Living Out "Soli Deo Gloria"

When Mark arrived at Dordt, he was a skinny basketball player excited to make friends and experience new things. After graduating, Mark shared how impactful Dordt was in helping him form a strong bond with his friends and find strong role models in teachers and community members. After a basketball injury during his freshman year, Mark relied on fantastic trainers and support from his peers and professors to recover.

One of Mark’s favorite experiences during his time at Dordt was traveling to Puerto Rico during the summer before his sophomore year as part of his Spanish minor.

“It was one of the best experiences of my life and I'll never forget it,” he says. “Being able to dive into the culture there and speak the language with the locals was an unforgettable experience.”

In addition to the relationships he built and the opportunities he had, Mark shared how important the religious perspective is at Dordt. His faith became stronger during his four years at Dordt, and he learned how to apply it to contemporary problems.

“Dordt does an amazing job of making your faith matter,” he says. “Whether or not your faith is a big part of your life right now, it will be if you spend four years at Dordt. Every class will challenge you, in a good way, to develop your own opinion on cultural issues, and enable you to apply Biblical principles to the world around you.”

After graduating, Mark got married and took the CPA exam to become a full time accountant. He was surprised to find during his time at Dordt that the Bible can apply to modern economics. He is grateful for the ways Dordt prepared him for his career and living as a Christ-follower.

“Because of the flexibility of my schedule in my senior year, I have been able to have an accounting internship at a firm in Orange City. Being able to apply what I have learned in class has been incredible. Being able to go and live out the Dordt standards in an actual workplace has provided more teaching moments than I could have imagined. I have come to realize how well Dordt has equipped me to live out the phrase, ‘Soli Deo Gloria,’ and I will be forever thankful that I chose to come here.”