Kelline Linton hopes to bring justice to an unjust world. The honors student will graduate from ACU in May with a degree in print journalism and has her eyes set on law school with plans to eventually become a judge.
"I love justice because God commands Christians to love justice and mercy," Kelline said, referring to one of her favorite Bible verses, Micah 6:8. "I hate to see people hurting from others' sins."
I love justice because God commands Christians to love justice and mercy. I hate to see people hurting from others' sins.
Kelline's interest in the judicial system was cemented her sophomore year at ACU when she attended the International Justice Mission prayer event in Washington, D.C. "It changed my life," she said. "I heard personal testimonies and met people who had been held in modern-day slavery or were rescued from sex trafficking. The fact that this is still an issue is abhorrent."
Kelline is chief copy editor of the award-winning Optimist student newspaper and has written for the newspaper all four years in college. That experience, she says, will be a great asset in law school. "It has helped me think critically. It also has improved my writing skills, which will be important in law school," she said.
Dr. Kenneth Pybus, adviser of The Optimist, has been a wonderful mentor, Kelline said. Pybus, who holds a law degree, is advising Kelline on her Honors Capstone Project in the area of journalism and law.
ACU's Honors College provided an unexpected enhancement to her education, Kelline said. "I was so surprised how enjoyable the honors classes are," she said. "They're not just loading students down with material and things to learn. What they're doing is trying to give students new experiences."
The classes are smaller and often more discussion-oriented, Kelline said. "You're challenged to think, and you discuss different aspects of the topics that you want to discuss, which is very neat."
One of her favorite honors electives was a course on simple living, which involved a field trip to St. Benedict's Farm, a monastic community near San Antonio. "These people lived the most simplest lives I've ever seen," Kelline said. "They had cut themselves off from society to live these simple lives, because they felt they were called to do that."
In addition to these innovative learning experiences, the Honors College offers a tight-knit community beyond the classroom.
"They try to do fun little things where people can get together to meet their fellow students," Kelline said. "Just the other day we had a game of flashlight tag outside, and that was fun. They have chapel every week. My sophomore year we had Honors Assassins (a game where students are secretly assigned targets to shoot with a water gun until only one person is left). That was amazing. I've never had so much fun in my whole life."
