College or the early years of adulthood is a pivotal time for most people, particularly if they leave home. It is in college, and away from home, that many people find their vocation. Life opens up to many people.

On the other hand, many youths leave the church during this formative time. Many youths learn destructive habits, such as drunkenness, in college. Alternatively, many other students become Christians in college.

College can either be an incredibly great thing, or an incredibly bad thing. The question facing each and every young adult is, What makes this time so pivotal, and how can I make it a great thing? Let me explain using my own experience.

The thing that makes this time pivotal is that young adults attain autonomy at the age that they go to college. In my case, I traveled 12 hours by car to get to my college, and then my parents went back home. I became autonomous. The only thing holding me down was the college that I chose to trust, and, I prayed, would be trustworthy. However, this autonomy came with specific and definite changes, that, looking back, I can characterize in three ways.

First, I realized that I would have to work harder and more efficiently. As was foreshadowed in orientation, and obvious during the first week of classes, the level of efficiency I had obtained in high school would have to increase to keep me on top of the work load. I quickly discovered that the amount of work I put into three classes in high school would neatly cover one class in college. Thus, I had to formulate a plan that was considerably more efficient than before, and I had to execute it with more vigor.

Second, I learned that I had to be responsible. The amount of things necessary to remember went up dramatically. Suddenly, I had to remember that I have a bank account that needs balancing, a load of laundry that needs to be washed, and a 2,500-word research paper that I don’t want to have to write the night before it is due, and… the list goes on and on. I knew from the warnings of my parents what could happen if I forgot these things.

Third, I realized that I had to have balance. However much I wanted to, I could not sit from dawn to dusk typing busily or reading furiously. I had to take the necessary time to relax, to meet other people, even to clean my room. The relaxation had to balance with the work and the hygiene.

These are the three changes that I made when gaining my autonomy. However, I also realized that there was a fourth change that would have to occur and that would affect the way I dealt with all the above changes. I no longer had my parents encouraging me to follow the Lord. So the fourth thing I learned was that I had to discover how my work related to God and His will. I had to be responsible to keep my heart clean from the sarcasm and falseness that runs rampant among many students. I had to keep the Lord at the forefront of my day, always seeking to look to Him in private devotions and public acts of love for the people around me. Suddenly, my faith would have to be my own.

This, I think, is what makes the difference on college campuses. When men and women leave home, they suddenly have to choose. The difference between the great experience of life on one’s own and the horrible experience of life on one’s own is that simple thing. Either God is at the forefront of life, or God is in the background of life. If He is in the background, He either changes that quickly by His grace (which, thank the Lord, He often does) or the young adult walks away. If God is at the forefront, the young adult grows and matures, to His great and majestic glory.

Joshua De Jong | Bloomington, Ind., RPC