It’s a busy Wednesday afternoon and she’s hurrying along to her work study job in the Campus Ministries office. She’s passing everyone but stops short of the student center’s steps because someone is yelling “Pilch!”
As a friend walks up to her, Hannah Pilcher answers with a hug and a “How are you?”
Standing at average height with dark curly hair, Pilcher is known just as well for her smile and compassion as she is her nickname. In a list of adjectives, Devon Malone uses the words “humble,” “hardworking” and “energetic” to describe her friend. Pilcher also has the title of Ouachita Baptist University’s 2012 Homecoming Queen.
“[Being crowned Homecoming Queen] is one of those moments where you’re like, ‘Is this really happening?’” Pilcher said. “You can’t feel more blessed, you know, than by having all your friends and family and the campus as a whole surround you.
Pilcher is a senior Secondary Education and Spanish double major from Little Rock, Ark. who, as she puts it, “genuinely loves people.” With a gift for leadership, Pilcher has been involved with classmates and fellow Ouachitonians through campus organizations since her freshman year.
She is currently the CM ministry leader for the organization “Big Brother/Big Sister” and is involved with CM’s women’s discipleship. It is her second year to be co – chair of the Campus Activities Board and is on Ouachita Student Foundation’s Student Recruitment Committee. She also is heavily involved in Tiger Tunes through OSF.
Plenty of people with Pilcher’s workload would be drained by the day’s end. Pilcher doesn’t let her schedule keep her from reaching out to others.
“She is always thinking of ways to encourage and serve those around her. I’ve just seen her lose sleep so many times because she is tutoring someone in Spanish or counseling a friend going through a hard time or just cleaning up after a CM event… She is just incredible!” said friend and fellow classmate, Hannah Ramsey.
Pilcher claims that her work ethic and social skills developed as a young girl when visiting hospitals and nursing homes with her dad, Rex, who was then a full time pastor. It was on these visits that she realized the need and desire to serve others rather than herself.
“I had to meet a lot of random people with my dad in the ministry,” Pilcher said. “I got to talk with a lot of different types of people and see a lot of different types of needs.”
Though it was nursing home visits with her dad that opened her eyes to service, Pilcher feels a special call to work with teenagers. She has always loved this age and recognizes that these years are a time of growth. She understands that many are looking for guidance and was looking for a way to help lead.
Her mother, Mery, helped show Pilcher a way to minister to students. Born in Peru, Mery now works as a translator for UAMS in Little Rock but raised Pilcher and her younger siblings, Marissa and Robert, to appreciate the culture.
“She lived there until she was 21 so her first language is Spanish,” Pilcher explained. “I love Spanish but it’s just a way for me to be in the classroom around high school students everyday.”
She has developed a “heart for Hispanic people” and could see herself living in South America. She fell in love with Chile while on a mission trip with CM but would love to meet family in Peru. However, her immediate plans after graduation are still “up in the air” but options include moving, staying in Arkansas, or even applying for a Journeyman position. For now, Pilcher is focused on her last year at Ouachita.
She describes OBU as a nurturing place, one where she learned more about herself and grew as an individual. She feels that God called her to the school to place the people in her life who have helped her become stronger in her faith. Extroverted and easy-going, she spent most of her free time with friends and always looked forward to GROW weekend.
Though GROW has been her favorite part of Homecoming for years, being named Homecoming Queen was a highlight of the year. To Pilcher, the title means more than wearing a crown.
“Honestly, it’s humbling because in some small way the Lord was able to use me here. In some small way he was able to touch people maybe using me, maybe showing them love. And it wasn’t anything that I had to do with it,” Pilcher said.
She hopes people recognize Christ’s love through her when they remember her kindness. The most rewarding aspect of being named queen was a feeling of reassurance that people felt loved. “I was able to love on people because God loved me first,” Pilcher said.
For now, Pilcher will continue with her busy schedule and occasionally make appearances in her crown. Next year, she will be crowning a new Homecoming Queen but hopes that, for the time being, she can use the position to glorify God.
When asked what she wanted her OBU legacy to be, she paused. Tilting her head slightly and looking off while thinking, she was quiet for a moment before responding, “In three years, I hope that people don’t necessarily remember me… but they continue growing in their ministries and these ministries begin to grow. That the Lord was able to use me through that and that these ministries continue to grow and change people’s lives.”
Special to the Signal by Cara Curtis.
