To the Freshman

 

 I remember my first day at my college campus like it was yesterday. I was moving in with my parents and it was pure misery and excitement at the same time. The elevators were brimming with families and other students, the heat of moving was excruciating, and the buzz of talking to all these new people had adrenaline pumping through my veins.

  Then it happened. This random older guy came up to me and introduced himself. He asked if we needed a cart. He went to go find one for us and I never saw him again, but I turned to my mother and said, "I think I just met my future husband." 

   Lol. 

    That did actually happen and hilariously enough I ended up friends with that guy. Fast forward to senior year and I laugh and shake my head as I write about that memory. 

   Four years. That's how long and how short of a time you have in college. If you are lucky enough maybe you'll graduate a year early or have to stay an extra year or two. There are so many things I've learned in college that I could fill a whole library of books, but that's a lot of work so I'm gonna just say the first ones that come to mind.

Don't wish college by.

    College is hard. It's difficult, messy, and incredibly frustrating at times. There will be moments you want to drop out and be done with this whole thing. Try not to wish it by.

    Learn to live in the moment. Stop stressing about tomorrow, next week, or next year. You will get through that speech, you will finish your to-do list, you will finish that assignment. It all will get done.

   Find joy in the frustrating class, the disgusting cafeteria food, and the hard to deal with roommate. One day you'll look back at those things and smile. 

    If you can help it, don't move off campus. You will live in an apartment or house for the rest of your life, but never again will you live in community with so many people your age. Get involved. Go to the campus events even if you are the oldest person there. Join a random club or organization. 

Don't wish college by.

"Friends" the T.V. show is not an accurate depiction of friendships.

    College friends will be unlike any friends you've ever had. Our Welcome Week included me, along with a bunch of other thirsty freshman, walking around with our snapchats open. I quickly found out this was not the best way to try and make friends. 

    In college your friends will constantly change. Your tight nit friend group is going to change. People will filter in and out of your life. My friends from freshman year to now have changed as quickly as a girls mood does while PMSing. God always puts the people who are supposed to be in your life, in whatever season you are in, there. Even the most difficult or hard friendships I've had in college I now see were exactly the ones I needed to walk through to grow. 

   Now some of those friends will stay. There are the people who will probably be some of the individuals you will call up 40 years down the road to catch up. They might even be in your wedding or be the godfather to your children. These kind of friends take some time to find and usually come out of going through a lot of conflict and difficult times together. It took me almost four years to be able to gain clarity to who those friends would be for me.

  Stop seeking a friend group. Stop looking for that one friend who will be everything that you want in a friend. Stop thinking friends will not disappoint you, because they will. Stop looking for your worth in how many friends like your instagram or know your name on campus. Friends are great, but at the end of the day they are worth absolutely nothing compared to Christ.

  Also stop looking to be friends just with the people that are like you or who you are most comfortable with. College is great because it isn't high school. So talk to the theatre major, the quiet guy standing by himself, the lacrosse player, the girl with good style, and the beach bum. Get out of your comfort zone. Talk to whoever gets in the elevator with you no matter how weird it feels. That's where you find the greatest of friends.

Learn to be independent.

    Do things with friends. Make memories with them, but learn how to be alone. When I was a freshman I was terrified of being alone. Now I crave being alone with God sometimes. Every now and then make sure to get away from your friends and college campus and go somewhere by yourself. 

    Stop being held back by fear. Life will always be scary. If you want to go to the gym, stop waiting for your friend to go with you. If you want to learn to skateboard, go outside by yourself and practice even if you fall.  Go take a deep breath and call that boy up and ask him out. God holds this entire world and you in His hands. If we truly believe that then what do we have to fear?

 This is the most free time you'll ever have. I used to spend much of my free time in my room waiting for my phone to ring and someone to invite me to go explore with them. It's good to explore with friends, but stop waiting for someone else to ask you to explore. Go and just explore by yourself.

Explore life with God.

   I never learned more about my relationship with God until I got to college. I was taken out of my Christian bubble and I suddenly was put in a world of many different beliefs, faith backgrounds, and values. So I naturally started to question my faith. Questioning is good. God isn't scared of our questions, no matter how big or scary. So ask Him questions the way a child constantly asks their own parent, "Why?" 

Go learn. Read different versions of the Bible, attend different kinds of churches, get to know all kinds of individuals, and learn to love all different kinds of people. Seek God in the easy and hard moments. Worship Him through nature, in community, in your occupation, and while studying. Spend time just talking with people. This is how I fell in love with God. 

Learn to be ordinary.

    The world around us glorifies being unique. They glorify being different, being seen, and being known. Every moment of every day we are seeking to be wanted and noticed by those around us. We change our hair, our style, our makeup, our car, our personality, our jokes.... all just to be noticed or accepted. 

God made us all so intricately unique. Down to our very DNA we are all completely different, but we are all so incredibly similar. We all have hearts and lungs and senses and the ability to feel pain or joy. 

In short, we all poop or sin. Which is incredibly hilarious and true. 

   In college I pray you experience great, big, jaw-dropping moments with God. Those are important, but it is more important to learn how to love and live with God in the ordinary, mundane, day-to day-things. Worship and love Him while brushing your teeth, meeting with your advisor, eating at the cafeteria, or cramming for a final. Stop thinking He can only use you if you do big things. Do you really doubt our powerful God so much you don't think He can use the small things to glorify Him?

Learn to love the other ordinary, mundane people around you. Life is amazing, but stop basing it off of going from one big moment to the next. It's a life filled with many small, minuscule, and seemingly meaningless moments that compose this story we call our life.

So go be a college student, I can't wait to hear all about it.