I remember the summer before I started at UNCC. I couldn’t
stop thinking about college. I couldn’t stop thinking about what I still
needed, wondering about my roommates, worrying about classes. My biggest worry
was about having the perfect
bedspread. I wanted it to be cute but not too girly, not too teenagery but
still fun. I shopped for hours and hours until I found it. I had all of my
stuff for my room in this blue bin and at least once a week I opened up the bin
to look over it again. I dreamed about what my room would look like and how I
would arrange the furniture.
Out of all of my preparations, I forgot one VERY important
thing. It was actually the most important thing. I forgot to pray. I spent more
time shopping for my bedspread than I did praying about my future. I was so
distracted by what my next year would look like that I forgot to think about
what my life would look like. And I paid for it too, let me tell you. My
college experience was miserable. I hated my living situation. (That’s why I
have Misty, but that’s another story.) I got terrible teachers. I even had one
teacher who said she would fail you if you missed more than two classes,
excused or unexcused. I have never been more lonely than I was during that year.
I spent that entire year wondering if I was the only Christian on the entire
campus.
This bad experience helped me realize how INCREDIBLY
important it is to pray for your college experience. College is something you live, not just something you do. It
takes up a huge chunk of time and determines a lot about the rest of your life.
College is simply too important to not pray about.
I work with a lot of high school graduates that are eagerly
awaiting August. They can’t wait to get out of their parents’ house, can’t wait
to meet their roommate, can’t wait to finally
be on their own. No more curfew, no more arguments about how short your
skirt is, no more rules! I have gotten to work next to these graduates for a
year now and I have built some wonderful friendships with them. I wanted to create
a list for them so that they might not make the same mistakes that I did. Class
of ’14 (and hopefully ’18), this one’s for you!
1. Pray for your future roommate, teachers, and classes. (Deut.
31:8)
Deuteronomy 31:8 says that God goes before us. That means
that right now, while you’re looking around for that perfect
bedspread/rug/over-the-door-organizer, God is creating your schedule. He’s
choosing your teachers and your classmates. He’s setting up potential
friendships for you. He’s preparing the heart of your roommate just as much as
He’s preparing your heart. Pray for a roommate that is a good match for you.
Whether that means a quiet roommate, a fun roommate, a studious roommate,
whatever! You know what you want – pray about it! Also pray that you get
teachers who understand and who see you as a human being, not just another body
in a seat. Pray that you get the classes that you need for your major. Pray
that there are potential friends in your classes and that you sit next to each
other from day one.
2. Pray about your major. (Prov. 16:9)
This is a huge decision. For some of you, it’s an easy one.
You’ve known forever what you want to do. For some of you, it’s overwhelming.
The thought that it’s what you’re going to do for the rest of your life is too much to handle. I was in the
latter group, and I changed my major more times than I can even count. Whatever
boat you’re in, pray that God guides you in this decision. Proverbs 16:9 states
that even though we make our own decisions, God guides the steps in those
decisions. Pray that He closes doors when He needs to. Pray that you’re making
a decision based off of what He wants you to do, not what you want you to do.
Open your heart and you may be surprised by what you find.
3. Pray about your future friends. (Prov. 12:26)
Your friends make or break your college experience.
Seriously. And, speaking from experience here, not having friends can really
make things difficult too. Pray that God
gives you the courage to talk to people you don’t know. Pray for the wisdom to
know when someone isn’t a good person to involve in your life and when to take
a chance and emotionally invest yourself in someone. God wants to see you
succeed and if you pray that He take away the friends that will be bad
influences on you, He will do just that. Just be prepared… sometimes He takes
away people we aren’t expecting to lose.
4. Pray for the ability to make wise decisions. (Psalm 111:10)
You’re out on your own and there isn’t anybody to tell you
not to eat week-old pizza at 3am while watching that 15th episode on
Netflix instead of studying for the exam tomorrow. There’s not going to be
anyone to tell you not to go to the party that everyone’s talking about and
there’s not going to be anyone to warn you if someone slips something in your
drink. Those “horror” stories you hear about college aren’t as exaggerated as
you think. Those things actually happen. Pray that God helps you make wise decisions.
Whether that means not walking to your car alone at night or not dropping that
class in order to avoid an ex-boyfriend. Like I said earlier, God wants to see
you succeed and He’ll be more than willing to help you make wise decisions if
you just ask.
5. Pray for the ability to make healthy decisions. (1 Cor.
3:16-17)
Healthy decisions are almost just as important as wise decisions.
Sometimes making an unhealthy decision is also an unwise decision. Alcohol.
Yes, we’re going there. Alcohol is available in college to whatever excess you
allow it to have. Just know that alcohol damages your body in a huge number of
ways. And if that doesn’t mean anything to you – it’s impossible to drink a
large amount of alcohol without also drinking a large amount of calories.
Calories make you fat, therefore alcohol will make you fat. Maybe that will
help you say no.
Besides alcohol, there are a million unhealthy opportunities
at your fingertips. Like those extremely productive energy drinks they sell at
the campus bookstore. And candy bars. And cookies. And chips. And pizza. If
your college is like most colleges, there will be plenty of fast-food options
dripping with grease. Just remember, Jesus died
so that you can enjoy your body.
6. Pray for endurance. (Prov. 3:5-6)
Finally, pray for endurance to finish your degree. New
friends and hangovers and attractive singles can be extremely distracting.
Seriously, if you had to choose between going on a date with that cute guy from
your Biology class or studying for the English exam that you know is going to
whip your butt, what choice are you going to make? Bad choices add up. Skipping
class and sleeping in adds up. Bad grades add up. Before you know it you’ll be
looking at your graduation plan and wondering if it’s worth it. You’ll be
wondering if signing up for that 8am will be worth it. You’ll be wondering if
choosing a trip to the library over hanging out with your friends is worth it.
Pray ahead of time that God gives you the endurance you need to make the right
choices. I can promise you you’ll get tired of studying and you’ll want to give
up. You won’t want to pray in that moment, so pray ahead of time. You might not
remember it but God will.
These are all things your parents want you to know but they
don’t bother telling you because they know you won’t listen. Or maybe they do bother telling you but you still
don’t listen. So I’m telling you, as a current college student in my sixth year
without a degree yet that this will help! Pray for just one of these things
every day. If you don’t know what to pray about, just read the Bible verse to
God and say, “God I pray about ____ in college.” The beautiful thing about pray
is that it doesn’t have to be perfect. In fact, pray is all about how much we
depend on God. Take 20 seconds every day to pray about one of the things on
this list and you will see results
when you get there. Promise cross my heart.
One final tip: DON’T
change your major in your fourth year of college.
