EMILY: I’m Emily with Joni Eareckson Tada.
JONI: All right! Emily, thank you; thanks for that introduction… this sort of thing suits you, it does, as your major is in communications at Cedarville University…
EMILY: Not a problem. It is a pleasure being here.
JONI: And you have what, one more year to go?
EMILY: It’s hard to believe my senior year is almost here. Those past three years went by so fast.
JONI: Well, I think any kid would say that, heading back for their senior semester. Emily, I am so grateful that you’re here not only in our recording studio today, but you are serving as an intern here at the Joni and Friends International Disability Center. Just give our folks an update on what you are doing as an intern…
EMILY: Okay! Well, I’m doing a one-month volunteer internship for credit here at the Joni and Friends International Disability Center and there is a variety of work that I have had the privilege to experience. I’m doing some Spanish radio translation and then I’m doing a little work with marketing and the correspondence department.
JONI: I hope that you think translating Spanish is the most fun part because that’s the part that we love you doing at Joni and Friends radio.
EMILY: Trust me, it is a very stretching yet enjoyable experience.
JONI: Okay! Qué bueno!
EMILY: Qué bueno!
JONI: How has it been these past couple of years as a student at Cedarville University?
EMILY: Well, let’s take it from a few different perspectives. First, from an academic perspective, Cedarville is both very challenging yet supportive at the same time, yet as a Christian school it is necessary to set the bar higher in order to be accepted by secular circles, but it is also supportive because the professors, whether doctors or those considered associate professors, know that they have set the bar high so they are there almost like our personal cheerleaders with academic pom poms. Of course, we have to ask for the help, but they are more than willing to do so.
JONI: Well, good for you. What a great recommendation for Cedarville U. I am so glad you said that, Emily, because some of our listeners might not understand that if you are a Christian University, and you do not accept federal funds, you don’t have to have accessible programs, necessarily.
EMILY: Right! Cedarville bent over backwards, working in conjunction with my family, to make the university accessible not only from my perspective, but for other disabled students as well, whether male or female.
JONI: You know, I think that’s so great that you are paving the way at Cedarville U because other kids with disabilities who want to pursue higher education can kind of wheel in your tracks. I like that. Well, Em, let me ask you this: what advice would you give any students listening who are pursuing a Christian education at a local college?
EMILY: If you are facing the wonderful opportunity of going off to college to not only get an education, but learn independence and have your horizons broadened from a social, spiritual, and academic standpoint, I would keep this in mind: yes, it’s scary because you are leaving home and maybe you are going to a different state or being around those with a different dialect or background different than yourself. Just keep this in mind: those same supportive people that have supported you all throughout elementary, middle school, and high school are going to keep supporting you just like they have in the past and also God in his Word promises us that he will never leave us nor forsake us and that his plan is for our betterment, not for harm. So not throwing that out as a platitude, but maybe just some tangible hope to help you grasp on to and run with, hit the ground running, and if you are in a wheelchair, leave some tire tracks on that campus.
JONI: That’s right! And if you would like to hear more from Emily, visit our radio page at joniandfriends.org, where we have posted part of the TV episode we did on her story. And, Emily, thanks so much for being with us today and for the inspiration you have been to all of us listening to Joni and Friends.
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