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Meet Some of our Students Michelle Hixon
During those six years, I learned how to play violin and flute and I had the desire to pursue music in an atmosphere that encouraged students to play music to honor the Lord. These were the two main things I was looking for in a college. When I stepped onto the University of Mobile’s gorgeous campus and encountered the staff, professors and students, I felt right at home. My parents and I came back to the States for two months in my junior year of high school. During this time, I was given a tour of the campus; I had the opportunity to meet faculty members and professors, as well as audition for Dr. Breland and others. I was impressed by the way they related to me with humility, grace and encouragement and I was inspired by the history of students from UM who use their musical abilities to honor God. I prayed for a long time about which college the Lord wanted me to attend and I felt Him leading me to go to a college where I would not just be comfortable musically and spiritually, but one where I would be challenged, held accountable and could grow as a student, musician, and as a Christian. The University of Mobile is definitely the college that God has called me to. Brad Forehand
Music is my love and theatre is my passion. I am able to do both these things at UM. As a double major in Church Music and Musical Theatre, I am involved in the Sounds of Mobile, the Opera Workshop, the A Cappella Choir, and the Upper Room Dinner Theatre. The music department has given me incredible opportunities such as singing on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean and singing on military bases in Germany. In the theatre department, I don’t have to consider compromising my standards in order to make a good production. The theatre professor is very encouraging and helps me find and prepare my auditions for summer programs. The music program here at UM is incredible. The entire faculty is very supportive, understanding, and excellent at what they do. Not only have they taken time to make sure that I understand the concepts in class, but they have also taken time to ask about my day and talk to me when things aren’t going well. The thing that I love most about the University of Mobile is the Christian atmosphere in the typically non-Christian realm of the arts. I have met many Christian friends who have the same interests as I do and who are also going through the same struggles as I am. We pray before classes and concerts; the teachers take time to discuss spiritual as well as academic matters. Above all else, the leaders in the Center for Performing Arts want us to develop our abilities so that we may better glorify God. Nathan Woodward
For a painstaking year, I worked….and am pleased to say that I was accepted as an undergraduate Jazz Studies major with concentration in applied Jazz Saxophone as a freshman at a large, state university. Without prior warning, my mother begged me to visit the University of Mobile to follow up with Dr. Roger Breland’s invitation. With all seriousness, I was not going to change my mind. No man could do it……not even Dr. Breland. To be honest, I had made up my mind that he would not sway my decision. After an anointed visit and a loooooonnnnggggg ride home, my heart changed and God’s perfect plan was revealed. Two days later, I registered at the University of Mobile. Giving all the glory to God, I have never looked back and could not be happier. |
I lived in the Middle East for six years where my parents continue to serve as missionaries at a government hospital. I grew up in a loving community of Christians from many different countries and backgrounds. The nurses and doctors who made up our international community came and went, but one thing remained the same: the common bond that we all shared in our love for Christ. For this reason, I knew I wanted to go to a Christian college. 
I was looking for a college that had high academic standards and musical excellence, and a place where God would use me. I found all these things and more in the University of Mobile. I felt God’s call on my life to go into a music ministry in the middle of my tenth grade year. God lead me to Mobile and the Center for Performing Arts. It has been a great place for me to increase my knowledge and begin to fulfill what God has in store for me.
In the years preceding my high school graduation, many opportunities came my way. Honestly, I can say that God allowed me to chase a dream that would simply preface a coming chapter in my life. Knowing without a shadow of a doubt that the talents of which I have been blessed are of spiritual ordination, I pressed on, continuing a dream to become the “Kenny G of Christian Music”.