Antelope Intros is a recurring GCU Today feature that introduces some of our new employees to the people around them in a way that is fun and informative. Employees are eligible to be featured in the month following their orientation.
VANESSA SANDOVAL
Job title: Digital systems technician
Job location: Main campus, GCU Arena
What attracted you to GCU? I became a student here because of the GCU community, and I was a student worker in the Arena for three basketball seasons. I'm now an alumna.
What do you do for fun and where do you find that outlet? Hanging out with family, watching football and anything different from my normal routine.
What are you passionate about? Trying new experiences and experiencing cultures different from my own.
What are your favorite places or events in the Valley that you like to visit? Sporting events (go, Cards!), finding new restaurants, hiking.
Tell us something about yourself that most people don’t know: I broke my two front teeth while playing the Rock Band video game three days before my senior year in high school. The game Rock Band had just come out, and I had some friends over to play. One of the guitar cords accidentally got unplugged, and I went to go plug it back in without realizing my right foot was caught in between the cords. As I was getting up one of my friends thought it would be funny to "pretend" trip me. As you can probably guess, his "pretend" trip turned into a major fall. Down I went, and the first thing to break my fall were my teeth. All my friends were traumatized, and I was upset because I had just gotten my braces off three months earlier.
What are you most proud of? Other than my teeth, I’ve gone my entire life without breaking any bones. Considering my track record, that’s something to be proud of.
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COLLEEN AULT
Job title: Admissions representative
Job location: Clovis, Calif.
What attracted you to GCU? My family of seven was on an RV trip from California to the southernmost tip of Texas, and on our way back we stopped to see the GCU campus because we have two high school kids. We just happened to be there on a basketball game day when they were giving out free T-shirts and $1 pizza. Sitting in the stands with our whole family wearing purple shirts enjoying that game sold me. I also loved that it is a Christian university. My dream one day was to work at a college where I could attend Chapel. The first time I sat among the thousands of college kids singing worship to Jesus, I was reminded for the millionth time how much God loves me.
What do you do for fun and where do you find that outlet? We go to our cabin at Hume Lake. We swim the lake, hike, enjoy having lots of people over, watch the 1,000-plus kids doing crazy camp activities and just plain worship God in that place.
What are you passionate about? Making a difference — life is short. I love to encourage students to know Jesus as well as to come to GCU.
What are your favorite places or events in the Valley that you like to visit? So far we loved climbing Piestewa Peak, going to the Dine-In Movie Theatre and eating at Oregano’s.
Tell us something about yourself that most people don’t know: I have lived for extended lengths of time in the U.S., Canada and Africa. I grew up in Costa Mesa, Calif., until the day I graduated from high school. I spent my college years in British Columbia. I lived in Abbotsford, British Columbia, from 1989 to 1996, with a one-year sabbatical as a missionary at Rift Valley Academy near Nairobi, Kenya. After living and working as dorm parents and teachers at Rift Valley Academy for that one year, my husband and I ended up going back four times, taking our kids or mission teams to serve in various ways. We lived in Fresno, Calif., from 1998 to 2012 before moving to nearby Clovis.
What are you most proud of? That God has kept His strong, loving hand on me to put one foot in front of the other as I have walked along in this journey called life.
