10 / 36
Helping students fulfill their call ing
B
luefield College prides itself on helping students
understand and fulfill their calling. Take, for
example, 2002 graduate Hannah Morris who
participated in a series of mission trips to Alaska while
a student at BC that changed her life and ultimately led
to her calling to minister as a teacher at Grace Christian
School in Anchorage, Alaska.
Morris came to Bluefield College as a transfer student
in the fall of 2000. She studied elementary education,
played basketball, served on the Baptist Student
Union, led a Bible study, was selected for Homecoming
Court, participated in mission trips to Poland and
Brazil, and graduated cum laude as the senior student-
athlete with the highest grade point average.
But, it was her summer trips to Alaska that left the
greatest impression on Morris when considering her
calling in life. She had served as a summer missionary
in Alaska the year before she transferred to Bluefield,
and the subsequent trips she took while a student at
BC confirmed what God was calling her to be.
“It was during that summer God called me to ministry
in Alaska,” said Morris. “I returned to work with teens
and kids in camps, VBS, missions, and refereeing
basketball each summer until I graduated. Two weeks
after graduation in 2002, I moved to Alaska.”
Sure of her calling and the preparation she received at
BC, Morris began teaching at Grace Christian School in
Anchorage. Still there today, she teaches third grade and
coaches track and field, cross-country, volleyball, and
basketball. She also mentors high school seniors who want
to become teachers. And knowing the impact missions
had on her life, she chaperones high school mission trips.
“The fact that it is a Christian school gives me freedom
to share and discuss Christ and the Bible with my
students on a daily basis,” said Morris. “Our school
is small and in a rather remote part of the nation, so
there is a unique family-like feel to the environment
and culture at Grace. I am blessed that God loved me
enough to give me a job and a ministry in a place where
my heart is full and I see Him working on a daily basis.”
Outside of school, Morris participates in a church
group study for educators, coaches basketball at the
local YMCA, and plays on two local women’s hockey
teams where she mentors young women. She said
she’s thankful for the ways in which she’s been able
to develop and use her gifts throughout a range of
ministries that reflect Christ and challenge
her personally and spiritually. She added that
she wouldn’t be able to do that without the
efforts Bluefield College made in helping her
understand and fulfill her calling.
“Bluefield College was instrumental in
developing my self-confidence in the gifts and
talents God has given me, particularly in the
areas of education and athletics,” said Morris.
“At Bluefield, I was able to be actively involved
in missions, Bible study, and mentoring
relationships. Those activities prepared me
to pour into my school’s junior high and
high school sports and missions events with
confidence and ability.”
Story by BC student marketing associate
Whitney Browning.
10
Alumna Hannah Morris: from Lady Rams basketball and
BC student-teaching to using her gifts to mentor and
minister to students at Grace Christian School in Alaska.
Alumna Hannah Morris Fulfills
Her Calling in Alaska
vision
mission