The Magic of Memory

Shared memories of campus remind us of impactful, and sometimes entertaining, college moments.

Stories make up who we are as individuals. And whether they’re memories of singing along to the organ on Sabbath mornings, playing pranks with friends, or enjoying outdoor wonders, shared stories make up who we are together. As a WWU alum, you’re as much a part of the university’s rich history as it’s a part of your own unique story.

As the leaves turned their myriad of colors, many incoming students started their first quarter at WWU. This is a new season—a time of growth and discovery, and a shift to a whole world of possibilities.

You remember when you were about to begin your own collegiate journey—the anxieties that built up about being away from home, making new friends and maintaining relationships with old friends, figuring out what God was calling you to do with your life, and how you would go about achiev- ing your goals. Some new students may be feeling the pressure, external or internal, to succeed, not only in school but as adults in an increasingly secular world. They’re wondering, as you likely did before starting at WWU, what their story will be.

From those who’ve walked these halls before, who’ve crossed Centennial Green and strolled the Hello Walk, here are some of their stories. They recall times when they felt truly in the moment, times when they felt most connected with God, and times that changed or shaped the course of their lives. While the experiences they enjoyed are different, their love for their alma mater is the same. We hope these stories are a source of joyful nostalgia for those who are part of WWU’s history and a source of comfort for those who are about to begin their journey. —Danae Myers '23

ZACHRI JENSEN ’17

In All Walks of Life

I remember one vespers program during my sophomore year that was especially meaningful for me. I had been contemplating if I should serve as a student missionary, and my mind was nearly made up that I would not go. The speaker that evening was Marilee Pierce Dunker, an ambassador for World Vision. She gave a very inspiring talk about the meaning of missions, and as I listened, I started to reconsider my decision. In her concluding remarks, she said that “If you pray to God and say ‘God, break my heart for what breaks yours,’ then your life will never be the same.” She dared us to say this prayer.

I left vespers confused about my thoughts and feelings, but I accepted her dare and decided to see where this prayer would lead me. In retrospect, it’s easy to see how the trajectory of my life changed in that moment. The experiences and lessons from one year as a student missionary spilled over into all the years that have followed. I met incredible people, studied a new language, changed my major of study, learned how to pray, and figured out how to be truly grateful for the simple things. Most importantly, I learned what it means to be a missionary in all walks of life.

GINGER KETTING-WELLER ’85

A Stinky Situation

For speech class I was given an assignment to explain something to the class that they wouldn't already know. I was brand new into the U.S. from growing up in the mission field, and decided to try to explain durian fruit and its notorious odor to my classmates. I liked eating durian, but I’d heard people describe eating the fruit as being like "eating rotten eggs over an open sewer."

I chopped up some onions and put them in a little Tupperware about a week before my speech, setting it out on my Conard Hall windowsill to benefit from the hot late-summer sun. The onions aged and began to rot, but not nearly enough to satisfy me. My strategy only resulted in a slight whiff of durian odor. I should have started a week earlier. I was disappointed as I passed the open Tupperware storage container around in class, but my fellow students told me the odiferous illustration was a memorable experience for them nevertheless.

JERRY WOODS ’97

Prayer Groups and Forgiven Debts

When I was a sophomore in high school, my dad passed away. I picked up a full-time job to help my mom. I also started getting social security checks because my dad was a senior citizen. Then in the second quarter of my freshman year and I get a letter from the social security administration. They say since I worked full time during high school I shouldn't have gotten $5,000 and I needed to pay them back. As an 18-year-old working and barely scraping by it might as well have been five million.

Every night at 10 p.m. I went to a prayer group on Third North in Sittner Hall. I told the 10 guys in my prayer group that I had to come up with $5,000 or leave school. They said, "You're not leaving Walla Walla. God's got this."

That week I made an appointment at the Social Security office inWalla Walla. I asked the representative what I could do, and he said, "You can challenge the letter, but almost no one gets their debt forgiven, but you can fill out these forms and appeal their decision."

A week later I get a call from the Walla Walla Social Security Office. The rep says, "Who do you know in D.C.?" I said, "No one. Why?" He replies, "Well, your appeal has been accepted, and that never happens."

I told my Third North prayer group that night, and they said, "See, we knew God would take care of you." From that moment on I knew that God really wanted me at Walla Walla College.

