I remember my senior year of high school. I was planning on going to community college for photography and had no other plans in my mind besides that. Then God drastically changed my plans. It was January and I was on a youth retreat with my church. The theme of the weekend was “Surrender.” There were some obvious things in my life that I surrendered to God, but part of me felt like I was missing something. I prayed that God would show me if He wanted me to surrender anything else and that He would help me to be obedient to it. Soon, I started realizing that God had bigger plans for me than community college. Realizing this half way through senior year was challenging and I had a lot of anxiety about the details. It was stressful, but I knew God was in control. I applied to other colleges but due to administration issues my paperwork somehow went “missing.” I realize now that this was God’s hand at work. By late April I was extremely stressed out and so confused about what God wanted me to do and where He wanted me to go. I remember laying on my bed crying, pleading with Him to guide me in the right direction. Then I immediately remembered Davis College. I had heard about the school a few years back at a Christian college fair and someone I knew from my youth group back home was a student. I researched the school and was impressed on how devoted they were to teaching the Bible and equipping students for ministry. That really stood out to me because that seems to be something we see less and less in our society today. I quickly realized that this was definitely where God wanted me, though field of study still was not 100% clear to me at the time. I prayerfully filled out the application and was accepted into the college just a week later. I could not believe it. God opened doors that seemed impossible to me and He did so quickly. There was no doubt in my mind that this was where He wanted me to go.
I decided to study Christian Counseling because I wanted to help people, especially children. Then at the start of my junior year I strongly felt like the Lord wanted me to change majors to Christian Ministry and pursue children’s ministry. I was worried because I didn’t want to fall behind and not graduate on time, but I trusted that God was in control. I couldn’t believe how smoothly the whole process went and that all of my counseling credits were going to transfer into my new degree program. I’ll always remember what Mrs. Berkheiser—who is in charge of the counseling program—said to me when I told her I wanted to change majors. She told me that she would miss me in her classes but she was so happy and excited that I was following what I believed the Lord was leading me to do. That really meant a lot to me and just confirmed even more that that was the direction God wanted me to go in. Now I realize that He wanted me in the counseling program for a season because He wanted to use those classes to help shape me for whatever role in children’s ministry He leads me to in the future. I do not know where He which path of children’s ministry He will lead me into, but I am flexible to any area of it. I just want to share the love of Christ with children and disciple them to grow up with a passion for Him.
Now I am a senior here and in my last semester. Part of me is excited to graduate and see what God has in store in this next chapter of my life, but part of me is also sad that I am going to be leaving this place. I have really grown a lot during my time here at Davis College and have learned some very valuable lessons, both inside and outside of the classroom. Something that stands out to me about this college is the community atmosphere. I have met some of the most genuine, godly people here and I really feel like I matter to them. The friendships I have made during these last four years mean the world to me and I do not know what I would have done if they never came into my life. They are constantly encouraging me and helping me in my walk with Christ, and I know that our friendships will last a lifetime. Also, I really appreciate the fact that the faculty and staff are so personable and remember the details of my life, checking in on me to see how I’m doing. When you go to Davis College, you are not just a nameless face in a crowd. You are truly cared for by those who work here. When I think of the kind hearts of the faculty and staff here at Davis College, I think of Dr. Colton. I took a few of his leadership classes and every single week he would ask for prayer requests and would continue to pray for previous requests until you told him otherwise. I even remember him sending me a thoughtful email when my grandfather passed away and he assured me that they would be praying for me in class that day, in addition to the other prayer requests I had mentioned throughout the semester. I cannot even tell you how much that meant to me. That is just one example of the kindhearted people who work here–I could go on and on explaining how valued I have felt by them. I will forever be grateful for the love and care I have felt by the faculty and staff here. I am so thankful for my time here at Davis College and how God has used it in my life.
