College Admission Essay

 Recently, I wrote my first admissions essay for my application to Liberty University (LU). The prompt for the the essay was "How will your personal faith and beliefs contribute to Liberty’s mission to develop Christ-centered leaders?" and I had to answer that in 200-400 words (the word limit for any essay I write is always the hardest part for me). As I began searching my brain for ways I could contribute to the mission of what seems like the perfect college on the planet, I found that my contributions to this college needs to this fallen world NOW! As a Christian, I have a mission on this earth. I am to be a missionary for Jesus Christ even if I am not called to a life of full time ministry. God commands me to use my gifts to serve others. And God has given me family and friends that love the Lord who can challenge me with their own convictions and experiences.      

Before leaving the earth and returning to God the Father, Jesus commanded His disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19 ESV). Jesus chose these specific instructions before leaving His followers for an important reason; He wanted his disciples to know that this is what they were on the earth to evangelize. Matthew included The Great Commission in his Gospel because this is a command to all believers. This is a command to me. My goal in life is to live a life in full submission to Jesus Christ and, through the Holy Spirit, lead others to a life free from sin and separation from God. Because I have received Salvation, I want to pour the joy I have into others who may or may not have received Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Just because I thinking I am too young to be respected doesn't give me a free pass not to obey Jesus' command. Sharing the Gospel with others show the love that Jesus showed me when He gave his life for me on the cross.

Also, another way to show Christ's love is through service. One of my favorite events I attended during my visit at LU was Campus Serve. I was inspired by how many students voluntarily give their Saturday to serve others in the community around the college. I knew at that moment that if/when I attend LU, I would participate in Campus Serve, but why does it take an organized time and day of the week for me to serve? I needed to step back and change the way I look at service. 1 Peter 4:10 says, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace.” There is no shortage or limit of how much I can serve. I just have to keep my eyes open to the needs of others. 

Lastly, I need to seek out the fellowship of believers who can challenge me to make me a better person. I had a teacher in middle school who made Proverbs 27:17 a common phrase in my sixth grade class. Every time we would review a worksheet, there would always come a time when someone answered a "fill-in-the-blank" incorrectly. Rather than simply stating the right answer, she would call on another student to say the correct answer saying “as iron sharpens iron, on man will sharpen another” (Proverbs 27:17 ESV). I have never forgotten this verse. She metaphorically drilled this verse into my head. Now I see the importance of the verse. Christians are made to fellowship and we grow spiritually from conversations with other believers. But contrary to my original thought, I don't need a Theology class or a dorm prayer group to be sharpened. I can be sharpened even now in high school. The sharpening doesn't begin when I become an LU student. I need to be challenged now. 

Since writing that essay I have been focusing on these three concepts. So I hope The Great Commission convicts you like it did me, I hope you are inspired to serve others with your talents as Campus Serve inspired me, and thirdly, I hope you seek out fellowship with others who will stir you up to good works as stated in Proverbs 27:17.