Category: Blog

Julie Bodiwala, C’21, Nursing

“I will always associate my time at North Park with sitting on the green-space in the warm Chicago weather. Watching others sitting on picnic blankets, resting or studying, hanging hammocks in the trees, and skateboarding, I would feel a sense of belonging and content. As an Orientation Leader during Threshold Orientation, it was our role to welcome and include the incoming freshman. I was blessed to engage and facilitate honest conversations with new students as they navigated their nervousness for the start of the semester.

“This experience helped me realize how vital communication is—how initiating a sympathetic conversation can ease another person’s stress. I was reminded of the skills I have been developing through the nursing program and how achieving trust and compassion can provide a safe space for empathic communication. Being an Orientation Leader has further inspired me to help my community through becoming a nurse who can advocate for my patients.”

We’re celebrating 130 years of North Park community. You’re invited to share your own story at www.northpark.edu/share130

#130stories

Fanchon Kelley, S’19, Master of Divinity

“During my time at NPU, I had an opportunity to intern at Immanuel International church in Stockholm, Sweden. One Sunday when I first got there, I was at the church’s worship service. In the beginning of the service, they asked for first-time visitors to share where they are from and what brought them to Immanuel church. Many people got up and I was amazed that people were literally visiting from around the world. People stated they were from Africa, Asia, America, and Europe. Literally almost every continent was represented in the church.

The first song that we sang was a familiar hymn called “How Great Thou Art.” When everyone joined in, you could hear the different accents and dialects of people as they sang. It was a great representation of the diversity within the body of Christ. Even though we were from all over the world we were able to come together and sing to God. It is a memory that I always hold on to and that helps me appreciate our differences.

I learned that even though cultures and relationships can be different, God is the common denominator that can bring us all together. We may worship differently and have different views, but this is what makes the church special and unique. We can’t be who we are without each other and our differences.

Being part of the North Park community means that I am part of an organization that has deep roots in the Christian faith and a history that tells the story of individuals who saw the importance of Christian education. I believe that the history and growth I am part of has propelled me in my own growth and journey with God. I feel equipped and academically trained because of this community.”

We’re celebrating 130 years of North Park community. You’re invited to share your own story at www.northpark.edu/share130

#130stories

Charles Sikorski, C’99

We’re celebrating 130 years of North Park community. You’re invited to share your own story at www.northpark.edu/share130

#130stories

Kelli Swanson, C’15, Spanish and K-12 Education

“North Park is special to me for so many reasons. Both my grandparents, my aunt, and my uncle are all graduates of NPU, so I am a third-generation graduate. My grandparents, Armour and Beverly Swanson, have a corner of the library and a classroom in the Johnson Center dedicated to them. There was no pressure for me to go to North Park but the second I walked onto campus for a tour, I leaned over to my sister and told her it was where I wanted to be.

One of my favorite memories from North Park is from my first year and in Linda Parkyn’s SPAN 2010 class. One day Professor Parkyn had us singing Christmas carols, in Spanish of course, at the tops of our lungs in Carlson Tower. This memory is just one of many that showed me I was in the right major.

North Park’s School of Education prepared me to be the teacher I am today, and I am genuinely thankful for the professors that guided me to success. Because of North Park, I officially earned my tenure status, completed five years of service at my school, and have a Master’s of Education in Education Technology.“

We’re celebrating 130 years of North Park community. You’re invited to share your own story at www.northpark.edu/share130

#130stories

Kahlil O. Crawford, G’19, MBA

“Earning my MBA at North Park University gave me a full understanding of how business operates. Previously, I would have business experiences with little or no awareness of their mechanics. However, that changed significantly while learning from Dr. Kasthuri Henry. She invested her personal time in identifying my passions and honing my interests. Her humanitarian approach to accounting gave me a holistic appreciation for business management that I otherwise would not have had. In Dr. Henry’s accounting class, I gained a better understanding of the processes behind financial transactions, how they fit into the larger structure of budgeting, and how that ultimately drives capitalism.

Due to my North Park experience, I now enter business situations with a fully informed awareness of their value and overall significance to the greater good. Therefore, I unequivocally declare that North Park’s School of Business & Nonprofit Management (SBNM) is one of the business world’s best-kept secrets because our community:

• Embodies humble excellence & strives toward it daily.
• Values & prioritizes the development of human character.
• Provides a well-balanced intellectual calm in the eye of today’s ideological storms.
• Pragmatically integrates the tenets of The Gospel into our collective vision & values.
• Has an unparalleled commitment to urban education in the City of Chicago & beyond.“
  

We’re celebrating 130 years of North Park community. You’re invited to share your own story at www.northpark.edu/share130

#130stories

Ashley Rewolinski, C’14, Music in Violin Performance

“The School of Music at North Park University provided me with endless opportunities to not only grow as a musician, but as a leader. As a violinist and arts administrator, I look back at my time at North Park with so much gratitude for my experiences that are extremely rare for an undergraduate music major. I performed a hidden gem of the violin repertoire and my personal favorite violin concerto, Louis Spohr’s Violin Concerto no.8, with the University Orchestra during my sophomore year. Taking music compositions in the later part of my undergraduate studies helped me reach my creative potential and learn so much about myself as a musician. I will never forget performing my own compositions during my senior recital. Those pieces were so distinctively me, and I love sharing them in my professional life to this day.

