By Esther Hoffman, junior

Wearing a black dress and pearls, she stands in the front of a formally clad group of young adults. The harpsichord begins the first notes of “Glory to God,” and she steps forward. At just the right time, she begins to belt out her solo, in pure tone and perfect pitch.

It’s hard to believe that a girl with such a tiny figure can fill the room with her voice.

Many Friends University students know that Star Little sings in Concert Choir. But since the Masquerade Ball on Feb. 12, they will also remember her as the 2010 Woman of the Year.

Winners of the Man and Woman of the Year award receive $200 and a plaque with their names on it. Applicants go through a five-step process to be considered for the award.

Star didn’t want the recognition. But she held three jobs last semester while taking 17.5 credit hours, and she knew that any extra money would help her get by.

“I would be lying if I said it wasn’t partially because of the money.”

But Star Little has a way of catching people off guard. Her delicate frame suggests meekness. And yes, she is humble, but her personality is even bigger than her singing voice.

She will tell you that she’s just like everyone else, but ask her about her passions in life, ask her about her time in Haiti, ask her about her tattoos or ask about the “Surrender” event she organized in January, and you’ll soon find that she’s something more than that.

You might start thinking she’s a Star.

When sophomore Donna Mally met her, she had a distinct impression that she would like her.

“I remember her being very lively,” Mally said. “I was like, ‘Oh, she looks like she’d be a cool person to know.’”

Junior Angela Loganbill recalls that there are moments when Star gets excited about something, and she lets out a high-pitched squeal and waves her arms.

“We call them Starbursts,” Loganbill said.

Little is not all fun and games, though. She has a passion about God, which has prompted her to do many things on and off campus.

She’s been in Falcon Activities and Student Events committees, her church’s worship team, Concert Choir and Kantori.

She’s also worked as a first-year intern at Friends, a youth intern at Metro East, a children’s ministry intern in Huntsville, Ala., and she’s currently the Friends psychology club president and a student worker in the office of Academic Affairs.

Even with all these activities, Star is graduating next semester, after only three and a half years in college.

Passions

“She’s very Christ-centered,” said Elizabeth Hardyway, who works with Little in the Academic

Affairs office. “What’s important to her right now may not be the most fun thing, but it’s the right thing.”

A psychology major, Little said God has given her two passions in life: marriage and family counseling, and missions.

After graduate school, she thinks God will open an opportunity for her to work in a church counseling position.

“It’s really my passion to do premarital and marital counseling from a biblical standpoint -- to help define the roles of men and women as God has created them to be.”

Going to Haiti

Last summer, Star had the opportunity to explore her missions calling. After she had prayed about the possibility for a year, representatives from Mission of Hope came to her church and mentioned a summer internship in Haiti. She leapt at the opportunity.

About a month later, she was in Haiti.

“When I got there, I didn’t know anything about Haiti. I just knew God wanted me to be there.”

She plans to go again this summer. It might be more difficult because of the earthquake’s aftermath, but she feels a calling to help.

Tattoos, piercings and purple streaks

Star looks normal when you first see her. She dresses neatly and doesn’t look extreme — but look closer — she has purple streaks in her blonde hair, a tattoo on each wrist and a nose piercing.

She doesn’t look like the sort of person who might get a tattoo, but she has her reasons that are connected with God and her family.

Her first tattoo on the inside of her right wrist says “Lee” in cursive. It’s her middle name. It’s also her mother’s, sister’s and brothers’ middle name. Someday, she wants to continue the family tradition by giving her children that middle name.

Her second tattoo on the inside of her left wrist is a heart with a cross inside it. She designed it and got it at the same time her mother got a matching one on her ankle.

“It’s a reminder to myself that Christ is my center,” Little said. “My relationship with God is definitely the most important thing in my life.”

It’s also something she can use to open a door to talk to people about her faith. Someone told her once that they felt more comfortable talking to her because they knew she had a tattoo. It was proof to this person that she wasn’t the stereotypical legalist that Christians are labeled as.

But those little quirks in her appearance don’t make Star look any less professional at work.

“She pierced her nose. It just looks cute on her, and you can’t fault her for that,” said her boss, Amy Diehl.

Hardyway added, “Her personality is what makes whatever she does to herself beautiful.”

“I’m just jealous, seriously,” Diehl said about the purple streaks in Little’s hair. “I went, ‘Oh that is so cool; I wish I was that brave.’”

“I’m totally someone that is very structured and organized,” Little said. “I have to have these small, little rebellious acts like putting purple in my hair to help balance out, you know.”

Surrendering to God

As Little was praying with a friend in January, she had a vision of the word “surrender” written in chalk on the Rose Window Plaza.

She then decided to make a Facebook event so that Friends students could show what God was doing in their lives.

She invited them to come to the plaza Jan. 24 to pray and write “surrender” on the plaza with sidewalk chalk.

About 30 people came and wrote “surrender” and various Bible verses and encouraging messages on the plaza.

What they wrote remained there for days.

Investment in people.

Little’s many activities seem to center on a theme: helping people.

“She’s always investing in other people,” said boyfriend Seth Oldham.

Loganbill said Little is always eager to meet new people, find out their stories and get to know them on a deeper level.

“She’s always there for me,” said Loganbill. “If she asks how I am and I say ‘oh I’m fine,’ Star will ask, ‘What’s really wrong?’”

Little also leaves encouraging notes and doodles on Hardyway’s and Diehl’s desks every so often.

“She has a heart for people,” Mally said.