How to Survive College as a Christian
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the top tech schools in the country and right across the bridge from our church building!
You made it to campus! Congrats! Now what?
I know what you must be thinking - where are my classes? is my dorm really this small? how am I going to find friends? will I be able to keep my faith in college? - because I was there too. My first week of classes I was worried about getting lost on campus, finding people who I could see myself being friends with for the next four years, and finding God in the midst of the busyness.
So, here are our five tips that can help you navigate the transition to college and grow in your faith with God and others.
Some practical tips:
1. Find. Your. Classes. This may seem like a “duh” suggestion, but trust me it's so necessary! A day or two before your classes begin, take a friend and find where each of your classes will be. It seems like enough to know the building, but on the day of you might find that your class is in a weird corner of some random hallway and it took you 15 extra minutes to find it — 15 minutes you end up late to class. :’) Can you tell I’m speaking from personal experience?
2. Organize your life. College schedule is very different from highschool because you can have classes at 8 am and 8 pm. So, even if you hate planning, it’s really helpful to keep a weekly and monthly schedule with classes, assignment due dates, study blocks, church service, club activities, etc. Planning ahead gives you more freedom to be spontaneous in your free time and still not fall behind in your classes! P.S. Actually read your syllabus the first week - it will help you stay organized and know what’s going on each week.
Growing in your identity as a Christian in college:
3. Be grounded in God’s word. College can be a turning point in your walk with God, either where your relationship with Him deepens or weakens. Just as in a friendship both parties must put in the effort to meet, get to know one another, and go through life’s joys and difficulties together, so it is with our relationship with God. He is more than willing to relate with us, but so often we put Him aside for “more important things”. I would argue that the most important thing is putting first things first.
The way we can grow in knowing God and having Him speak into our lives is by reading His word. In college, I started to read the bible daily through devotional times led by my mentor. Those times became the highlight of my week because when life felt like it was full of storm tossed waves, I knew that I could rely on that quiet time with God to remind me of a bigger picture of my life in His story.
4. Join a Homegroup. Going through college on your own will be difficult. I remember when the excitement of coming to campus wore off about a month in, and I was left with a sense of homesickness and a feeling that I wasn’t really known by the people around me. I joined a homegroup at my campus and got connected with other students and mentors who were trying to live out their faith together. We would read the bible, eat yummy home cooked food, and talk about deeper questions - like what is the purpose of my life? They challenged me to live out my faith and promised to do it alongside me, and I grew to really love them. That’s how my campus, which once felt like a foreign place, started to feel like home.
Tufts student and mentor having a home cooked meal together
Studying God’s Word
Doing life together, having wholesome fun
5. Learn to serve. “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45
Summer youth outreach in NYC from Vision 2019 project
This is the heart of Christ, who came as a humble servant to make forgiveness of sin and salvation possible for us. Growing in your faith means growing to be a servant of others, learning how to come regularly to God in prayer and humility, and allowing others you trust to help you grow towards this goal.
Christian life was not intended to be lived out alone, but with the body of Christ. So beyond just getting together practical aspects of college so that you have time for God, don’t try to do it on your own when there are plenty of opportunities to get plugged into a community. Looking forward to welcoming you all back!
