Throughout my life I struggled with believing in any religion, I favored Christianity, however; I hold doubts. This changed once I met chad Jacobson—a pastor through Shepard Of The Hills church. My thoughts changed the moment I got to know Chad Jacobson, his harmless eyes, short hair and welcoming smile every Sunday. Witnessing someone this passionate about Christ has changed my life for the better. I spent the past six years admiring Chad for his charity drives, donations and even holding the door open. These are common events in Chad’s life.

One memory stands out to me, in summer of 2018 me and eight of my close friends went on a mission trip through Shepard Of The Hills to Ripley, Tennessee. A crammed eleven hour van ride ahead of us. My friend group was split in two different vans. One of my friends Christian, was in a different van, with Chad as his van leader. Christian is self oriented and can be obnoxious;  sometimes annoying other people in the process. This is what happened during the van ride. I was told he didn’t stop talking and sometimes screamed. Chad frequently asked, “Christian can you please quiet down? I think you are starting to annoy some people in the van.”

Four days of hard work later we had a free day; the van groups spent the day doing what they wanted. My van group voted to go to Memphis; similar to Christian and Chad’s group (Memphis was about an hour away from Ripley). Christian refused to go, counter offering to stay back by himself. Because kids cannot be without a chaperone, Chad offered to stay back with Christian even though he wanted to see Memphis. The camp would not allow this; the only option was to somehow get Christian to agree to go.

Chad tried everything, after a few minutes Chad said, “Christian,  I‘ll pay for your meal in Memphis and we can eat wherever you want.” Christian agreed to this; the meal ended up being over $20. Chad held no grudge and was gracious to Christian throughout the trip.

We ended up spending about two hours in Memphis and once we got back to camp, Chad went up to Christian. He said, “Thank you for agreeing to come with us, I hope you had an OK time.

Watching this I was frozen; I felt like a deer in headlights; Chad had thanked Christian even though Chad payed for his meal and had to deal with the brunt of his complaining throughout the trip.

Chad received no gratitude for what he did; looking back on it, I wish I had apologized for Christian and thanked Chad. Chad’s outstanding personality and admirable actions will stick with me forever. I will remember his harmless eyes and friendly smile every time I go to mass. This is why I think Chad Jacobson of Shepherd Of The Hills church should get educator of the year.