I love Yale. I really really really do.
I love listening to the bells in Harkness Tower play twice each day. I love the way Old Campus looks as the seasons change: vividly green at the start of the school year, a sea of oranges and reds in fall, snow-covered in winter, and full of students tossing frisbees and tanning come the end of the school year. I love studying in Calhoun library and late-night buffalo chicken burritos at the Calhoun buttery. I love being surrounded with so much beauty and so much history.
And I love being around my fellow students. Yes, we have a lot of fun, but also we engage in learning together–both in and out of the classroom. Without a doubt, I have learned more from my peers at Yale than I have from my professors. And my days are packed with my peers: taking part in class discussions, grabbing lunch, studying together in Bass, debating over dinner in Calhoun, stopping by froyo on the walk down High Street, having three or four extracurricular meetings back to back each night, and then finishing out the day at Viva’s or in Bass or with a box of Insomnia Cookies in the living room of the Pi Phi house.
But it is so tiring. The constant going. The constant schoolwork. The never-ending to do list. The feeling of running on a treadmill–working furiously but not really getting anywhere.
And it’s draining, too. The constantly being surrounded by people who so disagree with me. The constantly having to defend what I think. The professors who make snide comments about folks like me.
I have found, though, that God is faithful to give me time to recharge.
During the school year, He gives me times at home, during which He envelops me with the love of my family and community. He reminds me what I so appreciate about home and the way my parents raised me.
But more than that, the summers are a time when He fills me up with what I need to face another school year.
The summer after freshman year, Camp Desoto was just what I needed. The constant reminder of God’s love, the beautiful innocence of the eleven-year-old girls in my cabin, and the wise words from my fellow counselors encouraged me. Not that it was always easy. Speaking truth in love and patience when correcting the behavior of campers was probably the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to do. But that lesson too was one that I desperately needed.
The summer after sophomore year, I was at home for almost two weeks before going abroad. The extended period at home gave me time to go to several Sundays at First Baptist Jackson and time to see extended family. And then I went to Cambridge, where church after church bore witness to the majesty of God and the devotion of centuries of men.
This summer has been no different. Being at The Heritage Foundation and living in their intern housing has been a great encouragement to me. Hearing about my fellow interns’ experiences on their own campuses has energized me to return to mine and fight the good fight anew.
This summer has not been without its worry. Being in D.C. and working full-time has made the real world seem so much more real. With that has come worry about the future, worry about a job, worry about law school, worry about life after Yale.
But I rest confident in God’s faithfulness. God has always given me immeasurably more than I could ever ask for or imagine. Yale is a great example of that. I could never have imagined that I would attend Yale. I never could have imagined how much I would learn and grow there and how much I would love Yale and the people there.
I work hard and pray without ceasing for my future, but I am filled with peace knowing that God is faithful.
When I was a little girl, my mother would often sing “Amazing Grace” to me at bedtime. One of the sweetest memories in my life is of lying in my little twin bed with my mother as she sang me to sleep. I want to end this blog post with a verse of that song. God has brought me safe thus far. He has been faithful. I rest confident that He will be faithful in leading me in accordance to His plan for my life.
Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
‘Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home.
