Written by Zachary Fu In the fourth quarter of a riveting basketball game, the home team head coach paces up and down the court sideline. A player on the bench, still in his warm-ups, sits in silence amidst the crowd’s deafening cheering. He tries to hide his frustration, but he is unable to camouflage his deep and evident desire to contribute to the game. Any individual in the stands would be quick to label this player a “bench warmer,” or sometimes even just “the bench.” This collegiate player, however, is both the embodiment of hard work in grueling practices, and in many cases, a former high school star — details…

Written by Adrienne Nunley David Ottestad attended Biola in the fall semester of 2008 before he realized the American Dream wasn’t for him. When the time came to make post-high school plans, Ottestad had no idea what he wanted to do. His parents encouraged him to pursue the four-year college experience, believing, like many American families, in the ability of a bachelor’s degree to ensure some sort of future security. Ottestad wasn’t interested, but he eventually decided on Biola after getting accepted into the film program. In his first semester, Ottestad realized his true passion: music. “Instead of studying,” Ottestad says, “I was writing music in every class.” He began…

Written by Stephanie Gertsch Transitioning to college means facing the unknown—leaving behind your home and childhood friends, learning to live in a new world, and suddenly wondering, “Who are these hoards of twenty-year-olds in flip flops?” Whether moving just a few hours away or across an entire country, transitions make life more exciting, but also more difficult. American-born college students wonder if there are any points of contact between themselves and an international student, or if they should respect cultural differences by holding off on cultural assumptions. Newcomers wonder if America is a safe place to learn and grow, or if they must constantly struggle against prejudice and misunderstanding. As…

Written by Claire Callway English budgies, lineolated parakeets, cockatiels, and canaries populate and color Peggy Burke’s life. Cacophonous chirping and the sound of fluttering wings fill her home so much that we can hear it from the outside. Within seconds of walking in the door, a large, regal green Macaw named Tiki had already found a perch on my photographer’s head. Apart from Tiki, several other birds flitted around the main room, chirping happily and playfully at each other. Burke gladly showed us around her rooms filled with cages containing around one hundred birds of all breeds, sizes and colors. She allowed us to hold a few as she spouted…

Written by Sarah Jean “So what have you done with your life?” Today, with a Fulbright scholarship, a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. over 5,000 friends on Facebook, and even his own Wikipedia page, few would think it hard for Biola University President Barry Corey, Ph.D. to answer this question. Years ago, though, he wasn’t so sure. Five years out of college, at the age of twenty-seven, Corey went through what he calls a “crisis of normality.” “We were just a middle class family, everyone was a Christian, we all loved Jesus, we all loved each other.” Corey says his “security crutches” were never kicked out from under him. The cure…

Written by Sarah Jean Discipline. For most, the word means self-denial and willpower: losing sleep to study for an exam, remembering to pay the phone bill on time, or passing by the display case lined with plump swirly-top cupcakes. Afterwards, it’s the ‘A’ on an exam, the perfect credit score, or the clothes that fit that make the small triumphs seem worthwhile. Few enjoy the process of disciplining themselves. It seems a bit monastic to actually appreciate the solitary triumphs that receive little attention from others. What if those solitary moments of discipline, not the end results, were actually the most rewarding part? The lives of artists and monks are…

Written by Zachary Fu Freshman cross country and track runner Alexandra Sciarra exemplifies an strong spirit in the face of athletic trials. After competing as one of Biola’s top runners during cross country season and helping the team to a second-place national finish, she knew what it meant to “feel on top of the world.” When she returned from winter break for indoor track training, she noticed that something in her body was not right. “I had somehow injured my Achilles tendon… well, that’s what I thought it was. It’s just like a little thing, but it’s one of those nagging injuries that’s like a stabbing pain when you’re running,”…

Written by Candace-Arce Lindsay Sarah Jong, a junior and cellist performance major, relates the difficulty of rising each day to face the heaviness of trials. In her home in South Korea, she was plagued by an illness for which doctors could find neither name nor cure. “My disease was so obscure it didn’t have a name, but the doctors did not give me more than two weeks to live,” she explains. She was healed from her sickness by what Jong describes a miracle of God. “Actually this is my second life,” she says of her current symptom-free state. “God saved me; I met Him at that time, and I’m the…

Written byCandance-Arce Lindsay “The idea that I might be able to do something really exceptional, to be able to participate in something really extraordinary is what gets me out of bed in the morning,” shares Jon Puls, professor of Painting, Drawing and Art History at Biola University. This expectation for excellence influences both his vocation as artist as well as professor. While working in the studio or teaching one of his classes, he works in the hope of finding some real profundity around the corner that might surprise him in each of his daily projects. This drive necessitates an intentional and constantly industrious way of living, which can prove a…