Allison DeMik ’25 wasn’t involved in many faith-based activities in her first semester at Valpo, leaving her feeling aimless. She says, “The moment I started attending church services, I felt like I found myself again. Living out my faith in such a real way gave me purpose. It was something to look forward to. It started my week off right when I went to Candlelight or Monday Morning Prayer and brought it to a close when I went to Friday Morning Prayer. Before I knew it, Candlelight was a non-negotiable part of my week. On the days when I was too sick or too busy to go, I was burnt out much earlier in the week and craving that intimate connection with God all the more the next week.” Allison continues, “Even if I have an assignment, I still go to Candlelight and find that it helps me mentally reset for the coming days. Worshiping God with a crowd of fellow believers brings me overwhelming peace, gives me energy, and grounds me through the coming week. I also find that any time I’m exhausted, finding some way to connect to my faith, whether going to worship, doing a devotion, or speaking to a pastor, is often all I need to get a second wind. Focusing on my faith gets me through the hard times; it keeps my feet on solid ground.”
Allison grew up “a pastor’s kid” and has always enjoyed learning about faith and its history. She says, “I love talking about faith and deepening my understanding. I’m a pastor’s kid. Almost all of my friends growing up were church friends. My favorite childhood memories come from church events, like our youth group camping trip, high school youth retreat, or the lock-ins. Throughout COVID, I spent a lot of my time learning how to run a live stream and then doing it for my church. So many of my hobbies are connected to my faith, and so much of my identity and my past comes from being a Christian that it’s impossible to imagine who I’d be if not for my faith. How I perceive myself and the world around me is largely colored by that, and it has shaped who I am.”
Because Allison grew up in the Christian faith, attending a faith-based university was an important consideration for her. She says, “As I applied to colleges, I cast a wide net before narrowing it down. When it came down to it, after all was said and done, my three options were Valpo, Butler, and Concordia Chicago. And when I started digging into Butler, I realized that the nearest Lutheran Church was about 10 minutes away. Since I knew I wouldn’t have a car, that distance felt insurmountable, like I would physically be far from God.” DeMik continues, “I knew I couldn’t maintain my (at the time wavering) faith at a distance, so the more I thought about attending Butler, the more I realized that going there might ruin my faith forever. At that moment, I realized I needed a school with a church nearby and one where faith was a focus. I was in a rough spot with God then, and I knew the only way to help regain what I had lost was to choose a school that would support me thoroughly in my endeavors toward faith. In the end, I chose Valpo. That was the greatest decision I could have made.”
Over time, it became essential for Allison to serve in the Chapel in addition to attending services there. “When I started at Valpo, my aunt introduced me to a member of her church in Merrillville, Chris Boshoven, who sort of handled the administrative side of tech for the Chapel. Chris needed an audio editor, and I had enough knowledge. So I took the job to say I had a job and because I enjoy editing. It wasn’t important to me then that it was for the Chapel. But as time went on, I got more and more involved. I started live streaming, meaning I was attending services I hadn’t attended before.” She continues, “Doing that also kept me connected to my home church, where I had spent hours of my life during COVID lockdown learning how to run a stream well and becoming the sole live streamer for my church. Then, as I attended more services, I realized how valuable the Chapel was, and I just got more and more involved from there. I became a Peer Minister and have also spoken at or led Morning Prayers. All of this happened because I gradually realized how important the Chapel’s ministry was. “Here I am; send me” became somewhat of a theme in my life as I realized that someone has to do everything that makes Chapel services run. There are some things that I can’t do, but the things I can? God really called me in those directions, and now I help out pretty much everywhere I can.”
Valpo’s Lutheran traditions have opened doors for Allison that she otherwise may not have considered. “Valpo offers a large range of theology classes; at least two (one fundamental and one upper level) are required for most majors. I probably wouldn’t have chosen an upper-level theology class when I started here, but before I knew it, I took them as electives.” She continues, “As graduation approaches, I will finish with 9 or 12 credits in 300-level theology classes, depending on how many I take in the spring. The fact that they were required pulled me in, but what I learned excited me so much that I kept coming back. Through taking all these classes, I fell in love with studying theology, and now, I classify myself as a “Bible nerd.” Of course, I might have claimed this title before Valpo, but now that I’ve studied theology in higher education, I feel like I live up to it. Much of that is owed to Valpo’s Lutheran heritage and the general education requirements surrounding theology.”
As Allison sets her sights on graduation in the spring, she can see how her faith is paving the way for her future. “Currently, I see two main goals laid out before me after graduation, and both involve my faith. The first interest I have is in becoming a book editor. Originally, I wanted to work in fantasy and fiction. Still, after my recent summer internship at Paulist Press, a Catholic publishing house, I discovered a love for theological and ministry-based writing. I’d like to work for a publishing house that puts out Christian texts. It’s fun to imagine a book I published being used for a sermon or helping someone struggling with their faith. The other option is to become a pastor or church worker in the ELCA. I, at least, am considering getting a Master of Divinity. I don’t want to say for sure what I’ll do with it, but Valpo has taught me a love for scholarly theology if nothing else, and now, in one way or another, I am interested in pursuing that after school. I would never be interested in this if I didn’t love my faith and seek to advance it through learning.”
Allison says that the faith community found at Valpo is extraordinary, explaining, “The community of faith that has been built on this campus is like nothing I’ve seen anywhere else, and I believe that it can’t be found anywhere else in the world. What you can find here at Valpo is truly amazing if you only give it a shot.”
