Katie Benes ’10, a computer operations technician from Addison, says the Niebuhr Center boosted her self confidence and helped her choose a career path.

Living Faith
It’s important to me that the Niebuhr Center is such an open-minded religious organization. You can talk to people from so many different faiths, and what they all have in common is that they want to put their faith to work in their lives. They encourage you to become better at your life through faith.

Getting Involved
I had been very shy in high school, but at Elmhurst I learned to be more social and it became easier to talk to people. That just came from building confidence, and the Niebuhr Center had a lot to do with giving me that confidence. They really encourage you to get involved. I grew so much because of that.

Opportunities
The number of activities and opportunities you find at the Niebuhr Center is incredible: the retreats, the internships, the international study, the monthly dinners and dialogues. The atmosphere is so warm and loving, it became my place to hang out. I’m so glad it was there for me.

Finding Out Who You Are
I changed my major at Elmhurst so many times—from elementary education to math and art to computer science. What helped was having someone like Rev. Beauchamp to talk to. He really gets to know you and who you are as a person. He and everyone at the Niebuhr Center will help you through the discernment process—even if you are highly indecisive like me!

Called to Technology
The Niebuhr Center helped me decide what I wanted to do with my life. I heard Professor John Jeffrey speak about computer science, and that made me see that I was really interested in technology and all the ways we use it in our lives. That helped me understand my calling.

Faith at Work
The best thing about my job is that I work for an organization based on Christian values that are very close to mine. It’s important to me that I be able to put my values to use in my work. I get the best of both worlds that way.