Things are once again starting up here on UK’s campus. Fall semester is always fun, and I am looking forward to the classes that I am taking. It is interesting to see thousands of freshmen pouring in to campus trying to figure out what is “cool” in their new environment. They wear their best Abercrombie for the first couple of weeks, but this is soon overcome by laziness and the sweatpants come out. I was a freshmen only two years ago, but it seems like a lifetime. God has done so much in those two short years and everything has changed. I vividly remember that first day, though. I couldn’t wait for my parents to finally leave. I couldn’t wait to be on my own so that I could do what I wanted with my life. Little did I know that a week later Jesus Christ himself would demand it from me. As we start our campus outreach, I thought I would share a bit of my story and also give some details and suggestions about what is going on around campus where students can be reached.

When I first arrived on campus I was pretty pumped. I had a long list of things that I was going to do with myself. Being a Christian was somewhere on the list, but not very high. I soon learned that even if “being a Christian” was number one on the priority list, I was still missing the point. I had several clubs that I wanted to get involved in. My only problem was that I only had 24 hours in a day and one of the clubs I wanted to get involved in was the sleeping in ’til 11 club. I was looking for a new girl friend, I was searching for relationships. I wanted to have the best four years of my life.

I share all this to encourage you to reach out to new students as the semester starts up. A few days after I came to school, I went to something called Campus Rukus. It was a big party on Haggin field where all the student organizations had tables. I wanted to go and figure out which ones looked the coolest. However, as I was looking around at groups I heard God say to me, as clearly as he has ever told me anything, “I want you to go and sit in the corner of this field, you are going about this the wrong way.” A few moments later, a guy named Eric walked up to me and handed me a newspaper for UCF. This led to a whole series of events that changed my life.

My point is that someone talked to me. I came to school from out of state and didn’t know anyone. I was searching for people to hang out with and things to do. I don’t know what would have happened if I had talked to someone who invited me to a party instead of Eric. To be honest, I’d rather not think about what my life could be instead. We need to realize that there is a huge herd of people just like I was entering the school, and the first couple of weeks are critical in forming friendships and connections.

Toward that end, Billy asked me to brainstorm a few creative ways in which we can meet those people. My first thought was to simply go to the dining areas and look for people who are by themselves to eat with. I remember as a freshmen with no friends going to get food the first couple of weeks and sitting by myself, just wishing I had someone to talk to. Another good idea is to meet people as they move into the dorms. Move in starts tomorrow, and it is a wonderful opportunity to meet people simply by helping them carry boxes in from their car. Many freshmen are also looking to get involved in clubs around their interests. Going to these is another great way to meet someone who is interested in the same things as you.

I also thought I would list the official stuff that UCF is involved in so that we all know when these are:

Campus Rukus: Sat 10 PM – 1 AM. This is different this year, there will be no tables.

Wildcats at Worship: Sun 10 AM – 12 AM. This is not an outreach, so don’t wear UCF shirts or anything, just people getting together to worship.

Student Center Spectacular: Sun 9 PM – 1 AM. We can start setting up our table at 5:30 (yes we are registered).

All the info for opening week can be found at http://www.uky.edu/kweek