Search - Sarah Tanner

Thursday, March 5, PUC's dining commons side room filled with representatives from a variety of local and statewide businesses. The annual career day fair draws a number of interested companies and post-graduate institutions interested in our graduates. Individuals from a wide array of backgrounds offered networking tips and career-oriented conversation, including the Adventist Health network, Discoveryland Preschool, St. Josephs, and the United States Army, Navy, and Marshall offices.In addition to the general post-graduate career opportunities presented during the fair, a number groups came to inform students of summer internships programs. Many of these programs are located near the PUC campus, and are especially convenient for students planning to stay in the Napa Valley area over the summer.Nearby recreation areas such as Lake Berryessa often require more willing bodies during the busy summer season. Margaret Bailey, Berryessa's park manager, came to the career day fair to scout students interested in park ranger positions."Our mission is to provide a quality recreation experience for visitors and part of that is having good rangers," she explained. "During the summer we hire temporary rangers, and many of the students here qualify to work seasonally."In addition to offering a steady hourly wage, this position also opens...

Scott Butterfield, a senior scientist with The Nature Conservancy, conducted a series of four lectures throughout the quarter at Pacific Union College, sharing his passion for conservation with the college's department of biology. His last lecture, titled, "Training the Conservation Scientist for the Next Generation," included a distillation of new technologies and avenues of inquiry in the field of conservation.Dr. Aimee Wyrick's Conservation Biology students absorbed every word of Butterfield's final presentation. He emphasized the importance of incorporating data science across different disciplines, especially as it has the potential to involve students, such as the ones in this class, in important research."Data science is a huge topic in conservation right now," he explained. "It is essentially a conceptualization of what it would mean to train the future generations in this field."His talk centered on the fact that we live in an "anthropocene" era, meaning that in our current time, humans have a disproportionate impact on the climate and environment. We also are in the midst of a third industrial revolution, one that centers on technology.Butterfield then explained the endless ties between technological developments and conservation efforts, noting, "Virtually every project we carry out in The Nature Conservancy involves a combination...

Sunday, October 20, marked the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the newest section of the Bay Area Ridge Trail, an extensive hiking route spanning from Calistoga in the north all the way to Gilroy in the south. The trail runs through PUC’s Back 40, and is part of a larger conservation effort that will eventually include 1,100 acres of protected forest lands.PUC’s forest manager, Peter Lecourt, headed the dedication with a speech detailing upcoming plans for the forest. Along with informational kiosks and maps, plans for additional parking are underway, in an effort to make the natural beauty of the PUC area as accessible for recreation as possible.Kellie Lind, PUC’s vice president for alumni and advancement, commented on PUC’s rich history with the surrounding land.“Not only were many of PUC’s academic buildings constructed using lumber from the back 40, but last year 14 classes used the forest as part of their curriculum just during Fall Quarter,” she noted.A number of Napa Valley officials attended the ceremony, including Napa Open Spaces District Vice President Barry Christian, Bay Area Ridge Trail executive director Janet McBride, county supervisor Dianne Dillon, and chairman of the board of Napa Supervisors Ryan Gregory.Dillon commented on the importance and...

Pastor Kent Rufo led this fall quarter’s Week of Prayer with a powerful sermon series entitled, “The Broken Gospel.” Held in the PUC church, students gathered each morning of the week for an hour of worship, community-building, and scriptural study.Beginning with Monday’s service, each meeting built upon the previous day’s message. Pastor Rufo quoted from Revelation 21:4, and explained his sermons rested on the premise found in the verse which holds that God ultimately wishes to do away with death, sorrow, crying, and pain. He noted that we all live in an imperfect world, plagued by these difficulties, and part of our journey as Christians involves learning how to navigate through these troublesome issues.Pastor Rufo continued on Tuesday with the assertion that, as humans, we all cope. He listed a variety of “numbing agents” people typically turn to, but concluded the only true healing comes from God. He explained, “We only have one healer, and everything else is simply a substitute for true healing.”Wednesday expanded this concept of healing to the Gospel, and Pastor Rufo explained the good news, or the essence of the Gospel, is that Jesus willingly became our brokenness so we would not suffer under its weight...

PUC’s newly christened Community Speaker Series (familiarly called “Community”) held its opening convocation in the PUC Church on Thursday, Oct. 3. Previously called Colloquy, the goal of Community is indicated in its title: to build a network of close-knit relationships between students and faculty across the college’s campus. Essentially, it seeks to build “ONEPUC.”After a Community Brief video featuring athletic director Richie Sillie detailing the upcoming week’s events, President Bob Cushman took to the stage to welcome new staff, faculty, and students, as well as recognize members of this year’s graduating senior class. Each group was asked to stand for applause as he recognized their role on the PUC campus.As the audience settled into their seats, Student Association President Megan Belz read from Matthew 22:37-39 and concluded by praying over the church family. With the message of love at the forefront, a video of chaplain Kent Rufo played in which he reminded the campus that they are all members of one body that is committed to each other as the PUC family.President Cushman then returned to the stage with a short, but impactful message that spoke to the heart of PUC’s goals as it looks towards a new academic year....

