A Second Chance at Centenary

Submitted by Anita Dinwiddie ’80

When I graduated from high school, I was given a scholarship to attend Centenary College. Unfortunately, I felt like a duck out of water that first semester and decided not to continue in the spring. 

Instead, I married and had two children to care for. Several years later in 1976 I learned that the Centenary School of Church Careers, what we know today as the Christian Leadership Center, was offering scholarships and was encouraged by my pastor to apply. God’s grace was in abundance and I was afforded the opportunity to enroll at Centenary as a non-traditional student in that program. 

What an amazing and indeed challenging journey that was for me. My experiences in that program and in the classroom were transformative. I graduated Cum Laude in May 1980, joined the college staff initially as an Admissions Counselor and later became the Alumni Director. In that role I met Bruce Dinwiddie, Centenary graduate of 1965, at an alumni function, and as the saying goes, “the rest is history!”  Both of us are proud of our Alma Mater and the relationships formed during our respective years as undergraduates. 

Forward, Forward, Centenary!