Amanda Hobson knew she wanted to teach when she was a senior at Fort Dorchester High School, but it wasn’t until her sophomore year at Charleston Southern University that she discovered why and where her passion would lead her.

“I went on a mission trip to Ghana and it changed my life,” confessed Hobson. “Seeing the poverty there woke me up to the poverty in the United States and what children are dealing with. That inspired me and drove me for the next couple of years at CSU.”

The college education and life experience Hobson enjoyed in and out of the classroom at Charleston Southern shaped her life. In class, instructors tested her knowledge; a world away, serving in Ghana, the Lord tested her faith and developed her passion for childhood education.

After graduating with a degree in childhood education from CSU in 2008, Hobson, a Summerville native, spent two years teaching elementary school in Knightsville and Summerville. The experience was another eye-opening lesson on poverty.

“I had students who lived in poverty, and I had students who were wealthy,” she remembers. “To see the difference in what they came to school knowing, as well as their childhood and what they were experiencing, it really impressed upon my heart. I wanted to be part of giving children a better childhood, especially when it was beyond their control.”

During her first year of teaching, Hobson began researching graduate schools. The top three were the Teachers College (at Columbia University) in New York, Stanford and Harvard – the latter offering a graduate education program in risk and prevention, a “perfect” next step.

She idled until Christmas 2008. The holiday vacation created time and space for her to again think about her future. “The day before I went back to school (as a teacher), I saw that the application was due the next day,” she said.

After drafting a list of all the programs she liked, Hobson said, “I went back to the risk and prevention program and thought, ‘I want this one.'” She telephoned Harvard and asked the program director for an extension, hoping to get approval for late admission. The college agreed.

Hobson’s application included a letter of purpose. She used the opportunity to share the experiences that charted a new course for her career and life.

“While attending Charleston Southern University, I had the opportunity to participate in two teaching mission trips to Ghana, West Africa,” she wrote. “My heart ached as I saw the conditions around me. – My 25-day stay in a Third World country was moving beyond expectations, and I knew I had been changed forever. This trip was overwhelming because it made me aware of the suffering and need that exists throughout the world. – My time at CSU not only led to a degree, but also taught me the importance and joy of serving others.”

With the application process complete, Hobson confessed, “I began praying about it,” as she waited for a reply – and waited – and waited for what seemed a lifetime.

“I was checking (online) during my breaks at school,” Hobson remembers. “It was on a Friday, and I had already checked that day. It was midnight. I was about to go to bed. So I checked one more time and there was a letter. All I read was congratulations. I was shocked.”

Hobson said she began to cry. With tears of joy rolling down her cheeks, she called home, forgetting it was midnight.

“I started calling everybody and woke them up,” she said. “I called my roommate right away. I called my mom and dad and woke them up.”

Last August, Hobson and her father packed up a U-Haul and headed for Boston. Destination: Harvard. It was Hobson’s first real experience living away from home.

Just weeks after completing the program at Harvard, Hobson was back on the move. This time, New York City, to begin work at the Harlem Children’s Zone.

HCZ is an inner-city education project designed to help children in a “sustained way,” through high school, college and into the job market.

In two years, Hobson had gone from Summerville, S.C., to Boston, Mass., Fort Dorchester to Fenway, and now, from Harvard to Harlem. – CSU