Coming to The University of Alabama was one of the strangest experiences I have ever dealt with. I grew up in a relatively small town in the middle of Georgia, so there were a few things I wish I had known before coming onto this massive campus.
The main thing I wish I had known was that it is OK to take things at your own pace. It can become very easy to compare yourself to everyone around you and feel less than for not having the same scholarship amounts or club memberships.
Everyone says that college is a time of personal growth, but to do that you need to realize that, while those accolades are great, they don’t make up who you are as a person. A lot of this comparison can cause confusion to the point where you may not really know where you stand in the grand scheme of things.
With that in mind, the good thing is that, even if you can’t see it at that moment, the Lord has everything figured out, even when you don’t. It is a great comfort to know that, even when I have absolutely no idea what is going on, that if I put my trust in God, it will work out in the end.
"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" // Jeremiah 29:11
Something I found that helps with this uncertainty is getting plugged into a community; something that helped even more is getting plugged into a community that helped me better interpret how God reveals His plans. The BCM has been that place for me that helps me interpret how God reveals His plans..
Before coming to Alabama, I was not very concrete in my faith. Due to several events in my life, I kind of turned my back to God. Coming to the BCM I helped me realized that others go are going through similar struggles as well.
This realization helped me better understand some of the many ways God reveals Himself. I now know that God takes the broken pieces and creates something new and beautiful out of them. This realization made me turn back around and start walking closer to Him.
The BCM also made the immense size of campus feel so much smaller. After just two years here, I can walk from one end of campus to the other and almost guarantee that I will see someone from the BCM and be able to have one of those conversations that leaves you feeling good afterward. It also has given me a place where, even after a bad day, I can walk in and instantly feel better–whether that feeling better comes from being surrounded by friends or just having a place to take a much-needed midday nap. I hope the BCM can be your place of community, too.
See you in August!
Matthew Higgs // @higgs02
Junior // Human Development & Family Studies
Milledgeville, GA