Mentoring Strengthens Community
- April 13, 2012 • Features • Spring 2012
Weakland (left) and Eberly meet for mentoring.
If you go to Sufficient Grounds on any given Friday afternoon, chances are you’ll hear laughter coming from a cozy little corner in the front of the coffee shop. That’s because Associate Professor of Biology Katie Weakland, Ph.D., and Cassie Eberly (’13) meet there every week for mentoring and discipleship. And through mentoring, they’re building spirited community.
Weakland and Eberly have been meeting for the past year, since they attended a conference together and discovered they had many things in common. The most striking commonality is their steadfast desire to grow deeper in their relationships with Christ. Through Bible and book study, as well as prayer, they’ve developed a friendship.
“We encourage each other. We pray together. We’re together in this journey to become more Christlike,” Weakland says. “It’s training and discipleship.”
For Eberly, mentoring has strengthened her faith. It’s also helped her to become a better mentor to other students. “When professors model good mentoring, I learn how to be a mentor,” says Eberly, who leads a discipleship group of four students in addition to being a resident assistant in Shupe Hall.
Weakland realizes the important role she plays in students’ lives. “As a faculty member, I am blessed to follow God’s command in Titus to disciple. This is not one more thing to do. It’s an opportunity to grow; to build community on campus; to bless lives,” Weakland says.
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