PAYING IT FORWARD

Fresno Pacific UniversityPACS Masters Graduates 2014

The first class I ever took at FPU hooked me!  The class was Dr. Ron Claassen’s School Conflict Resolution Discipline That Restores Peer Mediation Training.  I had already enrolled in a long delayed Master’s program at another university.

 I had waited until after both daughters had graduated from college and launched into their careers.  I wondered if it was worth it or if it was too late but deep down I knew it was a goal that had always been in my heart.  I had looked for the right niche that fit my drive for purpose and meaning in my calling to teach. Then I heard Dr. Dalton Reimer talk about shalom in that first class.  It was one of those destiny-defining, course altering moments when I knew that this was my new direction. 

All that I learned in the Peacemaking and Conflict Studies program changed my teaching but more importantly informed and transformed my thinking.  The door opened in my last year at FPU to be campus mediator.  I was so impressed as I facilitated mediations watching the wraparound care and support of professors, coaches, and other staff who consistently showed up with grace, encouragement, and accountability for students who needed it.  I learned so much about how an organization can use mediation and restorative practices and become a culture of care. 

Currently I am honored to teach an online class with FPU called Student Mediator Training. This class offers strategies to teach K-12 students to be peer mediators on their campus…a way to give back and pay it forward.

Thank you, FPU, for what you do!  It’s never too late to learn.

Rhonda Hearnsberger, PACS MA 2014