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Her mother never  told Maribel she couldn’t.

And so from the time she was the child who would come home covered in mud until she was the college sophomore involved in SCUBA diving, horseback riding, and karate, Maribel Melendez-Napoles never let the fact that she was born with quadriplegic cerebral palsy tell her she couldn’t either.

Maribel was recently named Inspirational Athlete of the Year by Comcast SportsNet Sports and the March of Dimes. Nominated by the dietician and the activities coordinator at Shriners Hospital in Chicago where she has spent much of her 20 years, Maribel was also recognized for her athletic abilities in basketball, yoga, archery, and racing—most of which are done from her wheelchair.

When Maribel was in third grade, her mother brought her six children to Chicago from Mexico so Maribel and her twin sister, Marisela, who is more severely affected by the same condition, could be treated at Shriners. Carmen Napoles, who speaks very little English, sat beside her daughter at the awards dinner and heard her daughter’s acceptance speech through an interpreter.

In her speech, Maribel shared the two reasons she was involved in sports: the chance to meet new people and fear. In fact, her fear of drowning compelled her to become a certified diver. She was also inspired by the women with spinal cord injuries who were diving. Maribel decided that if they could do it, she could, even though she didn’t know how to swim. But she learned, and she took her sister into the water with her. Marisela had nearly drowned as a child, and then came the day that the twins dove together, and after reaching 35 feet, Maribel scanned the water for her sister who she saw waving at her triumphantly.

“I once asked my mother why she never said ‘no’ to the crazy things I do. My mom said there were already so many things I couldn’t do that she wasn’t going to tell me I couldn’t,” said Maribel.

Some of this bravery has apparently been learned through example. Raising six children, including twins, who at 10 began extensive surgeries, and starting life in a foreign country, her mother served as Maribel’s example of what to do no matter how scared you may be.

Once Maribel asked her mother what her worst fear was. Carmen answered, “That one day you would look at me and ask ‘why did I have to be in a wheelchair?’” Maribel has never asked her mother that question.

“Fear can be a bigger barrier than any disability,” Maribel told the hundreds gathered that night at the awards ceremony. “Many times bravery gets confused with fearlessness, and it’s not the same thing. It’s what we do in spite of our fears that shows our true bravery.”

The ceremony also honored many professional Chicago sports figures. For Maribel, neither the award, nor the speech, was the most important part of the evening for her. That came when Maribel felt compelled to offer encouragement to Chicago Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster, whose infant daughter battles DiGeorge syndrome, which leaves her unable to swallow.

“I felt like I had to say it. I kept telling him she is going to be fine and the world will have to adjust,” said Maribel. “If someone had told my mom that, it wouldn’t have been so hard for her all those years.”

View Maribel’s speech online. Please note: This video takes a long time to load- allow ample loading time before playing the clip.

Coming to College

Maribel, a chemistry major who lives in Berwyn, Illinois, knew she wanted to attend a small, private college, thinking a bigger school environment wouldn’t be best for her. In the summer of 2008, Maribel attended a summer institute on Trinity’s campus, sponsored by the Associated Colleges of Illinois.

Later, while attending a Chicago Fire game where she was to receive a scholarship award, she met a Trinity admissions counselor who encouraged her to apply. Maribel was still hesitant, one of the reasons being her reluctance to be too far from home where Marisela relied on her help and companionship. Then a friend told her about Trinity’s Greater Chicago Christian Leadership Scholarship, which provides full tuition to recipients. She was accepted to the College and was also awarded the scholarship.

“Obviously God wanted me here,” she said.

No obstacle seems insurmountable for the young woman with the brave—though not fearless—approach to the life she has lived and the one that lay ahead. “Everything has come when it needed to come,” said Maribel. “I close my eyes on that big elephant in the road, and when I open them, he will be an ant. That’s how God works.”

During the 2010 Disability Awareness Week in March, Trinity welcomed the Traveling Hands Troupe, a part of the International Center on Deafness and the Arts to campus.

Trinity’s Student Council for Exceptional Children (SCEC) planned the week and invited deaf and hard of hearing students and their teachers from Nathan Hale Elementary School in Crestwood, Illinois. The students from Nathan Hale and Trinity both enjoyed watching the troupe sign songs and incorporate dance into the program. They also had the opportunity to participate in interactive learning about how the ear works.

“By having Disability Awareness week at Trinity, I am made aware of the different disabilities that students may have in the classroom,” said special education major Monica Mott ’11 of Palos Hills, Illinois. She serves as the vice president of the SCEC.

