An Interview With Lane Stanberry
Lane Stanberry, a student at Friends University, is an interviewee for the English Club's social media campaign #PeopleOfFriends. Thank you, Lane!
Describe yourself in a few words.
“I would say I’m an extrovert. I’d say I’m a caring person, a kind person. I’d say I want to find knowledge in all the ways that I can and, in turn, better myself and better my community or the world by just gaining all the knowledge that I can from all different places and, in turn, just be a light in other people’s day. That’s what I strive to do.”
What do you do here at Friends?
“Well I’m a student here. I’m a computer science and information systems major. I am in Singing Quakers, I am a composition and computer science tutor at the ARC and I also work on accounting a little bit. That’s pretty much what I do at Friends.
“I love the community here. It’s pretty amazing. It’s unlike anything I ever witnessed before and I’ve met so many people through all of those fields, you know, through the ARC and through Quakers and through my major.”
What brought you here to Friends?
“Well, it’s kind of a funny story because I had auditioned for choir in the fall of 2015 and my audition did not go very well and I was pretty torn up about it and I kind of threw Friends out of my equation. And then I came back for what was called Sing It!, and there was a competition for someone to sing a solo and the winner would get to sing it at the concert that night. I was part of this masterclass and once again I was just railed and so I thought, ‘Oh, any chance of that happening was thrown out the door.’
“I was recruited to bowl for Wichita State and Newman, but Dr. Bartel, the choir director, kept coming after me and coming after me and left me some tickets to the Symphony of Spring and so I went and I loved it. I did another tour of the campus and met some of the other professors on campus and it felt like the best decision for me and the best decision for my life. And that’s why I came to Friends.”
What do you like most about Friends University?
“I love the community. I love the people. The people, almost everyone I’ve met here has just been genuinely nice. I haven’t met a person that’s just mean. There’s no one on this campus that I think has a bad heart or just intentionally having a bad heart. I think you can just feel God around this campus. I think that’s the best thing about Friends.”
How has Friends University shaped who you are today?
“I think by the positive influences that I interact with on a daily basis, I think getting that can help your mood from day to day and every single day I’m more and more shaped by the level of intellect of the people around me and the knowledge of my professors and just the learning environment that Friends creates.
“I feel like it’s just an environment that is conducive to learning and that’s how Friends has shaped me. I feel like I have been much more receptive to other points of view and knowledge that I haven’t had before and that’s one of the things I love most about Friends, too.”
What is your greatest contribution to Friends?
“I’ve done a few side projects, like technology projects like the system that’s in the library, and I sing in the choir, which a lot of people really like. But I think just being able to be one of the many good people just helps contribute to the culture that’s here and when you can do that, you kind of carry on a legacy that’s left before you.
“And that’s what I think, I think if everyone did that, it’s an enormous contribution and I think that’s what keeps Friends going, honestly.”
How do you like to give back to the Wichita community, the campus community, and/or the world?
“I try to, in all things, demonstrate a model of love and understanding and peace and caring because I think when people can, even people that you don’t know, when they can feel that they’re listened to or that they’re understood or that they’re loved or they’re cared for, even if it’s someone that they don’t know, I think you can, in turn, just make the world or your campus or your city a better place and I think that if everyone did that, more people would be happier.
“You hear about all the people who have struggles in their daily lives and, you know, that’s part of living, but I feel like if this world built each other up more instead of being more divisive, I think it’s be a better place and I think we would help sort of banish those bad moods and that’s why I just try to be the model of love and caring and, you know, what Jesus commands us to be in everyday life.”
What is one thing you want to tell the people of Friends University, Wichita, and/or the world?
“Love all people, regardless of what they look like or what they believe or where they come from or their background. Just love them, just love them like Jesus would. And I think when you do that, amazing things will happen. Be a voice for love, be a voice for God.”
What is one question you wish we would have asked and how would you answer it?
“’How has the culture of Friends affected you personally?’ And ‘How has the spirituality of Friends affected you personally?’
“And I’d say just by going here for the two and a half years about that I have, it’s definitely made me closer to God. And going to a Christian college wasn’t a priority for me when I was making my college decision but just by being around the people, you just feel like you’re around God a lot and just by being around that a lot, you feel yourself closer to God.
