What I learned my freshman year

It would be an understatement to say that my freshman year of college was nothing like I expected it to be.

I consider some people in this world “#blessed” due to the fact that they love change and welcome it without fear of the unknown. Fun fact about me: I am not one of those people.

The transition from high school life to college was a load too heavy for me to carry on my own. Thankfully, God promises that we don’t have to carry these things on our own. After much thought, the main three things that I learned my freshman year at Oklahoma Christian University would be to become as involved as you can, to study more than you thought was ever possible and to pray even more than you study.

Oklahoma Christian thrives off of its high-involvement levels of students and staff. Whether it’s intramurals, Spring Sing or even a Bible study, there is always something to do. My first semester, I was so overwhelmed with how hard my schedule was and how busy I was with soccer that I thought it would be pretty much impossible for me to be involved and pass all of my classes. I felt isolated from all of my friends that got to do all of these fun things that I was unable to do because of soccer and my class schedule. I had to make a decision of whether to continue my soccer career or to become involved with more things on campus.

After much time spent in thought and prayer, I decided to hang up my cleats. The free time that I thought I would have from not playing during second semester was quickly filled with the stress and the fun of Spring Sing. I grew closer to many of my classmates and made so many new, awesome friends. I have yet to have any regrets about my decision.

There is a word that all college students cringe when they hear it. If you guessed the word “study,” you’re 100 percent correct. Even with the Advanced Placement classes that I took in high school, this word was an action that I never really had to do much of to maintain my 4.0 GPA. As I reflect back to the beginning of the year, my very first test grade made it obvious that I did not study the necessary amount to make a good grade on that test (sorry, mom).

I learned the hard way, very quickly, that I needed to spend more time in my textbooks and less time in my text messages. Luckily, all it took was some discipline and some caffeine to turn my study habits around.

One of my professors said this to me at the beginning of the year: “If you start praying for your schoolwork right now, you’re already too late.” He was not wrong. For many reasons, I have found so much comfort in fervent prayer. I have been so lucky to have family and friends that pray with me and for me.

We serve a God that is much more perfect and powerful than we could ever fathom. So when I’m in need of a venting session, who better to go to than a God who is omnipotent and omnipresent?

Jeff McMillon once asked our class, “Have you ever had something that you cannot think about without praying about it?” My freshman year at Oklahoma Christian has changed my answer from “some things” to “everything.”

Jenni Jones is a freshman at Oklahoma Christian University. 

The opinions of guest columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Talon or Oklahoma Christian University. Guest opinions are presented to foster public debate on important topics and comments should be respectful and signed.

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