phone home

The first two weeks of college, I disappeared to the outside world. That is, the world outside of Biola. My little universe had launched itself into an entire new galaxy of orientation events, late nights, meeting approximately 50 people every day and classes that lasted three hours sometimes.

After about two weeks, my phone rang and the not-so-little three letter word MOM showed up on my cell phone's screen. Oops...! I hadn't called my mom in two weeks, the person who raised me and had lived with since my parents brought me home from the hospital. I answered the phone to a somewhat disgruntled mother, which is never fun, but to this day, I commend her. The fact that she held out for two weeks is more respectful of me than I ever thought was possible. I know she most likely wanted to call the day after she dropped me off to hear about every minute of my night and my plans for the next week, but she waited. And waited. And waited.

Unfortunately, I never called, not because I didn't love her or respect her, but my little universe had expanded and was still adjusting to the multitude of little stars in my eyes. She accepted my apology after a few minutes, and then I delved into my life at the time and everything that had happened in the two weeks time.

I left home that Fall of 04 not expecting much. I knew college would be "exciting and fun," but I had no idea what it was really going to be like. I was actually fairly naive about the whole thing. Those first few weeks were a good sign that I had been thrown into an entire new place of learning and activity. My eyes were opened and I realized I could be who I wanted to be, I had a fresh start from high school but with the knowledge of a high school graduate.

The past few weeks I have been writing a series of features on four new freshman students titled The Journey. Each of them remind me a little of myself those first few weeks - overwhelmed, eager, young and inspired. God is so present at Biola and it is so evident in new freshman. Their eyes are opened and they are thrown into a new universe full of stars and new places to explore that they didn't know existed.

Though I do regret not calling my mom those few weeks, I am grateful she let me live in my new little universe for a while and then brought me back home when I needed to be. Eventually, the two universes collided and I could live in my new universe and call her multiple times per week.