John Trimble
Current Role
General Dentist at Bethel Family Dental Clinic
Major
Health Science, Class of 2013
What’s one thing that surprised you about Corban?
I was surprised by how close-knit the community is. You can interact on a real, personal level with instructors, staff, and other students. You can take a class with an instructor on Wednesday and see them at church on Sunday. You can easily join in on activities that you don’t have any experience in, meet new people that you may never have had a chance to meet, and enjoy the commonality of faith in Jesus Christ the whole time.
What about Corban specifically prepared you for this next step in your journey?
At Corban, I gained all of the valuable education and mentorship that I needed to get into, and through, dental school. I had to put in a lot of time and effort to make it happen, but I had excellent support at Corban—the instructors were very engaged in helping me gain the experience and education I needed to make the next step. I was the first Corban University graduate to get into the Oregon Health & Science University School of Dentistry (OHSU), as was relayed to me by the OHSU Dean of Student Affairs. He told me, “You were our guinea pig to see how a Corban student would do here.” I graduated with honors in 2017. My hope is that more Corban students will go into graduate programs in healthcare and go on to make a difference for Christ with their careers.
What’s one thing you would want to tell someone starting their journey at Corban?
Corban is a microcosm where 95% of the people you meet are genuine believers in Christ. When your time is done at Corban, you will no doubt enter a vastly different environment. Invest yourself in this unique college experience. I look back with gratitude on my time at Corban because I realize how precious those four years were; it’s where my faith took form and where I met friends for whom I have a great deal of love and respect.
Who is one professor who had a strong influence on your development? Can you give an example?
Honestly, I can’t name just one. There were multiple professors who had an impact on me at Corban. Professor Jerry Johnson, Dr. “Fortune favors the bold” Dyer, Dr. Bell, Dr. Daniels, and Dr. Comstock are all good science teachers, and more importantly to me, respectable people. They contributed to my development in a number of ways and provided a godly viewpoint in their teaching that I greatly appreciated. Dr. Tim Anderson taught my Apologetics course, which pushed me to confront my beliefs in a different way, and I remember that course fondly.
How were faith, leadership, and ethics woven into your courses? How did those elements prepare you for life, regardless of where you work?
I don’t think I took a course at Corban where faith and ethics were not addressed. I don’t think that a Christian can do anything in life where faith and ethics are not a component—this was demonstrated at Corban in the way that course material was presented. Pilates class became more than just impossible core strengthening exercises. Genetics class became an exhibit on the grandeur of God’s creative work.
The leadership aspect is a little more subtle I think. Jesus says if we want to be first we must be last. He took the form of a servant—the Creator humbled himself to death for the creation. So, Christian leadership is not the same as common leadership. If you’re looking to be a worldly leader, you may be disappointed at Corban. If you’re looking to be a Christian in the world (a faithful, ethical, servant-leader), then Corban is riddled with learning opportunities. I carry the lessons I learned there with me everywhere I go and I strive to work and live in a way that honors God—as was exemplified to me at Corban.
What is one thing you wished you had done at Corban?
I wish I had researched the dorms and their traditions more before choosing a dorm, so I could have lived in Farrar and participated in the Pumpkin Smash.