As the world gets ready to get back to school, Addie Lee Frierson — TAB’s summer intern — is getting ready to start her senior year at Samford University as an English major with a double minor in writing and religion.
“I changed my major to English my sophomore year and am so thankful I did,” she said. “I have found an amazing community with my professors and peers. They push me and challenge me to think in ways that I wouldn’t normally.”
She’s always loved reading and writing, and her experience with God goes back a long way, too.
“I grew up blessed with parents who were invested in my spiritual walk from the beginning,” Frierson said.
She went to a Christian school that was a part of the church where she grew up. Then when she was 13, she suffered a head injury and had to spend three weeks on brain rest.
“Spending day after day in a dark room was pretty lonely,” Frierson said. “I remember talking to my mom who explained that I didn’t have to feel lonely because of Christ. She explained the relational side of the gospel, which I had heard before, but for the first time, I understood what a blessing it was that Jesus wanted a relationship with me.”
She decided to follow Christ and was baptized soon after. Today her faith journey continues as she attends Samford and Shades Mountain Baptist Church.
‘So much sweeter’
“Going to college has challenged me in my faith the most. It became my choice, which has made it so much sweeter,” Frierson said. “I have found a community at Shades Mountain Baptist Church that challenges me, walks with me and pours into me day in and day out. I have learned more in Shades’ college ministry than I ever thought possible.”
And at Samford, she has been challenged spiritually and academically, she said.
“I can say with confidence and in the best way possible that I am not the same person I was when I first walked onto campus,” she said. “I have grown and changed for the better.”
Frierson said she’s enjoyed her time at TAB too. “I’ve enjoyed the work environment and community,” she said. “They have all been so intentional in getting to know me.”
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