Purdue Life

If You Build It… esports Gaming Life at Purdue University

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It has been an honor to keep step with the gaming life and events at Purdue University, West Lafayette. I have mentioned it often how heavily involved Ethan (Jolteon79) was in the gaming community during his four years of Material Science Engineering undergraduate studies. In those years while leading in Clubs, Ethan was encouraged by Jason Maynard, Senior Assistant Director of Sport Programs at the Purdue Recreation and Wellness center, to build esports community. I am humbled by the work Jason has pressed forward with and grateful to get to know him.

At the start of this summer, I received word from Jason that the dream of a focused esports program at Purdue would be a reality much sooner than anticipated. In June, Dell Technologies and Purdue announced an agreement to establish the APGL, one of the largest dedicated collegiate gaming facilities in the country. Our family was glad in 2022 when the Boiler Game Mine opened at the Memorial Union on campus. The BGM allowed the Splatoon @ Purdue Club, along with many other Purdue Gaming Clubs, to continue in the efforts of building esports life with a dedicated space. Now, with the news from Dell, Jason excitedly let me know the esports hub of gaming Ethan had collaborated with him towards was now a reality!

I traveled to Purdue in West Lafayette Thursday, August 15th, for the grand opening ceremony of the Alienware Purdue Gaming Lounge (APGL). The Lounge is truly an inspiring 2000 square foot space on the lower level of the Co-Rec situated in the heart of campus. Congratulations to Jason Maynard who communicated his vision for what could be possible and for seeing it through. Thank you to Mike Warren for hearing and believing in what Jason communicated as a need and working to bring it forward to today.

“The esports ecosystem at Purdue is thriving, with thousands of students actively participating,” said Mike Warren, senior director of Recreation & Wellness at Purdue. “Whether students are looking to get casually involved or compete at higher levels, we are excited to support gaming here at Purdue RecWell, showcasing the latest technology.”

I was blessed to be a part of the energy of the grand opening day. Sharing the joy of this building work with Jason, celebrating achievements with the new Splatoon @ Purdue Club leadership, and seeing the amazing technology that Dell brought to the space with Alienware. It was fun meeting up with Katie Sermersheim, Dean of Students, in the viewing gallery and hearing her excitement for the esports program. Meeting students on staff for APGL gave me an appreciation for the ecosystem that has been steadily building. The Varsity Team room and Purdue Broadcasting studio are incredible! There will be great commentating and tournaments ahead!

There was plenty of time to sit in awe of what the last six years have been about… building a dream one step at a time. I recall Ethan’s efforts in Club life, both Splatoon @ Purdue and Pokemon Draft League with the Battle Association of Purdue. My memories brought back his excitement from April 9th of 2022 when he welcomed teams from Michigan State University to Purdue campus for the first in-person Collegiate LAN event featuring more than two collegiate teams representing their university. The Splatoon @ Purdue RecWell esports Intercollegiate Invitational was held at the Co-Rec that April as a foreshadowing of what has now become esports on campus.

I marvel at the opportunity and potential for students ahead. Purdue now a part of the Collegiate esports scene with Varsity teams is everything our son worked toward with Jason during his time on campus.

Such an amazing Giant Leap again at Purdue University this week!

I always carry
Jolteon79
in my heart!

I know he was right there with us in the APGL on Thursday… laughing, smiling and overjoyed for this dream come true!

Always Remember, God Sightings, JOLTeON!

JOLTeON! Community In Action

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My women’s bible study is a strong force, my heart community. These women are my sisters in Christ in these days as we walk out life together. We have spent over a year together in the book of Romans and recently finished the study of this intense book of Paul’s most inspiring work in sharing Jesus with us in the bible. We all gracefully gave each other space to take it slow, sit with the verses where challenged, grow together. In celebration of it all, our group came together to share and laugh this week.

These women are the best at lifting me up out of the mire of grief and loss. The best at encouraging and praying through the challenges of living life now. We experienced another JOLTeON build together, this time with LEGO’s beautiful flowers! Thank you ladies for sharing your stories at the table and doing this life with me… even in the bricks! You are all amazing!

Looking forward to finishing the second part of our build and continuing to live out the life of the teachings of Paul through Romans with you all.

Let me say it!
These flowers are complex and challenging! This is a treasure that I will keep always in remembering our time together!

LEGO Botanical Collections keep growing… encouraging us to always be in awe and wonder of our Lord’s creation even when we are not outside in nature.

The teacher in our midst, Nancy, brought not only the LEGO’s but had these really great trays to help us keep things in place. Dollar Store Find! Thanks for making it happen AND awesome, Nancy!

Vacation Life

Easily Distracted by Tanks…

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Noah had an amazing Sophomore year! Running hard with Speech, eSports and FCA Club life, HS Men’s bible study, straight A student with several Honors courses, amazing math skills, Fall season with Pipeline Volleyball, broken arm and learning to drive. He supported two teachers this last year as a Teachers Assistant in the science department and conquered a lot of math! He has really found a passion for chemistry, history and military vehicles… primarily TANKS!

