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Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | RSS United Methodist Student Day is one of the six church-wide Special Sundays of The United Methodist Church. The United Methodist Student Day offering awards loans and scholarships to students who attend United Methodist and other accredited colleges and universities. Today’s interview is with student, Holly McCuistion, talking about her experiences with United Methodist Student Day Scholarships! Episode Highlights 00:29 // Rich welcomes Holly to the show. 00:40 // Holly introduces herself. 01:00 // Holly tells us why she decided to study Environmental Engineering. 01:42 // Holly talks about some of the mission trips she has been on. 01:59 // Holly talks about her hometown church and how it’s impacted what she is doing now. 04:13 // Holly tells us why she chose SMU to study Environmental Engineering. 05:00 // Holly talks about her summer job in the research lab. 05:46 // Holly talks about the Robot course at SMU and how she hopes to do research in Africa. 07:23 // Holly talks about her life now at SMU. 08:28 // Holly talks about the scholarship application process. 09:22 // Holly talks about the importance of giving to the scholarship. Episode Transcript Rich – Hey everybody, my name’s Rich, welcome to the United Methodist Student Day podcast. Super excited to have Holly McCuistion with us today. Holly’s a student and I’m super excited to dive in, Holly welcome to the show. Holly – Thank you. Rich – So glad you’re here. Why don’t we start, just introduce yourself, what school do you go to, what are you studying, that sort of thing? Holly – I am going to Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas and I’m studying Environmental Engineering. Rich – Nice. Now what year are you in? Holly – I am a sophomore. Rich – Cool, great so you decided to come back this year. Okay you’ve got one year down, another to go. That’s great, now Environmental Engineering, why did you decide to study that? Holly – Well there’s a couple of reasons. I did a lot of mission trips with my church. Rich – Oh cool. Holly – I remember being in sixth grade and seeing all the older kids go and I went on mission trips a lot, like every year of high school. Then I got involved with Yanomami and I sort of wanted to be able to combine my love of mission with a way that I could actually help people and solve problems with engineering. Rich – Very cool. Holly – Environmental Engineering is a way to help people with like water and that’s what I want to do, like clean water. Rich – Very cool, where did you go on some mission trips? Holly – Well mostly in Texas. We went to [unclear 00:01:46] and now I’m doing Yanomami stuff here up in Dallas with the New Chapter. Rich – Very cool. Now why don’t you tell us about your church? What church did you grow up in and what was that like? Holly – I went to Wimberley United Methodist Church, we’re really small, a hometown church and I really love the closeness of it and how many… like I knew everybody in church. It was like a support system that I had. Rich – Cool, nice well obviously your church impacted what you’re studying, it influenced you, and you kind of saw some cool stuff happening there and wanted to continue that, to make a difference in the world, which is really cool. Is there any other way that your church impacted what you’re doing with life now. Holly – They’ve been really encouraging, they’ve always been there to give me advice and when I decided, “Oh hey, I think I might want to do Environmental Engineering,” I had people at church bringing me news’ clippings of, “Here’s one on environmental engineers that I saw in a magazine and I thought of you,” and like paying for college, they’ve always been there, supporting me and supporting my family back home. Rich – Very cool. So how did you first hear about the United Methodist Student Day scholarship? Holly – I’m pretty sure my mom found it and told me about it. Rich – Did your church celebrate United Methodist Student day or no? Holly – I’m not sure, I think they did. After I got the scholarship the first time, I remember my pastor dragging me up in front of everybody and like, “Look at this!” I think it was actually that Sunday because she was like, “So this is what this is and look, see how it’s affecting people in our congregation and now you can make sure to give because you’re supporting people that you know and that you’ve grown up with and that you’ve helped to grow.” Rich – Cool now why did you pick the school that you did, why did you end up where you are? Holly – Southern or SMU has a really good Environmental Engineering program and I’m actually really glad that I did because there’s a professor here in my degree and he actually goes to refugee camps in Africa and does a lot of clean water and research. I actually got a job in his research lab this summer and I’m TA-ing for one of his classes. So it’s really been like… because of how small it was, I knew that I’d have a lot more opportunities than if I was at some huge university. Rich – Right that’s very cool. Holly – It’s really just the smallness of the university, it’s really nice, you get more connections with people and more connections with your professors. Rich – What kind of work are you doing this summer in the lab? Holly – Well I was working with grad students but he has others working on their masters or their PhD and I was sort of just like a lab tech, so I washed a lot of test tubes. Rich – That’s great. Holly – But the grad students had to leave to go TA class in Telson and so he left another guy and I in charge of his experiments whilst he was gone. So I’ve been able to think, “Oh what research do I want to do and can I change or do things?” Like take uranium out of water and arsenic and other