{"id":60969,"date":"2026-04-09T10:20:59","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T14:20:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=60969"},"modified":"2026-04-09T10:21:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T14:21:00","slug":"joyce-beachy-25-found-friendship-in-faculty-at-emu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/joyce-beachy-25-found-friendship-in-faculty-at-emu\/","title":{"rendered":"Joyce Beachy \u201925 found friendship in faculty at EMU"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Joyce Beachy \u201925<\/strong> first arrived on EMU\u2019s campus as a student in January 2023. It was midway through the academic year, and everyone else already seemed well-acquainted with the campus and its community. Beachy, who was in her mid-30s and was more experienced in life and career than most of her peers, had trouble fitting in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat first or second week, I thought, \u2018I\u2019m not gonna make it. This is my last semester here, and I\u2019m not coming back,\u2019\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then, she said, she began forming deep connections with her professors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGoing to school with students nearly half my age, I felt a little more connected with my professors than with my fellow students,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I started making those connections, I had this feeling that I was going to be OK after all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She had met her advisor, English Professor Dr. Kevin Seidel<\/strong>, during an open house the previous fall. \u201cHe checked in one day to make sure I was doing all right,\u201d Beachy said. \u201cWe talked about how my experience was going, and that was super helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n
\n
\"\"
These days, Joyce Beachy ’25 works as a literacy coordinator at Christian Light Publications in Harrisonburg.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Beachy graduated with degrees in English and writing studies last spring after five semesters at EMU. She had transferred<\/a> to the university from online classes at Blue Ridge Community College. By the time she enrolled at EMU, she had already spent four years teaching at the church school she graduated from and another 10 years developing curriculum at Christian Light Publications<\/a> in Harrisonburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Beachy, who lives in Staunton, expressed interest in pursuing a bachelor\u2019s degree, a co-worker at Christian Light recommended EMU. He thought the close-knit community would be a good fit for her, and he was right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe fact that EMU is small makes it more personable,\u201d she said. \u201cI feel like you get to know your professors better. I didn\u2019t know that when I started, but I\u2019ve enjoyed that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She mentioned Dr. Marti Eads<\/strong> and Chad Gusler <\/strong>as faculty members she\u2019s grown close to. \u201cI appreciate the connections I made here, and I feel that some of my professors are still my friends,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re people I connect with when I see them, which is really useful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beachy worked part-time at Christian Light while taking classes as a full-time student and tried to find courses that fit her busy schedule. When the registrar suggested she take a sociology class, she enrolled in Dr. Gaurav Pathania<\/strong>\u2019s class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She described the sociology professor as \u201cvery personable\u201d and fondly recalled that he served chai and cookies in class. \u201cThat was something I always enjoyed,\u201d Beachy said. \u201cWe would have discussions outside of class, too, and it was interesting to hear his perspectives on life in India versus life here.\u201d She enjoyed his introductory sociology class so much that she signed up for more classes with Pathania. Those sociology classes helped her think about the world differently and better understand social issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pathania remembers Beachy as never missing a class and demonstrating a level of thoughtfulness and maturity that set her apart. \u201cJoyce is truly one of the most exceptional students I have encountered in my five years of teaching at EMU,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n
\n
\"\"
The English and writing studies grad on a trip to Iceland after graduation.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Through a \u201cLocal Context\u201d intercultural program, Beachy spent a summer studying various neighborhoods and social groups in Harrisonburg. That experience led her to try different ethnic restaurants in the area. \u201cI still enjoy doing that to this day,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last spring, Beachy served as an editorial intern for EMU\u2019s marketing and communications department, writing many well-received articles for EMU News. She attended the 2025 Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship Conference and wrote a recap<\/a> about it. Her story about the intercultural<\/a> to Guatemala and Mexico was one of the most read stories of 2025. She also wrote about an initiative<\/a> by the Latinx Student Alliance to distribute \u201cKnow Your Rights\u201d cards to members of Harrisonburg\u2019s immigrant community. At the same time, she volunteered to help adult English learners at EMU\u2019s Intensive English Program, which was at the heart of another article written<\/a> by her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Near the end of her time at EMU, Beachy was promoted to the role of literacy coordinator at Christian Light Publications. She said her employer is helping reimburse her for tuition costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the (conservative Mennonite) setting where I come from, it\u2019s not as common for people to pursue higher education,\u201d she said. \u201cThey didn\u2019t have any program in place to help with tuition costs, but now they want to offer it to others who want to go to college, which I\u2019m really excited about. It means some reimbursement for me, but it also opens a path for other people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n
\n
\"\"
Joyce Beachy and her fianc\u00e9, John Gingerich, are set to be married later this month.