As part of the celebration of the 15th anniversary of the YTI Class of 1996, YTI alumni are interviewing each other, discovering and recording what is happening in the lives of our YTI family today. If you are a member of the class of 1996, and would like to participate in this project, contact Sara Toering at sjtoering@gmail.com
Aaron is interviewed here by Rebecca Rich:
After finishing high school, Aaron went back to Atlanta and majored in political science and religion at Emory University. He then obtained a master of divinity degree at Yale Divinity School. There, Aaron worked with a team that evaluated pastoral care for cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy. The resulting report was so controversial that it ended up on CNN. After graduating from Yale, Aaron worked as a chaplain at Yale New Haven Hospital, then at a church in New York, before moving to Durham, North Carolina to do a Th.M. in Ethics at Duke. There, he focused on the relationship between faith and health care practices. Aaron stayed in Durham after finishing his Duke degree and worked with veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan as the inpatient psychiatric ward chaplain at the Veterans Hospital. Aaron now works as a hospice chaplain and is a member of Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church in Durham. While he has some frustrations with institutional Lutheranism, Aaron remains committed to the power and distinctive witness of Lutheran theology, especially in the American South.
Aaron reports that YTI impacted his life by making him aware of the links between religion and larger social questions. Indeed, those links have shaped all of his thinking and work since YTI. For example, Aaron is currently working on a book with his advisor from Duke on ways Christians deal with pain and illness from both a medical and theological perspective. Aaron is also working on a book with people at the Veterans Hospital in Durham about ways congregations can help veterans returning from war readjust to life.
Aaron can be reached at: aaron.klink@duke.edu
The Public Theologian: The latest news from the Youth Theological Initiative (YTI) at Emory University.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Class of 1996 Profile: Hannah Loring Davis
As part of the celebration of the 15th anniversary of the YTI Class of 1996, YTI alumni are interviewing each other, discovering and recording what is happening in the lives of our YTI family today. If you are a member of the class of 1996, and would like to participate in this project, contact Sara Toering at sjtoering@gmail.com
Hannah is interviewed here by Sara Toering:
After graduating from Guilford College in 2001 where, as a student activist and newspaper editor, she focused on African studies and peace and conflict resolution, Hannah worked in editing and organizing for the Other Side Magazine (Philadelphia). Inspired, in part, by the Harriet Tubman Foot Care and Medical Clinic, where she served the homeless community in Atlanta, Georgia, Hannah went on to obtain her nursing degree. In 2008, Hannah moved to Baltimore, Maryland where she lives with her partner Jason Buc and their coonhound, Bubba. She works in an intensive care unit and is pursuing her masters in nursing with a specialty in palliative care at Johns Hopkins University. She also serves as a deacon at Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church (PCUSA).
When I asked her to sum up in a few words how YTI shaped her life, Hannah shared that YTI created a venue for making a wonderful group of friends. Hannah began to feel a sense of connectedness in her life that she had never felt before - she learned new lessons about building a community to spiritually sustain her life. Through the years, the friendships Hannah made at YTI taught her a lot about building and maintaining deep and meaningful friendships. For Hannah, the most crucial part of her spirituality is the people with whom she experiences and practices that spirituality. To this day, the first people on her list are friends from YTI.
In her various academic pursuits and church and vocational commitments, Hannah seeks to find opportunities to blend her spirituality with her nursing practice. She is committed to learning to care for those with chronic and terminal illness in a manner that is culturally and personally sensitive to each individual’s needs within the greater context of family and the wider community. Hannah’s current nursing practice, paired with her study of palliative care, offers her an arena for the daily practice of her spiritual commitment.
Hannah is interviewed here by Sara Toering:
After graduating from Guilford College in 2001 where, as a student activist and newspaper editor, she focused on African studies and peace and conflict resolution, Hannah worked in editing and organizing for the Other Side Magazine (Philadelphia). Inspired, in part, by the Harriet Tubman Foot Care and Medical Clinic, where she served the homeless community in Atlanta, Georgia, Hannah went on to obtain her nursing degree. In 2008, Hannah moved to Baltimore, Maryland where she lives with her partner Jason Buc and their coonhound, Bubba. She works in an intensive care unit and is pursuing her masters in nursing with a specialty in palliative care at Johns Hopkins University. She also serves as a deacon at Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church (PCUSA).
