alumni
finding her challenge Lillian (Hamilton) Vogl
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eather Lillian (Hamilton, ’97) Vogl has always liked a challenge. As an English education major, she did an independent study that resulted in a dance production. When she wasn’t feeling challenged at an educational nonprofit organization, she decided to attend law school. She now works as a lobbyist, spending much of her time on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., working with others to create public policy. Vogl had every intention of becoming a high school English teacher when she graduated from Dordt. However, after moving to Washington, D.C., after graduation, she decided to work at a nonprofit organization that provided scholarships for low-income children. “I had many wonderful experiences and a great job right out of college,” Vogl recalls, “but I got to the point where my job wasn’t challenging anymore.” She decided to go to law school. At the University of Virginia School of Law, many of her peers had attended prestigious undergraduate schools, and most of them had never heard of Dordt College. Although she was not able to drop a name of an Ivy League university, she didn’t have trouble keeping up with her peers and graduated in the top 10 percent of her class. Vogl attributes her success in law school to a solid undergraduate education. “Dordt has such great professors. Because I received individual attention in classes, I got a better education than many of my peers who were taught by teaching assistants or were lost in large classes,” she says today. Today, Vogl finds that her career in law provides her with many challenges. She recognizes that in her work as a lawyer and a lobbyist there are temptations to
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make wrong decisions in order to get ahead financially or professionally. “My faith gives me a sense of purpose and perspective as I analyze public policies,” she says. She works primarily with federal agencies that regulate retirement and insurance products, helping ensure that their policies do more good than harm. Her faith allows her to approach these issues with a unique perspective, forcing her to ask questions like, “How does this policy affect real human beings and families?” Vogl also deals with the challenge of balancing family and professional life. She has learned to work efficiently so as to spend as much time as possible with her two children, husband, and nearby extended family. She strives to put her moral and family commitments ahead of convenience in both her professional and personal life. Vogl explains, “Following Christ can be difficult at times, but every sacrifice will be worthwhile if I hear at the end of my life, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’” Ellen De Young ( ’12)