I came to St. Joe’s with the expectation that I was going to transfer out before I even stepped into my first class on campus. 

I really did love what the school had to offer. I thought the campus was beautiful, at a great location in the city that I love and I thought my major suited me perfectly. Yet, I could not shake the thought that I was going to transfer out of St. Joe’s after my first year. My number one fear was that I was not going to find my community on campus. 

But I soon discovered the joy I have found in being wrong.

In my first couple of days on campus, I began to question God and ask, “Why did you bring me here?” I yearned to find a Christian community where I could plug myself into and be a part of the wider St. Joe’s family, but I really did not think that community existed.

Then, on one of my first nights on campus, I received a simple invite from an Agape leader, a campus Christian fellowship group. All of my doubts about being at St. Joe’s were erased. That one simple invite has given me the total assurance and peace that I needed to feel comfortable in my decision to come to Hawk Hill and in finding a home here.

I was welcomed with open arms into the loving, Christ-centered community of Agape, where the Gospel was so central to the group.Through Agape, God has shown His faithfulness and has clearly answered my question of why He brought me here.

Now, I am blessed to have the opportunity to lead Agape and I yearn for everyone here at St. Joe’s to experience the love of Jesus that I have, which this group has been so incredible at displaying. 

I was so wrong to think that I would transfer out of St. Joe’s after my first year; I was so wrong to think that God did not have a purpose in bringing me here; and I was so wrong to think that I would never find my community at St. Joe’s.

But what these last four years on Hawk Hill have shown me is how much joy and peace I have found through God in being so utterly wrong. Oh, the joy I have found in being wrong.