More than I ever bargained for

I came to Ignite as a freshman, and I never would have imagined how much it would have touched my life and impacted me. I thought that it would just be a three-day retreat that I went to before college, but nothing more.

As a sophomore, I was wary of getting involved in Ignite as a counselor since a lot of people had already served as a counselor during their freshman year. I didn’t want to be the odd one out as a sophomore, but all of my friends raved about Ignite. I decided to take a leap of faith and apply for counselor in the spring of 2016. I was placed in an awesome camp (shoutout Scooby Doo) full of such lively and supportive people. We had every type of personality in our camp, and when we were together we were constantly laughing and adding to our list of inside jokes. I always loved spending time with everyone in our camp and going beyond the usual surface-level conversations. These deep discussions with staffers made me appreciate the people in my life and desire to know them more! Everyone in our camp was always rooting for one another – encouraging each other to be better people and go for our goals. From ultimate frisbee to blindfolded adventures to Amy’s Ice cream, I could count on this community of people to put a smile on my face when I was down and out. To have such close friends constantly supporting and praying for me was something I had never experienced before, and it was awesome to see sincere people caring for one another in that way.

This school year, I am on Ignite’s media team to work on the behind-the-scenes tasks such as blogging and social media. I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to stay plugged into this awesome campus ministry. While I expected a three-day retreat, Ignite has given me so much more than I ever bargained for. I’ve grown my faith immensely, felt right at home in this school of 50,000 people, met my roommates plus so many of my closest friends through this organization. I’m not sure if there’s anything more that I could ask for from Ignite.

To those of you who are interested in getting involved in a campus ministry, I can’t recommend enough that you consider making Ignite your home. If you know any incoming freshman coming to UT, tell them to come to Ignite and meet some of the best people in Austin!

(See me below in the blue bandana with my camp!)