Julia Spoor ’25 was raised in a secular family just outside Philadelphia and never envisioned attending a faith-based college. So when she decided to attend Quaker-affiliated Guilford College, she was more than just a little anxious showing up.

“It sounds silly now, but I thought maybe I’d be indoctrinated, or I worried about not fitting in with what I thought would be a heavily religious community,” Julia says. “That was not part of who I am.”

Julia smiles now, remembering her anxious days leading up to her arrival at Guilford because, well, look how far she’s come. Certainly in her education — she graduated with a degree in Education Studies — and in her love for a school she wasn’t so sure about four years ago.

“I can’t think of a better place to go to college than Guilford,” says Julia. “It was the perfect place for me to explore who I am and what I want to do in life.”

Whatever concerns she had about Guilford quickly faded during her first week on campus, when she attended the annual Passing of the Light ceremony.

The event, typically held in front of Founders Hall, welcomes students into Guilford's living, historic community and invites them to engage with the world in a new, intentional way.

Julia was deeply moved. “I saw all these people on the quad holding candles and sharing in the light — and that was really beautiful,” she says. “There was nothing overtly religious about the night, but it really set the tone for me and the next four years.”

Julia says she became interested in Quakerism “from an anthropological perspective.”

“I wanted to understand what it was all about,” she says. “I wouldn’t say I practice Quakerism, but I’ve learned a lot, and I apply many of its tenets in my own life.

“The community that Quakerism fosters is really hard to beat.”

Julia showed up at Guilford knowing she wanted a career in education. After taking an introductory Environmental Studies class with Assistant Professor for Sustainable Foods Tony Van Winkle, she found a second passion and decided to blend Environmental Studies into her Education major.

“I became a lot more interested in Environmental Studies — not just as an area of study, but as a life practice,” she says. “It was so eye-opening. I had some conversations with Tony about merging the two fields and figuring out how Environmental Studies could enhance my education focus.”

This fall, Julia begins her teaching career working with young children just down the road at New Garden Friends School, where she was an assistant teacher while attending Guilford.

“I really love watching them form relationships, develop their own interests and identities, and share that with each other,” she says. “I like seeing a group of kids come in at the beginning of the year, all pretty scared and unsure of their surroundings, and by the end of the year, they’re really a community. They act like siblings.”

And yes, Julia sees the similarities between her students’ journey and her own at Guilford.

“I’ve grown so much since I’ve been here,” she says. “I have a much better idea of who I am and what my identity is than I did my freshman year. I’ve definitely made some of my best friends for life here."

 

Does Guilford sound like a community you want to be part of? Contact Steve Mencarini.