Alyssia—Giving Southern a Try

My high school bible teacher told my class during our senior year that we would change just as much during our four years in college as we did during our four years in high school. I will admit the thought terrified me as I graduated and came to Southern. The thought that college life was so different than anything I had yet experienced petrified me, especially when I considered how much I grew and changed during academy. Coming to Southern, I didn’t see how I could change much more, or how I needed to. And looking back on my first year in college, all I can say is….. Wow.


I’m really not sure how to describe how I’m feeling, but it’s definitely a mixture of happiness, excitement to have accomplished what I have, fear of the future, and anxiousness about my future classes and career. But I also feel more confident in myself, love from new friends, and faithful towards God.


I’ve been through a lot this year. Classes I took taught me that I am earning the right degree for me, and others challenged me in whether or not I have the skills to get where I’m headed.


I’ve also made several new friends while still trying to set aside time for my old ones. I’ve made connections with professors, professionals, and proactive students. I’ve eaten plenty of junk food and plenty of veggies. I’ve desired a car and the choice to become a child again. Some nights I asked God why He even made me and others I rejoiced in Him, thanking Him for the ability to come to Southern.


Everyone’s experience at Southern is difficult. No one has a completely positive or negative experience here, it’s always a mixture of both. I can’t tell you that Southern is the right school for you. But I can tell you that God will work with you to make your experience here or at any other school is worthwhile. You just need to make the decision to step out and attend college and better yourself as a person.


I’m really glad I came to Southern. I don’t know how to sum up my experience in the best way possible, but I just know that my time here was worthwhile, and I think your time here will be good too, if you decide to give Southern a try.

Alyssia—Nostalgia

Sometimes the only way I get through the week is looking forward to the weekend, and I had a lot of fun that made my long week worthwhile. This week was crazy and full of many projects and papers all seemingly due the same day.

However, this weekend made my stressful, frantic week worthwhile because many of my high school classmates got together for a reunion this weekend. I hadn’t realized just how close we all were and how much I had missed them until we had worship together by our old class pastor. It was deep and I missed high school a lot being with my old friends and having spiritual talks together.

We grilled hot dogs, ate our old class sponsor’s famous nachos, played flag football, and talked with all of our pals. It was like we had never been apart.

It was really weird to be together again, because throughout most of this year of college I’ve been missing high school. But this weekend, I finally realized I miss the people more than the place. And ‘my’ people,  my closest friends, will always be there for me, even if we all move away from each other. I’m kind of glad that I’m finally in college because I’m making new friends and we are becoming almost as close as my class and I are, and you can never have too many close friends.

I suppose I am feeling very nostalgic this weekend. When I graduated, I didn’t want to leave high school behind. But I’m glad my high school friends are still with me, even though college is helping my life move along rather quickly.

Alyssia—As the school year closes…..

I cannot believe there are only two weeks of school left. It seems like I just began college a few weeks ago. I’ve learned so much since I came to Southern, and there are many things that different people believe are the most important actions to take to be successful at Southern. Such as:

  • ·         Never skipping class
  • ·         Going to every school event to socialize
  • ·         Meeting with every professor to check on your grades at least twice a semester
  • ·         Taking notes and reviewing them after every class
  • ·         Spending  daily time with God
  • ·         Going on a vespers date every Friday
  • ·         Working out every morning
  • ·         Eating breakfast every day
  • ·         Sleeping 9 hours every night
  • ·         Calling your parents twice a week

However, these are not the core of what college is about. The point of attending college, especially Southern, is not to get an excellent education.

Come to college to learn where your values lie. When you’re supposed to be studying for that chemistry test but get invited out to visit downtown with friends, your choice shows where your values are, either with having close friends and fun times or having good grades. And if you make a list of values and put academics before friends, but skip studying for Chem and shop downtown, your actions are not in line with your values and that will bug you.

That’s what college is really about. Although you may have made ‘poor’ decisions in high school, decisions made in college affect the rest of your life, even more so if they are not in line with your professed values and beliefs. If you say one thing and show another through your decisions, your conscience will bug you until the problem is fixed.

Southern is not all about God. Southern is not all about degrees. Southern is not all about dorm life. Southern is not all about sleep. Southern is about giving a young adult an atmosphere with a variety of positive choices in which the student can learn where their values really lie. College isn’t about finding yourself, it’s about finding your values and either striving to improve them or share them with others.

