What were your initial thoughts when you came to York? How would you describe the person you were when you first came to York? 

I was a very unconfident person when I first came to York. Initially, my thoughts about YU was that this is the place my two older sisters went and I’m just going here because I was accepted, and I just decided to pick York. I was panicking about where I was going to go to college and just said, “Whatever, let’s just go to York.” I didn’t really have a huge sense of purpose before I started college, so deciding where I wanted to go was a panic decision. If York was good enough for my sisters, it’s good enough for me. I was able to earn some scholarships, so it worked out.

 

What is your favorite spot to be on campus and why? 

Probably the library. I’m ALWAYS in the library. We have free coffee and comfy seats in there. I spend a lot of time there because I do a lot of homework, but it’s also become a little bit of a hangout spot, too. I can usually count on seeing friends in there, even if we didn’t plan to meet up there. It’s a really comfortable space, our Library Ladies have done a great job catering the space to the needs of all our students.

 

What were you involved in during your time at YU? 

I was a part of Omega Phi for a couple of years. I mostly did it so I could be in Songfest, which we won, so that was great. I’ve helped with Ignite Excellence for the past two years, which I’m the chairperson for Ignite this year. I was an RA during my sophomore and junior years. I’ve acted in several of our theatre productions and I’m one of the directors for this year’s Emerging Director One-Acts. If I'm not acting or directing, I’m usually helping out with set building. I was a campus ministries workstudy my first year and helped run the soundbooth during chapel. Then I was a tutor in the writing center for a couple of years which was super fun, I really liked that job. For my senior year, I’ve been working for the advancement office writing articles, which has been awesome. I was also an officer for Chi-Rho and helped found that organization. Chi-Rho was something that we created to help with spiritual growth on campus before campus ministries started growing again.

 

What was the best class that you took here on campus?

That would probably have to be Dr. Best’s Women in the Bible class, that one was really cool. That class was kind of born out of some conversations that myself and a friend were having with Dr. Best about what it was to grow up as a woman in a church setting. We had a lot of questions. How do we actually interpret what the scripture says about this? What do you actually do with that? We wanted and needed to know more. I was becoming more and more active in the church and figuring out that my career might end up being a role in the church. I needed to know this stuff for practical reasons. Dr. Best said that he had a 200+ slide presentation that he had been giving to churches, and asked if we just wanted to go through it with him. A year later, he was offering the Women in the Bible class. We were able to talk about that, and because it’s a special topics class, we got to really go in depth about everything, and it was such a cool experience. To just really go into a specific topic for a whole semester, learning so much about the Bible and what I can do with it. That class really sparked a lot of interest in Biblical research for me that I’ve run with since then. A lot of growth came out of that for me, and it was a really fun class.

 

What were the biggest takeaways that you got from YU? 

Faith was definitely a big takeaway. When I first came to York, I wasn’t sure if it was really for me. Honestly, I grew up in a church and was questioning if it was what I wanted to continue to pursue. Then I got to study the Bible from an academic standpoint. I was able to learn about God through my classes from all of my professors. That made a lot of things click in my brain that I hadn’t really understood before. Another takeaway is the relationships that I’ve made in York. I’ve made incredible friends here and really incredible mentors with my professors and the staff here. I’ve also gained a sense of purpose after my time here.

 

What have you discovered is your purpose and mission after your time at York? And how did you realize what those were to you? 

I think a big part of what led me to add biblical studies as a second major was discovering a sense of purpose while I’ve been here. I’ve learned that it’s okay to have questions and even doubts; the important thing is to keep searching for answers and to keep learning. York has really helped shape that in me. I hope that as I continue to grow and learn, I’ll be able to help guide others as they wrestle with their own questions, too. If I could be a professor at a school like this someday, that would be so cool. I’ve discovered that I want to continue learning and then, maybe one day, help others as well. I’ve developed my purpose and mission through the people here at York. There are a lot of really good role models here. Being able to find and learn from people who have done it before me, people who have already gone through the same processes I’m going through right now and seeing that there is a way forward. Learning from somebody who has already done it and has done it well. Knowing that I can keep going because they did.

 

What are your plans after you graduate? 

I don’t know where exactly but I plan to pursue a master's of divinity, go to grad school, maybe get a masters of Theology at the same time. A lot of programs will let you do that, so that would be really cool. Maybe even a Ph.D someday. That would be so fun, if finances and life circumstances allowed. I would love to get like 10 PhDs after this; that would be great. I love school. I’m open to going wherever God calls me. I’ve even looked at schools overseas so I’m good with wherever I’m meant to be.

 

 

If you could talk to the version of yourself visiting campus for the first time, what would you say?

We would definitely go through the library… “This is where you’re going to spend 80% of your time in the next four years. You’re going to have some really great employers here. You’re going to tutor a lot of people here, and that’s going to be great.” I’d take myself by McGehee and talk about all the events that will take place in there and how much fun they will be. Then I’d take myself to Middlebrook, where all of our professors' offices are. “Go visit them during their office hours more often; they want to see you in their office, even if you don’t have questions about the class you’re taking. They all love to yap. That goes for every office across campus. Don’t be afraid to stop in people’s offices and chat with them.” I loved picking up my workstudy check because I’d sit and talk with Pam for a little bit, and she always has candy on her desk. Larsen House is another great place to stop and chat with Lynnette and Scoop and everybody. With every office across campus, they all want to talk with you and see how you’re doing. It’s one big ole family. I would also tell myself that you can do a lot more than you think you can and people are going to show you that. They’re going to see things in you that you might not see in yourself quite yet. You have a lot more potential than you think.

 

What is the legacy that you hope to leave behind here at YU?

I hope I leave behind a legacy of working hard and finding value in every part of university, not just the parts that are easy to enjoy. If people don't remember me for making Ignite Excellence announcements in chapel or for helping them edit their papers, then they'll probably remember me for sitting in the library and doing homework for hours at a time.