Feelings

I grew up in a large, tight-knit, homeschool family in Texas. When I went away to college it was the first time I had been to a “real school” since kindergarten. To call this transition a culture shock would be an understatement!

I was so excited for the new phase of my life. I was excited for the “college experience” and all that entails, and was thrilled to begin preparing for a career in ministry that I was so passionate about. I was also terrified to go to what felt like a “huge” school with so many people from around the country, and felt a lot of anxiety over leaving the people and places I was so familiar and comfortable with. I’m what people call an “ambivert”

When I was in college, I was blessed with an awesome group of girl friends. We lived as roommates and suitmates all four years of college and we were inseparable. It was the type of friend group that truly becomes like family. And I had friends in different groups on campus – including touring choir, campus ministry, pre-med club. I loved that whenever I walked across our small campus I would run into several friends to say hi to. I felt like I truly belonged to a strong and loving community.

All of that changed my senior year when the COVID pandemic began and I was forced to