For three years as a high school student, I spent one week each summer at Lakeland with our band camp from Two Rivers. The campus and dorm already felt like home when I moved into Krueger Hall in 1993.

I liked living in the corn fields! Classmates quickly became like family.

Small class sizes made it easy to get to know our professors better. It was fantastic that so many fellow students were also members of the United Church of Christ!

By the end of my first semester, I realized it was time to explore my call to ministry, and Lakeland was an ideal place to do just that. I found two other students who were also preparing for seminary, and by the time I graduated, four more students were on similar journeys. Both chapel services and classes with Rev. Lauer were invaluable as I declared a Religion major and got ready to attend Eden Seminary. Our school's rich history of preparing people for Christian ministry gave a greater depth and grounding to my own sense of call.

It's such a joy to find other Lakeland grads throughout our denomination, including the pastor of my home church, the Rev. Kim Henning, as well as a favorite seminary professor, the Rev. Dr. Marti Baumer (now retired). On two occasions, I've even preached in the home church of an old friend and fellow Lakeland Dance Team member, Kari (Hake) Frantzen!

I also love that I met my husband, Mark Kelly, during our freshman year.

Though we didn't date until three years later, when he'd already transferred to the engineering school at UW-Madison, we have wonderful memories of our early friendship and several shared classes, as well as the beginning of our relationship during my senior year. Bringing our fraternal twin sons to the campus for the first time next summer will be a wonderful moment for our family!