Centennial Class Profiles

 

Alyssa Lord

 

Major: English
Hometown: Collegeville, PA
Campus Activities:  Boyer Scholar, lead tutor at the Writing Center, English Honor Society president, Kairos violinist, and scholar intern for Crystal Downing, professor of English and Film Studies

 

Alyssa Lord is an English major and a committed Jane Austen fan, which may sound typical, but think again, because this young woman is far from your average, everyday college student.   

As a Boyer scholar, lead tutor at the Writing Center, president of the English Honor Society, violinist for Kairos, and scholar intern for English professor Crystal Downing, Lord has learned to juggle throughout her college years.  Her involvement and dedication to the College and her fellow classmates stretches far beyond the typical expectations of 21-year-olds.

And somehow amidst all these responsibilities, she still manages to squeeze in time for fun.  Lord enjoys contra and salsa dancing in her free time, and, as she puts it, “creating a ruckus with her friends.” 

Her friends have really made her experience at Messiah most memorable.  “On every single birthday, I found confetti in my bed, in my clothes, in my drawers, in everything thanks to my roommate!” Lord explained. 

When she’s not spending time with her friends or dancing the night away, Lord, like all college students, has to buckle down and get to schoolwork.  Following her heart, she chose a major that allows her to do what she loves.  “English cultivates your thinking,” she said.  “You’re always asked to follow questions; facts aren’t as important as ideas.  You need to think through and wrestle with bigger issues.  It challenges me and makes me firmer in my faith.”

Tackling tough issues has strengthened her faith, but her blurry future has challenged her to put her trust in God more than ever.  Lord would like to attend graduate school to become a college professor. But Lord’s fiancé, Messiah graduate Billy Bellows, is making plans to work in China for two years, and graduate school may get put on the back burner. “Billy pushes me and brings out the best part of me,” she explained. 

“Really, what I’ve been trying to do is trust when God brings up new things, and be willing to go with those things and trust that He will be the shaper of those paths.”

 

While the future seems fuzzy for Lord, she holds high expectations for what’s to come from Messiah’s centennial class.  “I really do believe that we have people in our class who have a vision to do something that will work towards changing the world,” she said.  “One thing becoming a Boyer Scholar has done is introduced me to people that I almost don’t feel a part of their company, because it’s like, ‘Wow, these people will do something.  I can see that there are people I’m going to graduate with that are going to go places.’”