From the time I was a child, God’s hand was guiding my path to Southwestern and beyond. At the age of five I decided I wanted to be a teacher. At the age of twelve I decided I wanted to attend Southwestern. At the age of fifteen I decided I wanted to study English. I had earned good grades in high school and most of my small public school teachers encouraged me to attend a more “prestigious” school. I had the grades and the scholarship opportunities, and more than enough encouragement, but fall of 2007 found me, a bright-eyed freshman, at the Chan Shun Memorial Library, anxiously awaiting “Cricket Camp.”  

God worked out everything for me at Southwestern and my pathway was laid out before me before I even stepped on campus. I had a job in the Records Office before I even finished enrolling and by my senior year God had moved me in the Administrative Office as the first student intern where I could practice writing as a professional. Money was never an issue as God always had something working in the background to help me through, particularly through generous scholarships like the one I received from the Thomsen family in 2009. My professors were fascinating and were more than just teachers, but mentors and friends. Finally, God placed me directly in the middle of a group of people who I count among my greatest blessings and friends. 

I graduated from Southwestern with my degree in English and a certification to teach high school and I am currently teaching 108 students in a small public high school in Oklahoma. My professors in the English department have been my models in the way I teach my classes and I thank them for the superb example they showed me in how to be a godly, fun, and captivating educator. I can say without a shade of disbelief that God placed everyone that I met at Southwestern in my life for a reason: to mold me into the person I am today. I still turn to so many of these people for guidance in my work and spiritual life alike. I cannot thank them or God enough for the role they have played in my life. 

Chelsey Evans, English, 2012