Bonding on a Blog

If Seattle Pacific University students turn to their student ministry coordinators (SMCs) in their residence halls for encouragement and guidance, to whom do the SMCs turn?

Sometimes, they look to each other.

In 2006, when Allie Fraley ’08 was a sophomore, she met regularly with other SMCs and friends for fun and support. A year later, sensing a need for leadership, they invited Lisa Kissinger ’01, a Fuller Seminary student, to guide their fellowship.

Now graduates, Fraley, along with Kissinger, Heidi Weisman ’08, Krysta Matt ’08, Katie Foreman ’08, Laurie Beth Kellar Lowndes ’07, and Sara Cox Hawley ’08, have stayed in close touch in spite of geographical challenges. “If we were all still living in Seattle,” says Fraley, “we’d still be meeting. But life since graduation has strewn us across the landscape, so we thought a blog would be a perfect way to continue being available for each other.”

With the proliferation of social networking services online, SPU grads are using new ways to keep in touch. Through Facebook groups, old classmates reunite, and alumni promote gatherings of friends. Some follow each other’s everyday activities on Twitter. The former SMCs blog in a private forum to protect their personal conversations. “It provides a surprisingly safe place in which to share life’s happenings,” says Kissinger.

“Knowing that I have a strong support system with these girls makes my life a lot easier,” says Fraley.

Togetherness

Multifamily Road Trip

A Group With a View

Bonding on a Blog

Friends for Life

A Fellowship of Colleagues