GCU Today Magazine - November 2017

GCU MAGAZ I NE • 7 ABOUT NOAHWOLFE Noah Wolfe is a Business Management and Biblical Studies major with a minor in Philosophy. Originally from San Diego, Noah has enjoyed many opportunities since being on campus, among them serving as a resident advisor and working for Discover GCU. His hobbies include traveling, playing guitar and Ultimate Frisbee. While he would love to say that his dream Friday night would be one full of adventure, it would be much more probable to catch him in Grand Canyon Beverage Company reading a book. politician? Was I designed to spend my time developing businesses, building a family or investing in both? These questions, along with a multitude of others, all have crossed my mind the last few years. It took an inspiring group of stories to finally bring clarity and perspective to what true purpose is. During my sophomore year on a gloomy morning in January, I walked into GCU Arena for Chapel feeling rather depressed. For more than a year, I had been running around on intramural fields, joining clubs, volunteering time and developing relationships – all in the name of finding purpose – and I still felt as if I had nothing to show for it. The speaker that morning was GCU President Brian Mueller, and at the end of his message he shared something that changed me: stories about students who loved well. He told us of a student who chose to befriend another who had a mental illness, ignoring what other people might think. He pointed to a young man who went out of his way to serve a boy with a disability at every basketball game even though he did not have to. He talked about an individual who gave up his Saturdays to lead a group of students as they invested in the local community. By the end of the stories, my eyes were filled with tears as I looked around and realized that I was sitting next to each person who had been referenced. They were my friends. Then I took a moment to look out across the Arena onto the thousands of students with stories similar to what I had just heard. It was in that moment that I finally understood the beauty of this place, a campus full of people loving the fact that they get to wake up and love people well. There is a culture that is being created here at GCU that centers around love. There is a spirit of community on this campus that is like no other, and that is what makes this place special. Someone once told me that if you find what you love, you find your purpose. In my own personal life, I could not agree more. The moments on this campus when I have been able to see true genuine love expressed unconditionally have challenged me to something beyond the mundane. Holding a door open longer than it has to be or purchasing a milkshake for another student in the last days of a semester, when the Lopes cash is scarce, is the type of love that the world needs more of. Every student has the opportunity to love this way. Every person has the opportunity to build upon their purpose in light of these truths. Time is flying by here in Lopeland, and I still have yet to fully discover my purpose in its entirety. But one thing is certain: I now wake up every morning excited to keep searching, and I go to bed every night blessed to live in an environment that loves the way this place does. “There is a spirit of community on this campus that is like no other, and that is what makes this place special.”