Ouachita Stories

Ouachita has started six graudate programs over the last six years, including a low-residency M.A. in counseling. We asked a member of our first cohort to share why he chose Ouachita.

Never in a million years would I have dreamed that I would be going back to school at this stage in my life. After nearly 30 years in youth and pastoral ministry, I had found my rhythm. I had spent decades walking with people through some of life’s greatest difficulties.

But as I began my own personal work in counseling, something shifted. I started to see how the wounds from my childhood were still shaping me — impacting how I saw myself, how I related to others and even how I viewed God. For most of my life, I denied that those early experiences had any lasting effect. But in the safety of counseling, I began to process the memories tied to those events — and the quiet, deep-seated beliefs they had left behind.

Around that same time, I started noticing a pattern: for reasons I couldn’t yet explain, people who carried similar wounds — stories of rejection, shame or silent suffering — seemed to gravitate toward me. There, I was able to sit with them and speak into their pain. Not because I had all the answers, but because I’d been there too. That’s when I realized: my wounds weren’t just scars to hide — they were bridges. They opened the door for greater empathy and connection.

Seeing this helped me realize how much more I wanted to grow. As Scripture points out, God comforts us so that we can comfort others (2 Corinthians 1:4). This was a different kind of ministry — one where I was a wounded healer. And I wanted to become a more well-rounded one.

That desire is what led me to consider going back to school. From the start, I had five non-negotiables:

• First, I wanted a Christian program that led to professional licensure.
• Second, it had to be competitively priced.
• Third, it had to fit within my full-time ministry schedule.
• Fourth, it needed to be CACREP-accredited or on the path to it.
• Fifth, it needed to be a program where I was more than “just a number” — a place where I would feel seen, supported and shaped.

Ouachita checked every one of those boxes. But more than that, they welcomed me as a whole person — as a pastor, a student, and a fellow traveler on the road to wholeness. Here, I’ve found professors who challenge me with wisdom and grace, and classmates who understand what it means to carry both compassion and brokenness.

I am truly honored to be part of the very first cohort of students in Ouachita Baptist University's M.A. in counseling program. If you're considering this path, know this: you don’t have to have it all figured out. You just need to take the next faithful step. For me, that step was Ouachita — and I’m grateful I took it.

 

Roger Dawson is a graduate student from Greenville, Texas, pursuing a Master of Arts in counseling.

 

 

• Tags:
• Admissions
• Counseling M.A.
• Graduate and Professional Studies