Daniel and his friends lived in a foreign land in a hostile environment where their fundamental beliefs about life and their God was constantly challenged and tested. This book of Daniel is encouraging and very relatable to students like you and me living far away from home in our lands of Universities and Colleges. Book of Daniel provides us with a portrait of what faithfulness in difficult situations looks like. It reminds us that faithfulness to God is our privilege duty, no matter what consequences we might face.

Beginning a college, university life or starting a new semester is full of uncertainty but also full of potentials. We may feel free, liberated yet chained at the same time. We dream to soar high but may end up finding us chained to expectations, limitations, burdens of the past, negative thoughts, peer pressure, stress, anxiety and broken relationships. “All eyes are on me”, is what one might feel which can make us feel super uncomfortable or maybe comfortable for that matter, who knows. We make friends, start a new chapter in our story of Life, and walk around with dreams and aspirations. We either live out these dreams or they wither away as the years follow.

Here are seven tips to help both you and me in our college/ university life and make it meaningful.

1. INVEST IN YOURSELF: you are worthy of it all

No matter what you believe or what people say. No matter how popular you are or how invisible you are, you matter. Take this time to know yourself better. Know your strengths, know your weaknesses and work on them. Invest in self-care and self-love for if you do not know yourself or love yourself how can you expect to build relationships?

Investigate God, it’s worth discovering more about his reality for yourself. Don’t take things for granted. Reflect on your relationship with God, yourself and then others as well. Do not let anyone, anything or any situation belittle you or make you feel any less or unloved because Jesus says “you are loved”. You are sunshine and a blessing and even if there are clouds, thunder and storm don’t lose hope because behind every cloud, every thunder and every storm the sun is still shining.

2. BE A FRIEND

All of us are looking for friends but how many of us are actually being friends? How many of us are burdening others in our expectations of how and what a friend should be like? Be accepting of the other person with all their goodness and also their flaws. Let us be less judgmental for don’t we have enough of that? Do not be someone who is absent even when present. Listening is one of the best gifts one can receive, let us give our listening ears to our friends around us a well. Let us choose our friends wisely and invest in their lives. Do we really know our friend in-depth or is it just a mirage and we know them like shallow waters? Let us be alert to the needs, emotions, feelings, struggles, achievements of our friends.

Let us say no to negative peer pressure and try and not have that effect on others around us as well. Help each other to not fall into traps of bullying, manipulations and hurtful actions. Jesus calls us FRIEND in John 15: 14 are we willing to be friends with Him? Are we willing to call others Friend?

Likewise, let us be a friend that we want in our life.

3. VALUE PEOPLE: every individual matters

Making people a priority in our life is very essential and important. In the hurry and burry of life, in the race to come first, in our ambitions we lose out on people. What will we remember most about college? The lectures? The assignments? Our marks? Our grades? NO.

What we will remember and miss the most will be the people around us. Give yourself to others, with all the sunshine and storms, with all the struggles and achievements. Invest in the lives of people around you. Nobody is a ladder for your success, especially not people. Walk towards building bridges and not walls when it comes to people. Every individual is unique and beautiful, let us value that. Let our actions show love for one another even when it’s oh so difficult. Jesus loves us and values us even when we are sinners and hurting him every day. Let us learn from Jesus who is not just God of the Christians but also recognized as one of the greatest leaders on earth according to Time magazine. Let us learn to value people irrespective of their class, caste, tribe, positions, status or wealth. Let us value people for themselves and nothing else, for wouldn’t we want that too?

4. STAY CONNECTED WITH FAMILY

Family, the most ignored part of our college life but unsurprisingly one of the most important aspects of our life. When family is the crux of our life why is it so ignored and shelved during our college life? Why are we only sending our parents and family members an SOS message more often than not, only for money? How have our parents suddenly slipped from being our parents to just being our bank? How have suddenly the coolest people in our life become so un-cool, outdated and at times a burden? The Bible tells us “Honor your father and mother..” Exodus 20:12, are we doing so?

