenstance (hays@morningside.edu). Happenstance changes people’s lives every single day, and it is truly rewarding to be a part of that.

Finally, be sure you stay connected to campus. We have tons of speakers and programs that are open not only to students on campus, but alumni and community members.   Students love talking with alumni and getting their perspective, and maybe you will experience your own kind of Happenstance moment!

Stacie Hays

As many of you have probably seen or heard, Dimmitt Hall is progressing through its remodel. Most of the new windows have been placed, floors are being laid in the residents’ rooms, heating and cooling units are being installed throughout the building, and landscaping has begun on the outside. The progress is coming together pretty quickly. Some halls are even getting their final coats of paint.

Dry wall is being hung in the formal lounge.

Landscaping outside is still in the early stages but coming along quickly.

On one side of Dimmitt, the new carpet was laid.

The entire third floor has the theme of one side of the hall painted blue. The second floor recently revealed the theme of maroon. The other floors have yet to make it to the painting stage.

The new elevator shaft.

Morningside College’s football field was stripped of its old turf and replaced with new turf and a paint job. However, the football and soccer teams aren’t the only ones benefiting from the new field.
The college donated the old turf to the Nebraska Humane Society. The NHS will be laying it in their yards so their dogs can get some exercise.

The turf will also help with a drainage problem that led to having muddy pups and dogs. The money the NHS saved by having the turf donated can now be spent on buying medical supplies and caring for their animals.

The Betty Ling Tsang Fine Art Series recently had its first performance of the summer. The first performance was the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Cats” on June 19 and 20. Also performed was the Holiday Pops Concert with the Sioux City Symphony on June 27.

“Cats” Performance.

“Cats” performance.

“Cats” performance.

Holiday Pops Concert.

President Reynders and his wife waving the American flag along with other attendees of the Holiday Pops Concert.

Holiday Pops Concert.

Holiday Pops Concert.

After the Holiday Pops Concert, there was a fireworks display on Bass Field.