Every year The United Methodist Church supports many students’ education through gifts to UnitedUnited Methodist Student Dayoffering. Student Day recipient Emily Hoffman is a student at Adrian College. Her home conference is West Ohio Annual Conference. Here is her story.
Emily Hoffman was raised in a very small rural community. Along with her father, mother, and younger sister, she raised cattle, as her family still does to this day. This instilled in her the value of hard work, a value that she was able to carry over into the other areas of her life. “When I was younger, and my grandparents fell ill, I stepped up to help my family. I did laundry, I cooked, I cleaned, I made sure my sister was at her sports practices and always had a full belly. I did what I had to do to help my mom out. I was forced to grow up faster because of it. I did all this while maintaining a 3.7 GPA in high school as well as being involved in over a dozen different extracurricular activities. This experience is what has made me the person I am today, and even though God has given me both joys and challenges, I wouldn’t have wanted my life to be any different.”
Emily gives much credit to her home church, Harpster United Methodist Church, for the constant support she has received from them while growing up, saying, “They have supported me immensely. They have helped pay for my trips to church camps, to Lakeside Conference, and have raised money to help pay for my tuition. My church is just a small, country church, with about 30 people and with myself being one of the few youth that regularly attend the service. Because of their monetary help, my faith has been able to grow and blossom and take me to all the wonderful places.”
Emily heard about the United Methodist Student Day Gift of Hope Scholarship from her pastor, the Rev. Soo-Hea Park. Park and the church have always been supportive of her education goals. These opportunities are the reason she is enrolled in Adrian College in Michigan. She feels that receiving the Gift of Hope Scholarship has made a difference not only in her life, but in the lives of all recipients as well. Emily says, “I believe it is very important for churches to support the United Methodist Student Day. The young adults of today are the people who will be working to better our world. Why not send these loving Christian youth to college to learn and grow into mature and productive Christian adults?”
Emily’s plans for the future are to finish her B.S. in social work, then go on to graduate school for an M.A. in Christian counseling, and to eventually own her own counseling practice. Somewhere in that time period of the next six years, she would like to join the Peace Corps for two years. “But these are mere human plans,” she says. We all know that if you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans!”
Your gifts to United Methodist Student Day offering help deserving United Methodist students continue their education and their faith journeys as they strive to make a difference in the world and discern what God has called them to do.
— story written by Terrill Farmer, freelance writer
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Your gifts to United Methodist Student Day help students continue their education and their faith journey as they strive to make a difference in the world and discern what God has planned for them. Please give generously to the United Methodist Student Day offering. Remember you can give online anytime of the year.