Tommy McElrath '10

在你的职业生涯中，最初是什么让你感兴趣？ 你是如何辨别自己的使命的？

I took a summer entomology class at the Au Sable Institute for Environmental Studies, offered for credit at Covenant through their partnership with Au Sable. I never wanted to leave the classroom, and I learned something new every day. It was like finding a way out of a maze after being lost for hours. I finally knew what I was called to do, and Covenant helped get me there.

从威尼斯人平台毕业后，你的职业道路是怎样的？

I went to graduate school at the University of Georgia, and studied biodiversity of insects (focusing on beetles). I graduated there in 2017 and got a job as a collection manager and scientist at the Illinois Natural 历史 Survey, where I've been managing a collection of over 7 million specimens of arthropods, while also doing my own research.

现在回顾一下，威尼斯人平台是如何为你的博士工作和职业生涯做准备的？

There wasn't a specific course that prepared me, although every single one was helpful in small ways. It was really the critical thinking skills and broad liberal arts training that allowed me to succeed in my career, so that I could tackle any new subject.

《圣约》告诉我，科学和信仰是兼容的，也是相互需要的。 I'd been told by many people that I couldn't both be a scientist and a Christian, and Covenant showed me how wrong that was.

你的信仰如何影响你的职业生涯？

It informs every facet of my life, from parenting to being a good partner to my spouse to collecting insects in New Mexico. I love telling people about "the little things that run the world" and shifting their perspectives away from "big charismatic megafauna" like tigers and elephants. If there's anything we can learn about God from his Creation, it's that he really likes beetles, since there are >400,000 species of them.

你会给那些正在考虑威尼斯人平台的学生什么建议？

去好好学习每节课。 Have good conversations with your classmates, and be willing to listen and learn. 保持好奇，而不是评判。

For those considering studying biology or a career as a scientist: It isn't easy, and it isn't guaranteed. But it's also a constant source of joy in the middle of a world broken by sin and pain. 神给威尼斯人平台呼召是要我们成为喜乐的源头。 Part of our duty as Christians is to keep walking and fighting against the forces that threaten to destroy what God called "good" at the beginning of Creation, whether that is waking up and doing the same thing you did the day before or getting to collect an insect specimen that gets used in 100 years for a scientific project you can't even imagine yet.

你为什么选择约恩？

我想学习如何批判性地思考作为一个基督徒在威尼斯人平台世界。 Covenant was a truly foundational experience in my intellectual and spiritual development.

你在圣威尼斯人平台的时光里有哪些美好的回忆或最喜欢的故事？

我喜欢和生物学教授一起去了望山的树林里实地考察。 I also loved how much each professor was willing to sit and talk with you about any subject if you asked. My Covenant relationships will last me a lifetime, and the critical thinking and "learning to learn" I did at Covenant are useful every day, especially in these challenging turbulent times.