Why am I here?
The question I have been repeatingly asking myself since I came to Virginia Tech on August 11th. August 11th is the day I began living a life I never imagined I would before. As I stepped out of the car onto campus, all of the upperclassman cadets began helping me unpack as I truly embraced what I was about to be doing. That was my first day in the Corps of Cadets, a military program at Virginia Tech that trains future officers.
I have always been fascinated by space and knew that I wanted to a career that works with it for some time now. After I got accepted into Virginia Tech, I had it all planned out. I would go to school, live a normal college life, work hard to get internships at NASA, and go from there. Then I found out about the Corps of Cadets. Through research I found out about how much the Air Force does with space and all I saw was a golden opportunity. All long term benefits with the sacrifice of missing a few fun nights (I later learned that this was much easier said than done). I prayed about it and it just seemed like everyday I found out something new that got me really excited for it. I ended up signing up for the Corps of Cadets and on August 11th, I began a new life.
The Corps of Cadets has been a grind. Freshman year, your life is basically summed down to a rule book, everything you do has some limitation to it. They do this to weed out the people who can’t handle it, and at times, I honestly thought I was going to quit. The hardest part wasn’t the physical exercise because I wrestled in High School. The hardest part wasn’t people yelling at you because I’ve never been one to let people get to me. The hardest part wasn’t even waking up ridiculously early every morning for uniform inspections. The hardest part was and still is watching all of my friends go have fun everyday while I have to be back in the dorms by 7pm for mandatory study hours. Lately, I have been constantly thinking about staying or leaving the Corps and I regularly pray about it. In which, I usually leave Gods presence with more questions then answers.
When Jacob asked me to write this, I had no idea what I was going to write about because I haven’t had any crazy Jesus moments. But of course I was going to do this for him because he’s one of my best friends and I’d do anything for him so I sat down, put on some Christian music, and just let it flow.
That when something amazing happened. While writing this blog, the first song that came on was “Brother”. It’s about how sometimes we get restless and worn out searching for the answers, and that we all need a “brother” to be there for us to help us out when we’re down. A “brother” to motivate us when we are in are down in the pit, someone to inspire us to finish well.
That “brother” for me is Jacob Lewe.
Right now he is on a nine month long mission trip travelling to four different countries across the globe. He is doing and enduring things that I may never do in my life. He has the opportunity to spread God’s word while helping out communities in need. If he can overcome missing out on a fun college life for an opportunity to serve others, so can I.
In the same way that Jacob has the opportunity to serve over seas, I have the opportunity to serve right where I am at Virginia Tech. I could be out on the weekend with my friends, but instead I get to humbly serve those who need it most through the Corps of Cadets. I get to show the love of christ to my community and my “company.”
So I’m glad God has opened up this door for me. He has taught me so much about overcoming difficulty and running to him in times of need. And how His plan for our lives is always greater then what we think our lives should look like. And in his plan many obstacles will come, but He will help us overcome it.
*Shat Lardmon out
