Institute Housing: A Student Reflection
Institute freshman Gabby Lasater on Move-In Day, 2022.
Institute Sophomore Genesis Garner gives an inside look at Student Housing
“I remember the first day that our house felt like home.”
Living in Institute student housing is a contrasting experience to what most college students have after moving away from home. Our dorms are two-story houses that are filled with rooms that are filled with space for living and learning. In Numbers 2 God organizes the Israelites in such a way that they’re encouraged to engage with one another and Him. He resides in the center of their camp, while they are facing each other. Similarly, our living space puts us in a position where we are seen and God is made available to us. We are never alone, but walk out of our rooms every day to the faces of our friends. Even our school building is a short walk away from our homes. We have quick access to both scholarly resources and human resources for our education.
The Institute’s underclassmen student housing. The houses face other houses in the campus neighborhood, and are a two minute walk from the main educational space and library, Student Life Center and coffee shop.
Sharing a house with your classmates is entirely vulnerable. You are met with challenges that push you to know people on a deep level and let yourself be known in the same way. The amount of accountability that exists in our student body, concerning our academic work, personal spiritual,, and relational goals is largely due to our close proximity to each other. Each of us in our individual rooms has a responsibility to learn about our roommates, serve them, and use one another to spur each other on to do the good we’re learning to do in school. It is such a wonderful thing to be college students who’re learning what the Holy God expects of His Holy children. As his kids, we have the capacity and responsibility to image Him to others. However, we learn in Genesis 1:27 that it is impossible for us to image the Lord as individuals. We need one another. It is only as a collective that we can accomplish the will of God and represent Him to others.
Morning prayer is an Institute tradition. Each house gathers daily for prayer alongside their roommates. Students take turns facilitating this time of prayer and devotion to the Lord.
A Place for Accountability
Accountability existing as a value within our homes has uniquely bonded us to one another. We see our friends when they’re on their discipleship game, but also when the challenges of being a student of God’s word become quite real. When we’re tired, stretched, our minds are transforming, and we’re in real need of the presence of God, we become extensions of God’s love for each other. Those moments are pivotal for the cultivation of what friendships we have in Institute student housing. The people you live with are no longer strangers to tolerate, but friends you’re committed to and whom you rely on in times of need. To quote Jesus in John 13:35, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” We strive to demonstrate that love and the fruit of our efforts are evident in the relationships we have. Student housing is the means that provides the opportunity for us to love and be loved.
Student housing becomes a place to demonstrate what students are learning in the classroom, namely, loving one another well. It’s common to scenes like this, with roommates blessing one another with snacks, immune-boosting drinks, encouragement cards, and more.
I remember the day that our house felt like home to me. It was my first winter break at the institute. I had considered moving back home for the break because of its longevity but chose to stay in student housing. I did not regret it. I woke up to the sound of laughter coming from downstairs. The air in our room was crisp and I was warm under my fortress of blankets. Beautiful, thick, fast-falling snow covered our campus. I made my way to see what the bustle was downstairs only to be greeted by three of my friends cooking breakfast at the stove and two others were nestled on the couch watching Gilmore Girls. Outside I saw another friend on the porch, in her lawn chair, reading a book under the falling snow. My roommate called for me from upstairs and asked me to bring up some coffee along with a stool so we could make a fort. It felt like home. We had just finished our semester together and did so with excellence. It was time for rest and so resting was what we did. We found it in our fellowship with our Lord and each other.
Me and my roommates this year, enjoying some boba tea at the local Steamboys.
I am grateful that our school does not just teach the word of God, but ensures it is implemented in every facet of its students' lives. It is important to our school that we students develop as God’s workmanship and His representatives. They will know we are HIS disciples by the way we love each other. Learning how to have healthy friendships is not easy nor does it happen overnight, but with the help of our student life directors, mentors, teachers, and the safety of our home, relational growth has been inevitable. I have made friendships I will have for a lifetime and I thank God for them every morning that I wake to their faces.
