Pursuit | Fall 2023

VOLUME 14 ISSUE 1

FALL 2023

Behind the Sound How The Chapel Band Connects CBU Through Worship

Somewhere In Between

A Painfully Beautiful Semester: A Photo Series

Barra de Pan Restaurant

The pursuit of truth: To show students the wide range of experiences life has to offer.

Featured:

Ignacio Dominguez spends an afternoon at Barra de Pan, a restaurant that brings the experience of a home kitchen in Mexico to Corona, Calif. To read more, turn to page 26.

PHOTO: JOSSEYLN GUILLEN

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I N

T H E

I S S U E

CULTURE

10

LIFESTYLE

16

TRAVEL

28

PHOTO SERIES

34

FAITH

46

STUDENT LIFE

52

Somewhere In Between What’s In a Woman’s Purse The Painfully Beautiful Semester What your ‘00s Rom Com Says About You Barra de Pan Artists In Residence Behind The Sound Love Letter to Those I May Not See Again What Are You Reading Note To My Past Self

MOMENTS IN POETRY Passage Ugly Similarities Summer Peach Skin Dorm Room Philosophy

SCRIPTURE Psalm 23 Psalm 27

Editor’s Note Take a moment to recall one of hundreds of times you’ve been asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Can you remember the first career you wanted? The third? The eighth? I’m not sure what number I was on when I said working on a magazine would be a dream job. Now that I am working on Pursuit, I can remember middle school me browsing through Architectural Digest. Now flipping through this issue and feeling awestruck . . . it’s something I can only credit to God. Yes, it took hard work and late nights from everyone on staff. A lot of creative ideas and problem-solving when things went wrong.

But above all else, choosing to seek guidance over all decisions from God. This issue makes me think of home and comfortability. I hope you feel the sentiment our staff does, from the nostalgic 2000s Rom Com quiz to the inside scoop on Barra de Pan or a reminiscence on the people we’ve passed by here at CBU but do not fully know.

Enjoy this issue, and never forget to pursue your passions.

To the Pursuit staff, you always impress and will always be memorable to me. Thank you for your steadfast courage to try new ideas.

To Sonya and Casey, thank you for leading us well. I would not be here writing this without your encouragement.

Courtesy of Josiab Her

Madison Kirkland Editor-in-Chief

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Fall 2023

Staff

MADISON KIRKLAND EDITOR- IN-CHIEF & DESIGN EDITOR

ZERENITY LOPEZ MANAGING EDITOR

SONYA SINGH DIRECTOR OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS

CASEY MALDONADO ASST. DIRECTOR OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS

KIA HARLAN PHOTO EDITOR

CHARISSA GRAVES ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR

VANO HURTADO STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

HANNAH DAILY ASSOCIATE DESIGN EDITOR

ZIPPORAH MARSE STAFF WRITER

GRACE CRANDALL STAFF WRITER

GABI RIGGIN STAFF WRITER

CONTRIBUTORS: TAALYN KANAAN MIKAELA SCHMIERER KITSKOS WARD MAKENNA YU COPY EDITOR: ABIGAIL JOY BELLO

IGNACIO DOMINGUEZ STAFF WRITER

LINDSEY STUMPF STAFF DESIGNER

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PHOTO: MADISON KIRKLAND

Psalm 23

The Lord the Shepherd of His People A Psalm of David.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside the still waters.

He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk though the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord.

Forever.

(NKJV) Pursuit | 9

Somewhere In Between L e a r n i n g W h at i t M e a n s t o b e a T h i r d - C u lt u r e K i d .

“Where are you from?”

One of the fastest ways to get a solid idea about someone is to casually ask this question. Learning where someone was born or where they grew up and finding out what landed them in a conversation with you is a great icebreaker. Most people ask this question expecting a one-sentence response and a chance to say, “Oh, that’s cool!”

But not everyone can give a concise answer.

“Third-Culture Kid,” or TCK, is a label for people who spent part of their developmental years in a place with a different culture than the place they were born in or where their parents are from. At California Baptist University, many TCKs are also missionary kids (MKs), meaning their parents left their home country to serve God in another country and brought their family with them. TCKs, however, are not always MKs. Mia Pollock, a sophomore marketing major, lived half of her life in Thailand before returning to California for school. Being half Thai herself, Pollock did not leave America for mission work, but she still identifies as a TCK. “It’s a complicated question,” Pollock says.

“I think when people ask where you’re from, sometimes they’re asking for ethnicity and your culture. If you’re asking for my ethnicity, you’re asking for my blood, but if you’re asking, ‘Oh, where have you lived?’ That could be anywhere, right? It’s such a hard question. I feel the need to tell everyone my whole story to be able to answer it properly.”

Sofia Sheckler, a sophomore Christian behavioral science major and another TCK at CBU, is American and lived in England for eight

WORDS: ZIPPORAH MARSE DESIGN: MADISON KIRKLAND PHOTO: KIA HARLAN & SOFIA GUZMAN

years with her parents serving as missionaries.

Sheckler describes being a TCK as someone who is a “mixture” of different cultures that they have a connection to. Someone who isn’t connected to just one culture or another but is instead “this third culture that’s bottled up with all these other cultures.”

A common TCK experience is a feeling of separation from specific communities. While being an amalgamation of cultures leads to an interesting and exciting life, it also makes it harder to relate to other people’s experiences.

With different slang, customs and conventions, living in any place can make a TCK feel like an outsider. That’s where CBU’s TCK ministry comes in.

As much fun as it is to teach and learn about culture from all of the different perspectives at CBU, one of the biggest things the TCK ministry gives its Third-Culture Kids is a recognizable identifier for their culture.

“Wherever we’re at, we’re always compared to the other, if that makes sense,” Sheckler says.

