The Challenges of Doing Right in College

The Challenges of Doing Right in College

By John Mabry III

Hello, my name is John Mabry III and I am a sophomore in college. There are a lot of trials in college that I have encountered. These challenges are not extreme, but the effects that come with them can wear and tear on you mentally. Through high school I had a big group of friends and when we graduated and started college, some friends stayed around for school and some traveled to other areas for school. It felt good to have a group of friends near me to always catch up with, but challenges settled in when they would ask me to come hangout and drink and smoke with them. I am neither a smoker nor a drinker, and thus, when I would tell them, “no that’s okay, I don’t drink and smoke” they would treat me as if I was no fun to be around anymore, during college breaks. To be honest, it felt bad at first and I knew it would put distance between friendships.  But ultimately, I can only worry about me and remember what is right. Eventually we would hangout and I saw changes in the respect they would give towards me. Plus, many times they themselves would stop drinking and smoking to better their life.

Another obstacle was to not be a follower amongst others. A proportion of my friends had grown up together and spent countless years with each other. Overtime, everyone had picked up a trait or habit another one had. If someone wanted something, it would lead to the others to chime in and want it too. Like a domino effect, when one would fall it would lead the others to fall as well. But I would have to stand my ground and decide not to curse at people, skip a class, disobey my parent’s rules, have kids before marriage, and other things along those lines. I knew it was not worth following their lead and dealing with the aftermath of getting in trouble and feeling disappointment from not only my parents but God as well. It is not a good state to know you could have changed the outcome of a tempting situation, but went ahead and sinned anyways. As I grow and remember lessons from the church, my reliance on God is crucial as I live in this world and it stays in me constantly. I am very thankful that God has allowed me to always be in contact with the friends that believe in God and go to church on a regular basis because we help one another when troubles arise.

The last obstacle that even stays with me now is getting tattoos. This to me is the hardest challenge in college but can easily be subdued as long as it is not a constant occurrence. As Christians we are to remember what God says and in Leviticus 19:28, God said to basically not make any cuts or marks on your body. This caused me and some of my Christian friends to struggle because we were all in one giant group of friends and when someone would get a tattoo, it seemed to grab another friend, one by one, to get a tattoo. Now about 30% of the group have gotten some form of ink in about 2-3 years and some of my Christian friends have even tattooed a favorite Bible verse, praying hands, or a cross on their body. This was hard to swallow because you knew the type of person they were and that they were influenced or pressured into getting marked. I am proud to have a good and Godly support system around me to talk to about instances and challenges in college so that I don’t mess up and go down the wrong path to face a challenge with an added, heavy burden. I am also appreciative of the church I go to that has numerous of members that have gone through the same challenges I have – from them I learn what they did that helped them make it through.