pollutants. Rich – Very cool, that’s exciting, that’s really cool. What a great experience. How’s the TA been, how has that been so far, has it been okay or too hectic, has it been okay? Holly – It’s great, we have a class here that SMU is really… the Environmental Engineering course it’s kind of famous for and so is our Robot class. So we have this problem segment where it’s like the environmental engineers really want to solve this problem and we have a robot and we’re travelling and trying to radio a water source at a well in Africa, like in a refugee camp. So the trainers are great and we want to be able to test this water and see what’s wrong with it and then be able to fix it. So we use all the different engineers on a team and we work together to build a robot from scratch essentially and then go on a course and test the water and then we’ll get like a number and we’ll go and get remediation tools and finish the course. Rich – Very cool, that’s great. Do you think you’ll get a chance to travel to Africa at some point in your educational experience? Holly – I really hope so, yeah. He’s been working on grants and stuff to take undergrads and do research and he got approval by SMU to take undergrads already as of last year. So hopefully I’ll be one of those, but I’m also actually in Engineers Without Borders. Rich – Oh nice. Holly – They have projects in Rwanda and other places too. Rich – Very cool, that’s exciting. Now what would you say to a student who’s considering coming to SMU but is kind of on the border. Obviously the size is a good thing, but is there anything else you’d say to them to try to encourage them to come? Holly – The connections I’ve made with friends here has been outstanding. I love all of my friends and there are so many ways to get involved, especially with the churches nearby, there’s so many and you can find the one that best suits you. Of course there’s Highland Park, but I’ve always like the small church feel, so I’ve got involved in Greenland Hills. Rich – Okay. Holly – My roommate and I, she also grew up in the Methodist Church and we’re getting involved in their Youth Group and being like two college helpers and going on retreats and community service with their seventh grade [unclear 00:08:01] program. The experience that I’ve had here has completely changed my life and I’m happy for that. Rich – That’s very cool. Now what would you say to a student who’s thinking about applying for the scholarship, was it a difficult process, was it too onerous? What was the actual application process like? Holly – It was probably one of the least stressful scholarship application processes. I remember being really nervous after I had submitted it and waiting for it, but then just being super relieved when I… I applied for it in my first year and my sophomore year and I got it both times and it really has made a huge difference. The application process wasn’t too long, the questions that they ask are kind of… Rich – Straight forward? Holly – Yeah straight forward and there’s the helpline, I’ve definitely emailed them and asked them questions about certain questions. Rich – Very cool. Well that’s great, we really appreciate you being on the show today, it’s always fun to hear a little bit from students. Is there anything else you’d love to share with people who might be listening in, either students or people who are in churches today? Holly – Yes, so the people that get their scholarship are people in your own church, they’re your youth that you have helped to grow and the people… like you’ve grown their spirit and them as a person. So by helping and giving to this scholarship, you’re helping them to get to their part after they leave you, after they go off to college you’re still supporting them through this. I’m so grateful I’ve been able to have this too. Rich – Yeah that’s great. Thanks so much Holly, I think it’s a gr

Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | RSS United Methodist Student Day is one of the six church-wide Special Sundays of The United Methodist Church. The United Methodist Student Day offering awards loans and scholarships to students who attend United Methodist and other accredited colleges and universities. Today’s interview is with student, Irene Hong, talking about her experiences with United Methodist Student Day Scholarships! Episode Highlights 00:25 // Rich welcomes Irene to the show. 00:38 // Irene talks about her decision to study political science. 01:21 // Irene talks about how a United Methodist background has impacted her life today. 02:09 // Irene talks about how her church supports the community and how that has helped shaped her. 03:29 // Irene talks about the resources at UPenn. 04:07 // Irene tells how she first heard about United Methodist Student Day scholarship. 04:29 // Irene talks about the application process. 05:30 // Irene talks about the importance of supporting United Methodist Student Day. 06:26 // Irene talks about how she hopes her current schooling will support her in making an impact on her community. 