By Madison Franks, Student Writer
OTTERBURNE, MB – If you have spent any length of time living in residence at Providence in recent years, you will know the joys of having a faculty member dwelling in one of the dorm buildings. While university life can be hectic and wild, Angelle Arinobu, our current Faculty in Residence, has braved the task of living in the same building as many of our residence students. Through her desire to connect with young people, she has helped to foster an environment where students can come together and chat.
When Muriel Taylor Hall was first built, the Faculty in Residence position was born. After a couple of years and after the first Faculty in Residence decided to move out of their role, Angelle was approached to fill the position. While it may have been an obvious choice to ask Angelle because of her caring attitude toward the students, everyone is still so grateful that she was asked and she agreed to the position!
The role presumably has multiple things that one would enjoy, but when asked what her favourite part is, she answered: “I really like students. I teach graduate students, but I think I’ve always liked working with younger people than people my age or older.” Having had a history working with teenagers and young adults in Bible college and summer camp settings, Angelle was well set up for this role long before she filled it. “I enjoy this stage of development for people,” Angelle commented as one reason why she likes working with university-aged students. On top of this, she mentioned that the most rewarding aspect of her role is in the smaller ways she can connect with students. “There’s something special about being able to walk into the cafeteria and say, ‘Oh, hey! How did that test go?’ and have that type of relationship with students.”
One of the biggest struggles with the Faculty in Residence role, as is echoed in countless other roles all around the country, is that of not having enough time in one’s day. Angelle knows this all too well. In response to being asked how she would fill extra hours in a day if she was given them, Angelle stated, “If I had all the time in the world, I would probably host more.” Our Faculty in Residence has had many students over to her apartment for tea or meals. She even braved the feat of having the entire men’s basketball team over for supper! Students have been incredibly blessed by Angelle’s desire to host and connect.
Students are so impacted by Angelle because she lives right in a residence building which contains a common space that sees a lot of foot traffic at all hours of the day (and night). When asked what life is like inhabiting the same space as 18-25 year olds, Angelle replied that she loves it; though it can get noisy at times. “Sometimes when I’m here in my apartment and it sounds loud,” she said, “I wander out out of curiosity. I feel like I know what’s going on, but I like the ability to see what’s happening!” Students having movie-nights or study sessions know very well the blessing of Angelle providing snacks to sustain all the hungry stomachs in the room.
Because she connects so much with students, Angelle mentioned that she was thankful for just how different the students have been in the last few semesters. “Some of the effects of the pandemic have finally seemed to have changed,” she remarked. Angelle bakes every Thursday morning for students, which began when she saw a need to facilitate a place where students could have an uninterrupted time of conversation if they desired – without the distraction of phones which, during the pandemic, became a far worse addiction than ever before. These times have functioned in exactly this way and the students always look forward to Thursday mornings because of Angelle!
Our Faculty in Residence has excelled in her position and Providence is lucky to have her in the role! If you want to see her in action, stop by the Hub on a Thursday morning for some good chats and good food!
