Alumni Interview with Katie Hadobas Arms

Katie Hadobas Arms

Class of 2014

By: Megan Griffin

katie

The Class of 2014 consists of passionate students from all different areas of study. Katie Hadobas Arms is one of these passionate members. Their Class’ area of focus is Appalachia, they decided to focus specifically on regions in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Virginia. They were the first Periclean Class to have a location in the United States as their focus and they were successful in forging deep and meaningful partnerships with people and organizations in the region. As they studied the region as a Class, they agreed that they would focus on issues related to mining.

They partnered with an individual who helps ex-miners and with a Community Center in the area. The purpose of the Community Center was to break down the barriers between community members with opposing views concerning mountaintop removal (a type of coal mining). The founder of the Community Center recognized that there was a need for community cohesiveness because of the divisiveness around the topic of mountaintop removal.  The Center held dinners and other community events to foster an accepting environment for the entire community. The Class’ other partner, Ron Carson, utilizes his knowledge about the law to ensure that ex-miners, with black lung disease, receive necessary health benefits.

 

The Class of 2014 also partnered with several artists and authors in order to continue raising awareness about issues in Appalachia.  Ann Pancake, one of their partners, is the author of the book Strange as this Weather has Been, which is a story featuring a West Virginian town affected by mountaintop removal. Although it is a fictional story, Pancake talks about real issues in order to draw the reader’s attention to a social problem in the Appalachia region.

Katie said that they were able to partner with several people and organizations because they traveled to their area of focus several times. She also mentioned that it was really meaningful to be able to read about an individual or organization while doing their research at Elon and then to be able to meet them in person. This  was definitely one of the benefits of partnering with a location in the United States.

When I asked about what kind of impact she believed their class had in Appalachia, she said that they made a difference because they approached the task as learners, rather than fixers. This was something that their mentor ingrained in them from the very beginning of their experience as a Class. Katie also referred to the impact the Periclean program had on her and the rest of the people in her Class. Periclean has changed the way she views serving and loving other people. Her ideas about serving and loving others changed after reading Toxic Charity. That change, while in Periclean, has impacted the whole way she approaches her job, what she values, and her recognition of harmful charity/philanthropy.  

Since her Periclean experience was so influential, Katie and her husband have joined a church that values many of the same things as the Periclean Scholars program. As a member of the church, Katie strives to always think critically about how she can help to build a better community. She also does this everyday at Elon through her work with InterVarsity. Her job is to build a community on a college campus. Being able to ask questions and learn about what would benefit the community the most has been a really challenging and rewarding aspect of her position. For example, Katie had the opportunity to ask people if there was any interest of building a Christian community in the Greek system. She had to ask the questions because this was a community that she was somewhat unfamiliar with. Asking questions reminds her of what she learned in Periclean in Central Appalachia, because she was unfamiliar with the community, she and her Class had to examine what the community wanted.

Katie is constantly thinking about what she learned as a Periclean Scholar. Her experience impacts how she makes new friends and family and how she decides to serve her community. One of her favorite things to do is host a pancake breakfast at her house to get to know her neighbors and other members of her community!

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