The SCEC student chapter is dedicated to improving educational outcomes for students with disabilities and promoting future leaders in the education of students with disabilities. For more information about Trinity’s special education program, visit https://tcc.trnty.edu/depts/education/.

The work of five students in the beginning and intermediate photography classes has been chosen by Photographer’s Forum magazine to be published in this year’s edition of Best of College Photography 2010.

Ellen Browning, assistant professor of art and design, encourages all of her students to submit work to various contests. “Winning a contest provides exposure for a student’s work, and it looks great on a resume,” said Browning.

At her suggestion, students recently entered the 29th Annual College Photography Contest, co-sponsored by Nikon.  Their photographs were some of the ones chosen out of the nearly 14,000 entries received from the United States, Canada, and around the world.

The students, who major in art or communication arts, include:
Danielle Barnes ’10 of Palos Heights, Illinois
Brady Davidson ’11 of Shawnee, Kansas
Lindsay Koedyker ’12 of Highland, Indiana
Kristen Tamminga ’11 of Hudsonville, Michigan
Jenae Van Engen ’11 of Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Heather Lee ’12 of Lookout Mountain, Georgia, who took the class last semester, also had work chosen to be published.

The winning entries are currently on display in the lobby of the Art and Communication Center.

“I feel truly honored to have been chosen as a finalist in this contest,” said Koedyker. “ It’s a real blessing, and it makes me even more excited to continue using my God-given gift to keep taking photos and making art. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my photography classes, and they’ve helped me to discover my interests in subject matter and to develop and define my own artistic style.”

Best of College Photography 2010 is distributed to college libraries and instructors of photography, art, and graphic design.

Winning Entries:

The 2nd biennial Daniel Diephouse Graduate Student Conference gave many Trinity students the opportunity to engage with current graduate students, as well as receive feedback on their own writings. The conference was held Friday and Saturday, February 19 and 20.

The conference opened with presentations by Trinity alumni Elyse Lamszus ’08, Jana Tigchelaar ’00, and Allison Backous ’07, who are current graduate students. Lamszus and Tigchelaar offered academic papers while Backous read a creative non-fiction piece. Bill Boerman-Cornell, assistant professor of education, also presented “Graphic Novels in the Discipline of History.”

“It was good to hear a paper written by someone who is accomplished in English and delving into their career or in grad school,” said Alberto LaRosa ’13 of Glendale Heights, Illinois, as he reflected on the event. “They were well written and nothing short of inspiring.”

Following the presentations, students participating in the upcoming regional undergraduate English conference at St. Francis University in Joliet, Illinois, gathered for a luncheon and writing workshop with the speakers, who offered affirmation and advice as the students read portions of their papers.

“They had good feedback, and they made me feel like my paper was worth something more than just a simple school assignment, almost like it was a masterpiece in progress,” LaRosa said.

The evening portion included readings from Dr. Dan Diephouse, English professor emeritus, who read his poem “St. Elmo’s Fire,” and Jeff Tigchelaar ’99, winner of the Langston Hughes Creative Writing Award.

The Saturday brunch was open to all students interested in graduate school. This time provided an opportunity for the guest speakers to share their experiences at Trinity and emphasize its importance. The message: Don’t underestimate the excellent education you’re getting at Trinity.

“The information I acquired from that brunch was invaluable as I heard the testimonies of current graduate school students and was able to ask them anything I need clarification on,” said Brooke Bozarth ’13, of Owensboro, Kentucky. “They shared the story of their journey to grad school and walked us through the process, letting us know what we should look for in a school and what schools look for in us.”

Students reflected positively on the event noting the importance of the information received.

“The Diephouse conference was very enlightening,” said Bozarth. “It laid out what I could expect from graduate school applications and actual graduate programs.”

“The Daniel Diephouse Graduate Conference is an important extension of a Trinity education in English and literature,” said Dr. Mike Vander Weele ’73, professor of English. “Faculty members in the English department hope funding can be raised to ensure that this valuable experience continues to be offered to students.”

Some people just know they’ve been called. This can happen as early as childhood, and whether or not a child understands the definition of the word “calling,” she still knows the beaconing in her heart as clearly as she knows the voice of her mother.

“Only God can tell you why he put Africa on my heart,” said Maddy Manden ’10  a special education/elementary education major who is completing her student teaching in Ghana, “but since I was 11, I told everyone that I was going to help the children in Africa.”