We take our parents for granted so much not realizing if they are not there what void we will go through. We are their blessing from God and in our passage of becoming an adult, search for independence, dreams, aspirations, the fast world and us running this race we somehow leave them behind. Let us try to improve and work in this area. Let us make a phone call or send a simple text, let us make an effort to pause and nurture our relationship with our family for this is our root and we all know when a root withers no matter how big and strong a tree it will eventually fall.

5. NO COMPROMISE, NEVER!

“Chalta hay” is what we Indians are so well known for, but “chalta hay” is leading a life of compromise. Compromise is not bad at all times but when we compromise on our values, our beliefs, our morals we are not compromising but rather cheating ourselves. When we compromise in not speaking the truth, in not saying NO when we are supposed to, when we do something wrong knowingly, then it’s not compromise, rather it is an act of being weak, being a coward. Bible says “let your yes be yes and your no be no” Matthew 5:37 and the Bible goes on to say being lukewarm isn’t good, you either become hot or cold. A life of compromise is nothing but leading a lukewarm life. When we compromise too much we become like the bat, neither a bird nor an animal.

Time, is a gift God has given to us, let us manage our time effectively and judiciously. Let us not compromise on our time with God, family, friends, fellowship and studies. To waste time is to dishonour the giver of time and to lead a life of compromise is to lose yourself and not live your life to the fullest.

6. DON’T STUDY TO JUST GET A DEGREE: study to be a blessing

Being able to come to college/ university is a big blessing. To be where you are right now is a blessing. There are so many people in this world who want and desire to be where we are, to have the same opportunities as we do. Have we ever thought about this? Who knows these people may be more intelligent than you and me, but circumstances haven’t allowed them the opportunity to study, to step into a university like us. When you and I are so blessed, are we counting our blessings? Are we working to grow in these blessings or are we taking them for granted?

Many times we get into subjects we don’t enjoy or with the objective of only getting a job when we graduate. I’m not dissing the importance of a degree but what value will a degree have with only education but no knowledge on that subject? Are we walking towards being a literate educated individual or a knowledgeable educated individual?

Study to excel in you subject. This doesn’t mean coming first or getting a gold medal, it means becoming better and growing in your subject every semester, every year and every day. You are your only limit and your only challenge, are you ready to face it? Let us come out of our universities “equipped to entrust” like 2 Timothy 2:2 says rather than just coming out as a degree holder who is neither equipped nor can he/ she entrust others.

7. “HELP”: it's okay to ask for help

Seeking help isn’t the sign of weakness rather it’s a sign of courage, a sign of self-awareness which is commendable. Don’t believe in the lie that says ‘asking for help means you are not competent”. Nobody, I repeat nobody is self-sufficient and everyone requires help. Asking for help for small things like asking the route to your department, shifting hostels, dropping off to the station, etc. is very easy to ask and we all do it. Asking help for your problems, issues, struggles, addictions or just to talk and bare out our heart is where we struggle. We fear of being judged, being stereotyped, breaking our perfect image but what we don’t realize is that brokenness is brokenness and we all going and go through it no matter how well we hide it.

With seeking help come corrections and also constructive criticisms. Let us take these sportingly. Jesus tells us that “Those who I love I rebuke..” Romans 2:12, likewise people who love us will correct us, teach us, rebuke us and help us. Let us seek this help which is always there for us. Remember we are not just investing our life rather people are investing in our life as well. My friends its no shame to say “I need help” therefore do not hesitate to seek help. “Seek and you will find” (Matthew 7:7)

The dare ahead...

We see college/university life isn’t only about fun neither is it only about studying. It’s all about striking a balance between the two and living an exemplary life. It’s a right to the passage to adulthood and independence, but with independence comes responsibilities, let us not forget our responsibilities but rather grow in it.

We all talk about trust, faithfulness, honesty and relationships and somewhere we desire for it in our lives and wait upon it. But, now, let us wait no more rather let us be trustworthy, faithful, honest and invest in our relationships. As we enjoy the human relations we build let us also build a relationship with our studies and grow in it. Let us, like Daniel and his friends in a new country, a new place, new rules, new customs, new everything and above all being captives, not forget our roots, our beliefs, our family, our people and above all Jesus who so dearly loves us and is rooting for us. My friends, I dare you and me to be a Daniel in this world of college and university in which you and I have stepped into.

Anugrah Lepcha