“In America, people don’t treat me like I’m fully American, but then when I’m in England, it’s even worse because I have an American accent but I’m not British at all.” This concept of feeling like an outsider no matter where you go is why the label of Third-Culture Kid is so important.

“Yeah, I am a third-culture,” Sheckler says. “There is this label to me. If there wasn’t a label, I would feel worse.”

CBU shows its care for Third-Culture Kids.

From scholarships to special outings and a

Mia Pollock, Sofia Sheckler and Daniel chat about their experiences as Third-Culture Kids.

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separate orientation, TCKs are given many resources to make their lives at CBU as comfortable as possible. Daniel, a senior political science and Christian studies major, is not only a TCK, but he also works as a TCK ministry student intern at CBU. He has expressed his gratitude for the ministry and how it has helped him.

“I’ve definitely had instances where I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m going to call these people. I need some help,’” Daniel says.

He explained that his wife had some health issues while living in Riverside. As someone who spent most of his life in Asia, he wasn’t certain how to go about helping her in America.

Someone with roots in America, he said, could call their parents and ask them for help, but his parents were thousands of miles away on a different continent, so he called CBU’s TCK ministry for information and advice.

This relationship is not one-sided. A general perspective among many TCKs is that they feel their existence at CBU benefits the community through their varied perspectives and cultures.

As much as TCKs do tend to befriend one another, they don’t automatically stick together all of the time. They also have American friends and international friends, people they can share their experiences with. Sheckler says that there are types of people who tend to be “magnets” for TCKs who aren’t a TCK themselves. People who are interested in culture and world experience are easy friends for TCKs to make. This is part of the important cultural addition the TCKs of

CBU bring to campus — “It’s two-fold, right?”

Daniel says.

Sophia Brown, a TCK sophomore early childhood studies major who spent 10 years in Italy, described TCK as “an almost underground term.” Not many people know what TCK means, and not all schools have TCK-specific gettogethers like CBU does. Knowing other TCKs is important to her.

“[TCKs] just get it. You don’t have to explain anything to them.”

- SOPHIA BROWN (SOPHOMORE, EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDIES MAJOR)

“I wish there was a bigger community outside of CBU. Just knowing of them, since I don’t know how many there are.”

For the TCK community, representation is a huge. Knowing there are other people with a complicated relationship with their culture is important for many TCKs who might otherwise feel alone in the world.

When two TCKs meet, neither of them is going to ask the other, “Where are you from?” because they know that, for them, this question can mean so many things. At CBU, more TCKs have the chance to meet, share a shorthand for their experiences and form their own community on campus.

Mia Pollock, Sofia Sheckler and Daniel show off a few memorable items they have collected over the years.

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Passage WRITTEN BY TAALYN KANAAN

If you say no hope exists, Then you have not yet seen the asters bloom in the August heat when it seems no other thing can stay alive.

You have not yet witnessed the sun rise and pour over the peaks of the Saninto mountains.

You have not yet seen a baby laugh or cry or breathe, slowly, as if that is all that exists in each moment.

You have not yet had the waves listen, or the rivers drown your secrets.

You have not had the juice of fresh blackberries run down your chin.

You have not yet heard the mockingbirds sing while your world has gone dark.

You have not yet seen the life that stirs and stills round you, with you, and through you.

If you have not hope, you have not sense: You must see, hear, touch, and taste.

ILLUSTRATION: HANNAH DAILY

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What’s in A Woman’s PURSE?

31.2% will find a random ring in their bag.

WORDS: ZERENITY LOPEZ PHOTO: KIA HARLAN

“What do you carry in your bag?”

It’s one of life’s great questions. Lancer Media Group dug into its many potential answers by surveying female students attending California Baptist University.

64.8% of CBU students carry sunglasses.

53.6% of students carry lotion.

43.2% of students use claw clips as their preferred method of hair taming.

Aquaphor is the mostused lip balm product by 33.6% of CBU students.

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A Painfully Beautiful Semester It was another year at sunny

California Baptist University, and I was ready to race the clock and find my purpose.

As a major in business in multi-interdisciplinary studies with a minor in engineerical sciences and a concentration in art, I had a lot on my plate and was determined to eat every last bite.

Class after class.

Project after project.

It seemed like everywhere I went, there was another puzzle to solve, another clue to trace.

WORDS: ZIPPORAH MARSE DESIGN: HANNAH DAILY PHOTOS: KIA HARLAN & CHARISSA GRAVES

How was I ever expected to prioritize schoolwork when the real world was so much more invigorating?

I can only imagine the hundreds of people that have walked past this fountain. Maybe even

thousands of people, who knows? Were they too busy huddled in their studies to appreciate this fountain?

I am too busy to look at this fountain. I believe art is meant to be viewed, not just looked at.

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People don’t understand me.

They never have, probably never will. Because of that, I make do on my own.

My whole life, people have told me I need to focus more and study more. You know what I say to them? One day, I’m going to be famous.

People are going to look up to my work ethic just like those before me.

I’ll be the next Humphrey Bogart... Or I guess, Jean-Paul Belmondo.

Time got away from me. I

had a stack of assignments staring at me from the corner of my room. I had to get away. I couldn’t stay there.

I felt the papers beginning to crawl as they inched closer and closer to the deadline. It was like they were SHOUTING at me.

The semester kept going despite my

attempts to freeze time. I didn’t know the day, I didn’t even know the year.

Am I still a student? What happened to the assignments and papers that shouted at me?

My assignments got backed up, as I

knew they inevitably would. I would find a way through it, as I always did. I was confident in my abilities.

I would trust God. I would prosper.

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I remember losing track of time, but I don’t remember when. Classes came and went.

I went to some. I think.

Coffee was my best friend, more than usual. Black coffee, of course — not everything about me went haywire.

