Ron Tinsley, Oxford Circle
rtinsley@pmhsonline.org
For some people, life gives them lemons, sugar, and water and they make lemonade. But for others like Eric Mackee, life just gave him lemons. As the valedictorian at Philadelphia Mennonite High School, he has demonstrated that God can help you make the best kind of lemonade. He has been doing this ever since he was a child.
Eric grew up in a single parent household in North Philadelphia. “We lived from paycheck to paycheck occasionally going on public assistance,” he says. “We moved around a lot.”
His mother struggled to provide for him considering that she gave birth to him at the age of 15. “Because of her young age, she shared things with me that forced me to grow up fast,” Eric says. As he got older, he began to carry the burdens of his family. He learned to pretend he was happy when he was not. This helped him to cope with his reality.
Eric’s connection to Philadelphia Mennonite High School came through a local church familiar with Lancaster Mennonite High School. A minister wanted him to attend there but he did not want to live away from his mother. His aunt heard about PMHS and suggested the school. He still was not interested.
“Once I started attending PMHS, I kept trying to find reasons to leave. After a while, I began to open up and share with my teachers and other students. We were like one big family. I guess I did not realize how much I needed that. I learned how to integrate my faith into my life. God began to work in me,” Eric says.
Eric has learned to embrace the idea of service and helping others. “Chapel helped provide a platform for me to hear from God and from others. They consistently challenged me to go beyond myself and give others my time.” His trip to Indonesia (through the LEAP program) gave him the opportunity of a lifetime. Over his four years, he got involved in other activities such as serving as the Director of a PMHS play and participating in a mock trial debate at Temple University. He was also president of his class in his senior year.
During his valedictorian speech at graduation, Eric quoted the respected Journalist David Brinkley: “A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.”
Eric has had his share of bricks thrown at him that could have derailed him. Through God’s grace, he is not only a survivor, he is a trailblazer. Others helped him to blaze these new trails like the Christianaires, a Sunday School class at Blooming Glen Mennonite Church that sponsored him as a student.
“We continue to have high expectations for Eric. God has a plan for him that is still unfolding. PMHS is glad to be apart of that,” says Principal Dr. Barbara Moses.
Eric is attending Georgetown University in Washington D.C. He will be the first in his family to attend college. He is one of four PMHS seniors selected to receive the Longacre Scholarship Award that helps to pay for his textbooks in his first year of college.
“During my time at PMHS, I got involved in student led morning prayer. I found myself doing it at home. Prayer works and it strengthened my relationship with God. I saw God work,” Eric says.
The opinions expressed in articles posted on Mosaic’s website are those of the author and may not reflect the official policy of Mosaic Conference. Mosaic is a large conference, crossing ethnicities, geographies, generations, theologies, and politics. Each person can only speak for themselves; no one can represent “the conference.” May God give us the grace to hear what the Spirit is speaking to us through people with whom we disagree and the humility and courage to love one another even when those disagreements can’t be bridged.