I grew up as an only child with two loving, Christian parents. We would regularly attend church on Sundays, but afterwards I would go home, watch some football, and forget about everything I just heard. This was a routine I had gotten into from elementary school all the way through high school. At one point in middle school, I went to a Christian family event after a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game, and it was there that I heard the Gospel for the very first time. One of the players had shared his testimony and the Gospel. I prayed that day, thinking I finally had my salvation, but in reality, I had more just acknowledged Jesus’ existence, not fully understanding why He had died for us. After that day, my life hadn’t really changed. The routine of going to church on Sundays and doing whatever else I wanted the other six days continued.

A turning point in my life came during the summer after my senior year of high school. In the past, my summers had consisted of playing baseball, but after my senior year, I wasn’t playing anymore. I decided to go on an international mission trip with our youth group from church to “make good use of my time”. I knew a few people going, but most of the group were complete strangers to me. In the one week we were in Ecuador, I had become better friends with these people than other friends I had known since middle school. All my life, I had been missing out on being a part of a Christian community, and I wanted to find the same thing in college.

I’ve been blessed to find a caring group of Christians at UW – Madison. I came in still thinking I had been a “Christian” since middle school. It was here that I learned what it really means to surrender your life to Christ, and to put your trust in Him, rather than just acknowledging what Jesus did. I have grown more in my faith in one and a half years at college than I did in my first 18 years at home. I can’t really pinpoint an exact moment in time I truly surrendered my life to Christ, but during second semester freshman year, my relationship with God had been at an all time high. It was such a different, yet amazing feeling to be so incredibly happy with my life, not because of the friends I had, or because I was doing well in school, or even because I was away from home. I was happy because God was a bigger part of my life. Obviously, I am not a perfect human now that I’m a Christian; I still struggle with many things. However, getting through these struggles is much more doable with God and a community of Christian brothers and sisters by my side.