In August of 2013 I was fresh of the plane from a short term trip to Haiti and ready to conquer the world, knowing of my desire to work internationally but clueless to what that would look like. In fact, I wasn’t really sure about this whole college thing but softball and my parents had me attending Belmont anyways. From the first moment I stepped on campus and heard a faculty member speak about Belmont leading students to find where their passions and the world’s needs meet, I had peace that this was where I was supposed to be for the next four years. Fast forward through declaring a Social Entrepreneurship major, many late nights in the library, an abundance of good times with beautiful souls, two summers in Haiti, countless hours spent on the softball field, and a lifetime of precious and transformative memories, the time has come for me to move beyond Belmont and into an exciting yet unknown world.

A sneak peak of the (literally) breathtaking walk/hike up to the community of Viello

In a few short weeks, I will step off a plane in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and into two years of developing and starting a microfinance ministry for an organization transitioning from orphan care to orphan prevention in the rural villages of Haiti. While some moments I’m blindsided with sheer terror about what I’ve signed up for, I find peace in knowing that God is with me and has been using my time at Belmont to prepare me for the joy and challenges that lie ahead. At Belmont I’ve gotten to learn from some of the greatest entrepreneurship professors in the country about successfully researching, planning, starting, and operating a business; I’ve learned how to navigate and appreciate cross-cultural communication, world religions, and political climates; and most importantly, I’ve been poured into by some of the most beautiful and loving people to walk the face of the earth. Belmont’s preparation plus a little Haitian coffee plus an abundance of God’s amazing grace equals an exciting lifelong adventure that I cannot wait to begin upon, starting very soon with microfinance in Haiti!