Meet Anna!

Hey friends, my name is Anna Gustafson! Nicknames include (but not limited to): Anna Gus, Little Gus, Gus, Coach Gus, Anna Banana, Banana Head, Banana Bread, and G. Take your pick.

I am a current junior from Los Gatos, California, but I used to live in Maui, Hawaii. I absolutely love Biola University and I am so thankful for all the experiences that I have been able to have.  I am a part of the Torrey Honors Institute, majoring in Intercultural Studies and minoring in International and Community Development. I am an avid football watcher (go Niners!), beach goer and ocean lover, Taylor Swift listener, wannabe runner, yellow flower and sea otter lover, aspiring world traveler, la croix addict, and nonstop dancer. 
 

At Biola, I have been involved in many different groups! ! Besides being an Ambassador, I am also the captain of the Biola Dance Team as well as a choreographer and leader for the Mock Rock team Men of Honor! I have been dancing since the age of three and coming into college I knew it was something that I wanted to continue and grow in. The Biola Dance Team has allowed me to learn and develop in so many different styles of dance, as well as provide me opportunities to perform at basketball games, school rallies, community events, and various school functions. I had never been one to want to dance in front of my whole school with pom poms, but the dance team here at Biola has grown my confidence to try new things! Catch me on the sideline cheering our Eagles on! 

 I have also been heavily involved in Mock Rock, Biola’s annual lip sync and dance competition. Mock Rock is one of Biola’s most popular annual events, and my favorite event to be a part of. Essentially, there are six teams with a range of fifty to eighty people on each team who spend months together creating a full length story complete with lip syncing and dancing.  One night in the Spring semester the whole school and community comes to watch each team competes against each other. As a freshman, I was on a team called Men of Honor. We created a classic Biola love story and I got to be the main girl love interest! My sophomore year I was on the same team but I was their coach and choreographer. We recreated a Star Wars storyline complete with stormtroopers, lightsaber fights, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and everything in between. AND WE WON. It was one of the greatest moments of my entire life. I cannot wait to see what Mock Rock holds for my team this year! I have loved being so heavily involved in both the Biola Dance Team and Mock Rock because it allows for me to use my passion for dance and to glorify God while serving both of these teams, and serving my school in a unique way. The communities I have found on both of these teams have been unlike any other and I am deeply grateful and for them. 

While I absolutely love dancing and it has been one of my greatest passions for years, my greatest overall passion is to love, serve, and empower people around the world for the Lord Jesus Christ. Being an Intercultural Studies major here at Biola, I have learned so much about the great need we have to share the gospel around the world wherever we go, how we as Christians can provide tangible help to those in need, and the value of culture. My plans and hopes after college change everyday, while and it is completely okay and normal to feel unsure about what you want to do with your life post-graduation, I know that I want to do something that impacts the world for Jesus and spreads His name. I have been on multiple mission trips to different places including Rwanda, China, Guatemala, and Latvia. On a missions trip this summer, I went to Rwanda and worked with children.I strongly believe that we as Christians have a distinct calling on our lives to spread the Word wherever we go, whether that is locally or globally. Biola has so many amazing opportunities to serve in both your local community and around the entire world. I cannot wait to see where in the world I go in my future and where God is going to use me! I know that He is going to use you as well in amazing ways, friends.

I cannot introduce myself fully without introducing my parents (aka my best friends). As an only child, my parents have played a huge role in my formation and have made me into who I am today. In fact, my parents actually were students at Biola and they met on their first day of school their freshman year! My dad was late to his first class of freshmen year (pretty typical) and so he had to sit at the front of the classroom. As everyone in the class went to introduce themselves, he turned and saw my mom and thought she was the most beautiful woman of all time. He knew, right then and there, in the Biola classroom that she was the one. My mom did not know it though. She turned him down many times and even told him once that she was “in college to study, not to find a boyfriend.” 

Being an only child has allowed me to develop deep relationships with my parents. My dad and I travel around the world doing mission trips and we love watching sports together, especially going to Niner games live. My mom and I hike together all the time and we are always on the hunt for the perfect soy sugar free vanilla latte. I know, I know, we are those people. I absolutely love my parents and I am so thankful that their Biola story has also become a part of my Biola story!

Overall, that is just a little sneak peak into all that goes on in my life! I am a very multi-passionate individual and I am endlessly thankful for all that Biola has brought me. I did not always want to go to Biola, and my journey to get here was challenging and confusing, but it has felt like home more than anywhere else. Your college decision process may be challenging and confusing as well, but have hope that the God who has a perfect and sovereign plan is constantly holding you. Feel free to always reach out if you have any questions EVER! 

See ya again real soon!

With Grace,

Anna Gus