One of the biggest days of my eighteen-year-old life came and went in what seemed like a flash. So much change happened on Friday, August 18th that it was a little tough to comprehend. Moving into my dorm at Tabor was a lot easier than I expected. As soon as I drove over to my mod, my family and I were met by about five volleyball players to help move in my things. I had just arrived, and even then everyone was so willing to help! It was so much fun decorating my new living space and meeting all of the people I’ll be surrounded by this coming year. I was fortunate to have been paired up with a roommate who is absolutely awesome! My modmates and I all get along great so far, too, which I have a feeling is going to make our individual experiences so much better.
Before, I thought that once I got past move-in day, things would slow down and I’d have lots of time to actually process that my life was drastically changing by the second. However, Friday was suddenly over, and we freshmen were kept super busy all the rest of the weekend. I met so many new people that could possibly turn into lifelong friendships. We each were assigned to a mentor group of about fifteen students and two peer mentors, and we will continue to meet with them throughout the semester. The mentor groups are a really great thing because the people in each of them are so diverse.
One of the things that brought me to Tabor is that its focus on service is so important to the nature of the college. Our second day of orientation weekend started off Saturday morning with a service project. Mentor groups all went their separate ways and did things like pick up debris, paint playground equipment, and help residents at a local nursing home. This was definitely one of my favorite parts of the weekend. The communities of Hillsboro and Marion that we worked in are so welcoming of Tabor students, and it was just really neat to see that myself. I love how mindful Tabor is to make it a point that we start our journey helping others.
We had a chance to soak everything in during free time that day. This was the last chance to spend time with our families before they headed back home, so I made the most of it with my family. It was starting to get bittersweet knowing that it would be quite a while before I would be home to see them again, but I was also really excited to start my own journey.
Once free time was over, a dedication service was held to pray over us as students and also our families. It was such an awesome time to be with other Christians just asking God to bless every aspect of our year and praying for peace for our families. That’s what you’ll find at Tabor- a body of faculty and students who genuinely care about each other and strive to lift each other up. It’s tough to find that anywhere else.
That night, Tabor brought to light some of its southern roots. The hoedown was all kinds of fun and craziness, at least for about three-fourths of the students. The other fourth was “too cool” for the line and square dances. No, that wasn’t a typo, I said square dances. Y’all best believe that I was out there laughing more at myself than anyone else, but I had the best time humiliating myself along with my new friends. There’s just something about dancing as awkwardly as possible with a group of people that makes you feel closer to them. I’m sure watching from the sidelines was hilarious because I’m almost positive that none of us actually knew what we were doing.
Overall, orientation weekend was a blast. I felt so much more confident about taking on freshman year by that Monday morning. Without it, I know I wouldn’t have as many good friends as I do right now. It would have been so easy to skirt through the weekend engaging as little as possible, which I know was some students’ main objective. I personally chose to make the most of it, leaving me with a better insight to what Tabor is all about: striving for academic excellence, being globally relevant in society, and most importantly, being decidedly Christian. I created a personal goal this weekend to make a conscious effort daily to be present and involved during my college years, because let’s face it: there’s no better way than to be a Bluejay.
Stay Taborrific