In the fall of 2008, Lydia Powers traveled 17 hours from Washington, PA to Florida for her first semester of college. Very excited about beginning this new chapter in her life, she had high expectations of what college was going to be like.

But reality didn't meet her expectations. After arriving in Florida, Lydia felt discontented with her new school. She never felt settled or at home and she knew that there was something missing. After some time and prayer, she began to look at Geneva College as a possible transfer option. 

“When I visited Geneva during Thanksgiving break, it felt like home to me. Needless to say, I was enrolled as a full-time Geneva student by the following January,” explained Lydia. She found a place that had the environment and friendly community that she was looking for.

Like many college students, Lydia struggled with which major she wanted to pursue. “Although I have had about a million possible career paths flood through my mind, after much thought and prayer, I decided that elementary education was a way for me to use a variety of my gifts for Christ.” She looks at her decision to pursue elementary education as one part of a life long journey. She is now excited to continue that journey into student teaching in the fall.

Lydia is active outside the classroom as well. She is a student admissions counselor and devotes a lot of her time working with students who are thinking about coming to Geneva. Lydia is also part of the Geneva Student Education Association (GSEA) and the Alpha Chi Honors society.

Lydia has taken ownership of her academics and made a point to get involved in campus life. But there is one more aspect of Geneva that she is capitalizing on: “I would have to say that one of my favorite parts about Geneva is that it feels like home. Not only does Geneva have a small community atmosphere where you're hard pressed to find someone that you've never seen or talked to before, but I've found that people here genuinely care about me. I wonder how many other schools can say that their professors give the students their home phone numbers.”

The idea of Geneva as a home goes deeper than friendly faces for Lydia. “The other thing that has really blessed me since I've been here is the genuine commitment that this school and student body has to Christ.” This atmosphere has encouraged Lydia in her own faith. She says, “While at Geneva, I've been challenged and stretched in my faith like never before, and I couldn't be more thankful.”

- by Micah Yarger ’12

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