Lessons Learned From The

Experiences Of 5
Freshman Girls
Good lessons to learn from these 5
freshmen who learned them the hard way.
by Victoria Ramsdell Oklahoma State Jun 19, 2019
I've wondered what people pinpoint as "learning moments" in their lives. I
have had quite a few in 2019 so far and mine seem to be worlds different than
others' around me. So, I asked around to people I trust and love, what they
have learned so far in college.
Each of these humans has come from a different walk of life and most of them
don't know each other. They all walk on the same campus, breath the same
air, go to the same classes, and yet, their lives look really different.

My one and only question: "tell me some things you learned being in college?"

A good, good friend I met on my first floor this semester was Jacqui Kling.
Freshman here at Oral Roberts University, Jacqui comes from a really level
headed family with three older brothers. She is kind, compassionate,
considerate and a deep thinker. She is the kind of leader that other leaders
want to follow. This past year, college life has taught her "how to say no to
things and how to not be easily offended." As an upcoming RA on the ORU
campus, she also took a minute to talk about her leadership opinion,
expressing that "leaders are intercessors, and it's not about us changing
people, it's God changing people through us [leaders]." She said that she is
"leading through influence," and she expressed that she wasn't a manager,
she was an influencer. Her actions mattered in leadership just as much as
her words. Another important lesson Jacqui said she learned was that the
"Holy Spirit is accessible to us any time of the day, even for things that we
think are unimportant." Her last point and the thought I ponder quite often is
that "though they may, I may not."

xoxo Thanks Jacqui, you're a peach.

A Holy woman of God that has shocked me since the moment I met her is
Helena Harper. Do not underestimate her. She is so sincere, loves and
fears God and gives her all to her passions. Asking Helena about the things
she has learned thus far in college, she started with "well, I learned that
 spirit empowered leadership is real." She also said that "extended times of
prayer are real and make a change." She reminded me of something that I
forget a lot by saying that "Jesus loves me all the time, even when I hate
myself. I am always loved, even when I feel hated." When I asked her about
her relationship with God and how that overflows into her relationships, she
said that she never tries to convert people or throw the bible in their face.
She simply "spends time with God, then talks to people..." Out of the
overflow of her heart comes forth love and kindness, and it is evident in her
every word.

I loved getting to know Helena this year, and I have a feeling I am gonna
wanna keep her as a longtime pal.

Katie Watrous was one of those people with a story that you "OMG" to like,
a million times. She has been through the fire and back, and yet she loved
honestly and she is not afraid to hold onto her truth. This year she learned
about "intentionality in relationships, meaning, who I allow to pour into me. I
am also intentional with my time and with my time spent with God."
Knowing some of Katie's story, the next thing she said she learned really
blessed my heart. She said that she "learned school isn't everything.
College is just 4 years. A small four years compared to the rest of our lives.
There is more to life than school. There is even more to THIS season of life
than just school." My translation of that is that there is never a need for a
boring, dull season. A season of life can be filled with excitement and
wonder or quiet rest and peaceful healing.

Katie is someone I admire and look up to for strength and perseverance.

Breanna is a powerhouse singer/songwriter who I spent most of my time

with. She is strong and mighty, loves deeply, and is not afraid to tell you
what's up. Her points were simple: "There is a proper way to choose friends
and you don't need to be friends with everyone." That one hit me good.
There is a difference to me between saying, "I don't have to be friends with
everyone," and "I don't need to be friends with everyone." Food for thought.

I loved hanging with Breanna and hearing her heart, getting to know her family
and seeing the world through her eyes. She taught me a lot.

Let's not forget that I also learned some things this semester. I found out
this year that I genuinely just care about people. I love making anyone in
the room feel like they are the most important. I enjoy the challenge of
pulling the misfits out of the shadows and giving them a voice. I don't call
them projects and I don't think about them that way either. I just know that
everyone had talents and opinions, but sometimes the louder people get all
the spotlight.

I also learned that every moment is precious, and living in the moment is
worth it. I have lived my whole life looking forward to the next best thing,
almost completely taking for granted the good things right in front of me.
This semester, I started as a freshman and ended as a junior. Just like that,
two years turned into one semester. I have very little time to experience a
multitude of things people learn in college. Keeping myself in the moment is
important for me. I want to enjoy my time, my major and my relationships.

I learned the hard way that Jesus is irreplaceable. Nothing can replace the
lessons learned in the presence of God. It's important for me to if I am
going to be diligent about anything, be diligent about being in the prayer
room daily, the scriptures every morning, and in the presence of God.
Nothing can replace what I learn from God.

Finally, I learned that God's plans are actually way better than mine, and
that should encourage me! I am a planner, an executor. However, I
question whether or not I am making the right plan. Following God's plan
takes the pressure off my shoulders to pick the perfect path. He guides me,
and I simply listen.
 People
Nowadays
by Brenda Garcia University of California at Merced Oct 6, 2015
Several months ago, as I was scrolling down my Facebook newsfeed, I saw
this picture:

A few weeks ago, I learned about this socio-psychological phenomenon in

Social Psychology called diffusion of responsibility that explains the bystander
effect. The bystander effect is basically our hesitation to help someone in
need when we are in a group. It is more likely that an individual will help a
person in need if they are alone than if they are with a group. In the picture
above, for example, if there had just been one individual on the shore side
compared to the group there would more of a chance the individual might
have been rescued. One explanation behind this effect is diffusion of
responsibility, which means that our sense of responsibility decreases within a
large group of people. We tend to think: someone probably called the
ambulance already, or someone else will help them. Or it sometimes goes so
far as to convince ourselves that since no one is helping, maybe that person
does not need help. It's like we are afraid of having that responsibility, and we
want someone else to rescue us from that situation. The bystander effect can
be as harmless as not telling someone they dropped their dollar when we are
walking with your friends, or as harmful as the Kitty Genovese case of 1964,
where a women was murdered and raped near her apartment building in New
York, and out of 38 witnesses, no one did anything to help her.
It is our sense of "not wanting to get involved" that allows preventable
tragedies to happen before our eyes, or worse, before our phones. People
today do not only hesitate to help, but instead prefer to adjust the camera on
their phones to get a clearer image. It seems like we would rather be the
witnesses than helpers, the observers rather than the doers, the accomplices
rather than the heroes. What if the person being murdered was a loved one,
and you found out that there were 38 witnesses that could have helped, but
didn't? What if you were the one begging for help, only to find out that instead
of being rescued, you where being recorded? Sometimes someone else will
help, sometimes they won't; but if we can, why not?