Anne-Marie Robinson ‘08 - English and Spanish double major from Roanoke, Virginia

Part of Anne-Marie’s hesitation about Messiah College stemmed from her preconceptions about what a small Christian college might be like—but those notions quickly vanished.

Life is what happens when you have other plans, or at least that’s how 17-year-old dance enthusiast Anne-Marie Robinson ‘08 saw it. Despite a dogged determination to attain a spot on a pre-eminent school’s dance team somewhere south of the Mason Dixon, the Roanoke native landed at Messiah College, a school without a credentialed dance team, in a state she never dreamed of living in, and, recalls a chuckling Anne-Marie, “against my will.”

“I really wanted to stay in the south,” said Anne-Marie, “but God had other plans for me.” Admittedly, part of Anne-Marie’s hesitation about Messiah stemmed from her preconceptions about what a Christian college might be like - but those notions quickly vanished. “I knew, shortly after arriving, that I had come to know and love the authenticity of Messiah,” recalls Anne-Marie. “Students at Messiah share realistic perspectives of Christianity’s implications. They engage culture without fear, use their minds, and interact lovingly with many types of people.”

Anne-Marie has excelled at Messiah. After a successful, four year run with the College’s highly regarded Acclamation Dance Ministry (www.messiah.edu/org/acclamation/home) and participation in several other campus ministries, the double English/Spanish major graduated magna cum laude and has entered the University of Maryland’s masters program in English language and literature.