When I asked her to sum up in a few words how YTI shaped her life, Hannah shared that YTI created a venue for making a wonderful group of friends. Hannah began to feel a sense of connectedness in her life that she had never felt before - she learned new lessons about building a community to spiritually sustain her life. Through the years, the friendships Hannah made at YTI taught her a lot about building and maintaining deep and meaningful friendships. For Hannah, the most crucial part of her spirituality is the people with whom she experiences and practices that spirituality. To this day, the first people on her list are friends from YTI.
In her various academic pursuits and church and vocational commitments, Hannah seeks to find opportunities to blend her spirituality with her nursing practice. She is committed to learning to care for those with chronic and terminal illness in a manner that is culturally and personally sensitive to each individual’s needs within the greater context of family and the wider community. Hannah’s current nursing practice, paired with her study of palliative care, offers her an arena for the daily practice of her spiritual commitment.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Class of 1996 Profile: Amy Bucher
As part of the celebration of the 15th anniversary of the YTI Class of 1996, YTI alumni are interviewing each other, discovering and recording what is happening in the lives of our YTI family today. If you are a member of the class of 1996, and would like to participate in this project, contact Sara Toering at sjtoering@gmail.com
Amy is interviewed here by Beth Kormanik Hubbuch
Amy attended Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C., and graduated with degrees in English and Education. While in college she had the chance to travel to Indonesia to see her birthplace and study for a semester. After college, Amy taught English to elementary school children in Japan through the JET program. Afterward, she moved to New York and then to California where she continued her work with children by running an after-school program for children at a small private school. She now runs a school-based program for the Boys & Girls Club that was recently visited by Vice President Biden. The program has grown under Amy’s leadership, from 100 students to 200 students – and there’s discussion about adding 70 more students. Amy described her job as being “the principal of the afternoon.” The job is demanding, and, not surprisingly, educational issues occupy most of Amy’s time and energy. One issue is disparity: the high school graduation rate in the community where she works, East Palo Alto, is 30 percent; in nearby Palo Alto it’s 90 percent. With programs like Amy’s, there’s hope for change.
The most significant impact YTI had on Amy’s life happened just after the program. “It was my first time to hang out with people for that long and create relationships and bonds,” she said. “It brought me out of my shell socially.” YTI also gave Amy the confidence to question organized religion: “I had always been curious about exploring other religions and a wider range of beliefs and it gave me a space to do that. I moved away from the idea that God was present only within a certain structure. I gained confidence in questioning and feeling like that was okay.”
Amy is engaged to David Ghandehari, a software engineer for TiVo.
Amy is interviewed here by Beth Kormanik Hubbuch
Amy attended Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C., and graduated with degrees in English and Education. While in college she had the chance to travel to Indonesia to see her birthplace and study for a semester. After college, Amy taught English to elementary school children in Japan through the JET program. Afterward, she moved to New York and then to California where she continued her work with children by running an after-school program for children at a small private school. She now runs a school-based program for the Boys & Girls Club that was recently visited by Vice President Biden. The program has grown under Amy’s leadership, from 100 students to 200 students – and there’s discussion about adding 70 more students. Amy described her job as being “the principal of the afternoon.” The job is demanding, and, not surprisingly, educational issues occupy most of Amy’s time and energy. One issue is disparity: the high school graduation rate in the community where she works, East Palo Alto, is 30 percent; in nearby Palo Alto it’s 90 percent. With programs like Amy’s, there’s hope for change.
