Column: CFAW Allows High Schoolers to Face Soon-to-be Independence

I’ve been talking to some CFAWs this weekend, our special College for a Weekend guests, and I realized something.

For a long time, I’ve wondered why Liberty needs to put on CFAW. It’s not like we’re hurting for prospective students. In 2014, the acceptance rate into Liberty was 20 percent. With some quick math (outsourced to a math major, of course) that tells us that roughly 75,000 people apply to Liberty every year. So, why do we need CFAW?

Is it an evangelical tool? Possibly, but it’s hard to argue that too many non-Christians attend CFAW at a university famous for being Christian. Could it be to convince people to attend? Obviously not, see the math above (I had to reference back, that cost me five bucks). Is it because Jerry gets annoyed by the students and wants to annoy them back? Even if he wanted to (I’m sure he doesn’t), Becki wouldn’t let him. I was at a standstill, until I started talking to one of the CFAWs.

As I began to talk to the CFAWs, I realized that CFAW wasn’t for recruiting students, it was for improving the students who are most likely to attend. Let me explain.

CFAW is a transformative time for many high school students. It’s the first time many of them realize that the dream they’ve had since middle school is about to come true. They’re about to become independent. Like a ball from a home run hitting you in the forehead as you cross the street, that realization leaves many a little dazed, but once they recover from that, they realize they need to mature.

Another thing CFAW does is force these students to think more deeply about their future. Let’s take my own little brother as an example. He’s currently a sophomore in high school (they grow up so fast), and he has a great passion for video game design. He also has a great passion for burning every math book that comes within five feet of him. Or, should I say, had.

One day, I sat him down, and explained to him what the math emporium was, how his major would force him in there, and how that would hurt his creative efforts while in college. Now, he doesn’t like it, but he understands the importance of making sure he can take the CLEP tests to get out of every math class possible.

In short, CFAW forces students to come to grips with the realities of their chosen path. It forces the student to begin maturing. It forces the student to think about what independence looks like. If a student comes to CFAW, then later becomes a student, it’s my contention that those students would be far better students because of CFAW. It’s a strong dose of reality that is needed for many kids.

What I’m saying is, you don’t need to prank the CFAWs. The existential dread of college loans does the job far better than selling convocation tickets.