Pro-life has ‘invaded’ my life: UC’s Alanna Campbell
From left: Alanna Campbell, Asia Wilson (former club treasurer) and Leah Hallman (former club president) at GAP in March 2009 at the University of Calgary.
As the school year begins, many pro-lifers might be wondering what will happen next at the University of Calgary and the campus pro-life club, Campus Pro-Life. Alanna Campbell is the president of the club and ready to take on whatever the year brings. She is only 21 years old and starting her fourth and final year completing a double degree program to earn Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and a Bachelor of Science in Biology.
She was a likely, yet unlikely candidate for being an active and vocal defender of life. A likely candidate because she grew up pro-life, but was not active until she experienced the Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) during her first semester at the University of Calgary. She was simply walking by as a student and, as many others had been, was confronted by the images depicting the reality of abortion. At that point, she explains to The Interim, “It was impossible for me to ignore the reality in front of me and I signed up to join the club. I got involved and it quickly became a big part of my life. I think I became so passionate about it because I was taught how to talk about and defend the pro-life viewpoint and this gave me a lot of confidence, as well as convincing me that it was important to help others understand the humanity of the pre-born.”
When asked if she ever thought she would be publically standing up for her beliefs to the point of being threatened by her university administration she replies, “That was definitely the last thing on my mind when I signed up to join the club in my first semester of university.”
Her first GAP experience as a participant happened the following year in March 2008. Despite being nervous and shy about what conversations may happen, she “came out of the experience more motivated to continue doing pro-life work on campus.”
As she reflects on how she has changed since then, Alanna has noticed that her pro-life activism has given her more confidence in defending the pro-life position, as well as on a personal level. Her faith has deepened and matured. She said that, “I’ve had to really try and grow in virtue because I’ve learned that the message we are trying to share is strengthened by the character of the messenger.” She continued, “I think perhaps most importantly I’ve had to learn that sacrificing is how we truly love others.”
Though GAP has played a significant role for Alanna, the club also promotes the pro-life message through a variety of activities such as the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, information tables and Life Fairs. For the upcoming year they plan to do GAP along with postering campaigns, a debate and host the presentation “Echoes of the Holocaust.”
On a personal level, Alanna says she is doing something pro-life on a daily basis. As club president, I have many plans and projects that I work on, or else I am doing something on campus, or doing research, having a meeting, preparing for a presentation, attending presentations and workshops, or volunteering with other pro-life groups. She also said that, “Pro-life activism has invaded pretty much every area of my life, whether it be talking to my family about what I’m doing with my life or responding to a comment a friend makes on Facebook.”
Alanna said, “All the women and men who are wounded by abortion, and the defenceless children who have their small bodies violently torn apart because they are not wanted are what keep me motivated to continue promoting the pro-life message, in hopes that we can save others from that fate.”
