River's College Application Essay

She answers these two questions below so beautifully I had to share it...

1.Write a brief narrative that shows how your Christian Faith has sustained you in a difficult time in your life or has developed you as an individual and the person you are today

2.Why do you want to attend Northwest University and in what ways do you envision your NU classes, worship and personal experiences impacting your life goals?

My eyes are the color of dark earth dug from deep under the ground, where it’s moist and warm. This is the well of my soul, where I hide away the things I have seen, and they become a part of me. Here stands the wild mountain I blazed mazes through as a young child. Here live childhood friends from the streets, with their oily braided hair and black eyes shining in the warehouse light as we played tag. That was a hard concrete floor to fall on. Here grows the elder pine tree towering above my new suburban school. I would climb it’s shivering sleeves and watch life continue on oblivious to the suffering of smellier people I had met. I would cry up there sometimes. My eyes would leak the tears of those they carried. These only line the edge of my iris.

Further in, I bury the faces of the orphans I met on the clay-dirt and rocks of Ethiopia. They taught me not to whine, and how to be brave. Fikadu, the 7-year old shepard boy, Embaba, the 5-year old HIV positive baby found abandoned in the street, Birhan, the 7-year-old little Einstein who knew her times tables better than I, and Senai, the 8-year old leader of the pack who was attacked by an escaping guard dog and later ran away to find his grandfather. They taught me the importance of learning as they begged me to teach them. Beside them, stands mi amigita (my little friend) from Tijuana, Mexico. She pulls my hand down a staircase made of old tires, into her house: a room with a bed, a shelf, and a sink. She pulled me in to pray for her mother. She taught me how to pray for the sick. Behind her sits Manuel- peeking his lazy eye into the Salvadorian kitchen-shack as we cooked “arroz con leche”. I wrapped my arm around his little bloated belly as I slowly fed him. He taught me how to love.

And beneath it all, there lies the source of the this well. His name is Love. His name is The Way. His name is The Truth. His name is The Life. When you look into my eyes there is a deep and strong love that blows you down and apart. It is not my love, but the love of Him who first loved me enough to teach me through children about the Kingdom of God. He has taught me well. I have much yet to learn, though, and so I keep my eyes wide open. My eyes are on you, Lord.

My visit to NU last year was quite the eyefull. The beauty of God adorned each moment, as the trees were strewn with moss. Heaven and earth sang His praise as inch by inch the sun’s light rose over the land. In the same way, so did each student and teacher rise each day. They rose to excellence in scintillating beauty that far outshone the light on the waters as I sat in the fading light with them over a plate of dumplings outside Pecota. Every crumb of their lives was worship to God. We ate of His goodness and blessings together, sharing all He had provided. Each person I met had their story with the Lord. Some were told early in the morning mist from a window seat in the Caf. Others were lived out as Crowder residents stopped at the bathroom sink to encourage one another to never lose hope. Everywhere I went students lavished brotherly and sisterly affection on one another, strengthening each other to press on, to study hard, and to live life to the full. I was honored to spend time with such dedicated students.
I was equally as honored to dip my cup in a variety of Bible classes. They were bowls of fruit punch to the eye, and just as sweetly mysterious to the taste. There were no rigid recipes to follow, only everything and anything to be found in the kitchen poured into the mix. Those I attended were stirred with passion as revelation was passed around and shared.
Unfortunately, the nursing majors’ finals prevented me from sitting in on a class. However, I did get to peek in the window as some students made up missed practicals. I felt right at home as I saw the dummies strewn about the room. I got a very similar sense of the same professionalism that drew me to my health-science-focused High school. The environment was steeped in dedication. I easily envisioned myself mastering nursing here.The image sent shivers down to my toes.
           I might only parallel it to my great joy when I discovered the prayer closets hidden around campus. No longer will I have to hide in the bathroom or a staircase to escape and pray between classes. I could not have imagined such intimate integration of worship and prayer into every aspect of NorthWest. The chapel, of course is a wonderful place to worship. There are also so many convenient getaways to be with the Lord, such as the nearby international house of prayer, and even a quiet spot overlooking lake Washington, where the sun reflects off the waters. I see NU as a good place to sit and reflect the Son. It is a good place to absorb all I can before bouncing off into the distance like a ray of light.