By Lauren Woods
My first week on campus was one of most bittersweet, eye-opening weeks of my life. I’ve lived on my own before, but this was a whole new ballgame. If you ask anyone, they’ll tell you. Baylor University is so much more than a college; it’s a loving community. I’ve never been able to freely discuss how I view things from a Christian perspective. That changed my very first week of college. I am now on week three at Baylor and loving it. I feel as if my experience thus far can be described through something I witnessed my second day of classes.
I was walking to the Draper building where my sociology class is located, but before I got there, I spotted a group of students cheering on the curb. Now, when there’s a group of people cheering at Baylor, chances are something cool is happening. Naturally, I walked over to see what was going on. It took a moment to process what was in front of me. There was a family of duck-like birds who had just crossed the road. All but one of the babies had made it over the curb. This innocent baby bird was dramatically flailing its little wings in hopes of joining its family. The crowd of Baylor students was encouraging this baby bird with such passion; I couldn’t help but smile. All you could see was a group of students cheering, a baby bird jumping and a family of birds waddling away. An upperclassmen guy had finally had enough of the familial separation. He grabbed his notebook, scooped the baby bird onto the curb, and exclaimed something along the lines of, “BE FREE!” The crowd was simply overjoyed.
I had doubt about attending Baylor before I had arrived on campus. This doubt was thrown to the wind as soon as I had stepped on campus. I felt as if I was like this baby bird. Through welcome week activities and classes, I have been encouraged and welcomed with wide arms into the Baylor family. A separation or gap in my life has been filled, and I’m so excited for the next four years. As the wise Stitch once said, “Ohana means family, and family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.“ I’m so glad to be a part of the Baylor Ohana.