"One of the things that first attracted me to Ouachita was the friendliness."

Autumn, Junior Communication Sciences and Disorders Major

One of the things that first attracted me to Ouachita was the friendliness. I felt completely at home here the first time I walked onto the campus. It seemed like a big family - everyone knew almost everyone else. I'm in my third year here at Ouachita, and while I don't know everyone, I rarely walk across campus without seeing someone that I know.

I had made several new friends through the New Student Retreat, Campus Ministries Retreat, Freshman Family Groups and being involved with Campus Ministries Tiger Tunes. A few months into my freshman year, I really came to appreciate the care and concern that people genuinely have for each other here. I also came to realize the honest, compassionate, meaningful friendships I had made really would stand up through the good and the bad. My cousin Brad was diagnosed with leukemia on September 11, 2002. I had been in school for about three weeks. All of my friends and my Freshmen Family Group joined me in praying for him and his family. About a month and a half later, on a Friday evening, my mother called. Strangely enough, I didn't have any real plans that night, because several of my friends were leaving to go on a trip. My mom told me that we were leaving for Georgia that night, because Brad was not doing well and wasn't expected to make it through the night - she needed me to pack and come home as quickly as possible. My friends delayed leaving on their trip to take care of me. They helped me pack and drove me to Malvern to meet my dad. Another one of my friends called me that night and volunteered to get word to all of my professors about where I was. She called to check on me two or three times while I was gone, and kept everyone else updated. My cousin passed away on October 26, and I sang at his funeral on October 28. When I got back to school the next day, my mailbox was full of notes from people telling me that they were sorry about my cousin and that they were praying for me. Several of my teachers had e-mailed me their condolences as well. People stopped me all over campus that day just to give me a hug or tell me that they were praying for me.

After that, any doubts that I wasn’t supposed to be here were gone - I knew I was right where I belonged.