Maddie’s Story

“My faith got a lot stronger throughout this program.”

For Maddie Duke, it’s her first summer working as a college-age intern, but she’s already learned a lot about scripture and her own faith. 

“I didn’t really sit down and crack open the Bible before this internship, but now we do that every day.”

Maddie’s family is relatively new to Abiding Presence; Maddie and her family first got involved in December 2021. At first, Maddie was only involved in the music ministry and didn’t know many people at church. 

“I didn’t know anybody else my age,” Maddie said. “Through lunches and faith formation, though, I’ve gotten to know the other interns and make more friends which is really cool.

“Before, when I had volunteer work or other jobs where I worked with kids, sometimes I would get stressed when I was working, but this program is so organized and it runs so smoothly,” Maddie said. “It really allows us to actually work with the kids.”

In the fall, Maddie is going to be attending Penn State University as a secondary education major with a concentration in math. Maddie will be staying at Penn State for a fifth year to earn her Master’s in special education to become a high school special education teacher.

“Inclusivity is something I want to prioritize in my teaching,” Maddie said. “The program here shows that it’s not that hard to do a few extra things to make a kid more comfortable and more successful.”