The most significant impact YTI had on Amy’s life happened just after the program. “It was my first time to hang out with people for that long and create relationships and bonds,” she said. “It brought me out of my shell socially.” YTI also gave Amy the confidence to question organized religion: “I had always been curious about exploring other religions and a wider range of beliefs and it gave me a space to do that. I moved away from the idea that God was present only within a certain structure. I gained confidence in questioning and feeling like that was okay.”
Amy is engaged to David Ghandehari, a software engineer for TiVo.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Class of 1996 Profile: Rebecca Rich
As part of the celebration of the 15th anniversary of the YTI Class of 1996, YTI alumni are interviewing each other, discovering and recording what is happening in the lives of our YTI family today. If you are a member of the class of 1996, and would like to participate in this project, contact Sara Toering at sjtoering@gmail.com
Becca is interviewed here by Sara Toering:
Becca Rich finished up her senior year of high school by winning a national writing competition with an essay about land mines in Laos. She used the prize money to travel to Paris with fellow 1996 YTI alum Christian Petersen. Becca went on to attend Goshen College where she majored in English and religion, and spent a semester studying abroad in Ivory Coast. In August 2001 Becca married Eric Hochstetler and moved to Philadelphia where she worked in the publishing business. Becca went on to graduate from Duke Law School in 2006, and then she clerked on the North Carolina Supreme Court for Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson. After practicing commercial litigation at a boutique firm in Raleigh, NC, Becca became a lecturing fellow at Duke Law School where she teaches upper-level writing courses. Becca’s daughter Grace was born in December of 2008.
YTI had an immediate impact on Becca’s life. Becca grew up in small town and by the end of high school she felt discouraged with what she felt was a void of like-minded people in her community. YTI introduced Becca to amazing like-minded folks, and made her feel confident and hopeful about all the potential in the world. Becca loved developing friendships with YTI scholars who were interested in talking about religion and God and the Bible as teens. She shared that she “thinks of YTI folks fondly—it is truly a comfort to think about all of us out in the world doing great and important work.”
Currently Becca is exploring questions related to her career and vocation. Her Duke legal education provides Becca with opportunities to work on amazing cases and there are established career paths laid out for her to simply follow. Yet the work Becca is doing right now as a writing lecturer and professor provides her with flexibility and freedom and much-needed time for her family. Becca wonders about her potential and what responsibility, if any, comes with that “potential.” She posed the question “what do I owe to potential versus what I choose to do?”
rebeccamrich@yahoo.com
Becca is interviewed here by Sara Toering:
Becca Rich finished up her senior year of high school by winning a national writing competition with an essay about land mines in Laos. She used the prize money to travel to Paris with fellow 1996 YTI alum Christian Petersen. Becca went on to attend Goshen College where she majored in English and religion, and spent a semester studying abroad in Ivory Coast. In August 2001 Becca married Eric Hochstetler and moved to Philadelphia where she worked in the publishing business. Becca went on to graduate from Duke Law School in 2006, and then she clerked on the North Carolina Supreme Court for Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson. After practicing commercial litigation at a boutique firm in Raleigh, NC, Becca became a lecturing fellow at Duke Law School where she teaches upper-level writing courses. Becca’s daughter Grace was born in December of 2008.
YTI had an immediate impact on Becca’s life. Becca grew up in small town and by the end of high school she felt discouraged with what she felt was a void of like-minded people in her community. YTI introduced Becca to amazing like-minded folks, and made her feel confident and hopeful about all the potential in the world. Becca loved developing friendships with YTI scholars who were interested in talking about religion and God and the Bible as teens. She shared that she “thinks of YTI folks fondly—it is truly a comfort to think about all of us out in the world doing great and important work.”
Currently Becca is exploring questions related to her career and vocation. Her Duke legal education provides Becca with opportunities to work on amazing cases and there are established career paths laid out for her to simply follow. Yet the work Becca is doing right now as a writing lecturer and professor provides her with flexibility and freedom and much-needed time for her family. Becca wonders about her potential and what responsibility, if any, comes with that “potential.” She posed the question “what do I owe to potential versus what I choose to do?”
rebeccamrich@yahoo.com
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