08:19 // Irene talks about UPenn campus and the groups she is involved in. 10:21 // Irene encourages students to apply, ‘just try it out and you never know what’s going to happen’. Episode Transcript Rich – Well welcome to the United Methodist Student Day podcast. We’re super excited to have you along with us today, to have us in your earbuds. Today we have a student from UPenn [unclear 00:00:27], we’re super excited to have Irene Hong with us today. Irene welcome to the show. Irene – Hi thank you for having me. Rich – I’m so glad you’re here. So what are you studying at UPenn? Irene – I’m studying political science and I’m a second year, so a few more years to go. Rich – That’s cool. So why political science, why did you decide you wanted to study that? Irene – Well law school was something that I’m interested in and I think that I could really use law to impact people’s lives in a positive way and definitely volunteering with the church in high school created the sense of civic engagement and the importance of giving back. So I think that political science is a cool way to do so by, kind of from the top affect policy and hopefully create an impact that way. Rich – Very cool, that’s very cool. Why don’t you tell us about your church background, how did your United Methodist background impact you today? Irene – Sure, I grew up in the United Methodist Church, my father is a United Methodist pastor, so I’m definitely familiar with all that I guess. I guess being exposed to different ethnic backgrounds as well as in the church. I was part of churches with ethnicity, those kind of churches, so a Japanese American church to a Korean church, but definitely seeing that common thread of just loving each other I think, was just really something that was really beneficial to me. Rich – Very cool, now you mentioned right off the top that there was some kind of civic engagement in your background, give us a sense of what that was, what did your church do when you were young that kind of said, “Hey that’s maybe a part of what Christ followers should do.” Irene – I think something that I really appreciated through high school, starting in sophomore year when I went to my most recent church. Our church every Sunday will go to the downtown part of our city and we’ll help serve food, but besides that we’ll also assist the homeless community in getting sleeping bags or extended bus passes, referrals to local agencies for instance like anti-domestic violence agencies and things like that. My role in that was to translate, translating between Korean, my church was Korean so translating with the elderly folk and then Spanish for the community. That’s something that really shaped me because I realized that people come from different places and have different backgrounds and just because you’re on the streets doesn’t mean that you’re a bad person right away. Rich – Absolutely so do you speak English, Korean and Spanish? Irene – My Spanish has kind of deteriorated. Rich – That’s amazing though, that’s fantastic. What a great way to use those skills to make a difference and impact in your community. So how has your school experience been so far, what are some kind of fun things that have happened, or most memorable experiences so far, being at UPenn? Irene – I know this is kind of corny but I think being in college I realize that there’s so many resources here than I expected there would be, than in high school. Rich – Okay cool. Irene – So even with the law school planning for instance, there’s advisers you can speak to, there’s seminars on how to write an essay and there’s people whose job it is to just like give you support and really encourage you. So I think that’s very helpful and shows that we do have funding which is nice, to be confident in the school’s resources. Rich – Nice, very cool. So now how did you first hear about the United Methodist Student Day scholarship? Irene – I actually heard from my youth group and I did attend CalPac’s Youth Day once, actually a few times when I was in Bell school. So something that had always been in the back of my mind and once I started to plan to go to college, I was like, “Oh this is something I should conquer soon.” Rich – Very cool. Now what was the application process like, did you find it difficult, what did you find that like? Irene – Not difficult, it was much easier than I thought it would be because the questions were not, ‘tell us why you want our money and why’. It was very, ‘how has the church supported your upbringing, how can this scholarship help you in what you’re studying’? So definitely I thought that the questions really helped to get to know me and I definitely feel that it wasn’t super stressful or anything like that. Rich – Right that’s cool, that’s good to hear. I think particularly for donors, to hear how it was from a student’s perspective on actually receiving the funds, because they obviously don’t want to create some onerous process, a good process but not an onerous process to end up distributing these funds. That’s fantastic. Now let’s say there’s churches that are listening in today, they don’t celebrate United Methodist Student Day, they’re like, “That’s just not a part of our thing, we’re busy when it comes around to that time of year.” What would you say to a church leader who’s listening in today, who’s on the fence, not sure whether they should celebrate or really put some focus on that this year? Irene – I think one of the biggest things to support United Methodist Student Day is number one, the fact that you can appreciate the youth in a really tangible way and financially it’s a huge way that the church can support, but also with so many people leaving the church when you go to college, I think a scholarship is one way of saying, “Hey, we went to college, we haven’t forgotten about you.” Rich – Yeah very true. Irene – So I think that definitely, United Methodist Student Day is so important in helping students feel worth it. Rich – Yeah very cool, I think that’s a great point. I think a lot of churches are trying to find practical ways to connect with students when they go to college and this is a great way to do that for sure. So now when you look to the future and you say, “Here’s some places I want to make a difference in, I want to make some impact,” what are your dreams, what are thinking how you’ll make a difference in the world and how is your current vocation, we kind of talked a little bit about this off the top, but how is your current schooling helping for that? Irene – In terms of a career, I’m pretty open minded, I’m not too sure but I definitely want to do