College Student for the Weekend!

It is never too early to start looking at colleges. There are so many colleges out there and so many factors influencing your decision that I decided to begin visiting college campus' . . . last weekend.

Red Carpet Days is a college visit for sophomores and juniors at Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois. It was nothing like I expected. And now you're going to ask me "What did you expect it to be like?"

My answer to that, "Don't ask!" I honestly don't know what I expected; I just know I didn't expect that.

And that is what I am going to tell you about.

Let me tell you that riding in a fifteen-passenger van, all females, for four hours, it gets pretty crazy. On the way there we stopped three times, mostly for food. Miraculously, we arrived at ONU. I expected to feel an immediate sense of belonging when we drove through the campus gate. I didn't really feel anything, so that was a little disappointing.

We were warmly welcomed by at the front desk as we found our activities packet and map. The really cool thing about being there was that we were able to stay in the freshman dorms, and I know that it really helped me picture myself living there someday.

After we were assigned our rooms we gathered up our many belongings we plodded to our rooms. As we walked through the corridor, one by one, we each found where we would stay the night. I was staying with a friend and we were both eager to meet the freshmen we would be rooming with for the night. When we arrived there was a note on the door, welcoming us and inviting us to make ourselves comfortable.

So we did. Our luggage was everywhere, and once we couldn't hardly walk across the floor of the tiny dormitory we headed back out to eat lunch in the cafeteria.

Not going to lie, it was a little intimidating walking through the cafeteria doors and eating with the college students. And there was so much food! At my high school we have about five choices for lunch; here there were twice that many, and it was all you can eat. My mom said that's why they call it freshman fifteen.

When our stomachs were sufficiently filled, we all left the cafeteria and split up to attend different college classes. I attended a language class and a speaking class.

The language class was pretty interesting. The way they "discussed" wasn't much different from the conversations that we have in AP Lang, except they were God-based. I was surprised to find that I understood everything they were talking about, and was even able to answer a few questions.

I didn't actually mean to walk into a speech class. I have no interest in public speaking what-so-ever, but it proved beneficial. The teacher grouped us in with the college students and we were able to complete an outline for a paper about "How to Successfully be a Freshman." I was proud of myself for being able to contribute to the thesis statement.

During the third class period we went on a tour of the campus instead. It was so much fun to be able to just hang out with my girls and dream about attending Olivet someday. It really is a beautiful campus and all of the buildings are up-to-date, which is fantastic.

All the visiting high school students ate dinner together and were able to meet advisors of the college. When we had finished eating we loaded onto buses and hung out at this PlanetX/YMCA place. It was boring until we decided to play volleyball, then it got intense. We had a lot of fun getting to know the other students visiting Olivet and just getting to know each other better.

Saturday morning we woke up way too early and ate a way too big breakfast in the cafeteria with our way cool freshman dorm-mates. Afterwards, we wandered around campus until it was time for service.

An Olivet football game brought an end to our adventure, if only for the weekend. Maybe in a few years we will all find each other there again, living in the freshman dorms, and finding our place in life. Maybe not.

All weekend I was waiting to hear God's voice, telling me that this was where I belong. While I'm still searching, I know that when I find the right place, the decision won't be hard and God will always provide.