Friday Morning at 6 a.m., 11 Trevecca students and faculty loaded up and headed for the 13-hour trek to Orange, Texas, to serve those affected by Hurricane Harvey. Little did we all know, this would be a fall break filled with hours of hard work and sweet memories.

During the summer months, most college students prefer to put the books down, get outside, and take a break from the library. This summer, junior Taylor Wise is spending her summer interning in the archives department at the Nashville Public Library.

The start of the Fall 2016 semester is still more than a month away, but many of you soon-to-be college freshmen are already shopping for your dorm essentials. My first year in a residence hall was a wonderful experience, but there were definitely some things I wished I had packed once I was actually living on campus.

Trevecca junior Zach Farnum kicked off a web-series on Trevecca’s campus showcasing good ole Nashville. 

Creator Farnum compared it to a night show. 

“I saw the need with Nashville expanding. When you go to New York or L.A. you can go see Jimmy Fallon or Jimmy Kimmel,” Farnum said. “There’s nothing in Nashville, and it’s Music City.”  

Today marks a special day as we dedicate this bell tower and remember Dr. Millard Reed. We, the student body of Trevecca, are grateful for this beautiful addition to our campus. While I never had the privilege to meet Dr. Reed, my father recalls his deep faith in God, his sensitive heart to the needs of those around him, and the ability to sing joyfully even as the years progressed. Song was such an important part of Dr. Reed's life. Music would bring him to tears and to a worshipful laughter as he recalled how great God's love was for this world. Many of you to this day can still hear him sing the hymn, Love Of God. So in the same spirit, this tower sings. It offers with each chime a reminder that life is precious and that each moment should be lived for the glory of God.

Experience a Christian University in the heart of Nashville where education doesn't just take place in the classroom. After all, no syllabus can cover your spiritual journey, or connect you with the lifelong friends you make in college, or replicate the rewarding experience of living in a thriving city. At Trevecca Nazarene University, it's not just about graduating great students - it's about graduating great people.

Over the past 3 months, I have had the opportunity to sit down across a desk or table with a lot of students to talk about upcoming classes, possible employment and the direction that they see their life taking. This isn’t unusual, it’s my job. What has been unusual is the number of students, even incoming freshmen who bemoan the fact that they don’t know what to do “for the rest of their lives”. For them, this big question mark complicates everything: what classes should I take? Will they help me get a job? Should I even be at college?

When I find myself in one of these conversations, I always get a sly smile on my face and gently lean in to let students know I’m getting ready to share some important pearls of wisdom. I say softly, “I’m 34 years old, and I don’t know what I’m going to do for the rest of my life.” Most students respond to this statement with a look of concern. “What do you mean you don’t know?” This conversation gives me the opportunity to share something that I have come to believe deeply during my time at Trevecca: the time that we spend in college is about more than just getting a job. It is about more than getting a set of skills that we will use to earn money for the rest of our lives. This may sound radical, but the truth is that the time that we spend in college should be about learning about the world that we’re a part of, learning who we are, learning about how to ask good questions, learning about how to be a good conversation partner and learning to listen closely for the still small voice of God that will guide us for the rest of our lives. Yes, we will pick up some skills that will hopefully help us to get a job. Yes, we will learn a lot of knowledge in our major. But if that is all that we have walked away with from our college education, we have missed out on an incredible opportunity.

Last night was our Rock Around the Block event as part of the Welcome Week festivities and we also celebrated Dr. Boone's 60th birthday! I love Dr. Boone and Denise's outfits - they definitely showed up in true 50s style!