By Ian Wiebe, Student Writer
OTTERBURNE, MB – In the fall of 2024, Ruthie and Brady Martin joined the Providence community as the University College’s Campus Life Directors. They are responsible for Administration and Student Leadership, respectively. Later last year, I had the opportunity to sit down with the two of them to discuss what had attracted them to the positions, and how they were feeling about their first semester on the job.
Q: Before coming to Providence, you both spent over a decade working at Camp Sagitawa in northern B.C. It was clearly a ministry that meant a lot to you – what made you feel that this position at Providence was the right next step following that?
Brady: “Coming out of the camp world last winter left us eager to reengage in some sort of ministry-hearted role. We feel strongly that people are always worth investing in, and so working in a person-centric role has always been top of our list. Working with folks in this age bracket – 16 to 35 – has always been particularly exciting, because there is so much growth and learning happening as people step into the world of who they are going to be. If supporting people is our goal, then the community here at Prov feels rife with opportunity.”
Q: There have been a couple of structural changes made to the leadership positions related to Campus Life at Providence. Can you explain them briefly?
Ruthie: “The biggest change that happened was that they combined the roles of Residence Life Director and Community Life Coordinator. All of the tasks from those two job descriptions were put together, and they figured out a natural break where Campus Life Director could be split into two positions. In my role specifically, there’s a little bit more of the administration side of things, and Brady does more of the oversight with Student Council. But as far as the Student Care goes, we very much both try to be a part of that.”
Q: So, you’re halfway through your first semester! How are you feeling?
Brady: “Really good. When we arrived onsite in the middle of June, it felt like we had a mountain of prep ahead of us as we worked through policy handbooks and documentation – looking to find the rhythm of these roles. It felt like a lot of work just to figure out what the jobs we would be doing were. That all changed when school started in September, as students moved back to Prov; that’s where the job really started to make sense. It’s busy now, but a good busy.”
Q: Finally, looking forward, what are you most excited about for the next couple of semesters, in your new positions?
Ruthie: “Definitely continuing to build those relationships with students, and with staff and faculty. I think there’s a different kind of excitement with that, because with staff and faculty, that’s the team that we are a part of in a different, unique way. But with the students specifically, those are the people that we want to pour into. That’s primarily why I’m in this role.”
Brady: “Yeah, strong agreement. Especially working with our student leaders, as they really have a tremendous impact in how they foster community around them and help others to feel a sense of belonging.”
Ruthie: “And I think especially, it’s the piece where students are building that discipleship with God – to see those relationships continue and deepen. It’s such a such a privilege and an honour to be a part of that in someone’s life and to be invited into that process. And the fact that this is the thing I get to call work? Yeah – I don’t have words to express what a privilege it is to be entrusted with that. I get to be like, ‘You know what? That email can wait till tomorrow, because actually I need to go talk with that person.’ And that’s actually the way that it should be.”
