Stories of the Naz

      I am working on campus in University Advancement this summer, which is the office that handles scholarships and donations to the school. They meet with a lot of donors and when they do they like to update them on whats going on at Point Loma. I was asked by one of my co-workers to write out a few stories of my time spent here, what I have learned, and how I have changed. I was excited to spend some time reflecting on my amazing memories of this university. I am so glad that these stories will potentially remind someone what it was like to be a college student and compel them to donate to our school and its students. Here are a few of my stories...

Reflections:

My name is Kelsey Bergstrom and I am entering into my senior year here at Point Loma Nazarene University. As I reflect back on my time here I can see the ways in which I have changed, and grown. For me Point Loma has been a place of happiness, change and struggle, but out of these experiences come beautiful things. Since coming to Point Loma in 2009 I have been called to challenge the very ideas that I thought defined who I was. I am not the same person that I was freshmen year and that is am amazing thing. Point Loma has helped shape me; it has allowed me to find out what this life is really about. I am a fashion merchandising major and plan to start a non-profit Christian clothing company after I graduate. This idea is completely God's plan for my life and I can say that with complete confidence because it wasn’t what I planned to be doing with my life. At one point I had big dreams for my life, and if I followed them I would have found myself years from now living my life completely for myself, and spending time with God whenever I could find time for Him. I realized this fault in my planning somewhere during my junior year of college and decided to give up all of the plans I had made for myself and let God show me to the path that He had already set out for me. This was a very uneasy time for me, not knowing what my future would hold, or what I was working toward. Within a month’s time I had received many messages from God all in different ways about what my life should be and soon enough I had a plan again, and it felt heavenly. When I tell people about it I can just feel my soul filling with joy! It is a life that is far better than anything I would have planned for myself. I am going to be able use all of the talents I have been blessed with for God’s glory! I have been learning that you can have your work life, social life, and home life, or you can have a life where you work, fellowship, and live in peace, that completely revolves around God; this is what I am striving for.

Community:

Community is a word that you hear a lot at Point Loma Nazarene University. I don’t think that it was until my junior year of college that I truly understood the meaning of the word. Compared to other schools Point Loma’s student body is small. For me this is a blessing, it allows me to recognize everyone, and know a good majority of the people that I go to school with. It is such a good feeling to be walking to class and get to say hello to friends in passing. Some will stop and have polite chit-chat, some will follow up on how the last few days of your week have been, and still others will see how you are really doing, and remind you that you are in their prayers. This is an aspect of life that I didn’t even know existed before I came to Point Loma. I have a family here, the friends I have met have slowly molded into the brother and sister roles of my life. They are the people I live with; I talk to them, rejoice with them, and cry with them. We study together, eat together, and explore San Diego together. These are the people that I will call after graduation when things are going so great…or maybe when I need some encouragement. They will be in my life forever.

                I have learned this past year about the practice of trust. It is so easy for an independent person like me to put up walls, never allowing myself to show vulnerability. This year I got tired of doing life all by myself and I allowed myself to trust and show weakness to a few close friends. It was scary at first but when I would receive a random act of kindness on a day that I needed it most, it was all worth it. Like I said I have discovered a whole new version of family here at Point Loma. I have been a resident assistant for the past three years and each time I get a new hall of girls it’s like gaining 30 new friends. This is a job that I absolutely love and will miss dearly when I graduate. I get to journey with these amazing girls through their college years, give some guidance on issues that I have already gone though, and plan exciting events that allow us to bond. This is another part of my Point Loma family.

I have been blessed with a few different jobs on campus, and each department I work in is a new adventure. I get to see how the school runs from many different viewpoints. The supervisors that I encounter are just like the professors I have grown to love at school. They are warm, generous people that have your best interest in mind. They will mentor you, walk along side you, support you, and even have you over to their house for dinner, or a movie night. I feel that this is a relationship, a part of the community that only Point Loma offers its students. I am so incredibly blessed to be a student at this school and I can only pray for the amazing events that God already has planned for my senior year.

Lessons Learned:

My entire experience at Point Loma Nazarene University has been a spiritual one. When I applied to this school it was my first choice only because it had a fashion program, and a great location. I had grown up in a Christian home but the fact that this was a Nazarene School never meant much to me. I found myself going through some rebellious times my last years of high school and into my freshmen year of college. In His perfect timing God decided that I was done messing around and He allowed me to hit my rock bottom in order to come running back to Him. This is when I realized why I had ended up at a school like Point Loma. This was the place that was going to give me grace when I fell down, this is the place that cradled me and lifted me back up. God had placed me here for a reason. I experienced grace and forgiveness that I never deserved. I have completely devoted my life to God since then and I can feel my relationship with Him getting stronger every day. I now see trials and challenges as blessings from my Father because on the other side of them there is light, joy, and lessons learned. Without the hurt of my life I would be nothing.

Since my freshmen year I have become a resident assistant in three different dorms on campus. I have been involved in campus ministries and two different LoveWorks missions trip. I have been the vice president, and am now the president of Phi Upsilon Omicron the Family and Consumer Sciences National Honor Society. I have designed collections for the last three ASB annual fashion shows, and had the honor of designing and constructing the homecoming gowns for the 2011 Homecoming Coronation. I consider all of these events as gifts from God. I am even overwhelmed when I look at this list and that is because none of the credit goes to me. There is no possible way that I would have accomplished any of this without the gifts and support given to me by my heavenly father. It all started with a calling to Point Loma Nazarene University and I pray that it will continue after graduation and for all my years to come. I am simply a servant of the Lord and I am here on this earth to further His kingdom.