Name: Melissa Marte
Hometown: Tabernacle, NJ
Q: Where did you attend college, what was your major and why? Eastern University in Wayne.
A: My major was youth ministries and biblical studies. I knew that I wanted to go into ministry or do something related to ministry. I actually started out double majoring in business and youth ministry.
Q: How did you know spiritual development was what you wanted to pursue as a career?
A: In college I went through a faith crisis and was trying to understand what I believed and why. I wanted to create a safe place for others to ask the same questions and learn about their faith to figure out what they believed.
Q: How long have you been working at PhilaU?
A: 5 years. I got to working at PhilaU after a friend from Eastern University informed me about an open position. I felt called to work here at PhilaU, and the more that I learned about the position, the more I felt like it was perfect for me.
Q: How did you get involved in Cornerstone?
A: I work for an organization called the Coalition for Christian Outreach (CCO), which is an organization that hopes to see students go out as servant leaders into their communities, campuses, jobs, and families, making a positive impact because of the hope and freedom they have found in Jesus Christ. They partner with churches such as Pilgrim Church to send staff to walk alongside of students through the challenges of discerning who they want to become, what they believe, and why their lives deeply matter. Pilgrim Church is a Presbyterian church in Manayunk who hired me because they deeply love college students. If you have seen Cornerstone delivering coffee and snacks to studios during midterms, Pilgrim is the church who provides these things. Members of the church host students to their homes for holidays and meals, pray regularly for you, provide rides to church, and are always asking how they can serve PhilaU. I was drawn to Pilgrim church because they felt like a group of people who I could be real with and could be like family to me.
Q: What is your favorite part about being involved with Cornerstone?
A: I love seeing the hope that the gospel brings students and seeing people’s lives being transformed by their faith. It’s very empowering and exciting to me.
Q: What do you do in your free time?
A: I love going for walks outside, swing dancing, spending time with friends and my husband, Leo.
Q: What do you like most about working at PhilaU?
I love how unique everyone is; everyone has their own style. I also love my coworkers and the opportunities that we have here. There’s so many cool things that I’ve been given permission to do as a result of this job. I love that I get to be connected to Student Engagement, because they are an awesome group of people.