Haywire... Deadlines.

I was going to make it.

I was gonna prove myself.

I knew it.

Deadlines...

7 a.m. classes...

Assignments...

9 a.m Chapel...

Coffee...

Deadlines...

Beauty...

Maybe I just needed... another nap...

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’0o

rom s com

quiz

FIND OUT WHICH MOVIE MATCHES YOUR PERSONALITY WORDS: ZERENITY LOPEZ DESIGN: MADISON KIRKLAND ILLUSTRATION: KISKOS WARD

10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU This movie automatically gives off older-sister energy. You’re either an older sister or the most responsible member of your friend group.

You don’t have time for nonsense, and typical pick-up lines do not work on you. You are a fan of grand gestures because not just anything will grab your attention. You’re picky, meaning when you find “the one” they’re everything you could ever want from a partner.

HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS If your favorite ROM-COM is “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” you’re a fan of the chase. You like the idea of playing hard to get. The term “princess treatment” is no stranger in your dating vocabulary and you are waiting for a Prince Charming to put up with all of your (reasonable) demands. Don’t get me wrong, that isn’t all you look for in a partner. Just like with Ben and Andie, compatibility is attractive to you. You want a best friend to cheer with at basketball games and a new player at family game night.

CLUELESS

Oh, as if! If this is your favorite ROM-COM, you’re a feisty one.

You like banter in a relationship.

Freedom to mock and tease is an important dynamic for you.

You’re playful, but you also have your limits. You want to be taken care of and feel safe and understood. Your partner has to be able to stimulate your mind at an academic level. Your perfect match will not make you change who you are.

27 DRESSES

If “27 Dresses” is the ROM-COM of your choice, you may as well have “Hopeless Romantic” plastered across your forehead. Jane Nichols was hopelessly in love with her boss for years and a bridesmaid in far too many weddings just to be around romance. This movie was made for the idealist. You probably already have your entire wedding planned out on Pinterest and vision boards and you definitely swoon at every celebrity wedding article posted on Vogue’s Instagram.

MISS CONGENIALITY

Gracie Hart is the poster girl for girl power. If “Miss Congeniality” is your favorite romantic comedy, you’ve seen yourself in Hart at some point in your life.

Your main focus isn’t your love life; you’re a career woman, but that doesn’t mean you’ve lost hope for romance. You march to the beat of your own drum, and when you find someone who meets your rhythm, it’s loads of fun.

xoxxooxo 13 GOING ON 30

If “13 Going on 30” is your favorite movie, you want to marry your best friend. You want to know this person for a lifetime before you spend a lifetime with them. You are highly optimistic and view romance with childlike wonder.

When you imagine your future, there’s a white picket fence around the house and a cute dog running around the corner.

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UGLY SIMILARITIES WRITTEN BY MIKAELA SCHMIERER

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(Left) Barra de Pan brings an authentic taste of Mexico to the Inland Empire.

(Top Right) Decor fills the restaurant’s entrance in Corona, Calif.

(Middle Right) Chef Lucy Silva and her daughter scan the menu for the week.

(Bottom Right) Chef Lucy Silva plates a to-go order.

A Hidden Local Gem Celebrates Mexican Culture and Cuisine WORDS: IGNACIO DOMINGUEZ DESIGN: MADISON KIRKLAND PHOTOS: JOSSELYN GUILLEN

Y

ou don’t have to travel far to immerse yourself into a Mexican gastronomic paradise. In Corona, Calif., a home has opened its kitchen and yard for a traditional meal and experience.

That home belongs to Chef Lucy Silva, who runs the restaurant Barra de Pan out of her kitchen. The name translates to “Bread Bar,” but its specialty reaches far beyond its warm, fluffy cinnamon rolls.

Behind its small wooden gate, Barra de Pan is a cultural phenomenon for the Inland Empire. The smells of different traditional dishes from Mexico and the sounds of conversation and laughter welcome you into Silva’s vibrant yet intimate venue. What

may seem so nontraditional is, in many ways, traditional.

It’s a re-encounter with the small town you visited on your trip to Mexico or that fonda from your pueblo that welcomes you as a family — the meals cooked in a home kitchen or heated just outside on an adobe stove. Barra de Pan embodies that and so much more, a place filled with nostalgia for what people once lived in their home countries. Now, the restaurant is a space to reconnect and remember their roots.

Since 2020, Barra de Pan has been a hot spot in the Inland Empire for its homey feel and traditional Mexican dishes that transport you across different states of the

Mexican Republic in seconds. It has more than 50,000 followers on Instagram, where Silva posts the dishes live — they sell on the restaurant’s app in seconds.

Silva was born in Tijuana, Mexico, which she still frequently visits, and it’s there where she had her first encounters with cooking, from helping her mom cook to learning from a neighbor. “[A]s a kid, I could see through the kitchen window, and I could smell, and I would just look. Then the lady would say, ‘Come, so I can teach you,’” Silva says. “She taught me how to make buñelos. I would go to her, and she would show me how to cook or how to make something. I guess since I was

little I was always interested in the process, but not really cooking.”

It wasn’t until later in life that her fascination with ingredients and culture would collide, leading her to the cooking business.

Silva has been in the restaurant business for almost 20 years, as a server, a manager and a caterer — practically everything you can think of within the restaurant sphere. One thing she hadn’t checked off her list, though, was owning her own restaurant.

Catering meals on the side, combined with a pandemic project in 2020, would mark the beginning of a new chapter.

“I always did catering on the side for friends, family,” Silva says.

“When COVID hit, I created that oven outside, and that’s how I started doing pizzas. And after pizzas, everybody wanted pizzas, and then they started asking me to do tacos and other things.”