And those are my little words of wisdom as the school year is drawing to a close.. Maybe next week I’ll post some last tidbits of advice for you incoming freshies. Until next week…

Alyssia—LifeGroups

One of the main reasons I came to Southern was the spiritual atmosphere here. Southern’s campus ministry department is the best. One of the fantastic ministries they have for students is LifeGroups, small bibly study groups led by students. I wasn’t able to join one last semester, but I am in one this semester and it’s the best!

My LifeGroup had a get-together this Sabbath and we all hiked together and then had prayer time then a small like agape feast. It was so nice to be out in nature with God and others who love Him just as much as I do.

Usually, my Lifegroup studies a topic and we look up different verses in the Bible then discuss them, but recently we had a discussion about the early life of Moses. It was so eye-opening! God totally opened my eyes and told me that I’m never going to stop learning about Him, especially when it comes to the never-ending awesome Old Testament stories.

But even with all the cool studies my LifeGroup does, the best part of my group is our prayer time together. We are an odd bunch of students, all from different departments and backgrounds, so it’s awesome to get to know each other through prayer requests and pairing up to pray for each other.

So when you come to Southern, make sure to join a LifeGroup, it’s one of the best things I did at Southern to make my time here the best time that it could be.

Alyssia—SO Ready for Spring Break

Spring Break. I’m so excited. Everyone feels the dread of these next few days. All that stands between we college students and our freedom for a week is several long days and tests.

Most students are vacationing for break. I have friends who are flying home to California, driving for fun to Washington, D.C., and staying on the Florida beaches. And I’m just gonna chill around Southern. I figure it’s a good opportunity for me to get to use the gym everyday, give my room the deep cleaning it has needed for a month, do a TON of laundry, and hang out with friends who live in the area.

This semester has been tiring and I’m really looking forward to the break. At the same time, I’m sad because this break is the only one this semester. Last semester, we had fall, Thanksgiving, and Christmas break, but now we only have spring break to look forward to. So I’m dreading the break in a way, because once this break is over, I will be looking forward to the end of my first year at college.

I absolutely loved high school, so being in college is bittersweet. I can only imagine how hard it will be for me to graduate college. While I am looking forward to having a career, finding my spouse, and living my life, there’s something so special about this time period in a person’s life. So I’m a bit glad that I’m taking this break from college and staying at Southern. I’ll have plenty of time to think about my experience here so far. Maybe I’ll have some super deep stuff for you next time. But for now, spring break is on my mind for many reasons.

Alyssia—Exercise at Southern

Wise people have always told me that time management is the hardest part of college. And I completely agree. Most college students are told to choose 2 out of 3 options: sleep, social life, or good grades. I tend to manage those 3 fairly well, but when you add in working, devotions, and exercising, the latter 2 really suffer.

But this semester, I’m taking Fit for Life, a required course for all Southern students. I actually kind of enjoy the class because I am a bit of a perfectionist, and feel the need to do every homework assignment and never skip one. So I have been keeping up with the homework for Fit for Life class, which is exercising. Although it’s hard to find time, there are so many places to exercise at Southern, it’s great. For example, the girl’s dorm has three exercise rooms: a cardio room, a strength room, and an aerobics room. Then there’s the Hulsey Wellness Center, equipped with a huge gym, workout room, pools, a large outdoor track and field, a smaller indoor track, and even a climbing wall. There’s also the hiking trails behind Southern, which stretch on for miles.

Usually, I end up jogging or walking with friends on the outdoor track during the week, but the most frequent exercise I get on campus is in my dorm. My suitemates and roommate and I do a lot of pushups, crunches, planking, and stretching in our rooms at night. And yes, working out near bed time may not be the best thing in the world for your body, but isn’t it better than nothing? 

So any student at Southern can get a decent amount of exercise, as long as they have the self-discipline and twenty minutes sometime during the day.

Alyssia—Valentine’s!

“I believe in a thing called love.”

This song was one of many sung at S.A.’s Valentines Banquet this evening. It was such a cute little song, and it got me thinking. Do we really believe in a thing called love? Or do we believe, eh, God is the only Being who could ever truly love, so I won’t experience true love for a while.

You see, as Christians, we tend to laugh at the worlds depiction of love in the movies and music industries, yet I believe some of us want a romantic love, someone to be so enthralled with us that they would never consider our faults being something intolerable.

