When environmental engineering major Sara Anderson decided which college to attend, she chose Geneva for its competitive, Christ-centered engineering program, as well as its closeness to her hometown of Mars, PA. Despite deciding to attend school close to home, however, Sara hasn’t been a homebody. She has also branched out by taking advantage of a unique opportunity at Geneva College—travelling all the way to Israel with Bible professors Dr. Scott Shidemantle, Dr. Jonathan Watt and Dr. Byron Curtis.

This life-changing trip made a definite imprint on her. “It was incredible,” she remembers. “I have always wanted to go to Israel and see some of the places where the events in the Bible took place. Words cannot do justice to the feeling you have when you look down from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem, or when you sit along the Sea of Galilee during a thunderstorm and imagine Jesus calming the Sea. And yes, it did thunderstorm while we were there and the waves got rough.”

According Sara, Geneva’s Trip to Israel, which takes place every other year, helps bring the Bible to life “when I come across one of the places where I visited. I can see where the Sermon on the Mount took place. I have walked the streets of the Old City of Jerusalem, I have climbed through the desert in En Gedi like David did. And I have done so much more.”

She heartily recommends the trip. “I think anyone would benefit from seeing the places where the Bible happened,” she says. “This trip is an amazing opportunity for students to go with amazing Bible professors and grow in their faith.”

But even after her travels, Sara hopes to work on environmental engineering projects near her home in Western Pennsylvania after she graduates. Her desire is to care for the natural world and the people living in it. “Water management and environmental restoration projects are what appeal the most to me,” she says. “These would ensure good stewardship of the environment, specifically water resources.”

“Because we have damaged our earth, someone should help restore what has been broken, and I want to help with that,” Sara explains. “I want to give back to the area in which I have grown up and which has shaped me the most. My education at Geneva has led me to believe that we can work on and help with the restoration of what is broken in this life. Hope is not lost, and we can still work towards making things whole again. Geneva has affirmed for me that I picked a helpful major that can make a difference.”

-Hannah Allman