Thanks to AB-626, a California retail food code, restaurants like Barra de Pan can operate from their homes, and applications like Foodnome, where Silva sells, are given a platform to post menus, garner followers and profit from their kitchens. During the pandemic, Foodnome became a lifeboat for many small restaurants, and for others like Silva, they set sail for a new opportunity. At the pandemic’s peak, restaurants nationwide began to close down.

According to a 2022 report by The Washington Post, an estimated 72,700 restaurants closed in 2020.

During a turbulent time for the restaurant industry, Foodnome became an outlet for restaurants and home kitchens to meet the demand for meals through the pandemic.

(Top) Chef Lucy Silva grates fresh cheese before serving.

(Center) Chef Lucy Silva and her daughter work quickly to keep up with the busy pace of Barra de Pan.

For Silva, Barra de Pan slowly came to form a part of the online platform after a friend suggested she start selling her meals rather than giving out her meals.

The biggest attraction for Barra de Pan is its intimate and nostalgic patio. “That’s the first thing they are attracted to — it looks like Mexico,” Silva says. “If you go to Mexico this is literally what a fondita looks like.

And then you have the music, the chairs, the colors.”

Neighbors to SoCal foodies flood the app early in the day, all trying to grab a taste of Silva’s cooking. There are regulars who frequently come through to taste every week’s new menu and immerse themselves in a hidden gem of the Inland Empire.

As you walk into the yard you’re greeted by the bright colored chairs and manteles or Mexican tablecloths brought from Michoacan, Mexico, conversations fill the air as you walk over cobblestones almost as if you’re walking through a street in Mexico, the soft lights in the evening creating a neighborly ambiance for guests.

“[People] come over, and then they talk to other people that they meet here. that’s the first thing they say — it’s just like Mexico.

There’s people that have become really good friends just by meeting here.”

- LUCY SILVA (CHEF) Pursuit | 31

(Left Top) Barra de Pan, which operates out of Chef Lucy Silva’s home, opened its doors after increasing demand from pandemic to-go orders and the addition of a backyard oven.

(Left bottom) Chef Lucy Silva cooks over the stove in her home kitchen.

(Right) The restaurant’s patio decor is meant to evoke the atmosphere of pueblos in Mexico.

In every crevice of Barra de Pan there is a story, and there is meaning that all connects back to Mexico and its traditions. The walls of the house that surround a part of the patio are painted like houses from pueblos, the bottom half red representing the blood of Christ that protects while the top white represents unity and hope. It’s small details like this that give life and meaning to every item and every detail inside Barra de Pan, but it’s not just the decoration that sets the scene.

The inviting atmosphere and Mexican sazón garner attention from all parts of Southern California and have made Chef Silva and her home popular, something that’s a surprise even for her daughter Brenda.

“I’ve had friends tell me, ‘Oh yeah, there’s this place like somewhere by your house.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s my house,’” Brenda joked.

Glimpsed through a white, glasspaneled door, the kitchen brims with the hustle and bustle of dishes going out one after another, all cooked to order. Typically, a one-man band cooks all orders fresh, but each plate made at Barra de Pan is studied and mastered before being served.

“My menu, it’s food from the places I go to,” Silva says. “I like something, or I see a video, and then I go to prepared, and I learn about the technique and how they make it — more flavors, more things that I learned throughout the traveling that I do.”

Over time, Silva has traveled to 27 of the 31 states in Mexico, exploring and indulging in each region’s traditions and ingredients. But she makes her rounds every week: She makes the nearly 100-mile drive across the border into Tijuana, Mexico, to get her ingredients for the week — each day, a

different dish with a taste of Mexico in the U.S. “I do it more because it’s fun,” Silva says. “I like to share the products that I bring from Mexico, and what I do, and the food and the taste.

And it allows me to be with my family, with my kids.”

That authenticity brings explosive popularity for Barra de Pan, but she likes to keep the preparation and cooking to herself. She relies on her two daughters to occasionally help her serve.

Whether you’re searching for the best cafe de olla with coffee beans cultivated in the mountain community of Chiapas, Mexico, or a traditional dish to remind you of the flavorful ingredients across the Mexican Republic, Barra de Pan is sure to take you there.

A home filled with so much culture and love is bringing tradition to so many, and for Silva, the best part of the night aside from cooking is — unexpectedly — the clean-up.

“I have always loved cleaning up after events,” Silva says. “It gives you a satisfaction that everything went well.”

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Artists in Residence: a photographic series Creativity is everywhere.

It’s in the minds of the people you pass walking through campus, working on their next project. You see it on the walls of the Post that are covered in student photos. You hear it every week in Chapel as student worship leaders pour their hearts out.

To create openly is a radical act of vulnerability.

It allows people to see into the depths of one’s soul. People on campus do this daily and open themselves to the scrutiny of others. They allow professors and peers to bear witness to their innermost being for the sake of a grade. They fight creative burnout, job insecurity and so much more in pursuit of their passions.

The creativity around us deserves to be seen and to be celebrated, and this photo series aims to do just that.

PHOTO SERIES: CHARISSA GRAVES

Pursuit | 35

i. Inspiration Kyle Romero Senior, Graphic Design Major Graphic Design Loft “As a designer, it’s inspirational that I have the ability to create new and beautiful things that shape the world around me.”

ii. Motivation Amanda Barrier Junior, Photography Major CBU Photo Studio “I orient my work around who I’m working with: Who are they? What do they want? It allows me to get to know them on a personal level, and allows me to serve them with a gift God gave me.”

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iii. Perspiration

Matthew Stumpf Senior, Music Major CBU Music Building, Practice Room Piano “Practice makes permanent, but don’t ignore your instincts; most of the time they are right.”

Lauren House Senior, English Major Ceramics Ceramics Studio “The option to grow not just my mind, but also my creativity, is such a unique opportunity in college.