This year’s Pathfinder Camporee at Oshkosh in Wisconsin hosted a film crew from PUC’s own department of visual arts. A group of four students, one alum, and faculty director Tim de la Torre were tasked with creating nine-minute videos to highlight five days of the annual pathfinder meeting, under the direction of Erik Stenbakken from Stenbakken Media. These “Day in Review” videos were displayed every evening, showcasing not only Camporee events and activities, but also the talents of the small film crew on hand.Sophomore film and television major, Adam Adreveno, helped the team navigate the many challenges that entail when filming among a group of 50,000 people.“My job was basically to do what needed to be done as quickly as possible. I would go out to film different stories ranging from ‘Camp Life’ to ‘Woohoo: Fun Stuff to Do’ and then edit them together if I had time,” he continued, “I learned how to manage long days and pressure in order to deliver a specific video that needed to be completed by a deadline. Working at the Camporee was like a crash course on how to make good videos quickly.”Alum Gabriela Talavera mirrored Adreveno’s sentiments about working under constrained timing....

PUC alum Justin Smith graduated in 2006 with a degree in business and a passion for sportscasting. The voice of the Pioneers during his college years, Smith developed a love of announcing that recently helped land him a position with the Sacramento River Cats as a regular announcer for their minor league baseball games.“I’ve been interested in announcing since my senior year of high school,” Smith explains. “My experiences at PUC taught me the basics of speaking loud and clear to a large crowd, and having an Adventist education is something that helps you wherever you go.”Each River Cats game requires five or six hours of intense focus, including time before and after the game to run through scripts, become familiar with the batting line-ups, and prepare for the first pitches, national anthem, and interactions with other announcers.When asked what his favorite aspect of announcing is, Smith said it was the fact that he could share his skills with his local high school, and contribute to their basketball and volleyball games.“I get the most joy from announcing at Sacramento Adventist Academy’s games. My primary focus is on that school. The River Cats position is a great opportunity, but I find...

Danielle Nelson, a psychology student from PUC’s graduating class of 2014, just received her Ph.D. from Palo Alto University after extensive hands-on training at Stanford University and the Los Angeles Children’s Hospital.Reflecting on her time at PUC, Nelson recalled the training she received in the fields of statistics, clinical work, and research as being on-par with the instruction her peers from Ivy League institutions received.“I worked closely with Dr. Bruce Bainum on a research project that examined social eating behaviors in women,” she says. “We went on to present the project at the Western Psychological Association Conference in 2014 and won the Psi-Chi regional award for the research. Many undergraduate students do not have the opportunity to helm research in such a substantial way, but PUC provided that opportunity, which helped me monumentally in my doctoral training.”In regards to her time at Stanford and the Children’s Hospital, Nelson quickly climbed the ranks to work as a neuropsychological assessor for children with learning disabilities in mathematics, and worked in the pediatrics department at the L.A. hospital in the Assessment, Consultation, and Evaluation track.Nelson’s choice to pursue a Ph.D. was also largely influenced by her experiences at PUC.“After working with my professors...

Biochemistry major and member of PUC’s graduating class of 2015, Daniel Amponsah has become the first Loma Linda University graduate to accept a residency at Harvard Medical School after completing his courses in medical school this year.Amponsah credits professors such as Aimee Wyrick in biology and Marie Pak in chemistry for preparing him for the challenges medical school presented. While at PUC, he also participated in a variety of non-academic activities that helped take his transcripts to the next level--extracurriculars such as participating in student government, being a chemistry TA, and working with the Gospel Sabbath School on campus.As he reflected on his time at PUC, Amponsah encouraged current medical school hopefuls to “always study hard and do well, as cliche as that sounds. Challenge yourself while in college, participate in events, and remember to have fun.”He continued, “Work hard, study hard, pray hard and everything will work itself out.”As he looks towards the future, Amponsah plans to complete his residency at Massachusetts General Hospital with the title of Harvard Clinical Fellow. He is currently focusing on internal medicine and hopes to specialize in interventional and structural cardiology.“I am looking forward to amazing learning opportunities from some of the top...

A self-titled “people person” with the singular goal of making a positive impact, PUC alumna Alex Dunbar has done just that since her graduation in 2014. After majoring in exercise science and completing an A.S. in health sciences, Dunbar then attended Loma Linda University School of Public Health, where she received her master’s degree in health education and promotion in 2017.Dunbar now works as a community education specialist in the public health branch of Shasta County’s Health and Human Services Agency, where her talents are directed primarily toward community education regarding the long-term effects of adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs. As the Strengthening Families Collaborative coordinator, Dunbar tackles issues such as neglect, abuse, and household dysfunction on a daily basis, and works to inform the public about the health risks associated with ACEs.Her involvement in this field is the culmination of a years-long process of education and inspiration.“My career actually took off before I even started working in the health field,” Dunbar explains. “PUC was not only where I received an education, but also where I received the opportunity to be an enrollment counselor. That experience trained me to be successful in my field when it comes to working with...