I was born and raised in New York City. Over the years, as I became more and more involved in my church’s activities, I found I really enjoyed serving in the church. In the midst of working, taking care of my family and serving in my church, I received a diagnosis that no one expects or wants: pancreatic cancer.The one-year survival rate for this type of cancer is just 20%. For the next six months, I underwent surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. After I finished my treatment, I felt like God called me into the locker room at half-time. His message to me? You had a good first half, but in the second half I want a little more from you. That was June 2009; I enrolled at New Brunswick Theological Seminary and started classes that fall. I wanted to prepare myself for whatever God was calling me to do.One of the things that attracted me to NBTS was the availability of evening classes for those of us who work full-time and can only attend Seminary part-time. I took a pastoral care class first since I was already involved in pastoral care activities at my church. My classes have not only given me a strong foundation for my relationship with God, but they also have given me confidence to take God’s message out to the world.

I’m transforming. I find that each class, each experience and each exposure to something new is an ingredient in a recipe for what God is calling me to be. After engineering school, I thought like an engineer. When I finished my MBA, I dissected everything from a business or marketing perspective. In the same way, with my theological education, I think about the church and how we relate to the brokenness in the world. There are people all around us who are struggling. What are we doing about it?

That’s what I love about NBTS. We are challenged to relate to that brokenness and to think about how to use our degrees and gifts to bring healing to the world. I sometimes reflect on my half-time pep talk with God. The five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is only 6%. I’m grateful He placed me in that number, and I will use everything I’m learning at NBTS to make a profound difference in the lives of others.