SUN Center honors three Bjarnson, Woodward, Merrell

This archived article was written by: Amanda Mair

This past week I’ve sat down with three of the SUN Center’s pranksters, Maria Bjarnson, Nathaniel Woodward and Tahna Merrell to find out their thoughts on service.   It took some poking and prodding, a few almost funny jokes and a lot of side splitting laughter, but I was able to get something out of them. Word of caution, if you need to use the restroom you may want to do so before reading the rest of this article.
  Bjarnson comes to CEU from beautiful Midvale, Utah.   When she grows up she wants to be a dental hygienist and plans on attending Weber State University when she wraps up her time at CEU.
  Bjarnson credits her parents for giving her the heads up on service, and recalls a specific experience that really brought the point home for her.  
“One day my family decided to gather shopping carts from all over town and paraded them down the street, back to the stores they came from.”  
From here Bjarnson’s flair for service really fired up and found herself involved with the SUN Center.   Not that she could avoid it, though.   Bjarnson is preceded in the SUN Center by six family members, so it was only natural that she too would become involved.   Bjarnson says that “service is a lot like peeing your pants.   Everybody can see what you’ve done, but only you can feel the warmth.”
 When Bjarnson isn’t working at the Golden Rule Mission, she enjoys piano, volleyball, sumo wrestling, eating Swedish fish, strawberries and steak.   On a final note, Bjarnson wants everyone to know that “I’m hilarious!”
 Woodward (aka Than) comes from right here in good ‘ole Price, Utah.   He is a pre-medical student, and will be attending Southern Virginia University to play soccer when he leaves CEU.
Woodward got an early start in service, dating all the way back to when he was 8 years old.   That is when he joined the Boy Scouts and became a life-long lover of service.  
Woodward enjoys being involved, especially when it comes to service.   Luckily he found the SUN Center, and now he enjoys working with International Humanities.   Woodward believes that “the SUN Center is the best way to get involved in helping others, and making the campus a better experience for everyone.”
When Woodward isn’t busy studying or doing service, he enjoys playing soccer, church ball, fishing, hunting and camping.   An interesting fact, he can almost turn both of his feet 180 degrees.
Merrell comes to CEU from Castle Dale (Wilberg, Wash), Utah. When she grows up, she would like to be an administrative assistant or work in sports medicine or massage therapy.   Merrell isn’t sure where she’ll end up after CEU, but wherever it is they will be lucky to have her.
Merrell has her mother to thank for her introduction to service.   She says that her mother always has service for her to do, but back then the service seemed a lot like chores.   Some of Merrell’s favorite activities included helping her grandparents or working at church activities.  
She decided to join the SUN Center team because she really loves service and the way it makes you feel.   Also, it gives her something productive to do in her spare time.   When Merrell thinks about service the thought she has is “no wonder they’re smiling.”
Some of Merrell’s extracurricular activities include (but are not limited to) playing basketball or volleyball, pulling pranks, cooking and cleaning, clogging, and taping sprained ankles (it’s an inside joke).     Merrell tells us that her left foot is smaller than the right and she has no toenail or part of a bone on one toe.   (That’s the toe that stays home … think nursery rhyme.)