A Podcast for Incoming Students:LCU Peer Guides

Keegan Stewart: Hello and welcome. This is the LCU podcast, a podcast that brings stories, insights, and people from Lubbock Christian University.
I'm your host, Keegan Stewart, and I'm excited to be with you for another episode.
On today's episode, I'm going to visit with four current LCU students, Ari Zamora, Turner Becton, Chloe Davis, and Emma Scott.
The point of this episode is to give key information, answers to questions, and overall insights
about being a student at Lubbock Christian University.
If you are an incoming freshman, this is a great episode for you to listen to.
I'd also like to welcome special guest host, Rebecca Kamani, who's going to join me on this
episode.
Hope you enjoy the conversation with these four awesome LCU students.
Excited to be joined by Ari Zamora and Turner Becton starting out here.
Also want to welcome our special guest host for this episode, Rebecca Kamani.
Welcome.
Rebecca Kimani: Hey, guys.
Keegan Stewart: Really glad that you're here.
Turner, we'll start with you on the first question.
You guys are all peer guides out of our Center for Student Success.
Explain what a peer guide is.
Turner Becton: So the main job for a peer guide, we're just trying to ease the transition from high school
to college, make it pretty smooth.
if we're texting you info, getting to know you, we're just trying to keep y'all excited, engaged,
and just try to have a good transition from whatever high school you come to to this great place.
Keegan Stewart: So y'all are in a constant communication with these incoming freshmen.
Turner Becton: Oh yeah. All the time. We have, we have actually had to get special emails because we've been
emailing them back and forth so much, texting. And we also get to meet one person with our fun
events we've been doing all throughout the summer.
Keegan Stewart: Perfect. So if you know, you are an incoming freshmen, absolutely be intentional about trying to meet your peer guide when you get here next week.
Oh, definitely. Absolutely. Ari, how would you describe your role and your experience
as a peer guide being in communication with these freshmen that are moving in soon?
Ari Zamora: I think it's been great overall getting to put like a name to the face and everything or face to
the name, however you want to say it. But I think it's just been so rewarding and walking with them
And just like our school motto and like showing them what LCU is all about and just being able to walk them through like Turner said.
And yeah.
Rebecca Kimani: Awesome. So Turner, you're going into your junior year, right?
Turner Becton: Yes.
Rebecca Kimani: So tell me a bit about your experience with like the professors that we have here on campus.
Turner Becton: So all the professors with me have been very intentional about getting to know me in more than just like the classroom settings.
And I've had so many opportunities to do it just throughout different trips.
I've been able to go on and just talk to them in their office hours.
The class becomes a little more fun.
They may poke fun at me a little bit.
It's just been a great overall experience with them.
Rebecca Kimani: Yeah, absolutely.
Especially since our motto is we walk with you.
And I feel like our professors definitely exemplify that inside the classroom and outside of it to provide us a holistic educational experience.
So Ari, we both know that the classes here at LCU are a lot smaller than traditional schools.
How has the smaller classroom size impacted your educational experience?
Ari Zamora: I think it's been overall my favorite aspect when coming to LCU.
I grew up in San Antonio, Texas, so I had class sizes that were at least 50 people just in high school.
So being able to come over here to LCU and have your professors really pour into you in these smaller classes has been like the most crucial part of my success here on campus.
Rebecca Kimani: Yeah, absolutely.
Keegan Stewart: LCU is a Christ-centered institution, which I love.
I love that as a student here, that it's so much of our community being Christ-centered.
And Turner, I want to talk to you, my next two questions to each of you is kind of about that Christ-centered piece.
I want to start with you, Turner, about the Bible classes.
Everybody comes in and is expected to take four different Bible classes.
Would love to learn about your takeaways you've had from those or your experience in the College of Bible.
Turner Becton: So the Bible class has been very beneficial to me.
I've been lucky to have three different teachers that taught three different ways.
My first one just went all throughout the Old Testament.
It was amazing kind of getting to see like how we went through going through the laws of the Old Testament, how it can be applied today.
And the next one I had with Dr. Fraze.
He focused only on the book of Luke.
So we got to go in an in-depth perspective of how the gospel was through that.
And it was super cool because it actually became my favorite gospel because of that.
