Global Leadership Grad Highlights MAGL Program

Kayla Askey, a recent DBU MAGL graduate, encourages first-semester students in the program to hold the perspective that every course is presently equipping students with tools in life.

“An important lesson I learned as I was going through this program was that each class could and should be applied to my current situation,” Askey explained. “While it is true that this degree is preparing you for the future, all of the classes are also equipping you with tools that can be applied in your life right now. You don’t have to wait for the diploma to begin using the skills and perspectives you are gaining.

Askey also challenges MAGL students to give every area of their life over to the Lord, while remaining open to the opportunities God provides to utilize the knowledge learned within the program.

“Take time to evaluate your current place in life: your community, your church, your home, and your work and ask the Lord to open up opportunities for you to put into practice the knowledge that is being shared with you,” Askey encouraged. “In doing this, you will realize that when you complete your program, you will be walking out of here not only with a degree, but with really amazing experiences as well.

For Askey, the best part about the MAGL program is building relationships with and learning alongside classmates from various walks of life.

“One of my favorite things about this program is that you will likely have classes with the same people, which gives you the opportunity to build relationships with your classmates,” Askey shared. “I completed an Accelerated MAGL degree alongside my Bachelors in Intercultural Studies and many of my classmates from my undergraduate classes have carried over into my graduate classes.

Some of these classmates have become wonderful friends to me and they have been a big part of the growth that I have experienced. We have so much to learn from each other and I am grateful to have been able to learn and grow alongside them. I would also like to say that I had some pretty wonderful professors that gifted me with new perspectives and were so helpful along the way.”

Askey credits the MAGL program for broadening her view of God by showing her the relational aspects between cultures, along with the tools to start conversations concerning these relations.

“I think that when we are seeking to learn anything new, we are inviting some kind of growth into our lives,” Askey stated. “For me, learning about how cultures relate to each other and how they relate to God helped broaden my view of Him. Every time I am able to speak about God with someone that comes from a different background or different culture than mine, I gain new perspectives and can see more value in the characteristics God reveals to people. This program gave me tools I could use to start these types of conversations.”

Additionally, Askey states that the programs has taught her the value of learning as a lifelong journey, a value she will hold with her as she pursues a career as a cross-cultural communicator.

“Another insight from the MAGL courses that have grown and will continue to grow me is the value of life-long learning,” Askey explained. “As I continue pursuing a vocation of a cross-cultural communicator, in whatever context that may be, I am going to have to be willing to adapt and to continuously humble myself to learn. Through the MAGL program I have learned this reality and have grown to see it as a joy.”