Online to On Campus – Summer 2025

By Amanda (Shine ’05) Zambrano

Ryan Kullander ’27 began his Houghton journey as a high school student when he enrolled in online Early College courses. A homeschool student from Anchorage, Alaska, Ryan and his family searched for college credits that would count toward completion of his high school diploma and help him get ahead in college. While Ryan had taken college classes through similar programs, when he and his family found Houghton University’s Early College program, it struck a chord.

Ryan has always had an interest in Christian education, which attracted him to Houghton’s offerings. The tangible benefits of Early College, however, were the affordability of the classes and their asynchronous format that allowed him to participate in spite of time zone differences and his other responsibilities.

“Online can feel a little distant at times,” remarked Ryan, who has experience with online classes from other institutions. “But I felt the distance between me and my professors less because of the way they recorded their lectures or wrote in emails or discussion forums. I felt very welcomed. I felt my professors really cared.”

Ryan, an elementary education major with a focus in humanities and a minor in Bible, began his Houghton Early College experience with introductory-level classes, Biblical Literature with Rev. Dr. Ron Duttweiler ‘85 and Intro to Sociology with Professor Suzanne (Brenneman ’94) Beardsley. He went on to complete at least two more higher-level online courses, including Board Game Science with biology professor Dr. Ransom Poythress and Developmental Psychology with Dr. Hannah Kim.

As a homeschool student, independent course load management wasn’t entirely unfamiliar to Ryan. His time with Early College, however, pushed him to hone practical skills in time management. Board Game Science, a summer course, provided Ryan the opportunity to learn to balance his summer job with his studies, not dissimilar to the way he juggles a busy schedule on campus now.

“I think those Early College classes cultivated my abilities so that I could then confidently take on five classes at once and then the London Honors program the next semester,” noted Ryan.

The Early College courses set a high standard within the context of a welcoming and Christ-centered community. Both Developmental Psychology and Board Game Science had a mix of college students and high school students. “It was real work,” said Ryan, as he compared his Early College courses with his undergraduate work on campus, “with a real final project. The classes felt like a pretty real workload in a real class.”

Ryan enjoyed his time in Early College, but wasn’t convinced about coming to campus for his undergraduate degree. His youth pastor, Houghton alumnus Ross Atherton ’21, encouraged Ryan to submit an application to Houghton University anyway. It was Ross’s description of Houghton’s welcoming community and opportunities for spiritual growth that inspired Ryan to apply.

When Ryan was accepted to Houghton, he was invited to apply to the first-year London Honors program and offered a travel voucher that enabled him to interview on campus during an Honors Interview Weekend. The beauty of the campus and the welcoming atmosphere of his interview weekend, including a one-on-one interview with Dr. Susan Bruxvoort-Lipscomb, solidified Ryan’s decision.

Ryan is profoundly grateful for his time with Dr. Benjamin Lipscomb, Dr. Bruxvoort-Lipscomb and Dr. Christian Esh ’98 during his semester in London. “All three of them were so in tune to me and to my academics both. Frequently, they would see me reading and check on how I was doing, not so much how the reading was going, but rather asking about me, my spiritual life, about moments of fun I’d had.”

Ryan stepped on Houghton’s campus with a desire to engage with community and an enthusiasm for a wide array of activities. His first collegiate Houghton experience was with the Highlander Wilderness Adventure program prior to the start of his first semester. He joined the Roaring Sheep Ultimate Frisbee Club, where he crossed paths with Dr. Poythress for the first time in person. Ryan joined a Bible study, hosted by Matthew Foster ’25, whom he had first met through Board Game Science’s online discussion forums. Ryan auditioned as a guitarist for Sunday night’s Koinonia services, and has enjoyed the connectedness and corporate worship as a member of a Koinonia team. Ryan also stepped into a leadership role on campus as a resident assistant (RA) in Rothenbuhler Hall, where he welcomes young men into Houghton’s community the way he was welcomed.

Ryan shared that his experiences on campus at Houghton live up to everything he imagined and more. Thanks to completing his introductory Bible classes as a high schooler, in his first semester on campus, Ryan enrolled in an upper-level Bible course studying the Pentateuch with Dr. Andrew Walton ’06. He was the only first-year student in his class. That class presented an opportunity to build a relationship with Dr. Walton, and Ryan has taken a class with him every semester since.

Ryan isn’t the only member of his family to benefit from Houghton’s Early College courses. His younger brother, Caeden, has also taken Biblical Literature online, as well as Dr. Peter Meilaender’s course on C.S. Lewis. Caeden loved the class and shared with Ryan how eye-opening and challenging it was. Caeden will be joining the ranks of Highlanders on campus in the Fall of 2025 and, like his brother, will spend Spring 2026 in London with the London Honors program.