What College Taught Me

To my parents- the two people who have sacrificed more than I could ever imagine to give me the best life and the best four years I could have ever had. I love you Mom and Dad. 

People always say that your four years at college should be the greatest four years of your life, but if you would have told me four years ago what my college experience would be like, I would have never believed you.

Oh the last four years-- what a wild ride they've been. How much I've learned. How I've grown from a clueless, invincible 18-year-old into a confident, independent, young woman.

Freshmen Year 

Oh how faithful the Lord has been to me. How He has ordered every step I have taken.

College. What has it been like. What has it taught me.

When I think about college, I think of ridiculous math classes I had to take, and I remember silently cussing at my math book in the library when I couldn't figure out a problem. I think of all the blood, sweat and tears I spent staying up all night writing papers for English, studying the human body for biology class, speeches I gave that made the hair on my back stand up because I was so nervous to give them.

When I think about the last four years, I think of all the hardships I have gone through. My freshman year of college, I remember packing up all the baby pictures of my brother and I that my mom stored in a cabinet beneath the bookshelves my dad built in the little yellow house I grew up in. I remember thinking how my family would never spend another Christmas in that house and how upset I was that the bank was foreclosing it. I think back to my sophomore year when my dad didn't have very much work, and how I had to get a job working 30+ hours a week serving tables just to pay rent so I could go to school. I think about when I fell into depression, and I remember thinking of all the ways I could take my life. I remember hating God. I remember all the sleepless nights I spent weeping and praying after my boyfriend of two and a half years broke my heart. I remember how scared I was one summer night when I got a call that my brother's best friend had tried to commit suicide. I remember laying in a full size bed at my cousin's house with my three best friends in the world with a laptop, desperately trying to fall asleep to Jesus music at three in the morning after Faith died. I think back to last year when my parents made the decision to leave the church we have attended since I was 12 years old.

When I look back on the last four years, I remember all the good times. I remember the day I met my cousin Charles for the first time and wondering how I had lived the last 18 years without knowing him. I remember winning 1st place for having the best costume at an 80's ice skating competition.

Erica & I
October 2010

I remember taking a trip to an apple orchard in the middle of the mountains and running barefoot through the corn fields playing hide-and-go-seek. I remember getting an email from the Dean of the Communications department explaining how impressed he was with an article I had written for the school newspaper.

I remember free-styling with my violin on stage with some random group of musicians to the Red Hot Chili Peppers at a little club downtown Lynchburg. I remember getting my first tattoo at the most ghetto tattoo shop I've ever seen in my life and not being able to walk on my foot for a week.

Isaiah 41:10 "Do not fear, for I am with you always, I am your God,  I hold you with my righteous hand"

I remember peeing my pants from laughing so hard when Candace and I broke into the laundry mat after curfew just to rescue our clean clothes. I remember the spring break I spent in Miami with a group of friends and double dog daring them to go skinny dipping in the ocean after dark. I remember how excited I was when I adopted my six-month-old puppy from the Humane Society and the day I decided to name her after the bakery I always wanted to go to which was next door to my apartment.

Stella, 6 mons

 I remember feeling like a giddy little school girl after touching Jon Foreman's hand at a Switchfoot concert. I remember crashing a wedding with my best friend and dancing to country music all night with him under the most star-filled sky I've ever seen.

When I look back on my last four years at Liberty, I think of all the times I was discouraged or felt lonely; all the times I felt scared or hurt or broken. But then I remember. I remember every time I jumped just a little too low, every time I missed my chance, and every time I lost my temper- every time I lost a friend or failed a test, every time I felt guilty and powerless before God, He never failed to pick me up and take my hand. His love never failed to cover my sin, and His mercy never refused to forgive me.

Yes, college taught me trigonometry. It taught me reading and writing- it improved my thinking skills and gave me an idea of what a Christian worldview should be. It taught me how to follow a seating chart, and how to be responsible. College let me understand the definition of a "deadline" and "motivation".

But it doesn't stop there and college didn't just teach me how to be a television journalist.

College taught me how to love. College taught me how to forgive. College taught me about myself. College taught me how to be a hard worker. It taught me how to save money. It taught me how to survive on  Ramen Noodles and chocolate milk. College taught me how to laugh and how to cry. It taught me I am weak and it taught me I am stronger than I think I am. College taught me not to be a planner- to go with the flow. College taught me that I love being independent, and I love my family more when I miss them. College taught me how to be humble. College showed me what I am capable of.

But most of all, college taught me that no matter what happens, no matter if your heart is broken or if it's pieced together with superglue, no matter who loves you, no matter who hates you, no matter if you're happy or sad, no matter if you're marked by your RA as the "rebellious one" or the "religious one", no matter if it's raining or shining, Jesus will never stop being faithful and His love will never run out.

College taught me to trust Him. I'm so thankful for that.

Psalm 23

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the path of righteousness for His name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me, Your rod and staff they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.