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The Class of 2021 is longing for summer after a long, lonely winter. We yearn to unify ourselves around a common goal. We pant for revival, to patch the lonely holes in our own hearts with real connection.

I am keenly aware that our bodies have absorbed a gauntlet of grief throughout this traumatic year. And some of us, for the first time since March 2020, are stepping onto campuses that have been closed for over a year. How then, when we are committed to seeing God’s kingdom come on campus, do we enter NSO well?

As much as I cherished the moment, I wish I had known that it would be the last football game I’d ever attend as a student. Actually, there were a lot of “lasts” that came sooner than I expected.

As we prepare for a new school year, I believe Jesus’ invitation for us is to see and care for these first-gen students’ unique experiences while also recognizing the agency and gifts they bring—to the campus, our ministries, the world, and the kingdom of God.

The point is that you’ll inevitably hit some speed bumps in your first year of college, and I want to offer you these lessons to help get you through.

As the youngest generation, we may believe the lie that we are useless in times of crisis. But as we mature and understand ourselves more, we should be encouraged and empowered to use our voices.

Having a certain level of social anxiety after a year-plus of isolation is to be expected. Some of you are about to go back to campus or start working in-person for the first time in a long while. That’s a really big change!

Though I was strongly against attending my local community college, I’ve actually ended up being called to that exact campus to plant an ��ñ���� chapter. (Jesus can be funny like that.) And while there are definitely challenges, the truth is I love ministering here!

I know we can’t peg Jesus’ personality type (although die-hard Enneagram or Myers-Briggs types might try!), but I do think his example offers comfort and encouragement to us introverted folks.

“Who am I to lead?” I’ve asked myself that many times. Maybe you have too, as a new Christian. As if our story is separate from the Church, and we don’t belong.