Serving while surviving college

For a fulfilling college experience, getting involved on campus is important. A support system is needed to survive all of the many activities crammed into a short amount of time. Quizzes, assignments, tests, midterms, research papers, projects, presentations, and finals are a small part of the busy schedule that demands a student’s time. Add a part-time or full-time job, a sport or sports, academic clubs, coffee runs, study breaks, and many other things to a full-time student’s schedule and you have one stressed out college student. Also, don’t forget to spend time with family and friends.

Dealing with the stress of school and life outside of school is a lot to juggle. Along with family and friends, a local church can be a part of your support system. The challenge of including church, Bible study, and serving time often discourages students from getting involved at all in a church and community.

The student’s thought process seems to be focus on your education first and then, you’ll find time to be a part of the community and serve. However, we are not promised our next breath so why are we waiting to start living out what is most important?
          Galatians 5:13-14 says, "For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (ESV)

            While it seems like there is no freedom as a student, we are called to freedom. We should not carry the burdens of stress, instead invest in people around you by loving them. Serving is love in action.

SURVIVING COLLEGE

With only four months, how are you supposed to impact someone in such a small amount of time? If you’re too busy to hang out with friends because of homework, study together. Ephesians 5:15-16 says to be wise in how you live and to make the best of every opportunity. Use every moment you can find to invest in people around you. The dinner table is a good place to prioritize time with people. Since you have to take time to eat, have intentional conversations at the table.

 “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God,” says 1 Corinthians 10:31 (NIV).

In whatever you do, glorify the Lord. However, being intentional is still very important in all relationships as well as in serving. Find time for important things like investing in people. If you’re extremely busy and can’t find time, then, make time like at the dinner table as mentioned before. A true friend should be willing to drop everything for anyone in need. Friends last longer than grades. Take a study break and go get ice-cream to cry with your friend over the frustrations of life or to have a good laugh.

Obviously, you don’t want to completely throw off all studiousness to goof off. Education is a way to glorify God by using your gifts and talents to pursue a career that will impact the world around you. Preparing for your future is good, but don’t forget about the people that are around you because they make the college experience memorable. You have a limited amount of time with your college friends. A few will be around for a while, but most will move on as you do after graduation.

SERVING

            Being a friend and finding everyday life moments to serve and glorify God are ways to serve while surviving college, but choosing to serve is a way to thrive in community. Attend a small group or Bible study to truly be in community with other believers. Being active in a local church is an important step because serving by yourself is draining. We are made to live in community with fellow believers so that others will see the love of Jesus as John 13:34-45 says.

Adding another activity to the schedule does becomes overwhelming. Instead of being involved in everything, wisely choose one or two that you’re passionate about and do those well. What you’re willing to skip homework for is probably a sign that the Bible study or ministry is an important essential on your to do list. The same can be said of friendships. While we are called to love everyone, wisely choose friendships that you can invest in deeply.

"So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy," says Colossians 1:10-11 (ESV).

Adventures of Anna Clayton

A conversation with Anna Clayton is sure to be filled with laughter and jokes. She is lovingly described by her friends as crazy, fun, and adventurous. Like the song from her favorite movie the “Lion King” “Hakuna Matata,” it seems like she has no worries in the world because she is very optimistic and encouraging to others who are dealing with the difficulties of life. Her strong convictions in her faith help her when life is really rough.

“My relationship with God is a huge part of my college experience,” said Clayton. “I trust him and His plan.”

                                                                  Photo by Lydia Huggins
Anna Clayton getting ready to teach kids swim lessons.

According to Clayton, part of God’s plan included attending University of the Cumberlands. As a member of UC’s women’s swim team, she has been a national qualifier, a four-time all-American, and has broken a couple of school records with her team. At the 2016 nationals, she was a part of the team that broke the 200 freestyle relay and the 800 freestyle relay. Last year, she wasn’t able to swim for six months because she had torn tendons in her wrist and thumb area. She had to adjust and keep herself busy because after 14 years of swimming, she missed it a lot.

Clayton has learned to juggle the challenges that come with being a student and athlete. Not only was she a dedicated student and athlete, but she was also a Resident Assistant, a member of UC’s Student Government Association and taught swim lessons.

“I saw a fighter because she had homework with psychology and criminal justice, swimming, and demands of being an RA,” said Cierra Gamble, friend, fellow RA and Harry Potter enthusiast. “It can get to a person and through it all she kept who she was.”

Her relationship with God has helped her through college. According to Clayton, He gave her opportunities to sing in the praise and worship band at her church and invest more time in her friends and job when she got her injury. This year, Clayton and her friend, Stefan Johnson, led the swimmer’s life group together.

