I lived in Grant Hall my freshman year of college. I had a roommate that invited me to this thing on Thursday nights called Campus Focus. I repeatedly said, “I don't think that stuff is for me.” While in my head I was thinking, “it is the lamest thing ever.” Well a year later I found myself in a not so favorable place with school, life, and relationships. I thought to myself, “I'll give this Campus Focus thing a try.” When I learned what believing in Jesus really meant, my life radically changed. What I found to be true is that life with Jesus is the farthest thing from being lame. Especially when we live this life in a community of believers. My heart is to share and spread this exciting life I live with Jesus to everyone I know!

I heard about Campus Focus my freshman year of college but was reluctant to go. It was something my sister encouraged me to attend and get involved with but at the time it wasn’t for me. Fast forward a couple years, I found my way to CF. Once I started to attend consistently, I knew it was something that I could no longer avoid. I went on my first CF trip and realized the importance of being surrounded by a community of believers. God used this community to ignite my faith. My heart is to connect students to God and share the immeasurable joy in knowing Him.

When I transferred to The University of Akron as a Sophomore, I was looking for a fresh start. I had been chasing relationships and wanted to get my life together after getting arrested. I grew up believing in God but didn’t have a relationship or any knowledge of Him. I had a desire to learn about God, but I was lost. In the Spring of 2016, a friend told me she joined a Campus Focus small group. I didn’t know what CF was, or what it was about. Hesitant, I went to small group and CF, but was still unsure. I continued to go weekly, and a few months later I ended up accepting Christ. God used the people I met in CF to point me to Him and show me how to have a real relationship with Him. My desire as an A2 Intern is to serve the community that showed me who God is, and to point students who were like me to Jesus and the hope He provides!

I came to the University of Akron my freshman year, having no idea why I was coming to school here, not knowing anyone in the city, and overall feeling very lost. One day I decided I wanted to check out a church group and found CF. The first time I went I was blown away with how kind people were. I heard about how small groups became your family and decided to join one of those. Through out the year, I was living the double life, being stubborn, and thinking that doing all the things my small group told me not to do would bring me happiness, but that failed every time. God never gave up pursuing me. Choosing to be all in at the end of my freshman year brought me so much joy and purpose, and now it’s my deepest desire to see other people experience the joy that comes from knowing Jesus.

I heard about Campus Focus when I was going to The Chapel in Wadsworth. It didn’t work with my schedule at the time but when I enrolled in grad school I figured I would give it a shot. I fell in love with the culture of CF and have gone faithfully for two years. I got baptized on my first breakaway trip and then the next year I baptized two of my friends. It was at that point that I realized that I wanted to be an A2 intern. I want to give back to a community that has given me so much. I was a Christian and went to a private Christian school, but like so many others I abandoned my faith during college. I want to do everything I can do to make sure college students don’t make the same mistakes I did. I look forward to this year and what God is going to do in not only my life, but in the lives of those that I invest in.

Campus Focus was introduced to me just before becoming a student at the University of Akron. I was thrilled to be surrounded by Christ followers who were my age and on campus with me, but I had no clue just how much God would use this ministry in my walk. Despite the busyness of the college season, CF has been a constant community that connects me to the Lord, challenges me to grow, and reminds me of the Truth. I am extremely grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to develop deep and meaningful relationships with others and most importantly draw closer to Jesus. I am excited to see how CF continues to reach and love college students during such a transformative time in their lives.

When I came to the University of Akron, I was not a Christian and was following the desires of earthly things that were leading me down a path of destruction and defeat. I had a friend invite me to CF multiple times and after I made every excuse not to go, I finally came and tried it out. The first time I went, it felt like a home away form home. I felt welcomed, accepted, and encouraged; something I hadn't felt in a while. I started attending regularly that following semester, grew so much in my faith, and got baptized on one of the CF trips. My life was changed forever as I was no longer dead, but alive in Christ! Campus Focus and its community has pointed me to Jesus. I would not be where I am today with love and support CF has shown me, but more importantly God's unending grace and pursuit.