Megan Cochran ’08 (Albert Lea, Minnesota) grew up nominally Catholic, but in high school she put her faith in political change. However, when she came to Macalester and took “Intro to Psych,” her direction began to shift. “Psychology really called to me,” she says. “Two of my close friends had lost their moms to cancer and I wanted to do some kind of grief work.” With help from the Lilly Project, which supports vocational discernment, and from Internship Director Michael Porter, Cochran arranged a summer 2006 internship with Allina Homecare, Hospice & Palliative Care. photo: darin back

megan cochran ’08 worked at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis as a Lilly Summer Fellow.

She volunteered all summer with a hospice patient, collaborating with the spiritual care team, and to Cochran’s surprise, the family turned to her when the patient entered the final stages of dying. “I hadn’t been trained to deal with someone actively dying, but I had a short instruction session on the phone with my boss at Allina, and I pulled it together. I related to the dying man through prayer and my relationship with God, even though I didn’t think I had one at that point. That’s when I realized I was still a Christian, and this was what I was called to do.”

Further vocational exploration was possible through the Lilly Summer Fellows program for Cochran and seven others— four serving as researchers and three as interns. Cochran spent summer 2007 working with children as an intern at Minneapolis’s Westminster Presbyterian Church.

All Lilly interns receive a stipend, lodging in a collegeowned house, and mentoring and support from faculty and staff—including Chaplain Lucy Forster-Smith, Lilly Program Associate Eily Marlow, and Civic Engagement Center Director Karin Trail-Johnson. Although some students were apprehensive about living with strangers, an orientation with Marlow and Forster-Smith brought everyone much closer together, especially after fellows discussed questions such as, “What important choices have you made in your life?” Says fellow Emily Gastineau, “When we shared narratives, there was instant transformation.”

All research was due in August and the fellowship culminated at a retreat at a Minnesota spirituality center run by the Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls.

Cochran’s discernment process led her to apply to seminary. “My parents were shocked at first, because I had such a negative opinion of organized religion when I first came to Macalester. It seemed like a complete 180 to them, but they’re with me every step of the way.”