Blog

I remember feeling like I had to appear “put together” when I began college. The academic course load? No problem. Making new friends and fitting in on a new basketball team? I got this. Thankfully, I have learned that being genuine is far better in the long run than pretending.

The Spirit of a Forester language clarifies who we are and guides who we become. Like the creeds of our Christian tradition, the Spirit of a Forester was our very intentional effort to define what we believe. Our creed has a direct impact on our everyday operations in a way that goes beyond the foundational purpose of our mission statement, beyond any marketing campaign.

I think the most important lesson that I’ve learned is, perhaps, that when I work, I ought to work for the Lord and not for myself or a paycheck or those kinds of things. That’s the thing that every day just keeps me going. That’s the thing that continues to ground me.

I knew that I liked medicine starting in middle school because I loved the science of it. But once I hit high school, that’s when it officially hit me. I just really loved the physiology of everything. That kind of started me on the path.

My family knew little about the Church of the United Brethren in Christ when I visited Huntington University as a prospective student. Nevertheless, my Christian parents and I were confident that HU would support my spiritual growth. I know now that this had much to do with HU’s relationship with the UB denomination.

As we heard back from the Class of 2022 about what they are doing now, we noticed an intriguing pattern: These Foresters have covered nearly every letter of the alphabet!

We’re looking at genome-wide association studies, when they look at your genome to figure out what variants you have there that are associated with a disease. My project looks at that in light of Alzheimer’s contexts to figure out what genetic variants might make people more prone to Alzheimer’s disease.

If it weren't for sports, I am not sure I would have even gone to college. If it wasn't for the education I gained at Huntington and the professors I had that pushed me to be better, I would have never made it to grad school.

Everything that happened (good and bad) during my four years as an HU student led to the moment I could finally say with joy that I am an HU graduate. A proud member of the Forester Nation. And soon, Class of 2023, you will be able to say the same.

For Susan and Rachel Batdorff, Huntington University provided a foundational education that they could build on for the rest of their lives. In turn, they made their mark on the University in their own unique ways as part of the Forester Family.