Shanan Reynaud outside Watson Hall

A pastoral presence

Thursday, May 11, 2023
Brenton Stacey
About the Author

Brenton Stacey

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Brenton is Avondale University’s Public Relations and Philanthropy Officer. He brings to the role experience as a communicator in publishing, media relations, public relations, radio and television, mostly within the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the South Pacific and its entities.

How Shanan is helping our residential students check in

Shanan Reynaud’s life experience has perfectly prepared him for his new role at Avondale: Residential Life Coordinator for men’s residence Watson Hall. “I’ve come to recognise that trials and tragedy are integral to growth, and they give me a new perspective when I see others struggling,” he says. Shanan models vulnerability and presence, preferring to base behaviour management on “personal relationships” rather than “coercive correction.” We asked him some questions. Here are his answers.

Describe a typical day in Watson.
I arrive mid-morning and check in on the communal spaces, kitchens, lounges and bathrooms. Chatting with the residents is what I make most time for, when I’m not answering email and meeting with other members of staff. I’m often watching the guys play sport in the auditorium after dinner. I head home later, usually after more chats.

What are you most enjoying about being Residential Life Coordinator?
The flexibility and challenges. Every day gives birth to new situations in which to walk alongside those around me.

How do you define success in the role?
“Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit” (Zechariah 4:6, NIV). When you see the residents grow each day and make good choices, friends and memories, success is near.

Name something you’ve learnt from the residents of Watson.
There are never enough hours in a day.

Promote on-campus living: why should every student have a residential hall experience?
Sooner or later, you’ll be thrust out into the world and have to learn to live in relative peace with your housemates and neighbours, and those in your community. Where else can you live with hundreds of people your age, participate in a plethora of activities and games, and learn academic and general life skills? The years you spend in the residential halls will form friendships and memories for the rest of your life.

How do you spend your spare time?
Printing 3D objects, flying remote control craft, bonsai and penjing, walking my dogs and sharing life with my wife. But not in that order.

What are you reading?
The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious by Carl Jung.

Encourage us with a piece of advice or a life motto.
When you understand that every opinion is a vision full of personal history, you’ll begin to understand that every judgment is a confession.

Complete this sentence: “My greatest love in life is . . . ”
Love.

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