Mr. Stanford

That's what Bobby Blakey called me the first time he IMed me after finding out I would be going to Stanford in the fall. It was not an easy decision for me, but I am totally confident that this is the plan God has for me. I'll miss my friends, but God will always be by my side.

Throughout this college process, my parents would incessantly inquire as to which colleges I was leaning towards and why. Well, which one I'm leaning towards is pretty obvious now. In fact, you could say I've fallen on it, if you want to keep the metaphor consistent. This summation attempts to explain why in a few words.

Why did I choose this college?

Some things I wanted to be true about my college

- Have fun

- Southern California, to be with friends etc.

- Honor God with decision

Reason I had for not wanting to go to this college

- I was afraid of working all the time

- I was afraid of compromising my Christianity

I had always been told to choose what college was right for me, as opposed to choosing a college simply for the big name, or reputation. Well, I don’t really like when people tell me to do what’s right for me. I know myself, and I know the truth. What I want is evil. “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12). I’m not interested in dying anytime soon. The only way I can know I’m making the right choice is if I can be confident that God wants me to be there. That is what it means to honor God with my decision, and it might even mean I have to give up the most important thing to me that I’m looking for in a college.

That means all doors are open and I need to evaluate each school objectively, not closing the door on a school simply because it has a big name. So schools like MIT, Caltech, Stanford, Berkeley, and LA were all in the running, even though their prestige actually gave me a lower view of them because I assumed they were stuck up and full of themselves. But that’s my judgmental side coming through. See? Evil.

I was actually coming home from Sunday Night Bible Study, got talking with a few people there who went to UC Berkeley, and realized then what college I needed to go to. Actually I thought about a parable that seemed very applicable. It is the parable of the men who received certain sums of money according to their abilities. The ones who used what they were given were blessed. The one who was afraid of using what he was given was cast into “outer darkness,” where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Now, this is speaking of the kingdom of heaven, so the story being applied to college is a bit out of context; however, I have learned that there are biblical principles reflected through stories that can be applied elsewhere. For example, the Lord loves a diligent worker: “The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich” (Proverbs 13:4).

A fear of working hard was therefore out of the question, no college on the list accepts anyone they think cannot handle the workload, and I have been preparing for college level for quite some time now with all the AP classes and such. I decided that I needed to go to the place where I could use all my abilities for the glory of God. This doesn’t mean I would have to go to a Christian school. We are commanded to be in the world, yet not of the world. When Christ prayed for us he did “not pray that [God] should take [us] out of the world, but that [He] should keep [us] from the evil one” (John 17:15). We are also encouraged by John, who tells us that “whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith ” (1 John 5:4). That characterizes me. I have been born of God in a second birth, and I put my faith and hope in Christ for my salvation, regeneration and daily renewal. Now I must continue in that habit/discipline each morning and prepare myself for a rocky future. I can trust that God “will never leave [me] nor forsake [me]” (Hebrews 13:5). I may feel alone, or challenged academically, socially, spiritually, or physically, but I know that it is in God’s strength that I carry out the will of God, not needing to be fearful of failure.

O God in heaven
Please hear my cry
O how I need Your help now

I’ll be expectant
Waiting by faith
For Your answer come down

We don’t pray to a god who can’t save
We pray to the God who will hear

So I will call upon You
And watch for what You will do
You’re the help of Your people

You reach down from on high
And put joy in my life
So I praise You as faithful...