Molly McFadden

I am a junior English major at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota with an emphasis in creative writing. I like learning new MLA and AP formatting rules and putting people’s stories into words.

I also enjoy being a tourist in my own city, dancing to MUNA in the aisles of Trader Joe’s and hammocking in the most inconvenient locations in ungodly weather. You can catch Molly sitting on the floor of children’s bookstores, flipping through every story.

I am passionate about learning and capturing as many moments as I can on paper.

The Clarion •

Bethel goats and the buckthorn behind them

Trent Viesselman faced an early October snow behind Lissner Hall, digging through drifts and fighting the wind to find the neon pink markers driven into the ground.

Vivian Marchan looked over her shoulder in the woods after hearing a rustling. When she turned around, a deer was following her.

Cady Peterson spent many hours sporting chest-high waders, beating away branches and practically crawling through shrubbery.

All of this to count the buckthorn that grows on Bethel University’s campus st

Independent and empowered: Stories of First-Gen Students

Four Bethel students share their experiences as first-generation college students.

Asleep in the back of a yellow bus, Navidad Sanchez Resendiz made her way home from first grade, exhausted from a day of learning to navigate a school and make friends who spoke a different language. At the age of six, Sanchez Resendiz moved from Mexico to the United States, joining her parents and younger sister who were already living in the U.S. When the bus driver made his way to the back of the bus, checking
Medium •

On Change

Stepping off of an airplane in Belize starts like most trips to tropical locations: the humid air leads to shedding layers, tying the flannel that kept you warm in Minnesota around your waist and admiring the palm trees. Yet in Belize, the familiar feeling of family vacation to Disney World fades quickly as you walk outside of the airport, being funneled towards a door. Once inside, bright turquoise walls and dim lighting provide the path towards your baggage. Our tightly packed hiking bags arri

Social media as a scrapbook

Rather than creating an environment of toxicity, I treat my Instagram as a collection of pieces representing growth.

Follow me on Instagram @_mollymcfadden. Do it. Do it right now.

Thank you! Now, keep it pulled up because this is an interactive story. A “Choose Your Own Adventure” book.

Try to find a theme between my last three posts. A color scheme I often use or a template that fits each photo selection. I’d love to hear your thoughts because I can’t find one. And I don’t want to.

My acco
Medium •

Maddie can’t call her mother

Maddie Graham hauled her belongings up the stairs of Bodien Aug. 29. She had no Welcome Week team cheering for her or offering a hand with her boxes, instead, her Dad, Brother and Grandma helped her get settled. Every other student had called Bethel University their home for three days, but Graham’s weekend schedule looked different.

“It’s just insane how much my life changed in a week,” Graham said.

June was spent pitching on the softball mound and driving her mom to cancer treatments. Then J
Medium •

Camp counselor becomes role model

Storlie has been attending camp at Mount Carmel her entire life, making her first appearance at the site before the age of one. Storlie says that she probably “idolized in an unhealthy manner camp counselors for a while.” She looked up to counselors like the ones who emailed with her throughout the year or the one who pushed her beyond knowing Bible stories and encouraged her to live out her faith daily. Storlie’s sister became a counselor as a teenager and she knew that was a dream of hers as w