Before even applying to Trinity, Manden, of Roselle, Illinois, talked with the head of the education department to discuss the feasibility of teaching in Africa and graduating with degrees in both special education and elementary education within four years. She was told she could.

“I knew God had opened the first door for me.”

After her freshman year, Manden began to research various mission organizations that could arrange for her to teach children with special needs in Africa for seven weeks at a school that could also house her. A big order. After much networking and prayer, Manden found the Mission Society. Now in her senior year, she is serving as an intern for the organization and fulfilling her student teaching for Trinity at the Wa School for the Blind.

Manden’s desire to help others couldn’t wait until senior year, however, and she has spent her Trinity years involved in Service Committee, Acting on AIDS, Campus Ministries and many other student organizations focused on service. That work helped prepare her for her final Trinity experience, but Manden knew she needed to do more to prepare herself for teaching the visually impaired.
Manden spoke with teachers at Chicago’s School for the Blind and talked with Trinity’s Dr. Bob Rice, professor of history. “Dr. Rice, who is visually impaired, gave me great ideas about how to work with students, shared what it is like to be blind, and told me what he did for fun when he was a kid.”

With the study help of her sister, Manden taught herself Braille, and she was able to buy books in Braille, as well as a soccer ball with bells in it and various tactile craft supplies, with funds raised by her home church.

“God prepared me very well,” she said. “I also prayed I wouldn’t go into this experience with expectations but with excitement, with a willing servant heart and readiness to learn and grow.”

At the school, Manden teaches math to students who range in age from 9-20 within the same classes. Students in the more advanced classes were eager to explore the world outside of the school, so Manden arranged for field trips to a woodshop, the outdoor market, and a local radio station where the class was given 20 minutes of air time to present a program they wrote with the theme Disability is not Inability.

As she works in Ghana and learns more about the culture, herself, and God, she feels confirmation in her calling. “After wanting to go to Africa for 10 years, I began to question myself,” said Manden. “Was it God calling me or was it just my own desire?”

That question has been answered each day as Manden continues to serve her students. “I have realized that throughout my life God was preparing me to rely on him while I am in Africa,” she said. “Every day, every hour, every minute, I pray to God for everything. Safety, health, help with knowing what to teach, what Bible story to share, that the electricity won’t go out, that the well will stay filled with water, and praying that I will be a light for Jesus.”

To follow Manden’s teaching journey, read her blog: http://africaandmaddy.blogspot.com/.

The history department welcomed Dr. Tobin Miller Shearer from the University of Montana on Monday, February 15, for the annual Black History Month Lecture.

Shearer presented “The Missing Movement: The Civil Rights Freedom Struggle Inside the Church.” His focus was on the civil rights movement that took place within the church, specifically within the Mennonite tradition. This is a “movement that has not been studied or given attention to,” said Shearer.

Opening with a story of two women in the Mennonite church, one African American and the other Caucasian, Shearer shared how the church was integrating with the African American population. For most church members, however, once inside the church, it resembled the rest of society–segregated.

“You remove yourself from the world, to a place that looks a lot like the world,” Shearer explained.

Giving the example of dress, Shearer explained how the coverings of the women functioned in different ways among races. The Caucasian women wore the coverings as a means to gain legitimacy, while the African American women wore the coverings as way to say “I, too, am a Mennonite.”

During the course of the century the women rose up and helped move the church out of segregation and toward integration.

Completing the chronology of the civil rights movement within the church, Shearer left the audience with one final question: Which better represents the civil rights movement? the actions taking place on the streets and sidewalks or the actions taking place within the sanctuaries and living rooms?

The psychology department is once again honoring the artistic abilities of its students with a selection of artwork from student Chelsea Keane ’10 of Sykesville, Maryland.

Keane’s painting, titled Something Fundamental, is on display in the psychology department located in Vander Velde Hall.

“The piece is such a simple piece but one that reminds me of the complexities and intricacies of life,” Keane said, recalling all of the work and detail that went into the painting. “When one views my piece, they may only see three basic forms, but to me there is so much work, effort, and craftsmanship that was woven into the piece that gives it flavor and life.”

The three everyday objects—a mug, an apple, and a paper bag—are each essential and share a sense of purpose. As Keane painted each item, though, it became evident that the objects built upon one another creating a sense of intimacy and reflection. Careful detail to the reflections of one object in another is what creates the sense that the other objects are there.

“It is through this sense of color reflection that creates sensitivity, compatibility, and dominance within the piece,” Keane said in her artist’s statement.

