“I want everyone in Olson to feel like they have an equal seat at the table, and that they can walk out to the table and sit down and they are welcome here, and that there is no question of that,” Montana Schwebs said.
Schwebs, Olson Hall’s new hall director, was born and raised in North Georgia, yet her academic career has brought her all over the nation: to Lee University in Tennessee, where she studied mathematics, and Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky, to Uganda, where she spent a semester with Youth With A Mission.
She had intended to serve as a missionary abroad. While leading mission trips during a practicum with a church, she made an important realization.
Her heart has always wanted to work with college students.
“I had full plans that I was going to live overseas, and I had that plan all through grad school,” Schwebs said.
Schwebs holds a degree in intercultural studies. During her graduate years, she was preparing for a career in missions, and in her preparation led five different mission trips in ten weeks with college students.
This experience greatly changed her perspective, and caused her to reflect on what was next.
“And so I was sitting there and I was like ‘Oh my gosh. I want to do this forever. This is so cool,’” Schwebs said. “And the Lord was like, ‘Yeah? What was cool about it? What did you love?’ And so I sat with that question for a while, and I realized what I really loved was I got to take college interns with me on all my trips.”
Schwebs hopes to direct her love and passion for college students to her new role as the hall director for Olson.
In addition to her mission experiences, her previous work with residence life on other campuses has instilled in her a deep desire for creating a place of belonging.
She knows that her vision for making a hospitable environment involves learning how to step out in faith, often into uncomfortable situations.
“I think a big part of life is learning how to fail well,” Schwebs said. “Everyone fails at something at some point, especially during college, because there’s so many new things to try and classes and friends and all these things.”
Schwebs’ desire is that those living in Olson will have a community of support to lean on in times of crisis and uncertainty.
Whether it is her own leadership or that of Olson’s personnel and discipleship assistants, she remains committed to cultivating an environment of fellowship.
“Any of these people will kind of be like a safety net of ‘Hey, it’s okay. We’re going to catch you and we’re going to help you stand back up,’” Schwebs said. “That is something I’ve learned in leadership and that I want to model well.”
Daniel 3:18 depicts Daniel’s steadfast faith. Even if God does not deliver him from King Nebuchadnezzar’s hand, there is still no other God worthy of service.
Daniel’s prayer has translated into Schwebs’ faith life and caused her to reflect on the nature of idolatry that taints the relationship humans have with God.
Specifically, she wrestles with the constant codependent attachment to cell phones that take away from living in the present.
“We are really glued to these,” Schwebs said. “And this is an idol. It has our attention so quickly. We just hear one sound and we’re there. We feel one vibration and we’re there. And there are parallels to this in Scripture as well. It’s not like a golden statue sitting in the middle of campus, but it is an idol of itself. It convicts me every single time because it’s this whole idea that there is stuff we miss. That’s what I’ve been sitting with lately: What does it look like to be present?”
Living presently is an attitude that Schwebs aims to model for those living in Olson.
She believes this begins with a holy orienting of relationships.
“I wish more people were passionate about everyone viewing others as people first.” Schwebs said. “As Christians, we are called to go beyond. Instead of relating people to ourselves, relating them to their Creator.”
Schwebs hopes that her heart for the Lord speaks through her leadership in Olson Hall.
To her, a seat at the table means that during all moments and seasons, there is a community of joyful welcoming that awaits.
“I just really love college students, and I love what it looks like to do life alongside people in the mundane moments,” Schwebs said. “I want to work with college students, and that is my calling.”
