Inspiration May: Day 10

Today, I am going to be posting quite a few pictures from college. A year ago today I graduated cum laude, and I am blessed to be an alum from Samford University. I was able to make friends, be apart of a great group of girls, participate in many leadership positions, and grow closer to God. It inspires me to be a better person and to further myself not only educationally, but also spiritually. Hopefully below you will see a glimpse of how this place has greatly impacted me.

This is the view of most of the campus from the President's house. As you can see, it is a beautiful campus all year long.

Here I am with the infamous Mr. Beeson statue. Mr. Beeson was one of the university presidents and donated a good bit of money to the college. He was a petite little man (the actual size of the statue). And the shoes on the statue were actually Mr. Beeson's that they bronzed.

This is Reid Chapel on campus. It is where we had our convocations and chapels. A tradition for many people before they graduate is to climb to the top of the steeple.

Centennial Walkway. These are the steps that freshman walk up on the day before classes start and the same steps they walk down the day before graduation. Right behind the steps is our library where I spent many hours studying. At the top are bells that are played every 15 minutes. During the Christmas season, the man plying them will do Christmas songs.

This is the infamous fountain. It is located between the library and and caf/food court. If you are caught jumping in it, you get in trouble with the university and receive a Values Violation. It's usually on every senior's bucket list of things to do before they graduate.

Christmas is so beautiful on campus. Lights are lit and everything is magical revolving around our Savior's birth. It is tradition to have your picture made with the huge tree on Centennial Walkway. Another bucket list tie is to crawl under and get into the tree.

Freshman year. This is the group of girls that I shared a hall, bathroom, and memories with. This picture was taken during Connections, a 3 day event for freshman to help people mingle and learn their way around campus. During Connections I made friends with our group leader, Molly Jones, and she has become a mentor to me throughout the years. I had a great group of girls around me freshman year. Trash buddies, dinner friends, soccer gals.

Here are a few pictures of the dorm I lived in my freshman year.

For my remainer 3 years, I spent them in the same room in Wesley Hall in Beeson Woods apartments on campus. Above are just a few pictures of my decor.

During my time at Samford, I was blessed to a part of a wonderful sorority: Gamma Sigma Sigma. The pictures above show a few of the good times I shared with my sisters (and later on brothers who joined lol). The first is the night of my big and little reveal where my big is behind me. The next 2 are of one if the formats we had. The last is a picture of me, my little, and my grand little.

I was equally blessed to have made great friends who I shared rooms with and even brought back to good ole rural Alabama. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture to capture every happy moment with every friend, but God was great in providing me with wonderful friendships. (Note: The picture above this is a picture of some of my friends who went through the good and bad with me in teacher education lol.)

One of my favorite memories occurred during the summer between sophomore and junior year. I was able to participate, along with 2 other sweet Samford girls, in a women's college program called the Leading Edge Institute, LEI for short. We visited poverty stricken areas, such as Selma and Marion, along with meeting state leaders in Montgomery. I was in a fantastic group of girls that I love to death! We bonded like no other group. (We secretly heard other groups were jealous of our bond!) we laughed, worked, cried, and came together to overcome obstacles. I know we have lost touch since we last saw each other in Winter of 2012, but these girls hold a very special place in my heart.

I give kudos to Samford for providing awesome opportunities to meet famous people and providing great entertainment. Above are the Hanson brothers and Dierks Bentley. (Note: Dierks Bentley hands down is the best concert I have been to, plus it was free!) Others not pictured include Joe Nichols, NeedToBreathe, Ben Rector, Avatt Brothers, and many more.

To top it all off, we have the best president. HANDS DOWN! He is a mentor to not only myself, but to all Samford students. He really gets to know us students on a personal level. It is truly because of him, and our gorgeous campus, that I chose Samford. Actually, scratch that. I didn't choose Samford. god chose Samford for me.