A Student with a Mission

When Trevor Diaz visited his sister at college, he didn’t realize that several years later he would be receiving his diploma from the same institution.  This May, Trevor will graduate with a B.A. in Psychology, and he will become only the third person from his entire family to graduate from college.  While this is an incredible accomplishment, Trevor is quick to acknowledge that a degree is not the only thing he will be taking from Messiah when he graduates.  His experiences at Messiah and the interaction he has enjoyed with deeply thoughtful faculty and staff have stretched him intellectually and spiritually, and Trevor feels prepared to face the challenges that lie ahead.

Several mission trips and the semester he spent studying in Ecuador have perhaps been Trevor’s most formative experiences while at Messiah.  In Ecuador, the harsh reality of extreme poverty broke his heart and gave Trevor a desire to help the poor.  During this time, he also developed his sense of responsibility to care for God’s creation. 

One of the mission trips Trevor took advantage of at Messiah led him to New Orleans, following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.  He is particularly thankful that opportunities like this are so affordable for students, and explains that it only cost him $75 for the week to be part of a team assisting in the relief effort.  Experiences like these have encouraged Trevor to pursue full-time service after graduation.  He feels incredibly blessed and called to give back.  Trevor is weighing many options, including teaching English as a second language in Cuba, South Korea, or Africa, or working with displaced refugees in Angola or Ethiopia.

Trevor’s options are wide open, in large part because of the financial support he received while attending Messiah.  Although he considered attending another college, Trevor ultimately enrolled at Messiah because scholarships and financial aid enabled him to make up more than half of his tuition.  Without that assistance, he would not have been able to attend Messiah, and because of that support he will leave with an amazing gift – an immediate future unhindered by debt.