GCU TODAY • 2 9
Momi Robins-
Makaila, M.A. in
Christian Studies
with an Emphasis in
Pastoral Ministry,
’14,
launched a new business and
website,
.
Robins-Makaila is an author and
inspirational speaker.
Christina Loren,
M.A. in Christian
Studies with an
Emphasis in
Pastoral Ministry,
’15,
has joined the RFD-TV Rural
Evening News weather team in
Nashville, Tenn. Loren has 12
years of meteorology media
experience and joins RFD-TV
after five years at the NBC affiliate
in San Francisco. She also is
featured via Rural Radio on Sirius
XM Channel 147.
Elizabeth Snyder,
in
Educational
Administration,
’15,
was a finalist
for the Arizona Educational
Foundation’s 2015 Arizona
Teacher of the Year. As a finalist
and “Ambassador of Excellence,”
Snyder will advocate for students
and the teaching profession at
educational, governmental,
business and other meetings
around Arizona. She teaches
sixth grade at Akimel A-al Middle
School in Phoenix.
Sandra
Seelhammer, B.A.
in Christian
Studies, ’15,
is
coordinator for
Blueprint for Safety, which
works with victims of domestic
violence and sexual assault
through the HOPE Center in
Faribault, Minn.
Dr. Theodus
Luckett, Ed.D. in
Organizational
Leadership with an
Emphasis in
Instructional Leadership, ’15,
is
the director of instrumental
music for the Mount Pleasant
(Texas) Independent School
District. He is researching the
relationship between music
participation and academic
achievement.
Lashunda Dillon,
M.S. in Psychology
with an Emphasis in
Industrial and
Organizational
Psychology, ’15,
is an inductee
into the 2015-16 National
Association of Professional
Women VIPWoman of the Year
Circle for her leadership in conflict
resolution andmediation. She is
equal employment opportunity
manager for the Bureau of Land
Management in Denver.
Ryan Guard, M.A.
in Christian Studies
with an Emphasis in
Christian
Leadership, ’15,
is
the teaching pastor/adult
ministries pastor at Mission
Community Church in Gilbert,
Ariz. Guard has been in full-time
ministry for 14 years.
Laura Lane, B.S. in
Elementary
Education, ’15,
is a
preschool teacher
in the Alhambra
School District Head Start
Program at Westwood Primary
School in Phoenix. More than 90
percent of the children enrolled in
the program are from low-
income households in which
English is a second language.
Previously, Lane traveled with
GCU students to teach in Fiji.
SPOTLIGHT ON
Kelly Schindler, ’15
Kelly Schindler didn’t waste any time taking
what she learned in the Colangelo College of
Business and running with it.
Schindler, who graduated fromGrand
Canyon University in December with a degree
in business management andmarketing, got
a crash course in big business andmajor
college football as a seasonal intern with
the Fiesta Bowl. She worked on community
relations and charities for the Fiesta Bowl
from late October to the end of January.
Her responsibilities included scheduling appearances by Spirit, the
Fiesta Bowl mascot, arranging for players to participate in charitable
events and distributing tickets to nonprofit groups.
She also worked with Fiesta Bowl employees to provide
Thanksgiving dinner to a group of foster children, and she helped serve
free chicken sandwiches andmeals donated by Chick-fil-A at events in
downtown Phoenix and at Luke Air Force Base.
Schindler said she put in long hours over the holidays. The Fiesta
Bowl hosted Notre Dame vs. Ohio State on Jan. 1 at University of
Phoenix Stadium, followed the next day by the Fiesta Bowl Parade and
Arizona State vs. West Virginia in the Cactus Bowl at Chase Field. She
worked from 7 a.m. the day of the parade until 2:30 a.m. Jan. 3 after the
Cactus Bowl game.
“I had no idea it was going to be that intense,” she said. “I was just a
North Dakota girl who loves football, looking for a job.”
Schindler grew up in Bismarck, N.D., where she attended Shiloh
Christian School. On her first visit to Arizona, she came out in July with
her older sister, who was looking for a school to study physical therapy.
“It was the hottest time of year” with lots of dust and construction
underway on the GCU campus, she recalled. “But I fell in love with GCU,
and I had this feeling that this is where I’m supposed to go to school.”
So she became a snowbird and gave up North Dakota winters for
Arizona sunshine, GCU and, eventually, a Fiesta Bowl internship.
One of the lessons she learned from the experience is that anyone
pursuing a career in sports management must be persistent.
“You need that to be successful,” Schindler said. “I lovedmy time
there at the Fiesta Bowl. It transformedmy career andme as a person.
It taught me somuch.”
Schindler leveraged her internship, which included working with
charities, to find a full-time job with a nonprofit group. In February,
the Be Kind People Project hired Schindler as its national school and
community marketingmanager.
The organization schedules assemblies and works with schools
to teach young students about the importance of kindness and good
behavior —giving her another chance to apply what she learned in her
GCUmarketing classes.
“I love it,” she said. “It’s my passion now.”
— PETER CORBETT
