With all the craziness of mixed feelings - from the excitement of new beginnings to the tears of leaving loved ones behind - the experience of college is something one cannot be truly prepared for. This summer, I spent countless hours lying in bed, reading blog after blog, pinning helpful tip after tip, trying to be mentally “ready” for what was about to occur in my life. I figured I had it in the bag. What the blogs didn’t say, though, was that what was going to happen to me, and what happens to you in your time at college, is yours. Yes, sure there will be times that others are going to be there encountering it all with you, but what you take away... that is only yours.

The friends you make. The friends that I have made since I have been here have been wonderful. In high school, I was a major homebody. I don’t regret that, and I am extremely thankful for it. Being at all home all the time, though, created a desire in me to have a great friend group. Coming in, the only relationship I had was my “random roommate” who I had only seen once or twice over the summer. I’ve moved several times in my life, so starting from scratch and being compelled to create new friends, is something I was pretty comfortable with. The only difference was that I had my family as my crutch back then. It was a scary thought: making friends was now going to be all on me. But the really funny thing is, making friends at OBU has been the easiest out of any place I’ve ever been. I don’t even remember how it all happened; I just closed my eyes for a moment, and I had a group of awesome girls surrounding me who help me in my walk with Christ daily. And honestly, what more could a girl ask for?

Your growth. You see, the thing is, the levels of growth both academically and spiritually are going to be different everywhere you go. Going to a Baptist school does not change that, but there are more opportunities. I have come in contact with people who have never opened a bible, or attended a worship service in their life. In contrast, I have also met so many men and women who walk closely to the Father on a daily basis. There definitely are more opportunities to grasp a connection at Ouachita than there would be at a state college, but everything is out free will. If you strive to grow closer in your walk with Christ, then you can do that anywhere; this is just the place for me.

Everything is spontaneous. Another thing you can’t be truly prepared for are all the impulse decisions that you and/or your friends will make. I thought maybe if I creeped enough people on Instagram, and listened to enough conversations from alumni that I would know exactly what these next four years would consist of. BOY, was I wrong. See, I didn’t realize that 1 o’clock was my new bedtime (on a light day), I didn’t know that unplanned road trips to the most random places would become a ritual, and I sure wasn’t informed that the greatest people could come into my life at the strangest of times. Everything happens at once, and nothing makes sense, but somehow that’s where the beauty of it all comes from.

The experiences I've created in the couple months I have been here, could never be written about in a million other blogs. Could not have even been told by the closest people to me. Because life is meant to be original and completely and totally unpredictable, so only you can make and tell your own story.