ERIC ZAYAS; Feature Editor: zayasen@plu.edu
Lute OverKnight took place last weekend, giving prospective students an up close and personal look at campus life.
Current students got the opportunity to host potential Lutes and tell them what it’s really like to be a student at PLU. Riley Dolan was one such student who told me all about his experience as an OverKnight host.
Dolan hosted two prospective students. Jayson and Ian, high school seniors from Washington state who are interested in studying political science majors.
The day began when Jayson and Ian arrived on campus mid-afternoon last Saturday. Dolan showed brought his students to his room in Stuen, where they hung out with other OverKnight groups and talked about what attending PLU is really like.
Eventually dinner time came around, and Dolan took his students to the UC where they got some entertainment with their meal. While Jayson and Ian dined at the Commons, they got the chance to listen to PLU’s famous a capella groups and witnessed a unique performance of Chinese culture.
“We went to dinner and they had entertainment at the UC, which was pretty cool,” said Dolan. “There was Plutonic and Hermonic performing. And there was like a Chinese dragon that danced around. That was pretty cool. You don’t typically get that with your dining experience.”
The night continued as Dolan took his student to Olsen for a game of dodgeball, then the group ate delicious s’mores in Pflueger, and later participated in a campus-wide scavenger hunt. They even got to watch a local improv group: The Clay Crows.
Jayson and Ian got to venture all around campus and experience the fun PLU community. Dolan was glad to say that they had fun, and have shown serious interest in becoming PLU students.
“I know that Jayson has committed to going here. And Ian, this is one of his top two choices.”
The moments that happened during OverKnight reminded Dolan about his own personal experience that lead to him becoming a PLU student. It all came down to having great hosts. Dolan raved about his fantastic overnight hosts and his positive experience that lead him to choose PLU for his academic career and want to become an overnight host himself.
Upon discovering he was eligible for the Presidential Scholarship, Dolan attended a President’s Weekend event where he stayed overnight at PLU with his very own hosts.
“So, when I was staying here for the President’s Weekend, I had good hosts, Austin and Raymond, and I still see them around on campus and everything,” said Dolan. “… so I wanted to try and have that same experience to try and pass it on.”
Passing on the legacy of hosting students at PLU motivated Dolan to become an OverKnight host. The idea of sharing his experience with prospective students inspired him to become a host, and he encourages more Lutes to become hosts themselves.
Lute OverKnight gave Dolan an opportunity to express why he chose PLU in a way that felt genuine and personal.
“I visited a ton of different colleges,” said Dolan. “Like twelve, fifteen colleges. I don’t know. Something like that. And none of them felt like the environment here where people are just really friendly. Really open and nice… and the food! The Cross Cultures, that’s my jam.”
