My Journey to Ball State Part 2: What I Found There

The second half of my story begins at the start of my first semester at Ball State as a Sophomore. I had been having what I thought were stomach problems a few weeks before the first day of classes, but after suffering from the pain periodically over the first 2 months of the semester, my girlfriend at the time predicted that I might have appendicitis, which I had never heard of at the time. I didn't believe it at first, but in September I went to the Health Clinic at Ball State and my doctor believed I had appendicitis. And so, he called for a driver to take me to the hospital and it turns out the doctor was right. That night, my parents came over to the hospital to be with me while I went through surgery. My appendix was so inflamed in my body that it couldn't come out by making 3 small incisions on my body, so they had to make a larger incision on my stomach in order to get it out. I had to spend 3 nights at the hospital, but I was thankful for everyone that visited me. I now have 4 scars on my body, but it would've been way worse if my girlfriend at the time didn't make me go to the health clinic.

Ever since the summer before Sophomore year, my relationship began to fall apart. It was off and on a lot, with her losing interest in me, which resulted from me being so clingy, our constant communication through texting when we weren't together, and the fact that we spent too much time together. We eventually broke up my first semester of college. It took me a few months to get over her. We stopped being friends second semester of Sophomore year, but we became friends again in Junior year and we no longer had any grudges or regrets towards each other. As I said in my last post, one of my reasons for going to Ball State was to be with her, but I still don't regret my decision of being here.

During my Sophomore year, I didn't run for a while due to recovering from my surgery, and I never joined any running teams afterwards. I didn't have a lot of friends either because I spent too much time with the girl I wanted to be with at the time. Sophomore year wasn't all that bad. I changed my major to Construction Management, which I still don't regret and I still have interests in. I also got invited by Matt Novak to join a bible study that he was a leader in, along with Andrew Slayton and eventually Zach Brubaker; whom all 3 of them I am extremely thankful for. I accepted his offer, and begun going to Bible Study. For a while I didn't take a lot into heart from Bible Study, because I felt unworthy in God's presense. I had been so focused on being in a relationship and having fun that I walked away from what God had to offer me. I started attending Cru near the end of Sophomore year, but my faith in God didn't improve until Junior year.

From Left to Right: Lacey, Myself, Ben, Alice, and Poppy

Junior year was when a lot had changed for me. I lived in LaFollete, which is mostly filled with international students, whom I am now more fond of. I became best friends with this girl Alice, that introduced me to the swing dancing club that I joined on campus. I soon got to meet her boyfriend Ben, who is now her husband, who watched Fringe with me whenever he came to visit. Both of them are awesome and they helped make more sense of God to me. I also went to bars with them which was always fun, but I wasn't crazy like I was my Freshman year. I was more responsible and I was old enough to drink. I also joined a bible study led by Vince Ferry and Zach Hanje. I also attended Cru more and made a lot more friends. I grew stronger in my faith with the help of my entire bible study, Alice and Ben, and the staff at Cru. I also grew in compassion for the international students. All of the ones I've met are nicer than us Americans most of the time, such as Poppy, Yi, You Wu, and Artemis. That year I learned that it was important for to grow in my relationship with God, but it was still crippled until my Senior year. At the time I desperately wanted a girlfriend and that brought me down for a while.

Junior Year: Boyz 2 Men BStuds!

I am now a Senior and am almost finished with my second to last semester. This semester has been important for me. I now live in a house with 3 other roommates, whom are all easy to get along with. I am currently dealing with the hardships of affording to live in a house, but it's starting to get better for me. I am in Vince's bible study again, along with Scott Quillen. I went to Fall Retreat in October, and I learned something valuable from it, through God and some of my close friends. I have finally learned that I should be content and patient with being single, and that my next relationship with a girl should be based around God and each other rather than intimacy and closeness. I am finally trusting in God's plan for me again, and am trying to build a strong relationship with him. I've also been more active in my major, with Cru, swing dancing, and all around being more outgoing. 

The final semester is almost here, and I thank God for what he's taught me, for bringing me closer to my family and friends, for all the experiences I've had along the way, both the good and the bad. I also want to thank all my friends and family that have been there for me through thick and thin. What I found at Ball State wasn't what I was expecting, but it was what I needed the most.