Parent Blessing Service, joyful Hello Walk start freshmen on their journey

On September 16, the university held its annual Parent Blessing service at the La Sierra University Church, affording parents and family members a meaningful moment of blessing in which to send off their freshmen students and pray God’s grace upon their lives. 

The following day, freshmen gathered for a group photo and paraded single file to energetic music down a central walkway leading from La Sierra Hall toward the Dining Commons and Administration Building. Faculty and staff, along with Eko the mascot lined up to greet the new college students in the annual Hello Walk with cheerful welcomes, high fives and fist bumps. The welcome celebration concluded with a Seventh-day Adventist meal tradition––haystacks––served up along the Path of the Just on Founders’ Green.

Both events are part of the annual IGNITE freshman orientation week activities that take place each September.

The Blessing Service program included a welcome by Vice President for Student Life Marjorie Robinson, congregational worship music by a praise team, and announcements by Office of Student Involvement Director Victoria Carreon.

The service was anchored by a spiritual message from Head Chaplain Derrick Cruz whose talk centered around the biblical passage in Numbers 6:22-26 in which God guides Moses in blessing the Israelites. Cruz drew parallels between the Israelites’ wilderness journey from Mt. Sinai toward an unknown destination with students’ journeys through the challenges of a university education. 

"The blessing doesn’t make the journey easier. It reminds them that they do not have to walk alone.” – Head Chaplain Derrick Cruz

The Israelites, after leaving Egypt, arrived at Mt. Sinai where they camped for possibly a year before God directed them to leave. “They were living in a tension between what has become familiar and what happens after this,” Cruz said. “They don’t know if there will be food and water and God doesn’t give them an address to put in Google maps or Apple maps.

“You know what God gives them? A blessing. The blessing doesn’t make the journey easier. It reminds them that they do not have to walk alone.”

The blessing in the Book of Numbers consists of three parts, Cruz noted. It prays God’s blessings for physical well-being, for His grace and presence, and for God’s peace and wholeness.

Cruz reflected on his Puerto Rican upbringing in public housing in New York City, and as the first in his family to graduate from college. He talked about his uncle who raised him and who imparted blessings on him and others whenever they left home, as a way of praying God’s grace into spaces where his uncle could not go.

“I could not leave my home without a blessing from my uncle,” he said. “He’d see my tying shoes, he’d be like, ‘Oh, God bless you.’”

Cruz addressed the tension freshmen experience between the familiarity of home and the newness of the academic journey.

Cruz said to the students, “Many of you are arriving here carrying more than the things you brought into the dorm. You’re carrying your story. You are carrying sacrifices. You are carrying people.” 

He called upon family members, guardians and friends of freshmen to remain a source of love and belonging as students encounter new ideas and undergo transformation. 

“Our promise here at La Sierra University is that we will create a place where you can grow and become the person God created you to be, not just for yourself, but for the sake of others,” Cruz said.

Following his presentation, parents, guardians and family members prayed a blessing over their student, reading a blessing printed on cards for the service. 

Freshmen orientation student leaders, faculty and staff members prayed blessings over freshmen who attended without family members.

The service concluded with a formal prayer of blessing by La Sierra University President Christon Arthur who prayed the Israelite’s blessing over the audience, for the students’ continued growth and spiritual wellbeing, seeking God’s abundant goodness and presence, and entrusting the students to God and his power, and dedicating them to the glory of God.

Hello, hello!

Following the next day’s Hello Walk, several freshmen paused to talk about what they most looked forward to in the new school year and why they chose to attend La Sierra University.

Lucas Greene arrived from Yucaipa to study pre-engineering. He was homeschooled and attended Redlands Adventist Academy. He believes La Sierra was his best Seventh-day Adventist option in California for the pre-engineering track, he said. He is looking forward to interacting closely with his professors, particularly in physics, due to the university’s small class sizes.

“I’ve heard good things about the physics professor,” he said. “My classrooms are going to be smaller, so I’ll be able to spend more time with my professors in class.”

Freshmen Katelyn Nemhard, Evelyn Hernandez, and Tatiana Gonzalez respectively arrived from Paradise and Glendale areas where they attended Adventist academies. They all talked about their interest in making new friends in the coming school year and participating in campus activities. 

“I’m really excited to see where that can take me in the future." – Evelyn Hernandez, kinesiology major

Nemhard, who is pursuing a pre-health major for dental hygiene prerequisites, also cited the university’s Seventh-day Adventist values and her prior residence in the area as driving factors in her school choice.

“I wanted to go to an Adventist school because my mom’s a pastor, so that’s definitely what influenced me,” she said. Nemhard said the IGNITE orientation activities provided opportunities to meet many other students, which helped the process of forming new connections. “Like during the family groups, like really bonded with them because we’re spending a lot of time together.” 

“I got a really good scholarship here, but then I also have family members that also went here and my older sister goes here currently,” Hernandez said. She plans to pursue a degree in kinesiology followed by studies in occupational therapy for which she received a scholarship. “I’m really excited to see where that can take me in the future,” she said.

Gonzalez is studying kinesiology and aims for career as a sports psychologist. The scholarships she received, and La Sierra’s faith heritage were instrumental in her decision to enroll, she said.

This school year she is most looking forward to “the different activities going on and making new friends and just seeing what’s going to happen,” she said.