A peak at the past and the beginning of the end

I can't even believe how absolutely uncreative I'm being with today's blog title. The beginning of the end is every girl's senior year photo album title. But this really is the beginning of the final year of my time at Trinity. Graduation is in sight and that is terrifying on a level I can't even begin to discuss now. Even as the future is fast approaching, I thought I would take today to write about where I've been and how my time at Trinity has been amazing.

Semester 1: Fall, 2010.

My time at Trinity began about this time 3 years ago. I was rooming with my lifelong friend Ben and I couldn't be more thrilled to meet new people and start learning new things. I tried my best to get out there and meet as many people as I could. I spent many late nights goofing off and ditching 8am classes. I started lifting weights with my new friends and we laughed more about the dumbest things than I have ever done in my whole life. I spent so much time in the library not doing homework but just messing around, as this photo below so clearly demonstrates. My first semester of freshman year was probably the height of my spontaneous activities and provided way too many memories that I will keep forever.




Semester 2: Spring, 2011.

This semester brought about a bunches of changes in my life. My friend group shifted ever so slightly and I focused a tad bit more in school. My new additions to my friend group brought about more card games, movie marathons and Nonnas runs. The random late night adventures continued on and I made a ton more amazing memories with a bunch of hilariously fun people. I also grew spiritually. We started attending Trinity's worship night a ton more. Outcry on Thursday nights began to be one of the things each week that I looked forward to most. As the year drew to a close, I was saddened to hear about many of my friends transferring out to other schools but at the same time excited because many of my friends were staying and I couldn't wait to begin the next year living with a bunch of them in the bigger apartment dorms.




Semester 3: Fall, 2011

After a long summer away from my Trinity family, I was more than ready to return to this tiny school surrounded by houses in the middle of Palos Heights Illinois. We moved into a 6 person suite with 5 guys. I started working at the cafeteria at Trinity and along with having my hardest semester of classes yet, I was quite busy. Balancing work, homework, friends, family, and a girlfriend was difficult and some things suffered while others flourished. This semester was a transition from the crazy freshman Jake to the much more calm and mature me. My spiritual life grew and my friend group solidified. I also began preparing for a trip to Haiti in January, which would change my life forever.







Semester 4: Spring, 2012

Haiti. I don't need to say much else. That trip changed my perspective on almost everything. I loved every second of it. The people who live there are truly unbelievable. The people who came with me from Trinity was just as awesome and I know we all grew that week. After Haiti, we spent the rest of the semester scheming of ways to get back. Besides that however, many games of Dutch Blitz were played, my walk with God was strengthened and I just really grew to love college. I began to question my major and I really didn't understand where God was leading me. Right before summer began I heard about a semester to Kenya the following spring, so I filled out an application and turned it in and spent that summer waiting.






Semester 5: Fall, 2012

I had now past the halfway mark of college. Time was flying by. On the first Friday of the school year I received an email that I had been accepted to the semester in Kenya and I should start preparing for the time of my life that following spring. I was ecstatic. As I prepared for this adventure I continued along in my business classes and I was a student manager at the cafeteria. I also managed to have a great time with friends that I now considered very close. I also signed up to go back to Haiti in January. The fall semester was a time of preparation for fun things to come.






Semester 6: Spring, 2013

The spring semester of my junior year was probably the craziest 4 months of my entire life. I started right away in January with a return visit to Haiti and loved it again. There will always be a piece of me in Haiti. 4 days after returning from Haiti I boarded a plane again and headed to Kenya for the rest of the school year. Those four days were full of goodbyes and last minute packing and it was just a crazy emotional experience. After landing in Kenya I spent the next 100 days doing things that I will never ever forget with a handful of the most wonderful people God has put in my life. I'm so thankful for that time in Africa and I will go back there at some point in my life.










Now as I enter into my final year at Trinity I could not be more excited to see what God has in store for me. A huge shout out to the people who have made college what it is so far and I can't wait to continue making memories with all of you wonderful people. God is so good and I couldn't be more thankful for all I have been through these past 3 years. Here's to the future y'all. Let's make this upcoming year absolutely amazing.