t n e d u St
Highlights
October 2019
Turning Fellowship into Fu
Student Nathaniel Rivas - Blackwell reflects on his spiritual internship over
By: Sydney Eller ‘20 Over the summer of 2019, one of St. Andrews own, Nate Rivas-Blackwell ‘20, was given the opportunity to intern with the Carolina CARE Partnership through the Gambrell Internship. With the help from a connection of professors and fellow associates, Blackwell was able to spread his wings and participate in something
beyond himself.
like Nate, other students were introduced to the Gambrell Internship by Dr. Capps, each of them also raving about the great opportunity and the ability the internship gave them to expand upon their internal horizons through faith.
The Gambrell Internship was introduced to Nate through Dr. Tanner Capps, a religious studies professor at St. Andrews. Nate recalls, “He mentioned that a few of my friends had gone through the program and each had valuable experiences while Having heard about valuthere, so it seemed like a able, previous students’ great opportunity.” Much experiences, this along with opportunity to work closely with the Reverend John Cleghorn, the Pastor of Caldwell Presbyterian Church in the Elizabeth neighborhood of Charlotte, sealed the deal for Nate to accept the internship opportunity. Through recalling different experiences during the internship, Nate reflected on the experiences of entertaining the Sunday night fellowship dinners with his fellow interns, mentors and hosts, as being one of the most fulfilling parts of the internship. During Sunday night dinners, all of those in attendance would discuss one another’s journey through faith while dining in the homes of their During the Opening Convocation for the 2019-2020 mentors and community academic year, Nathaniel Rivas - Blackwell spoke in regards members. Nate described to the upcoming freshmen. Blackwell delivered a moving the experience by emspeech that urged students to become involved in all aspects phasizing the amount of of the St. Andrews Community, and not to be afraid of steplove and compassion the ping out of your comfort zone. church family had for the
interns, making the summer feel like during the time spent in fellowship, they had truly joined the families they met. Nate worked with Carolina CARE Partnership through the Gambrell Internship, which he described as very influential for his personal growth over the summer. Carolina CARE Partnership is dedicated to helping individuals experiencing homelessness and living with HIV in Charlotte Mecklenburg and other surrounding counties. Nate was able to deliver furniture donated to clients, participate in the mobile testing program, and sit in on meetings with key community organizers planning city grants. From the moment Nate began his journey through the Gambrell Internship, up until the closing church ceremony he led, mentors were supportive and driven to help interns in any way possible by going above and beyond to help the interns in each of their designated work sites within the Charlotte community. Nate said, “The church family made all of us feel welcome.”
uture
r summer ‘19 Along with the great times shared through fellowship that was felt through conversation and worship, Nate also spoke about some of the challenges that he faced throughout his internship. “The most challenging aspect of the internship was probably the most influential part as well, and that was the
Thursday reflections with the clergy members and other interns.” While the interns involved were assigned manual labor around the community, Nate mentioned that the labor was not the most difficult part, but that it was digging deeper on a more intellectual level in conversation that proved challenging during reflection times. Each member in the group would put their fullest efforts into critically analyzing the work the interns were
doing in Charlotte and in their own communities back home, which made each discussion far more impactful. The topics of discussion challenged the interns’ perceptions on faith, country and even personal beliefs about themselves because all were taking the risk of being vulnerable to one another. As the interns opened up to each other, they were able to learn through experiences within the
community and fellowship about what the world has to offer. Nate put it as, “One can read about all of the world’s people and different adversities they face, but actual encounters and testimonies cannot be beaten in the lives of human beings. To hear the trauma that some individuals have faced in all different walks of life truly puts into perspective what our actions can do if we do not care and respect others as much as we care for ourselves.”
Passion Meets Purpose with New Beginnings at St. Andrews Equestrian
The St. Andrews Equestrian season kicked off with the Equestrian Fair on Aug. 30. The Equestrian Fair is a yearly tradition that allows incoming freshmen and returners the opportunity to mingle with one another at their common place of gathering — the barn. It is here that all students attending the Fair are introduced to the entire equestrian staff and photographed for the yearly group picture taken against the glaring sun. Students are also given the opportunity to sign up for various activities: lesson times, Therapeutic Horsemanship Volunteer times, and other Equestrian Clubs such as St. Andrews Equestrian Show Team,
Pre-Vet Club, the Ride Like A Knight Therapeutic Horsemanship Club, and the various IHSA Teams including Hunter Seat, Western and Dressage.
As all Equestrians from each discipline, new and returning, gather together under the cover of the arena, you can feel the excitement in the atmosphere created by the fellowship of people connected through the common theme of riding. As students of all academic years interact through the lines of each sign-up table, small conversations are being held that will ignite the teammates to begin coming together as one. Having a gathering that brings all team members together allows for the important bonds to begin to create a true team experience that carry our teams to national championships. All clubs and teams mentioned varying from the Pre-Vet club to the St. Andrews Show team club have their place for every Equestrian student. Having the opportunity to come and fellowship at the Equestrian Fair allows for new faces to slowly coalesce into friendships
and timid personalities flustered by the organized chaos that is the Equestrian Program and find their own voice among the crowd. As students dwindled down after the pizza was served and the parking lot slowly cleared out, the 2019 season officially opened, and the countless practices commenced. St. Andrews Equestrian is looking forward to an incredibly successful and competitive year with the national title in sight.
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