Alumni Stories

Dobbins finds direction in Virginia
Hastings College alumnus Chris Dobbins recently filled the Director of Instrumental Activities position at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. His responsibilities will include conducting the University Wind Ensemble, teaching music theory,…

Musical a gift from Sandall to Hastings College
Hastings College alumnus Colin Sandall’s musical Coffee Shop debuted on Thursday, April 9. Colin began writing the musical in 2005, while still at Hastings, and finished it in 2007. An early version…

Connecting students with the world is Picha’s passion
Living on three different continents and in three U.S. states by the time she was five, Kallan Picha, was exposed to traveling at an early age. This included five years in Germany…

Finding Themselves on the Same Trail to Wyoming
Hiking opportunities near Laramie, Wyoming, provide three outdoorsy Hastings College alumni with much-needed breaks from their graduate studies in chemistry at the University of Wyoming. “It’s unusual to have three students from a…

Compassion: Ministering to cancer patients
The Rev. Katie Anderson ’04 spends her days among many who are sick and dying, among those receiving chemotherapy and radiation, among those fighting for their lives. It’s a place, she said,…
Federal agent sees some movie-esque moments
In dry, mountainous terrain in the middle of New Mexico, a single helicopter descends from the blue and hovers just above ground, sending a cloud of dust skyward. A handful of black-clad…

Conquering obstacles to solve the mysteries of life
Dr. Deanna (Schmidt) Hutchins ’74 is an adventurous spirit wrapped in a barrier-blind attitude and a quest-seeking point of view. An anomaly in her early career, Deanna is an obstacle-buster, way-paver, and…

HC grad aims to be the change he wants to see
James Jefferson ’99 traveled from his home in Los Angeles, Calif., to visit campus for HC’s Homecoming celebration this year, remembering his days as a psychology and education major and center fielder…

Pre-Columbian studies during fellowship lead to class ideas
After receiving a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Dr. Glenn Avent, Associate Professor of History and Chair of the Department at Hastings College, spent a month in Mexico…

Being Made: The profound gift of Hastings College
Spiritual development is important to the Rev. Dr. Adam White ’00. He has been the Campus Pastor for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln since 2010. “We…

Foote giving life her all
When a friend in Altman Hall found herself frustrated by her accounting homework, then-Hastings College first-year student Dana (Pote) Foote ’96 remembers leafing through the numeral-rich textbook and feeling a click. “Looking…

Ministering ‘to and through’ coaches
Josh Reynolds ’00 serves as the Central-Northeast Nebraska Area Director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). For the last 10 years he has worked with FCA, and Josh said, “I love…

Print in Digital Age
An impressive journalism career has taken Josh Awtry ’98 across the United States, and now he’s leading efforts to redefine and ultimately save local print newspapers in the digital age. Josh’s vision…

Vyhlidal: ‘Find the thing you love’
There’s an old couch in the office of Jeff Vyhlidal ’08, but he can’t remember the last time he himself sat down on the well-worn cushions. “It’s almost always filled with students,”…

Neurologist reaches out with telemedicine
For many small town and rural inhabitants, having a specialist at their disposal is typically not possible. Dr. Allen Gee ’88, a psychobiology major from small town Nebraska, is bridging that gap…

Memory Maker
Scott DeBoer ’89 has had incredible success since graduating from HC in physics and math. He continued his education at Iowa State University and graduated in 1992 with a masters in physics…