Alumni Profiles
Helping Guatemalan children
Erskine shares what he learned from Jackie Robinson
One Year Out
Helping Guatemalan children
By Joy Nalywaiko
In February Laura Withrow BS ’55 traded the dreary winter days of Anderson, Ind., for the warmth of Guatemala. She went at the invitation of her son, David Withrow BA ’88, who is involved in a missions organization that provides textbooks to underprivileged Guatemalan children. Over the course of several days, Laura, David, and a group of more than 30 volunteers and guides trekked through the mountains of Guatemala in hopes of giving each child they met a better future.
The trip was set up through The Cooperative for Education (COED), an organization founded by two men who quit their high-paying corporate jobs to dedicate their time to helping Guatemalan children. David, a COED board member, learned of the organization when he gained a special interest in the country after adopting a son from Guatemala. The organization goes into Guatemala about twice a year to deliver textbooks to schools.
“They arrange to take textbooks to the smaller mountain schools that have absolutely no textbooks,” Laura explains. “These children have no books because of poverty, and so many of the people in Guatemala are illiterate.” In fact, only 63 percent of males and 47 percent of females in Guatemala are literate, and 76 percent of all children are malnourished. The COED is trying to improve their situation one school at a time. According to Laura, they are hoping that if “they can just get some of the children educated then they can go get good jobs, and help to bring their family out of poverty.”
The Withrows spent ten days traveling in two 20-passenger vans along with the leaders and other volunteers. They visited eight different schools, delivering textbooks to seven of them. The eighth school received textbooks and a computer lab the year before, and the group stopped to check up on its progress.
Withrow and a retired Catholic nun, both 73, were the oldest to make the trip. Most of the schools were in the mountains in the 5,000- to 7,000-ft. range. “That was probably the biggest test for me,” Withrow said. “Walking in that thin mountain air really stretched me, but I made it.”
The textbooks were delivered to middle school students. The schools ranged in size from 94 to 449 students. “One of the reasons they chose to do it for that age is that the Guatemalan law states that every child is supposed to go to school up through 6th grade,” Withrow says. “So if a child chooses to go into middle school, then it shows they want to take their education more seriously.”
While the Withrows are largely involved in missions work, this trip made a particular impact on their lives. “I came back so impressed and filled with love for Guatemala,” Withrow says. “I know there are tons of countries over there that need the same thing. It’s a big world, but it was just one tiny little way to help some people out.”
Erskine shares what he learned from Jackie Robinson
By Joy Nalywaiko
Over a hundred people patiently stood in line at Reardon Auditorium on Feb. 24. They were waiting to meet local baseball legend Carl Erskine at the pre-release party of his new book, titled What I Learned from Jackie Robinson: A Teammate’s Reflection On and Off the Field. This memoir was co-written with New York Times best-selling author Burton Rocks and is a personal depiction of friendship, racism, and baseball.
Erskine, an Anderson native who pitched for the Dodgers for 12 seasons, based his book on his friendship with fellow teammate Jackie Robinson, and the lessons he learned as he watched Robinson face the world as one of the first African-American baseball players to play in the Major Leagues.
Erskine recalled the first time he met Robinson in 1948, while playing in the minor leagues. He had just finished pitching five straight innings against the Dodgers lineup hoping to be noticed when Robinson approached him and simply said, “You’re going to be with us real soon.” Those words alone gave Erskine the impression that Robinson was special and within months, Erskine was joining Robinson in the Dodger’s locker room.
While growing up in Anderson, Erskine developed friendships with African-Americans, and was particularly close to childhood playmate Johnny Wilson. This friendship shaped Erskine’s views on race and was a tool during his exposure to the struggle of the racism and integration going on around him throughout his time with the Dodgers.
The book details the parallels that Erskine found with Jackie Robinson’s struggle to change the world’s views of African Americans to his own son’s affliction with Down Syndrome. He wrote the story based on what he learned from Jackie and how he used that to cope with his struggle in raising his son, Jimmy.
“Johnnie Wilson helped me with Jackie,” Erskine said during his speech. “And Jackie helped me with Jimmy. The book is a parallel story about how America made changes.”
One Year Out
By Lindsay Thompson
They came. They learned. They got their dream jobs. Just one year out of AU, three alumni living in opposite corners of the country prove that anything is possible.
When he attended AU, Tyler Clark BA ’04 often wondered if his communication and business courses would really prepare him for a career. Now working for an innovative Christian media company in Orlando, Fla., Clark says he has learned to dream big. “Like most things in life, what you get from your AU experience—academically, socially, emotionally, spiritually—is dependent on what you choose to put into it,” he says.
The summer after he graduated from AU, Clark worked a non-paying internship with RELEVANT Media Group. His networking paid off, and the company hired Clark on as marketing coordinator. Clark was promoted to RELEVANT network producer in February, handling much heavier responsibilities than he expected right out of school. He now works with the company to make media especially for forward-thinking 20-something Christians.
“We’re best known for RELEVANT magazine and RELEVANT books, but we also do apparel, music, Web development, and more,” Clark says. The job allows Clark to be a part of something larger than himself. “I really stand behind the vision and purpose of the company: to challenge, teach, and encourage people to live fuller, more God-centered lives.”
Spiritual perks aside, Clark admits his job introduces him to low-level celebrities like Rupert from “Survivor,” Chuck Norris, and Smokey Robinson.
Regularly rubbing shoulders with Seattle’s drug addicts and street beggars on her commute to work, Megan Marker BA ’04 says her job calls her to be equal parts social worker, counselor, and pastor.
A case manager to women and children at a Seattle shelter, Marker never pictured this kind of a life for herself when she came to college. “I expected to be a quiet music teacher,” Marker says. When she declared a social work major and completed her senior practicum, Marker says she began to realize she was much better prepared than another student from a state school. “It’s not because I was a stellar student, but because AU’s program is just better."
Marker interned in Seattle the summer before her senior year and stayed in contact with employees at the shelter. When a job opened up, Marker applied, completed two phone interviews, and was offered the job. “Within a week, I had gathered some things together quite haphazardly and went to the city praying that God would provide a house as easily as He had provided a job — actually my dream job,” she says.
Equally delighted and terrified at the idea of starting a new job in a new city, Marker says her summer before moving to the West coast was quite a transition. Adjusting to city life was challenging, especially the day a street beggar approached Marker and asked her to marry him.
Overall Marker thinks AU was a good launching pad into the world. “My education did what AU promised.”
Though he is doubtful that AU as an institution could have fully prepared him for his current job, Phil Compton BA ’04 is thankful that he was challenged by certain professors to relearn mathematics in a way that helped him to understand “why” instead of just “how.” Now a high school math teacher in Scottsdale, Ariz., Compton is one year into his career, which he says was handed to him by God through a series of fortunate events.
Once he moved to Phoenix, Compton began looking for teaching positions. Armed with a fingerprint ID card, transcripts, and résumés, he optimistically thought he would have to fight off the job offers. Having not heard back from two schools to which he had sent applications, Compton turned to Internet job listings. “I saw an opening at Desert Mountain High School, called the number, came in for an interview, and was offered the job all in one day,” Compton says. “DMHS is one of the best performing high schools in the state and I feel very blessed to be a part of it.”
His multi-faceted job consists of preparing lessons, tutoring before and after school, calling parents, attending three to four meetings per week, and “making 1,000 decisions on the spot” every day.
Why does Compton do what he does? “Knowing that in some way I can help a student achieve one of those ‘ah-hah’ moments in a subject is one of the most gratifying experiences that I know.”