SHAUNA NEIDIGH ’92

A Brief Embarrassment

A friend said “you could never do anything to embarrass me that wouldn’t embarrass you more.” That’s a challenge if I ever heard one. Some friends bought a three-pack of briefs, grabbed a handful of colorful Sharpies and we went to work. We stretched each pair of underwear over a binder and spread out over campus asking people to sign them. We got a student band to set up in the cafeteria. When our friend came to dinner, he was called up to the microphone and presented with three pairs of decorated briefs in front of a packed cafe. I think we disproved his statement well.

LAUREL ROGERS ’95

Snow Day Escapade

Nothing transformed the Walla Walla University College Place campus like a good snowfall. When one such spell turned the whole world white, we knew it was time for shenanigans.

My roommate was the queen of shenanigans, and she happened to know that Dr. Jim Nestler lived within walking distance of campus. So, a group of us—some biology club members and random friends like me, all Dr. Nestler fans—set out late one night to “honor” this professor.

As we approached his house, we silenced our giggles and, with only hand gestures, coordinated the building of a snowman. And, because location is everything, we carefully built this snowman right behind Dr. Nestler’s vehicle so he would have a rather large surprise when he tried to leave the next morning. We slipped back into the night, sure our prank was as anonymous as it was delightful.

However, there was one big problem: Dr. Nestler was quite the sleuth, and come morning, had found footprints leading back toward campus. One of those included the odd impression of my broken foot’s walking boot. We were caught. But oh, that moment—how it has lived in our shared memories to this day!

CLIFF SORENSON ’58

A Canadian Perspective

I came to Walla Walla College as a junior after having two years at Canadian Union College. The American students quite often laughed at me as my language was strictly Canadian. You sat on a chesterfield, which is what Americans call a sofa. And we had never heard of Thanksgiving, which wasn’t a thing in Canada in those days. The boys were all talking about registering for football in the fall. Where I came from, we were talking about hockey; football wasn’t even in our language. Here, it seemed like at every turn of the road we were learning something new!

I never played football, but I did a number of physical education classes and loved badminton. I played a lot of badminton at the old Columbia Auditorium. When we had class, we'd get out and go down there because we had to stack the chairs. There were about a thousand chairs out in the auditorium because it was used for chapel. You had to work for 15 minutes so that you could play badminton for 30 minutes.

MARTA STONE ’96

A Reminder from the Moon

As a student at WWU, I felt most connected to God when participating in or listening to music, especially on Sabbath. Afterglow in Sittner Hall following vespers was always a highlight of the week, and I loved the music during church services on Sabbath mornings, particularly the pipe organ played by Dr. Scott or Dr. Logan, or on special occasions, Dr. Maynard-Reid.

In addition to my memories of the amazing music, one moment that particularly stands out was when I left the Walla Walla home campus and went to study at Sagunto, Spain, for a year. After taking flight in Portland, Oregon, in the pre-dawn hours, and traveling for 36 hours, I stepped out on my balcony my first night in Spain, saw the full moon, and realized anew that I had left behind every single thing that was familiar—everything except God. God was truly the only thing that hadn’t changed. Psalm 139:9, 10 became very real: "If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me."

KADEN SUKACHEVIN ’20

A Winter Venture

It was the middle of winter and we were supposed to wake up early to go to Palouse Falls and see the sunrise, but none of us got up on time. Around 9 a.m., we shamefully texted each other and decided, what the heck, let’s go anyway. So, we hopped in the car and drove, the snowy hills and the white sky blurring together. Palouse itself was snowed over but the waterfall wasn’t frozen, and it roared into the water below. We hung around the top of the falls for a bit, trying to hit a sign beyond the fence with wet snowballs and running and sliding in our not-quite-appropriate-for-the-occasion sneakers.

On the way back, we pulled aside in some field and Joseph and Noah ran out into the white and got so far that all we could see were a line of purple and a line of blue—the colors of their sweatshirts. You could hardly tell the white of the field apart from the white of the sky beyond them. They came back towards us and Joseph dove into the snow while Andrew and I watched and laughed from the relative warmth of the car.

STEVE WALIKONIS ’78

One Sad Night

It was during the night of March 23, 1978, in my senior year. In the darkness one could see a cloud of smoke floating low over the campus. Word got around quickly that our beloved Columbia Auditorium was on fire! Many made their way to stand at a distance and watch as firefighters hosed water into the raging inferno. As I watched, I recalled my attachment to the Auditorium. It was where I worked my first campus job doing custodial work as a freshman. I was on the crew that set up and took down those hundreds of chairs each week for assemblies and lyceums. It was also the site of my first date with my future wife, Cindy. Part of my life history went up in flames that night, but I will always cherish the memories I have of Columbia Auditorium.

