Beyond Campus

Andrew McDowell, an InterVarsity alumnus of Occidental College, experienced Jesus through InterVarsity in a way that shaped the rest of his life. Today, he runs With Love, a nonprofit centered around a social enterprise market and cafe, that helps fund community programs around health, child development, and career skills for those in southwest Los Angeles.

Before Andrew McDowell founded With Love Community  Programs, he was a college student trying to figure out his purpose.

“I came into college wide-eyed, not knowing what I  wanted to do,” he said.

Urbana 22 taught me what God can do with empty hands opened to him. 

Anxiety drove me into the arms of Jesus. And over the years, I began to see patterns of how some ways of prayer mirror psychotherapy techniques that help reduce anxiety. Going further and studying spiritual formation, I was exposed to even more ways to pray in ways that are helpful. I was intrigued that the little bit of neuroscience that had informed my early graduate work helped me make sense of new discoveries about the brain and how it’s shaped by anxiety and reshaped by various forms of prayer.

The summer after my sophomore year of college, I prayed to God for a community of friends. My time thus far in college had been dull and I knew something seriously important was lacking in my life. Shortly after, I got plugged into InterVarsity on campus and made a ton of new friends.

As a former InterVarsity student and campus minister, I know the struggle of making your skills and experiences as an InterVarsity student really pop on resumes and in job interviews. But I’m here to help you!

Here are some simple ways to remind ourselves of the way we’ve learned to be with Jesus in college. These can help us get through the college transition.

Should pay be the only factor in the summer job you choose? What’s God’s perspective? Is there anything in the Bible that can guide what kind of job we pursue?

Right now it may be hard to think of anything long-term—even the next five minutes may seem overwhelming—but God is faithful and asks us to not only look at the next five minutes with anticipation but to also find peace in knowing that he has all our minutes, hours, and days.

As I accepted my diploma, a chunk of my identity flaked off: “student.” I’d worked hard and anticipated the day when I wouldn’t have this label anymore. But as I entered the new year as a graduate, I felt untethered.

It feels so overly simplistic to say that life’s not about this job or that position, but it’s not. It’s not your accomplishments that people will remember at your funeral.