Ceramics teaches the beauty of trying something new through bringing ideas to life.”

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iv. Collaboration

Malea Valdez Junior, Fine Art Major Ceramics Rose Garden Chapel

Charisma Hernandez Senior, Fine Art Major Painting Rose Garden Chapel

“I’ve found that working with other artists is extremely encouraging. Oftentimes, especially in the CBU environment, I’ve felt so much support from my fellow creatives. We are constantly bouncing ideas off of each other, and the access I have to helpful constructive criticism has allowed me to grow so much in my creative process. I find it inspiring to work alongside others.”

“Having others around me has greatly improved my art. From critique to compliments, I feel like it has helped me establish confidence, Before I worked with others, I was very insecure about my work.

After classwork and critiques, though, I felt like I was able to grow. I listened to others’ commentary and began applying it to my work and saw a noticeable improvement in both my art and my artistic confidence.”

Pursuit | 41 11

v. Realization Kaleb Bravo Sophomore Film Major Theater Wallace Theatre “Overall, I feel great. I think the direction has definitely let me grow in the overall acting process. Now it’s just making sure all of that reads well on stage. I really hope I can make people feel something with the character.”

Pursuit would like to thank the artists of CBU: those who let themselves be photographed, those who allowed us to feature their final product and those who were not directly involved at all. You are all equally inspirational.

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SUMMER PEACH SKIN

BY KIA HARLAN

Summer peach skin frantic fingers chant we lick lazy milk rain & eat raw egg bare feet & honey gaze, rust in cool lake bed.

Mother singing sweet sunshine sleep in forest light.

All of you is happy ache & a bare shadow love, merry with milk moon and mint dream a light whisper of spring rain; us, a sweet delirious symphony.

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Behind the Sound HOW THE CHAPEL BAND CONNECTS CBU THROUGH WORSHIP

WORDS: GABI RIGGIN DESIGN: LINDSEY STUMPF PHOTOS: KIA HARLAN, VANO HURTADO AND SOFIA GUZMAN

E

very Monday night, while many of us settle in at home and work on our studies — or, better yet, hit the sack — the Chapel Band is gearing up for the 9 a.m. service the next morning. The hours leading up to the Tuesday Chapel services at 9 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. are marked by hours of dedication, intense and intentional practice, and a shared commitment to providing a comforting and uplifting worship experience for the students and faculty who attend Chapel.

During their practice sessions, the team spends their time together as more than just a bunch of musicians thrown together through

auditions. They have formed relationships with one another as they laugh, joke, support one another and interact on the stage in preparation to lead worship.

For the band, Chapel isn’t just another item on the agenda; it’s an opportunity to come together and enjoy a collective experience of worship. Far from being a mere task to check off, Chapel is the one time when the majority of the student body is in one room, worshiping together. It’s the highlight of the week for the skilled Chapel singers and band, who dedicate their time each week to create an engaging Tuesday morning worship session.

Behind every harmony and every note, there are personal experiences that shape their commitment to creating a comforting and inspiring worship experience. Let’s step into the lives of those who make the magic happen and explore a snapshot of each of these dedicated individuals.

Esther Logan, junior music for worship arts and ministry major, is new to the Chapel Band this fall.

She has been making music since she was very young, though, and had experience in other ministries before joining the one at CBU. “Once I moved to America, I started becoming involved in

(Left) The Chapel Worship Band takes a rehearsal break.

(Right) Chapel Band guitarist Samuel Miranda strums chords during rehearsal.

worship at churches. And then choir and theater,” says Logan, who moved here from Iraq and grew up in a Christian household.

Logan made her decision to join the band this year after spending two years gaining experiences from other ensembles on campus.

“I love leading worship — I think it’s something that God has gifted me in and wants me to be doing, as long as I’m physically able. And so it just felt like another avenue to minister,” Logan says.

“I think I’m going to be leading worship at whatever capacity I can till I die.”

For worship leaders everywhere, it’s often the shared experience with the crowd that helps them also feel supported and uplifted, and leading Chapel can sometimes be daunting if students are distracted.

“It can be easy to become discouraged and to start thinking that you’re doing something wrong, or if you were doing something differently, more people would be engaged or responding,” Logan says.

“But at the end of the day, we remind ourselves, and we remind each other as a team, that we’re not doing this for us.

We’re doing this for Christ. And at the end of the day, like we can just plant seeds.

And God’s going to make them grow.”

The most encouraging part of leading worship on Tuesdays, Logan says, is seeing the students in Chapel worshiping with them.

“Some people will be dancing and jumping up and down,” Logan says.

“It’s cool and encouraging to see them worshiping.”

For each member, the experience is as unique to them as the notes they play.

Music director and drummer Aaron Carrillo, senior studio production major, has been in Chapel Band since the COVID-19 academic year and was there to record the music for online Chapel, drumming to a camera.

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“It was definitely a really, really challenging experience, just because there was no audience to engage with,” Carrillo says, “[and], obviously, not forgetting to smile for the camera.”

Now, two years after returning to Chapel in-person, he still appreciates playing to a room full of people again.

“Oh, it’s awesome,” Carrillo says.

“Being able to momentarily make eye contact with people and engage with the band, it’s great.”

For Carrillo, the opportunity to lead worship outweighs difficulties the team may face along the way.

“It still doesn’t compare to the joy of being able to worship God and serving the student body, serving CBU,” Carrillo says. “Ultimately, we’re created to worship. So worship is just an outflow of what I already do, what God designed us to do.”

Another Chapel Band member changed his major, an experience many students can relate to. Brandon Rommel, junior music for worship arts and ministry major, planned to come into CBU as an engineering major.

