Fast-Track to Calling
Lily D’Amour is completing her undergraduate studies at Dordt in just three years, but she has been able to fill those years with memories, friendships, and knowledge for a lifetime.
“I am so grateful for the blessing it has been to be here at Dordt. I genuinely have loved my years here and would not have changed a thing,” says D’Amour.
D’Amour is in her final semester of classes for her social work major and theology minor. When she visited Dordt as a junior in high school, she knew she was in the right place. “Once I arrived on campus for my visit, I immediately fell in love with Dordt,” she says. “I loved the campus, the welcoming community, the genuine Christian atmosphere, the Social Work program, and the professors I met.”
“After my initial visit, I knew that Dordt was where God was calling me to go,” D’Amour adds.
It was also clear to her that social work was a part of that calling, too. As a career, D’Amour likes that a social work degree offers her a variety of job settings like schools, hospitals, or adoption agencies. As a vocation, she’s passionate about helping the helpless.
“Social work allows me to use my gifts and passions to honor God through serving vulnerable people and advocating for those who can’t advocate for themselves,” D’Amour says.
Pursuing a theology minor wasn’t part of D’Amour’s original college plans, but her experience in Core 150 (Biblical Foundations) changed that. “I decided to add a minor in theology because I wanted to learn as much about the Bible as I could while I was at Dordt,” she says. “I didn’t want to miss out on this opportunity to learn and grow in my faith and knowledge of The Scriptures.”
Even with adding a minor, D’Amour is completing her undergraduate studies in just three years, and that includes a professional semester in a social work internship. D’Amour began laying the groundwork for a more affordable, accelerated college experience during her high school years. “I had the opportunity to take college credits in high school through Crown College in Minnesota,” she says.
Dordt’s admissions team helped ensure her transition from high school to college was seamless. “I remember Avonda in the registrar's office helped me look at my senior load of classes and showed me which classes would transfer to Dordt and which ones wouldn’t,” says D’Amour. “This helped me a ton, as I was able to choose classes that would go toward my social work major at Dordt.”
In her social work and theology studies, D’Amour has been confronted with some challenging questions and insights about the world. “I think the most challenging part for me in social work is just learning about all the hurting people out there and how broken the world is,” she says. “With my theology classes, diving into the Bible really reminds us of how we are finite beings, and we will never fully understand the reasons for why God does things or the fullness of who He is. It is a humbling experience.”
D’Amour says that being confronted with questions about God and humanity has only motivated her in her professional plans and personal relationship with Christ. Between leaving home and embracing her faith as her own, finding Christian community in friends and professors, and integrating worship opportunities into her daily life, D’Amour says her time at Dordt has allowed her “faith to grow exponentially.”
Looking back, D’Amour says she has had a lot of great memories at Dordt, but her first week on campus made all the difference. “I had such a good WOW (Week of Welcome) freshman year and met my best friend through that weekend,” she says.
She loved it so much, in fact, that she decided to be a WOW leader her sophomore year. “I wanted to help ensure that the incoming freshman had a good start to Dordt because I know how crucial that can be.”
While wrapping up her undergraduate experience is bittersweet, it isn’t the end of her time as a Dordt student. After completing her professional semester this spring, she will continue her studies in the Master of Social Work (MSW) program at Dordt.
