While we were visiting George Fox and Corban in July, we quickly planned a trip to California to visit Biola and California Baptist. It was a quick whirlwind of a trip, but it was very productive. It was also stretching and hard for Kari. We had a lot of fun, between the tears, though. That night we laughed a ton! The idea of going away and life changing is very scary for Kari. She had a lot of tears at the end of our campus visit at CBU. She doesn't feel ready to leave us yet. The four of us talked in the car on the way back to the hotel, and I assured her that she's not supposed to feel ready yet because it's not time yet! She feels a lot of pressure to make the most of the time she has left with us at home, and all the emotions just bubbled to the surface, as the idea of actually going to somewhere like CBU became more of a reality.
The CBU campus is beautiful--mission-style, palm trees, and just a really impressive campus. The tour guide was great and very personable. The rec center was amazing, as was the gym/chapel. We felt like we really got a good feel for the campus and community and the focus on Christ-centered education. The girls both really liked it.
The tour at Biola got off to a rough start when we realized we had our times wrong. We missed our visit with the admissions counselor because it conflicted with the campus tour. Kari was upset and in a major funk. She and I had "a moment" while Rachael and Kylee ordered at the coffee shop. It was not good. But, she finally shared her feelings of "messing up" and starting off wrong. She pulled it together (and ate food when I forced her, which helped immensely). We went on our tour, and I made some phone calls during it to reschedule admissions counselor visits, and it all worked out just fine. The admissions counselor was great and reassured Kari that not knowing her major was just fine and asked some good questions to help her narrow her focus a bit.
The tour itself was pretty funny to us. The tour guides gave us all the symbolism behind the bell tower (the three poles represent the trinity and how none can stand alone), buildings (the library resembles a lighthouse because Jesus is the light and we are the light of the world), and the big Jesus mural on one of the buildings. We dubbed it the "creepy Jesus," as it really is an odd piece of artwork. It is HUGE. The part that cracked us up was the fact that the paint color of the pages of the Bible and of Jesus's face are the same because "the Word became flesh." The symbolism and over-the-top Christianese felt a little in-your-face. We felt like we needed to assure them that we know Biola is a Christian university, and yes, we believe, too! That said, it seemed like a great place and place I'd be happy to send my kids.
After our Biola tour, we drove over to Downtown Disney (only 18 minutes away) and had lunch there before heading back to the airport. It was a great way to end our trip. (I had one of my vasovagal issues on the airplane, though, which was exciting--me on the floor in the aisle of the airplane. So embarrassing.)
In the end, the girls (and us moms) both liked CBU better. They liked the campus at CBU better and felt that the Biola campus was kind of disjointed and ugly (the chapel really was ugly). CBU also seemed like a better fit for them and in more alignment with our family's choices and lifestyles. We have our kids in public school and have been guiding them through all along the way, as they encounter the hard things in this world. CBU does not require a statement of faith from students, so they end up with some students who may not know the Lord. However, all faculty and staff do sign a statement of faith, and the university is unapologetically committed to Christ-center, Bible-centered, whole-person education, focusing on spiritual growth as well as academic growth. That really resonated with us. Biola does require a statement of faith and felt a little more "sheltered," if you will, which could also be a good fit for Kari, but CBU felt better. That feel is the reason it was so good to go in person. Seeing it virtually and online just isn't the same. We felt really good about our trip and what we accomplished.
I want to go to CBU! :-)
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