By Christi Mays
A yoga class was the last place Robert Patterson '23 expected to discover a new interdisciplinary degree at UMHB that could simultaneously offer the business skills he needed and the ministry component his heart craved. Looking back now, four years later, he sees how God choreographed every step of his journey, leading him to discover the Bachelor of Transformational Development degree he completed in the spring of 2023.
School had never come easy for Robert. After a tumultuous freshman year in which he suffered a career-ending football injury and some heart-wrenching family issues, the distressed business major dropped out and eventually moved back home to Austin. Determined to get his head straight, he reached out to his former high school trainer, who owned a nearby gym. Robert offered to work for free at the gym. For almost a year, he diligently showed up for the 5 a.m. workouts six mornings each week to help train young athletes.
Robert was surprised to learn that training wasn’t the only thing the gym offered. The owner was also a preacher who not only taught his athletes about God during their workouts but also converted the gym into a church each Sunday. It was Robert’s first look at “business as ministry,” or “BAM,” as some call it. He found himself engaged and inspired in the teachings and even got the chance to preach. Robert, who had always grown up in a Christian home, grew closer to God and was baptized. His mentor encouraged him to give school another chance, and a year and a half later, Robert found himself packing his belongings and heading back to UMHB to finish his business degree. He was determined to make it work this time, but after only a few days, he felt something was amiss and found himself reconsidering his decision to major in business. He liked his classes and professors but yearned for a ministerial component. That’s when he ended up in yoga class.
