Like a lot of new InterVarsity staff members who arrived in Madison on June 19th for Orientation of New Staff (ONS), Amy Schoepf was fresh from her college graduation. Unlike most, though, Amy had been a speaker at her graduation at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. In fact, she was the only student on the graduation platform, sitting among school officials and other dignitaries.
As a story in the Des Moines Register relates, Amy won Drake’s Outstanding Senior Award for her “drive to serve others.” That drive was cultivated through her involvement with InterVarsity.
She describes herself as just a girl from suburbia, attending Des Moines Area Community College, when she went to St. Louis to be a part of InterVarsity’s CityLights urban ministry. “CityLights changed my life,” she says. Working with at-risk kids in the inner city, she became concerned about social justice issues and how she should respond as a Christian.
“That was the first time I was convinced that InterVarsity was something I wanted to be a part of,” she says. “It impacted the way I read Scripture, the place I attend church, the things I volunteer for.” When she returned to college, she began to lead a Bible study and mentor other students.
After she transferred to Drake University, she got involved in InterVarsity and a number of other activities, such as the Peer Advisory Board and several school committees. She volunteered at Good Samaritan Urban Ministries, working with at-risk mothers. She also maintained a 4.0 grade point average for four of her six semesters at Drake and was admitted to two academic honor societies.
As a student ambassador, she gave tours of the campus to prospective students. When she showed them the Knapp Center, the school’s basketball arena, she would explain that its seating capacity was 7,000. She never expected that on graduation day she would be invited to speak to a capacity crowd of 850 fellow graduates and their families, filling all 7,000 seats of the arena, to tell them about what her college experience meant to her.
“It was just incredible,” she remembers. “The Holy Spirit was with me because I wasn’t nervous. I had so many emotions; it was a blast and it was very humbling.” In her short speech she encouraged her fellow graduates to make service and commitment a part of their post-college lifestyle.
Deciding to come on staff with InterVarsity was a long process. When Drake’s campus staff worker, Betsy Ezell, first suggested Amy consider InterVarsity staff during her junior year she was hesitant. Working as a research assistant and a teaching assistant she had set her heart on grad school and then returning to campus to teach in the field of Sociology. “I love the university,” she says.
During her senior year, though, she mentored a number of fellow students, helped plan a Jesus, Justice, Poverty conference, and reconsidered her career direction. “I realized I want to do this now,” she says. She sees her InterVarsity staff work as a stepping stone to her future role as a faculty member. “I feel like this is a step of preparation,” she says, “strengthening my faith so that I can be a better influencer.” She will not only be working on the Drake University campus, but also helping develop new chapters at Grand View College and Des Moines Area Community College.
Fundraising training is a significant part of ONS, since field employees are responsible for raising their financial support. Through Scripture study, Amy is discovering that fundraising is as much ministry as working with students. “Through fundraising we are blessing other people,” she says. “If you look at your donors as partners in ministry you realize this is God’s ministry, not my ministry.”
Amy has been enjoying ONS and meeting her 102 new fellow staff members. “I’m so proud to be a part of this organization,” she says. “The people I’ve met are so cool. I’m so impressed with all of the talent and skill around me. Getting the big picture has been really beneficial for me.”
