Graduate Profile: Amy Christina Greulich, MDiv '21

May 18, 2021
Amy Christina Greulich, MDiv '21
Amy Christina Greulich, MDiv '21 / Courtesy photo

HDS communications reached out to our 2021 graduating students to hear from them in their own words about their experiences at HDS, the people who've helped and inspired them along their grad school journeys, and their plans for the future.

How I've Changed

I can picture myself gearing up to write my first response paper for "Theories and Methods," posted up on the second floor of Andover Library, looking out upon the beautiful oak tree at the courtyard’s center, wondering if my brain could rev up to write papers again (it could, it can). Now I would linger longer
with that oak tree.

Memorable Moment

I see myself looking out upon faces of new friends at the Seasons of Light ceremony in 2018, reading a Quaker’s words and lighting candles for all gathered at Andover Chapel and our webs of relationships beyond. It's a standout memory, though there are many!

Favorite Class or Professor

I really cherished the experience of "Climate of Unknowing" with Terry Tempest Williams and Diane Moore, as well as "Ecotheology" with Dan McKanan, because they were so thoughtfully, deliberately, and creatively working within virtual parameters. Both inspired me greatly!

Message of Thanks

I feel infinitely grateful for all those who helped shape my mind and heart and actions these last three years, from fellow classmates to professors to visiting lecturers to the plants who sustained my attention and were my primary companions this past year plus—thank you for being there "for" "me."

I miss you dear human beings and I love you and I cannot thank you enough for your tremendous impact on me. Thank you for helping me to cultivate ever-growing compassion for this earthly existence. Thank you thank you dear Mom, Dad, Evan, Claire, Henry, Abby, Hayes, Nana&Papa, Cookie&Gramps, ancestors known and unknown, uncles, aunts, cousins, West Tisbury congregational church, Quaker f/Friends at Pendle Hill and beyond, Buddhist teachers, scholars' minds galore, fellow Sunday sitters, co-conspiring dancers and players, Stony Point folks, my inspiring HGSE teachers, Esther Anne for your heart-led truths, Jill Stauffer for your guidance, Terry Tempest Williams for your radiance and wisdom (and offering me half your sandwich the first time we met!), Charles Hallisey for your captivating stories, Jitsujo for your courage, Kimberley Patton for your care, Colorado pals, and so many fellow travelers—Alexa, Katie, Sally, Cathlin, Jill, Beau, Kalli, Jana, Richard, Shannon, Tom, Nick, Will, Carter, Kayla, Steven, Jaz, Lexi, Cody, Alex, Lesedi, Patrick, Sarah, Maisie, Prince, Leslie, Natalia, Marissa, Ryan, Toni, Meesh, Jon, Carolyn, Melissa, Ariana, Anna, Mary Claire, Madeline, Jenny, Eugene, Lafayette, Odalis, Anna, Syona, Hanyu, David, Phuong, Adele, Carter, Kris, Conor, James, Cameron, Emma, Bronwen, Laurie, Nora, Nora, Tara, Kat, Alex, Katherine, Sarah, Sarah, Arman, Sofia, Xianfeng, Charlotte, Christine, Charlie, Merissa, Pearl, Sana, Ellie, Maisie, Julia, Ryan, Vivian, Sakiko, Emma, Rana, Alexa, Gretchen, Jeffrey, Martin, Kaitlin, Caroline, Jessica, Ella, Hope, David, Nicole, Rachel, Amirah, Fernando, Marissa, Carlyle, Nina, Courtney, Jack, Leah, Salvador, Chew Lin, Frances, Katie, Flora, Stygg, Nathan, Emily, Ross, Yaseen, Cassie, Joe, Emily, Bridget, Lindsey, Rebecca, Meredith, Seokweon, Ben, Kerry, Chris, Cheryl, Eva, Diane, Kaitlin, Jessica, Tsering, Eboni, Skye, Minahil, Addy, Shane, Alia, Yin, Ashley, Ben, Emily, Sam, Eliot, Matt, Lindsay, Timothy, Gary, Romie, Natalie, Cindy, Bill, Laura, Judy, Mary, and those who've escaped my memory but touched my heart.

Thank you to Spirit and your workings for reminding me that Way Opens.

I would like to reiterate how grateful I am to have gotten to know Terry Tempest Williams first as a classmate in Charles Hallisey's "Moral Anthropology," then having her as a professor this last year was such a joy.

This past October 2020, Terry gave a message at my West Tisbury Congregational Church service—each of us in our beloved home-lands, everyone sharing where they were and whose land they were on—I will never forget it.

My most common internal frames and refrains this last year have been around "bearing witness" and "staying with the trouble."

What I Hope to Be Remembered By

A subtle humor, playful nature, undercurrent of kindness, and a solid type B counterbalance to some of the Harvard norms. And perhaps a bit of Quaker ambassadorship.

Future Plans

Like soil that's been mixed up with gnarly compost, I hope to integrate what I've learned at HDS into whatever is next for me. In the immediate future, I'll be helping to plant/weed around/help grow/harvest vegetables on Martha's Vineyard/Noepe, which is Wampanoag land in Massachusetts. It feels important to me to root to this beloved place, and I feel very grateful that this last year has brought me into deepened relationships with my nonhuman neighbors here.