Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Roanoke College’s First Lady, Kelly Shushok, a.k.a. Rev K. Our conversation covered her professional journey, the importance of Love, and Maple and Magnolia, among many other topics. First, Rev K’s journey after college – “Well, when I graduated from college, I had an elementary education degree, so I was an elementary education teacher for the first 12 years of our marriage. While we moved around a lot, I taught school, earned a master’s in elementary education, and taught fifth and sixth-grade social studies, English, and writing. I remember feeling an overwhelming sense of gratefulness, and I asked myself the question, What could I do that I would love more than this? I was like 30 at the time, so I was seeing my whole future ahead of me, and the thought that next entered my mind was about my love for the church. Not too long after that, I enrolled to go to seminary, where I just trusted what was within me, and I trusted what I knew to trust on the outside of me. So I became a pastor, and for the next 20 years, I was a senior pastor until we took this position here, which has felt to me like the same work in that it allows me to be with people in their highest highs and in their lowest lows. That is what I think is the best work in the world.”
Connecting her spiritual background with spiritual life on campus, she said, “I so love and value everything that’s happening in the work that Chaplain Chris and others are doing on this campus. I think spiritual life is really about Love, and that’s what helps people become whole. For me, being directly involved with spiritual life on campus has been in individual conversations and small groups with faculty and staff and students, and that has really involved listening to folks as they make sense of what it is to really live.”
With the annual Shushok Shindig taking over the athletic quad from 5-8 pm tonight, Rev K wants you to know what she loves about the event. “I just love to see the wide variety of our community come out together for something that brings joy to all of us. It’s also really fun to watch people do new line dancing moves that I haven’t seen before, and see folks in boots, cowboy hats, and bandanas. I think it’s really good that we have some events where we really feel like this is us. And to me, the shindig feels like one of those moments.”
To answer everyone’s first question when they see Rev K – the Shushoks’ people-loving dogs, Maple and Magnolia, are doing fantastic! She made it clear that anyone is welcome to stop by her office in the Student Success Center, a.k.a. the fishbowl, and give the dogs some love. Rev K also shared that Maple’s pups, including Magnolia, are all named after country music stars like Reba McEntire and George Strait. Magnolia was originally named Patsy Cline, but was renamed to better fit with Maple. The talk of trees naturally led to talk of the Shushoks’ favorite nature spots. They have a farm not too far from here that serves, among other things, as a spot to collect their thoughts and appreciate the pace of nature. A park that Rev K highly recommends is Green Hill Park, located on the edge of southwest Salem, which has several fields and trails with great mountain views. While we’re at it, here are some fun facts about Rev K that you might not have known – her favorite clothes are overalls, her favorite scent is that of morning outside, and she believes in the power of Love and the relationship we have with it above all else.
“There are so many people I’d like to thank, but, first and foremost, it has to be Frank. I believe everybody should have somebody in their life who believes they are endless, and if you have two people who both believe that about each other, it’s an eternal thing.”
Juniper Rogers
Folks at Noke Editor
