College and a Home away from Home

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to make a difference..."

Being away from home for four years was hard.  Indescribably hard.  Have you ever had that feeling where you need to give up something that's extremely precious to you, and a huge lump starts invading your throat, and you can't swallow back your tears anymore?  That's how I felt during the first night at Smith after my mom had left and all of a sudden, it was only me, all alone.  Even to this day, I shudder as I think back upon those first few lonely weeks full of homesickness and isolation.  Of course, there were good things too, after a while, like meeting new people, having new experiences, and forging one's independence, but it took me a long time to get used to being out there away from my family and friends and my comfort zone.

And so, at Smith, began a whole new chapter of my life; I became a quite different person from the girl that people knew, or thought they knew, back at home.  A lot of the same qualities still existed, like the fact that I'm an introvert (an INFP to be precise), and that I'm sensitive and would rather listen than speak in large group gatherings, but I also became much more aggressive and confident of my needs and wishes (or so say my closest friends :D).

And finally, I hafta tell you a lil' bit about my church out there.  It's called Amherst Koinonia Church, and it was started about ten years ago by Amherst Korean Church, to reach out to the college students in the area.  Since then the church has gone through continual transition and some painstaking trials, but it's still there, holding on and growing just a bit bigger every year. 

To me, though, this church was more than just a church.... it became my community, my family, during my four years in the PV.  I saw it grow and stumble and be pulled apart and put back together, and I realized that this body of people was somethin' special.  And thus grew out of all of that, an unexplainable love for AKC- a burden so strong that it drove me to tears. 

During my senior year, a committee put together a special book for the graduating class filled with pictures, memoirs, and stories that they had asked seniors to contribute. 

I put something together too- 'twasn't much, but it was a small package of words I hoped to leave behind, kinda to commemorate my time at Smith, and to maybe offer hope to others who had struggled as well or who would struggle in the future. 

If you'd like to read it, just enter here.