Pursuing Christ's Kingdom: Judson College Review
With so many options available for graduating homeschool students, it' can feel a bit overwhelming! As you help your teen navigate through the decisions, it's helpful to hear from people who have actually gone to a college you are considering. That's why we want to share Mary Asta Mountain's experience attending Judson College.
Judson College Review By Mary Asta Mountain
Midway through my years in high school, I realized two things. I wanted to study English at a school that would challenge and grow me as a scholar while also stewarding and strengthening my walk with the Lord. I also wanted community that would feel like home as I took my first big steps outside of the nest.
Growing up the fourth of five children, homeschooled from the very beginning, I had a voracious desire to learn and discovered my love for reading and writing early on. I also had a deepening love for the Lord, nurtured by my Christian parents and the local church. I began to wonder, how should my faith inform my writing, and how could I honor Christ with the gifts he had given me? These questions ultimately led me to Judson College.
Judson students have a unique commonality. The college’s mission is to equip students to give their lives for the cause of Christ in the church, among the nations, and in every aspect of society. And students at Judson take that seriously. The vast majority of them come to college considering God’s calling on their lives and are passionate about pursuing his kingdom in their unique careers and contexts.
While Judson students unite around this cause, it is their professors who equip them. If you ask a Judson student or alum, “What is the best thing about your college?”—the most common answer is, “The faculty.” As experts in their fields who are passionate about the Great Commission and the cause of Christ, the professors at Judson care deeply about both their students’ academic careers and their spiritual lives. They take critical thinking very seriously and seek to present every area of study from a solid Biblical worldview, preparing their students to engage with the world as salt and light wherever God calls them.
While I found community in the classroom, I also found it outside. From my first semester at Judson, I was welcomed with open arms. Judson has a vibrant student body, composed of five student-led communities called houses. Each house has its own unique traditions, values, and missionary namesakes—and every year, the houses compete in a variety of competitions that build friendship, community, and well-earned house loyalty. I found my house to be a haven of community, providing deep connections, leadership opportunities, and life-long friendships.
Looking back on those years, now, as a Judson alumna, I’m thankful for the ways that God used my time at Judson to grow my understanding of his word and my love for him. I also grew exponentially as a scholar, a thinker, and a writer — understanding how God’s truth informs the way that I live and the things that I write. I pray that I, my fellow alum, and the many Judson students still to come, will take the gospel we have been given and the training we have received and go into the world with the cause of Christ firmly in our hearts.