“Anna’s gotten them to read their bibles, helped them to grow, and has been their mentor,” said Johnson. “I’ve seen her grow a lot. She’s great for support and a good friend. She’s an amazing young woman who can accomplish anything that she puts her mind to.”

When Clayton came to college, her parents encouraged her to make her faith her own. According to Clayton, her mom showed her what unconditional love from Jesus looks like. She has always wanted to love people like her mom loves them. Her close friend, Grace Van Ryckeghem, described her character in such a way that she does.

“She has a great strength and a heart that really cares for people,” said Van Ryckeghem, captain of the women’s swim team at UC. “It’s a friendship that is so rare to find. Someone who is willing to walk with you in life through everything. She’s going to be there for you any way that she can.”

Van Ryckeghem and Clayton have walked, swam, and danced alongside of each other ever since they were freshman. As swimmers, they spend a lot of time with each other in the pool, weight room, traveling, and on dry land. When they were freshman, they entered a Gillespie house council pageant. They had fun getting dressed up and dancing to “Peanut Butter and Jelly Time” as their talent.

                                                                  Photo by Lydia Huggins
Morgan Plowman, Grace Van Ryckeghem, and
Anna Clayton going on an adventure to Walmart. 

“She’s really crazy and fun to be around,” said Van Ryckeghem. “You’re never going to be bored. That’s life with Anna, you never know what new adventure you’re going on. Even going to Walmart is an adventure.”

            Along with playing Walmart tag as an adventure with friends, Clayton likes to go hiking, driving late at night with the windows rolled down and music playing loud, sitting around a bonfire with friends and s’mores.

 “It’s all about the people,” said Clayton. “Find some friends, invest in them, and be vulnerable and open with them. Go adventure with them all over the place.”

Clayton also loves to read and write adventurous, fiction stories as well as live them. Whenever she’s stressed out, she reads her favorite book, “Peter Pan.” Since she can’t be a kid forever like Peter Pan, Clayton plans to use her major in psychology and minor in criminal justice to be a probation or parole officer before becoming a profiler. She is heartbroken by the things she learns in class and wants help improve the justice system. She would also like to join the Coast Guard to serve her country because as she says, “The water is kind of like my domain, my home.”

Although, as of right now, her plans aren’t quite solid. “I keep telling people that it’s a surprise for everyone including myself,” said Clayton.

After going home for the summer, she hopes to move to Nashville, Tennessee. She looks forward to living in a big city with lots of opportunities and family nearby.

Clayton has learned to embrace the differences of others. This perspective has helped her make friends with people from a variety of backgrounds. In the case with her friend Cierra Gamble, they went from unlikely friends to close friends sharing in many adventures together. Clayton had the opportunity to take Gamble to the beach for the first time where they enjoyed long boarding together as well as saving two starfish instead of keeping them.

“We realized that on the outside we looked different like our social circles and everything were different, but a lot of the things we believed in, loved, and were passionate about were exactly the same,” said Gamble.

Along with the advice of investing in friends, Clayton also has perspective to share with incoming freshman.

 “Take some more time to study a little bit because that math grade is going to last a lot longer than that cute boy. All freshman need to hear that,” said Clayton with a laugh. “Cumberlands is a great place to grow in your faith. There are a lot of people standing around, waiting to nurture you, and invest in you and it’s awesome.”

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Student Government Association or Swimmer Government Association?

            Instead of thinking about all of the important issues that University of the Cumberlands’ Student Government Association address for the student body to the administration, UC students often think of all of the swimmers who seem to run SGA. The student president, Grace Van Ryckeghem, senior biology and exercise sports science double major with a missions and ministry minor at UC and women’s swim team captain, encourages any student to join SGA.

“Others can just as much be involved,” said Van Ryckeghem. “We’re not excluding anyone. Everyone is welcome to join. We would love for our room to be packed every week and need a bigger room with more people in it. If you want to complain about it, then do something and join SGA.”

                                                                                  Lydia Huggins
Students studying in SGA office.

SGA has tried open membership to get more of the student body to get involved. Non-members are allowed to come to their every other Wednesday night meetings. Students can fill out an application (located in the SGA office located in the Mid Boswell Campus Center) and have students sign a petition who want the applicant to be a representative in SGA’s senate.

“SGA is the voice of the students,” said Lisa Bartram, director of student activities. “If students want change on campus or need something for a club they are in, they go to SGA.”

