Graduate Profile: Eve M. Woldemikael, MDiv '25

How I've Changed 

I have changed in so many ways since I started at HDS and only the best ways. I’ve grown as a leader and deepened my spiritual grounding and frameworks. I’ve learned to embrace heartbreak and to trust my inner knowing. It has not all been easy but even the hardships have been guides. I’ve uncovered a lot of passions I had previously not explored and become fearless about trying new things even when I don’t do them well. I’ve become the artist I’ve always dreamed about being, and all this has only been possible through the love of community and the supportive mentors who encouraged me to use my voice and speak my truth into being no matter what—and to have a whole lot of fun along the way! There is still so much more to learn, but I can wholeheartedly say that I’m more trusting, more loving, more grounded, and more myself than ever before.

Memorable Moment

Traveling to Great Salt Lake as part of Terry Tempest Williams’ and Stephanie Paulsell’s “Walking the Inland Sea” course. Some highlights: The day we took a multi-hour bus ride deep into the desert to reach the Sun Tunnels, and we all packed into a tunnel and lay down and sang together, laughing for hours. The time our bus broke down and we had to stay in a motel and ration toothbrushes. The intimate fire circles we began and ended our day with and the breath-taking sunsets on Antelope Island. The early mornings and late nights in our tiny house and all the long hours on the bus spent oscillating between goofing off and engaging in deep conversation.

Also, joining the HDS Surf Club my first year here and reflecting on the nature of the divine with a fabulous crew of ocean-lovers in our weekly trips to the sea!

Message of Thanks 

My time at HDS has been most defined by the amazing, inspiring mentors I have had the pleasure of learning from and working with. Stew, who introduced me to songwriting as a playful art and helped me find the artistic freedom and easy joy that comes from embracing the uniqueness of my voice. Stew is also the most hilariously, spontaneously cool teacher I’ve ever had. Terry Tempest Williams, who has been at the very heart of my MDiv degree. Terry embodies what it means to be an artist in a world on fire. She confronts every challenge with humor, grace, vulnerability, and fierce love, and is the mentor I have been waiting my whole life to meet. Terry, you model for me the only way forward, and there aren’t enough "thank yous" in the world to express my gratitude to you. Maytha Alhassen, a dear mentor and collaborator/co-creator, whose intellectual, critical, decolonial brilliance pushed my thinking to new depths and continues to inspire me as a creative/scholar. Cynthia Wilson and Jonah Yellowman, who have shared deep, precious, ancestral knowledge and culture with me and generously welcomed me into their community. Dean Melissa Bartholomew, who encourages me to follow where spirit/intuition leads even when it doesn’t outwardly make sense. Kimberley Patton, whose firm, protective love made her the best academic adviser.

I want to thank my HDS co-conspirators and best friends: Auds, Shir, Frances, Oorja, and Ameerah. You all (and many, many more) have been the very best part of this whole thing, and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you.

Eternal gratitude and love to my nuclear family who have made everything in my life possible: Olivia, Victoria, and Tekle, as well as my beloved, vast extended family stretching from Eritrea to North America. Your love makes all the difference, and I love you all enormously. Gratitude to the ancestors—I proudly represent the village of Adi Baro everywhere I go!

Coco, my baby dog, who always reminds me of the importance of being soft and teaches me the tenderness of love.

Future Plans

I plan to continue dreaming, writing, singing, acting, and creating. I hope to spend time by the ocean and in the deep forest. I want to touch more trees, surf more waves, and write love songs to the ocean and the sky. I plan to continue building multicultural, diverse community and rooting myself evermore in my ancestry and culture. Ultimately, I want to center my life around family, friendship, creativity, nature, and love. Making a little money along the way would be great too. :)