Cedarville Stories

At 19 years old, Cari Hyde was a healthy, competitive college athlete with dreams of becoming a teacher, marrying her high school sweetheart and continuing her volleyball career. But in March 2006, her life changed dramatically when she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.  In this powerful two-part Cedarville Stories podcast, Hyde talks about her battle with cancer, the life-threateni...

A Nurse's Calling To Serve   What happens when God takes a young nurse's heart for helping others and leads her halfway around the world? For Cedarville University nursing alumna Rachel Parks, that calling led to Eswatini, a small country in southern Africa, where she is bringing medical care, compassion, and the hope of Jesus to vulnerable children and families.  In this episode of the Cedarville...

From Music to Medicine: Caring for the Underserved What happens when a career takes an unexpected turn and becomes a calling to serve others? For Cedarville University pharmacy alumnus Dr. Josh Pearson, a journey that began in the music industry led to a career dedicated to making lifesaving medications accessible to those who need them most.  In this episode of the Cedarville Stories podcast, hos...

Jesse and Carissa Bowser: Cultivating Creativity, Faith and Community What happens when creativity, faith, and a shared vision for serving others come together? For Cedarville University alumni Jesse and Carissa Bowser, the answer is Victory Garden Studio, a creative business rooted in their belief that meaningful work can cultivate beauty, connection and growth.  In this episode of the Cedarville...

From a Deserted Island to Cedarville University What do a deserted island, a rogue ocean wave, a Purdue gym bag, and Cedarville University have in common? For Chris Sohn, they are all part of an extraordinary life story shaped by God’s providence.  In this episode of the Cedarville Stories podcast, Chris Sohn, Chief Financial Officer at Cedarville University, reflects on the experiences that shape...

Love, Cancer, and the Faithfulness of God What happens when a young couple’s love story takes an unexpected turn? On this episode of Cedarville Stories , host Mark Weinstein sits down with Cedarville University alumni Aaron ’19 and Danielle (Dykema) Lynn ’19 to discuss their relationship, Aaron’s battle with cancer, and the faith that carried them through one of life’s most challenging seasons.  T...

From Classroom Idea to FDA-Approved Medical Device   What happens when a student sees a life-threatening problem and refuses to accept that “this is just the way it’s done”?  On this episode of the Cedarville Stories podcast, host Mark Weinstein talks with Dr. Tim Norman, Distinguished Professor of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, and Dr. Lauren Edmondson, a 2019 Cedarville graduate and phys...

Faith, Technology and the Future of AI As a new academic year begins at Cedarville University, technology and artificial intelligence continue to reshape the way people work, learn and communicate. On this episode of the Cedarville Stories podcast , Rob McDole, a leader in Cedarville’s Center for Teaching and Learning and an experienced voice on artificial intelligence, joins the conversation to e...

A Voice of Joy for Listeners Nationwide For Joy Summers, joy is more than a name—it is a thread God has woven through every chapter of her life. On this week’s Cedarville Stories podcast, Joy shares her story with the same warmth, humor and contagious energy that have made her a familiar voice to listeners across the country. Born shortly after the loss of her infant brother, Joy was the gift her...

Designing with Purpose What does designing a safer ski rescue sled have in common with helping recreate first-century Jerusalem? For Cedarville University graduate Luise Schmidt-Krayer, both projects reflect her desire to use design with creativity, care and purpose. Growing up in Gummersbach, Germany, Luise loved adventure—especially skiing. After high school, she took a gap year and attended Lak...

It's More than Peanut Butter for Jesse and Caleb Mangum   When Caleb Mangum lost his job in 2012, he did not set out to build a nut butter company. He simply faced an unexpected turn in the road and took a step of faith, trusting God to provide for his family and lead him forward.   That step became the beginning of Nutty Novelties.  What started as a leap into the unknown slowly grew into a busin...

The Rejection That Redirected Her Life Forever For years, Briana Zalewski believed becoming a physician assistant would give her the purpose she was searching for. After earning a pre-medical undergraduate degree, working in health care and facing repeated rejection from PA programs, she wondered whether her dream would ever become reality. Then she found Cedarville University. From her on-campus...