something related to the community. I know this is super vague but I know that through college, what I’m involved in right now is I’m pursuing an independent study with one of my professors about food stamps and how the food stamp program has certain barriers to accessibility in Philadelphia. So for instance Philadelphia has one of the highest eligibility rates and poverty rates for the food stamp program, yet only about a third of them actually apply and even less of them finish the application process and actually get food stamps. So it’s like what are the barriers to that? Also some research into waste to kind of alleviate that. So that’s something that is really cool and I’ll be done with that project by the end of this semester but that is something I’m really interested in. It brings in policy but it also brings in something that people connect with on a daily basis. So I’m hoping something along those lines hopefully. Rich – That’s good, that makes sense for sure. You still have a way to go and obviously you’re on the frontend of the experience, so that’s great. I think one of the things that’s great about United Methodist Student Day is that it’s a chance for churches to partner with people like you, to say like, “Wow, what a practical way that someone who has been a part of the United Methodist Church can make a difference.” Even in something like food stamps, to understand that, which is fantastic. So changing tack a little bit as we come to the end here, let’s say there’s a student out there who’s thinking about UPenn, this the time of year when students are trying to wrestle through where they should go, why would you say UPenn’s the place to go? Irene – I think UPenn is the place to go because there is so much diversity on campus, in a city that’s even more diverse. I think the fact that on any given day you’re not going to say, “Oh I’m bored, there’s nothing to do,” there’s Chinatown and Selway right away

Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | RSS United Methodist Student Day is one of the six church-wide Special Sundays of The United Methodist Church. The United Methodist Student Day offering awards loans and scholarships to students who attend United Methodist and other accredited colleges and universities. Today’s interview is with Reeve Segrest a student at Spring Arbor University and UMSD scholarship recipient. Episode Highlights 00:27 // Rich welcomes Reeve to the show. 00:44 // Reeve introduces himself. 01:28 // Reeve talks about why he chose to study at Spring Arbor University. 02:00 // Reeve tells how he first heard of the United Methodist Student Day scholarship. 02:43 // Reeve talks about his background and how the United Methodist Church has had an impact on him. 04:00 // Reeve talks about his first day experience at Spring Arbor University and the Student Orientation program. 05:39 // Reeve talks about the benefits of United Methodist Student Day scholarships. 06:32 // Reeve talks about his experience of the application process and compares it to others. 07:40 // Reeve talks about why he thinks students should consider Spring Arbor University. 08:15 // Reeve encourages people to support Student Day and thanks those that do. Episode Transcript Rich – Well hi there, my name’s Rich Birch, I’m the host here at the United Methodist Student Day podcast. I’m super excited today to have a student joining us, a freshman, Reeve Segrest. Reeve welcome to the show today. Reeve – Hi thanks for having me. Rich – We’re so glad you’ve taken some time out. I know it’s a busy time as a student, so I appreciate you giving us a few minutes of your time today. Reeve why don’t you tell us about the school you’re going to, give us a bit of your background, who is Reeve? Reeve – Well I’m Reeve Segrest and I’m going to Spring Arbor University right now. It’s a free Methodist college, it’s very direct with its biblical principles and I’m really enjoying the tight community of Christians that they’ve made here. When I was in high school and in middle school and through my whole childhood, I went to North Lake United Methodist Church, it’s near Chelsea. Rich – Cool and what are you studying? Reeve – Rich now I’m a Biblical Studies major which a minor in vocal music. Rich – Oh nice that’s cool, that’s a fun thing to be studying. Why did you pick the school you’re at, what’s so great about it, why that one? Reeve – Part of it was because I had a lot of connections here, there was a lot of people that I knew. Another part was that it was far enough away from home that my parents wouldn’t come every five seconds, but close enough that I could come back every once in a while. Rich – Rich nice, very cool. Now let’s talk about, we’re obviously here talking about United Methodist Student Day, I want to know, how did you hear about the United Methodist Student Day scholarship, how did you hear about this program? Reeve – Well my home church, North Lake Methodist, they do the United Methodist Student Day giving every year and I had kind of heard about it through that, looking for scholarships for getting into school and just went into some research after actually participating in giving to that day. Rich – Yeah that’s very cool. Well that’s fun and obviously it’s helped the kick off to school this year which is a great thing. So why don’t we talk a little bit about your upbringing. So you’ve obviously been a part of the United Methodist Church, has that been kind of your whole life? Tell us a little about your upbringing and your career choice and how did your United Methodist background impact that. Reeve – I’ve been a United Methodist my whole life. I grew up in the United Methodist Church that I have been at for the past eighteen years and they’ve really done a lot for me when I was growing up in school, to support me through those tough times, especially