TKC Letters Project - Where People Are

Going to the King’s College was never a part of my plan…

Even the way I learned about King’s was random, but clearly it’s a part of God’s plan for my life, and I will forever be grateful for that.

Back when I was 16 and going through my “Hamilton” phase, I happened to Google “King’s College.” Of course, Alexander Hamilton actually went to Columbia, but alongside those search results, the website for The King’s College popped up. I clicked on The website out of curiosity, and I remember thinking that King’s looked like a great Christian college, and I specifically loved their mission to educate future leaders to transform society, as that is something that’s important to me. However, at the time I was set on studying a degree King’s did not have, so I moved on.

A year or two later, my mom and I were visiting NYC when she saw the college and read their name out loud. I told her I’d heard of them before, along with all of the other information I explained earlier. A few months later, as I was applying for colleges, my mom told me I should apply to King’s. I said “I’m not going there, so why would I waste my time applying,” but she talked me into filling out the application. Slowly, but surely, everything began to fall in line and it became clear that King’s was actually the place for me. King’s even placed me in my “dream” house. (Shout out to all my Queens!)

Attending The King’s College and living in New York City is not easy, but it’s incredibly worth it. Kings is so different from the environment I grew up in (a country public school 4x their size) and I felt crazy telling my friends back home that I was going here. Little did I know that it would be one of the best decisions I’ve every made.

There are several unique things about King’s that I haven’t experienced elsewhere, that help to make it the place I love so much:

1. The House System: Even though NYC is a huge and lonely city, the house system immediately gives you a welcoming environment and community to lean on for support. The House of Queen Elizabeth I isn’t just a house, it’s a home (lol sorry for the cheesy joke). Maybe it’s the capes, crowns, all the purple, or tea sipping; but most of all, it’s the people within it that make me feel so at home and who help me to grow as a person. Getting to serve my house in a leadership position was never part of any plan freshman year, but it’s been such a blessing to serve first as Chamberlain, and now as president.

2. Growing in my Faith: It scares me to know that if I had gone to another college instead of King’s, I might be in the same boat as many others who have lost their faith. Thankfully, King’s surrounds me with a community of believers who help me to grow in my faith and hold me accountable. I love that the theology classes help me to challenge my ways of thinking and to ponder over scripture in different ways. This has truly helped me to learn more about how amazing God is, and it’s also led to me minoring in Theology.

3. The Professors: When I think about what makes King’s stand out to me the most, it’s the incredible professors. I absolutely love getting to know they truly care about each student. When thinking about the possibility of King’s no longer existing, imagining the professors going their separate ways is what gets me the most. For once in my life, it feels like I’m actually learning and I enjoy attending classes.

The fact that King’s is the only Christian liberal arts college in NYC is important to me. I have such deep love for this city and I love the impact that King’s has on it, and it would be amazing to watch that grow even more. Cities are where people are and God loves people, so I believe it’s important for Christians to go out into the city and be the light. King’s gives us a support system to help us do just that. There are thousands of other Christian colleges outside of the city, but King’s has chosen the road less traveled, a more difficult, yet rewarding path of locating themselves in the heart of the Financial District of NYC. King’s encourages us to be strong in our faith and great leaders, so that we can go over and influence the city through God’s love, and that’s not something most colleges offer. No matter what happens to The King’s College, I will forever be grateful to the Lord for my time here, and I hope that many other students will get this same opportunity!