When I decided to go to a private Church of Christ school, I had no idea what I was getting into. People from home said, "Won't that be too church-y for you?" Well, yeah. It was. It is. Everyone there is so different from me. All of my new friends grew up in the church like their parents and their own parents before them. They were all in youth groups, went to church functions, and grew up going to church camp every summer. They can publish things like "7 Reasons to Be Part of A Youth Group" and draw from personal experience. (I can do no such thing).
Growing up, I did get one opportunity to go to church camp in the summer after third or fourth grade. I didn't go. I decided I was too scared to go away for a whole week only knowing one person. If I had just gone, it could have changed my entire life, but not in the church-y, Jesus way you're probably thinking.
I would have met my first college roommate at that camp. We grew up in houses 3 minutes away from each other. We had some of the same mutual friends. She attended my sports events to cheer on her friends and relatives. We had probably seen each other hundreds of times, without knowing that we would be paired randomly to be roommates our freshman year of college. She is one of my best friends now, and we got used to answering the question- "So did y'all know each other before coming here?" If I had gone to camp that summer, we might have been friends sooner. (We also might have hated each other because we were both vastly different people in elementary school than when we went to college.)
I would probably have continued going to camp. I would have loved summer camp!
I may have started going to church with these kids. More friends. More fun.
If I had done that, I could relate to all their stories about youth group trips and things of that nature. I might have begun helping with VBS and other kid-related things. I could have ended up returning as a counselor.
I could actually understand what a camp friendship is like (and have fond memories). Everyone at my school can reference at least one other person on campus as "my friend from camp." But not me! I knew a grand total of 1 person (that's one single human being,) when I stepped onto campus. I might have chosen to room with someone. I might have moved to a different dorm or joined a different social club to be with camp friends that I had formed bonds with over the years.
However, even though it could have changed all of that, I can't say I would go back and change it. My entire life up until choosing a college has shaped a thoroughly unique worldview that I wouldn't trade for anything. Sure, I step on toes sometimes, I can be unintentionally rude when I ask how churches do things, and I don't agree with everything people at my school say, but I'll get my degree and be a better person than when I entered. This school led to my baptism on October 26th of my first semester there, and a vast change in my spiritual life. Not in my beliefs, but in how I practice my spirituality. Even if I'm sometimes frustrated by it, I owe a lot to this school.
