Kalyn富布赖特
校友 2022年春季

连锁反应

回到OBU继续她的事业, alumna Kalyn富布赖特 is helping countless others shape their futures and that of the world we all share.


有时候在生活中,当你知道,你就会知道. 事情就是这么简单. And those moments of clarity and realization are as powerful as they are personal. 

This is especially true when it comes to one’s education and future career path. 每个人的道路都是独一无二的. Most bring unexpected twists and turns, as well as a few surprises along the way. 

给凯琳·富布莱特, ’15, the one thing she was sure about after graduating from high school was that OBU was the place she wanted to spend her college years. 其他的一切都是有待发现的. 最后, it would lead her to a realization that would impact her life and countless others on their journey to a brighter future.

命运的一天

Fullbright grew up in Sallisaw, Oklahoma, just over two hours straight east from Shawnee. Knowing that any college she chose would have to provide an experience that integrated faith into the overall learning experience, she and her family made the drive west on Interstate 40 to visit OBU.

当他们在校园里适应周围的环境时, they noticed that they had fallen behind their tour group. 但事实证明,这是可以的.

“My family and I came to a Preview Day during fall of my senior year,” Fullbright says. “During the event, we got a little behind and ended up talking to Dr. Bruce Perkins [director of admissions at that time] instead of going to a session. 这样的谈话, 那天还有很多人, helped my parents feel confident in sending me to Bison Hill.”

While she would be going to college 127 miles away from her hometown, her family was confident that upon graduating Fullbright would return. “My whole family lives within about five miles of each other and they fully expected me to return after graduation,”她说。. 

但这个故事还没有被写出来.

改变她的道路

当富布赖特决定上哪所大学的时候, in addition to a school that would provide a robust Christian worldview as part of the experience, 她还想找一个受人尊敬的护理专业. It was her field of choice, and she was excited for a career healing others.

但就像生活中经常发生的那样,这个方向改变了.

“我来OBU是为了护理. I just knew it would be a wonderful career and I would love every minute of it,富勒布莱特说. 到了第二学期入学的时候, my advisor told me that I needed to enroll in human anatomy. She excitedly explained the benefits of OBU’s cadaver lab, 这是该州仅有的几家吗, 以及我们的学生所接触到的实践经验.”

The thought of working with human cadavers was, in Fullbright’s words, “terrifying.” So she changed her major after her first year to pursue a bachelor’s degree in communication studies with a minor in marketing. But even then, she didn’t know where that new academic path would lead her.

没有什么比改变生活更重要的了

Thinking back on her time as a student at OBU brings one phrase to mind for Fullbright.

“生活改变.”

来自她的教授, to the friends she made her freshman year with whom she remains close to this day, 她帮助形成的庆祝活动和传统, 这一切让她脸上露出了笑容.

“Dr. Vickie 埃利斯 [retired professor of communication arts] profoundly impacted me during my time as a college student,富勒布莱特说. “没有人像她那样挑战或支持我. 她是我所知道的最有创造力的人之一. Nobody loves students, scholarship or Broadway show tunes more than Dr. 埃利斯! 我也非常感谢Dr. Kaylene Barbe博士. 鲍比·凯利和约翰博士. 丹•里德.”

Then there were the times she spent with friends and fellow residents of her dorm. They would gather on third north in WMU and engage in “hall talk” where they would sit and connect for hours every night. 

“The next year, most of us lived in the same hall in Taylor together,”她说。. “We always held our own ‘Last Night’ celebrations before moving out for the summer, which usually included our own version of ‘The Walk’ and thinking about the best memories of the year.”

又一个岔路口

2015年从OBU毕业, Fullbright accepted a position as marketing director for a company in Shawnee that was owned by a fellow OBU alum. She also went on to earn a master’s degree in higher education.

But in 2016, she felt a calling and was presented with another fork in the road. That calling was to return to OBU and work in the admissions office. 富勒布莱特和她丈夫, 亚伦, ’14, simply fell in love with the community of Shawnee and couldn’t imagine leaving. 

She began serving the students of Pottawatomie and Lincoln counties as an admissions counselor. 从那里, she transitioned to a role as admissions event coordinator, overseeing prospective student events and the OBU student ambassador team, 那群. In 2019, 她于2021年成为hga皇冠注册办副主任, 她被任命为新的hga皇冠注册主任.

“我的工作是全校最有趣的,”富勒布莱特说. “I get to work with the very best and most fun team in admissions. 我们努力工作,但我们也有一个很好的时间在一起.”

塑造无数未来

Just like a single impact on still water creates countless ripples emanating outward, Fullbright is now in a similar position leading admissions at OBU.

它不仅塑造了她的未来, but also the future of each student she helps bring into OBU and, 最终, 他们对世界的影响.

“Many students don’t choose a college knowing what might happen over the course of the next four years. 我当然没有,”富勒布莱特说. “I couldn’t have imagined that I would meet lifelong friends whom I still talk with daily. It’s easy to tell the OBU story when I know what is on the other side.”

One of those things on the other side is the profound impact OBU alumni have on the world. “看看数据就知道了,”她说. “OBU毕业生做的是有意义的大事. 这是参加OBU的一个令人信服的理由, but students stay for their education because of the community and the people investing in them.”

And she particularly enjoys sharing with future nursing and science majors the benefits of all the hands-on experience they’ll gain from OBU’s distinctive cadaver lab.