WJI Blog 2022, May 20 PM - Moving In

As I walked into the empty dorm room and examined my living space for the next two weeks, I

couldn’t help but wonder what my time at WJI would hold. Would I make friends? Would I be

good enough? Would I look back on this and feel like it was worth it? The only thing I knew for

sure that I would take from this course was that I would grow– no matter the experience, I would

learn.

I sat on my bed, my roommate hadn’t moved in yet. I could hear girls laughing down in the

community kitchen. I felt like I had already failed. I should be down there laughing with them, I

shouldn’t be hiding in my room, I should be making the most of these two weeks.

My roommate came into the room and introduced herself an hour before the rest of the students

would be meeting for pizza orientation. We clicked immediately. Slightly traumatized from my

prior experiences with random roommates, I felt a deep sense of relief. If I didn’t make any other

friends during this time here, at least I had her.

At the pizza dinner, I met a large majority of the group. We bonded over not being able to

remember anyone's names and not knowing when Lee Pitts was joking or not over the pre-arrival

logistics emails. I realized while eating with them that I wouldn’t be struggling alone these next

weeks, we were truly in this together.

After dinner, we went to a classroom and played ice breaker games. Then former WJI graduate

Mikaela Wegner gave us her five takeaways from her time here.

1. Be on time. This one seemed easy enough, despite the fact that mornings are not

my friend.

2. Don’t miss out on anything here. On my seven-hour drive to Dordt, I had

decided that I would rather be insanely sleep-deprived than miss any opportunity I

would have here. Although it is only night one, so we’ll see if I still keep that

mindset.

3. You don’t have to work at a Christian organization, you can do great things

at a secular publication. WJI will equip me to be able to stand firm in my faith

wherever I end up in the future.

4. You will make great relationships that will last. I looked around the room as

she said this. At my roommate who had quickly become my closest friend here, at

the boy who made black-out poetry with newspaper during a game, at the girl

who went up and got a cupcake with me. At the other people whose names I didn't

know or couldn’t remember. For the next two weeks, these were my people.

5. Just because you’re introverted doesn’t mean you’re a bad journalist. This

statement was a breath of fresh air in my lungs. I had been worried for months

that maybe I wasn’t cut out for journalism because I got nervous when speaking

to new people. Mikaela reassured me that God had instead blessed me with the

ability to listen to others, which proves to be a great strength in journalism.

After answering questions, we were left to head back to our rooms. I am now more excited yet

anxious than ever to go through these two weeks. I know there will be highs and lows, but WJI

will not let me fall.

- Abby Riffel