Equipped, Known, & Called

Our claim here at Covenant is that our students will be equipped, known, and called when they leave our doors. From a student perspective, I'm happy to report that Covenant actually does these things—we’re not lying. The academic rigor of our professors, community service hours, and the integration of Christ in each and every class displays how we equip our students. 

Programs like the Center for Calling and Career give students helpful job opportunities and the chapel department prepares students with habits of worship to carry into the rest of their lives as they pursue their callings. In this way, Covenant provides ample opportunity for their students so that they may live life well beyond college. However, I want to expound on that second word: “known.” 

Known in Residence Life: Loving Your Neighbor

Covenant makes the claim that it fosters community well, encouraging both fun and deep friendship. I would like to give you specific and concrete information about how this idea has played out in my life. The word “known” encompasses Covenant’s aim to put students in community with one another, to encourage loving your neighbor in clear ways. For me right now, this looks like having a quantity and quality of friendships that I actually didn't understand was possible before Covenant. Being in close quarters with 20 other guys around my age who love Christ is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I know that. I live on Carter 2nd Central, the undisputed coolest hall on campus, and despite the fact that living with 20 guys on the same hall means a plague-like sickness every quarter of the year, my dorm experience is something I already know I will be grateful for for the rest of my life. 

Known in the Fun: Pickleball, Sonic, and Zion National Park

I would first like to say that my friends are fun. That might seem trivial or unimportant, but trust me, it's influential. One of my initial fears about coming to Covenant was that people would be dedicated to the Lord but in a solemn and melancholy sort of way. I think I thought of Covenant as like a monastery in a way. I don't exactly know why I thought this, but I do know that some other people go through a similar thought process. Often, the recruits or visitors that stay with us in the dorms have the same shocking revelation, saying things like, “Wow, you guys are a lot more fun than I thought you would be.” Those are the ones who usually end up coming to Covenant. Usually we try to take these visitors on fun excursions during their visits. Sometimes we go to the commons and play pickleball late into the night. Sometimes we end up in the Sonic park playing soccer. For spring break last year, my friends and I traveled out west to Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park and skied in Wolf Creek just because we thought it'd be a good time, and it was. You never really know what you might end up doing at Covenant, but it will probably be fun. 

There's something about Covenant that encourages its students to engage in genuine fun. I think that's good and right, and a glimpse or reflection of a coming kingdom that we will rejoice in. I've seen a lot of other colleges that still look a bit like high school in the way that everybody is trying to act cool and be somebody. They're all missing out on a truly good time. Covenant students are generally aware of how “uncool” we really are, and we're okay with that. There's a confidence here that people have which is difficult to undermine, and that leads to a fun and exciting environment. 

Known in Deep Friendship: Prayer & Praise and GH Meals

I'm aware that there are other people at other colleges who are probably also semi-enjoyable, but what makes Covenant different is that it encourages students not only to have fun friendships, but also friendships with depth. Because of the close contact and specific events set up, like Prayer and Praise and spontaneous meet-ups with upperclassmen on my hall who take lower classmen to lunch to get to know them, I have become close friends with many of my hallmates. I know that if I ever need to, I have people that I can call and know that they would be willing to drop everything for me. In fact, I have proof of this from the summer of my freshman year. 

Known in Difficult Times: A Battle with Cancer

Friends are tested when friendship becomes less fun for periods of time. Two years ago, right after I finished my exams, I experienced a less fun turn of events when I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. It was a really big shock to me as a young and healthy kid. I didn't know that people my age could even get cancer. I could tell a lot of particular sob stories about that time–the weirdness of telling my brothers and sisters that I had cancer, the interesting ways in which chemo affected my body, and ultimately, the fact that I don't enjoy Panera anymore (PSA: don't eat fast food right after your first round of chemo). Overall, I always find myself mostly wanting to say the Lord was and is very good, even in the face of cancer. 

Turns out the Lord was working in me and preparing me the whole year leading up to that diagnosis. Surprise, surprise. Without the year of Covenant leading up to my diagnosis, I think my battle with cancer would have looked a whole lot different. Freshman year at Covenant was incredible. I remember being surprised with the amount of guys that cared about the Lord in the same way I did, and this care that they had for the Lord could be seen in their lives, which is always good. They cared for and loved me well, and so my summer with cancer ended up being a powerful testament to the friendship that happens at Covenant. Lots of friends are fun, but it's a whole lot more rare to have friends show up when it's inconvenient for them. 

Known and Comforted from Far Away and in Person 

One of the first things I did when I found out about the diagnosis was to call my Covenant friends. I felt that they should probably be in the know about this little event in my life, but I also wanted to be comforted, and Covenant students tend to be gifted in that area. I had people who listened to what I was feeling, which was pretty scared, and people who graciously reminded me to turn to the Lord. I had Covenant friends all over the United States and the world, actually, that were praying for me constantly. I had people calling me frequently to make sure I wasn't bored out of my mind, since cisplatin, one of the chemos I was on, makes you really tired. So mostly, I was laying down and watching the show Suits, which is basically the same plot line over and over again for like eight seasons. I remember local Covenant students also making sure that I was well taken care of, specifically my friends Eli and Chase who, although they were busy with their jobs and lives, cut out a lot of time for me and were willing to talk about anything or just sit with me. I even had friends visit me from different states. 

C.S. Lewis talks about friendship and how it's one of the least valued loves in our culture. Now I feel that. Friends who will be there in times of trouble are one of the greatest gifts in life. Covenant is doing a powerful thing in its way of fostering these deep friendships. During that summer, one of the ways that I saw God's love most clearly was through these friends, friends that I would not know without Covenant. The being known aspect of the Covenant experience is priceless. I know because I have experienced it.

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