College Crossroads

By Laura Key

Leaving home and heading off to college is one of life's big transitions. It's good to have a guide.

College Crossroads is a handy guidebook that points you to Wisdom in all the big (and little) decisions. You'll walk through the practical aspects of adjusting to college: figuring out finances, making connections, keeping healthy and focusing on academics. This book is meant to help you think ahead and spark discussion about all the situations you will face.  

• Language: English
• Publisher: KeyWords Publishing
• Release date: Oct 6, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393066385

Laura Key

Laura Key successfully transitioned from homeschooling to the University of Northern Iowa. Her college years were delightful, difficult, and incredibly formative. She studied English and TESOL/Spanish, graduating with honors in 2011. Laura has taught in both the U.S. and Peru, where she lived for several years. Now she’s back in Iowa and married to her favorite Bahamian, Joshua Key. Laura loves the great outdoors and “urban farming” on her tiny apartment balcony. Her favorite Saturday morning includes Joshua, hot coffee, Bible, pens, notebook, and sunshine. The Keys are grateful to fellowship and serve alongside believers at Lake Country Bible Chapel in central Iowa.

Book preview

Preface

Grab the keys, and let’s go.

Before your graduation hat hits the ground,

You’re speeding away on your next adventure.

But wait.

Hold up.

You’ve arrived at an intersection.

A crossroad.

Turn right. Turn left. Go straight.

Pick one.

You can’t throw it in reverse,

And you can’t stay here.

No matter which way you choose,

The road will bring you to another crossroad.

Choose again.

And again.

Over and over and over.

These decisions, made one after another, ultimately change you.

You won’t be the same person you once were.

You’ve already experienced these micro-changes in high school,

But now it’s different.

You’ve been on a country road for miles and suddenly you come upon a maze of weaving interstates and criss-crossing flyovers.

You’re picking up speed and dozens of routes are available to you.

College is coming, with a host of new experiences.

You will choose, and you will change.

It’s inevitable. But it’s not a bad thing.

What happens over the course of the next few years will shape your life. The structure you had in high school is gone, and now you decide which road to take.

Your past context has given you a start.

Your family, friends, and high school experience has shaped you.

But what happens in this next chapter?

When no one’s knocking on your door to wake you up,

Will you get out of bed?

When you collide with clashing worldviews, where will yours fall?

Who’s going to know or care if you miss class or fail assignments?

How do you know right from wrong when everyone has a different opinion?

In college, you’ll make choices about what you do,

and when you do it.

You’ll decide where to spend time,

and with whom.

You’ll take a hard look at truth,

and then choose what to do with it.

All these decisions change you bit by bit.

You’ll take wrong turns along the way.

I guarantee it.

You’ll make decisions you regret.

But what will you do about it?

That’s yet another choice.

Another crossroad.

I’m going to share with you my journey:

Crucial crossroads in my college years.

Some had huge signposts, and others were barely noticeable.

But looking back, I see that all of them were important.

As you come upon these crossroads,

I hope this book will make you think.

Your own journey will be different, but foresight is everything.

Looking out for what might trip you up will help you prepare to navigate this new experience.

If you can anticipate the crossroads that you’ll encounter, they won’t be as overwhelming.

But I have to tell you a secret.

I didn’t navigate those crossroads alone.

Introduction

Birdsong woke me up to early light. I opened my eyes to unfamiliar surroundings. Beds, desks, empty closets, a sink. The cool June morning came in through the open window. It was Orientation Weekend at the university that I’d be attending in the fall.

So, this is what it’s gonna be. In a couple of months, I would return to this place not as a prospective student, but as a full-fledged freshman. This would be my dorm. My campus. My new life. Anticipation tangled with apprehension. I sensed a pivotal moment coming in my life. This was the place where I could go in any direction.

I felt terrific and terrified.

How would I choose the right way to go?

I couldn’t do this on my own.

