Emily's Story

I sat down at a table in the dining hall and texted an old friend from high school. “Are you at orientation?” it read. Waiting for a response, I looked around the room to see groups of people sitting together and joking about their dorms, majors, and what they did last summer. I wondered how they connected so quickly. Was there a team-building exercise I missed? Did everyone coordinate with their childhood pals to go to the same college? Lunch ended, and I decided my goal that weekend would be to make a few lasting friendships, people who could accompany me on smoothie runs or free movie viewings on campus. But I left orientation with that goal unfulfilled.

A week later, someone stopped me in the student center. She asked if I heard about InterVarsity and handed me a list of small groups. “Thanks,” I said, but no thanks, I thought. I didn’t come to college to go to church. I had grown up going to church but didn’t see any need to continue or get involved in some Christian group.  

Instead, I spent the next two years joining and quitting clubs and dodging invitations to Bible studies. I thought happiness would be as easy as living close to campus and going to parties. But nothing was fulfilling me. Then, a toxic pride and independence started to consume me. I was convinced I didn’t need anyone else yet envied those who were having the coveted college experience while I was bored and lonely.

Making New Discoveries

In that place of desperation, I finally gave in to going to an InterVarsity conference. I pressed that register button and felt a strange confusion. Isn’t this what I wanted? Friendship? I didn’t want it in a faith-based context though. I know about Jesus and don’t need this, I thought.

But when I arrived at the conference a few weeks later, I experienced something I never had before. The deep connections the students had with each other baffled me. What was even more surprising was that the included me—overwhelming me with a feeling of peace and belonging. This group genuinely cared for me and wanted to understand who I was. They shared vulnerably with each other and encouraged me to be vulnerable too. For the first time since starting college, I was connecting in a way that surpassed small talk and group projects.

Through the discussions in these groups, I also discovered who Jesus really is and that the gospel was this radical, redemptive truth. For the first time, I wanted to dig into scripture. I wanted to find out what it meant to be “missional.” I wanted to know Jesus and have a close bond with him.

Saying Yes

On the last day of the conference, everyone shared “I will…” statements. When it was my turn, I was ready to surrender the boundaries I spent drawing between myself and others and my overzealous need for independence. I was ready to accept this love and more than just a superficial relationship with my maker, and with everyone else. The words “I will commit to Bible study and embrace this new group of friends” spilled out. The room cheered. I was saying yes to community, and more importantly, I was saying yes to Jesus.

Now, I understand that we have a good Father who wants to give us good gifts—gifts of community and a promise between a Savior and his people. For too long, I said no to those gifts. Finally accepting them meant finding what I was missing. It meant I wasn’t alone.

Help give all students like Emily the Christian community they need.

Today’s students experience epidemic levels of loneliness and desperately need the real hope of Jesus. Please consider how God might be inviting you to give so that InterVarsity can bring that hope to students on every corner of every college campus. You gift will help start authentic, Christian communities on campuses without any.