As I head back for my final semester at Taylor University and begin to be nostalgic about my time as a college student drawing to a close, one pervading thought floods my mind; who would I be as I graduate if I had not been a LASP student?

As I moved back onto campus in the fall and back into the busyness of college life, I was reminded of the feelings of returning to Taylor the fall semester after being in Costa Rica. I know you each can relate to the many feelings one experiences returning to what we once called “normal life” but realizing it would never be normal again. Think back on the changes you were experiencing as an individual, how you viewed the world, the issues that you stood up for in classes even when your classmates completely disagreed, how the “new you” related to old friends back on campus with whom suddenly you had nothing in common, or who just blankly stared at you as you talked about liberation theology or told a funny story about your Costa Rican family. So many thoughts rushed through my head as I attempted to put into practice all I had learned on my LASP semester. There were triumphant moments and times of personal failure, but having a group of ex-LASPers at my university with whom I could get together encouraged me to keep living out my new ideals and share with those around me what God had taught me. I can’t imagine how lost I would’ve been if I had not had people who could relate to my ongoing processing, my love of sharing stories and pictures, and the continual wrestling with issues we began to scratch the surface of during our semester.

Our Taylor processing group began with about six ex-LASP students from different semesters. Some of us knew each other, and others we had just met by association through the program; nonetheless, we got together for cafecitos once a month or so just to reflect on Costa Rica, on our LASP experiences, and to talk about what we were struggling with being back on campus. Each semester as new students return home to Taylor’s campus, we welcome them with open arms and listening ears. Not only does it help the returning LASPers to have a place to vent frustrations and reminisce with people who understand without long explanations, but it also rekindles memories in the hearts and minds of those of us who have been back from Costa Rica for a longer period of time. Listening to the newly returned students brought back to life for me the excitement I had, the passions I that had grown, and the goals I wanted to incorporate into my life. Not that I had lost all of them, but listening to them afresh brought back to the surface the ones that had been hidden by the busyness and trivialness of everyday college life.

Last week, a group of five of us went out to Mi Pueblo, a Mexican restaurant near our university. We laughed, talked, got loud about issues going on in the world and on our campus that we were passionate and excited about. Of course, we ordered our meals in Spanish, as rusty as it may have been for some of us. Most importantly, we shared in a fellowship that only those who have had the amazing experience of a semester at LASP can share with one another.

I want to encourage those of you who attend universities who have other LASP alumni (even if you don’t know them personally) to continue getting together, make some gallo pinto, or sit around and have coffee and just talk. You will be surprised at the automatic ability you have to share deeply with one another and the sense of renewal that comes out of the time together. Keep on processing ex-LASPers. We truly need one another to keep the experience alive!