Daniel Smith

I grew up in a wonderful family in rural North Carolina. I grew up loving UNC basketball (courtesy of my remarkable grandfather), playing football, loving school, and enjoying my small, Southern Baptist church family . I was blessed to get accepted into UNC and was so excited to be able to expand my mind at a top-tier university. I had accepted Christ when I was 12 and was blessed to have friends that shared my faith in high school. I had never really been very challenged, however, in my faith. My freshman year at UNC, I decided to take an "Introduction to New Testament" course with Dr. Bart Ehrman (an amazing scholar and amazing teacher) that had the reputation of making students "lose their faith." I was determined to not only NOT lose my faith, but to use this course to actually strengthen my faith. It's amazing how proud and dumb we can be as 18 year-olds. Thankfully, though, by God's grace, I was able to come away from this class with a better understanding of my faith and the Gospel. After that course, it was on! Not only did I want to major in Religious Studies at a very secular university, but I also fell in love with Psychology at UNC and wanted to major in that as well. Talk about a Southern Baptist kid picking two majors that scream atheism/agnosticism! Well, that was me. I loved challenging myself and exploring things that were "outside the box." I also found some great Christian friends at UNC and became involved in a number of faith-based organizations while in college. I am convinced that such a strong support group was the only reason I didn't start to listen to a more secular worldview while in college. So, I am happy to say that I graduated with a double major in Psychology and Religious Studies and still grew by leaps and bounds in my faith. What can I say?-God is good. After college, I felt the Lord calling me into teaching. I taught for a year overseas in Thailand and eight years in high school (both public and private) Since then, I have also gone to graduate school at UNC-Wilmington and hold a Master's in Psychology. I am also married to an amazing woman that keeps me balanced and still have some amazing friends. I am currently teaching at Cape Fear Community College and UNC-Wilmington. Though I am far from perfect, God continues to work on me daily. I'm tired of trying to figure out WHY God allows certain things to happen, I'm just trying to focus on WHO He is and NOT what He does for me.

My Life

Fantasy dinner guests

Dean Smith, Roberto Clemente, C.S. Lewis, Sigmund Freud, and Will Ferrell.

My undergrad alma mater

UNC-Chapel Hill

In college I drove

Mazda MX-3

If I weren't a professor, I would

be a professional Football Player (if I grew a foot)!