Student Spotlight: An Interview with Azhure Shotwell

by Zachary Erdman, Great Lakes Christian College Student

Winter is beginning to fade away, and the spring is in sight! As the sunshine begins to return to heat up Michigan once again, we here at the Great Lakes Christian College blog team thought that it would be a good idea to demonstrate one of the brighter aspects of the college: our tight-knit community.

While many colleges are far too large to allow students to truly become acquainted with one another, Great Lakes' small campus and student body provide a fantastic environment for students to spend time together and truly get to know one another.

Today, we’re interviewing Azhure Shotwell, a sophomore at Great Lakes Christian College from Indianapolis, Indiana. In the interview, we had the pleasure of discussing Azhure’s reasons for attending the college, her plans for the future, and her favorite aspects of the experience on-campus.

We began by discussing her major and the reasons that she picked it.

“I’m currently doing a double major in the fields of psychology and in communications,” she told me. “I love figuring out how people operate and what makes them tic, it fascinates me.”

From there, the conversation turned towards what she plans to do with her psychology and communications majors after she finishes her time at Great Lakes:

“My ultimate goal with my majors is to end up as a firefighter. Figuring out the ways in which people work is incredibly important to the life of a firefighter- if I don’t know how to work properly with people or how to deal with people in crisis situations, how will I be able to help them during an emergency like a fire?”

Azhure seemed quite passionate in discussing these future plans for her life, having a sense of clarity in purpose that not many students have at the sophomore level.

After discussing her majors and personal plans for her life, we moved on to discuss her reasons for attending Great Lakes Christian College:

“My walk with God has never come easily. Faith is one of those parts of life that can be a struggle for anyone, and I’m no different. That’s one of the biggest reasons I attend Great Lakes- being surrounded by other Christians and really learning about the Bible helps to strengthen my faith and my walk with God.”

When asked about her favorite parts of the Great Lakes experience, Azhure had nothing but positive things to say, and she raved about the community:

“I love attending Great Lakes for tons of reasons, but the most powerful one by far is the community here. Not everybody loves a small college, but I really do. The way that everybody knows each other and can spend time with one another is something valuable that Great Lakes provides in a unique way.” Azhure added, “the friends that I’ve made here have been amazing- I wouldn’t trade them for anything.”

I then asked her if she had a least favorite part of Great Lakes, but Azhure had nothing to complain about:

“Other than the school year being too short?” Azhure joked with me, “no, I really do love this place. I’m truly blessed to have a chance to attend here.”

Our conversation wrapped up, and I thanked Azhure for her candid discussion on the nature of her experience here. Azhure is just one of many fantastic students within the small Great Lakes Christian College community. Each student at the college is a blessing, and the family-feel that the college has between its students is truly something worth marvelling at. If you’re looking for a college where everyone is like family, consider visiting Great Lakes Christian College or applying, and come meet lively students like Azhure and others today!