8 • GOOD NEWS, ETC. • SPECIAL SECTION – HIGHER EDUCATION • FEBRUARY 2012 STUDENTS RESPOND: ‘What has been most rewarding in your pursuit of higher education?’
Azusa Pacifi c
University By Andrew Wonacott
Higher education allowed me to make a career transition to better provide for my family. My experience
in pursuing my master’s degree in digital teaching and learning has been extremely positive, and APU’s experienced faculty and staff, as well as my fellow graduate students, supported me along the way. I chose Azusa Pacifi c’s Murrieta Regional
Center on the recommendation of friends and family, including my wife, who also earned her master’s degree in education from APU. The center’s convenient loca- tion, close to my home in Riverside County, and its program offerings in the fi eld of education appealed to me right away. Through my master’s program, I most enjoyed learning how to effectively inte- grate technology in and out of the class- room to support and enhance student learning. The Master of Arts in Education: Digital Teaching and Learning is a com- bined degree and credential program that helps prepare teachers like me to meet the needs of the 21st-century classroom. I recently took my fi rst teaching job as
a high school history teacher in the Lake Elsinore Unifi ed School District, and I believe APU has fully prepared me to be a successful educator. As I approach the completion of my program, I’m encour-
aged by the high level of preparedness I’m bringing to my new teaching job, knowing that I have the tools to advance my career and better support my family in the process.
❏ Azusa Pacifi c University has regional cen-
ters at 39573 Los Alamos Rd., Murrieta, CA 92563 and 5353 Mission Center Road, Suite 300, San Diego, CA 92108. Website: www.
apu.edu/murrieta and
www.apu.edu/sandiego. Phone: (626) 815-2176 (Murrieta) and (619) 718-9655 (San Diego).
Berean Bible
College By Joe Quinn
My goal when entering Berean Bi- ble College in 1994 was not to pursue higher education, but to know God. I already had earned a bachelor degree in business and tech- nology from James Madison University and I did not have a vision to earn another college degree. However, since I was spending the time
to sit in a Bible classroom, I decided to pay for each class and earn full credit. Little did I know, God had a big plan for
me and He began unveiling it in a way that I could understand. As only the Lord Jesus Christ can, He birthed in me, through the Holy Spirit, a vision of becoming a min- ister to reach out to suffering people and reconcile them to God.
Leading people to build successful,
productive and holy lives has become a passion. However, with the passion for ministry comes a responsibility to be trained in God’s Word, so that the result can be implanting truth in people’s lives without error. As a senior at Berean Bible College, I can
look back and see that the bottom line for successful Christian leadership is faithful- ness to the Lord Jesus Christ, my wife and four daughters and my teachers. Success
comes through the discipline of daily Bible reading, prayer, worship, fellowship, dis- cipleship and ministry. (Acts 2:42-47) God recently placed me on a Christian
school board, as chairman of a Spiritual Life Committee and helped me become chaplain at Berean Bible College. The Lord
is a master at transforming lives. ❏
Berean Bible College is at 13609 Twin Peaks
Road, Poway, CA 92074. Website:
www.berean-
biblecollege.net. Phone: (858) 679-5874.
InterVarsity ministry aims to meet college students where they are
By SHARON MORAN AYALA At California State San Marcos, a school
with nearly 10,000 students and a large commuter-student base, Kelsey True felt overwhelmed. As a native San Diegan, CSUSM was not her first choice. She planned to transfer to a private university after two years to fi nish as a kinesiology major with hopes of becoming a physical therapist. But just before she graduated last May, af-
ter spending all four college years involved with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, she made another four-year commitment to serve on staff on the same campus she had intended to leave. She is the fi rst alumna
from CSUSM to come on full-time staff with InterVarsity. It was something she never imagined. As one of many commuter students, the
last thing True expected was a meaningful community on her college campus. But she stumbled on an InterVarsity booth a few months into her freshman year, an experience she said got her “instantly connected.” InterVarsity has been honing in on the university demographic since 1877. The organization was formed that year at Cambridge University in England, where a group of students, despite objections of school offi cials, began to meet and share about their faith. They founded the British Inter-Varsity
[inter — between; varsity — the British term for college level students] with the mission “to take the gospel to those all over the world who have never heard it.” More than 130 years later, InterVarsity
The Story of God’s Work
Don Thorsen, Ph.D. Professor / Author / Wesleyan Theology Expert
For APU Graduate School of Theology faculty like historian and theologian Don Thorsen, Ph.D., a seminary education is not just learning about history. It is about knowing the story of God’s work in the past so that it can be articulated and embodied afresh in the present.
is still impacting the lives of countless students by giving them a place of truth amidst the craziness of college life. “I found awesome friends and the In-
terVarsity staff really poured into me,” said True. She had grown up familiar with the gospel but says, “If I didn’t have that connection with InterVarsity from the beginning, I don’t know what I would have done.” “It is estimated that close to 75 percent
of Christian students no longer consider themselves Christian after four years of college,” said Ramiro Marchena, InterVar- sity area director. “InterVarsity’s purpose is to establish witnessing communities of students and faculty at colleges and universities.” For students like True, the university
setting is not the typical place to fi nd what she calls “an extension of the church on campus.” But that is just what InterVar- sity is.
“College often pushes students away
To learn more about how you can study with professors like Don Thorsen, go to
www.apu.edu/theology/.
Graduate School of Theology
from faith,” said True. “And the campus environment assumes God is irrelevant. So [students] often just stop growing in their faith.” True eventually found she was not just hanging out at events, but fully vested in her conviction for the meaningful impact InterVarsity makes in the lives of college
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Students from local colleges, universities and seminaries were asked this common question as part of our annual Higher Education Section. Please consider the schools represented on these pages when considering your educational choices.
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