OBU Alumna Enjoys Business and Life in the Nation’s Largest City

Generally, a nudge will move a person only slightly.

Such wasn’t the case for Payton Clark, a native of Burleson, Texas who in 2019 received an OBU Bachelor of Arts in communications studies degree. When God bumps you, there’s no telling where you might land. That includes a city of more than 8 million people – New York City.

Today, Clark works as a communications coordinator at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City. She assists with the production of external communications for the office of communications and Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons through the newsroom. She also serves as editorial assistant for Columbus Medicine Magazine. Plus, Clark is involved in internal communications - supporting the office’s Video Studio, assisting with production of internal newsletters and calendars, and coordinating general communications efforts with university constituents.

God was moving her in the direction of The Big Apple even before the nudge. That part of the story carries Clark back to Bison Hill.

“Until my sophomore year at OBU, I had never visited New York City or entertained the idea of one day living there,” Clark said. “Outside of movies and television, it seemed like such a distant place, different from anything I experienced in Texas.”

However, in 2017, she had the opportunity to go on a trip to New York for a national journalism convention with OBU professor, Holly Easttom.

“It was there that I grew a love for the city,” she said. “The following year, I decided to go on the spring break GO trip to New York City. This affirmed for me not only my love for the city but a calling from God to engage with the diverse, unique community made in His image.”

Clark was not sure how this calling would come to fruition, so a few years went by without any more trips to the city or any further instructions on how New York City fit into her life.

In 2020, she attended a networking event for communications students at the University of North Texas interested in working in New York City and had the opportunity to learn from UNT alumni about their experiences moving to New York City.

“I felt a nudge from God to pursue a job search in New York as I was graduating the following semester, and I began a six-month process the next August,” she said. “I have now lived in New York City for a full year, 6 years after that initial trip, and I cannot imagine how different my life would be if I did not have the chance to attend the conference or GO trip. My journey to New York is another testament to God's faithfulness in my life and His perfect plan, greater than anything I could do myself.” 

Clark is thankful for the nudge. As she looks back, it certainly wasn’t the first time God had given her a little push.

Clark was planning on going to another university closer to home. That is until her twin sister, Reagan Clark, a music education major, returned from a priority enrollment day and was “raving about the welcoming Christian community at OBU.”

Clark decided to apply and attend without having visited the university in Shawnee.

“OBU's mission of equipping students to achieve academic excellence and integrate faith with all areas of knowledge has been very impactful to my experience as a communicator and scholar,” Clark said.

She jokes that she came into the communications program as a “skilled introvert.”

“The prospect of entering a field characterized by public speaking and extroversion was intimidating,” she said. “Through a variety of courses…I learned becoming a skilled communicator was not only simpler and more attainable than I expected, but that it was an important and compassionate goal for the Christian life.”

Clark’s professors, Holly Easttom, Dr. Kaylene Barbe, Ann McNellis, and Dr. Vickie Ellis were extremely influential.

“They not only prepared me to enter the field but encouraged me to incorporate my curiosity about communicating with my calling as a Christian - something that is a daily practice,” she said. “My time as a communications scholar and encouragement from Dr. Ellis led me to attend graduate school at the University of North Texas to earn my master’s in communications studies and continue investigating interpersonal and organizational systems of communications.”

Her role as a communicator at Columbia University in New York City has allowed Clark the opportunity to gain valuable hands-on experience in the higher education administration field “as I put my knowledge into practice as a Christian communicator.”