Pamela Arnold

Back to the NWU Admissions site

Biography

They call me

Assistant Professor of Chemistry

Favorite class to teach

My favorite class to teach depends more on the students than the subject matter. When students are engaged, inquisitive, and enjoying the learning process, teaching is really fun. The enthusiasm of the students inspires and energizes me, which, in turn, further encourages and motivates the students. This sort of synergistic effect is quite exciting when it happens.

If you weren’t a professor, what would you be?

Fortunately I have never had to ponder this question because I have always had a very clear since of purpose and direction in my life. I have always wanted to teach. I can’t imagine anything more rewarding than to be part of the developmental process of the young adults as they discover their unique gifts and abilities and explore their own sense of purpose in life.

What kind of student were you?

My friends and I called ourselves the “nerd herd.” That pretty much says it all, doesn’t it?  

What are your hobbies?

I love to travel. Some of my favorite vacation spots have been the Swiss Alps, Acadia National Park in Maine, the White Mountains in New Hampshire, the Canadian Rockies, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, and London. I grew up in the mountains of Virginia where I developed a love for hiking, canoeing, camping, and backpacking in the mountains. I continue to love any opportunity to get outdoors and enjoy nature. While living in Canada in recent years, I took up new hobbies of cross–country skiing and bicycling. It’s been difficult to keep up the skiing here in Nebraska, but I certainly enjoying the biking trails!

Diary Entries

8/15/08

Transitions: A Little Advice

It’s coming! You can’t hide from it. Some are running out to greet it with a friendly embrace. Others are scurrying for cover, hoping it won’t find them. But it will find you. It finds everyone. It’s called change, and it’s impossible to get through life without confronting it face–to–face.

For new freshman (and their parents), beginning college is not just a change in physical environment, but it represents a more significant transition into a completely new season of life with its associated responsibilities, opportunities, pressures, and expectations. This time of transition can be exciting and energizing for some, but it can be frightening, stressful, and exhausting for others.

As a new (2nd year) faculty member at Nebraska Wesleyan, I can relate to these responses to change. In fact, I’ve been through a lot of transition in the past decade. In the past 8 years I have lived in 2 different countries, 3 different states, 4 different cities, and 7 different apartment/homes. I held teaching positions at 4 different schools (including summer positions), and served in lay leadership capacities in 4 different churches. It makes me dizzy just to think about it! After all of these transitions, I’ve learned a few things about the process. I thought I might share a few of the things that have helped me the most just in case they might help you, too.

1. Invest in new friendships. It’s always hard to leave friends behind (to put it mildly), and there is no way to avoid that sorrow. On the other hand, meeting new friends in new places is so enriching! As a result of all of my moves, I now have friends across the nation and even around the world! Find clubs, sports teams, and church groups where you can connect with people who enjoy the same things you enjoy. And also make an effort to connect with people who are completely different from you. These can be the most enriching relationships.

2. Be an initiator. Don’t wait for new friendships or opportunities to just fall in your lap, because you could have a long, lonely wait if you take that approach. If you don’t know how or where to get started, talk to an older student, professor, minister, or coach about your interests and get their advice about how you might get plugged in.

3. When you’re missing your family and friends, look for someone else who is lonely and try to cheer him or her up. You’ll feel better and you’ll brighten someone else’s day, too!

4. Give it time. Transitions can be hard on the emotions, but if we keep working at it rather than giving up and running back to our place of safety, we will adapt and experience the reward of a more enriched life as a result. After a difficult transition into my freshman year at William and Mary I decided to transfer back to Virginia Tech (my hometown). But, fortunately, before transferring I took a few steps to improve my situation at William and Mary: new living situation, new church group, new daily routine, and suddenly found that life was improved and there was no need to go running back home. The decision to stay put probably changed the whole course of my life for the better. The rewarding and enriching experiences I have had as a result of struggling through the discomfort and learning to adapt have been countless!

5. Get some exercise and some sunlight! During a difficult time, both are uplifting.

6. Notice the beauty of nature, from the tiniest little details of the patterns on a leaf to the brilliance of a Nebraska sunset that lights up the whole sky. When I spend time in nature, I can’t help but be encouraged that the same God who is responsible for its magnificence is fully capable of turning my life and its circumstances into something beautiful.

Change is an inevitable part of life, whether you like it or not. Rather than trying to run and hide (it will find you!) face it and embrace it. Learn your own best mechanisms for coping with change, because you will use them again and again as you go through life. I hope those of you transitioning into life at NWU will soon discover the tremendous rewards awaiting you as you embrace this transition into a new and exciting season of life.



11/24/08

What a great place to work, play

Which of the following activities do you think you might enjoy?

  • An evening playing sardines and charades, roasting marshmallows over Bunsen burners, watching movies, and socializing with a bunch of chemistry students and professors.
  • An evening singing worship songs and studying the Bible with college students
  • A delicious Thanksgiving feast shared by professors, administrators, and students at a sorority house
  • An advanced class with only 3 students and lots of one–on–one instruction as well as good times talking with each other and the professor about a variety of life issues

These have been some of the highlights of my past month here at Nebraska Wesleyan. I realize your specific interests and hobbies might be different, but there is a common thread between these activities and many other opportunities on this campus that I want to highlight. That common thread is the involvement of professors and administrators in the lives of students. This is something I really love about Nebraska Wesleyan, and I think it’s a factor that has drawn many of the current professors to this school. We are interested in our students not just as learners, but as people. Playing charades, studying the Bible, sharing a Thanksgiving feast, and teaching class are all wonderful opportunities to share both knowledge and life.

Who would have known that a large group of hard–core science majors also have great theatric abilities and artistic creativity? I learned that at our chemistry party during a game of charades. I never would have known it had I taught the same students in a large anonymous university. And what about that quiet student who I may have overlooked in a large lecture course. What a joy to see her shine in her role as a Bible study leader and to be able to regularly have discussions with her and other students about faith issues. And the two young women who always sit together near the back, very alert and bright–eyed. What a treat to share a Thanksgiving dinner with them at their sorority house and learn about their hometowns and their hobbies and what they do over the weekends. And I have to mention my advanced course with only three students. You get to know a lot about each other when there are only three students in a class. While it will be exciting to see these three launched into the world, it will also be hard to let them go.

These are just a few examples of why I love Nebraska Wesleyan University. It’s not a place where you can hide behind your books and hope no one notices you. It’s a place where professors know their students, and students know they can count on their professors to be interested in and be part of their lives.





Photo Album

Upon arriving at Nebraska Wesleyan, I heard that the school’s colors were chosen as a reminder of the sunflowers that once covered this land. This story inspired me to make my first quilt, shown in this picture (and now hanging in my office).

In this quilt, the brown represents the soil of this campus, the sunflower fabric represents the sunflowers that used to grown in this soil, and the 9 stars represent the Nebraska Wesleyan students (rising stars) who are now intellectually “growing in the soil” of Nebraska Wesleyan.
 
I was asked to post pictures of my family – so here she is. Lucy is my newly–adopted kitten.
 
I love to spend as much time as possible outdoors, preferably in the mountains. This alpine meadow high above Moraine Lake in the Canadian Rockies is my favorite spot on the earth.
 
In this picture I am working with an undergraduate student to set up a laser flash photolysis experiment at the University of Ottawa in Canada. I took college students on a one–week trip up to the University of Ottawa to run some experiments in this high–tech multimillion dollar lab.