Among the Taylor University community, there is a deep appreciation and love for the culture and fellowship that has created a family across campus.
However, this community is not the only family active on campus. Many students are related to faculty members, making Taylor an even more special place for them.
Faculty’s children can have a somewhat different experience and perspective of the university because of their previous connections and changing perceptions of it.
Freshman Ellie King spent most of her life growing up in Upland. Before becoming a student, she often interacted with TU students, attended events and achieved milestones on campus such as learning to drive and ride a bike. Because of this, she had a very positive perception of the university.
“(Since becoming a Taylor student,) I’ve gotten to see a more well-rounded look at campus, getting to actually know the people and experience the things that I've been so excited to do… my perception hasn’t fully changed,” Ellie said. ” I still hold Taylor in really high regard, but it's real, not just idealized.”
King is the daughter of Daniel King, department chair and professor of chemistry, as well as Carie King, department chair and associate professor of English.
While she enjoys the advantage of being close to home and having her family on campus, Ellie explained that often, after hearing that she is “Dr. King’s kid,” people think they already know her because they know her parents or have heard of her.
“I’ve really appreciated that people have taken the time to get to know me,” Ellie said. “I just like to stress that it’s really important to get to know people as they are and not how you’ve heard of them.”
Freshman Scottie Housholder’s perception of the university has also changed since becoming a student. Before, his experiences with campus had mostly been in Reade Center, which gave him a more narrow view of campus life and the community. Now, he has seen how there are a lot more events to be a part of than he had originally expected.
Housholder is the son of Aaron Housholder, Professor of English, and since coming to Taylor has even taken a class taught by his dad.
“It was weird. At first, I had to make a bit of a mental separation. He's my professor right now, and then after classes, my dad. It was fun though, because I'd heard about his classes before, but actually being in there was really interesting.”
Scottie also shared that having a family member on campus made his transition to college easier, as he had someone he knew on campus.
Junior Thane Syswerda was also familiar with Taylor before being a student. From what he had seen, he would have previously described the university as a sort of “Christian camp.” Before becoming a student, he had seen the student body as very extroverted based on his interactions with student volunteers at Upland Community Church.
His perception changed as a student when he met others who were more reserved and less interested in leaving the Taylor “bubble.” Thane started to see differences between the mindsets of Upland residents versus the mindsets of students.
Thane emphasized that Taylor University is like a train stop, but not the final destination for many students, and as a result, students do not always get involved in activities off-campus.
“I would love to encourage people to go outside of the bubble,” Thane said “I think that there needs to be an understanding that once you graduate, you’re going to be outside of your [Taylor] life. Understanding culture, and understanding people, and how it's going to be in the outside world, is going to be so important in your future to understanding and communicating with other people.”
Syswerda is the son of Admissions Counselor, Dara Syswerda, and Professor of Music Composition, Songwriting, and Music Technology, Todd Syswerda. Thane tries to meet up with his parents at least once a week and enjoys getting to see them at school.
