Blog

The end of the spring season in 2015 was the most memorable time so far. Hosting the OAC softball tournament, the OAC baseball tournament and the NCAA Softball Super-Regional in consecutive weekends was a whirlwind.

Speaking at events like Opening Convocation and HYPE has allowed me to achieve a level of confidence that I had never dreamed possible.

I went to Tianjin, China, for the whole month of June 2017. Working with students whose primary language is not English definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone. Because of that, I feel like I have grown professionally as a future teacher.

Knowing that I am a part of such a ground-breaking and spirited group on campus brings joy to my heart and I know that the music traditions I am forming will stay for decades to come.

During my first day at Heidelberg, I believe I taught my "Teaching of Writing" course. I'd taught it before at another university but had always had more than 20 students in the course. At Heidelberg, there were seven students. I enjoyed being able to check in with each individual in the room and get to know them and check that they understood the expectations for the following meeting.

There may be debate as to when it started, but there’s no denying the spark in the eyes of soon-to-be newlyweds and long-time ‘Berg supporters Donna (Fischer) Overholt ’57 and Larry Clausing ’59

I have made some of my best friends here and have been lucky to come across faculty members who truly care about me.

During Mike Weisend’s college visit to Heidelberg, he was searching for an elusive biology professor as he contemplated a major in physics or biology. The nowhere-to-be-found professor, Dr. Bob Murray, was eventually located in a dark room, singing and strumming his guitar with students. "From that moment, I knew this was the place I wanted to be. That was the way I hoped I could interact with faculty. It was so cool," said Weisend, ’87, now a renowned neuroscientist. The folk-singing biology professor, a faculty icon who is now retired, may have been the catalyst, but there was much more that Weisend discovered at Heidelberg. That encounter, though, did set the stage for four productive undergrad years that led to master’s and doctoral degrees in behavioral neuroscience from the University of New Mexico.

“Sweet Alma Home” is a little bit sweeter this time of year. " At least once a day, I think about the words or I sing it or listen to it, so it’s a part of my being," says Ed, who returned to campus for Alumni Weekend to again organize and conduct the Alumni Choir. For the past 20 or so years, a collection of former Concert Choir members has relived their glory days by performing at the annual Alumni Weekend luncheon. Early on, the draw was the chance to once again sing for the legendary Dr. Ferris Ohl. Ed understands that; he was among those singers. He also understands that he now stands where a giant of Heidelberg music once stood, and that’s not only humbling but a huge honor.

Tom Dunn, ’72 BS in Business Administration, Accounting and Economics Rick Hills, ’72 BS in Business Administration, Accounting and Economics Greg Kirk, ’72 BS in Business Administration, Accounting and Economics Rick Brunner, ’72 BA in Music Jake Moyer, ’73 BS in Health and Physical Education

I do a lot of writing. A lot of painting, too. I try to intermittent mix the two.

My biggest fear is complacency. Anyone can be an agent of change and have the power to create the learning experiences that they want.

We had our senior skip day in high school and if we didn’t do something productive with our day, we would get a suspension. A couple of my girlfriends and I came to Tiffin and went around town to fill out applications, just to show we did something with our day.

Theirs is the classic Heidelberg love story: Excelsior guy meets Philalethean girl at a Greek party, makes her lunch the next day – “he’s an amazing cook, always has been” -- and 28 years later, they are still inseparable. “I found the love of my life at Heidelberg,” says Jeff Sweeney, who married Hope Porta, ’93 &’97 MAC, the same year she graduated with her undergrad degree. Because they had such great experiences at Heidelberg, they were thrilled when both of their sons chose Heidelberg as well. What’s even more rewarding is that Paul, a junior, and Will, a sophomore, are having the same great experiences their parents had. That has motivated Hope and Jeff to find ways to give back to Heidelberg.

I spent a year in Ulsan, South Korea in 2015. I didn’t know any Korean when I got there.

At the time I thought I was OK and had everything together but people are so ignorant at that age. Even though I had a lot of experience prior to that and knew what I had to do, I was still so inexperienced.

I like anything with an adventure. You can label it as landscape photography, but it’s anything where I have to walk through this or climb up this to get to that. My photography allows me to be adventurous.

I started getting prepublication books this way and fell in love with them. I’m often one of the first people to read a book and by the time it gets published, I can hopefully meet the author or get an autographed version.