Commencement 2023

A couple of years ago, Lori Bordner ’23 was struggling in an economics class. One of the homework assignments just wasn’t clicking. Feeling anxious and stressed, she texted her professor. This was her first class at Messiah as part of the adult degree program in business administration.

As a fourth-generation Messiah graduate, Sam Zercher ’23 says that the Grantham campus has always been a large part of his life. He did look at a few other schools, though, before officially deciding on his family’s alma mater.

Growing up in Long Island, Kristin Butler says she learned to love baking, sewing and tending to her baby cousins.

As Sarah Sheaffer ’23 said goodbye to her professors in May, she also had to say goodbye to her students. As a student teacher at Cumberland Valley High School, she had spent months working with students in grades 10-12.

Looking for a Christian school that allowed her to major in athletic training and play field hockey, Lilly Coln ’23 found exactly what she needed at Messiah.

Combining his appreciation for math, physics and transportation systems, Logan Horst ’23 decided to major in civil engineering.

“I’ve been fascinated with transportation systems since I was a young child. I would explore the road atlas in my parents’ office, draw roads on my train table and drive my Matchbox cars on them,” he said.

Although she was born in Russia, Elisaveta Alekumova ’23 lived most of her life in Dubai but was homeschooled remotely via Lancaster, Pennsylvania. That’s how she learned about Messiah. She wanted a Christian university with a theatre major.

A third-generation nurse, Jasa Gibson worked as a medic in the Army. She now works for Eastern Virginia Medical School, so Messiah’s R.N. to BSN program offered the flexibility she needs while working fulltime.

Lisa Martinez, M.A. ’23 takes on many roles. While studying clinical mental health counseling for her graduate degree, she had the additional responsibilities of being a counseling intern and a yoga instructor. She also moved across the country twice during her years studying at Messiah.

“God has always watched over our family and brought us through a lot,” she said when asked about the complexity of balancing these roles.

Martinez studied cultural anthropology as her undergraduate at the University of Missouri-Columbia. However, she had no plans of stopping her education there.

“I wanted to be the first female in my family to get a master’s degree,” she said.

Shortly after enrolling in an English as a second language master’s program, she became pregnant with her first son. Choosing to focus on supporting her family, she dropped out of the program.

Years later, she and her family suffered a tragedy as their fourth son passed away in a traumatic accident.

“When you lose a child in a tragic way, you need to feel really understood,” she said.

After discovering yoga, the meditative practice that helped her deal with the grief she experienced resulting from her loss, she developed a passion for counseling others.

“I thought, this is what I want to offer to help other bereaved parents,” she said.

Martinez’s biggest supporter, her husband, encouraged her to go back and get her graduate degree in counseling.

“He’s been a cheerleader for me…and knows that it’s my calling,” she said.

She searched for a graduate school that could fit all of her needs.

“It had to be a program where I could work full time while being a mom,” explained Martinez. “I needed a program with flexibility.”

She also searched for a university that combined academics and faith. A meeting with Maya Georgieva, associate professor of counseling, provided insights into Messiah’s culture and its emphasis on and appreciation of faith.

“I wanted to bring faith into practice as it’s been so integral to me,” she said.

Martinez advises other students in the counseling program to be open to the growing experience that the courses provide.

“The counseling program digs into so much about who you are as a person,” she said, “and that’s purposeful, because in order to offer understanding and empathy to clients, you have to understand that for yourself.”

— Natalie Frank ’25