College Plus Gathering (Friday)

Friday morning dawned bright and early at the College Plus Gathering! I had unfortunately slept quite poorly the night before (I think we all did, just because we were in a new environment.) I had only slept about 2 full hours that night. Then I was awakened by someone taking a shower at 4 a.m.! I got up around 5:30 a.m., in an effort to beat the rush for the bathroom. With about 40 girls sharing 4 bathrooms, it was almost a miracle that we all made it through!

Doing my devotions after my shower.

Breakfast was at 7:30 a.m., but some of us were ready around 7:00 a.m., so we decided to walk over to the dining hall. This was the sight that greeted us! A huge tree limb actually came down on one of the guy’s cars. But thankfully, because the car was already encased in ice, the limb barely scratched it.

Breakfast was delicious, and having time to fellowship with all the other students was definitely a highlight!

This was what things looked like after we finished eating. Crazy!

After breakfast, we walked over to the building where we were having all our sessions. Because of all the ice, we linked up arms to try and keep each other from falling. J

Our first session was student orientation groups. We broke up into three groups: new students, current students, and alumni. I went with the new students, and we talked with Woody Robertson, one of the College Plus founders. It was a great time of discussion! One of my big takeaways is that CP is about so much more than earning a degree. Their purpose is to prepare us for life.

We regrouped and our second session was titled “What You Need to Know.” We covered seven areas to develop as part of our higher education. At the end of that session, a fellow student gave a presentation on Internships and Practical Experience.

We had a short break before reconvening for our third session titled “Own Your Experience.” A 16-year-old girl gave a talk on virtue, which was excellent and probably received the most “Amens” out of all the sessions. J Then her Dad spoke about making plans for our life and setting goals, but also realizing that God is in control and surrendering to His plan daily.

We had another short presentation—more like a sermon really—by one of the male students. His session was titled “What is Your Purpose?” One of my biggest takeaways came from this session. It was the phrase “The meaning of success is doing what God wants us to do and being who He wants us to be.”

After that, we broke for lunch in the dining hall. I can hardly describe the wonderful, mixed conversations that took place during meals! We talked about everything from pop culture, to CLEP tests, to dating and courtship, to our degrees and life goals, to theology. It was marvelous to be around so many like-minded students who sharpened me in so many ways!

Following lunch, we had several hours of free time. We were supposed to have some Challenge Rope courses, but due to the inclement weather, that was cancelled. They still did paintball, but only 3 guys were brave enough to actually do it! I joined the swing dancing group, and we spent our afternoon learning a dance to Mari’s Wedding, the Virginia Reel, the Postie’s Jig, and several other fun dances. It was good exercise!

Doing one of the circle dances.

After dancing for several hours, I quickly stopped back at the girl’s dorm to grab a few things and freshen up before the evening sessions started at 4 p.m. This was the view of the lake from our dorm!

We all made our way back to the conference room. The keynote speaker, John Stonestreet, was supposed to fly in and be with us in person. Unfortunately he didn’t make it due to the weather. But thankfully, he Skyped in and spoke for an hour and a half straight. All 100+ people in the room were a completely captive audience. We all could have listened to him talk a lot longer! His session was on “5 Cultural Trends You Need to Know About.” He is definitely a favorite speaker among the students, and I am very excited to take his Comparative Worldviews Course in January.

After that lecture, we broke up into our small groups to talk for a little bit. Our group decided to sit together at dinner because we didn’t want to break away from our discussion!

My small group. I love these guys like family! They are such godly young men and women, and we share so many passions and convictions. (And yes, the guy on the far left probably looks familiar to some of you. He played Dylan in the movie “Courageous!” J) I look forward to getting to know everyone in this group better!

After dinner, we had a few more sessions. The first one was “What is CP and Where are We Going?” by Woody Robertson. He gave a brief history of College Plus. I am amazed at how quickly the organization has grown and developed! He also talked about their vision for the future.

Following that session, we had a student-led session on “Mentorship and the Benefits of the Student Forums.” The mentoring is a key factor in College Plus, and I’m looking forward to being mentored, and one day mentoring others.

After this session, we again had small group time (my favorite thing about the weekend!) We talked for quite awhile, and then most of us decided to make a quick appearance at the bonfire before going to swing dance inside where it was warm. J

The bonfire was actually really warm! It felt good!

We stayed up dancing until we were kicked out of the fitness center at 11:00 p.m. J I was so sad that the retreat was almost over!

To be continued . . .