NUrturing Faith

Sharing Stories from LCMNU

Spring 2026

Discovering Vocation Through LCMNU: Billy Kobin

When Billy Kobin (‘18) arrived at Northwestern University from Cedarburg, Wisconsin, he already had a few things figured out: he wanted to be a journalist, and he loved playing drums and various sports. The youngest of three brothers, Billy had grown up reading the Sunday paper–first the Packers coverage, then everything else–until he realized that people got paid to chase stories for a living. “I thought, this is so cool that people’s job involves reporting on this.” He wrote for his high school newspaper, applied to Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism as his top choice, and showed up on campus weeks early for drumline rehearsals before the other freshmen even arrived.

But for all his confidence about journalism, Billy’s freshman year felt anything but settled. “You just feel so overwhelmed at times with everything that’s happening,” he recalls—passing classes, maintaining new friendships through the dorm and drumline and intramural sports, and trying to figure out which activities deserved his limited time. He explored several campus faith groups, and some came with pressure that didn’t sit right. “It’s not a great feeling as a freshman when you’re trying to worry about every other activity, too.”

Billy’s dad had spotted a Lutheran Campus Ministry event on the orientation schedule and flagged it for him. Billy showed up for a welcome brunch, quickly discovered other students from Wisconsin, and met Pastor Deanna.

The contrast with other groups was immediate. “LCMNU obviously never had the pressure attached to it,” Billy says. Deanna was calm and welcoming, never pushing anyone to commit to showing up every week. “I went because I thought this is good.” He kept coming back—Sunday mornings when he could, Wednesday evenings between drumline rehearsals—and before long, the ministry had become a steady anchor in a chaotic freshman schedule.

By winter quarter, Billy said yes to a communications leader role, even though part of him worried he was taking on too much. It was a decision that quietly reshaped how he understood himself. Through the ministry, Billy encountered the Lutheran concept of vocation—the idea that ordinary work can be a calling. “I like how simple it is,” he reflects. “It evokes this simple meaning that what you’re doing is important.” For a journalism student who sometimes wondered whether his career choice measured up to more obviously helpful professions, the reframing was powerful. Documenting ministry events with a camera, spreading the word about service projects—even these small communications tasks connected to something larger. “These things that we’re doing at the ministry are important and good, and they don’t have to feel like we’re exhausting ourselves every single day to do them.”

By senior year, the uncertainty of freshman year had given way to something deeper. “At first, there’s definitely some uncertainty, which is fine,” Billy says. “And by senior year, you feel so glad that you’re a part of the ministry.” He preached a senior sermon on grace, performed at the first-ever Showcase, and graduated knowing the ministry had become part of who he was.

Today, Billy is a journalist covering politics for the Portland Press Herald in Maine. He serves on the LCMNU board and continues to live out the ethic of service that took root at Northwestern–mentoring a young Rwandan refugee through Kentucky Refugee Ministries when he lived in Louisville and helping coach a high school tennis team in Portland. “I’m continuing to be reminded each day of the importance of vocation and living out our baptism just by doing my job,” he says. “I feel called to carve out time wherever I’m living to become part of the community and help out.”

Your generous support makes it possible for LCMNU to welcome students like Billy—students navigating the overwhelming complexity of freshman year who discover, in a calm and welcoming community, that their gifts matter and their work is a calling. Thank you for making it possible.