I want to introduce you to me during my first week of college:

"I have been at American for over a week, and I absolutely love it here ... but.... once again... I'm a bit lost in the abyss... I could not have picked a better school. At the same time, I'm not completely with it. Once again I have retracted into my shell and resumed the cycle of existence. I really cannot explain the methods to my madness because there is no method.. only madness... This could be the paranoid onward ranting of late night insomnia.. the consequence of calling home.. or perhaps just a cold hard reality surfacing.. whatever the reasoning may be... I finally realize that change of some sort must ensue if I am ever going to be content with the constant variable in my life... myself.  I think I will find myself here... but only time will tell..." -from a Facebook note written August 29, 2007.

When I wrote these words, I was a college freshman. Like many others, I was confused, depressed, and just trying to figure out who I was. Three years ago, I realized that college would change me by fostering my worldview and my identity.  And, I was right. It definitely did.

Being a freshman in college is difficult. You are on your own for the first time, with no authority figures to keep you in check. Everyone you meet is really diverse, everyone has an opinion, everyone is trying to get you to be an individual as you conform to their diverse opinions or lack thereof... college is a confusing time of identity crisis for many.

It is also a formative time when people find out who they really are and what they want to do for the rest of their lives. College is the place where people decide who they are going to be and what they are going to do for the rest of their lives.


Seat of Power from Curt Harlow on Vimeo.

Because the seat of power is the student's chair, college is one of the most strategic areas to invest in ministry. Students need adult mentors and role models who care about them, they need to question and refine their faith, they need to grow and mature spiritually and morally, and they need a community to love and support them along the way....

That is why I am doing what I am doing. I fully believe that impacting the university is the window for impacting the world, and I want to be a part of the community that welcomes the future leaders with open arms.