As a freshman walking into this brand-new world of college, I knew two things: these were supposed to be the best four years of my life, and I would graduate college a completely different person than when I started.
The entire week before I graduated high school, I had heard the statistic that a person’s life changes the most between your first four years of life and your four years of college by every teacher, preacher, principal and Facebook post I had come in contact with.
As a testament to this statistic, in the whole one year that I’ve been a college student, two moments have dramatically changed my life: Dr. Dub following me on Instagram and failing my first Old Testament quiz.
As I sat on the Barefoots patio, discussing what the past four years have looked like for Jacob Lemon, a senior biology major and chemistry minor, it is evident that Union has been nothing short of transforming in his life, and the pride and gratefulness he has for his school is completely evident.
Knowing a multitude of seniors who have been struck with Union cynicism and senioritis, it was refreshing to see how passionate and excited he was to talk about how God has shaped him, through Union, into the senior sitting across from me at the table.
In high school, Lemon said he despised biology and only took one biology class his whole high school career, but before entering college, the idea of going to medical school came to his mind, so he thought he might give biology another shot.
After meeting Dr. Huggins, a professor in the biology department, Lemon found reassurance to continue his education in biology and at Union.
“I came for a visit my senior year of high school and met Dr. Huggins, and he is just full of the Spirit and love for biology and God,” Lemon said. “The ability to have teachers pray and talk about God in their lectures, I think, helps you grow as a person and what you’re studying.”
His desire for his life is to be the hands and feet of Christ through helping others in orthopedic surgery or pathology, and the passion he has for biology is evident.
“[With biology] you’re basically learning what He created, and it’s all to grow closer with Him,” he said.
Lemon attributes the growth he has seen in his life at Union to the many people who have poured in to him and the experiences he has been given, like working as a lab assistant since his sophomore year, which Lemon said has opened his eyes to see how to better help both professors and students, but after asking about his favorite Union memory, he admitted his best experience here was traveling to Mexico on a GO Trip.
On spring break of 2018, Lemon and the rest of his team partnered with the United in Christ Ministries to do various projects like serving soup kitchens and orphanages or simply sharing the Gospel with men and women in the local plaza.
“Here in America, at least, some people are not very receptive to someone just walking up to you and saying ‘hey, can I pray for you’,” Lemon said. “But in Mexico, it’s a great awakening to know that people do care, and they want to listen to you and have you pray for them.”
Before wrapping up our interview, I asked one last question: How have you seen your life change in these past four years?
“Personally, I’ve grown closer to appreciating all aspects of life, not just biology related, but with other disciplines as well,” he said. “I’ve grown closer to seeing how in everything we do, Christ is there, and it gives me a better appreciation for everything. God provides.”
Perhaps our four years at college could mean more than just learning the educational basics to obtain a degree. Maybe, the statistic is correct, and our lives really are forever changed because of these four years.
If we all thought about Union and the impact this place makes on our lives as passionately as Jacob obviously does, we could really all leave at the end of these four years a different person.
Photos by Campbell Padgett
