The Blue
Tribune
The Blue Tribune is your place to learn about all things Covenant and keep up with stories from campus and beyond. By guiding you through the different aspects of Covenant, we'll help you decide if you want to pursue your very own Covenant experience.
Why a Residential Campus is Worth It
When I began the college search, I spread my net wide. I was looking at enormous state universities, small private colleges with fewer students than my high school, and (just for the fun of it) Ivy League schools. Needless to say, I had no clue what I wanted from a college, so I wanted to have options during the search process.
In the end, my decision was between Covenant College and the University of Georgia, two schools with drastically different campus lifestyles, classroom dynamics, and (let’s be honest with ourselves, Scots) sports followings. I had a lot to think about when it came to my final decision. Do I attend the big state school or the small Christian college on top of Lookout Mountain?
My Journey to Covenant
When it came down to it, I really did like Covenant more, but one thing was keeping me from saying it was the school for me: the fact that it is a residential campus. I despised the thought of living in a dorm and eating from a dining hall for three of my four years as a college student. I hated the idea of sharing a cramped dorm room with a roommate, living next door to strangers, and being told when I could or could not have visitors in my room. All I had ever heard from my friends who had gone to college was, “Move out of the dorm as quickly as possible.”
I hesitantly came to Covenant in the fall of 2018, knowing in the back of my mind that if I wanted to, I could pack my bags and transfer to UGA in a heartbeat. However, I very quickly realized that residence life at Covenant was completely different from the stories I’d heard about other colleges. I walked into a dorm building where everyone was genuinely eager to get to know the freshmen. Within the first week, I had already been a part of hall Bible study, a dance party on the balcony, and a building-wide cookout on the lawn. This was most definitely not the dorm life that friends at other schools had told me about.
How the Mountain Became My Home
Flash forward three years, and I am now a Covenant senior who not only loved every second of my time living on campus but also worked as a resident assistant for two years. I got so hooked on dorm life my freshman year that I wanted to apply to be an RA. I wanted to help create the community that had changed my initial thoughts about living on campus. Not only was my hall and building a place where I had more fun than I thought possible, but it was also a place where I met people who wanted to intentionally pour into me. This is where I met lifelong friends, made countless memories, and learned what a biblical community looks like. In fact, I now have a sign hanging in my off-campus house with the coordinates of my old dorm building, so I can always hold on to a little piece of Andreas Hall.
If I could give one piece of advice to the high school senior wondering if Covenant’s residential campus is right for you, it would be this: Give it a shot. Residence life is the number one contributor to why Covenant has been the perfect school for me. I owe a huge thank you to Covenant for having me live in a dorm for three years because, without that time, I would have missed out on some of my most cherished memories.
