Several Messiah alums now teach others
The Messiah College Honors Program fosters an intellectually rigorous Christian worldview, one that has led several of its alumni to pursue careers in higher education.
Devin Pohly ’08, in his first semester at Wheaton College as an assistant professor of computer science--which also was his undergraduate major at Messiah--says the honors program provided a mix of classroom offerings and extracurricular cultural activities, such as visiting the Harrisburg Symphony.
“Each provided a venue for us to engage with a topic from any field of human experience,” he said.
A mathematics major with a teaching certification, Paul Bernhardt ’08 works as an assistant professor of statistics at Villanova University. He says many of the concepts he learned through the honors program apply to his career. “The metacognitive and rational thinking skills that I acquired are now necessary in my current work as a statistician,” he said.
To get into the program, students must have a 3.9 high school GPA or above and an SAT score (critical reading and math) of 1360 or an ACT composite of 29 or higher. Students also are evaluated on the basis of high school activities, leadership and awards. The curriculum includes credit-bearing interdisciplinary honors courses, additional learning opportunities outside the classroom and a senior capstone project.
Founding director of the Messiah College Honors Program Dean Curry, who began working with the program in 1997, says he sees the impact of the program throughout the entire campus. “The presence of nearly 400 students in the College Honors Program has enriched the academic and co-curricular culture of the college,” said Curry. “It is also exciting to see these students, upon graduation, impact our world in so many important ways.”
Another graduate of the program, biology major Alexandra Smith ’03, works as an attending physician neonatologist at the Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center and as an assistant professor of pediatrics at Tufts University School of Medicine. She says she learned how to incorporate her faith into a career in sciences because of Messiah College. “The College Honors Program exposed me to different seminars and opportunities that allowed me to blossom in areas of my career and my faith and showed me how the two fit together beautifully,” said Smith.
For mathematics major Matthew Wright ’06, the program introduced him to a book—“The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind” by Mark Noll—that led to his current career.
“This book was instrumental in shaping my views on higher education,” said Wright, who works as an assistant visiting professor of mathematics at St. Olaf College. “Noll’s book, along with other readings and discussions as part of the honors program, helped cultivate my design to study, teach and research advanced mathematics.”
Nicholas Zoller ’03, an associate professor of mathematics at Southern Nazarene University, says being an honors student graduate makes it easier for him to relate to current students in the honors program where he works. “I know about their more rigorous coursework,” he said, “and the opportunity to network with other students who enjoy the life of the mind.”
Some honors graduates now teach at Messiah. For Kerry Hasler-Brooks ’05, an assistant professor of American literature at Messiah, the program combined learning and career in a new way. “The Honors Program was a constant reminder that I was part of a learning community where ideas, ways of thinking and ways of reading held as much value as careers and job placement. It is a profound educational, intellectual and spiritual opportunity.”
—Gabrielle Kurtz ’18