Then the last one with Christian living and Christian heritage that I had of Dr. Heige,
it was really cool getting to see, especially of Christian living, because it was how do I apply
the Bible to our day-to-day lives with being a Christian, because we're Christians first in
everything we do here. So it's quite awesome.
Keegan Stewart: Yeah, that's well said. And another big component of our community in being Christ-centered, Ari, is our chapel that we meet on Monday,
Tuesday, and Thursday at 11 a.m. Talk to us about chapel and explain what spiritual life credits
are to those who are coming soon.
Ari Zamora: Okay, so basically chapel is our time to really worship the Lord and spend time with Him in the middle of a busy day or busy week, or maybe it's finals,
maybe it's midterms, and you really just get to spend time with Him and really worship with the
people around you. We're usually required to have 40 to 45 credits. You can also get chapel exemptions
depending on if you work or are off campus, whatever that may be. But yeah, you would have
to go to chapel 45 times. Or there's also outside chapel credits that you can get. So if you
aren't thinking that you'll hit the deadline, you can go ahead and like find ways to get your
chapel credits. But yeah, that's just kind of the way that I would put it.
Keegan Stewart: Yeah. And there's online opportunities for online chapel and Friday small group as well. Have you
been involved with Friday small group?
Ari Zamora: Yes. And it's actually been really beneficial because the one that I was in happened to be all girls. So it was really beneficial to be able to tap in
to like the Lord and everything with them and to see how it can be like as a woman in Christ
and what that looks like. Very cool.
Rebecca Kimani: Very cool. So Turner, just like Ari was saying, chapel is definitely a time that we can stop in the middle of our very busy day and just focus on
God and hear from wonderful speakers, even practicing that on Fridays in a smaller group
setting. But we definitely know that after chapel, lunch rush is definitely a very real thing. So what
are some tips you have about navigating that?
Turner Becton: Honestly, the best way I do it is I look if I have an 11:40 after chapel, I like to pack a snack or something or just like get a peanut butter and
jelly from my dorm room. Or if you like really want to get lunch, there's something amazing at the
calf. Something I will do is sit kind of closer to the back to get out first so I can get a line
for when the calf opens. Because like that stir fry line gets pretty long. So you always want to
make sure to get first in line for that. And if not, Starbucks is always just a nice quick fix or Chap Express
Rebecca Kimani: Yeah, absolutely there are definitely multiple options on campus that students have when it comes to after lunch or just like any time there's a break after your classes we have
starbucks like you said shop desk the calf um which monday through friday it's still open even during
not like traditional food hours you can go in there get a snack whatever you need.
Turner Becton: Or just the chicken tenders that they have at Chap Desk those are probably the best ones.
Keegan Stewart: At Chap Express?
Turner Becton: Yeah.
Keegan Stewart: I was like, Chap Desk has chicken tenders now?
Rebecca Kimani: I was like, what?
Turner Becton: I was like, I worked there for a year and I didn't get offered any chicken tenders.
Keegan Stewart: Oh, I'm with you.
Those are great.
Rebecca Kimani: Ari, as we know, when it comes to academics, there are definitely multiple resources and
things that students need to learn how to navigate, like office hours, syllabi, Moodle, their
Outlook email.
So what are some tips that you would give to students about how to utilize those resources?
Ari Zamora: For sure, with tutoring, the Center for Academic Success has definitely been a crucial part of my college experience.
You can go get a tutor instantly, and it's actually in your tuition already, so it's easy to just go ahead and sign up and really utilize those resources.
Also, mentors.
You don't have to have anything or any requirements to get a mentor, and they'll just sit and talk with you about your classes or anything.
even outside of like classes you can talk about anything that's going on in your life
for sure I've utilized a lot of my professor's office hours because they're able to just sit
and chat with you and I feel like that's so special because you gain a connection with
your professors versus in a d1 school they don't even know your name so it's really special that
you can come here and talk to your professor like if they're your friend.
Rebecca Kimani: Yeah absolutely and kind of referring to some other things that you use in your day-to-day like when it comes to syllabi
or like Moodle because I believe that's used at other schools as well just what tips would you
give to students about kind of getting familiar with those programs and resources that they're
given in class?