I grew up in a loving home. From an early age, my parents taught me about the big things in life, like good and evil and how to tie my shoelaces. I learned about God and people: the problem that divides us and the solution that unites us. Along the way, this knowledge started to stick to me like Velcro strips on my light-up sneakers.

But in my teenage years, I had a crisis. I wasn’t sure who I was, or what I believed. I started to question concepts that I had heard all my life. Do I just believe this because my parents taught it to me? If I had been born into a Hindu family, wouldn’t I be a Hindu just like my parents? What if this whole Christianity thing isn’t even true?

In my search for identity, I ripped off the Velcro. I disassociated myself from the knowledge that had become a part of me. It wasn’t enough that my parents said it. I wanted to find out for myself. What did I believe about these big concepts: God, myself, life, and death?

This soul-searching shook me to the core. I was seeking God, but at the same time I doubted Him. I struggled with anxiety; I would be okay for days or weeks at a time, and then out of nowhere the distressing thoughts would rage against me again. I didn’t have lasting peace.

Finally, after months of struggling, I concluded that if I wanted what God offers, I had to trust what He says. I wanted life, and He offered it to me through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ. He died and paid the penalty for my sin, so I could live free. No condemnation for me; only forgiveness. It sounded too easy, but I decided to trust God. In that moment, I tied myself to Christ. No more Velcro.

Don’t get me wrong. The Velcro was good. I needed that knowledge that my parents gave me. It was a good foundation, and I’m thankful that I heard truth since I was young. But there comes a time in everyone’s life where they have to make their own choice about God and what He says. Will I trust what He says and follow Him, or not? I had to struggle with my identity to decide for myself. In the end, when I tied myself to Christ, I was more confident than I could ever be with the Velcro from my childhood. My faith no longer rested on what my parents told me, but on what God told me. I could run freely because my soul was secure.

Fast forward to Orientation Weekend and that early morning in the dorm room. Still burdened with the sudden gravity of choosing my life’s path, I pulled out my green-flecked Bible from my duffel bag. I flipped it open and asked God to show me something. The book fell open to the middle, those proverbs of the ancient kings. 

Does not wisdom cry out,

And understanding lift up her voice?

She takes her stand on the top of the high hill,

Beside the way, where the paths meet.

She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city,

At the entrance of the doors.

Proverbs 8:1-3

I did a double take. Well, hey. That’s where I am. I’m at a gate, an entrance, a door, a threshold to college. I’m standing at the crossroads, where the paths meet. But apparently, I’m not alone. Wisdom is there too, and she’s not silent. She’s crying out, lifting up her voice — telling me the right way to go.

The burden I felt to decide the course of my life began to slide off my shoulders. I didn’t have to be anxious about which way to take. I could be confident while making decisions about my life because I could listen to Wisdom. I could follow Wisdom’s way.

Other things I knew about Wisdom came to mind, and I flipped around the pages until I found them:

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,

And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Proverbs 9:10

For the LORD gives wisdom;

From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;

Proverbs 2:6

Following Wisdom means knowing God, the giver of Wisdom. This wasn’t something new for me, but it sunk a little deeper into my heart. I had already tied myself to Jesus Christ, the Wisdom of God. I just needed to know Him better. If you’re really close with someone, you can predict exactly what they’re going to say, do, or even think about a situation. Jesus knew me inside and out, but I didn’t know Him like that.

I was encouraged and challenged. I didn’t have to depend on my own wits to make the right decision. I could depend on God’s Wisdom, Jesus Christ. But how well did I know Wisdom’s voice?

I hope that this little book will give you helpful advice in transitioning to college, but it won’t do you much good unless you’ve considered your own crossroads. Wisdom is calling out to you.

Maybe you’ve grown up hearing about Jesus in your home, but have you sought to know Him yourself? In college, you’ll come across lots of mini-crossroads where you will have to make a decision, but perhaps you’re at your biggest crossroads now.

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. If you don’t trust Him, it’s because you don’t really know Him. And the good news is, He wants you