June 1, 2023 by

 

It’s hard to think back to the beginning of freshman year. It’s flashes of memories, like snapshot photographs. Getting Started: blue and yellow everywhere, pool noodles and banners waving. First day of classes: my future roommate inviting me out to lunch after meeting in Composition. Involvement Fair: a swarm of people, scribbling my name down at brightly skirted tables. There is so much to do, so much I’ve done, so much I didn’t even know until my senior year. 

 

Getting Started 

Freshman year, I got to campus the Friday before classes. Plenty of time to move in, find my classrooms, meet new people, and organize my bookshelves. I think the last part is the most important, but maybe I’m a little biased; I am working in a library, after all! 

In fact, the next three years, I’d move into school a week in advance to help prepare the library and help orient a new group of freshmen students during Getting Started week. I’d spend the majority of the day training new student workers at Centennial Library and filled up my evenings hanging out with friends. Whether you’re coming early to help with Getting Started or for a student job, the time is well spent. As someone who likes to plan ahead, it’s been great to be able to get to school early every year. I met new friends and felt confident about the start of my semester.  

 

Residence Hall Life 

One quintessential freshman experience I missed was RoomSync. My older sister was finishing her time at Cedarville as a senior when I came as a freshman. Not everyone wants to room with their sibling, but I cherished the time I got to spend with her that year. Sometimes roommates bond instantly and stay together all four years, and sometimes you get to know different people each year. I met the girl I’d room with for the next two years after my first class and we clicked. I met my senior year roommate the day after. Both of these young women have helped grow my character in Christ, and I’m glad for the time I’ve had to live with them. 

I did anchor myself in Maddox Hall all four years, which provided a sweet consistency through the changes each new year brought. Maddox is a unit-style residence. Four walls of units form a square around a grassy courtyard, with an upper and a lower level. I’ve lived upstairs all four years, but I’ve moved around units: 26, 24, & 15. The lower-level sports hammocks during all seasons, though really only in use for half the semester. The colorful fabrics swing invitingly in the southern Ohio breezes. The unit style felt like a starter apartment and really helped me feel connected to the girls I lived with. 

 

Campus Involvement 

I lived in a music major-heavy unit my freshman year. I joked that I was an honorary music major, despite playing no instruments. However, even though I was not a music major, I did get to sing in the Women’s Choir, directed by the chair of the Music and Worship Department, Beth Cram Porter. Her students affectionately refer to her as “Mama Porter,” and I learned so much from her, even as a non-major. 

In addition to choir, I’ve been able to be involved in many extracurricular activities. My first Involvement Fair was a bit overwhelming — so many opportunities to get involved! There were tables for cultural and linguistics clubs, service and advocacy organizations like Students for Life, activity-based clubs like Inklings (a creative writing org), in addition to tables from local churches. 

One of the tables I knew to make a beeline for was the one for Ayo (pronounced EYE-oh). The Ayo Dance Company is an org that puts on a showcase every semester. It’s entirely student run, aside from a little advisory help. The officers, choreographers, and dancers all work together to perform multiple dances from different genres at the end of the semester. I choreographed some of the dances my freshman, junior, and senior years. In addition to group dances, I also got to choregraph and perform a solo and a duet! 

 

The Valleys 

My college experience was a lot of fun, but there were also a lot of challenges. 

Some were normal. I struggled through Literary Analysis my freshman year alongside my fellow English majors but came out on the other side a better writer and stronger analyst. I learned how to budget my time between academics, school, and church. 

Other challenges were unexpected, and often filled with sorrow. My freshman year was the year colleges across the country had to shut down in-person learning due to the spread of the COVID-19. I had to figure out how to do college with much more limited resources that semester. We also had the aftereffects that lasted into the next year that compressed the academic calendar. 

More significantly, one of my professors passed away my junior year in the middle of fall semester. Dr. Don Deardorff was a brilliant and caring teacher, and his passing was a devestatingt loss. The department felt a great blow, but the Lord was so kind in ministering to us during that time. My classmates and professors all came around each other and truly enacted Christian love toward each other, both within and outside of the department. 

Graduating early also left me feeling unbalanced. When did I become a senior? What events can I go to? Will I stay close to my classmates? Not all of these questions had clean answers, but God has navigated me through these with grace. 

Last week I finally picked up my regalia from the Campus Store. White tassel & hood for my English B.A. Golden cords. Black cap & gown. I hung the gown up in my closet, draped the hood over, and added the AKD English honors society medallion I’ve been holding onto from last year. On May 6, I will get to walk in commencement with my friends — some who have transferred in, and some who I’ve spent all four years with, all of us growing together in Christ. 

The Lord has taught me so much through these four years at Cedarville. I’ve been able to experience genuine friendship and fellowship, as well as gain a rigorous education. I’ve been moved closer to Christ through the ups and downs of my college journey. The Lord has taught me to hold all things with an open hand, but not to be afraid to grow roots. Though I may not stay in Cedarville for long, I’ve been blessed to be transplanted here for the time being.

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