By Katie Fox

            Lucy Williams found herself praying the same prayer as many of her peers who graduated this past spring.  “Lord, please help me find a job.”

             In this economy, employment straight out of college is few and far in-between.  With the help of Cornerstone University Career Services, however, her job was found right outside the line for the cafeteria. 

            One day after lunch, Williams saw a booth set up for St. Christopher Camp and Conference Center.  She met the director of the program but had to run to class. “I came back later and he remembered me! Someone had given him my name and he handed me an application.”

            St. Christopher is on Seabrook Island in South Carolina.  It has 300 acres of beach, salt marsh and maritime forest on the Atlantic Ocean, about an hour south of Charleston.  It began as a summer camp for disadvantaged boys and is now a year round conference facility.  Williams works at the children’s summer camp as a naturalist (one who studies nature).  She graduated from Cornerstone in 2009 with a degree in environmental biology. 

             “During my senior year I was really nervous. I had been praying a lot about getting a job,” she said.  After meeting the director of the program, she applied and found out she got the job in March.  Williams moved to South Carolina the second week of August and began her job on August 19th.  She did not know anyone is South Carolina before taking the job.

            A lab assistant for Professor Roy Gates during her sophomore year, Williams has always loved biology.  She also really enjoys being in the company of children and the great outdoors, so this job was truly an answer to her prayers. 

            “It is cool when I can introduce a kid to something they have never seen before. They get really excited about it, especially the dolphins!” she said.  Williams and the 13 other naturalists teach hands-on science classes on topics ranging from aquatic life to sand dunes.  They spend a day out in a boat casting large nets out and learning about different types of marine life they catch.

            Students who are entering grades three through 12 come for weeklong sessions. The Naturalists do not live with the campers, as a counselor would.  Instead they teach them during the day, play games and have camp fires at night.

            St. Christopher is a Christian camp and Williams, along with the other faculty, have staff worship once a week. They are also encouraged to grow in their walk with the Lord and read their Bibles together and on their own.  “It is great having accountability with those who work with you,” Williams said.

            Williams would encourage students to stop by the booths set up in the Corum.  She felt very encouraged by the way she got the job and hopes that more students can find employment in such a way. 

            “Having organizations and companies come in is a great idea because you actually get to talk to a real person.  They are there for you.”  She recognized that most students just walk by the booths and tables but tells that students should take the time to see what’s out there. They may just find their dream job.

            All of Lucy Williams’ passions have combined to land her a job on the beautiful, seacoast of South Carolina.  Her love for the environment, biology and children has come together in the form of a job she found a few steps away from Cornerstone University’s cafeteria.  Williams will continue to live in South Carolina until May and then reapply to work at St. Christopher for another season.