For Junior Grace Emery, donor scholarships were a vital part of God’s plan for her life. A teacher education major, raised in Bunnell, Florida, she comes from a Christian family which provided a solid background for her faith.
Her journey to CIU began with the gap-year program Impact 360 where she met CIU alumna Bekah McDonald. Bekah became an important mentor in her life - God worked through her to reach Grace in a new way and transform her faith. As she puts it, “By breaking my heart, and bringing Ezekiel 36:33-36 to my attention through Bekah, God showed me He was capable of making the desolate and dry places of my heart like a garden again.”
Along with a revitalized faith came a calling from God to be a teacher. “The Lord made it very clear He wanted me to teach, and when CIU's teacher education RAMP UP program was brought to my attention, I couldn't turn it down.”
The biggest hurdle she had to overcome in attending CIU was tuition cost. On the impact of scholarships Grace says, “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for scholarships and donors. Their willingness to contribute to our education isn’t only a financial burden lifted, but an encouragement to people they don’t even know, and an answer to prayer.”
When asked if there is anything she’d like to say to donors, Grace responds, “I hope you know that one day, hundreds of young children will be able to have a teacher who is not only solidly educated, but also solid in her faith. That is all because you were willing to be used by the Lord for the betterment of someone else. Thank you so, so much.”
After graduation, Grace says she plans on “teaching wherever the Lord gives me an opportunity. I eventually want to make a change in education policy for the better.” She is currently considering teaching overseas, or working with Teach for America in low income and literacy rate areas.