Name: Kara N. Ransom
Graduation Year: 2012
Major: Psychology
Current Position: Attorney
City and State: Springfield, MO
Tell us about your career and what you do now.
Following graduation from Evangel, I completed law school at Regent University and was abundantly blessed to find my dream job right out of law school. I am an estate planning attorney at LifeGen Law Group (formerly Parks & Jones, Attorneys at Law) where I have the opportunity, on a daily basis, to provide peace of mind to clients and their families while helping them navigate some of life’s most difficult decisions and challenges. Building long-term relationships with my clients and helping them accomplish their estate planning, business, and charitable goals is extremely rewarding.
What is your favorite memory from Evangel?
Evangel provided so many amazing opportunities that picking only one favorite memory is challenging. During my undergraduate studies I experienced a 30-day European tour with the Concert Orchestra, a 12-day service trip to Kenya with the Psychology/Counseling department, and many other extracurricular trips and activities. Each of those experiences provided growth and perspective that are still impacting my life today.
Just last week, I attended a local Convoy of Hope event and learned about a children’s feeding program in Mathare Valley in Kenya. As I listened to the amazing work Convoy is doing at the local school there, I realized it was the same school where I served with our EU counseling team during my senior year, and I remembered how God brought together just the right group of Kenyan students who needed what I had been trained to offer. I remember being in awe of God and how He so clearly hand-picked each student in my group, especially as I learned that at least two female students dreamed of becoming attorneys one day. Because I had just chosen that career path for myself a couple of months earlier, I was able to encourage them and support their hope to one day return to Kenya as attorneys and help more children from Mathare Valley make lives for themselves outside the poverty they were born into. The hope I saw in those girls’ eyes was priceless, and I pray they have been able to accomplish their dreams as I have mine.
How did Evangel help you identify/develop your calling?
Evangel gave me the space to be involved in whatever interested me. But even more than that, Evangel gave me the space to discover my calling through the caring professors and staff I interacted with on a daily basis. I cannot count the number of “day-dreaming” conversations I had with various professors in the hallways or in their offices when I would just drop by to chat and even with my work-study supervisor in the financial aid office! These conversations helped me hone the calling the Lord was placing before me as I processed new information and worked to decipher the next steps I should take. Ultimately, Evangel created an environment designed to nurture my calling, for which I am beyond grateful.
How did your experience at Evangel prepare you for life after graduation?
My time at Evangel prepared me so well for life beyond college. Every aspect of my life was strengthened—spiritual, academic, and social—as I truly wrestled with theological concepts and formed my own beliefs, was challenged academically through all my coursework, and formed lifelong friendships with my peers. While nothing can quite prepare one for the rigors of law school, I was able to perform in the top of my class and obtain my #1 choice for internship at the American Center for Law and Justice after my 1L year, primarily due to writing skills I honed under the very skilled and watchful direction of Evangel’s incredible Humanities faculty, namely Professor Marilyn Quigley who has since retired from teaching.
What advice would you give a current student preparing for the workforce?
One thing I have recognized in the workplace is that I can teach skill, but I cannot teach character. Your character defines who you are and will impact every area of your life and career. Be teachable. Be filled with integrity and humility. Be willing to work hard and do your very best. Anyone with those traits will go far in any field he or she chooses to pursue.
What would you look for if you were in a position to hire new graduates from Evangel?
I would look for someone who has excelled academically, but also has great social skills and a teachable spirit. Overall academic excellence shows commitment and determination and the willingness to work hard, but even the brightest among us may not be a great fit for teamwork if he or she believes there is nothing more to learn. The most successful people recognize learning is a lifelong discipline that leads to honed skills and attributes that can become truly extraordinary.