Dylan Jacobs

Gods Literature
Personal Essay
Letter to a college freshman
But I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you this so that you might have peace in
me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world- John 17: 32-33
My fellow Duhawks, peace be with you. I hope you all are making a smooth transition into Loras
College. This is no doubt been an emotional and exciting experience for you all. I am writing to tell you
about the power and control that knowing Gods words can have on your life. Believe me when I say that
I know firsthand the emotions that many of you are feeling right now. This is an entirely new environment
that can make you feel very small and insecure.
But know this, no matter how abandon or unaccompanied you may feel, your heavenly Father is
always with you. Do you not know the words Jesus spoke to his apostles before he was arrested? But I
am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In
the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world-John 17: 32-33. How
powerful is it to see that even though Jesus knew all his followers would flee and hide, he knew he would
never be alone?
For one, I had not heard these words before I embarked on my college journey. It is true that I
commute to this college every day. However, my voyage did not start here at Loras. I originally started off
outside the comfort of the Tri-States and headed to the Southwest side of Chicago. Like many of you, this
was my first time ever having to move and live away from my family.
Unfortunately, I immediately fell into the lie that I was completely alone in this place. The only
thoughts that passed through my mind were when I would finally be home again, when I would be back
in my comfort zone. I had no interest in going to icebreakers and meeting new people, but I still went to
all of them. And soon into this experience, I applied for a transfer to Loras College, effective spring
semester. I did not understand that the battle I was in had already been won. Jesus has already sacrificed

to take all sin and doubt with him and let it die on the cross. Thankfully, his comfort eventually revealed
itself to me.
I remember that after some time on campus I still did not know anybody. I was trying to meet and
interact with new people, but nothing seemed to work. After trying to interact with a few strangers at
breakfast one morning, I came back to my dorm room very frustrated and disheartened. I couldnt
understand why no one wanted to associate with me. Then I did something I had never once done before.
I dropped to my knees and became overwhelmed with emotion. I told God I just needed someone to
talk to. I asked him to just send me something, someone that could help me through these lonesome days.
At let moment a sudden calmness came over me. My crying stopped and I felt as if there was some kind
of hope in my near future. Never before had I ever felt so at peace and full of determination. After let a
great thing happened. I went outside and found a group of students who immediately welcomed me into
their group.
After this experience things started to turn for the better. I finally had friends to hang out with but
more importantly, I had the strongest relationship with God that I have ever had. My courage had grown
and I began to enjoy life away from my family more. By this time I was able to ask God to lead the way
and let His will be done in my life, no matter where that meant I go. Unfortunately, before this experience
I had already applied to transfer to Loras the next semester. Many reasons went into this decision that I
will not go into detail about.
As it turned out, I had jumped the gun and decided to apply for a transfer for all the wrong reason. I
felt I could get the same education and environment back home as I would anywhere else. I thought
everything would be better if I just came back home and into my comfort zone again. To put it simply, I
thought the grass would be greener on the other side.
In the end, I unsurely came back home. From the moment I left campus that December day, I was
questioning my decision. However, I did have a hope and desire that things would get better in my life.

Dont get me wrong, Loras is a great College, but my first semester here was anything but. I was making
a repeat experience for myself all over again. Again, I became the new guy struggling to meet new people
and figure out where I fit. This had been a real struggle for the whole first year I was at Loras.
It was not until last semester that this verse was revealed to me. As soon as I read it, I could feel a
calming peace pass through me. Immediately it opened my eyes to the truth about my fear and
uncertainty. Fear and doubt are lies that try and manipulate us into living a life with Christ not in the
center. I have realized that if Jesus could go through His trials and tribulation with only His Father by his
side, nothing should scare or discourage me with the Father and Son by mine.
But I am not alone, because the Father is with me. This verse has helped me in many ways. It has
shown me that even when I feel like an outsider on campus, I still have the presence of Christ right beside
me. I dont have to be afraid to talk to new people and do new things. Even if His physical presence is not
with me, His spirit is always near to me. And that is a thought that always keeps me hopeful and confident
for what lies ahead.
The most inspiring part of this verse is at the end when He says, In the world you will have trouble,
but take courage, I have conquered the world. This picks me up on my down days. It lets me know that
even with Jesus leading my life, the days are not all going to be great. Instead, it lets us know that through
the good and bad, the Father in Heaven is always right along besides us, leading us out of the darkness
and into the light. Even the apostles had bad days after Jesus died. They were terrified and locked
themselves away from the world. They sat in fear until the Advocate, Holy Spirit, that Jesus had promised
them, came upon them.
And notice, I continue to struggle to keep these words of Christ at the center of my every thinking.
Many times I still tend to second guess the choices that I make. Too often I forget that I have nothing to
be afraid because of the sacrifice Christ made for me. Ill admit I still make these mistake all too often.

But I continue to pray and ask Jesus to bless me on my journey through life with courage and the
confidence it takes to conquer all the doubts and fears the world holds.
See that when God is with you, everything will be alright. He will show you the way when you
cannot see. He will pick you up when fall. He will calm your fear and mystery through His grace.
Courage you will seek and find by His love for you. Even when everything piles up around you and you
feel as if you are surrounded by mountains of temptations and sin, remember what He has already done.
He has conquered the sin of the world through His death and resurrection into new life.

I wrote this letter in a way to let the audience feel as if I was there giving them a speech. I want them
to be able to imagine themselves walking in my shoes during my sporadic trek of starting college. This
letter is written to every student who is starting off their college journey with a lot of fear and doubt.
When students first go off to college, many of them feel hopeless and scared to be out of their comfort
zones. Many have not heard these words that Jesus spoke to His apostles when he was about to be
abandon by every single one of them. By reading this letter they will come to know the courage and peace
of mind we receive when we realize the importance of Jesus Resurrection.
Most of the ideas in this letter resemble the ideas that Paul presents in all of his letters. Pauls
main focal point was always the Cross and Resurrection. He wanted people to understand why Jesus
sacrificed himself for all of us and why His rising from the dead completely changed the world. Paul also
wanted us to fully embrace a relationship with the risen Christ.
I feel that my style also resembles Pauls in a couple of ways. First, we both relate our teachings
to our own lives. Paul many times in Romans mentions how he is a sinner, the worst of them for that
matter. He wants his audience to know that he is not claiming to be perfect and is only preaching what
Christ had revealed to him. As for myself, I also tell my audience of my own struggles and mistakes.

We both try to push the importance and meaning of the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus. For Paul, it
meant that Jesus has redeemed us from the sin and the curse sin brought unto the world. As for myself, I
see the Resurrection as Jesus conquering all our fears and doubts to give us peace and comfort in the
world. The bottom line, through his death and resurrection, Jesus has made known to us that we have
nothing to fear as long as we put our trust in Him and live our lives with the courage that he has
conquered the world.