top of page

GOD CHOSE HARDIN-SIMMONS BY: ONOSETALE EIMUNJEZE

Four and a half exhilarating and exhausting years have flown by, and what I am most grateful for is the discovery of self.

Like many of my classmates in Nigeria, I graduated high school at age 15, and because I had planned to pursue higher education abroad, my parents required a gap year from me. Not only did they believe that an American college campus was not the most appropriate environment for my growth at that age, I was also fresh out of boarding school. At the time, I contended the notion, but as they insinuated from the many talks we had, the world was a mystery to me, and I probably was a mystery to myself.

I took the gap year, after all, “he who pays the piper calls the tune.” I applied to various schools for one major or the other, I did not know what I had a knack for, so I decided whichever one I got into would be the one I would go with. It happened that I got into all of them, so I did what I knew how to do best and ignored the dilemma facing me.

I think part of me wanted my parents to decide so I could absolve myself of all responsibility in case things went south. However, time was of the essence and my mother pressed. I went ahead and prayed about it. I did not know what I was praying for because I did not know what I wanted, but I hoped God knew. Either way, I was absolving myself, and was fully prepared to blame God if things went in a less than desirable direction. I was 16, responsibility and I were acquainted, but we were definitely not friends.

Fast forward to Hardin-Simmons University. I landed on campus thinking I was the wisest I could ever be, probably thought I was the smartest in the room at any given moment, close-minded as can be and just so certain of who I was. And then it began. Class after class, interaction after interaction, question after question, every encounter brought about so much instability that my foundations which I thought I had firmly entrenched, soon crumbled.

My beliefs, opinions and perspectives were challenged so heavily that for the first time in my life, I made the conscious decision to listen. I had believed up until that point that I was a lone soldier, but I soon learned that when I make a conscious decision to be part of God’s community, the world does not change, my lenses do.

Boy, did my lenses change. I felt a ton of emotion, excitement, fear, confusion, preparedness and at the same time, felt so much peace and happiness in my metamorphosis that had been set in motion. I do not mean to brag, but Hardin-Simmons presented me with a point of view I refuse to believe I could have gotten from anywhere else. I have felt like an avatar in a game. At every checkpoint, I pick up a brick and rebuild my foundation and at every level, I find a piece of myself.

In my opinion, I have fully rebuilt my foundation. What I appreciate about foundation 2.0 is the absence of certainty. I now know that I do not know it all. I am neither the wisest nor the smartest, what I am is present. I do not scream SOS or feel submerged in distress anymore. Challenges, external conflicts, open mindedness, community, responsibility etc. are structures I have come to embrace. I may still be a mystery to myself, but now I know and it’s okay.

I would like to say that I chose Hardin-Simmons, but that is a lie, God chose Hardin-Simmons for me.




Recent Posts

See All

By: Brett Briggeman Thanksgiving is a federal holiday in the United States and is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. Thanksgiving is also celebrated in other countries such as Canada, Gren

By: Abbey Pardue As the fall volleyball season comes to a close, both fans and teammates will definitely have one to remember. With great wins against Howard Payne, McMurry and Belhaven Universities,

By: Reece Hester International Thanksgiving Lunch was be held on Nov. 22, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving day, at 11 a.m. Both international and national students are welcome to join, bringing deli

bottom of page