Featured Alumnus - June 2019

I attended CCHS from 1989 to 1993, but my family had been part of the community, including Southwest Christian, for much longer. My sister was a few years ahead of me; she was a senior when I was a freshman. My parents had also attended Christian High. In fact, we had several of the same teachers (e.g., “Johnny” Meyer, Miss Mary, Miss Louters, Mr. Fransman). The summer before my freshman year, I had surgery, so I was in a full-leg cast; I got the cast off in October and promptly broke that same leg three weeks later. I spent nearly my whole freshman year on crutches. We sat alphabetically, so poor Heather Roozeboom, then Ozinga, had to sit by my unwashed, adolescent-boy, open-toed cast, which after a few months was not smelling too sweet. I’m a father of a teenage boy now, so from the depths of my heart, Heather, I apologize. Many experiences from high school shaped the course of my life: I got into theater, wrote comedy sketches, joined the choir, learned about improv, navigated friendships, changed career interests, the list goes on. My favorite (or most memorable) class at CCHS was “creative writing” with Gary Meyer; he encouraged me to express my feelings in an essay that won an award and brought me closer to my father. During my senior year, Keith McMaster had a vision to pirate the “Channel 1” news that was broadcast in every class with our own episode; a group of us worked together on this epic video, and, I’ll just say, our Dorito commercial parody was the stuff of legend. (Cheers to my friends who pulled off this excellent prank and to all who befriended me during those years).

After graduation in 1993, I attended Trinity Christian College, where I met my wife, Jen. I achieved a BA in Communication Arts. I went on to Calvin Seminary and earned a Master of Divinity. I worked for several years as a pastor at Palos Heights CRC and then Lafayette CRC. During that time, I had three lovely children: Liz (1999), Bryan (2002), and Sarah (2005). After some soul searching, I decided that my heart wasn’t in being a pastor, so I resigned from the ministry in 2010 and sought a new career. I attended the school of Communication at Purdue University and earned an MA (2014) and PhD (2018) in Interpersonal Communication. I have since become a Clinical Assistant Professor of Managerial Communication for the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University, and I absolutely love it. In fact, I’ve won three awards for college teaching and published several articles on the subject. In addition to these professional interests, I’ve continued performing improv comedy with several troupes and am still active today. I’ve written five plays, two short plays, and a murder mystery dinner game; I’ve also helped write a communication textbook and created instructional materials for another. I also announce for the local roller derby under the moniker “Diamond Doug,” and I regularly record movie review podcasts with my friend Gary McFall for the group Adventures in Videoland.

In my current position, I teach managerial communication skills to master’s level and undergraduate students. The master’s classes help hone necessary “soft” skills like networking, presentations, persuasion, visual aids, data visualization, and consulting. With my undergraduate students, I help them focus on methods and techniques to improve their strategic thinking and decision-making. Although I do provide some new techniques and insights, the most important part of my job is really just helping people put forth the best version of themselves. Although I am no longer a pastor, my calling remains to help others feel loved and respected, as well as helping people find their voice. This is not the life I expected to have when I graduated from high school (so many years ago); it is so much more. And once again, I apologize for that stinky, stinky foot.