middle school. Moments both in the church and in the high school, where I get to sit down and talk to people about their faith, the United Methodist Church has really helped me in my faith and talking to other people and that in combination with some leadership skills that I believe I have and that other have told me and a calling that I felt through much prayer, I decided that I wanted to go to school to become a pastor. Rich – Nice well that’s a huge calling and that’s fantastic, I would encourage you in taking that step, that’s fantastic. I know we’re not that far into school so far but what’s been a memorable experience? Maybe tell us as a freshman, what was that like when you first arrived at school, what was that experience like for you? Reeve – Well they had a lot of tents already set up for new students, so they made it really easy for us. Rich – Very cool. Reeve – It was a lot of different emotions at one. The fear and excitement of going to a new place and just the joy of doing something for God but also that bitter sweet feeling of leaving your parents for the first time. Going back from school every day and just going home, that doesn’t happen anymore so it was very mixed. Rich – Very cool, okay. I know a lot of schools do freshman orientation stuff that’s a lot of fun, where there any highlights in that that was kind of a fun kickoff to your school year this year? Reeve – Yeah they do a Spring Arbor three day student orientation and that was quite fun. Actually during the second day we had a field day with the floor that we live in and I actually ended up hurting my shoulder for a little bit in that time, a little bit of a sprain, I had to be in a sling for about four days. Rich – Oh gosh, what were you doing, some kind of crazy thing? Reeve – Yeah we were playing a game where we were leaping from two whiteboards that we were putting down on the field and I ran out of two whiteboards at the end, so I did one last big leap and just landed on my shoulder and hit the ground. Rich – Oh gosh but you’re all better now I can see, so that’s a good thing for sure. Well why would you say, there’ll be a lot of church leaders listening in, what would you say to church leaders out there today that are thinking, “I’m not sure I really want to do this, the United Methodist Student Day deal,” what would you say to them as a student on the receiving end? Reeve – Well as a student it gives you a lot of opportunities to go out there and do something with your life. Especially those that have callings and you don’t necessarily have the kind of money that it takes to go and pursue those callings, so having support from United Methodist Student Day and the giving of all of the United Methodists around to go and pursue that, either pastoral ministry or youth ministry or all your different future ministers, are really benefiting from this program. Rich – Absolutely fantastic. Now what about on the other side, so what would you say to a student who are maybe thinking about pursuing some education and they’re not sure whether they should apply? Is it worth going through the hassle, the application process, doing all that and having all of those conversations and making all that happen? Tell us about what that experience was like. Reeve – That experience for me was quite easy, especially going through all the other different scholarships. In relation United Methodist Student Day is a lot easier to get into and to just kind of keep in touch with, what you’re doing with their money and it’s just been really easy to deal with. Especially having all the other scholarships, even the school scholarship was quite a challenge in comparison. Rich – Well that’s good to hear, that’s good for students to know who are out there today thinking, “I don’t know whether I should be part of it.” That’s nice to hear too I think for churches and people who are giving to Student Day, to know that this isn’t super onerous, it’s not the kind of thing that we’re trying to make really difficult for people who want to benefit from these gifts that people are giving. Do it freely and we can just hope that it will help people like yourself. Alright just two more questions Reeve. So what would you say, this is your chance to sell Spring Arbor, what would you say to other students at this time of year, people you know this, high school students are thinking about it, they’re trying to think about other places they could go to, why would you say they should think about coming to Spring Arbor? Reeve – Well I think that Spring Arbor has what you need for a major, it’s one of the greatest choices you can have. It’s got a very small and close knit community while at the same time actually having all those resources you need to get ahead in the field in whatever you’re doing. So it’s really nice to have that balance of just big enough but just small enough that you can still get in with the group and still have a lot of fun. Rich – Alright well anything else you’d love to say to people who might be listening in today, about Student Day or about your experience so far. Reeve – Support Student Day, it really does help us out. Without support from all our people in the church, we couldn’t do the stuff that we do and we couldn’t go down the paths that God is leading us. So thank you for all your help. Rich – Nice, thank you Reeve, thanks so much. Best wishes this year as you’re plugging away and blessings on your for going into ministry and for pursuing studies. All the best. Have you started Greek yet, does that start in freshman year? Reeve – No that’s a junior, senior year thing. Rich – Okay so you’ve got a couple of years to warm up for that, that’ll be good. Great well thanks so much Reeve, thanks for being on the show today. Reeve – Alright, thanks for having me. Rich – Take care. Reeve – You too.

Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | RSS United Methodist Student Day is one of the six church-wide Special Sundays of The United Methodist Church. The United Methodist Student Day offering awards loans and scholarships to students who attend United Methodist and other accredited colleges and universities. Today’s interview is with Allyson Collinsworth from GBHEM! Episode Highlights 00:22 // Rich introduces Allyson to the show. 00:47 // Allyson introduces herself. 01:27 // Allyson explains what United Methodist Student Day is. 02:30 // Allyson talks about her passion and the importance of United Methodist Student Day. 03:38 // Allyson talks about how the applications are processed. 04:45 // Allyson talks about the qualities needed for a successful application. 05:19 // Rich talks about practical ways students can stay connected to the church. 06:51 // Allyson offers practical ways in which church leaders can celebrate their students. 08:03 // Allyson talks about the criteria needed to apply to receive funding. 09:02 // Allyson highlights some success stories of the program. 10:10 // Allyson encourages students to invest time to apply and learn about the process. 11:00 // Allyson encourages everyone to give to the fund. Episode Transcript Rich – Alright well welcome to the United Methodist Student Day podcast. We’re super excited for today’s conversation, we’ve got somebody from the General Board of Higher Education of Ministry, we’ve got somebody from Head Office today. I’m going to talk to Allyson Collinsworth, super excited to have you on the show today Allyson. Allyson – Thank you, glad to be here. Rich – You are the person on the other end of the phone and the email and the applications and so I’m really looking forward to jumping in to that today. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about your role with GBHEM? Allyson – Okay. I am the Executive Director of the Office of Loans and Scholarships. We administer over 60 scholarship programs and 20 loan programs. Rich – Amazing. Allyson – We are able to award about five million dollars a year to United Methodist Students. Rich – Fantastic so you are like their best friend. You’re like the, “Yes I got it!” Allyson – I am very popular. Rich – Nice. Yeah if you’re a student watching today, this is the person on the other side of the conversation ultimately. Now why don’t you tell us, for people who aren’t aware of what United Methodist Student Day is, what is it and why is it so important to the life of our church. Allyson – United Methodist Student Day is a special offering of the church. It’s where the local church collects money that ends up coming to my office and straight through my office back at scholarships to our students. It historically came to the loan fund that was originally created but every penny that goes into that offering comes through this office and put right back out as a scholarship to the student today. Rich – Now that’s 100%? Allyson – Yes it goes through different places. Conference to GCFA which is our finance agency but then the money ends up coming straight back through here and we write the check out to scholarship participants. Rich – Very cool. Now why don’t you tell us why a church should be involved in this, it seems like we’ve got a few of these, we’ve got six of these days a year and I know some churches opt out, saying, “Okay, this isn’t something I necessarily want to be a part of.” Why are you passionate out about it, why do you think this is important for us to continue to do? Allyson – Well I’m passionate about it today because I see the students that I take applications in for and I see what they’re doing in leading in their churches and active in their communities and missions and so I don’t like having to tell some of them, “No,” which I do have to. I end up turning about seven hundred students away a year that we just don’t have the money for. I don’t want to do that, so I’m passionate in getting enough money to award everyone. Rich – Absolutely. Allyson – The next thing is, this Sunday was actually the very first special Sunday. It dates back to 1872 when the United Methodist Church decided to have special offerings, solely for helping United Methodist Students move forward. It initiated with a collection in Sunday schools to advance education for Sunday school members, children and it moved into where we were funding loans and scholarships for all students in the United Methodist Church. Rich – Cool. What’s been the average number of applications that have come in, in a typical year, what does that normally look like? Allyson – About five thousand applications a year and we end up reviewing about twenty five hundred and then end up having to turn some away because there’s not enough money. Rich – Right. What does that process look like, is that what those filing cabinets are behind you, you’ve