Written by Hayden Markel (Freshman)
Everyone always says college is supposed to be the best four years of your life, but I thought they were supposed to be the hardest four years of your life. College is still a challenge—don’t get me wrong—I still am getting my work cut out for me here, but college has been so much more enjoyable than I could’ve imagined. My name is Hayden Markel, I am a 23-year-old freshman, and I am pursuing a degree in Pastoral Studies here at New Hope Christian College!
I grew up learning that figuring things out on our own is a part of life sometimes and that there may not be that support from others along the way. But I am now facing something completely different than what I had expected here at NHCC.
I came here knowing who Jesus is and had grown up in a Christian household for as long as I can remember. Watching my parents be worship leaders and youth pastors, and my dad being an associate pastor showed me at a young age what leadership looked like and that it was very likely going to be a big calling in my life as well. This was a daunting thought, wanting or needing to fill big leadership roles in the church I grew up in. Church leadership has been a part of my life for years. I’ve been brought up like this— serving at youth groups, leading worship, and organizing kids’ ministry more times than I can remember. But I was always trying to figure out “Who has God really called me to be? Where do I belong in God’s kingdom?” Part of my fear was that I felt like I was supposed to know what God wanted for me, especially when someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I dreaded that question for a season, but God has been so gentle to reveal this to me. God encouraged me, “It’s all good here. Don’t rush my plan for you. Keep pursuing me, make your path straight with me and I’ll take care of the rest. Give me that burden, so that you can rest easy in my arms. I’m not far from you, I’m closer than you think. I’m right here.” What a relief. And God is still showing me to this day what kind of daughter I am supposed to be. It took me a few years to get to that realization which would eventually lead me to NHCC.
After I graduated high school in 2019, I worked for 2 years and decided I wanted to pursue a bible college. At this time, I was still involved with youth groups, kid ministry, and the worship team, all in the church where I grew up in Coos Bay, Oregon. It made sense to pursue Jesus academically to improve my leadership skills alongside my parents. I feel blessed to say that my parents continue to play a significant role in the leadership there, and have been wonderful mentors to the young woman in Christ they helped me become. Moving from Coos Bay to attend college was also partially motivated by my feelings of obligation to fill a leadership position. I moved to a small town in Colorado for a bridge year of college instead of choosing a four-year university. I wasn’t entirely sure what I was going to do after that or what I needed to learn to bring back as tools for this so-called calling of mine I assumed in my life. While I was there, outside of my academics, I was given the privilege of volunteering to bless high schoolers and middle schoolers once a week with some of the other students my age. I saw the heart and time these other volunteers from the local churches put in, by coming together just to give broken kids a night a week to be loved by someone, anyone. I got to talk to many of them and cultivate a heart that I believe Jesus wanted me to feel for those kids the way He feels for them. I had finally found in my heart the courage to ask Him what was next.
After being back in Coos Bay for almost another 2 years, I applied to New Hope Christian College with the fire he restored in me that night in Colorado. After finding my calling, I am thrilled to be enrolled as a student at NHCC pursuing a degree in pastoral studies. The faculty has done a great job of helping me feel settled here as a freshman. The family environment that is cultivated here is unlike anything I have seen or expected in a college setting. There is a strong presence of welcome and investment here that has truly blessed me. The professors do a great job of sitting and engaging with the students outside of class. Even amongst their own busy schedules, they continue to pour into the students and ask us how we are doing. Another shock I had coming here was the size of the student body. The small student body didn’t bother me, but what caught my attention was the fellowship that the students and leaders have fostered with the number of students we have here. The closeness in spirit this campus has brought and the God-fearing and Christ-centered love the Lord has placed here has been more than refreshing. It has been a freedom and lightening of the yolk the Lord tells us He will give us. If the amount of encouraging testimonies, walks of life, trials, and triumphs you will hear and see don’t get you excited to be here, then actively living alongside those people definitely will. I’m excited to continue my next four years here surrounded by these anointed individuals who are in continuous prayer over this student body and campus.
