1 a.m. Thoughts from Sleepy Summer Sam
I am awake into the wee hours of the night yet again. Except, this time, there is no geology lab due tomorrow or massive marketing presentation to fret about. I’m just…thinking. Weird stuff. College will do that to you, you know, make you think about and appreciate the blessings you have that you simply overlooked before.
I just left a bible study called Kuneo that is held every Tuesday at a relatively new coffee shop/church in Dallas called Union. Union was the brain-child of Mike, one of my youth ministers back in the good ol’ days of youth group at Custer Road United Methodist Church in Plano, TX. You probably never heard of a coffee shop that is also a church, but you’ve probably also never met Mike.
He’s crazy passionate and he loves Jesus, that’s for sure, so he made this crazy cool coffee shop a reality in November of 2012. A portion of the proceeds from the coffee drinks sold at Union go to various causes around the world, and I am a huge fan. The cause supported in May is Hurricane Sandy relief, and the cause for the rest of the summer is children’s literacy. Mike led the bible study today, but he usually lets us, the small group of small adults, take the conversation in any direction we please, based on questions we have about faith. Today our discussion led us to talk about women’s roles in ministry, which can be a touchy subject. There was much hurried referencing of bible verses on iPads, and personal stories were shared that got others excited about telling their own stories. I left feeling renewed in my beliefs and more confident about speaking up about my questions and doubts.
I am telling you all of this just to get at this point: I am pumped to be a young adult in 2013. Our generation gets fired up about the things they believe in, and people are eager to share ideas and gain perspective from others. This is definitely true at Vanderbilt, where there are organizations out the wazoo (a strictly technical term) that represent every little interest and passion that Vanderbilt students have. You probably didn’t know that Vandy Tap That! (a tap dancing organization) exists. Well it does. I happen to be the secretary.
I am so lucky to attend a university like Vanderbilt that allows me to have the type of deep conversations I had at Kuneo tonight on a daily basis with my friends, with my peers, and even with my professors. My friends Elliot and Josh will sometimes spend hours upon hours just arguing about some ancient philosopher that they discussed in class that day, and I love that. I love that talking Plato over a plate of eggs and hash browns isn’t out of the ordinary, and I love attending a school where people don’t shy away from the deep discussions for fear of getting their hands dirty or stepping on toes. (Oh, what lovely metaphors!)