Connection Piece: Jazz Night

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November 12, 2021

When I pictured going to my first college event, I never thought it would be watching a jazz ensemble on a muddy Thursday night. Yet, there I was, walking with my five-dollar blanket from Walmart to the Academic lawn with my roommates. Jazz Night was one of the first welcome week events offered my first semester at Liberty. I had just barely met my second roommate Cassandra, I was overwhelmed by the thought of starting college classes so soon, and missed home despite only being away for four days. So, it was safe to say, the last thing I really wanted to do was go listen to a genre of music I was pretty sure I didn’t like with people I didn’t know.

Being still in the midst of COVID-19 regulations, there was a line leading up to the stage where groups would be spread out by the staff. My roommates and I joined the line behind a large group of guys. Randomly, (at least for me at the time) one of the guys started talking to us. Reminiscing on this night over a year later, I could not for the life of me tell you what this conversation was about. What I do remember, however, is Liberty feeling just a little bit more like home having had that random conversation with the group of guys.

Cassandra was meeting up with her friend Chad from high school, but he was running late to catch up with us in line. The joke of the evening then became “where’s Chad?” The guys we had just met had no idea who this Chad was, but suddenly about ten extra people were concerned with his whereabouts. Within ten minutes of meeting these new people, I already felt like I had made so many college friends. This immediately erased my overarching fear that I would never find my people at college.

Once the music began, my roommates and the group of guys found our spots in the grass in front of the Montview steps where the stage was set up. In true Lynchburg fashion, it had poured rain the night before. That meant that the grass was extremely muddy as a result. The second I put my blanket down for all of us to sit on, it got drenched. We spent a majority of the concert, doing what must have looked like musical chairs, trying to not sink into the mud piles that emerged. On the bright side, this forced quick bonding between my roommates and our newly found friends.

We spent the rest of the concert getting to know each other, sharing stories from back home, and enjoying the smooth melody of the brass instruments in the background. That night foreshadowed a lot of my college life to come. Remember that ‘where’s Chad’ conversation? Well, we found him. While my roommates and our new friends discussed the possible, yet ridiculous, places he may be, Chad had run into and befriended a stranger himself to bring to Jazz Night. That stranger would soon turn out to be one of my best friends at Liberty, Michaela. The funny thing is, I don’t remember meeting her that night at all. All I know is that I went into Jazz Night expecting to feel out of place, awkward, and constantly hope that it was time to leave. When I left, however, I felt content knowing that I do know how to make friends and that the scary college strangers aren’t so scary after all.

Even though we all exchanged numbers that night, I don’t think I have talked to any of the guys from that group since Jazz Night. I still talk to Michaela and Chad. My roommates and them, plus a few others, actually make up my core group of friends here at Liberty. I am forever grateful for Jazz Night, not just because it brought me Michaela or because it grew my relationship with my roommates; I’m grateful that so early on that event showed me the kindness of Liberty’s student body. Since then, I’m unafraid to strike up conversation with the person next to me in class or who’s in front of me in line at the Grid. My favorite part about Student Activities is how well you get to understand the welcoming culture of our university at their events. So, whether it be Jazz Night, Bingo, Coffeehouse, or anything in between, come check out our events…you never know who you’ll meet.

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