GCU Today April Digital Issue 2018

1 0 • GCU MAGAZ I NE BETHANY HUFFMAN MAJOR: CHRISTIAN STUDIES “You’re not forced to do anything here — it’s all up to you.” I was born in Quito, Ecuador, and was raised there for a part of my life as a missionary kid. And so I definitely have a heart for the nations and Third World countries. I’d love to move to one one day. When I visited GCU, I kept thinking, “What better opportunity to do mission work and live out my calling for the Lord than actually living in it?” I got so excited, being in a different culture. I was super excited to be around somewhere that’s completely different. I got set up to meet with Tacy Ashby (GCU’s Senior Vice President of Strategic Educational Alliances) and Lorin Marchese (SEA’s Administrative Coordinator). They took me under their wing even though they hardly even knew me and I was this punk rock high school kid. I remember them saying, “If you come here, we’re going to get you involved in this and this, we’re going to help you do this.” They helped me change my major when I got there. They did so much for me. I felt that hospitality around campus, not just through them. I felt like anybody I connected with here for my visit had an attitude of, “Welcome to GCU, I’m so glad to have you here and I’m going to go above and beyond to make sure you feel at home here.” That environment drew me in so much. community and suggested ways she could get involved – a head start on the mission work she hopes to someday do in the Third World. “My heartstrings were just being super tugged,” she said. When they returned to their Colorado Springs, Colo., home, Bethany had a shocking announcement for her parents: She was canceling their trips to two other universities. She was saying no to that prominent college back east. She was going to GCU. Now she’s set to graduate after just three years, and she is incredulous about what has happened to her. She manages the Thunder Vision program, which brings third- through eighth-grade students to campus to walk the facilities, talk to GCU students and learn how college can increase their future opportunities. She has worked with sex-trafficking victims in the Dream Center, not far from campus. She chose Hillsong Church Phoenix, mainly because she was so impressed with the sermons. She couldn’t put her finger on why they sounded so familiar, but then she realized it: The pastor is Terry Crist. And she’s now Bethany Huffman, her husband, Noah, having moved down from Colorado Springs to join her here as a GCU student. She wonders how all this could be. She can come to only one conclusion: God’s hands are all over it. It was meant to be. Most students come to GCU under far less dramatic circumstances, of course. The affordable Christian education and the vibrant campus are big lures, but you don’t have to look far – like, just outside the fences of campus – to see that community outreach is a major factor, too. But even more important is what they do with the opportunity once they get here. This story is about four of them who got here against all odds and have made the most of it. It is a story that should resonate with incoming freshmen, prospective students, graduating seniors and current campus residents – and all of their parents, too. It is life at GCU wrapped up in all its many facets and yet with many recurring themes. But, this time, we’re getting out of the way and just letting the students talk. Compiled from one-on-one interviews, the next four passages feature their takes on the GCU experience … in their own words. As you’ll see, they have a lot to say. photo by slaven gujic