With the new school year comes a new crop of faces across Point loma Nazarene University’s campus. However, two recognizable faces were added to the Literature, Journalism, Writing and Languages (LJWL) department: professors Schyuler Eastin and Guimel Sibingo.
Photo credit Eden Bombino.
Eastin is an associate professor of English, and Sibingo is an assistant professor of journalism. Before that, they both previously attended PLNU for their undergraduate studies.
During his time as a PLNU student, Eastin worked as a public safety officer, met his future wife in a psych 101 class and took classes with fellow PLNU professors Karl Martin, Bettina Pedersen and Katie Manning.
New student orientation (NSO) was a stand-out moment for Sibingo, who is a first-generation immigrant born in Angola but calls Portugal home.
“Finally starting college in a completely different country and all the events during NSO, being able to connect with the girls on my floor, it helped [establish] foundation in terms of friendships and relationships,” Sibingo said.
Eastin earned his master’s in English at California State University of Long Beach, and his doctorate at the University of California Riverside, where he spent a great deal of his time as a teacher’s aide (TA) teaching composition. Afterward, he then dove further into his teaching career and began at San Diego Christian College with four classes in his first semester.
Immediately following her time at PLNU, Sibingo made her way to the University of Missouri to earn her master’s in journalism where she found a love for all forms of radio communication. She became a reporter for KBIA radio and worked in communication up until she graduated.
Drawn to the PLNU community, Eastin returned as an adjunct professor while also working full-time at the University of California, San Diego.
“Having worked on other campuses and gotten a feel for what those communities are like, there’s really nothing that compares [to PLNU] because it’s a community that gives back to its members and it connects to people in a very genuine and deeply felt way,” Eastin said.
About a year after graduating from the University of Missouri, Sibingo returned to Portugal for six years, but eventually felt ready for a change. Unsure of where to go next, she said she was spiritually called to PLNU, attributing it to the question asked by the university marketing, “Who are you called to be?”
Both Sibingo and Eastin had to go through the PLNU hiring process the summer of 2024, which current PLNU professor of writing, Katie Manning, described as “grueling.”
Manning said that she helped in the hiring process of the two alumni.
“It involves meeting with the department, meeting with the provost and the president — there’s a teaching demonstration, so we sit in and watch them teach a sample class and usually there’s a lunch with faculty from other departments,” Manning said.
Now that he’s exclusively at PLNU full-time, Eastin said he is excited to be able to completely dedicate himself to his courses and the university. Instead of being split between two universities, he can spend his time finding new ways to help students make connections.
“There’s old stuff that we’re told is important but I want to try and find a way to make it valuable in the modern context,” Eastin said.
Sibingo is looking forward to the opportunity to connect with students, hoping to prove to the student body that she is someone they can trust and come to for advice. The impact of the PLNU community is still felt in her daily life, and she is excited to get to support and care for others the way that she was during her time as a student, she said.
Eastin wants to extend gratitude toward the student body.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with them, and also really thankful that they’ve always been supportive and welcoming,” Eastin said.
Sibingo desires to guide her students to success.
“(My) deepest desire is to see you succeed, not just succeed professionally but to also feel like this place (PLNU) is a safe place for students of all backgrounds, of all experiences — that they can be themselves,” Sibingo said.