Inside Cedarville's Entrepreneurial Incubator At the Hustle House, no one builds a business alone. Every day brings opportunities to ask questions, test ideas, celebrate progress, and pray through challenges. For the Cedarville University students who call the house home, entrepreneurship grows best in a community that encourages hard work, demands excellence, and keeps Christ at the center. Will...

Emily Tuttle: From the Family Room to the Press Box   Long before Emily Tuttle filled notebooks with game stories or rushed through postgame interviews, she spent time with her family watching whatever sporting event happened to be on television. Together they celebrated thrilling victories, debated coaching decisions, and relived unforgettable moments long after the final whistle. Those tradition...

Standing for the Vulnerable Behind courtroom briefs and legal filings are real people whose lives have been devastated by exploitation. Christen Price knows their stories well. As a civil rights attorney with the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, the 2009 Cedarville University graduate has devoted her career to seeking justice for victims and pressing some of the world's largest technology c...

Building More Than Basketball Players Mark Scharnberg, a 1997 Cedarville University graduate, has built successful businesses throughout his career. Today, one of the projects closest to his heart isn't measured by profits; it's measured by the impact on the lives of young athletes. On the Cedarville Stories podcast, Mark describes Iowa United as more than a basketball prep school. He envisions it...

A Choice That Became a Legacy When Mark Scharnberg ’97 chose Cedarville University as a high school senior, he had no idea where this decision would take him. Looking back, he sees God's hand at work in ways no one could have planned. Mark recently shared on the Cedarville Stories podcast that Cedarville was the only Christian university he seriously considered. "I can't even tell you why," he adm...

Harnessing the Ocean   When most people look across the ocean, they see waves rolling toward the shore. Toby Dewhurst sees opportunity. A 2009 mechanical engineering graduate of Cedarville University, Toby has built a career helping people harness the power and potential of the sea. From sustainable energy to aquaculture, his work sits at the heart of what many call the “blue economy” — using ocea...

Bringing Light to Broadway When Dani Lee Hutch crossed the commencement stage at Cedarville University in 2016 with a degree in music, Broadway seemed a long way from southwest Ohio, but God had already begun writing a story that would carry her from classrooms and chapel services to some of the most celebrated productions in American musical theatre. Today, Dani serves as a musical director in th...

Beauty From Ashes Some stories begin with joy; others with sorrow. Yet the most remarkable stories reveal how God faithfully weaves both together, bringing beauty from ashes in ways no one could have imagined. Dean and Merav Maxwell know the deep ache of loss. On January 29, 2025, they lost their daughter, Grace, a beloved Cedarville University student, in the tragic plane crash over the Potomac R...

Bound Together by Grace No one chooses the road of suffering, but sometimes God allows fellow travelers to ease the way. That was true for the Maxwell and White families. When their stories were marked by separate tragedies in 2025, they found themselves walking similar paths of loss, recovery, faith, and hope. Along the way, they discovered the strength of Christian community and the comfort that...

Entrepreneurship With a Kingdom Purpose Josh Hochstedler has watched God use both hardship and opportunity to shape his definition of success. Along the way, his interest in entrepreneurship has become closely connected to a desire to impact lives, build Christian community, and help others pursue their God-given calling with confidence and purpose. A junior cyber operations major at Cedarville Un...

Designing Solutions That Serve People Gabriel Payne thought he knew what his future should look like. After an aptitude test in high school pointed him toward engineering, the path seemed straightforward: attend a large, nationally recognized university and earn the kind of degree serious engineers were expected to pursue. Schools like Purdue, Northwestern, Harvard, and MIT stood at the top of his...

A Win-Win Faith Carlos Hidalgo was alone in the fitness center at his church on December 1, 2025, working through his normal exercise routine, when pain hit with terrifying force. He would later describe it as feeling like a bomb had exploded inside his head. At first, the 1993 Cedarville University graduate tried to shake it off. He got in his car and started driving home. But then he saw somethi...

Finding Hope in Invisible Grief Drew Hensley has a way of stepping into people’s troubles with the steady kindness of a pastor who knows Jesus meets us there. A 2007 graduate of Cedarville University, he now serves as a pastor in Charleston, South Carolina, with a heart for local church ministry and a deep compassion for people in pain. His compassion is rooted in the heart of Jesus, who sees peop...