“Communication is key,” is a motto that Shemara Fontes lives by–which is very appropriate for somebody who speaks 4 languages. Though, in addition to being able to speak in Kriol, Portuguese, English, and French, Shemara also has learned how to be an effective communicator through her leadership opportunities. This year, she has worked as an air personality at shine.fm and has been a second year RA in the upperclassmen girl’s dorm, McClain Hall. She also served on her junior class council, throwing events and loving on the student body.
Shemara was born in Massicuits and raised in Cape Verde, and discovered Olivet when her dad, a Nazarene pastor, introduced her to a number of christian schools he had encountered at that year’s general assembly in Florida. Right away, ONU stuck out to her because of the school’s color: Purple! When Shemara moved to America, she needed to start applying to colleges right away. “I had to apply to schools very quickly, and I remembered some of the schools–The purple school! My goal was to apply to Christian schools, so I decided to apply to the purple school, Olivet.” When Shemara got her letter that she was accepted, she was very excited because Olivet offered her very generous scholarships. “I was like, yup! I’m going to the purple school in illinois!”
Her parents are now missionaries in Mongolia, and it has been a lot of fun going to visit them and her brothers last year, but she spends most of her time getting the very most out of her experience here at ONU. She is a junior Multimedia Communications Major with a concentration in Radio. She actually came in as Theatre major having come from a big background of doing theatre with her church, but she took an Intro to Broadcasting class early on and immediately fell in love with the program. She says that one of her favorite things about the major is how hands-on it is. Prof. Utter, the Radio professor, really was a big encouragement for Shemara in finding this passion. He told her, “You don’t have to have a specific voice for radio; it’s you, your personality is what matters, it’s what people want to listen to.”
“I realized there are many different areas where you can use Radio or Audio to minister and to share the love of Jesus.”
-Shemara Fontes about working in Radio
Eventually, Prof. Utter extended an opportunity to Shemara and a couple of her peers to work at Shine.fm. She’s been doing it ever since. Especially now, during this global pandemic, Shemara loves the message that her team is sharing through their radio platform: hope. “Our new slogan for this season is Hope Shines Here.” Sometimes Shemara feels discouraged in the radio industry because of her accent, but now more than ever she is reminded of how this is a ministry and God placed her there to love on and serve other people. “This is a time to not worry about what I can and cannot do, it’s just being there for people.”
In addition to working at Shine, one of the most important roles that Shemara has taken on is that of an RA. Her co-RA, sophomore Epsivah Arcia-Bernal, says that working with Shemara has been so encouraging. This was Epi’s first year and is the only sophomore on the team, and Shemara was able to come alongside her and give her advice because she had been in that exact same position last year. “She is patient with me and has made the year super fun.” Being an RA has really helped to shape Shemara into the servant leader that she aspires to be. Through being an RA, has made some many great friends and has really learned how to be creative with events and engaging her residents. One of the favorite memories that Epi has with Shemara this year being RA’s together is hosting nighttime concerts for their residents. “We take popular songs and remix them to make them goodnight lullabies and go from room to room and sing them.” This was also Shemaras favorite memory and she added, “Epi would play the ukulele and people seemed to really love it! We would pretend we were very famous.”
Co-RAing with Shemara has been a really awesome experience for Epi. “She always makes the situation fun. I admire how positive and hardworking she is.” Beyond all the fun time, Shemara has learned so much from this position. “Being a better communicator, especially with residents who have hurt or just want to share… you never know what to expect and sometimes they catch you off guard, and so just navigating those conversations and letting them have their time to share their heart, and not necessarily offering advice–just being their friend and guide them through that hard time.” Next year she will continue to be an RA in Howe Hall. She loves McClain, but is excited for this brand new building with brand new girls to love and serve.
“It’ll be a new adventure!”
-Shemara Fontes about RAing in Howe Hall
In addition to RAing in Howe, Shemara will start a brand new position as the Executive Officer for Student Services. This is a really exciting opportunity because it is kind of a combination of two areas of the school that she already loves: Communications and Student Council. “ASC meant being a servant and helping others–it’s not about your status, it’s about serving your fellow classmates.” In this position, she will be able to pour into class representatives and presidents and help them in serving their classes as well as the greater student body. This position requires great organization and excellent communication–a skill that RAing has really taught Shemara.
“It’s so fun to serve others. It’s something we’re all called to do.”
-Shemara Fontes about ASC
