save money and graduate debt-free. Her family are alumni of Cedarville and she always dreamed of attending as well, carrying on the tradition. While at community college taking general science and math education classes to fulfill the requirements of her Elementary Educa ion degree, she fell in love with Geology. "Science is the one subject I've always loved," McFadden said. "I actually considered doing Science and Math Education once I reached Cedarville, but I just didn't like the dea of teaching the same subject every day." McFadden remembers staying up late nights into early mornings just doing geology homework, not because she was behind but because she genuinely found it fascinating. During the last week of her class, McFadden's professor asked her if she'd ever considered science, encouraging her to add it as a minor. But to McFadden, this was the final confirmation she needed. "That was when I really decided to look into Cedarville again because if I wanted to make geology my degree, I wanted to get it from a Christian perspective," McFadden said. "I'd heard so many great things about the geology program here, and especially Dr. Whitmore's Earth Science class. So I decided to give it a shot." Since coming to Cedarville, McFadden has fallen in love with her major and doesn't feel any lingering regret. She hopes others won't be scared or afraid if their plan changes. McFadden's a planner to her core, but she realized it's okay to change directions and make new decisions. Gr S1m1l r to ory first h ard out 111 U school f • nd. During 1ld o , ring ac rs mad er to ta an int rt,St in th II 0 Grace Gregory -Julia Mumford education field. As a freshman in college, she felt drawn to study Early Childhood Education, hoping to emulate the example of her heroes. "I really loved helping the kids grow and see that light bulb moment where you can tell they really learned something," Gregory said. "I love that about teaching." But the challenging qualifying tests stopped Gregory from continuing in her program. Discouraged, she decided to take on a Graphic Design minor while working to improve her test scores. The unexpected happened when the ex erience piqued her interest in Graphic Design, and her eyes were opened to a whole new world of creativity. "I loved how different and artistic it was," Gregory said. "And how you get to express yourself through your work while also helping others." She decided to switch her major to Visual Communication Design with a focus in Graphic Design. Though education is something she'll always have a passion for, Gregory felt God closed that door for a reason, and that she's learning to fully trust through the process. Even though Early Childhood and Visual Communication Design are very di r nt, she's learned a lot and has really enjoyed her new focus so far Instead of comparing herself to others, Grego 1s intentional out rejoicing in the good she sees both in others and in herself and focusing on learning and growing "If ou ha e your degree. never feel like it's been a waste of time, Gregory said. "You'll always use education ,,----~--Ji no matt r what you choose to go into. Trust Gods will You may not alw ys und rst nd th plan now, but I believe it'll all ma s ns I t ,r." M nel n i a 1umor Pro Ional Writin Design major,1ourna/1 t, nd pu elation wfl Vlfgtma. e ' not ::.tudym u c n tmd curr nt n polltl s or bmg ac hmg B Graph ng I D I n C
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM4ODY=