As a transfer student graduating in December, Laura Gurskey may end up having less time at Biola than other students have had. But she’s made the most of her five semesters here.

This semester alone, Gurskey is taking 18 credits, working as the director’s assistant at Biola’s Center for Christian Thought and serving as a teaching assistant for a biblical studies professor.

Gurskey transferred to Biola from Baylor University in the fall of 2014 and chose to major in interdisciplinary intercultural studies with an emphasis in philosophy, with a minor in biblical and theological studies. Her hope is to pursue a career in academia or another field that deals with ideas.

“I’ve always been interested in thinking about big questions,” said Gurskey, who plans to enroll in Talbot’s M.A. in philosophy program this spring.

In addition to very full semesters at Biola, Gurskey has also made the most of her last two summers. She spent the summer of 2015 in Sweden, interning with a missionary couple in the Stockholm area, and spent this past summer in Nashville, interning with the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). During her internship she helped work on SB 1146 as well as a variety of other projects, and was able to learn from the ERLC staff as well as prominent visitors and guest speakers.

“I have become increasingly interested in theories of Christian political engagement, and I think the ERLC is doing great work in terms of reframing how evangelicals approach this topic,” she said.                       

The adjustment to Biola as a transfer student was not without its difficulties for Gurskey. The cultures of Biola and Baylor are different, as are the Southern California and Midwestern cultures, said Gurskey, who lived in Louisville, Ky., before heading to Baylor.                        

But she is glad she made the switch.                        

“I’ve made a number of very valuable relationships during my time at Biola,” she said. “I’m well prepared to pursue my academic and vocational goals after I graduate.”