“If you would have told me at 18-years-old that I would be working as a campus minister, living on a college campus and a mother of two before the age of 30, I would have laughed,” said Traci Ferguson, Marshall University’s Catholic Newman Center campus minister.

Ferguson has been running the show at the Catholic Newman Center since 2012. She graduated from Marshall and started a music career before taking over the role of campus minister.

“The best thing about being a campus minister is getting to interact all day with young people,” Ferguson said. “This particular ministry, when I was an undergrad, was a huge influence on me. It changed everything about my faith life.”

Ferguson said her experience at the Newman Center as an undergraduate student was directly responsible for her current role as minister.

“I would have had a totally different college experience, and I don’t mean good different, if I hadn’t found the Newman Center really early on at Marshall,” Ferguson said. “The Newman Center was so instrumental in me developing my faith and it helped me grow into the person that I ultimately am. That is why I have so much passion for being a minister.”

Ben Heil, a member of the leadership team at the Newman Center, said Ferguson demonstrates her passion for ministry to everyone.

“She is like a second mom to every single person who walks through the front door,” Heil said.

Kelly Dunham, another member of the leadership team, said she thought Ferguson was “actually, more like a big sister.”

Ferguson said she feels privileged to be the campus minister.

“College, your first time around, is just a crazy hard age,” Ferguson said. “You are trying to figure out who you want to be. If you can have good, solid people and influences and Christ in your life throughout that experience, I think it changes everything. I am a big believer in campus ministry. I feel privileged to be a part of it.”

Ferguson said the ministry is like an adventure during which many milestones have been achieved.

“Every day is an adventure in campus ministry,” Ferguson said. “We have personally had some major milestones. We went on some big retreats and we’ve had new Christians come into the church.”

Ferguson said her favorite part about being a campus minister is the unpredictability at the beginning of each day.

“It has been an amazing couple of years,” Ferguson said. “I think the most exciting part about campus ministry is all in the day. You never really know what is going to happen. So many of our days develop really organically and you never know who you might meet. For me, the best part is the day to day communal and sacramental life with really cool people.”

Ferguson said her advice to students is to be yourself.

“Don’t be afraid to be true to yourself,” Ferguson said. “That sounds really cliché but it is a real thing. Don’t be afraid to own who you are, whoever that is. Your whole life people will try to make you into something that you are not. If you can spend college getting to a place where you can just feel good in your own skin, then you really had the college experience.”

Aundrea Horsley can be contacted at horsley9@ marshall.edu.