Why Hood college?

Many people have come to me asking me why I chose to pursue and attend Hood College in Frederick rather than pursue a healthy Christian college to attend. A lot of people seemed shocked when I said that I would attend Hood this coming fall.

And their shock is not without good reason of course. Hood is an extremely liberal school. It started out as a women’s seminary. It moved to being a women’s school and a bulwark for academic feminism and homosexuality. And currently, it is a co-ed school and is still a predominately liberal school on all the issues that I believe are important and take a conservative stance on. Why would I want to attend a school like this?

To make my point best, I think I should give a little of my own history. I grew up in a God-centered church. I was saved at the age of 14. And I was homeschooled by God-glorifying parents since day one.

I’ve lived in my own Christian bubble all my life. I want to put myself in a context where I will learn how to be salt and light in the world. And I cannot be salt and light in the world if I am not actually in the world. I want to learn how to share the gospel and take stands on issues in the world during my college years. I think I can do this most effectively at Hood. This is the entire reason why I didn’t even put any applications to the popular Christian colleges. I did not want to go to a college for the purpose of to avoiding contact with a sinful culture.

Even if I wanted to avoid contact with the culture, I know I couldn’t. If I avoid it by remaining in a Christian college, make strong Christian friends, and receive teaching from a Christian point of view, I am still not avoiding interaction with the culture. I am simply postponing it. The question is not whether or not I encounter the culture. The question is whether or not I will be ready when I do.

So how do I remain in the world but not of the world in such a worldly context? Although Hood is generally very liberal, I have seen that there is a number of strong Christians on campus there. My own brother attends Hood and he is one of the people I respect most. So there is a Christian presence there that will be readily available to hold me accountable with how I conduct myself in the world.

So because Hood is a context where I will be faced with the issues that I will need to defend from a Christian standpoint, and because there are many strong Christians on campus, I believe that Hood College is more than an acceptable alternative to a Christian college. I think Hood is the ideal college for me to go to. I look forward to what God will teach me through my experiences there.