Ari Zamora: For sure with the syllabi almost all the time every single professor will go exactly with their syllabus. So I would like frame it, put it up, whatever you have to do,
like it's going to be so important. And like, do not throw that piece of paper away because it's
so important. And if you really have any questions, your professors can always,
you can get contacted with them really easily. But even being able to go to tutoring and showing
them your syllabus and what you're going to have to do throughout the semester is really good. So
Moodle, there's like tabs that a lot of people use or like a calendar that will say exactly what to do on that day.
So that's what I use pretty often to make sure, okay, this is what to do on Tuesday.
It's Sunday.
I got to make sure I get it done.
So I think for sure the calendar, because it doesn't matter what class it is, it'll always have it on there.
Rebecca Kimani: Absolutely.
Thank you for that.
Keegan Stewart: So I'm going to ask these last two to both of you.
And it's kind of, it could be kind of a speed kind of round.
But what is some helpful information that you wish you knew before you started as a freshman at LCU that one who's moving in next week might be thankful to know?
Let's start with you, Turner.
Turner Becton: That it's okay not to know what to expect with it.
That's because everybody's like, you got to pick your major.
You got to do this, this, and this.
But honestly, I think it's best to kind of come in a little bit unexpected of what classes are going to be like or what anything's going to be like.
Every teacher teaches differently.
Every human's different.
So I think just coming in with a mindset of God's got it, it's going to be unexpected.
You're just going to be able to flourish a lot better and just be able to dive in the community we have here with students, teachers, staff, faculty.
Keegan Stewart: Awesome. For you, Ari?
Ari Zamora: I think Turner said it pretty perfect.
Like, it's okay to not know anything, like to not know what's going on.
Like, especially as a first generation student and like did not know anything about college.
My parents didn't know too much.
So I was really diving in deep six hours away from my family.
So I had to really figure out what I was doing.
But with the LCU community, they 100% helped me through it.
Keegan Stewart: And Ari, what's been your favorite class and your favorite professor?
Ari Zamora: I think I'm a communications major, so I think that all of my classes have been really, really good.
Definitely my communications classes with Miss G, Melanie Grellhesl, and she's simply the best.
I love her so much.
She has helped me really with this walk in college and like made me feel like a person and that I belong here.
Keegan Stewart: Very cool.
What about for you Turner, favorite class and favorite professor?
Turner Becton: My favorite class would either be A&P or motor learning and control, which is like a deep dive into the theories of how the body moves.
And my favorite professor would, I don't know, I'd probably say Dr. Ricks.
He's super fun, energetic, even though he does make fun of me a little bit in class.
It's always a great time.
Keegan Stewart: That's awesome.
We probably should have started with this, but let's just conclude.
Y'all say where you're from and what you're majoring in.
Turner Becton: I'm from Lubbock, Texas, and I'm majoring in exercise sports science with an occupational therapy emphasis.
Keegan Stewart: Perfect. And we know communication major, Ari, but you said living away first-gen student. Where are you from?
Ari Zamora: I'm from San Antonio, Texas, and I'm an IMC major, which is communications with a minor in Spanish.
Keegan Stewart: Fantastic. Well, hey, thank y'all so much for taking the time to have this conversation.
And I feel confident that y'all's advice is going to be very helpful to incoming freshmen and transfers.
Thank you all for your time today. All right, we're back with our second
set of peer guides. Today, we have Emma Scott and Chloe Davis. Chloe, thank you for doing this this
afternoon. Start out. Tell us where you're from and some of the things that you're involved in on campus.
Chloe Davis: I'm Chloe Davis. I am a third-year early childhood education major from Lubbock, Texas,
And I am an active member of Zeta Gamma, and this upcoming year will be my second year holding a leadership position.
Keegan Stewart: Awesome. What about you, Emma?
Emma Scott: I'm Emma. I'm from Shallow Water, majoring in virology with an emphasis in pre-dental.
I'm currently an LCU cheerleader for, this will be my third year, and a peer guide.
Keegan Stewart: Fantastic. Well, we got to visit and learn about what peer guides were just a little bit ago.
With y'all, we're going to dive into a little bit of student life stuff and talk about what it can look like to get involved on the campus of LCU.
So let's start with you, Chloe. How would you describe social clubs? I heard you say you're in Zeta.
How would you describe social clubs to incoming students?
