Spring Training

This past weekend, I had an opportunity to go off-campus for a conference through InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. This conference was called Spring Training. It was focused on Christian leadership and held at Lehigh University, which is in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and is around two hours away. 

We left Susquehanna a little after noon on Saturday morning in two cars. They were packed with sleeping bags, pillows and backpacks since we were staying overnight with students at Lehigh. I was excited about this prospect. My freshman and sophomore years, the InterVarsity Spring conferences were held at Susquehanna and Bucknell respectively. That first year I hosted a Penn State student in my room, and the next year Bucknell was close enough that we could just leave at night and come back in the morning. I was looking forward to being the person who was hosted for the first time—though I wasn’t looking forward to a night sleeping on the floor.

When the car of Susquehanna girls I was in drove onto the Lehigh campus, I think all of us were enamored with how gorgeous the campus was. It had lots of trees, a high vantage point to look down at the city below, and plenty of buildings that could inspire Hogwarts comparisons. Besides being pretty, the most noticeable thing about the campus was how hilly it was. It inspired some gratitude for the relative flatness of Susquehanna’s campus, even as we were fawning over some of Lehigh’s buildings.

At the top level of the parking garage, some Lehigh students met us and lead us to the university center, where the conference was held. There were students from many different colleges there, including Lehigh, Susquehanna, Bucknell and Bloomsburg. The conference started with all of us gathered together for worship and a talk from one of InterVarsity’s staff leaders. We then split into “tracks”—or smaller groups—to study Scripture. That day we looked at the passage in the gospel of John where Jesus washes the disciples’ feet.

One of the best things about a conference like this is getting to hear from and hang out with people from other colleges. Dinner that night was really nice because we were able to join some Bucknell students and one Lehigh student. Normally at these types of conferences, I feel like I stick pretty closely to my fellow Susquehannans, but this conference really made me want to get to know students from other schools (a difficult task for a short, weekend conference, though). At the end of the school year, I’m planning on attending Chapter Camp through InterVarsity, which is a week-long camp at Lake Champion in New York. I am hoping to make more of an effort when I’m there this year to connect with students from other colleges.

After dinner, we continued with Scripture study until around 9 p.m. Then we found our hosts. My friend Annie and I were both staying with the same girl, Diana. She was a senior and an RA in a freshman dorm. She was very welcoming and enthusiastic about having us stay with her. We were especially lucky because Diana had a futon for us to sleep on rather than the floor!

We didn’t head straight to bed, however. Lehigh has a hang-out place on campus called the Hawk’s Nest where many people attending the conference went after dropping their things off in their hosts' rooms. I got to play air hockey, which I love, and watch some musical performances. I also participated disastrously in a game of pool. Later in the night, I got to hang out with more people from other schools when a group played a game called Mafia.

The next morning, we returned to studying the Bible, but this time it was a passage from the epistle Philippians. Looking at both of the texts, we were able to reflect on what leadership means and looks like in a Christian context. It was interesting to compare that to the qualities we associated with leadership on our campuses. It was also interesting to hear about the different campus cultures and how they varied in what makes a leader and what gives you status. The day ended with large group worship, praying for seniors, and praying in partners before we all headed back to our separate schools.

The weekend certainly felt like it ended too soon. The week that has followed has been a bit frazzled since I’ve returned, but thankfully, tomorrow is Spring Break! I am excited to head home and relax for a while before diving into the second half of the semester.