“My very first solo performance as a North Parker was just one month into my first semester! It was a chamber music concert off campus, and I was one of the soloists in Vivaldi’s Concerto for Three Violins where I would be performing with my violin professor. An hour before the concert started, I was the first to arrive at the venue and received a frantic call from my violin professor who had lost his sheet music for the concert. I quickly acquired music from our pianist and created parts for my professor to use. It was a true sheet music emergency! Back in 2010, a career as an Orchestra Librarian wasn’t even on my radar; now that I work full time as an Orchestra Librarian for the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, I look back on that moment proudly saying that is where it all began!“

We’re celebrating 130 years of North Park community. You’re invited to share your own story at www.northpark.edu/share130

#130stories

Lenore Johnson Larson, A’46

“My parents were Swedish immigrants and enrolled me in North Park Academy my junior year, hoping to instill a connection to our heritage. It was quite different then—we had chapel every morning, attended classes in Old Main, and we weren’t allowed to cross the street on school days. Girls were just starting to wear slacks; we were quite rebellious, changing into jeans before going to watch a game.

It was at a basketball game that I first saw my husband, Norman Eugene Larson. He was tall and stood out to me from across the gym. Our first date was a hayride party sponsored by North Park Covenant Church, and he asked me to go steady by giving me his class ring, which I wore around my neck. Norm graduated a year before me, but only lived two blocks away while attending Northwestern University, so we continued going to North Park sporting events and youth activities at church. Norm went on to become an M.D. and I finished nursing school, but I kept that connection to our heritage, staying involved at church and serving as a volunteer and Chairman of the Board for the Swedish American Museum.

After Norm passed in 1995, I established the Dr. Norman E. and Lenore J. Larson Scholarship in his honor. My only stipulation was that the scholarship support students going into medicine. I’ve collected many memories of our time at North Park in my scrapbook, which always brings a smile as I think about North Park’s campus today and the one I stepped foot on just 75 years ago.“

We’re celebrating 130 years of North Park community. You’re invited to share your own story at www.northpark.edu/share130

#130stories

Hailey Bianco, C’23, Advertising and Art, Volleyball

“Mental health was not openly discussed among my volleyball team, and I wanted to help make it less taboo. I decided to start the North Park chapter of The Hidden Opponent because I saw a need for community. We started our chapter with about 25 student-athletes. This past season I heard more open conversations about internal struggles that we as athletes have been facing, especially during COVID. It has been very motivating to me to see so many student-athletes come forward who are eager to be involved.

“This past season I was facing a lot of personal struggles on top of the pandemic, which made giving my all to the team very difficult. From the beginning Coach Sopocy was supportive of me and my needs, making sure I knew that my well-being came before volleyball. I ended up deciding to take a step back from the sport, and the support I’ve received has helped me take control and take care of my mental health rather than pushing it to the side. During this difficult time, I became more involved in University Ministries and built a close relationship with Pastor T. He provided me a safe space to talk openly and drew me closer to God. My faith was the most important thing that got me through this past year. Learning to slow down and be still led to me developing a deep sense of gratitude and helped me rest my mind.“

We’re celebrating 130 years of North Park community. You’re invited to share your own story at www.northpark.edu/share130

#130stories

Britta Mitchell, Asst. Director of Graduate Admission, School of Education, C’06, G’21

“One of the most vivid memories from my time as an undergraduate was the opportunity to take a summer study abroad class with Professors Mirza, McDonald, and Vic. I love science but was intimidated to take college level biology and physics. The class focused on the biology and physics of Iceland. We spent six weeks in the classroom and twelve amazing days in Iceland. From the solar eclipse to the fish hatcheries, the genetics lab, and the amazing waterfalls, I could not have asked for a better international experience nor better teachers. It was one of many opportunities at North Park to explore the world and become part of a global community.

“Being a part of the North Park community is being connected to the past and present. I am a fifth generation North Parker on my mother’s side. I am half Swedish, a part of the Covenant denomination, and a North Park staff member. I have been part of this campus since my birth and have been given the opportunity to grow here. It was during my undergraduate program that I found my voice and began to speak out against the injustice I saw in the world. At that time North Park was seeking to address diversity in a real way—challenging us to think globally and examine our place in this world. When I returned five years ago, the student population had changed. The community was vibrant with diversity, and there was a growing population of first-generation students. It made me think of my great-great grandfather who came to this country as an immigrant and studied to become a pastor at North Park Seminary. He was separated from his family and had to learn a new language. Over the last 130 years, the campus has grown, many people have passed through the doors, and we are still a beacon for those that are new to this country. We know what it means to be the immigrant and the legacy. We stand in the past and the present, with the constant goal to serve the students of this institution. We prepare them to go out and serve their communities as global citizens, challenge social norms, and love as Christ loves us. That is what the North Park community means to me.“

We’re celebrating 130 years of North Park community. You’re invited to share your own story at www.northpark.edu/share130

#130stories