Freshman Strong!

The year was 1985.

There I stood on the sidewalk…yellow suitcase in hand. It was the only suitcase our family owned. It contained everything I needed for my freshman year at the University of Alabama.

With my other hand, I waved goodbye to my mom and sisters as they drove away in our navy blue Nova from my temporary dormitory housing…Martha Parham Hall.

As the car got smaller and smaller…

I was thinking, “How can they just leave me here?” I was a small town Sulligent girl who had just stepped on to one of the biggest campuses in the SEC. Then I started doubting myself, “Why did I think I could do this?”

I stayed in temporary housing a few nights until I was moved to the 10th floor of Tutwiler Hall. My dorm room overlooked that infamous cemetery adjacent to the dorm. I had no idea who my roommate would be…she was nice enough, but we had nothing in common. She was Jewish, I was Christian. She was a tri-delta, I was not a Greek-kind of girl. She came from a wealthy family…well you get the idea.

I didn’t have a car. Nope, I got around on foot for the first few weeks and then I moved up to a bicycle.

I remember the distinct feeling of loneliness and had been praying for a way to get connected. Then I stepped onto the elevator in Tutwiler Hall and saw a glimmer of hope. Hanging there in the elevator was a poster for Campus Crusade for Christ.

I was so excited!

I went to the weekly meeting, met amazing people, and was introduced to some 1980’s praise and worship music. Best of all, I got involved in a small accountability group that met weekly.

Getting connected early is critical to college student’s spiritual health. The statistics can be a bit scary.

Research from Lifeway (2019) reveals that more that 66% of young adults who attend a Protestant church for at least a year in high school will stop attending church regularly for at least a year between the ages of 18 and 22.

To the new freshmen leaving their small town homes all over our state this month to hit campuses big or small…I encourage you to look for a place to spiritually connect on your campus.

College years can be very seductive. College is a time when you have all this new found freedom. You may be tempted to stray from the teaching of your parents, pastors, or youth directors. No one is standing over you “making” you go to church.

But college is also a time when you can step up and take responsibility for handling your own faith. You get to stay connected to Jesus through exercising your own free will to go that Bible study or set your alarm and go to church. Don’t use your new found liberty as an excuse to spiritually unplug.

College can sometimes separate you from your support system of friends and family. So it is vital to establish a new community of support and to grow up and stand on your own two spiritual feet.

Remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abebnego who were thrown into the fiery furnace (Daniel 3)? Where was their spiritual peer-leader, Daniel, during this trial? Some scholars think he had been sent out of town, but all we really know is that he wasn’t present for this spiritual test. These three boys had to step it up without Daniel’s support system. And you may need to do this as well as you begin campus life.

There are some scary statistics out there about the percent of college students who abandon their faith. Don’t be part of that trend. Your faith will be challenged by different-minded professors and classmates. That is perfectly ok. If you are grounded, it will make you dig deeper into the Word to defend your faith. But if you are spiritually unplugged, these challenges will make you doubt everything you know to be true.

This is not your Father’s (or Mother’s) faith. It is YOUR faith.

You are now responsible for maintaining and growing it. Learning how to exercise spiritual discipline will be one of your greatest college lessons!

Go have a blast, learn all you can, but do not forsake what you know to be true. Proactively go after opportunities to forge new relationships so you can stand spiritually, freshman-strong, on any campus! #freshmanstrong

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13 NIV

My home church of Highland Baptist in Florence, AL, has an amazing ministry for university students. So if you or someone you know is headed to UNA’s campus, check out Highland Baptist College Ministry.