Acknowledgements

Capstone Committee:

     Mari: I am so glad you came to APU to be a professor for this program! Thank you for being on my committee. I have truly enjoyed our times together discussing this project, student affairs, and life. Thanks for taking the time to invest in me.

     Chiraphone: Where do I start? I guess with the fact that you took a chance on the girl in pink! Thanks for always allowing me to pursue my crazy ideas and dreams of what Global Relief could look like...seriously you took some big chances on me and my ideas! So thanks for believing in me! Thanks for understanding my heart and passion for humanitarian aid based missions, even before I understood it. Thanks for all the great memories: Jugster, crazy boat rides, extended lay overs in Hong Kong, Thai food, head wraps, hysterical laughter, and all the crazy office antics! Thanks for keeping me around, but unfortunately I have to move on...they won't let me fail out of the program so I can serve a third year in the office!

     Jillian: What an impact you have made on my life in so little time! I think first and foremost I want to thank you for believing in me! Thank you for seeing the potential in me when it comes to pursuing what God has for me. Thanks for always having time for me and all my questions in your busy schedule. Thank you for allowing me to be part of the HIS Years program; I love being a mentor and the relationships I am forming with these young women have blessed me more than I could have imagined. Thank you for challenging how I think about missions, boundaries, team dynamics, and leadership (and thanks for teaching me that it's ok to be a follower, because the best leaders are followers!). No matter where I end up in the next few months or years, I know the partnership that has been formed between us will continue to be, so that we can more effectively work alonside students to reach the world for Christ!

     Adam: Thank you so much for being on my Capstone Committee! I truly am blessed to have had the opportunity to work alongside you over the last two years. I will never forget the day we were sitting in staff meeting and I went off on one of my tangents about student affairs and you looked at me and said, "You get it. Your ready!" I think it was in that moment that I realized that I was ready for this crazy world of Student Affairs (or whatever God is calling me to). Thank you for always being patient with me, for always listening to my crazy ideas, thoughts, and questions, and for always being supportive of Global Relief. Thank you for also being a wonderful example of what it looks like to balance all of life including a family, grad school, work, friends, and a spiritual life. Your "silent sermon" has impacted me more than you know!

Family:

     Mom & Dad: You have seen me through it all! You have loving supported me through every aspect of my life. You have always believed in me and never expected less than my personal best. You have waited a long time for this day; I finally have a career! It only took 4 majors, 6 years of undergraduate work, and a few years for me to sort through what God was calling me to...thanks for being patient! I love you both so very much and I am so blessed to call you my parents! Thank you for always loving me!

Friends:

     Katie Gladding: Well friend, without you I wouldn't even have known this program even existed! I still remember the day we were having lunch at Wahoo's and you were telling me all about the program overview you went to for some Masters degree for working with college students and my response was "Why would I be interested in that? I love working with High School students!" Little did either of us know that two years later I would be graduating from that exact program. Katie you have truly been a friend to me all of these years! Thank you for your random text messages that always brighten my day, your constant understanding with my busy schedule, and our amazing conversations about life over combo #1 at Wahoo's! I cherish our friendship and look forward to many more years to come! I love you friend!

Me & Katie on 4th of July

     Meghan Lathrop: We are more than friends, we are truly family! We have been through everything together and survived! Thank you for always being my friend, even when I forget your birthday! I am so thankful that we met all those years ago at Gloria Jean's when I dropped a portafilter on your foot (man seriously I can't believe you wanted to be my friend after that!). Thank you for being my friend, you have truly been a person who has shaped me along my journey! I love you!

