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HUNTINGTON UNIV MAGAZINE

Senior experiences Focus on the Family Institute

FOR RELEASE October 31, 2007

After Keeley Lewis' group finished 'bouldering' at a campsite called 11 Mile Canyon, she sat at the top and watched the sunset.

HUNTINGTON, IN—Hailing from Manchester, Iowa, senior theatre performance major Keeley Lewis is spending her last semester as a student of Huntington University a few thousand miles from campus. Working with the Focus on the Family Institute in Colorado Springs, Col., Lewis is taking part in what she calls “a Christian leadership intensive.”

She had considered spending a semester off-campus, but nothing had sparked her attention until a conversation with Matt Bruce, husband to Hardy Hall Resident Director Laura Bruce, shed some light on the Focus on the Family Institute. A highly competitive program, Lewis found her way in through the grace of God.

Lewis, front, sits at 11 Mile Canyon with two of the girls who rockclimbed with her. They are Ashley Angerman, her roommate, and Kristen Darr.

“I just had to put it in the Lord’s hands,” Lewis said.

Deadlines campus-wide were extended, and Lewis’ application was rushed in along with hundreds of others from across the country. Lewis earned a spot along with 80 other students.

Once there, the real work began. The first four hours of each day are spent in four different classes, each focusing on a different aspect of Christian leadership: Christian Worldview Studies, Marriage Studies, Family Life Studies; and Family, Church and Society Studies. Lewis likened her Christian Worldview Studies class to Huntington’s capstone classes “on steroids.” The class shows students how to deeply root their faith and come to a personal understanding of what they believe and they believe it.

Lizzy Jordan, Casey Jordan, Christina Johnson, Mae Jennings and Lewis stand on the deck of their cabin at the retreat center.

The second part of the day involves a practicum. Tailored to each student’s experience and education, the practicum places students in hands-on environments. For Lewis, the practicum time is spent working with a team called Axis, a traveling theatre troupe that performs all over the area and will soon take a trip to Phoenix, Ariz. 

The classes involve hours of reading, Lewis commented. Each class instructor will assign anywhere from 150 to 200 pages of reading per night. But the extensive amounts of reading aside, Lewis said that the program has had a great impact on her life.

Lewis climbs a 70-foot face at Red Rock Canyon.

“Even though I have only been here a couple of weeks, I have seen an incredible amount of growth in my own life,” Lewis said, “I didn’t realize I needed to pursue. It’s as if God placed me here to learn how to grow.”

In addition to classes and their practicum experiences, students work with outreach programs in the community, various ministries through churches – and there is always rock climbing.

“I’m 100 percent addicted to rock climbing,” Lewis said while commenting about the active lifestyle. The students have wandered through the “Garden of the Gods” and have taken an 18- mile hike over some of Colorado’s beautiful terrain.

One of Lewis' first days in Colorado, she hiked trails at Horn Creek Retreat Center on the frontrange.

Huntington University is a comprehensive Christian college of the liberal arts offering graduate and undergraduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations. U.S.News & World Report ranks Huntington among the best colleges in the Midwest. Founded in 1897 by the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, Huntington University is located on a contemporary, lakeside campus in northeast Indiana. The University is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU).

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