The Lessons She Carried Forward

For Angela Leu, a 1999 OBU graduate, some of the most important lessons of her life began with music.

They began in classrooms, on stages and in the familiar spaces of Raley Chapel, where she learned to sing, perform and listen. She could not have known then how much those lessons would eventually shape a career devoted to listening to students, families and educators and helping others find their voices.

As a vocal performance student at OBU, Leu thought she was preparing to become a musician.

Looking back, she sees something much larger.

“OBU was preparing me for much more than a specific career,” she said. “The experiences I had there helped shape the way I think, communicate, work with others and approach challenges.”

And some of her favorite memories remain tied to Raley Chapel. The sacred space is scheduled to reopen in fall 2027 after restoration efforts following the tornado that struck the OBU campus on April 19, 2023.

“As a vocal performance student, Raley wasn’t simply a building where we attended chapel, went to classes, or performed — it was a place where my relationship with God grew,” she said.

Among those memories is Hanging of the Green, when Leu stood with her OBU Chorale family and helped lead others in worship through music.

“During those special events, Raley would be filled with students, faculty, families and members of the community,” she said. “The music was beautiful, but it was about so much more than performing. His presence was tangible.”

Those memories have remained with her as Raley Chapel moves toward renewal.

So have the people who helped shape her.

Leu points especially to her voice instructor, Rhetta Mayfield, now Hudson, who knew when to push her and when to encourage her. Leu loved singing and performing but was nervous before stepping onto a stage.

After working on her posture with an old wooden flute, Hudson gave her advice Leu still carries into conference presentations and workshops today: Walk onto the stage as though you have complete confidence and command of it, even when you do not feel that way inside.

“At the time, I thought she was teaching me how to be a better performer,” Leu said. “Looking back, I realize she was teaching me something much bigger. She was teaching me to trust my preparation, believe in myself and step forward with confidence even when I was afraid.”

That lesson became part of how Leu approaches others.

“Her belief in me made me want to rise to what she saw in me,” she said. “More importantly, it taught me the lasting impact a teacher can have when they truly believe in a student.”

Leu has tried to carry that lesson into her own work.

Her career took a path she never anticipated when she graduated in 1999. After OBU, she began pursuing a master’s degree in vocal pedagogy at the University of Tulsa while teaching private voice lessons. Then a parent of one of her students encouraged her to apply for a first-through-fifth-grade music teaching position at Sapulpa Christian School.

She applied and started the next day.

Soon after, she accepted a half-day kindergarten position. She reluctantly agreed but discovered she loved it. The following year, she became a full-day kindergarten teacher.

“Looking back, that was one of the first times God showed me that His plans for me were different from the ones I had made for myself,” she said.

About 15 years later, another unexpected turn brought her into special education.

When her oldest son was evaluated and placed on an Individualized Education Program, Leu realized that although she had participated in IEP meetings as a classroom teacher, she did not fully understand the process from a parent’s perspective.

She wanted to learn — for her son and for other families.

That led to a master’s degree in special education from Arkansas State University and eventually to roles as a special education director, resource teacher and self-contained special education teacher.

Today, Leu serves high school juniors and seniors and adult students at Southern Oklahoma Technology Center in counseling and Student Support Services.

Her career now draws on every part of the journey: musician, teacher, special educator, administrator, advocate and parent.

Music, she said, taught her one quality she uses every day: listening.

“As a musician, you learn that it isn’t enough to know your own part — you have to listen to what is happening around you and understand how your part fits into something larger,” she said.

That same principle guides her work with students and families.

Sometimes, she said, what a student needs is not immediately obvious. The answer comes from listening to the student, the family, the teachers and others involved and bringing those voices together.

Her students have taught her another lesson: A diagnosis does not define a person.

“Every student comes with individual strengths, interests, personalities, goals and challenges,” she said. “I learned to ask, ‘What can this student do, and what does this student need to be successful?’ rather than focusing first on limitations.”

That perspective reflects what Leu says her faith has taught her about people.

“I believe every person has value and purpose,” she said. “I want students and families to know that they matter and that someone sees them and believes their future is worth fighting for.”

Today, Leu can look back at the young woman who entered OBU to study music and see the beginnings of a life she could not have mapped out herself.

She also sees why giving back matters.

“None of us reaches where we are entirely on our own,” she said. “There were people who invested their time, resources, encouragement and faith in OBU so that I could have the experience I had.”

For Leu, giving back is about continuing that investment for students who will come after her.

She would tell those students not to measure an education solely by the title printed on a diploma.

“God had other plans for me, but He began the work at Oklahoma Baptist University,” she said.

The music became a career in education. The stage became a place to find confidence. The lessons of listening became a way to advocate. And the relationships formed at OBU became part of a life devoted to helping others recognize what they can become.

Leu thought she was preparing to become a musician at Raley Chapel and across Bison Hill.

She was, in ways she could not yet see, preparing for much more.

To help shape the future of Raley Chapel for generations to come, visit the Raley Chapel giving page.