Xavier's Story

Hello! My name is Xavier. I’m from a third-world country. Both of my parents are second-generation Christians, working for nonprofit educational institutions in my country. I am currently attending Cedarville University, majoring in special education. I plan to return to my home country and work with a Christian ministry to help people with special needs.

During my junior year in high school, through a lottery, I got the subject “disabilities” for my junior project. I never knew that it would change my life forever. I visited a school for autistic children and spent time interacting with many students with special needs. My heart melted for these children. My senior project on autism, titled “Enable the Disabled.” It highlighted the issues related to the disabled in our society. I proposed some real and practical solutions. It did cause me, through God’s work in my heart, to forget my original plan to study engineering, and choose special education instead.

One day in November 2014, my teacher, Miss Meagan Carns (Cedarville graduate, 2012), told me about Cedarville. Even though she used to share her stories of running track for Cedarville University, I didn’t know much about Cedarville. She told me about the early-apply fee waiver that Cedarville offers, and the deadline was just a few hours away! I got my application submitted just in time.

Since my junior year, I had thought that I would have to go to another Christian college if I got accepted, because that school had given good scholarships to my friends. I asked God to let me be accepted to both schools. He answered my prayers.

Now I had to choose between Cedarville and the other school, so I watched their campus videos on YouTube. I liked Cedarville because the campus seemed joyous, and I loved the testimonies shared by the students. I asked God to make a way for Cedarville to be affordable for me.

The other university offered more scholarships to me than Cedarville and Cedarville was going to cost more, but God made a way. Miss Peni Howder (Cedarville graduate, 1989) is the current principal of my school, William Carey Academy. She called my mom into her office and proposed a solution. Her parents, who live in Springfield, Ohio (near Cedarville), knew that it would be very difficult for my parents to afford Cedarville, so they asked if I would like to stay with them. That’s when I knew that God wanted me at Cedarville. The Howders got permission from Cedarville so that I can live off campus with them, and this has saved me a great deal of money. When I calculated the new sum of money that I would have to pay, both Cedarville and the other college were almost the same.

Even though paying for tuition in the United States would be very difficult for my parents, even for the first semester, Cedarville seemed to be where God wanted me to go.

I hope to achieve my undergraduate degree at Cedarville and return to my homeland. My homeland is a Muslim country, and the majority of the people are non-Christians. I want to help children with special needs reach their full potential, but most importantly, I want to share with them their greatest need -- Jesus!

I want to help change the world through work that glorifies God. I want to affect the lives of people around me, helping them find the Truth and showing them the Light through which they can live a joyful life for Christ!