Sidebar — Board Game Night

This last year year I was the president of the undergrad chapter at the University of Florida in Gainesville. I love New Student Outreach because it reminds me of my arrival on campus as a freshman and all that God has done in my life since then.

Before college I would never have called myself a Christian. My family went to church and that is where I learned about God and Jesus and heard the Bible. Though I knew about God, I couldn’t say that I had any kind of relationship with him, nor was I interested. In my family, God was just on Sundays.

Even though I wasn’t paying attention to God, God sure was paying attention to me. I arrived a week early for my freshman year. I was interested in what fraternity life could offer, but that soon fizzled out when I realized it wasn’t for me. I was pretty bored for the rest of the week. That was when I read about an InterVarsity Board Game Night.

At a dorm event, I met Allison and Alisha who were also new to UF. They too had read the flier about the event and were interested in going. So we went, and it was loads of fun. I learned about InterVarsity and I decided to stick with it since I started making great friends there. But I still wasn’t interested in God or Jesus. My whole freshman year, InterVarsity was mostly a social club for me. I was interested in the Bible studies and learning, but it was more to hang out with people. I was just going through the motions, and because of that, my life was still feeling empty.

During my sophomore year I started to take my relationship with God more seriously and accepted Christ. I believe God led me to InterVarsity at UF so that I could see his love for me and how much I needed him. Now I’m excited about serving him and welcoming others both to the campus and to Jesus.