Lori LaFevre didn’t plan to become a Habitat for Humanity volunteer. Nor did she always dream of being a professional clown. But Lori is both of these things, and it now seems to her that some of her most meaningful and educational experiences in life have also been the most unforeseen.

It’s no surprise, then, that "expect the unexpected" has become something of a motto for this 18-year-old from Troy, Ohio, who also works for a soup-kitchen and is involved in a number of other volunteer activities. And when she becomes part of Tusculum College’s class of 2002 this August, it’s an attitude she intends to keep.

"I think that I’ve learned through life that you just have to go with it," she says, "even if I don’t think it’s going to work or I really don’t feel like I want to do it. ... If I just go with it then a lot of time it works out the way it’s supposed to."

If Lori simply avoided things that didn’t seem immediately appealing, she would have missed out on some pivotal experiences in her life, one of which she describes as "life-changing."

Lori was planning to go to North Carolina for a youth retreat through her church, something she looked forward to every summer. What happened next seemed at the time to be "a disappointing surprise." Due to a lack of funds, she found out the group would be staying in Ohio to work with Habitat for Humanity, an organization she knew little about at the time. The work meant rising with the sun every morning, sleeping on a wood floor, and seven days of putting in hard labor. Not the thrill of her life, she thought.

Then something unexpected happened. Lori was deeply affected by the work, coming to see "that so many of our everyday items that we don’t really even think about, many people live without every day." She also gained a new respect for the people around her: "We all worked with great amounts of teamwork," she says, "...all of the hard work and love that was shown on the worksite was unbelievable."

When at the end of the week the group met the family who would move into the house she had helped build, "it just changed the way I look at things," she said. "I now have a more open mind to different situations."

And how about becoming a professional clown?

"I just kind of walked into it," she says. While visiting a magic store to buy a gift for a friend, she began casually talking to the proprietor, and the conversation took a turn toward whether or not Lori herself would like clowning. She decided to try it, so "Sunshine the Clown" was born and Lori was soon on her way to another educational experience.

Lori works in all different kinds of situations as Sunshine: with very young children, mentally-handicapped children, and business parties. "You really have to learn how to react to different people. Sometimes you’ll have a four-year-old who really wants to come and talk to you, but is a little scared. You have to explain to them that you’re really just a human being.

"And some people don’t like clowns. ... I’ve had to deal with all different walks of life. It really helps in figuring people out," she says. All of which is appropriate, given that she is considering both psychology and special education as majors.

It’s not that Lori overlooks planning or fails to consider what the future holds. If it seems that "life-changing" opportunities simply happen to her, this is an illusion. The fact is that a willingness to find learning in all experiences, whether planned or unplanned, is what guides her.

Through these experiences, Lori has come to understand a key component of Tusculum’s educational philosophy: all learning doesn’t take place in the classroom. While she likes the learning that comes from books, "I also like to learn from everything around me," she says.

Appropriately, in deciding to come to Tusculum, "everything just seemed to fall into place," she says. "I loved it the very first time I came." Looking for a family-like atmosphere, Lori visited Tusculum. "It just felt very warm and homey to me. People just seemed to do extra." When she found out her admissions counselor, Kathy Joy, was married to Mike Joy, who will be Lori’s tennis and soccer coach, "it was just the whole family thing again," she says.