Where to start?
I have so many positive emotions about King’s that I foolishly thought this letter would be an effortless endeavor. My attempt, however, has proven more difficult than any paper I’ve completed during my time at King’s, and that includes the eight thousand words I wrote on the role of religion in kingship for Dr. Brand my first semester. As cliche as it sounds, my time here has been such an answer to prayer in so many ways that it’s overwhelming to think about putting it to paper.
In November of 2020, I was crying in my car because my circle of friends was swiftly disappearing as people moved away or got married and entered totally different stages of life. I was becoming increasingly lonely and isolated (an issue exacerbated by the pandemic) and I asked God to give me a life and community that I could truly love and invest in, and be known and loved by in return. Roughly nine months later, I was moving 1,600 miles across the country from Houston to Brooklyn–a decision I haven’t regretted for a moment.
King’s has given me a rigorous yet rewarding education, a chaotically wonderful life in New York City, and a community of friends beyond anything I could have possibly hoped for. Even in the moments when an assignment is giving me hell, exhaustion takes over, or the financial stress is burdensome, I know without a shadow of a doubt that there is nowhere else I’d rather be. Paul writes in Ephesians that God is able to do far more than we could ever ask or imagine, and my two years here have been the most obvious proof of that in my life thus far.
King’s is such a specific college, and that, to me, is what makes it so incredible. Where else would you be asked to run 10-plus miles the day after you move in, yelling chants about British prime ministers and Dutch watchmakers at the top of your lungs? Where else would you be able to have class at the MET, and go see a play in Brooklyn for extra credit? Where else would you write papers on Shakespeare, subjective value theory, and biblical hermeneutics all in one semester? King’s might not be for everyone, but for me, it was exactly what I needed. One can’t make their university their entire personality for the rest of their life, but I’d at least like the
opportunity to try.
opportunity to try.
One final note and then I am done. The professors at this school are some of the most knowledgeable, talented, caring men and women of integrity I have had the honor to meet, and King’s deserves to live on if only to allow future students the joy of learning from them.
I love my tiny, weird, and wonderful school so much, and I hope and pray that it can continue to be just that for others for years to come.
Hannah Beach
Student | House of Margaret Thatcher | Class of '23
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