“That was kind of my whole plan,” Rommel says. “Then I felt the Lord calling me to do worship right before freshman year. I switched last second, and it’s honestly one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”

Meeting every week to work closely with one another has brought the whole team closer together through the spirit of worship and glory for God. “Those guys, they’re like family to me,” Rommel says. “It’s so

encouraging being able to lead the student body with people that you can call family. I leave more encouraged every time I’m with them.”

The band shows the passion they have for leading worship at Chapel, even from a quick 15 minutes of worship, every service.

“I love the sound of hundreds of people just singing their hearts out to God. It’s something that’s so special to me.

It’s so humbling to be a part of that and be a part of what God’s doing.”

- BRANDON ROMMEL (JUNIOR, MUSIC FOR WORSHIP ARTS AND MINISTRY MAJOR)

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Rommel’s words resonate with the connection the Chapel Band builds with the larger CBU community. The band not only supports one another, but it also has the support of the tech and sound teams and the directors of Chapel.

Damaris Paz, assistant director of Chapel, has been working with Spiritual Life at CBU and leading the team since July.

“We get to partake in something really special every week,” Paz says. “Even though it is mandatory, it’s a really special time for our community to just gather in one place and align ourselves. It’s kind of a spiritual refreshment, I think, even for me, and I hope it’s refreshing for our students, too.”

Paz, now a member of the Chapel team, was once walking the same ground as the students, as she is attended from CBU from 2016-2019 and ultimately transferred, graduating from Grand Canyon University.

“I was just so impacted by some of my professors and some of my leaders here for Chapel,” Paz says. “I just thought, man, I know I want to be a worship leader, but I love what someone was able to do in my life.

I want to be able to do that for someone else.

God works all things, and he knew this was a desire for my heart.”

At the heart of California Baptist University’s Chapel Band, there’s a profound sense of purpose and inspiration. These dedicated individuals aren’t just musicians; they’re instruments of faith and a family.

Their journey, Paz says, isn’t merely about personal aspirations. It’s about the transformative impact they’ve witnessed and experienced within these hallowed walls.

“I think what I would want every student to take away,” Paz says, “even if it is new or old [news] to them, [is] to know that God loves them, that he is good and that he is faithful, that he sent his son to die for our sins and through him, we can have the beautiful gift of salvation.”

As they gather every Monday night, their voices and instruments echo with consistent commitment, transforming long hours of practice into a compelling gathering of worship. For the Chapel Band, this isn’t just a routine; it’s an opportunity to unite the entire CBU community through worship.

(Left Top) Valeria Yanez waits for her cue to jump back in on bass.

(Left Bottom) Damaris Paz, assistant director of Chapel, lends her vocals during worship.

(Right, Top to Bottom) Chapel Band members Joshua Thomas, Aaron Carrillo and Esther Logan lead worship each week.

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A LOVE LETTER TO THOSE I MAY NOT SEE AGAIN A reminder to be thankful for those in your outer circle.

C ollege, it seems, is nothing but a constant state

of learning to let go. A class ends and the classmate who sat two seats down from you and always answered questions in the most intelligent way is gone from your life forever. The cashier who took your order every time you braved the Chick-fil-A line graduates the day before you, and you are suddenly sent in two wildly different directions, never to cross paths again. The person behind the Wanda’s counter who called your name every time you ordered a coffee, the student worker who always waved as you drove onto campus, the random girl who always seemed to be at Brisco’s at the same time as you — these are the people who surrounded you for the years you spent at CBU. And they are people you may never see again.

Taalyn Kanaan, a senior accounting major, meets me at a table outside of the Annie Gabriel Library.

Despite the autumn breeze, the air is comfortably warm. We are both in the golden hour of our college careers, preparing for whatever follows our December graduation. This time in our lives is one of reflection. Kanaan answers my questions about the people around us with the vivacity of someone who has already considered them.

“My freshman year, over Zoom,” she says, “I took an interpersonal communications class, and I got partnered with [a student-athlete]. We had to ask each other questions about ourselves. In this little five to ten minute conversation, I found out that he WORDS: GRACE CRANDALL DESIGN: MADISON KIRKLAND

has two dogs, an older sister...and his favorite movie is ‘Whiplash.’”

Like so many of us, she tucked away these small facts from a seemingly inconsequential class meeting and remembers them even now as a senior preparing to graduate. “I would see him in person around campus, and then we’d look at each other, make eye contact, and know that we both knew each other, but never talk. ... I only ever had one conversation with him.”

When asked what meaning may be found in so small a meeting, Kaanan answers in a slow, thoughtful manner: “I learned a few things. One, you never really know somebody. As much as you think you do, you don’t. And that’s OK. Because what you know, you can love and appreciate and learn from. And what you don’t, you can be OK with.” She never got to know her classmate any deeper than his name and a few simple facts, but that doesn’t mean that their meeting was purposeless. “If I [can] remember the conversations I’ve been in with people whose lives I only occupied a small percentage of, then I [can] imagine how much impact and influence I can have if I’m being intentional with my actions and words.”

You don’t need to be dear friends with someone to create a memory with them. What a relief!

People walk by Kaanan and me as we talk. Some we know well enough to wave to, others we only recognize because we’ve been a part of CBU for so long.

Regardless, it is a good reminder of those who surround us and know us, whatever form that may take.

A few days earlier, I sit down with Emma Schön, a senior entrepreneurship major, to ask the same questions. Not even a year ago, I wouldn’t have been able to pick her out of a crowd. Now, I recognize her distinctive blonde hair and ice-blue eyes wherever I am Pursuit | 53

on campus. That’s how it goes — you never look for the people you end up finding. They just show up.

Schön leans back in the chair and reminisces on one such person who crossed her path: “There’s this one guy that I had [in my class] all the way back in [my] freshman year, in one of my business courses. We had one breakout room together, did one project together.”

