“Welcome home!” You have probably heard this, seen it on a shirt, or read it on a sign since coming to MC, but what does making MC home mean when entering onto a campus full of new faces or maybe returning to campus still unsure of what it means to call MC home? The English word “home” is derived from the Old English word hām which means a village or estate where many souls are gathered. This implies there is a physical dwelling involved, but the true subject of the meaning is the gathering of people. MC is home because of the many souls gathered here. We are all from many places, backgrounds, and all walks of life, but one thing unites us: the banner of Mississippi College.
Making MC home is all about investing in people. When you invest in people you invest in community. Whether you are a resident, commuter, freshman, senior, or somewhere in between, the people you are around become home. You are not meant to do life alone. You are never alone. Sometimes it is easy to feel that way-- know that you are not alone in that feeling either. But if home is the people you are around, I would like to talk about ways to find home here.
First, if you are someone feeling like you have not yet found home here, I would like to encourage you to press in exactly where you are. Take a moment to look up and notice the people whose lives overlap with yours on daily basis. This is your roommate, your suitemates, your teammate, the guy that waves to you on the sidewalk every morning, the girl sitting near you at lunch every day, or maybe even the person sitting behind you in Lit. class. Find someone near you, then have courage, and invest right where you are. Each one of us has something to bring to the table. We all have a story to tell. Right now is a unique time in our lives where all of our stories are intersecting as we spend a handful of years together pursing degrees. You have the opportunity to write in the stories of those around you. Don’t ever discount yourself and miss out on simply knowing and loving those immediately beside you every day. Look up. See the souls gathered around you. Go farther to get to know them and find home in your neighbor.
Next, find something you enjoy. An easy way to do this is to pursue a major you love. In that, you will find people who love the same things in life as you do. Many will share your same passions and your schedule! More often than not you will probably find yourself feeling more and at home with the people you always end up doing the day-to-day simple things with. What I mean is, all of those assignments, projects, late-night study sessions, study breaks, meals, and all of the moments of life that school brings about can turn into memories you always remember with people you will never forget. Don’t take those moments for granted. It truly is the smallest of moments that make this place home.
Here are some other opportunities to find home here at MC:
Plug into the Board! The Campus Programming Board is a variety of committees that plan and put on the events happening throughout the week for campus to enjoy. There are so many committees that would love to have you. Here you can find home by finding people gathered with a common interest and a common goal and a common thread: make life more fun!
Rush a tribe or club! Tribes and clubs are such a fun way to find home. You find people who are choosing to come together for the sake of being together and loving one another. They are there for you on your best and worst days... in the losses and the victories... for the big things and the small ones. And always there to have a good time!
Get involved with an on-campus ministry! BSU, FCA, RUF, and InterVarsity are here to help you find home by encouraging you in your faith and fellowship while equipping you with resources to help you to pour into those around you by providing worshipful experiences and other ministry opportunities.
There’s also SGA, Welcome Week Crew, Orientation Leaders, Scouts, and more than 50 other student organizations and opportunities to be home for you!
Finally, an important way to surround yourself with people who will be home for you is to plug into a college ministry at a local church. This will give you a community of both students from MC, other college students, adult leaders within the church, and others from the surrounding communities who share your faith. Grow your community on campus by diving in the Word with people at church college group. These will be people who see you and carry your burdens with you, people who want to know you and celebrate you, and people who care about the state of your heart and want to see you grow. Not only will this bring home to the community on our college campus but it will also bring a sense of home in our city, our neighborhoods, and our local church.
Home is all around you. C.S. Lewis, in his final book of The Chronicles of Narnia, “The Last Battle,” was constantly encouraging the characters to come “farther up and farther in.” As the characters went, everything became clearer. They began to recognize where they were. Everything became beautiful. They were fully known and fully loved chasing after Aslan together. They were home. Home is where the presence of the Lord is. Home is in the body of believers. Home is in the souls nearest to you, gathering around you, pulling you further in to community and pushing you further up in reaching for Christ. I truly believe the Lord will fill your path with individuals running beside you after His heart, carrying a piece of heaven in their souls. You belong here. Find the people who feel like home, the ones that give life, the ones that are there to push you further up and further in. The ones who want to write a line in your story. We are all individual stories coming together to write a bigger story: the story of home… the story of MC. Welcome home.
Sincerely, MC
