Recharging & Flourishing

by Morgan Faith

Trying to find a balance between college life, relationships, and our spiritual wellness, can get super complicated. Between writing papers, solving equations, taking care of our pets, or even being involved in a sport, life can get overwhelming.

Motivating ourselves to go to a Wednesday Bible study or even a Sunday morning church service, is like pushing for extra energy. With taking 16 credits (6 classes), commuting to college three days a week, and working a part-time job, I am usually pretty exhausted by the end of the week. Going to church on Sunday morning, forget it! I am sleeping in till noon, y’all!

Being a junior here at Wilson and pursuing a degree in English (media concentration specifically), I am writing papers or doing discussion boards non-stop. Most evenings, my brain is usually fried and just ready to shut down. For me personally, I sometimes feel like my spiritual wellness is drained as well. Can anybody else relate to that?

I have been a Christian since I was little. I was raised in a Christian home and was baptized when I was a baby. No doubt, throughout middle and high school, I struggled with my faith and all the ugly emotions of rejection, bullying, and acceptance by my peers. I had struggled with finding who I was, loving myself, and what a relationship with Jesus Christ looked like from the inside out.

About a year ago, I attended Hagerstown Community College. It was different from high school, and I hardly knew anybody on campus. Half the time, I would end up roaming the campus by myself, working on schoolwork alone in the lounge area, and attending my two in-person English classes to finish my associate degree. To say the least, my introverted self got the best of me during community college.

In May 2022, after learning a lot in community college and experiencing some hardships of my own, I published my first non-fiction Christian book titled, “Having a Heart for Jesus.”

During this time too, I began to look for other universities and colleges out there that I could transfer to with an English associate degree. I had thought about private colleges that were religious based, but I knew they were super expensive.

I had taken an online tour at Liberty University and had also toured Mount Saint Mary’s University, but none of them had really caught my eye.

Funny enough, I didn’t even think to look at Wilson College as an option for attending. Until I had a distant family member recommend Wilson to me, I had never considered attending Wilson College in the fall semester of 2022. I eventually toured the campus, talked with the women’s basketball coach about playing, and even got some incredible offers while still in the midst of the application process.

Though, amid all the wonderful offers to each college, I found myself worrying. Numerous times I had caught myself thinking, am I worried about losing my faith? No, not really. Am I worried that drugs, alcohol, or vaping could start to influence and tempt me? Sure, of course, I am.

Naturally, I felt like all of these questions and concerns I had was quite normal. It was just the worry worts of transferring to a new school again for the third time!

After finally starting my first semester here at Wilson, the worries and concerns dissipated.

So far, I have been attending Wilson for two semesters, and I have yet to feel like one belief system or one concept has been forced upon me in any way. Rather, it has been the complete opposite. I have felt welcomed to share my faith and how Jesus Christ has changed my life. Wilson College has really been a judgment-free zone with the encouragement and freedom to share expressions or different opinions.

Sure, there are going to be those outside influences that are going to tempt you or me every now and then. Sure, there are going to be professors, students, or faculty that do not believe in the same religion as you or I do. Yes, some days more than others it will be hard to read the Bible or attend any religious events. Yes, you or I may be faced with challenges regarding balancing our spiritual well-being with the numerous other problems life throws our way. Let’s face it, there is no perfect equation out there to help solve the mystery of how to balance one’s life out perfectly.

Let me just say, there is nothing wrong with wanting to live and experience the college life while you can! In the end, we just have to be aware and alert as to whether we are taking care of our spiritual needs at all or just majorly ignoring and draining it. The real question, then, is left for us to answer: Are we draining our spiritual battery till it dies on us, or are we taking the time to recharge and plug into things that will encourage us to take a positive step in our faith?

I encourage y’all to think about that as the spring semester continues here at Wilson College whether Christianity is the faith you believe in or not.

Just experiencing two semesters here at Wilson College, I have learned that taking care of myself is important. Taking the time to rest as well as including God in my daily life has been key in recharging and flourishing. Reading a chapter of our Bible a day, listening to a positive, uplifting song, or simply sharing with God about how our day went, can make a beneficial difference in our lives when we are struggling to balance college and our faith.

College work, jobs, relationships, and adversities can and will suck the potential life right out of you or me very easily. Though, it is up to us as to how we respond. Do we give up what we have worked so hard for, fail our classes, and stop participating in life, or do we continue to find better ways to balance out our busy lives and take care of our spiritual wellness alongside it?  That answer, my friends, is up to you!