It was the summer after I graduated, 2006. I had been a really good kid in high school. My grades weren’t the best, but I was still a good kid. I never smoked, drank or anything like that. Well, that kind of changed that summer when I started going to a few parties. I got drunk a couple times but I never got into anything too serious. Well, it was also during this time when I enrolled at UW-Superior. I was pretty excited about going there because it was4 hours away from home. Plus, it was a pretty big party school. Anyway, my mom and I went up to visit, I registered for courses, and got a Yellowjackets sweatshirt. My life wasn’t really heading in the direction it should have been, but I didn’t really see a problem with it.
That is, I didn’t see a problem with it until I went back to Christian Harbor Youth Camp. I guess this story really should have started my freshmen year at camp, because that is when I decided I wanted to go to a Christian college, namely Crossroads College in Rochester, Minnesota. There was a summer team from the school at camp, and I sat down and talked to them and I felt that Crossroads is really where I wanted to be. Well, my parents felt that I should be going to a “real” school, so I got talked out of that pretty fast.
Anyway,when I went back after my senior year, I talked to the summer team again and decided that, despite what my parents think is best for me, I need to do what I think is right. Well, I got back from camp, and it was my birthday, so I sat down in the living room, opened my presents, and broke the news that I wanted to go to Crossroads instead of Superior. As you can probably imagine, my parents were not too happy with this decision. My mom told me she didn’t want to see me or talk to me. I was really upset and I needed encouragement. As I was walking to my room, i saw a couple letters addressed to me, the mail I received while at camp. The first one I opened was addressed from my uncle Don, who lived about ten hours away, in Saginaw, Michigan. He is a Catholic priest, and I hadn’t talked to him in probably four years. I opened the letter and it had a check in it for my graduation present. There was also a card that he had written, that read something like this:
“Dear Benjamin, congratulations on your graduation into adulthood. It is now time for you to start fully thinking for yourself and making your own decisions. Love, Uncle Don.”
That was all of the persuasion I needed. I went with my friend Chris to visit the college. I actually moved into my room and then got an acceptance letter. Since I started coming to school here, I haven’t regretted it for a second. I think that God is the one that was guiding my uncle’s hand as he was writing to me, and it really has saved my life. Who knows what I would be doing with who right now if he hadn’t led me here in my most vulnerable time?