“I feel like I’ve learned more about Him and I’ve grown closer to Him just by being here and when that’s a possibility, I think there’s an infinite amount of things that can come from that.”
Describe yourself in a few words.
“I would say I’m an extrovert. I’d say I’m a caring person, a kind person. I’d say I want to find knowledge in all the ways that I can and, in turn, better myself and better my community or the world by just gaining all the knowledge that I can from all different places and, in turn, just be a light in other people’s day. That’s what I strive to do.”
What do you do here at Friends?
“Well I’m a student here. I’m a computer science and information systems major. I am in Singing Quakers, I am a composition and computer science tutor at the ARC and I also work on accounting a little bit. That’s pretty much what I do at Friends.
“I love the community here. It’s pretty amazing. It’s unlike anything I ever witnessed before and I’ve met so many people through all of those fields, you know, through the ARC and through Quakers and through my major.”
What brought you here to Friends?
“Well, it’s kind of a funny story because I had auditioned for choir in the fall of 2015 and my audition did not go very well and I was pretty torn up about it and I kind of threw Friends out of my equation. And then I came back for what was called Sing It!, and there was a competition for someone to sing a solo and the winner would get to sing it at the concert that night. I was part of this masterclass and once again I was just railed and so I thought, ‘Oh, any chance of that happening was thrown out the door.’
“I was recruited to bowl for Wichita State and Newman, but Dr. Bartel, the choir director, kept coming after me and coming after me and left me some tickets to the Symphony of Spring and so I went and I loved it. I did another tour of the campus and met some of the other professors on campus and it felt like the best decision for me and the best decision for my life. And that’s why I came to Friends.”
What do you like most about Friends University?
“I love the community. I love the people. The people, almost everyone I’ve met here has just been genuinely nice. I haven’t met a person that’s just mean. There’s no one on this campus that I think has a bad heart or just intentionally having a bad heart. I think you can just feel God around this campus. I think that’s the best thing about Friends.”
How has Friends University shaped who you are today?
“I think by the positive influences that I interact with on a daily basis, I think getting that can help your mood from day to day and every single day I’m more and more shaped by the level of intellect of the people around me and the knowledge of my professors and just the learning environment that Friends creates.
“I feel like it’s just an environment that is conducive to learning and that’s how Friends has shaped me. I feel like I have been much more receptive to other points of view and knowledge that I haven’t had before and that’s one of the things I love most about Friends, too.”
What is your greatest contribution to Friends?
“I’ve done a few side projects, like technology projects like the system that’s in the library, and I sing in the choir, which a lot of people really like. But I think just being able to be one of the many good people just helps contribute to the culture that’s here and when you can do that, you kind of carry on a legacy that’s left before you.
“And that’s what I think, I think if everyone did that, it’s an enormous contribution and I think that’s what keeps Friends going, honestly.”
How do you like to give back to the Wichita community, the campus community, and/or the world?
“I try to, in all things, demonstrate a model of love and understanding and peace and caring because I think when people can, even people that you don’t know, when they can feel that they’re listened to or that they’re understood or that they’re loved or they’re cared for, even if it’s someone that they don’t know, I think you can, in turn, just make the world or your campus or your city a better place and I think that if everyone did that, more people would be happier.
“You hear about all the people who have struggles in their daily lives and, you know, that’s part of living, but I feel like if this world built each other up more instead of being more divisive, I think it’s be a better place and I think we would help sort of banish those bad moods and that’s why I just try to be the model of love and caring and, you know, what Jesus commands us to be in everyday life.”
What is one thing you want to tell the people of Friends University, Wichita, and/or the world?
“Love all people, regardless of what they look like or what they believe or where they come from or their background. Just love them, just love them like Jesus would. And I think when you do that, amazing things will happen. Be a voice for love, be a voice for God.”
What is one question you wish we would have asked and how would you answer it?
“’How has the culture of Friends affected you personally?’ And ‘How has the spirituality of Friends affected you personally?’
“And I’d say just by going here for the two and a half years about that I have, it’s definitely made me closer to God. And going to a Christian college wasn’t a priority for me when I was making my college decision but just by being around the people, you just feel like you’re around God a lot and just by being around that a lot, you feel yourself closer to God.
“I feel like I’ve learned more about Him and I’ve grown closer to Him just by being here and when that’s a possibility, I think there’s an infinite amount of things that can come from that.”
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