Posts by Saloma Furlong
How an Amish Boy Became a Physicist, Part 2
Photo by Leon Hostetler of his childhood home Leaving the Amish By Leon Hostetler By my mid-teens there was constant pressure from my parents and the larger community to formally join the Amish church. But how could I? The big picture was too fuzzy for me. I was not convinced that the Amish worldview…
Read MoreHow an Amish Boy Became a Physicist, Part 1
Today I bring you the amazing story of Leon Hostetler’s educational journey that took him from his Amish childhood to becoming postdoctoral fellow in the Physics Department at Indiana University. This story will be published in three parts. Ever since I left the Amish more than forty years ago, I’ve always wondered if anyone could…
Read MoreLearning How to Learn
I have been bringing you stories of current applicants of the Amish Descendant Scholarship Fund who have persevered to find their path to college or university. Today I bring you the remarkable story of Michael Walker, who grew up among the Swartzentruber Amish (the strictest of the strict) and became a software engineer. It is…
Read More“A Character that is Truly My Own”
Many years ago, when I was a young girl attending an Amish school in northeastern Ohio, I had a friend named Ruth. I felt privileged to have her as a friend because my family’s reputation was so poor in the community. Ruth’s family was considered “mission-minded” because they talked openly about what it means to…
Read MoreA Chance for a Different Future
In our last post, we shared one of the outstanding scholarship essays that we received. Today we are offering another, this one from Anna Mae Troyer in Ohio. She does a beautiful job of introducing herself, so let’s go right to her essay. I have never authored an essay that is formed with the assumption…
Read MoreThe Gift of Learning
I mentioned in my last post that I volunteer for the Amish Descendant Scholarship Fund. Yesterday I had the privilege of meeting with the team to review the inspiring applications we have received this year. I then posted on the ADSF blog, and I am publishing it here as well. The ADSF team met to…
Read MoreUpdates and Summer in Vermont
It’s been a long while since I posted here, and even longer since I offered an update on what is going on in my life. My life is full right now. David and I renovated our front porch earlier this summer, along with both our bathrooms. We feel like we are done with our renovations…
Read MoreA Pennsylvania Dutch Story
Today I bring you a piece that was originally published at the DailyCal by Eythana Miller titled The fastest growing American language you’ve never heard of. Eythana grew up in Northwest Montana in a traditional Amish community that slowly modernized as she was growing up. She moved to California at 17 and is set to…
Read MoreThe Hope in Me by Katie Miller
Katie Miller and I have been in touch over the months since the Symposium at Elizabethtown College. She was not able to attend, though she has offered part of her story to publish on the blog. Today I continue the series of former Amish who went on to college after leaving their respective communities. I…
Read MoreBridging Two Worlds
When I was living in Pennsylvania, I met Ruth, who has become a dear friend. She is warm, loving, insightful, and brilliant. She is a wife, a mother of five, teacher of sign language, a grower of roses, builder of a “she-shack” (along with her mother) and an assembler of a vintage bubble Scotty mobile…
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