CHARLES SCRIVEN ’66

The Healing Power of Music

I came to Walla Walla from a mid-sized church in Spokane. I had normally worshipped in my church’s junior academy gym and had never experienced anything remotely like Melvin West blasting out the morning hymns on the then-new Casavant organ in the College Church. I more and more realized that I could hardly feel closer to God than when, to such stirring accompaniment, I was singing the great hymns at the top of my voice on Sabbath mornings. I say “at the top of my voice” because I was (for good reason) self-conscious about my singing and didn't really want to be heard. The organ and the many other voices were like grace, covering my imperfections and lifting me out of myself into exuberant praise. What's more healing than that?

ATEM MALEK ’15

An Answer to Prayer

I do not remember how I learned about Heubach Chapel’s worship opportunity, but as soon I started attending a few morning prayers, I knew immediately that I had found my spiritual family. Heubach Chapel prayers started at 7:30 a.m. I would wake up very early to shower, and then run for the morning worship. Heubach Chapel prayers always started with us singing a few hymns, then we took prayer requests and concluded with prayer from a few volunteers. This memory shaped my life because it brought me closer to God.

After I graduated, I needed a place to stay for the summer or until I got clarity on what to do next. I was so stressed out on the day of my graduation because I was supposed to vacate campus housing and had not found a place to live. One of my Heubach Chapel friends reached out to a few community members, and someone offered me a place to stay. This story taught me that God always put you in a place for a reason. When I started going to Heubach, my sole reason was to worship and sing with my fellow believers, but through this experience, I saw God working and made friends with a few people who have been a huge blessing in my life.

NAOKI MATSUMOTO ’13

Excruciating Fun

While I was a resident assistant at Sittner Hall, we were having a meeting in Meske Hall with all the other assistants and deans. On this particular occasion, food had been brought so we were able to eat prior to our meeting; as a college student, free food is always exciting. I believe one of the deans brought chili beans and they were seasoned with habanero chilies.

Right before the actual meeting, Dean David Evans grabbed a habanero, turned to me and said, “I’ll eat one if you eat one.” I already love spicy food, plus I’ll get to see Dean Evans eat one too? Count me in.

The next 20 to 30 minutes were excruciating, but so hilarious; we were sitting across from each other trying our hardest to keep quiet and hold the spiciness in during the meeting. Dean Blackwelder was giving us the stare while Dean Foote was smiling; he knew what we had done. This was certainly one of those times where we were just in the moment, while enjoying—or suffering—together.

JAMES MAYNE ’13

New Perspectives in Poland

After my first year at WWU, I spent nine months as a volunteer teacher in northern Poland. Throughout that experience, I felt God’s presence in a way I hadn’t before. I was in a new place, stepping out of my comfort zone in so many ways, and my days and work schedule were less frenzied than what I’d typically experienced as an adult in the United States. I had time to think, read, pray, connect meaningfully with people, and experience the joy of life at a deeper level. God’s presence in my life became less abstract and more tangible as I made more space in my life to perceive it. That school year abroad gave me a glimpse at what a well-connected life—connected to purpose, to other people, and to God—could look and feel like. It was a beautiful thing; I am forever grateful to WWU for enabling me to have that experience.

About the artist

Allison (Berger) Palmer ’13

After graduating in 2013 with a degree in fine arts with a concentration in illustration, Allison Palmer continued exploring a love for paper art that she had discovered long before. As a young teenager, Palmer loved creating her own greeting postcards for family and friends from wrapping paper or other paper scraps. The clean lines of paper cutouts appealed to her, and she experimented with creating scenes of animals, buildings, and holiday cheer.

Now with a well-rounded arts degree and priceless mentorship from WWU art professors like Martha Mason and Tom Emmerson, she’s discovered that passion for paper continues. Palmer and her husband, Matthew, founded Wheat Art Co. in 2019 and through their business, she sells holiday cards, creates custom paper art for local Walla Walla businesses, and works on commissioned pieces like the artwork for this article.

Palmer also runs Make For Joy Art Studio with Matthew, where she gets to flex her artistic muscles by teaching a wide variety of art media to children. “I love seeing how they interpret and learn about things that I love,” she explains.

Next up on her artistic bucket list? Illustrating—and maybe writing—a children’s book. You can learn more about Palmer’s work at wheatartco.com.