Recently, the archery team approached SGA about wanting to send members of their team to the University Championship Trials in Phoenix, Arizona, because they need help getting their members there. SGA is able to help other student organizations or sports teams because they are one of the few student organizations that gets a budget directly from UC. SGA doesn’t fundraise for their expenses, but help others with their funds.

                             Photo from the University of the Cumberlands.  
SGA provides Health and Wellness Center with couches.
    

The leather couches in the new Ward Correll Health and Wellness Center were provided by SGA to complete their pledge that they gave for the building project of the Health and Wellness Center. They also fund the recycling program and are considering getting new recycling bins.

At the beginning of the school year, SGA meets to discuss ways to improve student life at UC. Members of SGA as well as non-members are welcome to come to their meetings and present ideas. Dr. Emily Coleman, vice president for student services, asks them if they have any new ideas to improve campus. Last year, SGA helped to implement new open house hours. Most recently, they have taken proposals for a new meal plan to the administration who are now looking into a new ID system and infrastructure to do so. 

“This school is not perfect. No school is perfect. SGA is the place to come if you want to see something changed. If you just complain about it, but if you don’t take it to anybody, than how can anything change?” said Van Ryckeghem. “Even if you’re not a member, tell one of the members on SGA so we can bring it to the people who can look into that. Sometimes [the administration] just doesn’t know. They’re not students living on campus day to day the way we are. They don’t and can’t know everything.”

                                  Photo from University of the Cumberlands
SGA students walking in Relay for Life's opening ceremony. 

SGA does more than speak for the students; they also facilitate activities. Throughout the school year, SGA hosts annual study breaks with food for students to study or relax during finals week, provide students with a free movie, popcorn, and drink during spring fever and homecoming weeks, have a booth at Relay for Life, collect votes for an honored faculty member as well as homecoming king and queen, and have senate members on many committees throughout UC. Van Ryckeghem is currently on the committee for the QEP for the reaffirmation of the school.

“Really there’s a place for SGA pretty much everywhere in school,” said Van Ryckehem. “They really listen to our opinions.”

Aside from Van Ryckeghem, half of the executive board are not swimmers. SGA does their best to involve all of the students that are a part of SGA.

“The reason why I joined SGA is I wanted to earn community service hours at first,” said Yuko Baba, senior business and administration major with a minor in history at UC. “Before I joined SGA, I didn’t know what was going on in SGA. After I joined, I realized that SGA is really important for UC students. We can help UC students because we represent them.”

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Time for change or time to be content?

We’re all searching for something better, something more, something to satisfy us.  Some people are deciding what new health regimen to begin and, others budget their finances, thinking money will solve their problems, and someone, who has tried every avenue, decides to grow closer to God this year. All to start the year off right and make life better.

New Year’s resolutions: changing your lifestyle to be something better.

Change is good and will satisfy you…right?

How many times will we set New Year’s resolutions thinking, “This is the year. This time it will be different. Next time, I won’t need to set a New Year’s resolution because everything will be set right this year.”  

Choosing a healthier, wiser, or more productive lifestyle isn’t bad. However, accomplishing your goals, won’t satisfy you. There will always be another goal to set because we are continually learning and growing and changing.

Perhaps, before we set a resolution for the new year, we should think about what we already have or are already doing in our life that is good.

Maybe this is the year that you appreciate and don’t take for granted what is already good in your life. Or maybe, you do need to make an important change in your life, but first realize that that is not going to satisfy you.

Author, actor and blogger Jon Jorgenson in his blog post titled, “More,” says, “Contentment is the highest form of achievement.”

Realize that no matter the millions of changes that you make of your circumstance. You won’t always be satisfied until you are satisfied in the Lord.

Personally, I struggle with contentment. I’m always thinking about the future, how I can improve myself, and what else there is to learn. Desiring to learn or improve yourself isn’t wrong, but it can be if you let it consume you and you’re seeking the wrong satisfaction. Like, I do with thinking the future will be better and easier if I do this, this, and this. No matter how many times I imagine my way around future obstacles, life won’t be easy.

Every situation and circumstance of life has difficulties. Life changes. Circumstances change. No matter how many times you try to change it for the better, you’re only going to find dissatisfaction. Unless, you’re seeking the Lord. God doesn’t change. He is constant.

Finding God and following Him is the only change that you can make that will bring complete satisfaction and peace.

Read Philippians 4. I think it does well to show what this satisfaction, contentment, and peace in God looks like and how to get there. If you didn’t read it, here are some excerpts and things to think about.

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus," says Philippians 4:4-7 (NIV).