I grew up going to church every time the doors were open, but it wasn't enough. I had no relationship with Christ, and it really began to show when I attended college. I started struggling with severe depression and anxiety in my first year of college. I stopped going to church regularly, likely because I wasn't at home, so there wasn't much accountability. I originally wanted to be a doctor, but God had other plans that He started directing me towards in my first year of college. Note that God directs even the unsaved for His purpose. In that first year of college, my zoology professor researched parasites in South Carolina deer, and she offered extra credit if we brought in deer liver and dissected it to look for these parasites. After an attempt at this dissection, I almost passed out! As if I didn't learn my lesson then, I shadowed my family doctor that summer, and I hated it. During my 2nd year of college, I asked to do research, and I presented my research at USC Upstate during their 4th annual symposium. My mentor told me I should go into teaching. Little did I realize that (1) presenting at USC Upstate and (2) hearing this from my mentor were like hints being dropped from something, or Someone bigger. While I was in graduate school, I heard a pastor describe what Jesus went through on the cross, for me. Sitting in that church, on Palm Sunday in 2012, I felt like I was the only person there and that the pastor was talking directly to me. I could not stop the tears from flowing as I recognized that I was guilty because I was living a lie. I went home from church that Sunday, bothered by the horrors that Jesus went through for me. That night, I fell to my knees in my room and asked God to really save me! It is very likely if I had gone to medical school, I would not have been going to church at all. One of my favorite side stories to tell is how I ended up a Biology professor at USC Upstate, because God's fingerprints are all over it. I was in a bad situation during my postdoctoral studies. I realized during that time that I no longer felt fit for a research-only career, and I missed teaching. I also was struggling with my interactions with my mentor. At one point, the combination of anxiety, depression, and stress became so bad that I asked God to remove me from this world if there was no way to move me from that situation. I prayed all the time about it, and I remember telling my grandma that it would be great if a smaller college like USC Upstate had an opening for someone like me, where I could teach and have a small research program. My grandma was praying too. I started job searching online, and 2 weeks after making that statement, I saw an opening at USC Upstate for an Assistant Professor of Biology that could teach introductory courses and cell and molecular Biology, with preference for someone that could teach Histology and Neurobiology. The description couldn't have fit me better. I thought it was so random that I was asked to teach Histology lab in graduate school considering I never took said course, and I learned Neurobiology through my research. It's like the job offering online was tailored for me. Jobwise, things were overall working out well for me until the Covid situation. My depression and anxiety got worse under the stress of the pandemic, and I started questioning whether I am in the right job and if I made the right decision to abandon my medical school hopes. I had a way to go to medical school for free, and I had to make a decision. I talked to my local Cru mentor, John Lancaster, one day for about an hour about what to do. During that discussion, I remembered what God did for me, how all of the little pieces fit together, where He brought me from, and why He had me there at USC Upstate. I came to the realization that all of this was His ultimate plan. There have been students that have come to me for guidance because they know I am a Christian. I am here for them. Without God, I wouldn't be. One of my favorite verses in the Bible became Romans 8:28. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Through all of the hardships of life, I am called to His purpose, to help build and nurture the Kingdom of God in my little corner of the world.