Faith & Vocation Stories | Kate Stoneburner

In the Fall of 2020, Campbell staff members invested in themselves and their coworkers by taking part in a virtual cohort on a quest to illuminate their gifts and career paths. The staff members used their reading and discussion groups to get to know one another, telling stories from their own lives and the lives of others who made an impact on them. 

Led by Vice President for Spiritual Life and Campus Minister Faithe Beam, the cohort met in two groups of six and was funded through a $10,000 grant from NetVUE (Network for Vocation in Theological Education) to engage staff in the process of vocational discernment. Participants read “Let Your Life Speak” by Parker Palmer, which shares insights and wisdom on the learning from our core attributes and following a sense of meaning and purpose. They also discussed their faith journeys and the integration of their spiritual lives at Campbell. 

Cohort discussion encouraged personal spiritual formation, interdisciplinary exploration of the meaning of “calling” and new ideas and practices toward engaging students in career discernment.

Kate Stoneburner is a writer and social media coordinator at Campbell University who spent several years of college and early career doubting that she was equipped for a career in writing. The Campbell Spiritual Life vocation and calling cohort encouraged her to look back on the reasons she became a writer and the faith journey that helped her overcome insecurities around creativity. 

During the cohort, Stoneburner reflected on her childhood love of reading and writing and identified times when she felt inadequate as a fiction writer. Understanding why she chose a more journalistic path helped her embrace her calling: to tell the stories of others. She is happiest when she is writing about people overcoming personal and professional trials. Stoneburner would encourage other college students with doubts about their chosen major or field that at the root of every interest in a subject is a gift that can be used in any professional path—whether its natural curiosity, athleticism, empathy or discipline.