Rachael Camp opens the door to room 207 in Jennings Hall. Cameras, microphones and production lights, along with several students, litter the room. The blonde-haired professor steps up to the lectern at the front of the room. She smiles at the various students sitting around the room in office chairs waiting to meet their new instructor. Camp never imagined that she would be a professor at the school she graduated from 10 years earlier.
Some of the best stories can be a decade in the making. Rachael Camp is one of these amazing stories.
Camp, adjunct instructor of Communication Arts, graduated from Union University’s Communication Arts Department in 2010. She left campus with goals to go into film editing and make her way into the digital media world. After going to graduate school a few years later, God placed a passion for teaching on her heart, and there was no place she would rather instruct students than at Union.
“You know what, it really was my first choice,” said Camp in regards to teaching at Union. “I had such a good experience in the undergrad program, particularly with the Communications Department. This is the same school with the same goals and same investments, even if the people have changed hands, Union has been able to attract students and attract faculty that still line up with their vision from ten years ago.”
After studying in the graduate program at the University of Memphis, Camp developed a love for teaching. She had the opportunity to do supplemental instruction in class under the guidance of professors and was encouraged to pursue teaching other people after finishing her master’s degree.
“I knew that Union would be a place where I would be put in a position to equip students the way that I was equipped by my teachers,” Camp said. “So I knew it was a good department that I wanted to be a part of purely because of my own experience.”
Education is powered by individuals with the desire to invest in others. The biggest lesson Camp has learned since teaching at Union is to pay it forward. She was given such great opportunities and grace from classmates and from faculty that it has encouraged her to give similar opportunities to her students as well.
“If people treat you well and good things happen to you, treat other people well too,” Camp said.
Camp is not only investing in her students, but she is also now working alongside professors that originally invested in her. The transition for her from student to colleague has been a lot easier than she assumed it would be.
“It’s actually been more natural than I would have assumed originally,” Camp said. “I think it is because I maintained the relationship over the years.”
Camp recalled the first time Dr. Chris Blair, professor of Communication Arts, said, “Call me Chris.” Although it was an adjustment, those relationships have shifted but are still of the utmost value to her.
Overall, despite coming back 10 years later, Camp has seen little change between now and when she was enrolled at Union.
“I guess I’ve noticed it’s more consistent than it’s necessarily changed,” said Camp. “I think it’s stayed pretty true to its original vision.”
Camp attested to Union’s desire to equip students for the future and give them a Christ-centered education from faculty that are invested in their students.
“I have had so many experiences since graduating that Union prepared me for,” said Camp. “I just like to think my experiences have caused me to be more skilled and caused me to become a more open-minded person.”
Rachael Camp has a unique and heartwarming story. Somehow, she always continues coming back to Union and keeps her ties with the school. Camp is a testimony to the power of good mentorship and “paying it forward.” Camp’s story was a decade in the making; who knows when another student will turn into faculty next?
Photo by Maddie Steele