Chloe Davis: I think the best way to describe it is like a mix between student organizations and a tight knit friend group,
because each club has their own personalities and traditions, and it's really all about finding
your best fit and what works best for you.
Rebecca Kimani: Right, and another thing that social clubs do is Follies every year in the spring, right? So could you tell us a little bit about Follies? Like, how would you
describe that to an incoming student?
Chloe Davis: Yeah, for sure. Follies is really just a fun, light-hearted themed performance that all of the social clubs give. It's skits, it's music, it's choreographed
dances, but really behind the scenes it's just great bonding for each club and they're just super
fun to watch.
Rebecca Kimani: Absolutely, yeah I've always enjoyed going to attend that event and since there's like student hosts and hostesses that's also a wonderful interlude between each of the shows.
So Emma, as you know there are several like student organizations and ways for students to get
involved on campus. Could you tell us a little bit about what you know about them and even your own experience with them?
Emma Scott: So besides the social clubs, there are many different organizations in the
department. There's Ag and Pre-Vet Club, there's Pre-Health Club, there's Unshakable and Delight,
which are ministry organizations here on campus. There's Black Student Union, there's Hispanic
Organization, Student Senate, Creative Writing Club, and so many others here on campus that are great to join.
Keegan Stewart: Yeah, there's a ton of ways to get involved in different organizations. And Chloe,
one of the awesome opportunities for students that are about to get here is Get Busy Bash,
which is a great place to learn more about all of the organizations that Emma just
told us about. What's Get Busy Bash? And we know it's coming up on Tuesday, August 26th.
What can they expect in this?
Chloe Davis: Yes. So at Get Busy Bash, it's basically in the mall of campus, middle of campus, every club organization here on campus, as well as
churches, other local businesses have booths set up to share info. And some will even give out
freebies to incoming students. So basically just to meet incoming students and for incoming students
to learn more about ways to get involved.
Keegan Stewart: You can get busy bash is a lot of fun you'll see staff and faculty walking around maybe even president
mcdowell you never know so uh tuesday august 26th mark your calendars and make sure you get out to
that emma i want to talk to you about being a student worker on campus there's lots of job
opportunities you are a peer guide you work in the center for student success what would you say to a
incoming freshman that asked "are there places to work here?"
Emma Scott: I would tell them all the places so there are many desk sitting jobs you can do some of them sadly you can't apply for until the second
semester but you can sit at um KR uh Katie Rogers Hall, Johnson Hall, uh you can sit at the Rec you
can sit at the Center for Student Success you can work at Starbucks you can work for maintenance you
can work in the caf so many great jobs available for so many different opportunities.
Rebecca Kimani: I mean, even being in one of the roles, I'm sure that you have enjoyed your experience as being a peer guide.
Emma Scott: Yes, I have.
Rebecca Kimani: Awesome.
And so as we were just talking about with Get Busy Bash, Chloe, as we both know and we've all experienced,
there's so many campus events that are going on throughout the year.
Can you tell us a little bit about like your favorite events that you've attended?
Chloe Davis: Get Busy Bash is always one of my favorites because it's right at the beginning of school.
So it's just a great way to kick off the year.
I also like getting in like further to the beginning of the first semester because rush starts happening and clubs start, you know, making themselves a little bit more known to the LCU community.
But one of my favorites is Big Blue Christmas.
Love Big Blue Christmas.
Just because all the families and everybody comes and we like the shop and it's awesome.
Rebecca Kimani: Yes, absolutely.
And that is a community wide event.
And speaking of community, there is definitely something you can find in the dorms.
So, Emma, can you tell us a little bit about some of the events you've attended in the dorms from your experience in living in them?
Emma Scott: Yes. So there are many different things available when you live in the dorms.
There's creepy courtyards, which is so much fun.
There's pumpkin painting. There's bricks and flicks.
There's so many different opportunities to do in the dorm, and it's just a great way to meet people.
and just to make new friends.
Rebecca Kimani: Yes, absolutely.
And one thing that LCU is definitely known for
is their alliterations
and their rhyming words when it comes to events.
So Bricks and Flicks was a way to watch movies
and build Legos together.
So you'll definitely find a lot of creative events
in the dorms, on campus,
anywhere you look on LCU's campus.
Keegan Stewart: And there's so many things that happen.
