Viola M. Good Scholarship for International Students

When Viola Good was asked what she would like to share with young people, she said “Follow the light in the openings that appear along the line of your inner urgings. Sooner or later you’ll see how God is leading.”

Those words were certainly true in Viola’s life.  While she was sometimes surprised at the opportunities and challenges that presented themselves at various junctures in her life, in retrospect she can readily see God’s hand along the way.

Viola grew up as the oldest in a large family in Waterloo, Ontario.  She remembers always having a deep seated desire for education.  So as she neared college age, she considered Goshen, but decided it was too far from home and too expensive.  Instead, she enrolled in Toronto Bible College with a dream of entering the mission field.

This dream was delayed for several reasons. These were Depression years resulting in curtailments in many areas. Instead the Mission Board asked her to attend Goshen College for at least a year. In addition to the educational benefits for her, this would give them a chance to know her. So, Viola went to Goshen as a 29-year-old freshman.

As Viola studied she became increasingly aware of what she didn’t know and she soon realized she wanted to continue her education. “I didn’t need more urging when I saw it was possible,” she remembers.

President S. C. Yoder, who was also secretary of the Mission Board, needed a matron for Kulp Hall. Viola needed part-time work to help meet expenses. So when the opening was offered, she accepted. “I didn’t know any better,” Viola said. “I’d never lived in a dorm before.”

However, she was well suited for the work. After graduation in 1939, she assumed the position of Dean of Women. She served in this capacity for 25 years. While this was initially not the kind of mission work she had envisioned, she soon recognized location for service was relatively unimportant and that Goshen too was a field for service.

Further preparation for her assignment as dean of women called for graduate study in the field of Guidance and Personnel.  In 1942 she earned her MA at Northwestern University and later spent a semester at Teachers College of Columbia University, New York, in the same field.

Following a sabbatical year in the Orient in 1965, she continued as advisor to foreign students at GC, an assignment she enjoyed immensely from 1957 to her retirement in 1977. In this position she corresponded with applicants prior to arrival and was their primary contact once they were on campus

Viola now enjoys retirement by maintaining her own home, and following her various interests in reading, visiting with friends and family, volunteering for this and that, and playing Scrabble with any avid Scrabblers.

“It is reassuring to me how God has worked in my life, from back when it was hard to leave home, to the present,’ Viola said. “I wanted to dc something worth with my life and He made that possible. I’d encourage others to follow the light in the openings He makes possible for them. The results can be truly satisfying.”