{"id":27135,"date":"2016-03-03T08:39:19","date_gmt":"2016-03-03T13:39:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=27135"},"modified":"2016-07-19T11:22:05","modified_gmt":"2016-07-19T15:22:05","slug":"athletics-photographer-residence-director-and-soon-to-be-graduate-scott-eyre-came-from-canada-twice-to-become-an-integral-contributor-to-the-emu-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/athletics-photographer-residence-director-and-soon-to-be-graduate-scott-eyre-came-from-canada-twice-to-become-an-integral-contributor-to-the-emu-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Residence director, athletics photographer and soon-to-be-graduate Scott Eyre came from Canada, twice, to become an integral contributor to the EMU community"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Scott Eyre<\/a> \u2013 residence director of Cedarwood Hall at Eastern Mennonite University, sports photographer for the Royals, and soon-to-be-graduate \u2013 the journey to the present day has included \u201ca lot of Red Sea parting stuff.\u201d Despite a circuitous route through one hardship after another, the waters have repeatedly parted, and Eyre has not walked through them alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s really our <\/em>story,\u201d he says of his wife, Sarah, and son Nolan. \u201cSarah’s the curator of my gallery, but in a lot of ways she’s really the curator of my life.\u201d [To view Eyre’s photography, visit his website.]<\/a><\/p>\n

A tumultuous start<\/h3>\n

Even attending college was not a simple choice for Eyre. In his home province of Ontario, Canada, completion of a 13th grade is required to qualify for university admission. When his father passed away as Eyre entered grade 12, he did not see a clear path after high school.<\/p>\n

\"scott<\/a>
From a series documenting the faces of EMU’s athletes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Instead, he joined the Mennonite Voluntary Service Adventure program, and spent a year in Albany, Oregon. In 2001, he came to Harrisonburg to drive a friend home from EMU for Christmas break. The people he met convinced him that EMU was the right next step.<\/p>\n

College life wasn\u2019t easy, though. He switched his major three times, from physical education to camping recreation and outdoor ministries, and later to youth ministries. He and Sarah, who is from his hometown, began a long-distance relationship during his sophomore year.<\/p>\n

Coming back for the spring semester, he hit a patch of black ice and careened into a telephone pole, possibly causing a concussion. His experience working as a CA \u201cwas overall a good one, as was the hall I lived and worked on, but a couple situations made second semester difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, Eyre broke up with Sarah. He considered leaving school.<\/p>\n

After avoiding Sarah every time he was back home, \u201cshe finally cornered me to get this closure,\u201d says Eyre. \u201cBeing ‘cornered’ was a good thing really, because it helped me realize where I wanted to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eyre dropped out of college, returning to Ontario. He worked a number of jobs \u2013 managing a bookstore, cleaning carpets, transporting hospital patients, photographing weddings. A year after Eyre dropped out of EMU, he and Sarah were married. He eventually became a youth pastor for his home church.<\/p>\n

Coming back<\/h3>\n
\"scott<\/a>
Baseball celebration<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After two years of stability, Eyre faced another Red Sea. He was told without explanation to post his resignation. Their rental home became unavailable. Their bank account was hacked into and emptied. Eyre was passed over for a promising camp director position. He decided to return to college.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’d fought a calling to come back to EMU,\u201d says Eyre, and in the face of so many problems, \u201cdoors kept swinging really wide open to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

An hour after calling Professor Sandy Brownscombe<\/a> to discuss returning, she had emailed him a 3.5-year curriculum plan.<\/p>\n

Eyre sold all his photography gear to fund the move, and and left Sarah and his son Nolan in Canada.<\/p>\n

Coming together<\/h3>\n
\"scott<\/a>
From \u201c5×7: An Exploration in Isolation in New York City,\u201d 2016.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Slowly, the pieces of family, youth ministry, photography, and sports coalesced on one small campus.<\/p>\n

Sarah filed extensive paperwork to gain nursing certification in the United States, and Rockingham Memorial Hospital held a job until she was able to move to Harrisonburg. Eyre landed a Northlawn residence director position, beginning his career with Residence Life.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to talk about dream jobs, I think I have it now!\u201d says Eyre. \u201cOur call to minister to young adults is still the same as it ever has been, we just don’t do it within a church; we do it in a residence hall, which offers different opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

His collegiate trajectory, however, veered from physical education after taking a digital photography course with Professor Jerry Holsopple<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis whole love of photography came back,\u201d says Eyre. He switched his major, again. Sarah was okay with the change as long as he could prove that there would be jobs in the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t know if I ever proved that there were jobs, but I proved that I wouldn’t last long in the school system,\u201d says Eyre, who indicated concerns about underfunded public schools. Unlike Ontario, many states also lack unions to protect teachers\u2019 rights. \u201cIf I feel like there’s some form of injustice, I tend to take up the cause.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"From<\/a>
From \u201c5×7: An Exploration in Isolation in New York City,\u201d 2016.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His social justice slant, however, found a home in photography. The Visual and Communication Arts Department<\/a> at EMU, he says, teaches not only technical skill, but also \u201cthe why. Can you make a photo that tells a story? That conveys a message, and a meaningful one at that?\u201d<\/p>\n

The graduate<\/h3>\n

Eyre recently hosted his senior show at the Margaret Gehman Art Gallery: \u201c5×7: An Exploration in Isolation in New York City\u201d shows \u201cpeople living together in a space, finding spots to be alone, whether by choice, or because that’s the cards they’ve been dealt, in a way.\u201d The show was then exhibited at Blue Ridge Architects for the February \u201cFirst Friday\u201d event.<\/p>\n

This summer, he travels to Turkey to retrace Paul\u2019s missionary journey; this will fulfill Eyre’s cross cultural<\/a> credits, the last remaining piece for him to graduate.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people would try to do that before they’re 34,\u201d he jokes.<\/p>\n

But the Red Sea parts in its own time. His current circumstances \u201care really a God kind of thing, to take different passions and find a way to put them all together in the same space.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Scott Eyre \u2013 residence director of Cedarwood Hall at Eastern Mennonite University, sports photographer for the Royals, and soon-to-be-graduate \u2013 the journey to the present day has included \u201ca ... read more about Residence director, athletics photographer and soon-to-be-graduate Scott Eyre came from Canada, twice, to become an integral contributor to the EMU community<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[266,4516,5589,5583,14715,5642,5601,14139,5730,12507],"tags":[6795,6012,7565],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-27135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-athletics","category-bible-and-religion","category-campus-community","category-campus-life","category-faculty-and-staff","category-physical-education","category-student-profiles","category-undergraduate-programs","category-vaca","tag-diversity","tag-jerry-holsopple","tag-sandy-brownscombe"],"yoast_head":"\nResidence director, athletics photographer and soon-to-be-graduate Scott Eyre came from Canada, twice, to become an integral contributor to the EMU community - 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