Rachel Moffett ’09
Elementary Education major

Every Tuesday afternoon Rachel Moffett ’09 boards a bus to work with inner-city youth at the Allison Hill Community Center in Harrisburg.  After four years of helping with homework, cleaning, serving meals, and lending a shoulder to cry on, this elementary education alum bids farewell to the individuals that have helped shape her life, broaden her horizons, and strengthen her fortitude. 

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Ryan Witmer ′09
Environmental Studies major
Hometown:  Wooster, Ohio

Planting gardens in abandoned lots strewn among Philadelphia’s economically disadvantaged neighborhoods is more than a beautification project. To Ryan Witmer ‘09, and others studying at Messiah College’s Philadelphia campus (MCPC), the ongoing service project is an effective way of combating gang warfare, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity, in addition to supporting ecological sustainability among the historic city’s 30,000+ vacant lots. Read the rest of this entry »

Jennifer Esbenshade ′11
Chemistry and Math double major
Hometown: Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania

When Jennifer, a double chemistry and mathematics major, isn’t hitting the books, leading an organic chemistry supplemental instruction session, setting up physics labs, working on a water filtration project through the Collaboratory, or even conducting nanotechnology research for the U.S. Department of Energy, she’s among friends—the canine kind—in Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania. Read the rest of this entry »

Brittany Williams ’09
Mathematics major with Teaching Certification
Hometown: Hudson, Ohio

Co-authoring a Braille-inscribed book for disabled children in West Africa is one way this Messiah College mathematics major is stretching herself beyond the classroom.   

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Stevie Baum ’11
Human Development and Family Sciences major
Hometown: York, Pennsylvania

As a person living with cerebral palsy, track student/athlete Stevie Baum ’11 seems to welcome challenge. From continually exceeding her personal best on 800-meter races, to helping disabled and elderly Africans gain access to water and sanitation facilities, Stevie has made her Messiah experience her own.

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Sarah Nowicki ’10
Biology major
Hometown: Middletown, New York

Sarah Nowicki ’10 had a less than thrilling day performing auto refractions (computer analyses of eyesight) while on a service-learning trip to Knoxville, Tennessee. The biology major hoped the experience with the Remote Area Medical team (RAM) would help her decide on a major—a personal dilemma which she believed had reached crisis proportions.

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Tabita Vacareanu ′09
Human Development and Family Sciences major
Homeland: Lasi, Romania

As a founding member of Friends of Du Bois University of Africa (named after the 20^th century civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois), Tabita Vacareanu ′09 and fellow Messiah students share their testimonies with churches and communities willing to listen to how God provided education for them through the generosity of others.

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Brittany Brendsel ′08
Sociology and international development major/concentration in anthropology
Hometown: BigFork, Montana

The day 17-year-old Brittany Brendsel ′08 came across Messiah College’s Epicenter website (http://www.messiah.edu/academics/epicenter)
and learned she could improve the lives of others around the globe, she knew her path was determined … by God.

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Melina Benson ’09
Biology major
Hometown: Willington, Connecticut

A gripping study-abroad experience and revealing service-learning opportunity changed Melina Benson’s life, solidifying the biology major’s determination to succeed in her challenging pre-med program at Messiah College.

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