Experience

The Oaks Retreat

The Oaks Retreat is a 3-day retreat connecting incoming Auburn University freshmen with other freshmen and churches before setting foot on campus. The mission of the Oaks Retreat is to raise Christ-centered leaders through serving incoming freshmen by laying a solid foundation to build their faith throughout college. I attended the Oaks Retreat as a freshman and served as a counselor for four years. As a counselor, I led a group of 8-10 freshmen during the retreat and the following academic year. At the retreat I was responsible for facilitating family group discussions, organizing retreat activities, and serving the retreat at large. In addition to being a retreat counselor, I also served as a counselor prayer group leader. As a counselor prayer group leader, I trained fellow counselors in the months leading up to the retreat and led weekly prayers. My responsibility as a prayer leader was to guide counselors in prayer and make sure our hearts were prepared to serve before the retreat. 

My experiences working for the Oaks Retreat will help me reach my professional goals because I learned what it looks like to be a healthy Christ-centered leader. 

Baby Steps Internship

During my last semester at Auburn University I had the amazing opportunity to intern for Baby Steps. Baby Steps is a non-profit location in Auburn, Alabama. Their mission is to empower students facing unplanned pregnancy through providing housing, support, and community. Some of my responsibilities as the Baby Steps intern included childcare, corresponding with donors, managing merchandise orders, maintaining relations with student-mothers, and planning Baby Steps events. Interning at Baby Steps provided a hands on learning experience at a non-profit. I learned about non-profit fundraising, office management, grant writing, community outreach, and much more.

Looking back on my internship, I see how each day prepared me to go into ministry. I spent months building relationships with individuals facing difficult life challenges, and months in the community speaking on behalf of the Baby Steps community. These experiences will help me as I prepare to raise leaders in the church.

Leadership Development Program

The Leadership Development Program (LDP) is by far my favorite experience on this list. The Leadership Development Program is a 10 month leadership program with Auburn Community Church. LDP is for Auburn University upperclassmen with the purpose of developing confidence in Christ cultivating individual gifting through spiritual development, ministry discovery, and spiritual growth. Each LDP is placed under a different ministry under the church and serves there throughout the entirety of the program. I served under the ACC College Team. As a College LDP I served the college students at Auburn Community Church through creating over 800 community groups, developing content for the community groups, planning monthly College Nights, facilitating ACC’s women’s conference, serving the church every Sunday, and working around 40 hours every week. 

I cannot begin to put into words everything LDP taught me. I learned about church management, event planning, content creation, Sunday logistics, and how to be a leader in the church. I even learned from great speakers from across the country. Yet at the end of LDP, all I saw was the Lord’s faithfulness through it all. As I move forward into ministry, I will use everything the Leadership Development Program has taught me.