Shortly after earning his marketing degree from Berry College, Caleb was offered an opportunity to work full-time for the WinShape College Program. He had previously been a student in the WinShape College Program, and to him, this felt like the right next step. However, Caleb’s dad had other opinions – pursuing a job at a non-profit wasn’t exactly the future he had envisioned for his son.
While wrestling through this tension, Caleb decided to turn to some trusted mentors he had met through the WinShape College Program. These men and women quickly came alongside Caleb and helped bring him to a place where he could thrive in who God created him to be.
Caleb was able to realize that he was created with a purpose, and in order to be effective in that purpose, he had to dig deep, find what his passions were, and then live out of those passions.
Once Caleb came to a place where he was at peace with what God was calling him to do, his dad ultimately came to a place where he respected his decision.
“Being in the WinShape community gave me the tools I needed to evaluate my career path, my relationships (and) my faith,” says Caleb. “It gave me a vision for how I could be pursuing something greater than my small view of the present.”
After three years of working with the WinShape College Program, Caleb decided he was ready for a change and moved to Chattanooga to pursue a full-time marketing role with High Point Climbing and Fitness.
A move like this meant Caleb would have to uproot his life in Rome, Ga. and rebuild his community from the ground up.
Despite his fears, Caleb dove in feet first and started intentionally building relationships with his coworkers through climbing. “It wasn’t a quick process,” he says. But ever so slowly, Caleb was able to chip away at that “wall” and learn how to better deal with his fears.
“Previously, I would just ignore it, quarantine it, put it off to the side and then just move on,” he says. “(Now), when it comes to relationships and big life decisions, I’m able to say, ‘let’s dive into it. Let’s not avoid it.’”
