Name: Holly (Hammar) Lear
Graduation Year: 2009
Major: Nursing, Minor: Music
Current Position: Ph.D. Candidate
City and State: Iowa City, IA
Tell us about your career and what you do now.
After graduating from Evangel, I began my first job as a long-term care nursing supervisor. I moved to New Haven, Connecticut so my husband could attend seminary at Yale Divinity School. I was eager to go back to school and soon began a Master’s in Public Health. During our three years in Connecticut, my husband and I served at a local AG church as youth pastor and worship leader. We found great purpose and joy in our dedication to the local church. We then moved to the United Kingdom to pursue doctoral degrees where I also worked in home healthcare management. Our son, Lazarus, was born in Aberdeen, Scotland before we returned to America. We now live in Iowa City, Iowa where my husband pastors a wonderful church called Resurrection AG. I work as a worship leader at our church, raise our three-year-old son, and am a part-time student on track to submit my Ph.D. in the fall of 2018. I hope to use my research and skills to benefit the worldwide church while teaching nursing in a university context.
What is your favorite memory from Evangel?
Definitely staying up until 3 am in the dorm eating cheesecake and discovering a new social media platform everyone was joining called Facebook – it came to Evangel my freshman year! Also, fostering a friendship with my assigned dorm roommate, (and still best friend) Becky.
How did Evangel help you identify/develop your calling?
I wanted to study academically challenging material in a Christian context. I remember feeling surrounded by wise counselors who helped guide me to study nursing (which was not my first major). I completed a music minor as well, which helped to develop the musical skills that I still use today as a worship leader.
How did your experience at Evangel prepare you for life after graduation?
Evangel’s science department equipped me for a difficult two years of nursing school and gave me a rigorous academic foundation that enabled me to pursue a Master’s and later a Ph.D.
What advice would you give a current student preparing for the workforce?
Your major ought to give you employability. If you want to do something fun, make it a minor or a hobby!
What would you look for if you were in a position to hire new graduates from Evangel?
A nursing major!