Meghan

HOMETOWN: Windham, N.H.
MAJOR: English with secondary education, minor in urban studies
CAREER GOAL: inner-city teacher
FAV CALVIN PROF: James Vanden Bosch (English)

She wasn’t going to stay. “One year at Calvin,” she told her parents, “And I’ll turn around and go to a good New England school.”

She just needed an adventure, she told them.

Meghan stayed at Calvin, even though her parents sent her to Michigan with an escape vehicle.

Why did she stay?

“I felt really called to go to a Christian college. I didn’t want to go to a run-of-the-mill college and lose all the progress I’d made after becoming a Christian in high school.”

For Meghan, it’s all about the way Calvin does faith.

“I’m not used to integrating faith and learning, and I’m not used to intentional community. But the result is these deep relationships that really push me to grow.”

It’s also about support—support she gets from an education prof who visits her as she teacher aides in a huge public school classroom, and the support she gives to first-year students though Calvin’s orientation program.

Faith and support are two things Meghan will need as she dives into her career: teaching English in the inner city.

Will she be prepared? She thinks so, especially considering that she’s spending a semester studying urban communities in San Francisco and then plans to do her student teaching in Grand Rapids public schools.

“Calvin is so strong in providing authentic experiences to investigate career options.”

So far, Meghan’s glad she stayed at Calvin. “This is a place where you are absolutely welcomed and needed. It’s a place where women of all backgrounds are not only welcomed, but are leaders and become important role models in our community.”

How did this New Englander even hear about Calvin?