This is a time of back-to-back life-changing experiences. I will debrief my graduation, moving out of my college home, my two-week trip to India, a week at Boston L’Abri, and a KY lake trip with my dad. First on the bracket is graduation.
My sister took this photo...she also graduated from Belmont!
How do I even attempt to culminate my experiences? It was wonderful, heartrending, better than I could have ever hoped. Above all else, I feel lucky to have great professors, friends, family, jobs…need I go on? They helped get me here. My Belmont highlights:
RUF: I loved being a part of RUF, its ministry, and the friends it has brought me. There’s a line in a song from Les Mis (I coincidentally watched this two nights before I left town with some friends): “To love someone is to see the face of God.” RUF felt like that.
The English Major: The English department. What a group of professors and students! I loved creating and leading the Belmont Creative Writing Club, attending English Club trivia and game nights, and building relationships with such caring educators! In the fall of my senior year, I invited English major friends to a monthly breakfast, which grew into solid friendships. Two of my friends in the “English Breakfast Club,” Eleri and Elisabeth, are actually going on Lumos trips in the UK! It’s so cool to see how these friendships once consisted of simply sharing a monthly meal and now consist of some significant encouragement to pursue global service together! Crazy.
University Ministries: We went on a Belmont trip to Israel and Palestine. The trip was incredible, and we learned so much. Our trip inspired me to get involved in my local community alongside University Ministries. This led me to help lead meal preparation for Room In the Inn (at Belmont) my senior year and to go on a mission trip to Seattle (a profoundly impactful experience for me and a huge reason I decided to pursue an international service project). I also co-led a service trip to Memphis, TN, for 15+ first-year students! It was a blast. The UM staff are such the best at encouragement. I am so grateful that I decided to work with them during my senior year.
Study Abroad in London: Imagine you are in Yorkshire, hiking through a beautiful hilly sheep pasture on your way to a tranquil waterfall where the Brontes wrote their famous novels. That was my life (and I’m still not over it). Studying some of my favorite stories in the lands that inspired them is an experience I will never take lightly. Again, I felt so lucky. London is my favorite city ever, and I hope to return.
That was college, and it was wonderful. Two days after I graduated, my two best friends left on a beach trip, and I packed up our house. I packed up plates, memories, photographs, and shared kitchen bowls—we really had an amazing time living together. I’ll never forget the times we shared.
Next, India. I went with University Ministries and Rahab’s Rope, an anti-human trafficking organization like New Hope Girls. When I first heard about this trip in 2023, I knew I needed to be on the team. This trip was the most challenging travel experience I have had, primarily due to not adjusting well to food/heat and not feeling well. However, I enjoyed meeting the people and exploring local areas. The trip helped prepare me for my move to the Dominican Republic in ways I am still trying to understand. Overall, it was a positive and needed experience.
Vasco, Goa, India.
I arrived at Boston L’Abri two weeks after India and a month after graduating and moving out of my college home. Boston seemed like a good idea—a place to re-center my thoughts and mentally prepare for the move to the Dominican Republic. I had spent the last four years surrounded by people my age, and I wanted to go somewhere where I could disconnect from the outside world and learn from those currently experiencing a variety of life stages. My Christian faith is very important to me, and I wanted to ground myself in spiritual truth before I left my Nashville church/faith community ultimately. So, L’Abri it was.
My time there can be summarized as peaceful. L’Abri focuses on group discussion, spiritual questioning, and intellectual study. Most of the day is spent in silence, and it is also not difficult to spend it in solitude. Most mornings, I walked to the reservoir and spent at least an hour walking along the water’s edge. It was so, so needed. The community I met there was so warm and inviting as well…one of the best environments I had ever been in. Having the time to quietly study, pray, read, draw, spend time in nature, do yard work, drink tea, draw, paint, listen, and be listened to was so life-giving. I hope to spend more than a week there after I return to America.
Boston L’Abri — this place quickly felt like home.
It was difficult to leave Boston, but knowing I would go to KY Lake made the process easier. Every year, my siblings and I spend a weekend in June with my dad. It is a tradition I look forward to. My sister flew in from Pennsylvania, and I was so happy to see her! We ended up bunking with our young nephew, which was so much fun. We all spent the weekend drinking coffee on the balcony overlooking the lake, which I love so much, and playing Sorry! In the evenings after dad treated us to ice cream. KY Lake reminds me of childhood, and it was nice to be reminded of that one more time as I move toward pursuing such ‘adult’ things like graduating and moving far away from family by myself.
Finally, I said goodbye to my friends and family and packed up my life for the next nine months...and my life changed yet again.
we drank coffee every morning and got to ask dad thoughtful questions at KY Lake.