got to read those twenty five hundred applications yourself, what does that look like? Allyson – We are all online so we are going into the twenty first century finally. We do have an online application and it opens in January and it closes in March. So electronically we kind of screen all the applications and determine who’s fitting so they can be awarded. We also bring in scholarship committees, people from our board of directors or from our United Methodist schools or the annual conferences, they come in and review them, we kind of put them into different categories and then they read and determine who’s awarded. Then we administer that payment for them. Rich – Very cool. Now what are you looking for in an application, what is the framework that you use to try to determine, does this student make the cut for their scholarship? Allyson – That’s a great question. I would say the most important factor is leadership in their local church. We have a way of asking that question. So if they’re active, they’re not just attending church on Sunday but they’re very active, maybe in their youth group if they’re still in high school or coming back working in their Wesley Foundation, on campus. Activity in the church is the number one quality, so to make sure they are still connected with the United Methodist Church. Rich – Yeah very cool. I know this is a real practical way for church leaders to stay connected with students as they go to college. I think a lot of times in churches they can kind of wrestle with, “How do I stay connected?” This is one practical way, reaching out, first hosting Student Day and then encouraging students, “Hey if you’re going to college, if you’re some more studies, why don’t you apply for a scholarship?” What a practical way to keep them connected, both to your local church and to the broader United Methodist movement. I think it’s great, it’s fantastic. Now you specifically, were you a recipient of United Methodist Student Day scholarship? Allyson – You know I didn’t know about this until I started working for this office. Rich – That’s funny. Allyson – No I think the perception in the beginning at one point was that they had to be going through United Methodist School and that’s not always the case. So we have enough programs that they just need to be a member of the United Methodist Church for one year, with some activity in leadership. The word just isn’t out enough but I’m also afraid of getting the word out too much because I’d have more people I’d have to turn away. So give to this day so that I don’t have to turn people away. Rich – Absolutely, well that’s our hope that church leaders that are listening in today, who are maybe saying, “I just don’t know, I don’t know that I could do another one of these days.” What would you say to them, if you were sitting across the table and someone is saying, “I’m not sure whether I want to participate in Student Day,” what would you say to them? Allyson – I would say do it as a celebration of the students in their congregation. Many churches use it kind of as a graduation. It’s supposed to be celebrated around the Sunday before Thanksgiving, it can be celebrated anytime. So maybe the end of a year or graduation time, when you’re recognizing your students, use it as a time to celebrate them and their advance in education. My office also sends out certificates to all the pastors who have students in their congregation who have received a scholarship. Rich – Oh nice. Allyson – We ask them to recognize them in the service while they take the collection, to just kind of bring it full circle as to who they’re helping in their congregation. Rich – Okay very cool. I know one of the things that I’ve heard our church leader say is this is a great opportunity, like you say, to celebrate students, a super practical way to way, “We love our students, we love the vibrant part that they provide in our community.” Now what are the kinds of things people are studying, is it narrowly defined, do they have to study just biblical studies or something like that, or is there a wide variety of things? Allyson – It’s not restricted because there’s 60 various criteria. Student Day does go to specific programs but my office supports all the criteria and so it can be anywhere from nursing school to ministry. Yes seminarians and young clergy and studying for your master studies [unclear 00:08:22] in the office but it’s not the minimal requirement to apply for this. So if you’re a member of the United Methodist Church and you’re active and you love your church, apply for this and you will have a good opportunity to receive funding. Rich – Absolutely. Are there any students, particular students, that come to mind when you think about this program that kind of stick out, with an interesting story about the difference that this made in their world? I know it’s hard when there’s