EMU students’ secret life

The secret life of a Mennonite is something that I have become quite familiar with since coming to EMU in 1999 as a naïve non-denominational freshman.

I came to EMU expecting a religious environment full of people on fire for God. Instead, I found myself surrounded by people who were finally away from home and felt the need to act upon all of those things that they were forbidden to do while living under their parents’ roof.

Within the first month of school my hall became known as the "Painted Lady hall." For those of you who are confused by this phrase, "The Painted Lady" is a tattoo and piercing parlor.

Thursdays usually consisted of a few of us making fun of those others who would dress up to go out clubbing at one of the two Harrisonburg clubs. This was only to see them come back a few hours later complaining about "shady" guys or bragging about who they could get to buy them a drink.

Now, all of this behavior definitely caught me off guard, but I am not in any way saying that everyone was doing these things. It was strange for me to see my expectations of EMU quickly creep lower and lower.

The best thing about this whole situation was seeing the drastic change of behavior when parents came back into the picture. This is why I refer to it as the secret life of the EMU Mennonite.

These Mennonites are the ones who will act however they have to in order for mommy and daddy to keep paying their college tuition. Now, this might seem harsh, but the reality is that this is college and it should be a time of growth.

Throughout our lives we hear the quote, "Wait until you get to the real world!" Is it really that much of a transition?

I am afraid that for the people that would rather get drunk than actually attend class, it will be a harsh reality. However, for those students at EMU that are here for the education and to grow not only mentally, but spiritually, the transition will go much more smoothly.

I will say this in defense of the students that are currently at EMU: this year has been quite different from years past. There has been an obvious change in the direction that the campus is heading. You hear more about the positives than the negatives.

People are excited about what God is doing in their lives and the possibilities that arise through the experiences at a Christian college. I hope to continue to see this move towards the positive. My expectations that were once so low have risen; even though there are still those students who live a double life, that secret life.