As he ended school and we entered into our 2nd June of remembering Ethan, we know his brother would be so proud of him. Joel and I certainly are! We purposed to travel in the days right after school let out to keep our minds on the Lord and his creation, learning about His world in places we have never been before. In the midst of the woods of Minnesota, we found the perfect gift for Noah and spent the day celebrating his accomplishments. You might not believe it, but he actually drove two tanks! Here’s the fun of the day…

Tank Garage at the Drive A Tank yard

Traveling out to the course in a 5 ton transport after briefing… Anticipation beyond measure!
It was a stormy and rainy day. ALL. DAY. LONG. Hordes of mosquitoes. Muddy. This was a perfect day to drive a tank!

To say that Noah is “easily distracted by tanks” is an understatement. These military beasts have become common conversation in our house. As he prepared for his Speech tournaments this last year, he wrote his own speech focused on the history, present and future of tanks in warfare. His voice always energetic and exciting as he speaks. It is fun to see him have such passion for it all. Standing in the tank garage in Kasota, Minnesota was awesome to hear him share his knowledge of each vehicle in front of us. Being in the drivers seat now a dream come true for this teen who is still working on his hours towards a drivers license!

Driving a FV433 Abbot SPG and a FV432 APC heads up and periscope style over the muddy course… splashing into ponds and through the woods. We were his passengers on each tank!

Many thanks to the team at Drive A Tank for making the time so memorable, so unforgettable. Even more… for giving our family the space to learn, share, celebrate, and encouragement towards our son. They exceeded our expectations beyond measure. We witnessed another participant in our group crush a car and mingled with the men who work on these beasts, learning more about tank life. So cool!

We also must tell of our antics at the local thrift store… in our excitement and to gift this time as a surprise to Noah, we did NOT come prepared. On the road, Joel and I realized that we failed to plan what to WEAR! Upon arriving at the hotel, we broke the news of our surprise and promptly ran to the local Good Will. Here we are in the gear we were able to outfit ourselves with for the day… shoes, boots, and jackets!

Always Remember, JOLTeON!

JOLT-ON! 2024: RAILs Around the Country!

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LEGO Groot

When I think of GROOT from Guardians of the Galaxy, it strikes me how much he shares his strength for his friends. No matter the situation, GROOT is found encouraging this band of galaxy trekking guardians. He shows up not only to fight, but also to listen, care, encourage, support, defend, love and laugh with his friends throughout every moment he shares with them…

GROOT is also one of Ethan’s favorite characters! When I consider the friendships he forged in his 22 years, I can see how he encouraged his friends with strength and a gentle, fun-loving spirit.

In these last two years, there are a number of friends that have really stood out with GROOT-like strength as we are walking through the most unimaginable grief of living without Ethan in our days. It is amazing to me to look at how God has provided each of them as encouragement in unique ways. Some I have known for years, some I have only recently met. Some are brave souls whom purposefully show up without our prompting. Some reached out to introduce themselves during the early and hard days when our son first leaped into heaven and are now close at heart. I am blessed to know each and every one and consider them guardians of strength appointed by the Lord Almighty! While I do not always know or understand what HE is up to in my life, I can say for certain the Lord continues to send each of them during times when we need them most…

With that, we sent several LEGO GROOT sets out to our guardian friends around the country during this month of June. GROOT has traveled near and far to places in Illinois, Connecticut, Texas, Wisconsin, and Washington!
It has been a blessing to get to know these friends in far places…

I am forever grateful!

Above is GROOT in Connecticut with my sister in the Lord,
Kim Wan!

Left… GROOT is in Washington State hanging out with David Farache as he moved across the country!

It has been a joy to share these Random Acts In LEGO with them.

Always Remember, JOLTeON!

JOLT-ON! 2024: The Great Wave

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Today, in this second year on Ethan’s Eternity day, we are keeping focus with a LEGO art piece: The Great Wave by Hokusai.

As we have been remembering Ethan in these last ten days through his engineering and builder spirit, we turned our basement into a studio. The purpose: to work through this large memorial build as a family. We have posted below the time-lapse progression of our journey throughout the day. It was finished by days end…

Chapter 1: Unboxing
The Great Wave

Chapter 2: Getting Started!
Segments 1-3

There is a LEGO audio recording offered in the set for historical info on the artist Hokusai found at this link if you are interested!

Chapter 3: Water
Segments 4-6

Chapter 4: Base Layer Complete
Segments 7-8

Chapter 5: Making of a Wave
Segments 9-10

Chapter 6: Frame Work
Segments 11-14

Chapter 7: Finale!
Segment 15

Our finished piece! This has been a peaceful way to remember our son. Thanks for sharing the time with us. Please let us know the impact you have felt in the comments below. We will be pulling all 7 chapters together into a full time-lapse video along with music from Joe Hisaishi’s “Princess Mononoke”. in the next few days.. as you can imagine, Hisaishi’s music was playing in the background as we built all day today!

We hope and pray Ethan’s legacy will inspire you to share LEGO’s and God’s love with others in the days ahead this year!

NOTE: Comments are moderated and posted within 24 hours of submission. If you have a file or image to share, please email it to jolton@wfour.net and we will add it to your comment!

