In the BJU School of Education and Human Services, we seek to provide our students with a quality education that equips them to be a successful teacher in whatever context God calls them. Take a moment to read about how a recent Social Studies Education graduate is planning to use his degree for kingdom advancement.
My name is Camden Gearhart, and I’m from Greenville, South Carolina, just down the road from BJU. I initially considered attending BJU because I was recruited to the Bruins Men’s Basketball team. I then researched the University further and found that BJU was both affordable and had an excellent School of Education and Human Services (SOEHS). I chose to pursue a degree in Education because of my passion for teaching and my love for Social Studies. Both of these interests had been fostered by the excellent teachers I had when I was in high school.
I’m thankful for the practical experiences I had in the SOEHS at BJU. I spent a significant amount of time in the classroom through my various practicum opportunities, which reinforced my desire to teach and developed my “feel” for the classroom. My entire philosophy of education was shaped by my time at BJU. I firmly believe that my job as an educator is to teach students how to think, not what to think. In other words, my role is to give students tools for success and help them develop the wisdom to use those tools. This personal philosophy is derived from my professors at BJU. My student teaching experience was excellent. When I began student teaching, I was at a crossroads in deciding if classroom teaching was really for me, but my time as a student teacher was reassuring that this was the career I wanted to pursue.
This year, I am teaching at Wallace Stegner Academy in Kearns, Utah, which is a suburb of Salt Lake City. Utah is the US State that is least reached by the Gospel, sitting at just 2% Evangelical. Salt Lake City is closer to 0.5% percent. The Gospel need here is intense, so I chose to move to this area intentionally upon graduation, joining a local church here. My desire to do so was shaped by spending multiple summers interning with Plant Camp, week-long missions camps that help serve church plants in the Gospel Family of Churches, a small family of church-planting churches here in Utah. I will soon be joining Gospel Grace Church in membership. One neat thing about being a teacher is that my summers will still be free to work with Plant Camp in the future. I’m currently the Program Assistant for the Camp. Ultimately, Christians move toward need, not comfort. The idea behind moving is to live my life as a normal, faithful believer in a place where doing so can have an outsized impact. It will likely be challenging.
Ultimately, teaching isn’t for everyone, and that’s ok. However, I’m already seeing the varied and valuable ways that it is an avenue to lead and serve students and families, which is a noble endeavor. To those looking for a job, let me challenge you to be intentional with where you choose to go after graduation. It’s the freest you will ever be to take a risk with where you move. To those who will be at BJU this year, there are a couple of specific opportunities for you to connect with Utah, whether you are an education major or not. During spring break, some Greenville-area pastors will lead a trip out here, and BJU has sent ministry teams before and likely will again. Keep an eye out for those opportunities, but beware! It may change the course of your college experience…and beyond.
