Alumni

Who started the fire?

I met my husband at freshmen orientation (of course I had NO idea at that time that’s who he would be and yes, I lived on First Glide) and made some of the best friends a person could ever have. After graduation I worked in several odd jobs and was surprised when people would talk about how much they disliked their college years. I have extremely fond memories of college. Listening as “God” spoke to a certain someone from an upstairs dorm window. The weekly dorm evacuations as someone popped popcorn in the microwave directly beneath the smoke detector. F.A.W.A (Where are you beautiful Bob?) Who can forget the 100-year celebration fireworks? I think I still have singe marks! The list goes on and on.

It wasn’t until my 15-year reunion at Asbury that I realized why my college experience had been so different. Not only had I obtained the degree I set out to obtain, the Lord gave me friends, a family, and memories that you can only truly have from a Christ-centered life. Getting together with my Asbury friends, whether it’s been a few days or several years, it’s as if no time has passed. And I remember getting an audio cassette tape as part of my freshmen welcome package in which Dr. Dennis Kinlaw said, “Not only will students make friends that last a lifetime, those friendships will spread across the world.” How true those words are!

And it’s only with those friends that you can say things like, “we didn’t start the fire....” and know that someone else, in another part of the world is reading this and laughing right along with you. (Sadly, my husband DID start the fire!)

by Janice Van Horne ’92 Lane