Always Remember, JOLTeON!

JOLT-ON! 2024: RAILs Inspirations

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Random Acts In LEGO sharing with The Atkinson Family

LEGO Inspiration: UP! House,
Groot!
and…
LEGO Avengers video games!

The Atkinson family joined in on the JOLT-ON! 2024 Memorial Game Days starting on Ethan’s birthday, May 30th, this year. They very thoughtfully were inspired to share LEGO together as a family and with others over these ten days. Here is their update from Nichole…

“Thinking about you and your family today. On Ethan’s birthday the kids thought it would be nice to pick out a new Lego set to work on together. We found the house from the movie Up!, which they felt was just perfect. Then they found Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy and then they were torn. So, they wondered what I thought we should do and were certain I wouldn’t let them have both, but thinking about how they’re only little for a little while and they were actually agreeing on these things, and why we were even having the discussion, I couldn’t say no.

We came home and had dinner and the younger 2 rediscovered (sort of accidentally) a Lego Avengers game for Switch and they played that for hours. They know Ethan loved Splatoon and told me it was okay because they found a Lego video game! So it was like they were doing both! So we worked on the Lego’s together as a family and finished the Up! House over the next 2 nights.

Since Ethan’s birthday they’ve finished both Lego sets together and reminded each other why they are doing them and told and shown our various visitors through the last 10 days why there are Lego’s everywhere and who they are for. The Up! House is now proudly displayed in the China cabinet so it won’t get wrecked, as they worked so hard on it for me to remember Ethan’s birthday and Heaven Day this year.

I miss that contagious smile, the sweetheart of a kid and young man he was… talking video games and young love with him. I miss a complete Wang family unbroken by tragedy, but I love you all so completely.”

Nichole Atkinson

Thank you all for joining us in the LEGO challenge! Your random acts in LEGO sharing over these ten days is so very thoughtful. We are blessed that you all chose to remember Ethan and share his legacy with others. It is just like Ethan to find LEGO in everything… life, play and video games!We will be sending you our 2024 memorial stickers and magnets in gratitude for joining us!

Are you catching on? Where in the country will we see Random Acts In Lego next?…

Always Remember, JOLTeON!

JOLT-ON! 2024: RAILs LEGO Games with Friends

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Inspiration: Game Night, LEGO style!
When: Friday, June 7th 2024
Where: Feryance House, St. Charles, IL

There is more to our intention of Random Acts In Lego sharing than just handing out LEGO’s everywhere this week! On Friday, June 7th, we gathered together with friends to reminisce and play games. Of course it’s games! That is Ethan’s capacity… he brought people together through games and LEGO has always been a great way to share the fun of games with friends.

On this night, gathering with Ladies in our community, we enjoyed snacks and fellowship around the theme of LEGO games:

  • LEGO “I SPY”
  • Left Center Right (Dice Game) with LEGO bricks
  • LEGO Creator Board Game (a building classic released in 1999!)
  • LEGO Bingo (we ran out of time for this one but it was on the list!)

Winners received a small LEGO set to keep or share forward. There are so many more game ideas from LEGO… do you have any favorites to share?

Watch out for our next RAILs Inspiration…

Always Remember, JOLTeON!

JOLT-ON! 2024: Droid Builds

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Vacuum Cleaner Droid

Created: 2006

Builder: Ethan

Building Droids is something we loved to do on a hot summer day. After outdoor activities proved too hot, Ethan and I would head to the cool of our basement, spread out a large bin of LEGO’s and start free-building. It was one of his favorite activities! He created this Vacuum Cleaner Droid in the summer of 2006. Part of the fun was the story we would create with our builds. Star Wars and Droids were always a popular story line.

In remembering Ethan this week, I pulled out our LEGO Sandcrawler and all the Droids for some stop-motion capers… check it out!

We would love to see your free-build creations! Comment below and send your pics to jolton@wfour.net and we would be glad to post them for you in the spirit of remembering Ethan.

Always Remember, JOLTeON!

JOLT-ON! 2024 LEGO Replay: Campus House Kids

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An update came in from Campus House today! It is great to share how they are putting to use the LEGO’s and DUPLO’s within the kids ministry. Here is the update from Tiernan McDivit, Sunday School Coordinator:

“I used some of the DUPLO’s to teach in the nursery the other day and wanted to share with you 🙂 

I’ve been teaching lessons about the characteristics of Jesus this summer, and this past Sunday’s lesson was Jesus loves God’s House (the story about young Jesus in the temple). I had a temple out of LEGO’s in front of us. Then I gave each of the kids an alphabet DUPLO with their initial on it, and talked about how when we have Jesus in our hearts, we are also being built into God’s house (1 Peter 2:5). They each got to add their block to our temple. 

The kids really enjoyed using the DUPLO’s and played with them for awhile after the lesson! And I enjoyed using them to teach. 
Thank you again for this gift! It has been a blessing!” 

Tiernan 
Campus House Kids!

If you are a Purdue University student attending in West Lafayette next Fall, check out Campus House and serving opportunities! Hope to see you there and to share the love of Christ with the kids of Campus House!