Classical Christian Academy: Michele Baugh’s faith helps her through family trauma
As she was starting to settle into her senior year at Classical Christian Academy, student Michele Baugh’s life turned upside down with the news that her mother and younger sister had been in a terrible car accident.
There was a lot of fear immediately after the accident, but her mother and sister both survived. Baugh said she wasn’t hopeless though because she knew God had a plan.
“I know that he’s sovereign, and I know he kept them alive, and even if they are sustaining major injuries, he has a plan for them and for me,” she said. “So because I know what’s true, and because I was able to keep that in the front of my mind, I wasn’t hopeless. I know that if I didn’t have that truth and that hope, I wouldn’t be where I am today, and I wouldn’t be able to look back on that and see how he worked in me through that, but also worked in my family.”
Baugh and her younger sisters stayed with another family for four months while her mother and sister were recovering. Baugh took on a bit of a parental role for the time but said the other family was so supportive that she did get to be a typical senior, too.
At Classical Christian, Baugh has enjoyed Omnibus, a class that combines history and literature. Studying John Milton’s “Paradise Lost” was a highlight, as was reading retellings like Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” and “Perelandra,” the second book in the “Space Trilogy” by C.S. Lewis.
Baugh has also spent a lot of time at Classical Christian working on her senior thesis, which deals with the topic of biblical modesty. Baugh said she and her three sisters have had many conversations about how to be stylish while also glorifying God.
“The Bible doesn’t give a dress code, right?” she said. “It doesn’t say, ‘Yeah, this shirt, but not that one.’ … If it’s a problem for me as a teenage girl, I’m sure it’s a problem for many other teenage girls who are Christians, or even who aren’t Christians and who want to know ‘How do I figure out how to dress when there’s so many different lengths and styles of clothes?’ ”
As part of her research, Baugh interviewed a pastor and read books on beauty. She has to write a 15- to 25-page paper that will be turned into a speech she has to present to a panel of judges.
“I think the most nerve-wracking part is the defense,” she said. “But the whole process has been good for me, and I know that the actual delivery and the defense will be really good for me, so although I am nervous, I think it’s a valuable thing to do.”
Having recently returned from her senior class trip to Greece and Italy, Baugh has started thinking about her future plans.
Baugh, who also played volleyball for two seasons, plans to take a gap year during which she will work to save money to attend a one-year Bible program at the Master’s University in Santa Clarita, California.
She’s not quite sure what will follow college, saying she’ll just have to see where her life is at then, but she’s sure her life will follow God’s plan .
“All of those different things that happened my senior year of high school were a part of his plan, and I know that he’s using those to shape me and shape other people and to shape the people that they happen to,” she said. “I give him all the praise and all the glory, because I know that He has a plan, and I’m a part of that plan, and I hope that he works through me and that he uses me to glorify him.”