And it’s hard to believe that God truly wants something like that for us, when we want things such as a truly love-filled relationship as soon as possible, and He understands why it’s best to wait for a while longer.

The fact that I need to stop fretting about who I will marry is hard to swallow. Even harder around Valentine’s Day, and Valentine’s Banquet, all the while strolling through life with no boyfriend and my worries at night.

True first world problems, no matter how real they are to me and you.

And such are my thoughts this week, while struggling to trust that God is setting me up for something fantastic, if only I would wait on Him. After all, doesn’t He love us more than anyone else? He is enough to make me believe in a thing called love.

Alyssia—Roommates with Friends

Dorm life is the best. Many students have a hard time adjusting to living with peers, but I love it. My roommate and I recently moved rooms further down our hall to be suitemates with two of our close friends.

And for anyone who hasn’t been to Southern, the rooms in the girls dorm are connected by a bathroom, creating a ‘suite’ of the two rooms.

Living with close friends in college is often discouraged, but I think it can be a great thing, especially when each friend has a different schedule. That way, no one gets sick of each other. However, living with close friends definitely has benefits. Such as:

·         Pranking each other (dumping cold water on a showering friend)

·         Always having a shoulder to cry on

·         Two times the amount of food between the two rooms

·         Doing crunches every night together

·         Having someone to remind you that it’s time for worship

·         Forming deep bonds with each other

However, if you do come to SAU and choose to room with friends, make sure to know when to get out of the room and crack down on homework. Make good use of the study rooms on each hall!

I definitely recommend having good friends as suitemates/roommates, God seems to use them a lot to lift me up!

Alyssia—A Glimpse into a weekend in the life of a Southern Student

Southern never ceases to amaze me with the amount of fun activities going on.

This past weekend, I had a blast with friends going to church, a comedy sketch show, and roller skating. I really enjoy going to the worship service called ‘Connect’ here in Collegedale. The service is held in Collegedale Academy’s auditorium, and it has more of a homey feel than the larger church, simply because it is smaller. I loved the music and the message, preached by Andy Nash, who was my Bible teacher last semester. I love him as a pastor and teacher, he is very authentic and easy to relate to. Then my friends and I ate lasagna and salads at the packed cafeteria, then went on a hike on the Southern’s biology trails. After that, we went to the caf for a late supper and to save seats for Studio 4109, which has become one of our favorite events on campus.

Studio 4109 is a much more appropriate version of Saturday Night Live, and usually features humorous sketches and video clips that are usually college-themed. It’s always great for laughs!

After the show, we went roller skating at a local rink for free, courtesy of Sigma Theta Chi (Southern’s version of a Girl’s Club). That was probably the best part of the day, listening to music, dancing/skating/trying-not-to-fall-on-your-butt-and-get-trampled-by-other-skaters, and enjoying pizza and slushies.

And as for Sunday, I slept in, folded my laundry, attended an orchestra concert for convocation credit, and cranked out my homework.

Hope that gives you a good glimpse into one weekend in the life of a Southern Student.

Alyssia—Communion Vespers

This past Friday at Southern, Southern had Communion Vespers, and it was BEAUTIFUL. Best of any spiritual event I’ve been to so far. Vespers was in the gym, and all the chairs were arranged around a platform with a cross on it. Around the cross were several canvas stands, and each of the canvases had a painting or were being painted, but they were arranged to that no one in the audience could see all the paintings at once.

The service began with several beautiful praise songs, all of which were touching. Then one of the chaplains gave a little sermon to introduce the communion service, then we all reached under our seats to find plastic bags with little sealed cups of grape juice, communion bread squares, and hand sanitizer wipes inside. We then had a period of time to wash a partners feet. Then the head chaplain talked a bit more, then had two students pray over the bread and the grape juice (I love how they involve Southern students during worship services here). Having a communion service as a university is special enough, but I am amazed every week how much work the chaplains and campus ministries department puts into making our campus spiritual events into meaningful worship time with God.

After the communion service was over, each of the paintings was hung up on different parts of the cross, and the paintings formed this awe striking portrait of Christ.

I realize this description of last weeks Vespers does the service no justice, but I hope you are able to soon enjoy a Southern vespers for yourself. The Lord truly does bless.

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