Signing up for too many clubs at the student activities fair, attending chapel services in Dimnent, going to Phelps dining hall with new friends from your dorm—in an average year, this is just part of being a freshman at Hope College. This was no average year. Things looked very different on campus due to the restrictions and safety precautions Hope put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic. Students were masked and distanced in class and many classes took place virtually. Not what you expect to experience during your freshman year of college. How can you possibly meet, as many freshmen hope to, ‘your best friends for life’ when you can’t see the bottom half of their faces?
When discussing the difficulties of the year one freshman said, “I’m sure that it can be challenging to make friends during a normal freshman year, but I think that Covid-19 made it even more difficult. We couldn’t go into each other’s dorms, sit near one another in class, or eat in large groups in the dining halls. Although I’m very thankful that these precautions helped us to stay healthy and to be in-person all year, I found that they also made it harder to meet people and find community, especially as a freshman.”
Many students found this year isolating and filled with loneliness. At SBI we hoped to encourage community and meaningful friendships on campus through the small groups participating in Exodus 90. Often students who are drawn to participate in the 90 days of prayer and penance do it to be challenged in their faith and overcome sinful habits. This year, the desire for community and true friendship was an even greater draw. At the end of Exodus 90 one freshman reflected, “…throughout the Exodus program, I was able to grow in friendship with an existing friend, make a new friend, as well as some incredible mentors; however, the disciplines of the program were what helped me in forming community the most. By removing excessive distractions, I was not only spending more time building my relationship with God, but also with other people and friends around me. Rather than using technology to decompress and relax, or procrastinate, I was spending that time with friends and working on my schoolwork.”
“I'm so glad I participated in Exodus 90 this year,” another freshman said. “When the first semester ended, I was a little disappointed because I still didn't feel like I had found my community on campus. Exodus helped change that. I made some great friends in my group, and I'm even planning on rooming with my accountability partner next Spring!” Exodus 90 is not simply a program to help us engage in the spiritual disciplines, this year it became a place to form friendships that will last.