Keane’s Something Fundamental is the third student piece exhibited in the department with work by Jordan Voskuil ’08 and Esther Holwerda ’06 featured in the past.

Trinity has taken several steps toward becoming an even better environmental steward while providing opportunities for student involvement and education.

The recent work of Trinity’s Campus Ecological Stewardship Advisory Group (CESAG) on the water detention basin has been recognized by the organization Renewal, which featured Trinity in its latest resource, Green Awakenings, Stories of Stewardship and Sustainability from the Next Generation. Trinity’s article published in the report was written by Jennifer Hill ’12 of Guston, Kentucky.

Renewal is a student-led movement working with Christian campuses to be better stewards of God’s earth. Green Awakenings was published to highlight those campuses actively making this effort and documents over 50 Christian colleges nationwide.

The CESAG’s work with the water detention basin was approved as a way to manage storm water runoff from the Art and Communication Center while taking the initiative to show environmental stewardship on the campus.

Thirty trees and shrubs, donated by Possibility Place Nursery in Monee, Illinois, were planted in the basin in 2008 by more than 20 students, providing an educational laboratory in addition to habitat restoration.

“Helping with the detention basin was something small,” said CESAG member Jenna VanDyk ’12 of Tinley Park, Illinois. “But it will hopefully help in the future and help others realize what needs to be done and how easy it is to help.”

In an effort to raise awareness and show dedication to caring for God’s creation, the CESAG is working to educate students, staff, and community members on the value of ecological endeavors.

To learn more about CESAG’s Habitat for Life, click here to download the PDF.

Two new students have been named recipients of the prestigious Trinity Christian College Founders’ Scholarship. Aletta Huisman of Hudsonville, Michigan, and Jacob Maatman of Lynwood, Illinois, both expressed excitement and gratitude upon receiving the news from their Trinity admissions counselor Dilaun White ’09.

Founders’ scholarships are renewable full-tuition awards given to two incoming freshmen. Applicants must rank in the top five percent of their graduating class or achieve a 3.8 grade-point average; score a minimum of 30 on the ACT or 1320 on the SAT; exhibit leadership in their church, school or community; and display evidence of personal faith in Jesus Christ.

Huisman, who is a senior at Unity Christian High School and plans to major in biology at Trinity, said that after spending Founders’ Weekend with the 31 other candidates, she realized the committee’s decision would be a difficult one to make given the caliber of students being considered. She is the daughter of Bob ’87 and Lisa ’86 Huisman and attends Immanuel Christian Reformed Church in Hudsonville, Michigan, where her father serves as pastor.

Maatman is a senior at Heritage Christian School and will major in mathematics. He is the son of Troy and Rebecca ’86 Maatman and attends South Holland Protestant Reformed Church. White, along with Pete Hamstra, vice president for admissions and marketing, and Jeremy Klyn ’02, director of admissions, arrived at Heritage to make the announcement to a very surprised Maatman, and his mother who teaches Kindergarten at the school.

Responding quickly to the news of the devastating earthquake in Haiti in January, student, staff, and faculty leaders met with President Steve Timmermans to figure out a way to help. Out of that meeting came plans for the Haitian Relief Benefit Concert featuring the a cappella group Supremacy 4 on February 5.

Nearly 300 people attended and enjoyed the featured group in addition to Trinity’s Gospel Choir, Outcry, and Sisters in Unity. Proceeds totaling nearly $8,000 from the concert, as well as other on- campus fundraisers, have been divided between four organizations: the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC); Elim Christian School, in Palos Heights, Illinois, where students assembled Hope Packs for Haiti, filled with food and supplies; Mission of Hope Haiti; and Vision of Hope Ministries. Representatives from each organization were present to provide information after the concert.

Liz Metcalfe ’83, head women’s basketball coach at Trinity, taught for three years in Port-au-Prince at the Quisqueya Christian School, which suffered no damage during the earthquake but has become an oasis in the devastation. Metcalfe shared news from the school with the audience.

According to reports, the chapel is being used as a hospital/surgical room; the Pre-K/Kindergarten area is occupied by children from a local orphanage that was destroyed by the quake; and the soccer field has become a temporary tent city for staff and national workers. The basketball court, where Metcalfe coached her first basketball game 27 years ago, serves as a trauma center and a place for the distribution of food and water.

On January 23, in home conference basketball contests against Trinity International University, the Trolls raised $1,400 through ticket and concession proceeds, t-shirt sales by the volleyball team, and donation collection. The money was combined with the other fundraising efforts on campus.