What Difference Does a Year Make?

By David Williford

“What possible difference could a year at Welch College make in my child’s life?”

That’s a question we often hear from parents as we meet with prospective students and their parents and encourage them to consider Welch as their college of choice. Those of us who minister here are obviously convinced that this place will make a significant difference in the lives of students.

Parents, however, want to know why they should send their child to Welch College if their son or daughter is going to transfer eventually to finish a major Welch does not offer. It’s a legitimate question. Why attend Welch for only one or two years?

The early years of college have a significant impact on a young person’s worldview, values, and priorities. Being in a place that echoes the teachings and values that parents and churches have imparted into their lives will make a major impact on what kind of person that individual will be throughout his or her life.

Welch College instills and reinforces biblical values and a Christian worldview in students. Even if one is only exposed to that influence for one or two years, the long-term effects can be significant.

Another factor is our long tradition of seeing students come to Welch, intending to stay only one or two years, but finding this is the place God had for them all along. After experiencing the atmosphere and allowing the Holy Spirit to work in their lives, students often change their plans and complete a degree program with us, often in a totally different field of study than originally planned.

Many pastors of Free Will Baptist churches today came to Welch intending to stay only a year, or intending to pursue a degree other than ministry. Missionaries serving across the world came to Welch intending to stay only for one year. While here, the Lord did significant works in their lives, and they now serve Him in ways and places they never dreamed possible.

One young man who came to Welch (then Free Will Baptist Bible College) illustrates what a single year can do. This young man had dreams of studying engineering at Georgia Tech. His plans were made and his goals set. His mom, however, wanted him to experience at least one year at the college, so she made him an offer: attend Bible College for one year, and she would pay for him to go to Georgia Tech. (If not, he could pay for Georgia Tech on his own.) In his words, “Nobody had ever accused me of being stupid, so I took the deal.”

In late fall of that year, during a prayer meeting in the men’s dorm, he was challenged by the Lord to reexamine his life, his goals, and his priorities. “That night, I took my hands off the reins of my life and turned them over to the Lord to do His will.”

That young man answered the call to preach and stayed at the college for four years, until he graduated. Over the years, he has had—by any earthly evaluation—a successful ministry. He has labored faithfully among Free Will Baptists, and now, even in retirement, continues to be active and faithful.

His college friends called him Bobby. His wife called him Robert. His five daughters call him dad. I still see him on our campus occasionally. I ran into him in a meeting recently and greeted him, saying, “Good morning, Dr. Picirilli. How are you today?”

Did a young man’s decision to attend the college for one year make a significant difference in his life? In the life of the denomination? In the work of the kingdom? I think all of us would say a resounding yes! Can you imagine our movement without his influence? Think of the way our theology and education system at Welch have been impacted by his life, teaching, and writing.

That story can be replicated numerous times—men and women who came to Welch intending to stay only a year, but during that year the direction of their life totally changed. Don’t discount the value of having your son or daughter attend Welch College, if only for a year. Who knows, you might be the mother or father of the next Robert Picirilli.

About the Writer: David Williford is vice president for institutional advancement at Welch College. For more information, visit www.Welch.edu.