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Beachy said there are advantages to attending college as a nontraditional, older student. She met students who knew what they wanted to do and were serious about studying, as well as others who were in college because their parents wanted them there. \u201cThey didn\u2019t know what they were doing,\u201d she said. \u201cI always felt sorry for them and wished they could just go out and work for a couple years and figure out what they actually wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She mentioned reading The Curious Case of Benjamin Button<\/em>, a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald that was turned into a Brad Pitt movie a couple decades ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about a guy who\u2019s born an old man, and he goes through life backwards,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve thought about that story sometimes with my experience at EMU. I felt like I was doing things backwards. Most people go to school and then start their careers. I did my career first, then went to school. But I\u2019m really glad I did it. Now, if I have friends in their 30s who say, \u2018Oh, I want to go to college,\u2019 I tell them, \u2018Yeah, you should. It\u2019s absolutely worth it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joyce Beachy \u201925 first arrived on EMU\u2019s campus as a student in January 2023. It was midway through the academic year, and everyone else already seemed well-acquainted with the campus ... read more about Joyce Beachy \u201925 found friendship in faculty at EMU<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":302,"featured_media":60986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[266,5583,17562,12508,356,4513,14139,5730],"tags":[5753,16493,10602,17984,18102,18276,17531,14563,17745,6085,15242],"feature":[17427,17426,17241,17422],"class_list":["post-60969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-campus-community","category-digest","category-iep","category-language-and-literature","category-student-life","category-student-profiles","category-undergraduate-programs","tag-alumni","tag-chad-gusler","tag-english","tag-gaurav-pathania","tag-iep-2","tag-joyce-beachy","tag-kevin-seidel","tag-language-and-literature","tag-marketing-2","tag-marti-eads","tag-writing-studies","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-feature","feature-news-landing-page-main-feature"],"yoast_head":"\nJoyce Beachy \u201925 found friendship in faculty at EMU - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/joyce-beachy-25-found-friendship-in-faculty-at-emu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Joyce Beachy \u201925 found friendship in faculty at EMU - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Joyce Beachy \u201925 first arrived on EMU\u2019s campus as a student in January 2023. It was midway through the academic year, and everyone else already seemed well-acquainted with the campus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/joyce-beachy-25-found-friendship-in-faculty-at-emu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-09T14:20:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-09T14:21:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/30114918\/IMG-20250504-WA0106.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"854\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ryan Cornell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ryan Cornell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/joyce-beachy-25-found-friendship-in-faculty-at-emu\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/joyce-beachy-25-found-friendship-in-faculty-at-emu\/\",\"name\":\"Joyce Beachy \u201925 found friendship in faculty at EMU - EMU News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/joyce-beachy-25-found-friendship-in-faculty-at-emu\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/joyce-beachy-25-found-friendship-in-faculty-at-emu\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/30114918\/IMG-20250504-WA0106.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-09T14:20:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-09T14:21:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4d24e9770fdab8276fbcf29504123fdf\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/joyce-beachy-25-found-friendship-in-faculty-at-emu\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/joyce-beachy-25-found-friendship-in-faculty-at-emu\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/joyce-beachy-25-found-friendship-in-faculty-at-emu\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/30114918\/IMG-20250504-WA0106.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/30114918\/IMG-20250504-WA0106.jpeg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":854},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/joyce-beachy-25-found-friendship-in-faculty-at-emu\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Joyce Beachy \u201925 found friendship in faculty at EMU\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\",\"name\":\"EMU News\",\"description\":\"News from the Eastern Mennonite University community.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4d24e9770fdab8276fbcf29504123fdf\",\"name\":\"Ryan Cornell\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Joyce Beachy \u201925 found friendship in faculty at EMU - EMU News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/joyce-beachy-25-found-friendship-in-faculty-at-emu\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Joyce Beachy \u201925 found friendship in faculty at EMU - EMU News","og_description":"Joyce Beachy \u201925 first arrived on EMU\u2019s campus as a student in January 2023. It was midway through the academic year, and everyone else already seemed well-acquainted with the campus","og_url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/joyce-beachy-25-found-friendship-in-faculty-at-emu\/","og_site_name":"EMU News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite","article_published_time":"2026-04-09T14:20:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-09T14:21:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":854,"url":"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/30114918\/IMG-20250504-WA0106.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ryan Cornell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@EMU_News","twitter_site":"@EMU_News","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ryan Cornell","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/joyce-beachy-25-found-friendship-in-faculty-at-emu\/","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/joyce-beachy-25-found-friendship-in-faculty-at-emu\/","name":"Joyce Beachy \u201925 found friendship in faculty at EMU - EMU News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/joyce-beachy-25-found-friendship-in-faculty-at-emu\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/joyce-beachy-25-found-friendship-in-faculty-at-emu\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/30114918\/IMG-20250504-WA0106.jpeg","datePublished":"2026-04-09T14:20:59+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-09T14:21:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4d24e9770fdab8276fbcf29504123fdf"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/joyce-beachy-25-found-friendship-in-faculty-at-emu\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/joyce-beachy-25-found-friendship-in-faculty-at-emu\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/joyce-beachy-25-found-friendship-in-faculty-at-emu\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/30114918\/IMG-20250504-WA0106.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/30114918\/IMG-20250504-WA0106.jpeg","width":1280,"height":854},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/joyce-beachy-25-found-friendship-in-faculty-at-emu\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Joyce Beachy \u201925 found friendship in faculty at EMU"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/","name":"EMU News","description":"News from the Eastern Mennonite University community.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4d24e9770fdab8276fbcf29504123fdf","name":"Ryan Cornell"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/302"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60969"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60969\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61144,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60969\/revisions\/61144"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60969"},{"taxonomy":"feature","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature?post=60969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}