Opening Doors and Opening Arms

Transcript

All right, everyone. Now we’re heading over to Lopes Way. Here, we have Noah Wolfe waiting for us. Noah received his undergraduate degree here in Christian Studies, and is currently getting his master’s degree online while serving as the Director of Alumni Relations. Noah is gonna share an exciting story about what opening doors and opening arms means right here at Grand Canyon University. Noah, it’s all yours.

– Hey, everybody. My sophomore year on campus, I was in a course that was discussing the negative effects of poverty on our society. And there was one class period in particular, where we were watching a video of a middle-aged African-American woman who is sharing how her community had been dramatically impacted by low incomes, violence and drug abuse. As I began to pay closer attention to the words that she was saying, I started to realize that she happened to be from the exact same neighborhood that I was born into, a place full of very little hope. Statistically speaking, college can be difficult to access for a lot of people. It’s challenging for those who were born into environments, similar to mine to pursue higher education, but as I reflect over the course of my life, there have been countless individuals and organizations who have chosen to stand up to statistics and advocate for equal opportunity. Grand Canyon University, without a doubt, has proven themselves to be one of these organizations. This place is so special to me because it is a champion of inclusion, community and equal opportunity for all. Regardless of where we come from, everyone here is valued as a child of God that is wonderfully made. Together, We remain unified through the belief that Christ death and resurrection brings us in as one incredible family. During my time on campus, I had the ability to interact with so many different types of people from so many diverse backgrounds. Our students, staff, faculty, and alumni represent all socioeconomic classes of Americans, and in my opinion, that is something uniquely special to this place. GCU is teaching people, not just how to live together, but how to thrive together, how to collaborate with one another on some of our communities most challenging problems so that we can make a difference. All of this is coming from a place that says, if we work together and remain unified under key principles, we can make the world a better place. I’ve never experienced a culture like this, a Christian community of people who are deeply committed to serving one another. My senior year, I had the privilege of serving in the role of student body president, and today I get to serve as our director of Alumni Relations. I could not be more grateful to be a part of a workforce full of thousands of individuals who are passionate about the purpose of coming alongside people and helping them find theirs. As our alumni base continues to grow at an incredibly rapid rate, our hope is to build supportive programming that leaves a legacy, and allows people to remain connected and engaged to their purpose and the university for years to come. I would highly encourage anyone who is looking for an advocate in the world of higher education to consider GCU. We are building a community here that is committed to cheering you on towards a higher purpose, and all of that is being fueled by a simple concept, that together we can pioneer the world of private Christian education with America’s promise of equal opportunity for all. That’s my story. Lopes up. Back to you, Alex.

– Noah, your message about how GCU is teaching the students, not just how to live together, but how to thrive together is awesome. You can feel that energy all around campus here. Thanks again for that, Noah.