The thought of attending a faith-based college didn’t sit well with Julia Spoor ’25. Raised in a secular family just outside Philadelphia, she was unsure what to expect when she chose to attend Quaker-affiliated Guilford College.

“It sounds silly now, but I thought maybe I’d be indoctrinated, or I worried about not fitting in with a heavily religious community,” Julia says. “That was not part of who I am.”

She smiles now, remembering her anxious days leading up to her arrival at Guilford — because, well, she’s come so far. Certainly in her education — she’ll graduate this month with a degree in Education Studies — and in her love for a school she wasn’t so sure about four years ago.

“I can’t think of a better place to go to college than Guilford,” says Julia, who was chosen by her classmates to speak at Commencement in the College’s 137th year on May 17.

Whatever concerns she had about Guilford quickly faded during her first week on campus, when she attended the annual Passing of the Light ceremony.

The event, typically held in front of Founders Hall, welcomes students into Guilford's living, historic community and invites them to engage with the world in a new, intentional way.

Julia was deeply moved. “I saw all these people on the quad holding candles and sharing in the light — and that was really beautiful,” she says. “There was nothing overtly religious about the night, but it really set the tone for me and the next four years.”

“I quickly became really interested in Quakerism, more from an anthropological perspective,” she adds. “I wanted to understand what it was all about. I wouldn’t say I practice Quakerism, but I’ve learned a lot, and I apply many of its tenets in my own life.

“The community that Quakerism fosters is really hard to beat.”

From the start, Julia knew she wanted to teach. After taking an introductory Environmental Studies class with Assistant Professor for Sustainable Foods Tony Van Winkle, she found a new academic passion and decided to blend Environmental Studies into her Education major.

“I became a lot more interested in Environmental Studies — not just as an area of study, but as a life practice,” she says. “It was so eye-opening. I had some conversations with Tony about merging the two fields and figuring out how Environmental Studies could enhance my education focus.”

This fall, Julia will begin her teaching career just down the road at New Garden Friends School, working with young children, where she has been an assistant teacher while an undergraduate.

“I really love watching them form relationships, develop their own interests and identities, and share that with each other,” she says. “I like seeing a group of kids come in at the beginning of the year, all pretty scared and unsure of their surroundings, and by the end of the year, they’re really a community. They act like siblings.”

And yes, Julia sees the similarities between her students’ journey and her own time at Guilford.

“I’ve grown so much since I’ve been here,” she says. “I have a much better idea of who I am and what my identity is than I did my freshman year. I’ve definitely made some of my best friends for life here.”