Senior Rhaya Kaschinske: “Concordia is different from other universities because we get to have Jesus as the center of everything”

Concordia senior Rhaya Kaschinske didn’t expect to feel “at home” on a campus that’s over ten hours away from her hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana.  

“I was pretty convinced that I was going to go to Concordia Wisconsin when I took my college visit to Nebraska,” she said. “When we showed up on [Concordia Nebraska’s] campus, right away we were greeted with smiling and welcoming faces. I felt at home on a campus that was eleven hours away from my house.”  

Now entering her fourth year on campus, Rhaya serves as a resident assistant as well as an active member of the track and cross country team and is a K-12 special education major – so she keeps a busy schedule.  

“Since the weekdays can get pretty hectic with work meetings, classes, and practices, I try to plan ahead with my time to make sure I balance each role I have,” she said. Getting involved at Concordia, however, has given her a sense of community that she wouldn’t trade for anything.  

“I am thankful for the community I found in my teammates. I am thankful for the community of my close friends that were brought to me through Concordia. I am thankful for the community of Seward that has supported me and other students in so many ways...all of these community aspects lead to feeling more connected and part of something bigger than just a university.” 

Instead of just learning skills and strategies for classroom management, I am discovering why these skills and strategies work. Instead of just learning Lutheran doctrines, I am learning why these doctrines matter and how to defend them.

As she makes her way toward graduation, Rhaya looks forward to bringing this sense of community into her future classroom. As a special educator, she'll serve individuals in the school system with mild to moderate disabilities, helping them to gain academic and life skills both in and out of traditional school settings. She hopes to serve as a resource room teacher in a Lutheran K-8 school; however, becoming a behavior teacher is also something she’d consider, especially after having the opportunity to serve as a paraprofessional substitute in the Seward public school district this year.  

“I think my Concordia experience has prepared me well for my future vocation,” she said. “My first semester of college, I was already observing and helping in a classroom setting, which was extremely helpful. Many of my friends at other universities did not get into a classroom to observe until their second or third years of college. I am thankful that our program makes that a priority from early on.”  

She also cites her professors with helping her to discover her purpose and calling, as they encouraged her to dig deeper into the things she enjoyed – or didn’t even know she enjoyed.  

“My professors...help me to understand the why behind my learning,” she said. “Instead of just learning skills and strategies for classroom management, I am discovering why these skills and strategies work. Instead of just learning Lutheran doctrines, I am learning why these doctrines matter and how to defend them. Instead of simply learning psychological terms, I am learning how they manifest in someone.”  

Her psychology minor was the result of a professor pointing out how much she seemed to love learning about the topics in a class.  

“I am thankful for the way that my professors saw strengths and interests in me that I may not have seen on my own,” she said.  

For Rhaya, Concordia is a community – a community that she loves, and a community that will enable her to serve the world as a Christian special educator after graduation. The foundation of faith provided by the Concordia community, she said, will allow her to go out into the world with her trust in Christ informing everything she does.  

“Concordia is different from other universities because we get to have Jesus as the center of everything we do,” she said. “We get to talk about Jesus anywhere and everywhere we are at Concordia. Not only having the ability but being encouraged to have Jesus as the center of everything is what makes Concordia different.”  

Concordia University, Nebraska is a Christ-centered community dedicated to providing a quality higher education experience for its students that prepares them not only for a career but also for a life of Christian service to church and world. Learn more about Concordia here and about the special education program here.