With so much change going on in your life, your mental health can easily be put on the back burner. Speaking from personal experience, this is something that can be very hard to recover from. Only by God’s grace and love did He help me out of the hole that I dug for myself; I could not have done it with my own strength. It was hard and required me to make the daily decision to choose His plan, but He guided my every step with love and peace. Coming to campus I was worried that I wouldn’t make any friends and that really scared me. But God truly blessed me with the most amazing friends. It too ..read more

Hey! My name is James Bowen, and I am going to lead a freshman guys Journey Group this semester. Freshman year is hard. Trying to stay healthy during all the fun and stress can be even harder. Here are three keys I have found to be physically healthy during your first year at UA. Exercise If you live on campus you are going to walk a lot. This is not a bad thing, The University of Alabama is really beautiful. This was my main form of exercise during my freshman year. I would burn 400-500 calories without even realizing it just by walking back and forth between my classes, the dining halls, an ..read more

I came to Alabama with a true desire to serve the Lord with my time in college, jumping right into campus ministry at the BCM and getting involved with the church I was attending. Freshman and sophomore year I did everything- leadership team, discipleship group, Journey Group, volunteering, working a part-time job, etc. My goal was to serve and love Christ more, and the things I participated in helped me do that. And yet an ‘all about me’ attitude managed to root itself into my life right where I didn’t expect it- in ministry. With this build-my-resume, obligation-fueled attitude I ended up m ..read more

My name is Anna, and I am a rising sophomore at UA! Unfortunately, my freshman year at UA wasn’t the easiest. During the fall semester, I called my mom at least once a week crying and telling her I didn’t want to be here. On Monday nights I went to Freshman Journey Groups at the BCM, but that was the only thing that I participated in at the time. (My schedule prevented me from participating in other things.) I was constantly praying about staying at UA, being on BCM leadership, and finding community. Towards the end of the fall semester, as the BCM began to plan for the leadership team for th ..read more

God has used the BCM to work in every area of my life. Coming into college I had heard about the BCM and knew I wanted to get involved. I hoped to grow spiritually, but I never expected to grow in so many other areas as well. God has been faithful to me in providing a strong group of believers around me that I call my best friends. He has given me opportunities to live out my faith on campus, share the Gospel on campus and with my friend at home, and serve others through leadership at the BCM. God has placed Christians in the same major as me and has given me the mental support that I did not ..read more

Hi, my name is Veronica and I will be one of the freshman journey group leaders this year at the BCM! Being a part of the BCM here at UA has made such an incredible impact on my life. Transitioning from high school to college was tough for me because I was being pulled out of the town I had lived in for twelve years and thrown into a completely new environment. I joined the BCM out of a desire to build a Christian community in my life away from my church back home. I knew that my walk with the Lord wouldn't grow if I didn't pursue Him, and God has really given me a place to thrive within journ ..read more

As a senior going into my 5th year at The University of Alabama there are a few things that I wish I knew coming into school. One major thing is that college is not a race. If you try to go at a pace you are not built for, you might just find yourself getting burned out quickly. It is not like high school where everyone is on the same track with the occasional AP or honors class. Everyone in college is working at a different pace on different assignments for different majors. Some days will be super easy with very little going on, and some days will feel like you haven’t stopped at all for a w ..read more

Hi! My name is Makayla, and I am currently an upcoming junior here at UA. I grew up in North Alabama, so going to school in Tuscaloosa was just the right distance for someone like me who was afraid to be away from home but also knew that it would be good to gain some independence. Before coming to college, something that I had a desire to prioritize was finding Christian community. This was not something that I really had in high school, so I wanted to be intentional about it in college. By God’s grace, I began to receive emails about the BCM and the various ways they provide for students to ..read more

I think we’ve all heard enough of the “this year was full of unexpected circumstances” and the “you’ve missed out on so much”. Sure, we’ve never lived through anything like Covid-19. And yes, there are a lot of experiences that I missed and that I’m still a little sad about. But seriously, when did we ever think we had it all figured out? When did we ever know exactly what to expect at every moment? And when did everything always go our way? It’s really easy to fall into self-pity when thinking about my freshman year and everything we missed, but it’s so important to consider the experiences ..read more

As a Junior, I have found that my involvement in the BCM has been very beneficial to my spiritual growth in numerous ways. I serve on the Wednesday Lunch team and with this position, I have been able to connect with and serve a lot of people. It has been such a blessing to see new faces each week and share God’s love with them. Through helping with Wednesday Lunch, I have learned how to serve others in all circumstances, and that it is ok to not receive praise and recognition for all that I accomplish on the earth. This has not been an easy lesson to learn because as humans we can desire to b ..read more