Me & Meghan playing broomball many years ago

     Laura Powell: Where has the time gone? I feel like it was just the other day that Angie was introducing me to you because I wanted to help out with the youth ministry at FBTC, but that was almost 4 years ago! In those 4 years we have shared so much: laughter, tears, late nights, retreats, camps, being thousands of miles apart, amazing pizza, not so great guacamole, scavenger hunts, toilet papering (sorry about that...it was totally Matt's idea!), Youth Workers, incredibly crazy situations at church, football games, afternoons at Starbucks, being lost (well just you...I was always the one who helped you find your way...Miss Google Maps to the rescue!), Swim-n-Studies, Surf-n-Studies, road trips, mental breakdowns (mine & yours), the pizza lesson (I can't believe you have made me do that thing 3 x's!!!), emails, our books, secrets, and we have even shared a job! All that to say that I really don't know what I would have done if God hadn't brought you into my life when He did! You are an irreplacable part of my journey and for that I am forever thankful!

Laura & I at a Girl's Retreat for our High Schoolers

     Wendy Killingback: Sister! The memories are too many to count! Thanks for always hanging onto this friendship, it means more to me than you will ever know! I love that our friendship only continues to grow deeper over the years. Thank you for believing in me and always pushing me to be a better Erin. Thanks for getting me! I truly cherish our friendship and have no doubt that we will grow old together! I love you sister!

Wendy & I at a wedding we were both in

Roommates:

                Alayna, Monica, Heather, Meghan, & Meagan I love all of you girls so much! Over the last two years you have been my sanity when grad school was getting the best of me.  We have eaten meals together, gone on adventures, had deep conversations until all hours of the night, run 1/2 marathons (and marathons...thanks for showing us all up Heather! J/K!), baked all sorts of goodies (and eaten them), watched all sorts of interesting movies, run through sprinklers, gone shopping, written papers, eaten Golden Spoon, gone jacuzzing, done each other's laundry, encouraged each other, dreamed big, laughed hard, and cried on occasion. Through all this crazyness we call grad school, we did life together and WE MADE IT!!! Thanks for being part of my journey...we are forever connected! I love you girls!

Roommate Slideshow

Co-workers:

     Office of World Missions: Where do I start? My OWM Familia, you truly are my family. Thanks for believing in me...always!

           Anna: Thank you for your friendship! Thank you for always being a listening ear! Thank you for making me part of your family; I love them! Thanks for always being so giving of your: time, energy, cars, house, food, & just about anything God has blessed you with. I am really going to miss our lunch time talks, baking banana chocolate chip bread with your kids, and hanging out till all hours in your living-room talking about life. Thank you for being a friend and a mentor!

           Student Coordinators: What can I say, but you all bring a smile to my face everytime I walk in the office! I love our conversation! I mean seriously I think we have talked about just about everything under the sun while sitting in our tiny little office. Thanks for all the memories: retreats, Slumdog Millionaire, worship, Global Vision Week, literally tying hundreds of ribbons on twine (Ryan that's all you!), helping me collect water bottles, making fun of me when I say something stupid, challenging me when you don't agree with me, office parties (official and unofficial), conversations over tea, and need I say it...LAZER TAG!!! Thank you for sharing your lives with me!

Pictures

    First Baptist Temple City: Laura, Chris, & Matt my youth ministry crew! It has been way too long since we have sat for hours over pizza & cider at BJ's! Thank you for all the memories: Delta, Youth Workers, Duct-taping students to walls, Winter Camp, broom hockey, Colorado, football games, small groups, scavenger hunts (even though we all cheated!), Surf-n-Studies, In-n-Out runs, Swim-n-Studies, and who could forget our many adventures in Roller Skating! Though life has taken all of us different directions, I am so thankful for the 3 years we got to do ministry together! Thanks for all your love and support as I pursued what God had waiting for me!

          P.S. Chris I am still Miss Google Maps and don't you ever forget it!

Matt, Chris, Laura & me on one of our many roller skating adventures

Last But Not Least...My Cohort:

     WE MADE IT!!! It's hard to believe we didn't know each other 18 months ago! I love how we are all so unique and have our own desires and dreams for what we want to pursue in Student Affairs! We have all shared this journey together and I pray that we will continue to share our journeys as much as possible wherever we all end up! Thank you for all the wonderful memories! I have enjoyed getting to know each of you! Be Blessed!

Pictures

Cohort on the last night of class