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My Why: Rhonda Warner

Remaining Spirit Led

December graduate Rhonda Warner used to think college was for other people — people with money, connections, or a perfect GPA. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine she would earn her master’s degree in leadership and begin her doctoral program in January 2026! And, it all started with the support she received here at Jessup.

“Jessup is my happy place,” Warner said. “It’s the place I found out who I truly am in Christ. Before I came to Jessup, no teacher ever said I was excelling at anything, so I struggled in school. But that turned around for me at Jessup. Here I was excelling at something I didn’t think I could excel at, and I was (and still am) in love with learning.” 

Rex Gurney, one of the first professors Warner had, put it this way. “I can see that she has discovered within herself the leadership potential that was always latent there. That needed to be drawn out in a supportive environment. I believe that we have done a really good job of helping her discover herself and her God-given leadership talent.”

In so many ways, Warner’s Jessup education taught her how to apply practical, theoretical and biblical principles to her life. She is forever grateful for the faculty and staff who poured into her and supported her educational journey. Warner reflected, “Every professor played such a unique role in shaping my leadership, deeping my faith and helping me discover the gifts of teaching that God placed on my heart.” 

As she wraps up her final weeks as a graduate student at Jessup, Warner has dabbled in teaching a few lessons for undergraduate students in an organizational leadership course. She’s also navigating job offers and deciphering the best way to implement ideas from her capstone project that focuses on equipping volunteers for grace ambassadorship through a certification framework implemented throughout the Church.

“Having faith and love for Christ is so inspiring — that’s how I knew teaching was my passion. The light went on and I realized Jesus has always loved me — and made me for something more. That happened because I was here at Jessup.”

It was professor Glen Snyder who was instrumental in coming alongside Warner, suggesting she consider teaching as a profession. “He often told me my papers were the best he ever read and hoped that one day I would have a platform as a writer or speaker,” she said. “He also graded papers with voice notes. In fact, I still have those recordings and listen to them every once in a while. No one ever fed into me like that in my life. He is just one example of the amazing professors I’ve had here at Jessup.”

Now, Warner has taken that advice to heart and wants to help students see the light inside of them, the same way professor Snyder did for her. “If I can do that for just one person, who knows what the ripple effect will be?”

Meanwhile, she’s busy living out Ephesians 4, being the light of Christ wherever she goes. “Jesus literally restored me,” she said. “He uprooted and replanted me. It’s like I’m rubble that has been made shiny and new and I’m being recommissioned. Jessup is my recommissioning.”

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