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PURPLE GIVES GOLD
SCAN THE CODE to watch Nicholas' story online
The gifts that UMHB donors give through events like Purple Gives Gold impact so many students in ways these donors may never know. More than 90 percent of UMHB students receive some form of financial aid, much of which is in the form of scholarships. Many of these students wouldn’t be able to attend UMHB if it weren’t for the generous donations of our donors. Following are the stories of two of these amazing students who are realizing and reaching their dreams thanks to the help of donors!
NICHOLAS McDANIEL
When Nicholas McDaniel came to UMHB, his plan was set. He would work hard enough to make the varsity football team as a freshman, and he did! But God had even bigger plans for him.
Nicholas, now a sophomore, felt called to ministry in eighth grade. Throughout high school, he found himself speaking at church, interning, and volunteering—really focusing on developing himself to pursue his calling. When he headed to college, he told his friends and family: “God first, education second, and football third.”
When he arrived at fall football camp, Nicholas was shocked to learn there were 23 linebackers—the same position he played—and usually only four to six made varsity. He knew he had a lot of work to do.
That fall of 2020, COVID-19 cases continued to rise and the fall football season was postponed to the following spring. Nicholas had worked hard, moving up from third-string to second-string. As a freshman, he had made it onto the varsity team and was actually getting play time; he was ecstatic!
Nicholas realized everything he was doing was getting in the way of what God had planned for him and that God was calling him elsewhere. So, when he was at the top of his game, Nicholas quit football.
It was a shock to his coaches, family, and friends, “It was the hardest conversation I’ve probably ever had; I’ve been playing football since I was seven!” But as one of his friends pointed out, “if God is calling you to do this, then that’s what you have to do. That’s the only reason we were put on this earth.”
Nicholas knew if God was calling him out of football, He had big plans for him elsewhere. The first thing he did was start going back to church regularly—he realized he had only gone two or three times since coming to college. As a leader for UMHB33 (a men’s ministry group), he set a goal to grow his group to eight, but it’s now reaching 10 and 12 each week. Nicholas also started a social media ministry called “Perception Ministries” on Instagram, which gained more than 1,000 followers in its first few weeks of launching. Inspiration for his ministry is based on Jeremiah 29:13, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
Looking back now, he sees how God orchestrated everything—placing him at UMHB so he could follow his true calling.
Nicholas, who is a business management major with a Christian studies minor, recalls how he had planned to attend another university, but his high school defensive coordinator, who had gone to UMHB, lined him up for a visit with a coach at UMHB. To keep his commitment to the coach, he said he would give it a cursory visit.
Driving down the long stretch of Sixth Avenue in Belton, the towering First Baptist Belton came into view, and he started shaking.
“Oh no! I already have my plan all down pat,” was all he could think. But he knew that was about to change before he even set eyes on the university.
“This is exactly where God wants me to be,” he thought the second their car turned onto campus.
Thinking back now, he says he “felt God before I even thought of football here, so that kind of cleared my vision a little bit that God didn’t really bring me to UMHB to play football.”
ANGEL TOLBERT
SCAN THE CODE to watch Angel's story online
Angel Tolbert’s grandfather chose her name, “Angel,” and since she was a little girl, it has inspired her to be a good person.
Discovering that she had an amazing singing ability at a young age just made her even more determined to live up to her name over the years.
“My grandfather said that God gave me the gift of singing, and that got ingrained in me. I believe with everything in me that if I didn’t feel that way, I wouldn’t have as powerful of a (singing) gift as I do now because I use it for Him,” she said.
Angel, who sings with One Voice and the UMHB Concert Choir, can’t remember a time that music hasn’t been part of her life. From the day she was big enough to climb up on her grandfather’s church stage, she has been singing Christian gospel music with her siblings.
Nothing makes her happier than when she sees other people happy.
“When I can sing something, and it touches somebody or brings them out of a funk that I didn’t know they were in, I’m happy it’s helping, and it makes me feel good,” she admits.
Still, even with all the accolades she receives for her talent, Angel remains thankful, humble, and down-toearth about her ability. Maybe it’s because she’s had to work hard to get where she is today? Perhaps it’s because she has a heart for others who have it worse than she? Most likely, it’s a little of both.
With 10 younger siblings, Angel knew the only way she would get to go to college was to pay for it herself, and she has worked tirelessly to do just that while making good grades along the way. To make ends meet, Angel has always had at least one job while at college. There even was a time during her sophomore year when she had three jobs at once. One of those three jobs was at UPS loading trucks at 4 a.m.
“I know if I hadn’t worked as hard as I did, whether in my classes or outside of school, I probably wouldn’t have been given the opportunities that I was given,” she said.
Angel is thankful for donors who made it a little easier for her—and many other students—to pursue their dreams at UMHB.
Over the years, Angel has enjoyed “giving back” to those donors through her performances with One Voice, which is often invited to perform at functions like the President’s Leadership Circle, an annual dinner that celebrates donors. She says performing for donors makes her feel like she can give something back to them.
Just as the donors have a heart for giving to help students like her, Angel has always had a special place in her heart for people who have it worse off. She is inspired to one day find a way to help others, either through her music or her love of social work. “I have family members who are adopted,” she said of her five cousins. “They came from terrible situations, and I’d like to help other children who are going through similar circumstances.”
Knowing what these children went through before they ended up with her family has inspired her to look beyond teaching music, which she planned to do once she finished college. Now, she is looking into the possibility of continuing school and going into social work someday or tying her two passions into something like music therapy.
