It was 10:40 a.m., five minutes before the lunch hour started. Students were lining up at the entrance of Penland Crossroads dining hall. John Mercer, in his black hat, black chef uniform and black frame glasses, was giving final reminders to his staff.
“Tomorrow is the game day,” he said with a serious face. “We need to make sure that we do continuous service.”

Dr. Heidi Marcum’s two starkly different worlds keep her peaceful and give her a sense of purpose.

Eight years ago in Richmond, a Habitat for Humanity chapter was erecting the frame of a structure soon to be someone’s house. It was Framing Day, as Habitat volunteers call it. Now, Richmond junior Allison Carrington is the president of Baylor Habitat for Humanity and still remembers the day of her first experience as a volunteer.

At the start of the semester, each dorm room was a generic, empty space with nothing to set it apart from the rest. The only thing to distinguish one from another was a name taped to the door. On the inside were just naked mattresses and empty dressers waiting to be claimed by new occupants.

When Beeville sophomores Claire and Paige McKinney went on family road trips as children, it wasn’t exactly the most pleasant time. They were shoved in the back seat, not because they wanted to, but their other four sisters occupied the rest of the seats.