La Sierra University freshmen jump into college at Big Bear Lake

The university’s annual Ignite event, a three-day slate of activities designed to teach lessons of trust and teamwork, Christian values and the requirements of college played out Sept. 19 – 21 at Pine Summit Christian Camp in Big Bear Lake. The camp is located about 60 miles from the university in Riverside. 

At Big Bear, 260 freshmen, who had been divided into ‘family groups’ led by 58 current university students arrived on Wednesday morning and spent the afternoon taking group photos, eating, mingling and worshipping. On Thursday, the groups engaged in a variety of outdoor games and activities that sent laughter and shouts echoing through the mountain air. These included human foosball, multi-ball dodgeball, archery, ziplining, a climbing wall and ropes course. 

“It’s done a really good job of integrating me with the rest of the freshman class,” said Kaleo Smith, commenting on the Ignite experience after playing dodgeball. He arrived at La Sierra to study computer science following graduation from Loma Linda Academy. His uncle, Kimo Smith, is a member of the La Sierra University music department faculty.

Further up in the forest, freshmen and their group leaders were testing their climbing and balancing skills as well as their courage. Wearing helmets and secured with safety harnesses and ropes anchored by camp staff, some scaled a climbing wall that soared toward the tops of the pine trees, while others climbed up a pole to walk across a large log suspended horizontally 32 feet above the ground.

“I wanted to get down as soon as I got up,” said Leilani Cabral, a sophomore from Riverside after carefully traversing the hanging log. “But these opportunities come once.” Cabral served as a family group leader during Ignite. She volunteered in order to practice taking a leadership role and because she remembered her own insecurities as a freshman. “I wanted to be someone’s friend, someone they can talk to,” she said. 

Pine Summit Activities Coordinator Warren White anchored the safety ropes as people teetered their way across the hanging log. “The goal of the ropes [course] is building trust in the person holding you and conquering that fear. It’s more of a confidence builder,” he said. The balancing act also serves as a lesson in trusting God, he said. “The Lord’s got your back,” said White.

Over by the climbing wall, freshman exercise science major Alex Ogletree said he liked “the fellowship [of Ignite]. It’s like one big family.” He arrived from American High School in Catania, Italy where his father served in the U.S. military. Ogletree was recruited to play baseball with the Golden Eagles as a pitcher.

While describing their Ignite experience, some of the freshmen also spoke about their reasons for enrolling at La Sierra University.

Cabral is a pre-nursing major aiming to transfer to Loma Linda University’s nursing program. She chose to attend La Sierra a year ago rather than follow her Arlington High School classmates to other colleges. She wanted to stretch herself outside of her comfort zone. “It was for me to grow as a person. It was an opportunity to meet other cultures and ethnicities,” she said. 

Golden Eagles baseball player Mark Martinez, a marketing major who arrived from Mile High Academy in Denver, Colo. said he liked La Sierra for its welcoming atmosphere. “Here you can be yourself and people will accept you,” he said. ”We all come from different backgrounds and it’s cool that people care and want to help you.”

To view photo albums from La Sierra University Ignite, visit https://www.facebook.com/LaSierraU/