Testimonials

Justin Petersen, a 2004 education graduate from Southern Wesleyan University, is a seventh-grade social studies teacher at Riverside Middle School in Pendleton, S.C.

Petersen, who is in his fourth year at Riverside, was named Teacher of the Year at the end of the 2006-2007 school year. Petersen, who grew up near St. Louis, Mo., learned about SWU at a basketball camp in Tennessee when he met coach Charles Wimphrie, who invited him to visit the campus in Central.

“I really enjoyed my education at SWU. Part of it I think was just the small atmosphere. You could choose to be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond. I liked being able to know the people around me. You can walk across the campus and your professors would talk to you. That was neat. The education department as a whole cares about its students and did a good job preparing me for my field,” said Petersen.

Peterson noted that several of his professors at SWU made a huge impact in his life.