Finding a home at Trine

Evyenia Butterfield, a life sciences secondary education major from Valparaiso, Indiana, found a home at Trine University and the Franks School of Education (FSOE).

She learned of Trine through emails and a college application website while searching for a place to continue her education.

“I just absolutely fell in love with not only the environment of Trine, but the School of Education and the faculty I met with,” she said. “It was such an overwhelmingly welcoming experience that really validated where my home was.”

She said the FSOE has provided a strong foundation for her future teaching career.

“I was in classrooms within my first semester at Trine and I got to see and experience different age levels and see if I really wanted to be a teacher,” she commented.

Not surprisingly, her favorite professor is Megan Tolin, DET, dean of the FSOE. Evyenia said Dr. Tolin is “not only an understanding and welcoming individual, but she provides a sense of support and reassurance for any problems or stress I have.”

“She always has provided me with her advice as well as her contagious laugh that just gets you going along with her,” she said.

The close community at Trine has allowed her to make many memories, including building “the biggest snowman I have ever seen” and having a snowball fight with friends, going to the Delta Chi fraternity to eat wings and play cards, and going through formal recruitment for campus sororities.

“I got to meet about a bunch of people and really spread my wings and get to know a bunch of women on campus,” she recalled. “All these experiences that Trine University provided allowed me to reach my full potential and blossom into who I am as an individual.”