Katie Rousopoulos

I met Katie Rousopoulos for the first time at Joe’s Montana Grill in Indianapolis. I was sitting there eating dinner with my sister, who’d come down to Indy to visit me for a weekend. She saw her friend Katie and her family sitting close to us and called her over when they got up to leave. We were introduced and I remember thinking that she was a strong, outgoing person. The following year, as I returned to Taylor as an assistant Residence Director, I got to know Katie much better. She was a senior, but was asked to be a part of the professional staff due to her tremendous maturity and capability as an RA the year before. We then spent the following two years as members of the same cohort of MAHE students.

Katie’s the kind of friend everyone needs because she’s the kind of person who will not let your friendship be one sided. For as long as I’ve known her, I’ve always seen her working to contribute to others in some way, shape, or form. For me, it’s been TONS of encouraging words. And that’s been good for me because I’m not one to necessarily take compliments very well. I usually try to avoid those sorts of situations, but she’s been so consistent in it that I’ve found myself much more open to accepting her compliments. Obviously, that’s a great way to make a person feel cared about.

Another important part about Katie is that she is Greek. I know, with a last name like Rousopoulos, that’s probably not all that surprising. Katie shares and celebrates her ethnic heritage more than any of my other friends. Two main avenues for this sharing are cooking and story telling. Whether she’s cooking or someone else is cooking, she always finds a way to share something about Greek culture through food. So Fun! Katie’s story about her family in the states and family who live in Greece are hilarious. I enjoy the subtle way that she can interject her cross-cultural experiences into conversations to add humor on the surface, but also to remind us that the way things work around me here are not necessarily the only way for things to work.

On that note, it is important to note that Katie is a world traveler. She’s obviously been to Greece, but also has spent time around Europe and China. She certainly has a passion for cross-cultural experience and how that can contribute to growth and maturity. I think her experiences abroad have fostered, in her, an authentic desire to understand others. Whether someone is older or younger, from a different cultural or social background, holds different opinions or the same, Katie genuinely wants to understand the people she’s around and what makes them different (though I am sure she’d describe us as unique; not different). What a joy it is to have a friend who I am so confident wants to know me. God Bless you Katie!

Ben Taylor

Ben Taylor is a good friend of not many years. I’ve known of Ben since my junior year of college. He lived in Morris Hall my last two years. He also led worship often in chapel. So, like many of the Taylor population, I was aware of him vaguely. However, it wasn’t really until the spring of my first year as an assistant hall director that we began to know one another personally. He was hired as one of the male PA’s for the CRAM program, of which, I was the hall director. In the three weeks of CRAM we forged a the foundations of a friendship that, though it lacks in longevity, has developed a depth and a comfort level that cannot be mistaken as anything but authentic friendship.

I would describe Ben as saying that he is equal parts theologian and goofball. This combination makes for a good friend, but also for an excellent resident director, which is his profession of the moment. Students love him because he transitions back and forth between these two parts almost effortlessly in a way that asks them to follow along. To which, I’ve seen many all to happy to oblige. And who can blame them? How many people do you know that you would consider a deep thinker? Now, of those, are there any who you would say don’t take themselves too seriously? Exactly. That’s what makes Ben such a magnetic personality.

My friendship with Ben has been characterized by arguing and laughing; challenging and supporting. Discussing things with him is refreshing, because he’s not put off by my analytical/rational thoughts. In the few years of our friendship, he’s picked me up and pulled out of one of the lowest points in my life. I think that our conversations and interactions have contributed to a higher level self-awareness. I give him a hard time about being the most ‘inclusive’ person that I’ve ever met. I’m convinced that there is not a person in this world that, if within his physical proximity when he’s about ready to go do something, he would not feel obliged to invite to come along with him. Even though I give him a hard time for it, I’ve gotten to know some wonderful people as a result of those sorts of situations.

It is ridiculous that I’ve gotten this far without mentioning that Ben Taylor is a musician, and I’m not talking about some high school punk rocker or college aged emo kid. Ben Taylor is legitimately, a musician. His affinity for music is contagious. Whether listening, playing, singing, or writing music, Ben embodies this artistic expression in a way that I can only dream about. I am instantly excited when I get a new song recommendation from him, which I, without questions, immediately buy off of iTunes. Ben went on a Farewell concert tour last spring, but I’m hoping that the band will get back together and start doing some shows around here one of these days. I mean, there’s only about a million coffee shops around here… Let's make it happen Ben.