This meeting was during the time of COVID-19, when our personal relationships were relegated to the cold indifference of a screen.

Despite this barrier, Schön still remembers her classmate, even though they never became friends.

“I’d always see him around,” she says. “I never really talked or said ‘hi’ or anything. But… one time I was in the engineering building, and they were playing the ad that loops through and shows who got hired. And he got a job! At a really good company! I was just really happy for him.”

That’s usually how it happens: We meet people along the way and silently root for their accomplishments. “I have no idea who he is,” Schön says, “[but] I was glad to see he’s doing well.” How many people recognize your face on campus because of one group discussion, one project or one Wanda’s-line conversation? How many of those people may be quietly rooting for you in their own small ways? Noticing you in a crowd, clapping after your presentations, pausing for you at the crosswalk. There are people rooting for you, and you may not even know who all of them are.

“When I talk about [college],” Schön says, “a lot of it will be about people. Like… ‘Oh, there was this one

Sometimes, people move on and life just keeps going. You don’t get to stop and go back. It just keeps going. It’s part of the college experience.”

- EMMA Schön (SENIOR, ENTREPRENEURSHIP MAJOR)

guy I had class with, there’s this one girl I did this project with,’ and it’s just one of those things. Even if we don’t remember their names, even if we don’t remember our topics of conversation, even if we never see each other again, let us remember the kind strangers who surrounded us during our college years.

And, maybe, let us find the courage to remind them of how important they are before our time together ends.

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What are You Reading?

Genres College Students Are Picking Up.

I n 2023, the era of doom-scrolling and TikTok’s

“For You” page, the art of picking up a book for a good read is becoming increasingly less popular.

People still read, but they read comment sections and articles on the bright pixels of their phones.

Books simply take too much time, especially for college students. When you have to spend time reviewing flashcards or coming up with a conclusion for your third essay of the week, it’s

easier to do so with a TV show or YouTube video in the back, not with a book in your hand. Still, books are important to human culture and affect us on some level.

So, if people are watching more and reading less, what books are slipping through the cracks and still being read by CBU students today? What genres are people reading, and why have they survived the reading apocalypse of the 21st century?

Young Adult Fantasy Fantasy has always been the face of escapism. When reading a fantasy book, you’re completely transported to another world with different people, rules and expectations. In these books, there aren’t any student loans or car troubles, there are kingdoms and knights and magic and mystery. Even a character you deeply relate to will cease to remind you of any of your real issues. You get to do exactly what escapism intends: escape. If you want a good fantasy book rec that isn’t “The Hobbit” or “Lord of the Rings,” look no further than Ursula K. Le Guin’s “A Wizard of Earthsea.”

The young adult (YA) part of this genre is just as important as the fantasy part. YA books are purposefully written to be simpler, to include more clearly defined arcs and plots and usually to be much shorter. YA is like the PG-13 rating on movies; once

WORDS: ZIPPORAH MARSE DESIGN: HANNAH DAILY

you’re old enough to understand the story, a person of any age can enjoy it. YA is often ridiculed as being too elementary compared to books for older audiences, but that simplicity is the genre’s biggest strength. When a book is simple, any college student can pick it up, knock it out and walk away with a sense of completion.

They get the escapism of fantasy without the hard work of many high fantasy books, giving them the time to keep up with their courses and social lives.

A writer of YA fantasy brought up by many college students is V.E. Schwab, the author of “A Darker Shade of Magic” and her Villains series “Vicious” and “Vengeful.” V.E. Schwab is known for her short, bingeable chapters and compelling main characters. If you’re in the right mood, you can read one of her books in one (long) day.

Nostalgic Stories

Graphic Novels

Many college students have at least one book or book series they read as a child and still revisit from time to time as an adult. For some, these books come from a time before they had social media, and they were more of an active reader.

For others, these are assigned readings from middle or high school that they happened to like. Rereading a book you have already completed and already know is a great way to get some reading in and, like YA, is easy to complete amid a busy schedule.

“Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins is included in this section because it seems most college students reading this series are re-reading it for the first time since elementary or middle school, perhaps spurred by the release of its latest film installment this fall. The biggest example of adults revisiting their favorite series from childhood has to be Rick Riordan’s “Percy Jackson” series. “The Lightning Thief,” to many people, is the most important novel they’ve ever read, shaping how they think about themselves and the world around them for the rest of their lives. It doesn’t hurt that the books themselves are easy reads.

When Pursuit asked students about the last book they read, many asked, “Do graphic novels count?” As much as others may disagree, graphic novels are books with words that take time to sit down and read and definitely “count.” Not only are graphic novels easy to read, get lost in and finish — just like the other genres — but they are also fun and full of art. When reading something for fun, why would you want something that reminds you of your assigned reading when you can read what is essentially a picture book? Graphic novels use their different form of storytelling to their advantage to make complex, interesting stories accessible to people who are strapped for time.

Marvel comics combined into graphic novels are easy to get your hands on, but recently, there has been a trend of translating classic, important books into easily accessible graphic novels. Ryan North’s adaptation of the classic “Slaughterhouse-Five,” originally written by Kurt Vonnegut, is considered not only the best adaptation of the book itself but one of the best graphic novel adaptations of a classic ever made. It’s entertaining and insightful and momentarily horrific, just like the original.

Poetry Poetry books have double the value in many college students’ lives. Not only do they give short-form bursts of thought and entertainment, but they also double as a nice decoration for your dorm or apartment. Sometimes, having a nice-looking book in your work area is enough to make you want to be productive.