It would be impossible for us to try and name them all.
Like just keep your eyes peeled for advertisements
for like the writing carnival is going to be coming up.
soon. We didn't even get to that. There's so many cool things going on. So many just keep your eyes
open for different events. Emma, you told us early on in this conversation that you're a cheerleader.
Yes. Let's talk about LCU athletics. What would you say to someone like, hey, is it fun going to
the games? Which games do you like? Tell us about LCU athletics and your experience being a cheerleader.
Emma Scott: So I would say going to the games is so much fun. It's a completely different environment watching
volleyball and basketball. It's amazing to watch and cheer for the teams. In the basketball games,
they generally have a cute little halftime show that some students might get to participate in.
I would say just going to the games is so much fun, like with your friends, soccer games,
baseball games, so much fun just cheering for your team.
Keegan Stewart: Yeah, so and a lot of exciting success was had just last year from multiple athletic teams, and we're looking forward to seeing what they're
going to do this year. As we begin to wrap up, I want to ask this last one to both of you and then
see if Rebecca has anything else for y'all. But what piece of advice would you give students
about getting involved in some of these things we're talking about? We'll start with you, Chloe.
Chloe Davis: I think one of the biggest pieces of advice I would give is to not wait to jump in and try new
things and just like be open to meeting new people because you'll find people in the process of doing
things. Even if you don't necessarily enjoy what you're doing, you'll find people that will become your very close friends.
Keegan Stewart: Well said. What about you, Emma?
Emma Scott: I would just say get involved as fast as you can because everyone's walking into the same situation as you at new school,
new people, and everyone's probably nervous and excited all at the same time. And it's a great way
to meet new people and just bond.
Keegan Stewart: Absolutely. Rebecca, any final thoughts or questions for our conversation today?
Rebecca Kimani: Yeah, for sure. I mean, being a peer guide, y'all have hosted various events for local students to come and get to know you guys personally. So that's definitely a piece
of encouragement I give to incoming students. There's definitely something around the corner
wherever you look and definitely people you are able to find as resources and friends.
From y'all's experience in getting involved and even hosting these events, what's
one word you would use to describe that experience?
Chloe Davis: I don't think I have one word. I think it's more so yeah that's a hard question yeah um i think it's more so like a breath of fresh air like getting
to meet everybody coming in. Because there's so many people so many different personalities
and like even in the events that we've hosted we've seen so many students like click right away which is really cool.
Rebecca Kimani: For sure, Emma what about you?
Emma Scott: in one word, that's kind of hard. I would say "incredible". Just the meeting new people the experience that you can see, bonds form from
first time meeting new students. It's just incredible to watch. Incredible is my one word.
Keegan Stewart: Our co-host today, Rebecca, is also a peer guide, but also a remarkably involved student.
So I want to conclude with asking you that question. Your best advice for the students that are about to be here.
Rebecca Kimani: My best advice.
Keegan Stewart: Put her on the spot. I know she can handle it.
Rebecca Kimani: Well, one piece of advice that I would give is don't feel pressured to be in every single thing. There's definitely, like we were saying, there's so many things to go and attend, lots of people to meet.
But as you get involved and kind of put your foot in each thing, you learn where your strengths lie and what you have a passion for.
And once you find that, take hold of it and run with it, because you can make such an impact for the next student that's going to come in or the next student that you're going to interact with.
And by using the skills that you have to help one organization flourish, you're going to impact somebody's entire college experience.
Keegan Stewart: That's really well said.
Very good.
Lots of great advice being given this afternoon.
Emma, Chloe, thank you all for joining us today and sharing your wisdom with the incoming students.
Chloe Davis: Thank you for having us.
Keegan Stewart: You bet.
We're grateful.
And we also want to say one more thank you to Ari and Turner and to our special guest host, Rebecca Kamani.
Thank you for being here today.
Rebecca Kimani: Happy to be here.
Keegan Stewart: As well.
Here's what I want to say about this episode.
If you see it and you know somebody who's going to be a shop very soon, send it to them.
If you listen to this episode and you're an incoming student, send it to someone else that's coming.
Let's get this information out so it can be most helpful.
As always, we want to thank you for listening to the LCU podcast.
We thank you for your time today, and we wish you the best.
God bless.
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