“Every year I’m put into more situations where I need more reliance on God,” said Annabele Spiker, the Hall Director of Swallow-Robin Hall.
Spiker has served as a hall director for two years, going on three.
She grew up near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and her family spent every summer at a Christian camp called Beulah Beach. Vacation ensured many memories, but growth came when she joined the staff.
Spiker served on the leadership team at Beulah Beach for seven summers. Over those years, she formed many of the deep and meaningful relationships in her life.
That work of leading young girls closer to Christ sparked something in her.
“This is really what I love to do,” Spiker said. “I love being invested in college-age people.”
After her final summer at the camp, Spiker attended Indiana Wesleyan University. Here, she was introduced to the world of Residence Life.
Her fellow staff and hall directors on campus poured into her through the years. Spiker’s relationships with the hall directors at IWU inspired her to pursue the master of arts in higher education program at Taylor.
Spiker spent two years in the MAHE program, learning about leadership and higher education in cohort-based classes. She also began working as Swallow-Robin’s hall director as a graduate assistant.
“Being in all these roles has helped me understand who God has made me to be and what He’s gifted me with,” she said.
With each year’s teams of Personnel Assistants, Discipleship Coordinators and Discipleship Assistants, Spiker has worked to invest personally in each of their lives. She has seen the growth of her current staff since their freshman years at Taylor, and she has been able to walk alongside them in each of their journeys.
“One thing I appreciate about Annabele is she’s caring in a nonprofessional sense,” said Graceanna Cramer, the DC of Swallow-Robin. “When I’m with her, it doesn’t feel like my job. It feels like a genuine relationship that gets to be nurtured.”
As DC, Cramer works directly with Spiker. The two of them have grown in their friendship while working to make Swallow-Robin the best it can be. Cramer has seen how Spiker listens and asks questions, how she pours into others, and how she makes time for everyone in the dorm.
Spiker is working to continue the momentum that she and her staff have built over the past three years. She wants to continue seeing all three floors connect with one another, making a stronger family-like environment for the whole building.
Spiker is also working to steward her position as a leader with her staff.
“I’m really trying to lean into the idea that this space we call ‘residence life’ is a place of education,” Spiker said. “That was something I learned in my time in graduate school.”
She is implementing a rhythm of leaning into PA meetings by asking for questions and encouraging thoughts about how the hall is being run and desired areas of personal growth.
Spiker has grown to appreciate the small number of her staff and how that allows her to connect with them on a closer level.
“I think our times together as a staff have felt more intimate because we are smaller,” she said.
“It’s really awesome to have a team that genuinely cares for one another throughout the week,” said Demaris Hernandez, a junior DA on the second floor.
Hernandez became a DA after serving in a temporary position over last year’s J-term. Throughout this year, she has been encouraged by Spiker and pushed to improve daily.
“It’s been encouraging to have someone in my corner,” Hernandez said. “I’m pouring out a lot into other people, and Annabele has been pouring into us these past few years.”
Spiker seeks to continue guiding young women of God in their time at Taylor and in Swallow-Robin. She wants to be engaged in her calling while growing closer to God.
