Kirsten Kosik likes to celebrate humans , and she believes strongly in human connection . Through intentional broadening of her circles , Taylor University , and a gathering of favorite artists , she ’ s built connecting pillars of understanding that support a wonder-filled perspective .

Kirsten grew up in Beverly Hills — Beverly Hills , Michigan that is . “ It was a segregated situation . There were people of different ethnicities or religions in my area , but all living

in separate groups .” Her public school was a place where all of this diversity came together , and so she came to know many different viewpoints of thought . Because Kirsten was born and raised in a Protestant family , it surprised both herself , and her friends when she suddenly registered for an all-Catholic Private High School two weeks before classes began .

Here she learned new ways to think and ask questions . “ Coming in , I had

to battle a sense of entitlement — ‘ How could they call themselves Christians and not believe exactly what I believed .’ All I knew was my own background , and I had to expand my view in order to learn from others — I had to be willing to listen .” A Taylor staff member , Felicia Case , likes to say that “ we love what the people we love , love .” Kirsten explained how developing relationships gave her the heart to learn from her friends and understand what they believed .

From her transforming four years learning to understand from an opposing viewpoint , Kirsten has enthusiastically carried on in her pursuit to understand “ the other ”. “ Empathy and compassion begins with observation first — a genuine listening . Taylor University has also taught me how to ask questions and be affected by someone else ’ s words and heart . A professor shared with me once that love is the act of creating a space for the other to exist without trying to

manipulate or control what they bring to the space , and that has stuck with me . If you look at everyone else as a reflection of yourself , you ’ ll never know the person in front of you .”

As a student at Taylor , Kirsten has enjoyed the time she ’ s got to know her community in Grant County . She values knowing people outside of school , and experiencing businesses around town because she loves intentionally engaging in her new home — “ this place is not just a

landscape to achieve a degree in , I want to be familiar with people and places and be transformed by it .”

Kirsten has loved spending a summer in Upland and meeting new friends who she continues to see around town . She ’ s been intrigued by what she ’ s observed , “ I ’ ve never known a community to be so loyal to its connections amongst each other . Not to say there ’ s no mess , but since living here , I ’ ve found a certain degree of loyalty in relationships .”