All of Life Interview: Katy Duncan

 

Name	Katy Sperry Duncan
What is your vocation?	Graduate assistant, library assistant, student, full time cool person
How would you describe your work?	Well, right now my work is complex because I am working multiple jobs. But, each of these jobs involves interacting with a diverse population of people and students. As a graduate assistant I teach English 105 and 205 at NAU. At the Flagstaff Public Library, I work as a library assistant, interacting with patrons at the reference desk. As a student, I do student things.
As an image-bearer of God, how does your work reflect some aspect of God’s work?	My work provides me with the opportunity to daily attempt to see people as God does. As humans made in his image, the imago dei. This opportunity means that I am constantly given the choice between loving people well, giving grace, humbling myself, etc. On the same vein, it also means that I work to see everyone on the same level. At the library, the homeless are treated with the same care as the faculty of NAU or the doctors from FMC. In the classroom, I get to give students each individualized care personalized to their needs, just as God cares for his people according to their individual needs.
How does your work give you a unique vantage point into the brokenness of the world?	In both of my jobs I am reminded of the brokenness of our world daily. Each semester I have students who come from homes that are hurting, for many different reasons, who struggle with depression, anxiety, etc. At the library I work with some of the most vulnerable populations of people, I see their hurt and pain manifest in the way they interact with others, me.
Jesus commands us to “love our neighbors as ourselves.” How does your work function as an opportunity to love and serve others?	My work functions as a means to try and restore some of the lost shalom back into our world. To try to show and give people the care and dignity that Jesus restores. And a large part of that is coming alongside my students, library patrons, and meeting them where they are at. Like Jesus meets me everyday and then leads me forward to new life in grace and restoration.