Alumna Spotlight: Elyse Hawkins

Since 1995, the Mission of American Heritage Girls has been to build women of integrity. While the AHG Program targets those in girlhood, the sincerity and faith-filled spirit that is nurtured and grown through AHG continues as girls develop and mature into women.

MEET ELYSE HAWKINS

Christ-following leader, Political Journalism student, and AHG Alumna.

Elyse joined AHG Troop OK2810 at Sunnybrook Christian Church in Stillwater, Oklahoma in 2017. Elyse and her younger sister were part of the original group when it was started in their town. As local home-educators, Elyse’s family knew well the value of developing various layers of community around their kids and giving opportunities for Godly adults to pour into their kids’ lives, and AHG offered that in partnership with Trail Life for her brothers. As it turns out, these natural Christian family weekly gatherings through AHG and Trail Life troop meetings gave space for the long-lasting mentorship connections Elyse still enjoys with her former leaders.

American Heritage Girls offers young women, especially in the Pioneer and Patriot levels, a distinct opportunity to simultaneously learn and grow while trying out their leadership skills. Elyse invested in the Emergency Preparedness Badge opportunity as a way to gain life skills that she would use immediately with a project that challenged her to create an emergency car kit. As a young driver, this project opened her eyes to situations that would find an unprepared woman fearful, but helped her to feel equipped for on-the-road emergency situations. Elyse currently attends Hillsdale College in Michigan, far from her home. Today, the Emergency Car Kit project still serves her well with the 14-hour road trips home to see her family on breaks from classes.

Elyse’s family is known for having a pioneer spirit as they founded Highlands Latin School, a part-time home education co-op group. Both Elyse’s parents are highly credentialed educators with a robust library of classical resources and reference texts. The Geology Badge wove the perfect foundation for Elyse to dig into that library and research until her heart was content! She learned more than she ever thought possible about earthquakes and the bustling activity happening under the surface of our planet. This challenged her to grow as a writer and researcher, skills she uses in her Political Journalism major studies. Elyse made this choice out of concern for accurate, balanced reporting in the field and to afford her a flexible career choice to serve her future husband and family as a Godly mom.

Whether directly learning through her projects and badge work or apprenticing as a leader for the Pathfinders, Elyse became a trusted Girl Leader in her Troop. Volunteer leaders allowed her to lead the young ones in songs and stretches while they prepared hands-on activities, which, if you have ever volunteered with young girls, was a huge help to the adult leaders! The giggles and zany questions from the tiny girls kept Elyse on her toes for sure. As the eldest of her family, this felt natural to her and Elyse’s special gift of patient gentleness shined from week to week. She describes the multi-faceted learning-growing-leading season as “an opportunity to see what an influence Godly women have on those around them, especially young girls. I was blessed with the opportunity to watch and learn from them.”

As she looks back fondly on her time in AHG, Elyse acknowledges in gratitude that “during my time in AHG, I was insanely busy. Taking a full college load while finishing up high school, volunteering, working. But AHG was something that kept me grounded. It reminded me of what was important. My calm in the midst of the storm of my life at that time.” She laughs in tones that reflect her maturity through experience.

These days, Elyse is fully entrenched in college life at Hillsdale College. She just got engaged to a Christ-following man, Judah, and she is preparing for a wedding. To all the girls in AHG, she wants to offer this encouragement: “It’s very easy to be isolated. To walk through life without meaningful relationships. AHG attracts women and girls who offer the groundwork for deep connections that are essential to life. To be a healthy person all the way around. You get out of it what you put in, and there is so much to get out of it!”

As Elyse approaches stepping into the role of wife, she admires the women that served as her volunteer leaders in AHG. Each of those women naturally modeled for her how to be a Godly friend, a voice of leadership in her circle, how to guide girls in a way that honors the Kingdom of God and how to joyfully serve as a helpmate to their spouse.

When asked about the core ways AHG helps young women face the challenges in today’s world, Elyse said, “The world we live in can be a very dark place. AHG girls have the opportunity to be a light and a lampstand to the world. Not only growing in virtue and goodness but more importantly in Christ’s love. We have the opportunity to live out what we’ve learned in AHG, but we have to seize it!”

AHG Alumnae often report back on how much the AHG Program has benefited their lives. These young women are making a remarkable difference in the world around them. AHG is looking to connect with its alumnae and create some exciting opportunities for them to reconnect with old friends and learn how they can share their leadership abilities! Are you an AHG Alumna? Visit americanheritagegirls.org/ alumnae to update your contact information and share what you’ve been up to!