By Emily Martin
Sometimes, we don’t get what we asked for in life, which can really suck. But I have learned something really important since becoming a student at this great university: God’s plan for your life is so much greater than your own. Yes, I know that this is not new to many of you. However, lately I have been seeing more and more of how true this statement really is.
I came to Baylor thinking that I was going to fit right in and automatically have a ton of friends. In high school, I was never the most popular girl, but I did have a good amount of people that I could always count on to do things with. All of my best friends decided to go to UT Austin and A&M, so coming to Baylor was a courageous move on my part. I didn’t know a soul at Baylor. Even my roommate was a girl that I had only met a few times.
Because I didn’t know anyone yet, the first few weeks of my freshman year were rough. The only friend I had was my roommate, and we felt excluded and invisible to the rest of the freshman class who seemed to have college life figured out.
Eventually things got easier, and I started making more and more friends. But then Rush week came along. I decided to go along with all of the other girls living in Collins and go through Rush week. I honestly thought that I would easily get into the sorority I wanted, and I didn’t prepare myself for if I didn’t. Because of this, Bid Day was a train wreck for me. I remember thinking to myself, “God, why in the world would you do this to a girl like me? Am I not good enough to be a part of what all my friends seem to easily fit into?”
Looking back at these thoughts now, I know that I was being completely ridiculous. Of course God didn’t think that I wasn’t good enough! He just had something better planned for me that I was too blind to see at the time. Sororities are great and that is how God chooses to use some girls, but He has a different plan for some of us.
I didn’t know it at the time, but God was calling me to be a Young Life leader. Young Life is a Christian organization that is dedicated to bringing the Good News of the Gospel to high school students. I had been involved in Young Life for all four years of high school, and I didn’t realize how much I missed it until I worked at a weekend YL camp right after Rush Week. It was then that I realized God was calling me to put all of my spare time and energy into ministering high school students.
Immediately, I called Sharon, a woman who helps out with Waco Young Life, and we started hanging out. Sharon is probably the coolest and most loving human being on planet earth. When I told her my story and about how I felt God calling me to come back to Young Life, she instantly invited me to go with Waco YL to Colorado that summer.
Long story short, I went to Wilderness Ranch in Colorado last summer and had the time of my life. I am currently in the process of training to become a leader here in Waco, and I am loving every minute of it. The people are so inviting and caring – I genuinely feel at home every time I am with all of them.
My point of telling everyone this story is not to turn girls away from Greek Life or to convince people to join Young Life. My hope is that students know how important it is to follow the path that God has paved for you. I tried to go off and do my own thing, and it did not turn out well for me. There are so many incredible organizations to be a part of here at Baylor, so there is bound to be one that you will fit perfectly into. Don’t limit yourself to doing what everyone else is doing. Whatever God calls you to do in college may not be the coolest or the most glamorous thing in the world, but it will definitely make you a lot happier than just following your friends. Pray about what God wants to use you for during your years here at Baylor, and then get out there and do it.