OPUS Celebrates 25 Years of Christian Scholarship

What started as an idea to highlight and celebrate Christian scholarship across Trinity Christian College’s campus has taken on a life of its own over the past 25 years. OPUS is often described as an academic carnival, complete with snacks, parades, and raffle prizes. This year, a local favorite, Lucky Burrito, was on campus to provide tacos to students, faculty, and staff, making everyone feel part of the celebration.

The combination of scholarly presentations across various disciplines with a festive atmosphere makes for a memorable and unique event for students and attendees. OPUS continues to be a great opportunity to showcase intellectual growth and community building.

Sarah Krause, OPUS Committee Co-Chair, expressed, “OPUS 2024 is officially in the books, and we are so grateful for how this year’s celebration turned out. Congratulations to all the competition winners, but more importantly to all who competed! Many judges commented that they had a REALLY difficult time selecting winners, which speaks to the high quality of presentations that were shown or delivered. Everyone who presented or performed should feel encouraged by their work!”

Winners of competitions were:

OPUS Literary Arts Competition Winners

Fiction/Drama:

1^st Place: Chase Hadley – “Can of Corn”

2^nd Place: MJ Huizenga – “What It Takes”

Poetry:

1^st Place: Chase Hadley – “Stockholm”

2^nd Place: Njoki Mukuria – “Black Tears for Baobab”

 

OPUS Music Competition Winners

Vocal Solo: 

1^st  place: Keila Rivera

2^nd place: Emily Hawkins

Instrumental Solo:

1^st place: Jared Peters

Vocal Ensemble:

1^st place: Audrey Yonkman, Eden Elling, Jared Peters

2^nd place: Carvell Anderson, Keila Rivera

Instrumental Ensemble:

1^st place: Joseph Talluto, Ashley Yonkman

2^nd place: Haley Wedster, Jared Peters

Original Musical Composition:

1^st place: Nathan Hiltner – “Event Horizon”
 

OPUS Art & Design Winners

Graphic Design:

1^st place: Lydia Rascher – “Timeless Sand”

2^nd place: Lydia Rascher – “Untitled”

3^rd place: MJ Huizenga – “Love Hate Tees”

Honorable Mention: Allison Tillema – “Front Cover”

Sculpture:

1^st place: MJ Huizenga – “Hate Mail Origami”

2^nd place: Maggie Otto – “Ring Ring”

3^rd place: Kit Miller – “Wash Up”

Drawing/Painting:

1^st place: Amanda Csuka – “Seasons and Second Life”

2^nd place: Sydney Wood – “Where’s Kit”

3^rd place:  Maggie Otto – “Continual 3”

Honorable Mention: Yuri Coleman – “Storm”

Honorable Mention: Amanda Csuka – “The Feeling of a Concert”

Honorable Mention: Nora Johnson – “The Man in the Moon”

Honorable Mention: Abigail Rhoda – “Dear Old World”
Print/Photo:

1^st place: Karla Rosales – “Navajo Land”

2^nd place: Hope McIntosh – “A Book about the Everyday”

3^rd place: Amanda Csuka – “Flower portraits”

3^rd place: Abigail Rhoda – untitled

Honorable Mention: Becca French

Honorable Mention: Ren Amador – “postcard”

Best in Show: MJ Huizenga – Gender Reveal Ball

 

OPUS Creation Care Competition Winner

Leah Lisowski – The Rice is Right: Golden Rice & the Fight Against Vitamin A Deficiency Worldwide

 

OPUS Poster Presentation Winners

1^st place – Martin Sheehan

Influence of Dark Matter Particles During Interstellar Travel

1^st place – Mia Musick

Perceptions of Masculinity: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

2^nd place – Sarah Conners

Pawsitively Connected: Investigating Animal-Assisted Interventions in Adolescent Group Work

3^rd place – Bethany Moultrie

Can Granny Ease the Pain? Researching Self-Esteem in Adolescent Youth being Raised by Grandparents

OPUS Presentation Showdown Winners:

1^st place: MJ Huizenga

2^nd place: (tied) Sharon Jegadish and Leah Lisowski

Honorable Mention: Jared Peters, Mary Mathieu