During his time at Messiah College, John Epling ’09 pursued a degree in international business. He achieved the very first success in the United States Marine Corps as recon platoon commander. Now, Epling is a law student at Duke University, a top 10 law school in the U.S. He is currently working toward doing legal work in capital markets in emerging market countries like Brazil, Russia or China. One may think that his prosperous career path is embroidered from leading activities and extraordinary internships. Surprisingly, the turning point for Epling’s career journey comes from a much simpler but memorable experience at Messiah. “Coach Brunk let me join the wrestling team, even though I had no formal wrestling experience,” said Epling. “I lost every single match I had that first year, but the growth in character I had through that challenge has served me incredibly well over the past 8 years.” Epling says what he likes best about Messiah is the exposure that he had to different opportunities to grow in faith, person and career. With his experience, Epling advised students to take classes that they have interest in and ability to perform well, but “don’t over commit,” because other aspects of life will be equally important.