By Craig Pinley
CHICAGO, IL (December 16, 2004) – North Park Theological Seminary (NPTS) prepares many of the Evangelical Covenant Church’s pastors, which usually involves field education in the form of an internship serving a local congregation.
This year, first-year student Katie Rose was involved with field studies of a different kind, recently completing her eligibility for the North Park University women’s soccer team. Rose is pursuing a Master of Arts in Christian Ministry (with focus in Leadership Administration) at the seminary. Playing for her third coach, Rose’s already-honed leadership skills paid dividends for new coach Bob Usselman in recent months, with her nine goals aiding the team as it finished 6-10-3 this fall. She finished with 21 career goals, second on the Vikings’ career list, and was second in career assists and points as well.
“Coaching Katie has really been a pleasure this year,” Usselman said of the Palmer, Alaska, native. “The way she goes about her business and the way she respects the game is really impressive. She brings everything she’s got every day.”
“Coaching Katie has really been a pleasure this year,” Usselman said of the Palmer, Alaska, native. “The way she goes about her business and the way she respects the game is really impressive. She brings everything she’s got every day.”
Although rural Alaska seems a far cry from the big city, Rose has felt at home due to having many family members nearby. Brother Jamie, a junior, is a starting defender on the North Park men’s soccer team and a cousin (Nick Bruckner) is a sophomore forward. An aunt and uncle (a teacher at North Park University) live only a few blocks away. Rose, who grew up at Mat-Su Covenant Church, said her familial ties made the transition to North Park much easier.
“It was one of the implied things – being a kid in the Covenant – to come to North Park,” said Rose. “I had visited North Park when I was a sophomore and while I had considered going to Covenant Bible College in Ecuador, I decided I wanted to play soccer in college. North Park has been a great experience.” She says the adjustment has been on her mind a fair amount, due largely she believes to the differences in the two cultures – spending the summers in Alaska and then having the winters in Chicago. “But I’ve gotten to know a lot of amazing people at North Park and it’s good to still be developing relationships here.”
A team captain and a CCIW All-Academic team member during the fall of 2003, Rose was also the school’s Student Association vice president and its Homecoming Queen, making her a very visible part of campus activities as a college senior.
These days, Rose is living with friends off campus and took seminary classes in the morning this semester before heading off to practices or matches. She notes that her life is mostly spent at the library or at the field, making it difficult to acquaint herself with the seminary community.
“The hardest thing is that there is no differentiation between weekdays and weekends,” Rose observes. “The studying and the reading doesn’t seem to stop. I was captain last year but I wasn’t interested in doing that this year. But it’s great to be playing. It’s a good combination to be doing seminary, but still having the soccer I love.”
Along with soccer, the close relationship with brother Jamie made transitioning to seminary more seamless as the two have a mutual respect for each other’s abilities. They also share a work ethic that won’t quit, whether on or off the field. They were commercial fishermen, spending as many as 18 hours per day at work this summer at various sites, to help pay for their education. (Accompanying photo shows Katie, right, in one of the summer work locations in Alaska near Rainy Pass.)
“Here we were, in the middle of nowhere, and he was doing sit-ups trying to get in shape,” said Katie in recalling two weeks they worked together. Jamie’s extra effort and the North Park men’s soccer team paid off as the team won its first conference soccer title on November 6. Jamie was glad his sister got to see it. He had been on a state title team in high school but didn’t play much in his first year at North Park.
“It was great to have Katie around the first two years,” said Jamie. “She was like a security blanket for me, especially my first semester at school.”
The grandchild of a Covenant missionary, Rose is considering a return to Alaska to be part of some ministry like the Covenant Youth of Alaska or the Amundsen Education Center after completing her seminary education. In her spare time, she’s involved as a volunteer representative for the school as a student development assistant.
“I am and always will be a strong advocate for North Park,” she said. “It’s a unique university that allows for and encourages growth for all of its participants – in every aspect of life.”
Copyright © 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.