CHCA Eagle's Eye 2014
Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy Eagles Eye 2014
Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy Eagles Eye 2014
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Graduation reflection Fully prepared & boundlessly hopeful<br />
How<br />
<strong>CHCA</strong><br />
Shaped<br />
My Life<br />
by Ellie Coggins ‘14<br />
For the past thirteen years of my life, I have been at <strong>CHCA</strong>. Although it feels like only<br />
yesterday that I was stepping off of the yellow school bus for my first day of kindergarten<br />
with Mrs. Johnson, I can without a doubt in my mind affirm that <strong>CHCA</strong> has fully<br />
prepared me for my future, in college and beyond. From kindergarten to my senior year of<br />
high school, I have been prepared both academically and spiritually to be able to go out<br />
into the world and be an active citizen.<br />
A tremendous thank you must go out to the many teachers<br />
I have been blessed with for instilling in me a love of learning.<br />
I have without a doubt received a quality education that has<br />
prepared me to move into my next level of learning. But more<br />
important than having a good education, I have received<br />
incredible encouragement. When I was in kindergarten, I was<br />
given encouragement when I was learning how to read and<br />
words on a page still looked like a foreign language to me; in fifth<br />
grade, I was encouraged in my band class when every other note<br />
I played was a squeak; and in high school when I was delving<br />
into my love of writing, my English teachers worked extra hard<br />
to show me that my love of writing was a true talent that should<br />
be continued. All of this encouragement played out to make me<br />
passionate about learning - something that will be vital to me as<br />
I continue to college and into my career down the road.<br />
Far more important than academics, <strong>CHCA</strong> has prepared<br />
me spiritually, and I am fully confident that I can move into my<br />
next phase of life grounded in what I believe. My faith journey<br />
began because of <strong>CHCA</strong>, when I accepted Jesus into my heart<br />
as a five-year old during Spiritual Emphasis Week. From there,<br />
my faith has only grown. Throughout all thirteen years, I have<br />
learned not only Bible basics, but I have also discovered my<br />
own views on various Christian viewpoints – from theological<br />
issues presented in my Christian thought class to bioethical<br />
issues from my Bioethics class.<br />
By far, I am most thankful for the spiritual lessons I learned<br />
on my most recent Winter Term Intercession trip to Kenya<br />
(cover story). I spent those two weeks playing with kids at St.<br />
Nicholas’ Orphanage, experiencing Masai culture, going on a<br />
safari, and playing band concerts, among many other things.<br />
We had the unique opportunity to meet a girl named Emily<br />
while at the home of Masai woman Peninah, whose God-given<br />
mission is to rescue child brides - a form of slavery which is a<br />
continuing problem among the Masai. Emily was a child bride<br />
who ran away from an arranged marriage to Peninah’s home<br />
while we were there. Had we not been there when we were,<br />
we would never have had the opportunity to meet Emily and<br />
see the true impact of Peninah’s mission. In our own small way,<br />
too, we hope we showed God’s love to Emily just as Peninah<br />
showed love to all of her rescued girls and even to us visitors.<br />
Most importantly, I learned the lesson of trusting in God’s plans<br />
and in His unfailing love in a way far more impactful than any<br />
class could ever teach me.<br />
As I am about to embark on the next huge phase of my<br />
life, the lessons I have learned at <strong>CHCA</strong> – both academic and<br />
spiritual – will stay with me the rest of my life. I know I am<br />
fully prepared academically to excel in college, where I will be<br />
attending The Ohio State University to study environmental<br />
science and business. I also know I am fully prepared spiritually<br />
to defend my faith in the future, wherever that future takes me.<br />
Even if I cannot answer all of the difficult spiritual<br />
questions, I am confident because I know I have a God<br />
who loves me and who I can trust.<br />
Ellie has received the honor of being named an Eminence Fellow as she attends<br />
OSU this Fall. The Eminence Fellows Program and Scholarship is Ohio State’s<br />
premier merit award, offered to just 25 stellar new first-year students admitted<br />
to the Columbus campus for Fall semester. The honor includes full cost of attendance<br />
at Ohio State for four years, plus a $3,000 enrichment grant accessible<br />
after the first year of successful study. Recipients of the Eminence Scholarship<br />
typically rank in the top three percent of their graduating classes and have an<br />
ACT composite score of 34 or higher or combined SAT Critical Reading and Math<br />
score of 1520 or higher.* (*information provided by The Ohio State University)<br />
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