Greetings! My name is Shelley Donaldson, and I am a recent graduate of McCormick. I am from the hot city of Atlanta, Georgia but since being a student at McCormick, I've found Chicago to be a perfect place to call home! As an undergraduate, I studied Art History with a focus in Portraits and Photography of Queer Theory and Philosophy with a focus in Religion. I work in youth ministry, specifically with the LGBTQI community in Chicago. You can either find me on campus causing trouble in class or at the OSA desk on the second floor working a couple times a week and chatting it up with anyone passing by. Besides that I'm either at the Center on Halsted working with youth, doing some Deacon thing for McCormick, playing kickball on Fridays in the quad, or at home playing Nintendo with my furry children, Pigeon and DiDi. Ask me about them, they're pretty much my favorite topic. I typically have coffee in hand and dog hair on me.
A couple of things I love about McCormick: 1) there are so many opportunities to serve the community from things like being a Deacon, being on Student Session, on-campus jobs, and so on. 2) There are always social justice issues being tackled here, and not just within our community, but all over. One thing I've learned here is that an injustice to one is an injustice to all, you never know who it could affect! McCormick encourages students to stand up for what it is Christ calls us to do, love our neighbor, and that isn't always easy. 3) McCormick isn't just made up of one group of people, but we embrace diversity in all areas. We are a PCUSA seminary, but that doesn't mean there isn't major diversity inside these walls! We have students from all walks of life, and not only is it new and exciting, it's also a daily teaching tool and a reminder that not everyone is the same.
