Recently, I spoke to a student who described Asbury as “a fish tank preparing us to go out into the ocean.” Is this true? Does Asbury not equip us enough for the outside world? If you are a student at Asbury, you have most likely heard of it being described as a bubble.
I agree. I think Asbury alone does not equip us enough. However, it’s one thing to sit back and talk passively about that. It’s another to make the most of our college experience and seize opportunities, opportunities that Asbury actually supports.
One way we can broaden our college experience is going to other college campuses. I believe doing so is not only imperative to getting out of the bubble but also can reap benefits similar to those gained from study abroad, cross-cultural, practicum and internship experiences. Going to other campuses has the additional factor of allowing us to learn alongside fellow students our age and in our season of life, a factor that further enhances the experience and increases our learning curves.
Here are three benefits of visiting other campuses:
- It gets us out of the bubble enough for us to both realize that we are in one and ways we have stagnated in one.
- It makes us appreciate unique things about Asbury not easily found on other campuses.
- It enlightens us so we can bring back what we’ve learned to Asbury.
Recently, Asbury students visited other campuses to attend the Student Congress on Racial Reconciliation (S.C.O.R.R.) Conference at Biola University in California (February 2020) and the Neighborly Faith Christian-Muslim Interfaith Conference at Wheaton College in Illinois (November 2019), which I attended. Not only did I learn about interfaith dialogue at Wheaton, but I developed new connections, met professionals in industries relevant to my major, bumped into old friends, toured the entire campus and explored suburban Wheaton and downtown Chicago — all in the span of two days. I returned with not only ideas that helped me start an interfaith dialogue initiative at Asbury with a fellow student, but with fresh takes and ideas in regards to Asbury’s own intercultural programs, student groups and campus facilities.
I am now a senior set to graduate in May. Looking back, I would not be as satisfied with my college experience had I not partaken in such off-campus experiences. I have valuable connections and lifelong friendships not only with people here at Asbury but with students and faculty at UK, Murray State, Kentucky State, the University of the Cumberlands, the University of Louisville, Cedarville University, Calvin College, Judson University, Wheaton College, BCTC, etc., many of which have been mutually maintained for years.
I would not have had this rich or fun of a college experience had I not seized opportunities such as CONNECT International, held annually across Kentucky for American and international students; a Life Way trip to Panama City Beach, Florida, that I attended with UK and KSU students or a Third Culture Kid Snow Camp at Bair Lake, Michigan. Most of these trips were sponsored, if not by Asbury, by readily accessible student ministries.
“Asbury doesn’t equip us enough.” Maybe this statement is true. Maybe it is false. Both the validity of the claim and what should be done about it is up to you.
Take ownership of your own college experience.
