Pre-Vue Students: Reflecting Back

Question: How has your experience attending Andrews differed from your expectations about university as an incoming high school senior?

Frentzen, Editor-inChief:
I was one of those pretentious freshmen who doubted the academic caliber of Andrews. While we could always be striving to improve, I at first thought Andrews’ relative anonymity and small size embarrasing. Coming from New England with all its ivy and pretense, I had to learn what it meant to be a university student. When I really took my education into my own hands and started to pursue answers and meaning more deeply, I realized that I was not fully aware of what it meant to learn and to grow. To put it one way, I came to the lecture but not to the office hours. Once I did, I realized how rich and special it is to have not only welltrained and highly knowledgeable professors, but to have an education steeped in the Christian tradition. I find myself lucky to have been a part of this community for the last few years and will miss it dearly, even as I’m preparing to move on to the next chapter in my life.

Daniel, Ideas:
Coming into university, I felt very intimidated by everyone and assumed that everyone would be substantially more intelligent and gifted than I was. I remember sitting in Western Heritage surrounded by about forty-five other students and it felt like they all knew so much more and that their thoughts were far more insightful. In some ways, my concerns were in fact true––I’ve been able to meet people with vastly more ability than myself in a variety of different arenas. University, in my opinion, begins the process of specialization, where people begin to choose which of their skill sets they will focus on. Personally, I honed my writing ability––and in a sort of meta way, I now use my proficiency with language to write in the Student Movement about being proficient with language. However, you look around campus and can easily associate people with their chosen areas, whether it be music, photography, basketball or research.

Kara, News:
Even though I thought myself ready to remake, reform and improve going into college, the truth was that I was just bringing my young self’s detrimental behavior with me into a new environment. In my first year here, I did much the same as I did in high school, locking myself up in my room and only associating with maybe one or two people maximum. That was all fine and good, but I realized that the reason I acted that way was because I was unequipped to engage with my peers in a truly empathetic and kind way. Once I began to work at improving myself in that area, things really changed. Not only did my friend group expand, but my relationships with my associates, classmates and coworkers all improved dramatically. It’s pretty surprising to me, even now, to see how often I leave my room to hang out with other people and go to events, but I’m extremely content in knowing that this change stems from my own self improvement.

Apryl, Pulse:
I never thought that I would be a student at Andrews. Being a graduate of GLAA, Andrews was shoved down our throats every time we turned around, resulting in the majority of my class attending Southern. When I came to AU for junior preview, I barely paid attention. I had the mentality that I would never attend this school so why even pay attention? Well, my younger self would be laughing at me now as I am about to graduate in May after four years of attending this school I said I’d never step foot in. In my opinion, high school didn’t prepare me for the amount of stress, long nights and exhaustion that I have experienced in earning my degree. It did, however, prepare me for teachers who genuinely cared about me. I thought coming to a big university would mean navigating my way blindly, but the majority of the professors in my department have been a huge support.

Ado, Arts & Entertainment:
I had this idea in my head of college being this place where you meet your “forever friends,” you study hard and start drinking coffee if you hadn’t already. College was nothing more than a big, expensive cliché. I came into Andrews with zero expectations. I hardly had an idea of what the campus looked like beyond the globe out front. Long story short, God told me to come here, and I came. It’s been a blast getting to know people and finding “my people.” Through my college experience I learned far more about myself than I ever imagined both in and outside the class. I carry myself differently because I have a better idea of who I am. I think differently and approach school and work with a different mindset because of my college experience. I’m a better person for attending Andrews. :)

Adri, Humans:
I remember being ready for graduation and thinking I would be introduced to a new sense of freedom in college. I was born and raised in Massachusetts so coming to Michigan seemed like a new exciting adventure where I’d live my dream college experience and know how those teens felt in the movies, and it did first semester. I was always out with my friends and felt empowered by the fact that I didn’t have to answer to anyone (I mean except Lamson curfew, of course). But looking back now I realize I had no idea what was coming. As a senior getting ready for the next step I see how college is not all fun and games but a space where we’re expected to grow and become functional adults in society, which is lowkey a lot of pressure man. However, one of the biggest things I didn’t expect from Andrews as a senior in high school is the growth in my connection with God. I expected these four years to only fill me academically, not spiritually.

Teddy, Copy:
I have a habit of appointing role models in each stage of my life. In elementary school, I would look towards my friends in middle school; in middle school, the ones in high school; and in high school, my companions who went off to college. In all of these models of mine, I can recall fondly their maturity, their composure and their character, but never their flaws. Part of what made me idealize them so much is that I assumed they were all more grown up because of where they were in life. While I was in elementary school out in recess, my middle school friends had their own lockers; while in middle school, high schoolers were driving and going out to eat for lunch and getting interviewed by colleges. Going off of these perceptions, I assumed as I entered each stage of life that entering the same circumstances my peers went through would make me like them, that I would have things as figured out as they appeared to. I went into college with these same assumptions, thinking that just because I had come to college, I had finally made it and become like those who I idolized. But safe to say, I don’t have anything figured out, and still feel the same as when I first entered high school.

I think my major takeaway from college is that just because life thrusts you into circumstances forcing growth, growth is never guaranteed. Middle school, high-school and college have all absolutely provided me with opportunities to grow. But how did I face such opportunities? Did I actively challenge myself to get out of my comfort zone and grow? Or did I shelter myself, and hide? These responses make an impact on how much you grow. I’ve learned that the circumstances provided to you are just as important as your reaction to them and that you will only grow if you allow yourself to. Now, I define myself less by what stage I am in life, and more so by how much I embrace growth and change on my own.

Hakeem, Multimedia Manager:
Finishing my last year of high school and looking forward to university, my expectations were that it would be high school times ten. Preparing to come to Andrews, I did the virtual tour online and got a glimpse of the campus and what it was all about. In my opinion, it seemed a lot like my high school, which was pretty diverse and had a small teacher-to-student ratio per classroom. Even though my high school was a “collegiate” school, it still could not entirely prepare me for the unique experience that is college. Attending university meant traveling far away from home (for me, going from Florida to Michigan). It meant getting used to living in a building with a whole bunch of strangers and sharing a bathroom with someone other than family. I had to adapt to a school schedule and be disciplined enough to follow it without my parents’ prompting. I also had to actually manage my finances for food and supplies. And I would have to interact and work with people who were totally different from me. Did I know about all of these things going into university? Maybe. But I definitely think there’s a difference between hearing about this experience and living it.