On a more serious note, poetry is a singular way to express ideas for a reader’s consumption. There are so many intangible feelings we experience as human beings; poetry is one of the best ways to articulate those feelings and give them a physical, recognizable space. Unlike the previous genres, poetry doesn’t have to be simple and easy to read to catch a college student’s attention. Poetry is a medium that has the capacity to capture any unsuspecting reader, and what does a college student love more than a specific thought to mull over in their head all day instead of doing their work?

As easy as it would be to jump into Emily Dickinson (which you totally should), it might be more interesting to try looking into local poetry. Inlandia Institute, located here in Riverside, highlights local writers and is the perfect way to get to know new, cool poets. If that’s not simple enough, just try turning this page! Pursuit features plenty of poems written by and for CBU students just like you.

Spiritual One of the special things about CBU is the student population’s openness about their relationship with God. Christian spiritual books often make their rounds on campus, and even people with no interest in reading might pick one up. Dane Ortlund’s “Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners” is a current popular pick for many CBU students. It takes a deep dive into how Jesus responds to His people as well as desiring them to seek Him for peace.

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ILLUSTRATION BY: MAKENNA YU

DORM ROOM PHILOSOPHY WRITTEN BY GRACE CRANDALL

Bring in the takeout bags spotted with grease— the paper plates and plastic cups, the porch chairs that dip under the weight of dorm room philosophy.

Place your elbows on the table: Aristotle may have once done the same— indulge in the sweet manna of conversation.

Pass your mind to the person sitting next to you.

Douse yourself with bug spray and belief.

Share in the heaviness of misremembered knowledge.

Scratch the itch on your ankle where the wings are supposed to go.

This is all and this is everything and this is what it is to be twenty-two and feasting on the world.

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A Note From My Past Self It can be easy to either dwell in the past or block it out of our minds entirely. Whichever we choose, those memories make us who we are today. The following letters are written by fellow California Baptist University students who, like you, want to enjoy what life has to offer even though not everything has been perfect in their eyes. For you, reader, life may not be going how you planned, but know that God’s hand is at work, even when you can’t see it.

Dear Past Self, You have just graduated from high school, and I know you have many questions as so many things are on your mind, but let me be the first to tell you everything will be fine! I know you are unsure of your future and how you will survive college, but God has some amazing things in store for you! You have to trust in Him! However, there will be good and bad times coming ahead! Some days, you will feel on top of the world, and others, you will feel like the world is ending; however, remember that God is always with you, and nothing you are going through is a mistake! Pretty soon, you’ll get to know God better and have a genuine relationship with him, which is the best thing to have ever happened to you! Nothing will give you more satisfaction than honoring God and watching God honor you! Right now, you want to be a doctor but don’t know if you have what it takes! But guess what? You have what it takes, and you’ll learn to fall in love with science not because you need to but because you feel like you are getting to know our Creator God a little better when you study it. You will learn that God is a brilliant, intelligent, and meticulous creator who has thought of everything! Also, you’re going to have some insane experiences and go to some insane places around the world! You are going to do things that you thought you would never accomplish! Take more pictures of Africa when you’re there, and try to ride an elephant in Thailand!

I could spend twenty-plus pages telling you what will happen in the next few years, but I’ll just let you experience it yourself! Every day is a miracle, and remember to keep God at the center of your life. Enjoy college because it goes by fast; believe it or not, you will miss it!

Sincerely, Your Future Self

DESIGN: MADISON KIRKLAND PHOTO: MADISON SARDANA

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To Me: I know you didn’t expect to turn out like me. You like to wear pink and sparkles; now you wear docs and oversized T-shirts. Your style changed because you did. You have faith, lose it, find it again. You get your heart broken several times. People come into your life and promise you the world, only to take away the air you breathe. You’ll fight with your parents and discover they are not perfect. You lose the sport you give everything to. You continue to learn that friendships are difficult.

The point is, you’re going to go through so much sometimes you don’t know how to handle it, but there is so much good that happens in your life that keeps you going. You discover the power of prayer. You learn to go outside and experience new things. You go to therapy to get over your anger and hurt. You grow from your experiences and slowly discover what makes life worth living.

This may be to both of us now, past and present, but we will learn to love again one day.

We will figure out what it means to be a person and how to enjoy life even during the trials. We will trust God and turn to him continuously. We will be okay, and our style will continue to change because we will, too.

Anonymous

Dear self, I’m sure there is a long list of goals I wished to accomplish by now, somewhere in my deleted notes on my phone or a crinkled up piece of paper in the back of my closet from when I was young. But the truth is, I just wished I listened more. Listened to God that is. The amount of time I could have saved myself from stressing over which one of my parents was telling the truth in their divorce when I was ten. The amount of tears that should have never spilled over if I heard when God said, “No, not yet” or “No, don’t befriend them.” The ability to forgive faster if I had known Genesis 50:15-20 before today. But that’s the beauty of God’s timing. It could not have been without the time passed or the pain suffered that I would have seen the Lord’s hand at work. That I could not have seen His plan. I would not have the faith I have today, and the dependence on God as I do here and now.

So when you ask me what I wish I knew in the past I would say I could only dream of knowing that it would in fact work out. You see, the specifics of the hard times I have gone through at the hand of others does not define or control me. But they do affect me and how I interact with others now. How I know God is working before I see it. How I trust that all of those bad things that are of the past were purposeful in my future.

Love, You

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Psalm 27 An Exuberant Declaration of Faith A Psalm of David.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell.

Though an army may encampy against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war may rise against me, In this I will be confident.

One thing I have desired of the Lord, That I will seek: That I may dwell in the house of the lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in His temple.

For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.

And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises of the Lord.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice!

Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.

When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”

Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation.

When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the Lord will take care of me.

Teach me Your way, O Lord, And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.

Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence.

I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living.

Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!

(NKJV)

PHOTO: MADISON KIRKLAND

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