Guest Post by Daniel Osborne

I asked Daniel if he would share his college experiences with us, so we can all learn from them. Enjoy! -Carissa

I would have to say that my college experience was different from almost anyone else, but I think you may benefit from what God has taught me over the last several years through my college experiences. I was home schooled and had the opportunity to start attending the community college while I was in high school. I guess you could say that my decision to go to college was before high school even started. I avoided classes such as English, Psychology, Biology, History, Sociology, etc... and focused on classes like math, chemistry, computer, etc. This decision was based on the fact that I had heard reports from other trusted Christians about the inappropriate content within many of the classes first mentioned. I did not want a secular view of these subjects. Subjects like math, chemistry, and computers don't tend to have too much opening for a secular worldview.

God lead me to California Baptist University (which is the only school I applied for), so when I graduated high school, I transferred to California Baptist University. I decided to live at home because dorm life at almost any school (Christian or non-Christian) is generally not healthy. I spent one night in the dorms. Loud music until like 1 am... video games and movies (many not appropriate) everywhere... etc. Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child (Proverbs 22:15). While most don't consider college aged people as "kids"... it was clear that they were indeed "kids". I'm not trying to down talk anyone, but I want you to have an accurate description of dorm life.

I decided to be a computer science major. It was interesting how God worked that out. My older sister needed to take a computer programming class in order to graduate with her AA degree and asked if I would take it with her. I went ahead and took it with her... I loved it... she didn't at all. God works in unique ways. Anyway, I had a couple personal dreams... I really wanted to play baseball, and I really wanted to lead worship. I tried out for the baseball team at CBU and found that there were like 120 guys trying out for like not even 5 spots. I definitely didn't make it. I was disappointed. I had auditioned (playing piano) for a small group from CBU that had come to my church and so I auditioned again for the choir director. I play by ear, so this obviously didn't go well either. He asked me to sing for him a little bit and on the spot, offered me a $2,000 scholarship to sing in the choir. This was totally unexpected. I didn't have an amazing voice or anything, but God allowed the choir director to see some potential in me. I ended up having to take voice lessons... yet another huge blessing. This really gave me the preparation I needed to be more capable of leading worship. After a year, CBU dropped their computer science major and wanted me to become a business major. I tried taking one class and within a week of starting that class, I called mom after class one day and told her that I had to transfer to a new school. I was greatly blessed by the Biblical teaching at CBU as well as the hours without end of worship during choir practice and concerts. I loved the school. The people were very nice... food was very good... chapels were usually good... etc. God moved us to a different church during this time and we met a family with a daughter about to start going to CBU. Her parents started a Bible study which gave me an opportunity to lead worship. This was (and is) a great blessing! On a side note, God provided in incredible ways and I ended up paying only $400 per semester for tuition. Not only did He bless me with this, but He also blessed me with a job working for one of my instructors as a software developer.

Within a couple days of mom calling around, she found La Sierra University. They offered me virtually the same scholarship amounts at CBU. I was quite surprised! God really blessed! I transferred there as a computer science major. La Sierra is a much more liberal [Christian] school. We had chapels such as: Women's Rights, Black Appreciation Month, Safe Sex, etc. There is nothing wrong with these things in and of themselves, but we were not having women's rights issues in our school... we weren't having a segregation of black and white people... and we are a bunch of singles! Abstinence anyone? What we really need is to hear the Word of God preached... not these side secular-based topics. Again, I lived at home... heard many horror stories about dorm life. I really have no desire to live in that kind of environment 24/7. The Bible classes were quite challenging for me... probably something that would have been extremely unhealthy for me in my first year of school, but God used the unbiblical teaching to challenge me to know and apply His Word more than ever before. I often ended up in debates with teachers. I had a teacher even say that he disagreed with God on a part of scripture. It was not easy, but God used it for my good. They built a baseball field, and God blessed me with the opportunity to play baseball... thus fulfilling my other dream. Most of our games were on Sunday (since it is a Seventh Day Adventist school). This was obviously a challenge for me since I went to church on Sunday. My initial thought was that I'd go to a different church that has a super early service on those days, but changed my mind when I really started thinking about it. God is to be number one in my life and if baseball doesn't fit that... so be it. God gave me favor in the eyes of the coach and he let me miss whenever I needed to. This is not at all normal for coaches of college teams. This opened up several opportunities to talk with these guys about the Lord and why I do what I do... why I don't use profane language... why I don't listen to secular music... etc. It was a challenge in that there was that constant negative influence, but God used it to help strengthen me. I learned dependence on His Word to purify and cleanse my mind.


There were several mess-ups as time went on... my advisor made a mistake and I took the wrong class... the man that granted the scholarships retired and so I lost those... etc. It was quite a challenge... not knowing how I was going to pay for school or if I would graduate on time. God used this to help grow me in dependence on Him for my financial needs. He always provided enough to make it through. He is so good! God worked in the teacher's hearts as well as the administrators of the school so that they would allow me to take 24.5 credits at once... and have directed studies in 3 classes which were not being offered that quarter (one-on-one with the teacher). This is not at all normal for college professors! Without this, I would not have been able to afford the next quarter of school. My bank was emptied, but God got me through.

I guess you could say that my college years were full of challenges, but God used them for my good. I have seen people grow in the Lord during their college years... I have also seen many fall away from Him. If we become self-dependent rather than dependent on Him, we will fall quickly. God has given me a passion for those that have fallen away from Him. I have seen it both with those going to college and those not attending college. The biggest thing is putting yourself with people that build you up in the Lord. Let your parents get to know your friends... let your parents give you advice. If they see negative influences popping out in you, take it seriously! Don't hide from any problem or negative influence you might have... face it and deal with it immediately. Let godly people into your life... whether it be a pastor (for guys) or his wife (for the ladies), get to know them... pray with them... let them see your heart... be accountable to them. Get involved in serving Him. When you are serving Him, you don't have time to fall away from Him. If God moves you out of one position of service, move to another. We can never serve Him enough. These things will act as a safeguard against you falling away from Him.