{"id":8635,"date":"2018-05-29T16:16:15","date_gmt":"2018-05-29T16:16:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/?p=8635"},"modified":"2022-04-04T19:44:46","modified_gmt":"2022-04-04T19:44:46","slug":"building-bonds-strengthening-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/2018\/05\/29\/building-bonds-strengthening-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Building Bonds, Strengthening Community"},"content":{"rendered":"

This year, John and Kristian Evans started their Thursday mornings off right … and left.<\/p>\n

At the 6 a.m. DinoMights practices in the Augsburg Ice Arena, young players sometimes put their hockey skates on the wrong feet or jerseys on backward, focusing more on catching up with teammates than on the logistics of assembling picture- perfect uniforms. As a volunteer coach, Kristian describes the weekly 10-minute rush to outfit 20 elementary schoolers for the ice as \u201cpure chaos.\u201d After he and his fellow coaches ensure that skate laces are cinched tightly against players\u2019 tiny ankles and the kids are safely in their gear, these volunteers prepare for a new challenge: channeling the young athletes\u2019 enthusiasm into a successful practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s crazy how much energy the players have in the morning,\u201d Kristian said. \u201cIt\u2019s never a problem to wake them up; it\u2019s always me who\u2019s the sleepy one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fortunately, the players\u2019 spirited attitudes are contagious, according to the Auggie, who is studying communication, marketing, and political science. \u201cThey act like a shot of caffeine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n

\"John<\/a>
[L to R]: Kristian Evans \u201919 and John Evans \u201982<\/figcaption><\/figure>It\u2019s helpful that DinoMights practices leave Kristian with a boost of energy. The third- year student was enrolled in a full course load at Augsburg this fall and used his time outside the classroom to intern at a U.S. senator\u2019s office, serve as a sports editor for the Augsburg Echo student newspaper, do play-by-play announcing for Auggie soccer teams, and promote the Nobel Peace Prize Forum\u2014Minneapolis as a student member of the Forum\u2019s marketing team.<\/p>\n

Volunteering for DinoMights, Kristian said, was a way to carve out time in his schedule for one more thing he loves: hockey. DinoMights builds relationships with at-risk youth in South Minneapolis
\nthrough hockey teams and training, tutoring and academic support, mentoring, and spiritual development opportunities. As one of approximately a dozen nonprofi\u001ft organizations that lease athletic space at Augsburg each year\u2014from the Cedar- Riverside Community School to the Minnesota Sports Federation broomball state tournament\u2014DinoMights benefits from access to quality facilities that are otherwise scarce in the Twin Cities.<\/p>\n

\n

A passion for hockey\u2014and for Augsburg\u2014runs in the Evans family.<\/p>\n

John, for instance, has been skating at the university for nearly 40 years. The Augsburg Athletic Hall of Famer played for Auggie men\u2019s hockey teams that won four Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics championships in 1981 and 1982.<\/p>\n

While earning two national titles was a thrill, John now looks back on his college days and acknowledges that it\u2019s the relationships he developed with teammates, classmates, and faculty members that truly influenced his life. \u201cIt\u2019s the friendships you remember,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Decades ago, John chose to attend Augsburg because he wanted to live and work in Minnesota\u2019s urban core and was drawn to the school\u2019s pioneering emphasis on experiential education.<\/p>\n

\"\"Today, as fathers and sons go, John and Kristian appear to be more alike than different. Both men played hockey in Norway; John signed a pro contract after Augsburg, and Kristian played there following high school. When Kristian was searching for a college after his junior hockey eligibility expired, at first he thought he\u2019d go to school anywhere but Augsburg, wanting to venture farther afield than his dad and mom, Joan (Moline) Evans \u201983<\/strong>. Kristian\u2019s desire to take an entirely new path soon gave way to the revelation that Augsburg\u2019s metropolitan location and commitment to community involvement were a perfect fit for him, as well.<\/p>\n

And, much like his father, Kristian values the power of Auggie friendships. In January 2017, he was diagnosed with cancer, underwent surgery to remove a tumor, and began chemotherapy treatments to rid his body of any remaining cancer cells. He continued to attend Augsburg full time and learned to lean on his roommates for support, whether he needed help shaving his head after he began to lose his hair or someone to accompany him to chemo appointments.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have friends who\u2019d walk with me in the middle of winter to the East Bank hospital where I received care and sit with me for three hours before they had class,\u201d Kristian said. \u201cYou don\u2019t get that with every group of people, and that fact is never lost on me.\u201d<\/p>\n

With his cancer in remission, Kristian sees his role with DinoMights as a way to strengthen an important network for Twin Cities youth who face challenges ranging from navigating life as first-generation Americans to living in single-parent households.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing to be part of a group that says, \u2018We understand that you\u2019re going through some tough stuff, and we will help you in whatever aspect of your life means the most\u2014whether that be through athletics or through faith or through education,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we build communities of support\u2014so that when one of us falls, there are other people who are willing to step in.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Auggies like John and Kristian who\u2019ve come to embrace Augsburg\u2019s commitments to vocational discernment and civic engagement, DinoMights is just one example of the power of transferring the University\u2019s educational framework to a real-world application. \u201cIf you can make one corner of your community better, then you can say you\u2019re doing your part,\u201d Kristian said. \u201cThis is what Augsburg teaches when it comes to vocation.”<\/p>\n

\n

[Top image]: Kristian Evans \u201919<\/strong> helps a member of the DinoMights Squirt team prepare for hockey practice. Players are 10 or 11 years old.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year, John and Kristian Evans started their Thursday mornings off right … and left. At the 6 a.m. DinoMights practices in the Augsburg Ice Arena, young players sometimes put their hockey skates on the wrong feet or jerseys on backward, focusing more on catching up with teammates than on the logistics of assembling picture- <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":8793,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[85],"class_list":["post-8635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-stories","tag-spring-summer-2018"],"wps_subtitle":"Father and son John Evans '82 and Kristian Evans '19 find volunteer opportunity unites their Augsburg legacy and desire to serve","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8635"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11976,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8635\/revisions\/11976"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}