“Cheering. Joy. Chaos.”
Those were the words Montana Arns, Olson Hall director, used when she described how the last two years have felt. She will be moving to the northern side of Taylor’s campus next year as the inaugural hall director of Paul and Barbara Gentile Hall.
“I am looking forward to seeing what student leaders in PBG are passionate about exploring in the new space,” Arns said.
The 2024-25 school year was a time of learning, Arns said. She was adjusting to Taylor’s residence life procedures and discovering the core of Olson traditions. She felt more confident going into this year knowing what events were on the calendar.
For Olson, everything is strongly rooted in tradition, she said.
“The majority of the time, a lot of people have the energy of ‘I'm happy to be here,’” Arns said. “That's a very rare energy.”
The 2025-26 year brought other changes for Arns, with her husband, Elijah, moving into the apartment adjoining Olson. While the new dynamic hasn’t changed much with her work life, it has been a source of increased fellowship with other hall directors on campus.
As she rounds out her second year at Olson, Arns said that she has learned where she needs to spend her time and what her limitations are as a human.
She has strived to maintain a balance of having waterfall discipleship at Olson by entrusting her personnel assistants (PAs), discipleship coordinator, and assistants with responsibilities for the 300 residents that live in the hall. An important part of the dynamic has involved Arns setting aside time for one-on-one conversations on walks with leaders—conversations that her dog, Bandit, usually likes to join.
“If Bandit could talk, he would have lots of Olson secrets,” Arns said.
Some one-on-ones are pretty random, Kate Krick, a sophomore personnel assistant on third center Olson, said. Krick and Arns have built puzzles, dropped off supplies and even gotten a tire checked while chatting about leadership together.
PA meetings have sometimes been quite memorable, Krick added.
She recalled playing Mario Kart in Arns’s apartment while being blindfolded and told which direction to drive before giving the blindfold to Arns. Krick described herself as “quite a competitive person.” She started to yell directions at Arns, who was crying and laughing at the same time.
“One thing I love about Montana is how approachable and interruptible she is,” Krick said. “I think a really good quality of a leader is just someone that you can go and talk to.”
Arns has discovered that she finds a lot of joy in not just sustaining culture but also being able to cast a vision and create a new culture with its own traditions. When she heard that PBG would be in use for the fall of 2026, Arns saw an opportunity to explore her creative side.
This year, PBG will have six personnel assistants, but that number will be raised to 14 for the 2027-28 school year.
It is vital to Arns that she is able to take the knowledge and understanding of residence life she has learned while not bringing in pre-existing traditions.
Arns has met with her future personnel assistants and has been pleasantly surprised with their prior diverse dorm locations. While she said it will be a transition to go from managing 16 to six co-ed personnel assistants, she doesn’t anticipate there being any less student spirit.
“There’s a lot of energy!” she said.
