A Running Start

Holt adoptee and recent graduate Leah Anderson shares her thoughts on adoption and her plans for the future. In 1998, we featured Leah on the cover of Holt Families Magazine. Sixteen years later, she graces our cover again for the 2014 graduate issue of Holt International Magazine!*

Being adopted has been the biggest blessing I have ever received. It has opened up so many opportunities for me that I never would have had if I was left to be raised in an orphanage.

Ever since I was a little girl, God has given me the desire to be in the medical field and pursue nursing. I also would like to be a missionary, and set foot on foreign soil to share the love that God has shown me throughout my entire life. I look back at all the things I have been able to do and I see how amazingly God has laid out the path that I am on. He truly changed my life by bringing me into a Christian home and allowing me to see many of His wonderful creations around the world. I have also had the blessing to connect with others who have been adopted and have found many commonalities with them that have helped me grow and mature throughout life.

This past June, I was able to make a step towards my goal of becoming a nurse. I graduated high school! I couldn’t have done it without the love and support of my family and friends. My senior year of high school, I did what is called the Running Start program through our local community college. This program allows high school juniors and seniors to get college course credits while completing their high school diploma. I took the opportunity and ran with it. I plan on finishing my associate’s degree at the community college, and then transferring to a four-year university to get my bachelor of science in nursing.

I hope to use my degree to further the kingdom of God in my local community, as well as mission trips in the future.

Leah Anderson | Olympia, WA

* Click here to view the print issue of the 2014 graduate issue of Holt International Magazine!