“I don’t love change personally, but every change that I’ve seen made at Union seems so intentionally done that I’m not resistant to that kind of change.”
Union University’s newest staff member, Kelsey Stookey, has returned to her alma mater to serve as Assistant Director for Student Discipleship and Engagement, working to help change the lives of students who attend the school she once called her own.
“You must be Maya?” Stookey asked, walking over to me.
“Yes I am,” I said, reaching out to shake her hand.
Stookey’s office was dimly lit, with only a few lamps on.
“I don’t like the overhead lights,” Stookey said with a smile.
As we sat down, Stookey told me about the decorating she wanted to do in her new office, mentioning she wanted to replace the chairs we were sitting on. She didn’t like the pattern, but she also wanted them to be more comfortable for people.
I quickly began to realize that this interview wasn’t going to be hard after all. She had a warm smile that made you feel at ease and a way of speaking that could make anyone feel comfortable and important.
Stookey was born and raised in McKenzie, Tennessee, a small town about an hour away from Jackson. However, she didn’t move away from Tennessee to attend college but instead migrated to an area she and her family frequented.
“We always drove to Jackson to do our shopping and all the fun things, and so I was like, ‘It’s just too close.’ And so, I toured a few other places and then, when I came here, there was just a sense of home,” Stookey said.
Stookey entered Union in the fall of 2016 and then graduated in 2019 with her bachelor’s in sociology.
She told me that after graduating, she knew she wanted to be able to have serious conversations with women about their faith and she wanted to be able to answer whatever tough questions they had for her. So she decided to further her academics and earned her master’s in divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Coming from a family of medical professionals, Stookey first came to Union as a pre-med student. However, during her time at college, she realized she had a passion for college-aged women’s ministry.
“It was always ministry with this age group, but I had no idea what that would look like if it was on a college campus or BCMs at public universities. I was kind of open to wherever,” Stookey said.
Within a few minutes of talking with her, I quickly realized she was an extrovert.
“I did GO Trips, I was a Welcome Week leader, I did New Student Orientation, I was a Chi Omega, I was an EDGE mentor,” Stookey said. “So, I was a Welcome Week leader and then I served as a student coordinator, which is the leadership team for Welcome Week, and that’s actually where I met my husband.”
She and her husband now also have one son. She pointed out the large photos of her baby boy on the walls that I had somehow managed not to notice.
“He’s got the same smile as his dad,” Stookey said.
Now that Stookey has returned to Union, she is beginning to recognize the changes being made here. She explained that she is eager to learn more about the new students at Union and get accustomed to their fresh style of life.
“As I have come in, I have had lots of conversations like, ‘Tell me about the culture. Tell me about the climate.’ I want to be very aware of the struggles that I was facing that girls that I was surrounded with were facing,” Stookey said.
According to Stookey, the development of social media has been one factor of the change happening at Union.
“Some of the struggles were the same but some of them were so different because social media is even bigger of a role. Like the anxiety and depression levels are skyrocketed way higher than they were when I was here.”
It is no hidden fact that anxiety and depression continue to be something college-aged adults struggle with. Fortunately, the new wave of Union students are better at understanding and validating people with different experiences.
Stookey recognizes that though some changes might not be positive ones, the ones that we as people have control over have been for the better.
“There’s even been so much change in this office. And I told Joe [Ball] when I interviewed for this job that I was pumped for it,” Stookey said. “Like it looks so different than when I was here, but it makes so much sense.”
Stookey firmly believes that Union offers an experience that many other colleges cannot offer. According to her, Union doesn’t just focus on the growth of the school and the organizations but the personal and spiritual growth of the students. Every college faces its own set of challenges but what makes a good one is when it works to change for the better. Stookey and I agree that the changes happening here at Union are only making it better, and I can’t wait to see the things she does for our school.
“I think there is a sweetness of what I experienced, but I am very aware of how you guys are experiencing so much different from what I am experiencing. I haven’t had a challenge with [change] because I embrace exactly what you guys are going through.”
